I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate

Chapter 144: Chapter 137: Raised by a Lizard...

As the number of Marine Beasts swelled, even Su Ze began to feel the strain. The other soldiers were having an even harder time, and a growing number of the wounded were being sent to the rear for treatment.

A few naval soldiers running over from the distance cursed, ”It’s those bastards from Luofan Country! They’re driving the Marine Beasts toward us!”

”Screw their lizard ancestors! Let’s go get ’em!”

”Kill those lizard-spawned bastards!”

Hearing this, the soldiers grew furious, clamoring to go settle the score with the Luofan Country soldiers.

The Dongli Kingdom and Luofan Country shared a border. Lihai City was a border city, right next to Luofan’s Jada City. Luohui Beach, where Su Ze and the others were, was only a few hundred meters north of the national border between Dongli and Luofan.

Since Lihai City was suffering a large-scale invasion of Marine Beasts, Jada City, not far away, must be as well. However, for some reason, they had used some method to drive all the beasts into Dongli territory.

Jia Yuan said in a low voice, ”I’ll go take a look. You all stay here and don’t make any rash moves. Remember, the people of Dongli are standing behind you!”

Seeing Jia Yuan fly toward the border, Su Ze quickly followed, saying, ”Mr. Jia, take me with you.”

Ye Jin followed as well. ”I’m going too.”

...

At the border, the naval soldiers of Dongli and Luofan faced off, tensions high enough to snap. A fight could break out at any moment.

A Luofan Country officer demanded loudly, ”Which of your eyes saw us drive the Marine Beasts over?”

Other Luofan soldiers laughed in agreement. ”Exactly! What can we do if the Marine Beasts don’t want to come to our Luofan Country?”

”You people of Dongli are disrespectful to the gods, so you’re being punished by them. This is your just deserts!”

It wasn’t that the beach on Luofan Country’s side had no invading beasts, but compared to Dongli’s side, their numbers were abnormally low.

Moreover, it was clear that many of the Marine Beasts were coming from the waters off Luofan Country’s coast over to Dongli’s side.

Anyone who wasn’t a fool could see that something was definitely wrong.

The Dongli Kingdom soldiers’ eyes widened in fury as they roared back, ”You must be behind this, you lizard-loving bastards!”

The Luofan soldiers were also provoked, but both sides were maintaining a final thread of restraint.

A row of small flags stuck in the sand marked the national border. So far, no one had crossed it. If anyone took the first step over the line, a battle would be inevitable.

Just then, Jia Yuan arrived with Su Ze and Ye Jin. The Dongli soldiers, as if they had found their backbone, quickly gathered around him.

Jia Yuan’s tone was firm. ”Cease your actions immediately, or we will retaliate.”

The Luofan Country officer sneered. ”What actions? Why don’t you be specific?”

Jia Yuan suddenly took a large step forward, stopping right at the border. The Luofan Country officer’s muscles immediately tensed as he prepared for battle.

Jia Yuan said, ”We are both soldiers. Why waste time with nonsense? I’ll ask you one thing: are you looking for a fight?”

The Luofan officer was just as unyielding. ”The duty of a Luofan Army soldier is to defend our territory. If you dare step foot inside Luofan, we will fight you to the death.”

Jia Yuan frowned slightly. Dongli was in a passive position. Luofan Country was blatantly planning to keep driving the Marine Beasts into Dongli territory. If this continued, the Dongli soldiers wouldn’t be able to hold on. Moreover, Luofan Country wasn’t attacking first. They were just waiting for Dongli to cross the line so they could counterattack under the pretext of defending their land.

In short, whoever crossed the border first would be in the wrong. Besides, Dongli’s defenses were already strained. If a fight broke out, it would divert too much strength, and they would likely fail to hold back the Marine Beast invasion.

But if they kept dragging this out, the pressure on Dongli’s side would only grow. Jia Yuan was not a man who lacked decisiveness, and he was about to give the order to attack.

But just then, Su Ze stopped him.

”Mr. Jia, Luofan Country must be using some method underwater to drive all the Tier 2 and below Marine Beasts to our side.”

Su Ze had been observing for a while and noticed that the few beasts that occasionally crawled ashore on Luofan’s side were almost all Tier 3, while not a single Tier 3 beast was among those running from Luofan’s waters toward Dongli.

’This suggests that whatever they’re using, whether it’s a skill or the power of a strange artifact, it’s likely only at the Tier 3 level, which is why it can only affect beasts below Tier 3.’

Jia Yuan understood. He asked, ”Are you saying I should go underwater and find the person causing this trouble?”

After the Era of Evolution began, the oceans had become the territory of Marine Beasts. Nations no longer had any concept of ”territorial waters.” Even if they entered the sea off Luofan’s coast, it wouldn’t be considered entering Luofan territory.

Besides, as long as they dealt with the troublemaker and stopped the beasts from Luofan’s side from running toward Dongli, the problem would naturally be solved without the need for a large-scale conflict.

Jia Yuan thought for a moment, took a few steps back, and plunged into the sea.

The Luofan Country officer’s expression changed. He also took a few quick steps and leaped into the water, followed by many other Luofan soldiers.

The Dongli soldiers, afraid Jia Yuan would be at a disadvantage, also had more than ten men jump into the sea after him.

Su Ze was about to go down to check on the situation when Ye Jin grabbed him. She said, ”You have no experience with underwater combat. You’d better not go. Fighting in the sea is completely different from fighting on land. The naval soldiers have all undergone special training.”

”Don’t worry, I have a skill for underwater movement.”

With that, Su Ze activated his Celestial Sea Wings skill and dived into the ocean, darting toward the seabed like an agile fish.

’Celestial Sea Wings is an S-rank skill for a reason.’ Su Ze felt no discomfort underwater; in fact, he was even more agile than on land.

’Why does it feel like for this Flying Skill, Celestial Sea Wings, flying is just a bonus and diving is its real strength...?’ Su Ze found that its flight capabilities weren’t particularly outstanding, but its diving and swimming abilities were incredibly useful.

He, a man who couldn’t swim, was more agile than a fish underwater, and his vision was perfectly clear.

Though not as fast as Mr. Ya’s Water Escape, it excelled in endurance. Water Escape consumed a lot of energy with prolonged use, but swimming like this cost Su Ze almost nothing.

Su Ze quickly caught up to the Dongli soldiers ahead of him. They were stunned to see that Su Ze was an even better swimmer than they were.

As for Jia Yuan, being a Butterfly Stage expert, his speed underwater was even faster. He was already far ahead at the very front.

Su Ze also saw the Luofan Country soldiers. The officer in the lead was the fastest, heading straight for Jia Yuan.

The dozen or so Dongli soldiers with Su Ze couldn’t help Jia Yuan. They charged directly toward the other Luofan soldiers to intercept them. The two sides clashed instantly, beginning an underwater skirmish.

Su Ze didn’t rush to join the fight. He scanned his surroundings. Underwater, he could see more clearly that swarms of Marine Beasts were charging toward the Luofan coast, only to abruptly change course less than five hundred meters from the shore and head toward the Dongli Kingdom.

’Something in that area must be interfering with and influencing the beasts.’

Having confirmed the location, Su Ze first charged into the battle between the two nations’ soldiers and laid into the Luofan troops. At best, these soldiers were at the Cocoon Stage, with many only at the Pupa Stage. None could withstand a single blow from him.

Su Ze unleashed a series of five whip strikes, unsure how many he had killed or maimed. He followed up with a right whip kick and a left front kick, sweeping down a large number of them. Seeing that few Luofan soldiers remained and the Dongli soldiers could handle them, he broke away from the fight and darted toward the spot hundreds of meters away where the beasts were being diverted.

By now, Jia Yuan had already engaged the Luofan officer. The two Butterfly Stage experts were locked in a fierce battle, their fight causing the surrounding seawater to constantly vaporize and evaporate. Su Ze made an agile turn, carving a graceful arc through the water to bypass the two Butterfly Stage combatants and head straight for his target.

As he got closer, Su Ze finally saw someone hiding behind a coral reef. It was a skinny, dark-skinned, middle-aged man in a Luofan Country military uniform. His head was tilted back and his mouth was open, as if he were shouting at the water above, but not a single sound could be heard.

However, barely perceptible ripples spread out through the water.

’That’s him, no doubt...’ Su Ze could tell this was some kind of sonic-type skill used to interfere with the Marine Beasts’ movements.