Universe Infinite Canteen

The bait strategy proved quite effective, as soon as Dulce was thrown into the water, it immediately attracted nearby Puppet Lotus Roots swarming towards him.

Ma Lu saw that on the Chessboard Map, dense clusters of little red dots all surged towards the square where Dulce was, and the number of Puppet Lotus Roots in the neighboring areas significantly decreased.

Did it work?

Although there were many Puppet Lotus Roots attacking Dulce, looking quite terrifying, Dulce was wearing the Church's special Power Armor with a defensive power of 11 points, which meant that those Puppet Lotus Roots couldn't really do much to him for the time being.

This also bought Ma Lu more time, as the purple-haired girl drove the aircraft to a salvage point 20 squares away, and like before, Ma Lu tied a rope around his waist and then leaped down with a dive.

He descended about twelve or thirteen meters before reaching the lake bottom, then Ma Lu turned on the armor's lighting system and quickly found the patch of Meteorite Shard.

He didn't hurry back to the aircraft, but stepped further two squares away, where there was another piece. Since these two Meteorite Shards were quite close to each other, Ma Lu planned to pick them up together.

This time, it took him a bit longer because the second Meteorite Shard was buried in the mud, and had it not been for the precise location marked on the Chessboard Map, it was estimated that no one could have found it.

And just as Ma Lu was focused on excavating the mud, he felt the light behind him dim…

On the other side, aboard the aircraft, Yun Que was watching the lake's surface with wide-open eyes, concentrating intensely.

It had already been a full 7 minutes since Ma Lu went underwater, and not a single message had come back. Just when the girl was worried that Ma Lu might have encountered some trouble, the rope was suddenly tugged three times.

That was the signal Ma Lu had agreed upon for surfacing.

Seeing this, the purple-haired girl activated the Mechanical Arm and began to reel in the rope, but this time, she felt a much heavier weight below, and it was much harder to pull than before.

Hellhound couldn't help but complain, "Ah, are Meteorite Shards really that heavy?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Que and the others also came over to help, pulling Ma Lu out of the water together.

Then, Yun Que let out a piercing scream.

She saw a shadow covered in mud laying on Ma Lu's armor, and two more shadows, one hugging Ma Lu's waist and the other grabbing one of his legs.

Hellhound leaned over to take a glance downwards, "They are Puppet Lotus Roots."

"Probably some scattered ones that weren't lured away by the bait, just happened to be encountered by Sir Knight," commented Bliss Bird.

"Wow, this is the first time I'm seeing the actual thing, their shapes really do resemble humans, just without facial features," Ouroboros Serpent also enthusiastically observed the three Energized Plants entwined around Ma Lu.

Only Yun Que appeared incredulous, looking at her three companions, "Why can you all be so calm? Sir Knight is being invaded by enemies!"

"He's got armor, hasn't been hurt," Ouroboros Serpent pointed out.

"But, but... those enemies are about to be brought up here," Yun Que said anxiously, "Don't we need to prepare for battle in advance?"

"It's just Puppet Lotus Roots, no need to be so tense," Hellhound dismissed.

"A'Quan, you always make it sound so easy."

"No, it's true that Puppet Lotus Roots pose hardly any threat once they are out of water,"

This time, Bliss Bird spoke, "These basic facts were all covered in class, Yun Que, you must have been dozing off and didn't pay attention."

"Ah, is that so?" Yun Que scratched her head.

Before long, Ma Lu and the three Puppet Lotus Roots were pulled onto the aircraft.

Just as Bliss Bird had said, even with a debuff against her Attributes, the purple-haired girl took only four slashes to dispatch one of the Puppet Lotus Roots.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Then the Bliss Bird and the Ouroboros Serpent joined forces to kill another one, and the remaining one was pinned down by Ma Lu under the weight of his armor.

The Ouroboros Serpent walked over, intending to finish off the last enemy, but was stopped by Ma Lu.

"Wait."

"Hmm?"

"Keep this one alive, I want to take it with us," Ma Lu said while taking out the Collection Bag again.

After upgrading to Level 6, the Desktop Farm could now grow Energized Plants.

Ma Lu intended to try planting a batch on his return, starting with this very Puppet Lotus Root.

Just as he had Yun Que hold the bag open to stuff the Puppet Lotus Root inside, the previously calm surface of the lake below suddenly became tumultuous with waves.

Ma Lu then seemed to remember something and said to the purple-haired girl, "Quick, raise the altitude of the flyer even higher, and get away from this lake."

"Huh, didn't you say there was still a piece of Meteorite Shard you hadn't collected?" the Hellhound said while already sitting in the pilot's seat, pulling the control stick and making the warhorse ascend.

"Forget it, we won't be taking that piece," Ma Lu said, "There's something big waking up beneath the lake."

It was the biggest, deepest red dot that Ma Lu had seen in this plane so far, occupying a full 30 squares on the map, its color so dark it was almost black.

Its name was Lake King·Giant Whale Lotus Root. Previously, when Ma Lu was at the bottom of the lake, it had merely passed by him, blocking out all light.

Fortunately, it had headed toward Dulce then, probably because the Puppet Lotus Roots had been unable to deal with Dulce effectively, which had disturbed their king.

By the time Ma Lu finished stuffing the captured Puppet Lotus Root from the ship into the Collection Bag and looked at the Chessboard Map again, Dulce's name was nowhere to be found.

Moreover, they saw more ripples on Circle Mirror Lake, and a huge shadow flashed from beneath the surface.

Not only Yun Que, but even the Ouroboros Serpent and the Bliss Bird also looked uneasy. It seemed that only the carefree Hellhound could still manage a smile amidst them all.

"Can it be true? There's such a huge energized plant? I hope to have the chance to face it someday."

"Better not," Ma Lu said.

Although they were too far away for the Traveler's Bracelet to scan the star level of the Giant Whale Lotus Root, its Attributes panel was already outrageous, with HP as high as 10,000 and an Attack Power of over 120. Even wearing the Church's Special Knight Armor, they couldn't withstand a single bite from it.

No wonder Dulce vanished without a trace.

However, this outcome wasn't bad either, as now Dulce had seemingly died in the mouth of the Giant Whale Lotus Root instead of by his hand.

Ma Lu then lured a batch of Energized Plants to the area where they had previously battled, so even if the Church sent people to investigate later, they would likely assume it was the work of the energized plants.

Watching Ma Lu run to and fro, fabricating the scene, the Ouroboros Serpent's eyes were full of admiration, and he couldn't help but ask again, "Who exactly are you?"

"Me? Of course, I'm a knight," Ma Lu replied indifferently and without missing a beat.

"That can't be right, knights aren't as cunning as you are."

"Alright then, I'm actually a hunter," Ma Lu conceded.

"A hunter? What's that?"

"Over two hundred years ago, when there were still animals outside, it referred to people who lived by hunting those animals," explained the Bliss Bird.

The Ouroboros Serpent sneered, "Psh, another lie."