Blood Nemesis
Chapter 140: Silver crabs

Chapter 140: Silver crabs

The torrential pain that had swallowed Oliver fizzled out into nothing.

Once his eyes were open, he quickly scanned his surroundings for any danger. After pausing for a second, he confirmed nothing in the vicinity was trying to eat him and calmed his beating heart.

’I did it...’ he thought.

A smile bloomed on his face. Though covered in thick blood, his joy could not be hidden.

’I fucking did.’

The hellish pain was momentary. In return for suffering, he had expanded his blood sac volume to 80,000 liters—or, to be exact, around 81,920 liters.

His blood-to-mana conversion would now place him safely among top B-rankers. Few people in the entire world could match his strength. Considering his age, even fewer could surpass him.

’The Hero Academy entrance test is going to be a breeze,’ he smirked.

The thought of punching some future heroes and kicking them off their high horse rejuvenated him.

The pain he felt immediately disappeared as he swam around in the turtle’s heart blood.

Promptly afterward, he began to suck all the blood around him into the empty blood sac.

This time, the suction force was even stronger, causing the fluid to move like a jet current towards him.

The heart was the optimal position to connect with all the blood remaining in the carcass. Soon, hundreds of liters of blood filled his blood sac. A few minutes later, it grew to thousands of liters.

Oliver was elated.

As he expected, more blood remained inside the carcass, pooling in specific organs. Once he connected with it, all of it flowed straight into his body. In the next few minutes, almost twenty thousand units of blood flowed into his body before it stopped.

Oliver was satisfied with the amount.

’It’s over.’

He thought and promptly swam out of the heart. He had achieved his initial goal. There was no reason to linger any longer.

’I should return with a net to catch the silver crabs,’ Oliver thought, squeezing his body out of the turtle’s meaty interior.

Like a worm, he used his blood tentacles to push his body through tight spaces. It took him a couple of seconds to find his way to the cavernous inside of the turtle where the crabs were feasting.

’Wait for me here,’ he told himself, and swam up towards the hole in the shell. He squeezed through it, leaving behind thousands of silver crabs, and exited.

---

Root waited patiently for more than an hour inside the boat, hovering just above the giant carcass.

Oliver had sent him a message before he disappeared, so he wasn’t truly worried, but his patience was wearing thin.

Just as he was about to move in for a closer look, he saw something break out and swim up. Realizing Oliver had finally emerged, he blinked the lights to attract his attention.

Oliver saw this, avoided the crabs, and swam toward the boat. He beelined towards the bottom hatch and climbed onto the open space. The airtight hatch closed behind him, and the water was drained away.

Root watched Oliver taking deep breaths. He ignored his struggles and walked over.

"Boss, what the hell were you doing?" he asked.

The drenched Oliver sneezed and met Root’s eyes with a smirk. "Just looking around, and I found something awesome. We have great luck," he said. Shaking his head to clear away the water inside his ear, he pointed at a cupboard inside the boat. "Get me the net inside."

"Net? Why do you need a net?"

"We are going to catch some crabs."

Root widened his eyes. "Wait a minute! What do you mean by ’we’?"

Oliver tilted his head. "Does it mean something else?" Obviously, ’we’ meant both of them.

"I... but! I can’t swim like you."

Root’s breathing quickened. He had seen the tiger fish and dozens of monstrous crabs in the water. Going into that water was not something he wished for.

But Oliver ignored his protest. "Hm, what do you mean? Be specific," he asked with a jesting smile playing on his lips.

"I can’t hold my breath like you do. My mana control isn’t good enough to extend my diving time with mana."

"Well, you can wear a diving suit. I have a miniature oxygen tank over there. It would support you for an hour."

Root panicked. His brain worked overtime to find the next excuse. ’Yes, that...’ A bulb lit up inside his head. "The water pressure is too high. I might not be able to resist it."

"Don’t worry, it’s not bad. You can do it. And the diving suit is made of special material. It can alleviate the pressure."

Oliver walked out of the airlock and, after drying himself half-heartedly, walked to the cupboard near the kitchen.

Root followed him hesitantly.

Nothing he said was working; Oliver seemed hell-bent on forcing him to dive. Root was a little scared.

Should he tell his real feelings? But he was someone who wanted to be a hero. How could he say that he was scared?

Oliver watched his expression change from the side. He knew what Root was thinking, but didn’t say anything. Slowly, he took out the high-tensile net and waited.

"Okay, let me switch the boat to autopilot," Root finally came to terms with the idea of diving and replied.

He knew his fear was irrational. Oliver was not the kind to send him to his death.

After all, just a few hours ago, he had saved him from an A-rank flood dragon. There was no need to be overly worried. Besides that, as a potential hero, he couldn’t show weakness in front of a challenge. That would be cowardly.

Taking a deep breath, he met Oliver’s eyes and said, "Let’s go."

Oliver nodded. He was satisfied. "Over there, you will find the diving suit. Let’s wear it and go down."

"You are also wearing one?"

"Hm," Oliver nodded. "There is a communication device attached to it. It will help me speak underwater." Oliver added.

"Oh!"

Once he made the decision, Root asked him what crab they were catching. Oliver patiently explained everything else.

---

A few minutes later, two people wearing dark blue diving suits swam out of the boat. Their bodies quickly moved toward the turtle carcass.

"It would have been better if we had an exosuit," Oliver said while wiping the glass covering the top half of his face.

He was biting down on a regulator that supplied oxygen and acted as a communication device.

Root, who heard him, replied, "Yes, but a good exosuit could cost a million creds."

"We should buy a couple of them," Oliver muttered while swimming.

Exosuits were metal armor that covered a person from head to toe.

They were used by most hunters when exploring challenging places.

In addition to providing an added layer of defense, exosuits could also protect a person from hazardous substances such as acid, corrosive smoke, poison, and radiation. They could also be customized to run with an independent mana source and provide even more features. Underwater breathing was one of them. So, if they had an exosuit, underwater exploration would have been much easier.

"Why do you need a lot of them?" Root inquired.

"It’s to plan for the future. When more people join our guild, they can use them, right?"

"Oh! Are you planning to recruit someone else?"

"Many great superhumans would join us," Oliver declared.

Unknown to Oliver, Root rolled his eyes. Still, he replied enthusiastically, "Then we will surely become the number one guild, right?"

"Obviously." Without even missing a beat, Oliver replied.

There was no hesitation or doubt in his mind. From his perspective, it was just a matter of time before they became the best guild in the world.

Oliver swam vigorously through the murky waters.

When they ended their little conversation, they were already close to the carcass. This time, Oliver went behind Root and held him. Suddenly, many golden mana tentacles sprouted from his body and pushed the water behind, accelerating them toward the gap in the shell.

*Swish*

Their bodies moved like two torpedoes. Before the crabs could react, Oliver grabbed the edge of the shell and pushed them deep into the inner cavity of the turtle.

Immediately, the lights dimmed, and visibility was reduced to zero. Oliver pressed the headlamp and lit it.

Root followed suit.

But when he saw what was around him, a chill crawled up his spine.

Thousands of crabs, just bigger than a ping-pong ball and smaller than a football, could be seen all around them.

They were clinging onto the wall—up, down, sides, all around—gouging the turtle’s meat, consuming it with great enthusiasm. Most of the turtle’s internal organs were already eaten, and bits of meat, blood, and fat could be seen floating in the water.

*Gulp*

"What have I gotten myself into?" Root muttered, fear evident in his eyes. He almost doubted whether he trusted Oliver too much. This situation was indeed dangerous. If he made a mistake and fell into an area covered by the crabs, they would soon change their target to him and eat him alive. There was no question about it.

"I will spread the net here. Catch the small silver crabs and place them on the net," Oliver said.

Root nodded hesitantly.

There was no going back from this. Without Oliver’s help, he was not sure if he could break out of the encirclement of the giant crabs outside. Gritting his teeth, he followed Oliver and began to catch the ping-pong ball-sized silver crabs hidden between the others.