The Drowned Dead entered the forest with its group and soon found Karl, his back to them, carving up a Drowner corpse nearby.
When the Drowned Dead saw there was prey, it couldn't stop grinning, baring its sharp teeth.
It didn't charge forward immediately; its eyes held a sinister glint, intending to surround the prey first to prevent the other party from escaping.
Consequently, it hissed at its companions, who seemed restless upon catching the scent of a human.
Although the Drowners continued to fidget, they still obeyed the command and spread out, lowering their steps and moving towards Karl's surroundings.
At the same time, Karl's hand was inside the Drowner's chest, feeling around for mutagens.
After a while, his brows gradually relaxed, and his face lit up with happiness.
Because he had touched a round, jelly-like, elastic object.
He took out the sphere, pulled his hand out to look at it, and sure enough, it was a mutagen, glowing faintly blue.
"Damn, that's some bad luck. Only one out of four Drowners has a mutagen. I thought every monster had this stuff..."
"Wait a minute, this Drowner's been dead for a few minutes now. Logically, the smell should be fading, so why is it getting stronger and stronger?!"
Karl realized something was wrong, quickly straightened up, and began to look around.
After scanning for a moment, Karl raised an eyebrow slightly and quickly noticed the anomaly.
First, the disgusting stench was becoming more pungent.
Second, from the grass two meters away came a faint rustling sound, as if an animal was moving, and there was even a lot of slime on the ground.
Seeing this, Karl's eyes narrowed slightly, and a faint suspicion arose in his heart.
He calmly took off his crossbow and slowly backed away with shuffling steps.
Then he immediately pulled the crossbow's trigger, aiming at the nearest patch of grass.
Thwip! Squelch!
"Urgh...!" The crossbow bolt flew instantly into the grass, hitting something and causing it to cry out.
Hearing a familiar sound he had heard just minutes ago, Karl's eyelids twitched violently, and cold sweat began to trickle down his forehead.
Instantly, without the slightest hesitation, he lifted his foot, turned around, and ran.
"Fuck! Drowners actually came ashore and took the initiative to ambush?! And they know to use the environment to hide?!"
"Aren't Drowners naturally timid by nature? Since when did their cunning become so advanced? If that grass held a Drowner, then the other grass..."
The Drowned Dead was hiding not far away behind a tree trunk, quietly peeking out with half its head.
But before its companions had fully encircled the area, the prey had already sensed the trap and was trying to escape.
Seeing the prey it had in its sights about to flee, the Drowned Dead's expression suddenly became anxious.
It stopped hiding, quickly emerged from behind the trunk, and let out a low growl, commanding the Drowners to stop hiding and give chase.
And its roar was especially piercing in the quiet forest, successfully attracting Karl's attention.
As Karl ran, he glanced back and first saw Drowners emerging one after another from the grass.
He vaguely noticed a green figure standing next to a tree, one that was much taller and sturdier than ordinary Drowners.
At that moment, this unknown creature was looking at him with an extremely cold gaze.
"What in the bloody hell... is that a Drowner?!"
Karl broke out in a cold sweat, swallowed hard, turned his head, and continued running forward.
And the Drowner closest to him was only about two meters behind.
If he dared to stop for even a moment, claws would immediately swipe at his back, and his inability to increase the distance meant he couldn't escape.
Moreover, there was still another monster of unknown power secretly watching him.
The Drowned Dead saw Karl trying to escape, and a flicker of mockery appeared in its eyes, as if laughing at his futile struggle.
It dug its fins into the ground, then a breeze ruffled the leaves.
Its figure turned sideways, moving at least twice as fast as ordinary Drowners.
It didn't chase in a straight line like the other Drowners, but preferred to flank, moving to cut off his line of sight.
Karl ran through the grass, pursued by a group of Drowners.
He scanned his surroundings and began to judge distances, always watching the ground, as if guarding against something.
Finally, after running more than ten meters, he noticed a faint glint of light reflected by the grass next to a tree along the path.
The corner of Karl's mouth lifted, a look of sly satisfaction on his face, and he took a wider step over the object.
SNAP! ARGH!! The Drowner closest to Karl immediately stepped on the trap set in the grass to catch game.
Suddenly, the Drowner pitched forward and fell flat on its face.
Its webbed foot was caught in the animal trap, and it tripped up its companions chasing behind it.
For a moment, the scene was dusty and chaotic, and Karl finally had a moment to catch his breath.
He raised his crossbow and was about to turn back to check the situation when he suddenly heard a whoosh of wind in his ears.
Without hesitation, without even seeing what was in front of him, he spun around and pulled the trigger.
Thwip! Argh! The crossbow bolt shot out and obviously hit something.
"Huh? It's that human-like Drowner?!" A figure appeared before Karl's eyes.
The Drowned Dead clutched its bloody shoulder and glared coldly at him, then raised its claws and swiped at his chest.
Seeing this, Karl immediately raised his arm to block, and a tremendous force transferred through his arm, followed by a sharp pain.
Karl stumbled backward unsteadily and soon fell against the edge of a tree.
Thud! The crossbow fell to the ground, accompanied by the sound of dripping water.
He leaned against the trunk, pale, and looked at his wrist, which was bleeding from four sharp claw marks.
"Damn, what kind of monster is this? So much strength." Karl endured the intense pain in his wrist and said to himself.
He had a slight advantage when fighting ordinary Drowners, but he had little strength to resist this monster.
At that moment, the Drowners that had been tripped by their companion earlier were also getting up one by one.
Seeing this, Karl knew he had no choice, gritted his teeth, and took the necklace out of his pocket.
[Detected an absorbable energy source. Absorb?]
"Confirm absorption!"
Immediately, a panel appeared on his retina, as if between illusions.
But at the same moment the panel appeared, another string of words, consisting of dozens of characters, poured into his mind.
"Zio'bel Ard, Harn aen Ard, Deire-Vid Ard..."
Name: [Karl El]
Energy Pool: [2006546]
Talent Abilities: [Bio-Field Level 0] [Steel Body Level 0] [Super Strength Level 0] [Super Speed Level 0]
[Super Senses Level 0] [Super Brain Level 0] [Heat Vision Level 0] [Frozen Breath Level 0]
The Drowned Dead wanted to continue its attack and kill the prey before it, which had lost its ability to resist.
But seeing Karl fumbling for something, it cautiously stepped back a few paces and even ordered the other Drowners to stand in front of it.
Because it had seen some people do similar things before, and then the other party had destroyed them with an exploding spherical object.
When Karl saw the panel appear, he was startled at first, and then suddenly realized.
Although he didn't know much about Marvel and DC, how could he not recognize such iconic characters?
"Huh? Bio-field, steel body, heat vision, frozen breath..."
"That sounds so familiar... Shit! Aren't these all Superman's abilities!?"
"Uh, and what does that string of characters mean? Some kind of inherited knowledge? Could it be an ancient language?"