The Drowning Undead and its companions entered the forest and soon spotted Karl El not far away, his back to them, dissecting a water ghoul's corpse.
Seeing prey, the Drowning Undead couldn't help but grin with joy, revealing its dense, sharp teeth.
It didn't rush forward; a sinister glint appeared in its eyes. It planned to surround its prey first to prevent any escape.
Thus, it let out a low growl to its companions, who were becoming restless from sniffing out the human scent.
Despite the water ghouls' incessant commotion, they still obeyed its command, fanning out and stealthily approaching Karl El to encircle him.
At the same time, Karl El reached his hand into the water ghoul's chest cavity, fumbling around for an induced mutagen.
Before long, his brows gradually relaxed, and his face lit up with joy.
He had felt a spherical, jelly-like, elastic object.
He gripped the sphere, pulled his hand out, and upon closer inspection, it was indeed a blue induced mutagen.
"Ugh, what terrible luck. Only one mutagen from four water ghouls. I thought all monsters had these things…"
"Wait a minute, this water ghoul died a few minutes ago. Logically, the stench should be gradually dissipating. Why is it getting stronger?!"
Karl El realized something was amiss. He quickly straightened up and began to scan his surroundings.
After focusing on his surroundings, Karl El's eyebrows slightly raised, and he quickly noticed the anomaly.
Firstly, the nauseating stench was becoming even more pungent.
Secondly, there was a faint rustling sound in the bushes two meters away, as if a beast was moving, and there was even quite a bit of slime on the ground.
Seeing this, Karl El's eyes narrowed slightly, and he had a vague suspicion.
He calmly took off his crossbow and slowly retreated, shuffling his feet.
Then, he pulled the trigger of his crossbow at the nearest bush.
"Swish! Thwack!"
"Gah…!" The crossbow bolt flew into the bush in an instant, hitting something and making it cry out.
Hearing that familiar sound, which he had only heard minutes ago, Karl El's eyelids twitched violently, and cold sweat gradually beaded on his forehead.
Immediately, without a moment's hesitation, he turned and ran.
"Damn it! Water ghouls are coming ashore to ambush people?! And they know how to use the environment for cover?!"
"Aren't water ghouls supposed to be timid? Since when did they become so intelligent? If there's a water ghoul in that bush, then what about the other bushes…?"
The Drowning Undead hid behind a tree trunk not far away, cautiously peeking out half its head to observe.
However, its other companions had not yet fully surrounded the prey when it had already detected them and was trying to escape.
Seeing its prey about to flee, the Drowning Undead's expression instantly became anxious.
It no longer concealed itself, stepping out from behind the tree trunk and letting out a low growl, commanding the water ghouls to abandon their hiding places and pursue the prey.
Its growl, however, was exceptionally piercing in the silent forest, successfully drawing Karl El's attention.
While running frantically, Karl El glanced back, first noticing water ghouls darting out of the bushes one after another.
He vaguely glimpsed a green figure standing by a tree; it was much taller and more robust than an ordinary water ghoul.
At this moment, the unknown creature was staring at him with an extremely cold gaze.
"What the hell is that thing, a water ghoul?!"
Cold sweat trickled down Karl El's forehead, and he couldn't help but swallow, turning his head to continue sprinting forward.
The closest water ghoul was only about two meters behind him.
If he dared to pause for even a moment, its sharp claws could immediately lash out at his back; failing to create distance meant he couldn't escape.
Moreover, there was another monster of unknown strength lurking, eyeing him ominously.
The Drowning Undead saw Karl El attempting to escape, and a hint of mockery appeared in its eyes, as if laughing at his futile struggle.
Its webbed feet fiercely gripped the ground, and then a gentle breeze rustled the leaves.
Its figure darted sideways, moving at least twice as fast as an ordinary water ghoul.
It didn't pursue in a straight line like the other water ghouls but chose to circle around to the side, out of his line of sight.
Karl El ran frantically through the bushes, with a group of relentless water ghouls hot on his heels.
He scanned his surroundings, estimating distances in his mind, and constantly watched the ground, as if guarding against something.
Finally, after running for more than ten meters, he glimpsed a faint reflection of light in a bush next to a tree.
Karl El's lips curved into a smirk, a look of schadenfreude on his face, and he lengthened his strides, stepping over something.
"Snap! Gah!!" The water ghoul closest to Karl El instantly stepped on a beast trap placed in the bush, used for catching prey.
Immediately, this water ghoul stumbled violently forward, falling head over heels.
Its webbed foot was caught in the trap, and it also tripped its companions who were chasing behind.
For a moment, dust flew everywhere, and Karl El finally had a moment to catch his breath.
He raised his crossbow, about to turn back to check the situation, when he suddenly felt a rush of wind by his ear.
Without the slightest hesitation, before he could even clearly see what was in front of him, he spun around and pulled the crossbow trigger.
"Swish! Gah!" The crossbow bolt flew out, clearly hitting something.
"Hmm? Was it that creepy-looking water ghoul?!" A figure appeared before Karl El.
The Drowning Undead clutched its bleeding shoulder, staring at him with a chilling gaze, then raised a claw and swiped at his chest.
Seeing this, Karl El immediately raised his arm to block; a massive force transmitted through his arm, followed by a sharp pain.
Karl El stumbled backward, losing his footing, and soon fell back against a tree.
"Clatter! Drip-drip-drip…" The crossbow fell to the ground, accompanied by the sound of dripping water.
He leaned against the tree trunk, his face pale, and looked at his wrist, which now had four claw marks bleeding profusely.
"Damn it, what kind of monster is this?! Such immense strength." Karl El endured the searing pain in his wrist, thinking to himself.
He had a slight advantage when fighting ordinary water ghouls, but against this monster, he had almost no power to resist.
At this moment, the water ghouls that had been tripped by their companion earlier also began to get up one after another.
Seeing this situation, Karl El knew he had no other choice. He gritted his teeth and pulled a necklace from his pocket.
[Detected extractable energy source. Extract?]
"Confirm extraction!"
Immediately, a panel, somewhere between real and illusory, appeared on his retina.
But simultaneously with the panel's appearance, a sentence composed of about a few dozen characters transmitted into his mind.
"Zio'bel Ard, Hârn aen Ard, Deire-Vid Ard…"
Name: [Karl El]
Energy Pool: [2006546]
Innate Abilities: [Bio-Field lv.0] [Steel Body lv.0] [Super Strength lv.0] [Super Speed lv.0]
[Super Senses lv.0] [Super Brain lv.0] [Heat Vision lv.0] [Ice Breath lv.0]
The Drowning Undead had intended to continue its attack and kill the helpless prey before it.
But seeing Karl El make a move to take something out, it cautiously retreated several steps, even commanding the other water ghouls to stand in front of it.
Because in the past, someone had made a similar gesture towards it, and that person had pulled out a spherical object that exploded.
Karl El saw the panel that appeared, first startled, then enlightened.
Although he didn't know much about Marvel and DC, how could he not recognize such iconic, signature characters?
"Ah? Bio-Field, Steel Body, Heat Vision, Ice Breath…"
"So familiar… Hiss! Aren't these all Superman's abilities!?"
"Uh, what do those string of characters mean? Some kind of knowledge inheritance? Could it be an ancient language?"