92: Murloc

Everyone waited for another few tens of seconds.

At this moment, every second of waiting was an extreme torment.

Just as everyone's eyes began to dim, a head suddenly emerged from the water.

Lu Chuan's face immediately lit up with joy, but when he saw it was Zhang Kai and He Jingrui was nowhere to be found, his heart sank.

However, he didn't hesitate much and immediately jumped into the water, quickly swimming to Zhang Kai, who was thrashing about.

Then, he grabbed Zhang Kai by the collar and swam towards the lake shore.

People who accidentally fall into the water will instinctively try to grab onto anything nearby.

Often, this is quite tricky for lifeguards.

One wrong move, and the lifeguard can also be dragged down by the person they are trying to save, leading to them choking on water and falling into danger themselves.

But when Zhang Kai found himself being held by the collar by a hand, no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't budge the owner of that hand in the slightest.

Before he could even react to what was happening, he was already pulled onto the shore by the people by the lake.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

After a violent fit of coughing, a crying woman threw herself into his arms.

Zhang Kai opened his swollen eyes, saw it was Zhang Qin, comforted her a few times, and then looked up, ready to see who had saved him.

He found that besides Zhang Qin, everyone was still gathered by the lake, shouting out urgent calls of "Little Boss!"

"Little Boss? Did Little Boss save me?"

Just as Zhang Kai's face was about to show gratitude, the terrifying image of the monstrous fish monster underwater suddenly flashed through his mind, and he shivered.

He couldn't sit still anymore, anxiously shouting "Little Boss!" as he rushed to the lakeside.

However, he found that the lake surface was incredibly murky, and Lu Chuan was nowhere in sight.

"How can this be?!"

Boundless self-reproach surged in Zhang Kai's heart.

He collapsed to the ground and burst into tears.

---

After Lu Chuan helped the people by the lake get Zhang Kai onto the shore.

He thrashed about in the water while asking the system in his mind.

Once he received the system's reply, his heart immediately settled.

He no longer hesitated and plunged into the water.

The next moment, appetite coins on the system's account disappeared one by one.

In return, Lu Chuan gained temporary abilities for underwater breathing and seeing in the dark.

["appetite coins" are the universal currency of the system's store, with many uses, including but not limited to exchanging items, improving cooking skills, and healing injuries.]

That naturally also included some abilities that were very useful at critical moments.

Just like now.

Lu Chuan dove down, all the way until his feet touched the slippery bottom of the lake, then quickly began searching for He Jingrui.

At this moment, he saw a group of fish swimming frantically towards him from his left.

Lu Chuan immediately swam in the direction the fish were coming from.

He swam past the fish and continued for several tens of meters.

Only then did he see He Jingrui, and a merman swimming around He Jingrui, constantly attacking him.

"A merman with limbs?!"

This horrifying scene almost made Lu Chuan doubt his sanity.

Fortunately, after being baptized by the sights and sounds of the world behind the fissure, he quickly accepted this reality.

"He Jingrui's situation isn't looking good!"

Lu Chuan watched as He Jingrui's movements began to become distorted due to lack of oxygen.

Coupled with what seemed to be a fear of the merman, he couldn't unleash much of his strength.

"At this rate, he's probably done for!"

Lu Chuan was anxious, quickly thinking of a solution.

"That's right, System, can you also give He Jingrui the ability to breathe underwater?"

[Abilities exchanged with appetite coins are limited to the host's use.]

This method wouldn't work, so Lu Chuan came up with another plan.

"Then temporarily create a three-meter spherical water-repelling shield around me."

[The host is quite quick-witted.]

The system praised him, then immediately cleared the water around Lu Chuan.

But the cost was that the consumption rate of appetite coins doubled.

"I need to be quick, otherwise, if too many appetite coins are consumed, and the 30-day repayment period passes, if I can't pay back the 20,000 appetite coins I owe, I'll truly be dead."

Lu Chuan felt a sense of urgency and immediately rushed to He Jingrui's side, dragging He Jingrui into the water-repelling shield.

He Jingrui was stunned, but his combat instincts were very sharp, and without time to think, he grabbed the merman's scaly hand and pulled the monster into the water-repelling shield as well.

This sudden change caught the merman off guard, and it immediately fell limply to the ground.

It clearly couldn't survive out of water, thrashing helplessly on the ground like a fish out of water, looking very pained.

Lu Chuan quickly pushed He Jingrui, urging He Jingrui to strike while it was down.

But seeing He Jingrui's cowardly demeanor, he immediately got angry.

Every second wasted consumed his appetite coins!

"If you don't go now, don't even think about eating my cooking tomorrow."

This tactic indeed worked.

No matter how unwilling He Jingrui was, he had no choice but to go.

He gathered strength for a second, then threw a punch, and the merman's head immediately exploded into a mist of blood.

At the same time, Lu Chuan quickly canceled the use of the water-repelling shield, underwater breathing, and dark vision abilities, then prepared to pull He Jingrui to the surface.

In this short time, thousands of appetite coins had been consumed, making Lu Chuan so heartbroken he almost cried.

However, He Jingrui struggled slightly, and just as Lu Chuan was momentarily stunned, he noticed He Jingrui's struggling strength weakening.

He didn't have time to think much, pulling He Jingrui along as they quickly swam upwards.

A minute later, both of them broke the surface of the water simultaneously, then took deep breaths of the slightly fishy air.

At this moment, the two faintly heard cheers coming from the lakeside.

They exchanged glances and both smiled.

Upon returning to shore, everyone applauded Lu Chuan and He Jingrui, with various praises flowing endlessly.

At this moment, Zhang Kai pushed aside the people in his way and, together with Zhang Qin, walked up to Lu Chuan and He Jingrui.

Just as the two were stunned, Zhang Kai and Zhang Qin had already knelt down and heavily kowtowed three times.

Lu Chuan and He Jingrui were greatly alarmed and quickly tried to move away.

However, Qi's Father had already shouted:

"This is them thanking you two for saving their lives. Just accept it, otherwise, they might develop a psychological burden."

Zhang Kai and Zhang Qin also looked up, their eyes red and swollen, looking at Lu Chuan and He Jingrui with pleading expressions.

Lu Chuan and He Jingrui exchanged glances, then could only give a wry smile, standing awkwardly in place, accepting Zhang Kai and Zhang Qin's kowtows of gratitude.

At this time, a diner happened to have a camera with her and immediately captured this scene.

Besides being a loyal diner of Lu Chuan, she was also a newspaper reporter, and at this moment, her mind was already busy thinking about how to write a report on their heroic act when she returned.

By this time, the ambulance had also arrived.

Without explanation, everyone wanted to take Lu Chuan and He Jingrui to the hospital for examination.

But how could Lu Chuan dare to go?

He and He Jingrui had both awakened Gourmet Cells; to some extent, they were already considered New Humans.

If they went to the hospital, it would be fine if nothing was found.

But if something was found, and it alarmed certain departments, would they ever be able to live a peaceful life again?

"No need, we're not injured. Goodbye everyone, see you next week if fate allows!"

Lu Chuan immediately pulled He Jingrui, who was still in a daze, rushed out of the crowd, got on his tricycle, and sped away, leaving a trail of dust.

Behind him, the diners, doctors, and nurses were left with bewildered expressions.