He merely raised his right hand, fingers splayed like an insurmountable iron gate, precisely meeting the Drowning Undead's palm, which was covered in slimy algae.
"Snap—hiss!"
Palm met palm, not with the clang of metal, but with a heavy thud of flesh, followed by a scalp-prickling tearing sound!
His seemingly casually splayed hand clamped down on the Drowning Undead's claw like a hydraulic pincer.
At this moment, the Drowning Undead's strength, enough to tear fishing nets and smash the sides of fishing boats, collided with Karl's palm as if hitting a concrete wall, unmoving.
Karl sneered at the Drowning Undead, letting out a cold snort.
"Your strength, in my eyes, is as laughable as a child's play."
The Drowning Undead glared at Karl with resentment, only hissing softly without responding. It secretly raised its right claw, attempting to attack.
Before he finished speaking, Karl's five fingers instantly tightened. The tough, slippery skin and muscles covering the Drowning Undead's fist were crushed, deformed, and torn like cheap leather.
Crimson blood and mucus spurted out from between Karl's fingers, mixed together.
"Gah? Gaha!!" The Drowning Undead's fish-like eyes widened uncontrollably, letting out its first shriek of pain and terror.
Its webbed feet frantically scraped backward on the ground, struggling to pull back its claw.
But Karl's hand was like an iron clamp rooted in place, refusing to budge.
Karl's eyes held disdain. His arm muscles flexed slightly, and an overwhelming, irresistible force surged through his arm.
"Get up!" A low, thunderous roar.
The next moment, under the Drowning Undead's terrified screams and the gazes of the other Water Ghosts,
Karl actually swung the Drowning Undead, which was much larger and heavier than him, with a single hand. The Drowning Undead's heavy body, weighing dozens of kilograms, was as light as nothing in his grasp.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!
The Drowning Undead's body became a dark green blur, accompanied by a mournful whistling wind, as Karl violently swung it around him like a pivot.
"Boom! Crack! Squish!"
Terrifying impact sounds, bone-shattering sounds, and flesh-tearing sounds instantly merged into one.
Under the Drowning Undead's silent command, the remaining three Water Ghosts, who had just gathered, had no time to react, as if they had been hit by a charging rock troll.
One was struck in the waist, its lumbar spine instantly pulverized, and its body grotesquely folded into two sections.
Another was directly hit in the head, its skull bursting open like a ripe watermelon, splattering red and white everywhere.
The last one tried to block with its sharp claws, resulting in both its arms and half its chest being smashed to a pulp by this terrifying "Drowning Undead Meteor Hammer."
With just one swing, three Water Ghosts were killed on the spot!
Dismembered limbs, mixed with internal organs and mucus, splattered everywhere, turning the surroundings into a bloody slaughterhouse.
Karl's arm suddenly paused, stopping the swing. The Drowning Undead was held high in the air by his single hand, suspended.
Earlier, when facing Karl, it had been in a posture of hunting and toying with prey, but in less than half a minute, the roles of hunter and prey had reversed.
Its proudly commanded ability over the Water Ghosts now seemed so ridiculous in front of Karl.
Multiple bones throughout the Drowning Undead's body had shattered during the violent swinging, its eyes filled with disbelief, fear, and despair.
It struggled in vain, tearing at Karl's arm with the claw it could still move, but it was too weak to even leave a mark.
Karl tilted his head slightly, looking at the twisted Drowning Undead in his hand, then threw it forward, smashing it onto the ground.
The forest was dead silent at this moment, even the chirping of insects had vanished.
Only the Drowning Undead's dying "hoarse" sounds from its throat remained, and the "drip… drip" of blood falling onto the decaying leaves.
The Drowning Undead did not die immediately. Karl saw it still struggling, crawling forward.
Seeing this, Karl came before it, then expressionlessly raised his foot and stomped hard on its neck.
"Crack… squelch!" Accompanied by the sounds of bone cracking and flesh splattering.
The Drowning Undead's neck was bent grotesquely and almost detached from its body, the light in its eyes gradually dimming.
Karl looked at the Drowning Undead's death, propping his chin with his elbow, lost in thought.
He felt that with his current strength, if he were to truly stomp on a Water Ghost's head, he could definitely crush their skulls.
However, Drowner Brains were quite valuable, so he wouldn't do that unless absolutely necessary.
From the previous battles and the dissection of other Water Ghosts, he found that Water Ghosts were very similar to ordinary humans in all aspects.
But the most crucial point was that they were not afraid of poison, had low pain perception, and significant blood loss was nothing to them.
This meant that as long as their limbs were intact, even if they suffered injuries, Water Ghosts still had combat capabilities, and Water Ghosts were gregarious monsters.
An ordinary human without a weapon, in a one-on-one situation, really couldn't beat a Water Ghost.
After all, if a person is injured, their condition will decline depending on the severity of the injury, and there will be psychological and other issues, all of which can determine the outcome.
Karl clenched his fist, looked up at the dazzling sun in the blue sky, and the corners of his mouth curved into an uncontrollable smile.
His superhuman abilities far exceeded his imagination; after a life-and-death struggle, he felt no fatigue at all.
Even more so, under the sunlight, his previously depleted stamina was gradually recovering.
"Hmm… this trip has been a huge harvest. I need to quickly check if there are any mutated items."
"Also, I need to hunt some game to bring back, otherwise it will be hard to explain…"
Immediately, Karl pulled out his dagger, squatted down, and began dissecting the Drowning Undead's corpse… Old Jack slowly finished maintaining his iron sword, then took out several loaves of bread from a storage bucket and placed them on a wooden plate as breakfast for the two of them.
Just as he was about to prepare drinks, the house door was suddenly knocked.
"Knock… knock, knock!"
"Hey, is anyone home?"
Hearing a stranger knocking, Jack instinctively glanced at the iron sword placed on the weapon rack. He hesitated for a moment and chose not to pick up the sword.
"Creak!" Jack unlatched the door and pulled open the wooden door, but he only opened it a small amount, not allowing the interior of the house to be seen clearly.
Jack saw that it was a middle-aged man, wearing a hooded cloak with a feather on it, and dressed quite decently.
There were no patches on his linen clothes, and behind him, several figures with swords hanging at their waists were vaguely visible.
This scene was quickly noticed by Jack. While subtly observing the figures behind, he conversed with the Tax Collector.
"Tax Collector? Is there something… I remember it's still some time until the tithe is due."
Facing the Tax Collector, Jack's expression was very calm, without the fawning typical of ordinary villagers.
Normally, if the Tax Collector saw Jack with such an attitude, he would surely scold him a bit.
He, a dignified Tax Collector, personally coming to visit, not being allowed inside the house, and not even getting a smile—this was an insult to him!
But at this moment, he did not flare up. Instead, he forced a somewhat gentle smile.
"Ahem… it's not about the tithe. Someone else wants to see you."
As he finished speaking, the Tax Collector stepped aside, revealing what was behind him.