Chapter 263: Thunder Halberd
As mentioned before, Cheng Tian actually disliked the feeling of diving. The pressure from deep water areas and the bottomless darkness underwater always made him a little nervous.
But that was a thing of the past. With the enhancement of the Azure Fire Dragon Scale Armor, Cheng Tian, who had gained deep-water adaptability, swam freely like a fish in the waters that submerged more than half of the second layer.
Although the monsters formed by the magical residue of the Black Pearl were evil in nature, their bodies were exceptionally clean, and they had no metabolic system to activate. Therefore, the water here was not polluted, and it was fine even if one accidentally took a couple of gulps.
Cheng Tian, who was familiar with the path, still led the way, with Bazett and Utan, who had drunk underwater breathing potions, following closely behind.
Among them, Bazett cast a Rune of waterproof effect on herself, mainly to prevent her clothes from getting soaked, while Utan was dragging the pelvis of the Skeleton Kick Hands, who did not need to breathe at all. His long red fur had already begun to undulate with the current, appearing very flowing.
As for Lady Red Moon Goddess, she released a persistent magical shield around her body. This shield not only completely isolated her from the water but also actively retained some air for the Goddess to breathe.
Incidentally, she changed from a kite to a water ball state, forcibly diving with Bazett's brute strength.
After all, she was Lady Goddess of the Kingdom of Ys. Although neither of them hardly ever used magic for combat, they were full-fledged in auxiliary aspects. This kind of magical shield that could retain air was temporarily created by Fina—
As for whether Fina's sudden inspiration had anything to do with the red-haired orangutan Utan, who had already pouted at Cheng Tian's signal, that remained unknown.
Diving into the water of the second layer was unavoidable, as many essential paths were completely submerged. Cheng Tian was quite curious about how the Ys Goddess Expeditionary Team managed to get through.
If not everyone understood underwater breathing magic, then it should be that power was concentrated on one person, such as a strong individual like the Vice Commander or the High Priest, who would swim over, purify the statue, and then collectively teleport over.
It was just that Cheng Tian did not have White Crystals; otherwise, he might have made the same arrangements.
The deep-water area of the second layer was complex in terrain, with a maximum elevation difference of tens of meters, which was actually a rather severe environment for humans.
It was precisely because he had witnessed the tragic death of the Azure Fire Dragon that Cheng Tian deliberately studied issues related to diving, and then understood the key problems regarding decompression sickness in diving.
Simply put, it is a special disease where divers who have been in a high-pressure underwater environment for a long time may suffer tissue damage or even death after returning to a low-pressure environment on land. Generally, after deep diving, a decompression chamber is needed to assist recovery.
But Cheng Tian then asked about related issues in the Space, and the answer given was that species would affect the disease, and that after strength and physique reached a certain level, the occurrence of related diseases could also be largely ignored.
For humans, if strength is above 25 points, decompression sickness can basically be self-resolved. Of course, the premise is not to court death by rushing to deeper levels.
As for Utan, due to its species, although its strength was low, its HP conversion rate was high. Cheng Tian also arranged for him to stay in the shallow area, while he ventured alone into the deep-water area with a drop of about thirty meters, where he found a special treasure.
It was a long-handled war hammer, just like the Wings of the Azure Sky, placed on an altar submerged in deep water. Its surface occasionally flashed with purple electric light, yet it miraculously did not electrocute those nearby.
When Cheng Tian approached it to a certain distance, the Demon Hand Cage indeed glowed again and resonated with the hammer.
According to Jakob Brown's template, Cheng Tian guessed that the weapon formed by resonating with the Lightning Divine Artifact should be the Thunder Flash Spear from the original work, which had two spearheads that could extend and retract.
However, when the resonance ended, Cheng Tian's hand held a strange long-handled sharp weapon.
The tip of the long handle consisted of a spearhead and two crescent blades. The three combined to form a structure similar to the Chinese character 'well' (well). The moment Cheng Tian saw this thing, the words 'Fangtian Halberd' popped into his mind.
"Your template armament 'Demon Hand Cage' has resonated with the Ys Divine Artifact 'Purple Lightning War Hammer'—"
"『Demon Armament』 is activating—"
"You have obtained a brand new exclusive armament 'Thunder Halberd' and gained the corresponding 『Tactical Shell』 ability."
"Thunder Halberd: Lv1, Fangtian Halberd + Nine-Section Whip, Template Armament. Equipment Requirement: Demon Warrior Template / Demon Hand Cage holder.
Damage 30-30 (equivalent to Strength attribute), Lightning attribute damage, a small probability (less than 5%) of causing paralysis effect upon hitting a target, repeated hits will accumulate probability, resetting to zero and recalculating after one effect takes place. Durability - / -.
The long handle of the Thunder Halberd can split into a nine-section whip form via a mechanism. The chains linking each section are composed of lightning elements, which can be actively disassembled or instantly linked, with a maximum control distance of 40 meters.
Tactical Shell Thunderstorm — Concentrates lightning elements at the halberd head, performing a charged smash attack on the target, creating an area-of-effect thunderstorm damage. Base damage is 100 points, effective range is a 3-meter radius, all units within the range will receive equal damage, enemies outside the range will receive reduced damage, and an additional 10% chance of paralysis effect; for every 1 second of additional charging, damage increases by 100 points, paralysis effect probability +10%, maximum charge time is 3 seconds; Thunderstorm can forcibly destroy the armor and shells of certain Black Tower monsters, and break some cracked walls. Releasing Thunderstorm consumes 20 MP, an additional 1 second of charging increases MP consumption by 10 MP, no cooldown. (Tactical Shell skill bonus)
When you use Tactical Shell in areas such as water or other regions where lightning is easily conducted, the range of Thunderstorm will expand, but it may also harm friendly units.
When the Thunder Halberd is used in possession, it will retain the minimum template weapon damage."
"Additional comment: You can use it like Sun Quan's secret weapon 'Dragon Coiling Three-Section Staff' in 'Knights of Valour 2'."
If it weren't for the additional description above, Cheng Tian would have almost tested it on the spot, and if he had, Bazett nearby would likely have experienced the effects of deep-water electrocution.
Battle Wolf on electric chair.jpg
With the Thunder Halberd, the shell monsters in the deep-water area, which had physical damage immunity but were inconveniently blocking the way, and the insect monster badges hidden in the walls, all became easily solvable and obtainable items.
Aside from anything else, Falcom's map guidance was actually quite good. As long as a player got stuck, it was definitely due to missing a key item. Once the key item was obtained, anyone who wasn't severely directionally challenged could always pass the level.
Emerging from the water, everyone almost instinctively greedily breathed fresh air. This was almost an instinctive behavior for terrestrial creatures, and Cheng Tian was not in a hurry to continue forward, instead staying put to clean himself and observe his physical condition.
Both Bazett and Fina were very puzzled by this, not understanding why swimming in the water would involve physical danger.
So Cheng Tian patiently explained the knowledge related to decompression sickness, although he was also just learning as he went along.
"So that's it, I learned something."
Bazett, whose clothes were mostly dry, shook her wet hair, a look of sudden realization on her face.
Fina, on the other hand, became more interested in Cheng Tian's background. In her opinion, a world capable of researching and summarizing such disease symptoms already had a relatively high level of social development.
As Cheng Tian spoke, he activated Arthur's Proof, which was the cleaning spell that came with the strawberry panties. With a flash of light, the soaking wet Cheng Tian instantly became dry and refreshed.
This action, however, greatly astonished Fina, because at the same time Arthur's Proof was activated, she actually felt a righteous fighting spirit from Cheng Tian's crotch area, a spirit that only knights in the Temple Knight Order would possess... What kind of power could be so righteous in that particular spot!?