Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Protect the maggot so it could grow up safely!

Mo Fan felt the urge to hit his head on an iron pot and kill himself!

-What the heck? Is that really possible?-

Mu Ningxue's attractive eyes were wide, too.

This job that Lingling gave them… wasn't it a bit too ridiculous?

"Not only can't we kill it, but we still have to babysit it like some nannies? Are you being serious!?" Bobby almost dropped his jaw.

"I already mentioned that we need to wait for it to mature and reach its final form to retrieve the immune cells we need for the vaccine. This maggot that we have is the only one with a tracker, and is the only sample we have. It's very unlikely that we can catch another one anytime soon, since we never know who's going to be the Drowning Curse's next victim, nor can we tell who currently has the maggot in their bodies. The victims die very quickly, and there's no way we can wait around 24/7 at the beach. Even if we did, these transparent creatures will vanish as soon as they come into contact with water. We won't have an opportunity like this!" Lingling said seriously.

"Err… can you give us some time to digest the information? It's too much to take in for the time being," Mo Fan said.

The three exchanged glances with one another. They would rather be told to kill some demon creatures, take out some monsters, or track some creature down, but to protect a transparent creature that was going to vanish as soon as it went into the ocean until it grew up? That was simply too much!

Who knew where this little thing would go in the ocean, what kind of sea monsters it would stumble into? Besides, with how weak and fragile the creature was, it might even die if an undercurrent shoved it onto a reef when the group was not paying attention. Some creatures might even swallow it with a tiny sip!

"May I ask... how fast does this thing grow? If it needs a few months, or even a few years to reach its final form, doesn't that mean we have to keep protecting it?" Bobby asked.

"Not really, the creature has actually lived for quite a long time in the host. They grow pretty quickly after moving into the ocean. According to my estimation, if the process is smooth enough, it will reach its final form in less than a month. Mo Fan, Mu Ningxue, you two might need to request a leave from the national team. I need both of you to focus on this for half a month. You do know how tricky it can be, and you do understand that if we succeed, not only will we secure the reward pool and make our names known to the World Hunter Union, we can also save the countless people that might die to the Drowning Curse. I've checked the records, and the frequency of the Drowning Curse occurring to people keeps increasing. It's important to take out these maggots that are able to live in human bodies. There's no way we can kill them after they have already found a host. A vaccine is our only hope!" Lingling told the three seriously.

Mo Fan knew how serious the matter was. He nodded and said, "We'll try our best to take care of it."

"Count me in, I'm very familiar with the ocean. I won't allow more people to die to these creatures that already killed my two brothers. I'm surely going to… ugh, anyway, I'll be watching it!" Bobby said.

Bobby was struggling to make the decision too. He had a massive urge to simply stomp the little thing to death right away, but somehow, he ended up as the bodyguard of his brother's murderer!

However, the rational side in him agreed with everything that the smart little girl had said. Killing the little maggot was utterly meaningless. It was more important to find a solution to the Drowning Curse!

Bobby believed that if his brother Norke knew they had managed to find the breakthrough because of his death, he would be relieved in Heaven!

"It has swum more than a kilometer into the ocean. It's still within the safe zone, so there won't be any demon creatures around. However, once it leaves the safe zone, we'll have to be on our guard at all times," Lingling said.

"I'll go prepare a speedboat. Wait for me at the beach," Bobby said.

---

Not long after, the four of them were on a speedboat chasing after the Drowning Curse Maggot under Lingling's instructions.

The Drowning Curse Maggot was not very fast. They easily maintained a distance of five hundred meters from the creature. When it started diving deeper, Bobby, the Water Mage would follow it.

Bobby's primary Element was Water, but he was only an ordinary Intermediate Mage. He did not even have a Soul Seed, but he was quite experienced in moving underwater. He was the best option they had to stay close to the Drowning Curse Maggot.

Mo Fan and Mu Ningxue were on standby on the boat. Mo Fan gave Zhao Manyan a call when he had the time and asked him to notify the national team that both Mu Ningxue and he would be away temporarily.

The national team did allow its members to be away, but they would not be getting the resources that were supposedly allocated to them.

Mo Fan roughly calculated it. The resources allocated to them over fifteen days were only worth a Spirit-grade Seed. It was nowhere enough for Mo Fan. He would rather bet his time on solving the Drowning Curse. That was a total of three hundred and fifty million waiting for him in the pool!

"Hey, where did you two go for your little, private date this time? I thought you were interested in finding the truth about the gigantic skeleton?" Zhao Manyan asked.

"You won't believe me," Mo Fan said.

"When did I not believe you?" Zhao Manyan said.

"Well, basically, we are currently protecting a murderer maggot..." Mo Fan briefly explained the Drowning Curse to Zhao Manyan.

Zhao Manyan had never heard of the Drowning Curse before. When he heard that Mo Fan was going to protect a little maggot until it matured, he immediately lowered his voice and said, "Did you suffer a brain injury when you were fighting against Philip?"

"Brain your ass, I told you it was a waste of time trying to explain it to you! Anyway, Mu Ningxue and I will be away for at least half a month," Mu Ningxue said.

"Do you two really need to come up with such a ridiculous excuse that sounds like you two are trying to save the world? Remember to stay safe, Mu Ningxue is still planning to shine at the World College Tournament in Venice, be careful not to give her the extra burden..." Zhao Manyan advised kindly.

Mo Fan was left speechless.

"Mo Fan, enough talk, there's a situation!" Lingling's tablet started blinking with a red alert. It seemed like the maggot was in danger!

"I'm not the best when it comes to fighting underwater," said Mo Fan helplessly.

"Go down there and take out its natural foe!" Lingling shoved Mo Fan into the water.

Mo Fan dove into the ocean and quickly used the Space Element to quarantine himself from the water, just so he could breathe normally.

Mu Ningxue followed Mo Fan into the water, too. She was a much better swimmer than Mo Fan. She adeptly swam through the water while wriggling her soft body. Her slender legs produced little ripples as she waved her stunning bottom and her waist at times. Mo Fan suddenly felt an uneasiness between his legs the more he stared at her!