The “hermit crab carrying a sea anemone” was academically called the “Orlov’s Tentacled Crab”. In truth, that wasn’t an anemone on its back, but a particular parasitic creature that highly depended on the crab to survive.
“You may not know it, but that crab was, in fact, the most valuable prey among the three monsters,” explained Sunders. “It’s a very, very precious material used by Gourmets. The name was announced by a Gourmet called Orlov, who discovered its value.”
That explained why Toby was eating the monster. When Angor found the smaller crab corpse in the Shaded Cave, he also saw bite marks that suggested Toby did consume it.
“So Toby brought it into his dream because it’s good to eat?”
...
Meanwhile, a glowing tentacle emerged from the dark water zone where Angor ran into the troll yesterday.
Closely behind the tentacle, a gigantic crab with a bright red shell slowly showed its form. It was a full-size Orlov’s Tentacled Crab. This one was even bigger than the one killed by the union yesterday.
The creature was traveling through the underground river stream. And it was not alone—a swarm of crabs of different sizes was following behind it closely, using their colorful tentacles to decorate the otherwise unlit route like a parade.
If someone was to go the opposite way of their immigration route, they would be arriving at the source of the underground river—a wide ocean with equally dark water.
At the edge of the ocean and above the surface, there was a high cliff on which a lone monument was set.
[Here lie the loyal warriors of Undying Brigade]
This was the Veiled Coast, a usual travel route for wizards heading to the Overwatch Base, who would all make sure that they stayed well away from the deadly water below.
Legends said that a Demon Lord once perished here and sank into the bottom of the Veiled Sea, while the infamous dealer, Balalaika, remained here to wait for the demon’s soul to return.
The Veiled Sea had many more interesting rumors and treasure clues, though no human or demon was ever brave enough to explore it. There wasn’t even any Demon Monastery built in this area, which was enough to signify that even the “locals” would like to keep away.
At the dark bottom of the sea, a humanoid figure covered in a gray, broken robe quietly knelt in front of a vortex in great respect as if it was paying tribute to a god to whom it devoted its body and soul.
It was the Pilgrim of Misfortune who sent the Overwatch Base into an uproar the other day. This terrible creature who always unintentionally brought death and misery motionlessly waited here like a statue, while several Orlov’s Tentacled Crabs swam above its head.
...
The debate about the missing apprentice didn’t last long before the union decided to keep moving. Perhaps the apprentice died to a demon when nobody was looking. No matter what happened, the team would not stop and waste time just to look for an apprentice.
Kanter hopped off Gondola when Sunders chased him away.
“Come on! I was helping you protect the boat, is this how you treat me?!”
“I’m taking Angor back to the wizarding world. We’ll see each other in a few days at Port Koko,” said Sunders.
“What? Now? Will the union open their portal for you?”
“There will be a way.”
Kanter cast one last glance at Angor and floated away. He never expected Sunders to go against Monkey’s will and abandon his post like this.
He thought, Angor is indeed important to him...
Sunders saw Kanter’s suspicious look and sent a Voice Transmission. “You got me wrong. I’m going back to see whether I can find a prize from the plane fusion.”
“Yeah... The magazine mentioned a giant destiny waiting to be exploited. I see.”
But considering the estimated time of the plane fusion, going back to the wizarding world at such a moment might be too late. Though Sunders could still find the entrance and enter the foreign plane to look for leftovers.
“What do you mean ‘there’s a way’ though?” Kanter questioned. “The union can’t just give you an exception and let you go through their portal without getting anything in return.”
Sunders smirked but did not answer.
Kanter shook his head and spoke to Angor, “Don’t forget my words, my boy. If you really got your hands on some Mutation Larvae, save one for my Keely!”
“Of course, Mister Kanter.” Angor nodded.
Next, Sunders switched his “channel” to Sennefer. “I’ll be absent for some days.”
Sennefer didn’t ask for his reason. She only told Sunders to return as soon as he could.
With these settled, Gondola left the group and headed in another direction.
Samantha saw Sunders leaving and glimpsed at Sennefer. “He told you something, didn’t he? What is it?”
“He’ll mind some business elsewhere.”
“Where is he going?”
“No idea. Something to do with his student, perhaps, since he took the boy with him.”
Samantha humphed in annoyance. She and Sennefer were both commanders of the Overwatch Base, and she felt bad when Sunders told Sennefer an excuse but not her.
Brofen came to them by levitating his fat body. His tired look and panda eyes meant he wasn’t doing well these days.
“I don’t think the rest of this route has any danger. I’ll stay in my workshop and continue my research.”
Brofen was mainly frustrated about losing Dura, when he was supposed to get her out of trouble. Now that Dura was gone, he had to rely on himself to do his work.
“Not yet.” Sennefer shook her head. “Our old experiences no longer apply, as you can see. We have all the reason to believe that there are more enemies waiting for us ahead. It will be bad if we encounter another Grand Demon without Sunders to help us. Your research can wait.”
Brofen sighed. He knew he couldn’t see everyone else fight if he shut himself in his lab.
“Alright, I guess.”
Strangely, the rest of the trip was indeed free of trouble as Brofen said. It was even more peaceful than expected because they didn’t run into a single monster when there should be several along this way.
It was as if... Sunders’ departure also took their misfortune away.
...
Compared to the union, the journey of Sunders and Angor was far from harmonious. Thankfully, Sunders was good enough to fend off all the enemies.
After killing another demon as powerful as typical level-2 wizards, they entered a small cave to catch a breath. Even someone dependable like Sunders still needed time to recover.
Angor wondered how many more enemies would be troubling the union when he and Sunders ran into so many obstacles by walking on foot. They chose to proceed this way so that fewer enemies could see them. But it didn’t help at all.
“Is something happening at the Lightless Mountain?”
On Angor’s hand, Toby rolled over and exposed his belly.
Angor shook his head and gently fingered Toby’s feathers.
Sunders suddenly opened his eyes as he stopped his meditation.
“This is not right...”
“What’s the matter, sir?”
“The Lightless Mountain was never so crowded with demons. There must be a cause that brought them here.”
Just like how they weren’t aware of the demon lord sleeping under the Prominent Forest, they might be overlooking another root of trouble right now.
“Nevertheless, we should pick up our pace.”
“Yeah... And professor, how far until we can get to the inter-plane portal?”