Chapter 147: The Little Mermaid (17)

Before anyone could even react, dense red threads had already surrounded the merfolk and the skeletal figures. As the skeletons swam rapidly, they inadvertently dragged along and became entangled in numerous red threads.

At first, the skeletons paid no attention to them, allowing the red threads to coil around their bodies.

By the time they realized these threads were interfering with their movements, it was already too late.

These red threads suddenly seemed to come alive, launching a swift attack against them! They tightly bound, wrapped, and crushed the skeletons' bones together!

The crushing force was like a python as thick as a large tree trunk, causing their bones to emit loud creaking noises.

"Creak... creak..."

"It hurts."

"How dare you launch a sneak attack on us..."

"Unforgivable..."

"We are going to peel your mermaid skin, extract your mermaid oil, and make everlasting lamps out of you..."

Faced with the lukewarm threats in the skeletons' words, Tang Mu did not even blink an eyelid.

"Dark red threads bind the shadows, strings pull the puppets. Obey this decree instantly!"

"Bind!"

Every single skeleton captured and bound by the red threads was squeezed and blown apart by the immense restrictive pressure.

Having soaked in seawater for years, their bone structures had already been pitted and corroded by various microorganisms in the ocean. Now subjected to Tang Mu's relentless crushing, they naturally could not withstand it and shattered into fragmented piles of bones.

However, once these scattered bones broke free from the restraint of the red threads, they reassembled once again, forming brand new skeletons!

They charged at Tang Mu and the merfolk once more!

"Fighting them endlessly like this is not a solution."

Tang Mu sensed that these skeletons possessed the ability to infinitely regenerate. Engaging in a prolonged battle with these unkillable creatures would ultimately result in death due to exhaustion.

Such a never-ending fight was naturally inefficient.

"Do they not have any taboos or weaknesses?"

Having battled the skeletons for so long, the merfolk surely knew some methods to deal with them.

True to expectation, Sang Wu replied, "At the border between the deep-sea area and the shallow-sea area, there is a bizarre place. We merfolk call it the Redpa High Domain. Translated into your human language, it is the Forbidden Land of Death."

"The magnetic field in this sea area is peculiar."

"Whether it is human compasses or magnetic needles, they all fail once they enter this place."

"Moreover, violent storms and tempests never cease. Even we merfolk dare not approach that place rashly."

Anything that enters that region mysteriously vanishes.

It might return to this sea area after a few days, half a month, or several years.

Then again, it might never return at all.

"We previously had one successful instance of driving the skeletons into the Redpa High Domain."

"However, they seemed to realize the danger of that place. Later, when we tried to drive them back inside, they refused to fall for it again."

Amidst discussing how to deal with the skeletons with Sang Wu, Tang Mu continued to manipulate the red threads to bind the skeletons, tying them up and hindering their teleportation speed.

With Tang Mu's assistance, the other merfolk were finally able to slightly resist the skeletons' sneak attacks.

The majority of the merfolk were players.

Players could use items to resist anomalous entities.

However, compared to players, the NPCs appeared extremely fragile.

The NPCs were practically reduced to critical health the moment a skeleton brushed against them, and the shark pearls within their bodies were immediately snatched away by the skeletons.

The skeletons that seized the shark pearls would immediately devour them, growing flesh upon their withered bones and transforming into bronze-skinned, iron-clad merfolk impervious to poisons, blades, and spears.

When items struck these evolved, iron-clad skeletons, they even produced the peculiar metallic clanging sound unique to metal.

"How did you lure them into the Redpa High Domain?"

"It is the instinct of hunting," Sang Wu explained. "When we merfolk hunt collectively, we cooperate as a team to drive our prey into a suitable body of water and capture them all in one net."

"It is the same when dealing with skeletons."

"But as you have seen, they move swiftly—even faster than us merfolk. It is difficult for us to catch sight of them. Even with careful enticement, it takes a lot of effort."

"Furthermore, a merfolk's shark pearl must never be seized by outsiders."

"Therefore, skeletons that have mutated into iron-clad skeletons will be hunted down and exterminated by our merfolk tribe with full force, just like this."

The merfolk produced bronze chains from somewhere, specifically designed to deal with the iron-clad skeletons.

Working in cooperation, the merfolk attempted to bind the skeletons with chains and lock them down. Judging by the situation, the merfolk seemed intent on taking these mutated skeleton-merfolk back to the merfolk tribal territory.

...

Skeletons that had mutated into iron-clad skeletons could no longer teleport nearly as fast as before their mutation.

Nor could their bone structures scatter and reassemble anymore.

This meant they sacrificed speed and the ability to reunite, solely to become impregnable fortresses of bronze and iron.

Understandably so.

Having weathered away in seawater for so many years, the bones sustaining their existence in this world had long since become fragile and brittle. Their primary goal now was likely to reinforce their bones and achieve permanent longevity.

"How terrifying, how terrifying, I'm scared to death!"

For some reason, Xi Hongwei inexplicably sidled up to Tang Mu again.

Even though his partner, Sang Ning, also did not need to fight and only had to guard and protect him, he still felt it wasn't quite safe near Sang Ning.

It was still safer by Tang Mu's side.

Perhaps it was because Tang Mu and Xi Hongwei were both players?

"Aren't you scared at all? If it were me, I wouldn't dare to take on these skeletons all by myself."

"What is there to be afraid of?"

Tang Mu couldn't help rolling her eyes at him.

"Aren't there merfolk protecting us from 360 degrees without blind spots? And judging by the game's usual temperament, the fact that we are being protected so well right now must mean the game hasn't truly started yet and we're still going through the prologue."

"I reckon the game will officially begin once we reach the merfolk tribal territory."

"Ah? You're kidding, right? We're still in the prologue?!"

Xi Hongwei wore a look of utter despair. "Things have progressed to this extent...怎么说, shouldn't the game be about halfway through..."

"In your dreams."

Tang Mu retorted unceremoniously, "If the plot were already halfway through, we should have long since known who the game's boss is. We would also have a general understanding of the boss's obsession, unfulfilled wish, as well as the cause, magnitude, and direction of their resentment."

"But what about now?"

"We haven't even caught a glimpse of the boss's shadow."

"Let alone breaking the deadlock."

...

Hearing Tang Mu's words, Xi Hongwei drooped his head even lower, sinking deeper into despair.