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Chapter 690 - 362: Investigation

Chapter 690: Chapter 362: Investigation

The investigation team’s fleet fell into a strange silence, especially Sword Ghost and Wang He.

They were the closest to Li Changhe and had seen him take out a bow and an arrow from somewhere.

Without any hesitation, he shot the arrow.

The arrow accurately pierced the eye of the Demon Tooth Shark that had just leaped out of the water, penetrating its eyeball directly.

Many adventurers nodded in silent approval of Li Changhe’s precise archery. Hitting a target from 300 meters away had already demonstrated his strength and awareness.

Crippling the Demon Tooth Shark’s eyes first could create a significant advantage, even though it would also make the shark even more ferocious. The adventurers prepared to cooperate with Li Changhe.

And then... there was no "and then."

After piercing the Demon Tooth Shark’s eye, the arrow continued forward until it disappeared completely.

Subsequently, several lumps of flesh swelled up on the huge body of the Demon Tooth Shark. It writhed and twisted in agony, causing the nearby pirate ship to be destroyed in the process.

In the end, the lumps of flesh burst open and a bizarre tree grew out from its body, tearing the shark into broken pieces of flesh.

The massive carcass tainted the nearby sea surface with red, and the legendary nine-star danger level Demon Tooth Shark was killed with a single arrow.

The entire investigation team fell silent with a mix of dread, relief, and fear... finally turning into a deathly silence.

"Stop staring and catch those pirates." Li Changhe broke the silence. He knew that the Hundred-Headed Shooter and Stabbing Arrow would be sufficient to deal with a creature with such strong defense force.

The former had great destructive power, enough to shatter the shark’s defense. If Li Changhe were not concerned about the hassle, the Demon Tooth Shark would still die after several more shots.

The latter simply absorbed flesh and blood to become a strange tree. It was practically a one-hit kill for any creature made of flesh and blood. Even the strongest of creatures would not be able to withstand having their brains torn apart.

Unfortunately, there was only one Stabbing Arrow left, as Li Changhe had used most of them to break through enemy lines during his time in Great Tang.

As for other special arrows, none of them had effects as outstanding as the Stabbing Arrow. Many had auxiliary effects, such as Blasting Arrows synthesized from certain materials. These arrows produced intense sound waves, similar to blast bombs.

They could be used, but their effects weren’t as impressive as the Stabbing Arrow’s.

Li Changhe would have to find a chance to ask the officials for more materials from the Piercing Fruit Tree.

After all, the Dream Cruise had already been taken in by the officials, and the Piercing Fruit Tree was on the fourth floor of the cruise ship. It shouldn’t be difficult to obtain more materials.

As for the pirates, they probably had plans to rob the ships, but they ended up getting involved unexpectedly.

That was convenient – Li Changhe had very little information on the elves, so he figured he could get some from these pirates. They were bound to have plenty of intelligence since they dealt with various fleets on the shipping routes.

On the other side, there was only one pirate ship left after it had been ravaged by sea beasts.

Most of the pirate crew had either drowned or been swallowed by sea beasts.

Upon seeing the investigation team’s ships approaching, they let out cries of despair.

Regardless of their reputation, pirates usually ended up being executed by hanging when they were caught.

Unfortunately, their desperate attempt did not work at all. They were immediately pursued and had their ship destroyed, without even giving Li Changhe and his teammates a chance to take action.

Those were experienced adventurer teams; rangers shot down pirate gunners from a distance to prevent retaliation, wizards swung their magic staff to break the pirate ship’s mast and prevent escape, and eventually, warriors and knights jumped aboard the pirate ship to suppress them.

On the pirate side, due to most of their forces being wiped out by the sea monsters,

they were unable to organize a proper counterattack. In a short time, they were all defeated. The adventurers would take them as spoils of war and bring them back to the Guild to claim a bounty.

Soon, due to Li Changhe’s request, a high-ranking pirate was brought aboard the ’Black Pearl.’

He looked like a typical pirate, with a missing eye and a hook for a hand. His full beard was intimidating enough to make children cry.

However, his demeanor lacked the dignity and elegance seen in movies.

Immediately, he fell to his knees, crying and begging for mercy.

He swore that as long as he wasn’t sent to the gallows, he would reveal the location of his hidden treasures.

Li Changhe had no interest in being a pirate king, so he demanded the man spill everything about his past.

All of the information about what had happened at sea, especially the intelligence related to the elves, was demanded. So, Li Changhe and He Feng watched the pirate along with a group of adventurers.

"If your information is accurate, the Guild will treat you leniently." The Guild official offered a condition. The pirate breathed a sigh of relief. This was one of the investigative team’s tasks, and the Guild had provided a bargaining chip.

"Strange occurrences... happened about a month, maybe two, ago." When the pirate mentioned this, the players were intrigued, as it aligned well with the timing of the elf incident.

"At that time, many sea routes were plagued with sea monsters." As the pirate spoke, many adventurers furrowed their brows, thinking he was lying.

Due to their geographical location, the Elf Navy frequently patrolled the various shipping routes to combat pirates and sea monsters, ensuring the safety of the routes. After a long period of maintenance, sea monsters rarely appeared along these routes.

"It’s true!" The pirate hastily continued: "We don’t know what happened, but the Elf Navy was busy dealing with the sea monsters. We thought our time had come. However, as soon as we left the island, we were attacked by those terrifying sea monsters."

"And then?" The Guild official noted this point and asked.

"And then... I don’t know how, but even the number of passing ships decreased. Many fellows in the same business relocated their hunting spots as a result."

That must have been after the elf incident took place. Did the elves return home because of the sea monster infestation, or were the sea monsters the aftershock of the event that attracted the elves back?

"From that moment on, pirates in this sea region began to decrease. There was no choice; the number of sea monsters was increasing. Before many colleagues even found their prey, they were wiped out by sea monsters." The pirate continued: "Some sea monsters even went ashore on the islands. Several well-known gangs were wiped out like this. As the days went by, the activity area of the sea monsters became larger and larger. We had no choice but to move. Who would have thought that we would encounter the legendary Demon Tooth Shark in this region today?"

"So you’re saying there’s been a surge in the number of sea monsters, and their activity range is expanding?" The Guild official’s face changed. He immediately noted this point, planning to report it to the Guild as soon as the interrogation was over.

Sword City was just about ten hours away by ship. If the information were true, the port city would be in danger.

"What about the elves? What are they doing? Their homeland is a massive island, and they’d be the first ones affected if sea monsters ran rampant." The Guild official asked.

The elves had the strongest navy in the world. They must have noticed the chaos in the seas.

"They... are in a civil war."

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