Swiftly, those four Tentacle Monsters received Saruman's command and frantically began blasting vast, dense beams of Death Rays toward Hachmuga. These rays, thick as a wine glass and shooting out like lasers, sent a chill down Fang Senyan’s spine just from observation. Not only were these Death Rays incredibly powerful, but they clearly carried various debilitating weakness attributes. Fang Senyan judged that even at his peak, he absolutely could not endure four or five consecutive blasts.

As the Death Rays flew toward it, Hachmuga merely languidly raised its tentacles and effortlessly deflected each beam. For reasons unknown, when the rays struck its skin, they seemed to refract strangely, bouncing back onto the surrounding rock walls with a sizzling sound, even corroding deep pits into the stone.

It was evident that the genes within these Tentacle Monsters were cultivated and modified by Saruman after studying the life-drained eggs, making them of the same origin as Hachmuga itself. Naturally, the attack held no weight in Hachmuga’s eyes, and it parried them with casual ease. Whether it was Fang Senyan’s illusion or not, he thought he even detected a hint of mockery in the eyes of the colossal female octopus.

At that moment, Saruman arrived. Upon seeing the massive octopus, even from a considerable distance, his gaze betrayed a palpable, almost visible greed! He immediately began directing his Uruk-hai subordinates to surround the creature, though he held back the elite Uruk-hai warriors.

It was worth noting that the preceding torrential flood, while overwhelming, was not a fatal threat to a Uruk-hai leader like Lurtz; it merely left him mud-splattered and thoroughly discomfited.

At this point, Jieshi and Wuge both approached. Jieshi exclaimed excitedly, “Excellent! Now only the old, weak, sick, and disabled Uruk-hai remain in the canyon outside. Once the fighting starts between the two sides, we can immediately climb out of this passage in the cliff face and circle around to their rear to force our way out. Even if Saruman realizes this, he won’t let the small loss outweigh the gain to pursue us.”

A glimmer of light flashed in Fang Senyan’s eyes. He slowly shook his head and said with measured seriousness, “It is not yet time.”

Jieshi looked stunned. “Then when is the best time for us to go?”

Fang Senyan suddenly replied evasively, “Look at the battle below.”

Jieshi cautiously peered down. Hachmuga was currently under siege by over twenty Uruk-hai, with nearly ten Tentacle Monsters providing ranged suppression from the rear. Yet, simply by wielding two tentacles, it managed both offense and defense.

Just as Jieshi looked out, Hachmuga swept a tentacle out of the water with a loud swish. With uncanny agility, it wrapped around the tentacle of one Uruk-hai, tightened its grip slightly, snapping the unfortunate creature’s bones throughout its body before swiftly tossing it into its mouth to chew vigorously. The Uruk-hai’s black blood spurted out ceaselessly under its mastication, creating an impression akin to a desperately thirsty person forcefully biting into a plump, juicy orange, spraying pulp everywhere.

For Hachmuga, having recently finished laying eggs and having fought a fierce battle with its mortal enemy, it desperately needed large amounts of food to replenish its strength. These damned ants, at this moment, were simply serving up themselves as dinner. Jieshi watched a while longer, and three more Uruk-hai were coiled up by the terrifying tentacles and dragged into Hachmuga’s maw. Saruman, not intervening to command a retreat, only allowed Hachmuga to indulge its hunger for the annoying pests, compelling the giant octopus to crawl step-by-step out of the subterranean lake.

Jieshi’s mind raced, and he immediately understood: “We move now! Saruman is too greedy. He was actually planning to lure Hachmuga out of the lake! Firstly, to reduce the creature’s power, and secondly, I suspect he was hoping to kill it, or perhaps even capture it alive…”

Fang Senyan patted his shoulder and stated earnestly, “Correct. If Wuge can grant us underwater breathing, then we can take advantage of this giant being lured out and directly enter the underground lake.”

Jieshi frowned. “But…”

Fang Senyan understood his concern and said calmly, “There is no ‘but.’ Saruman had great difficulty reaching this place before, most likely because Hachmuga frequently operates in that lake. Therefore, we can deduce that this underground lake must be connected to the outside lake. Under normal circumstances, our chances of swimming across would be barely fifty-fifty. But with the divine spell of underwater breathing enhancement, it’s much safer—completely worry-free. We can escape smoothly without alarming anyone!”

By this time, Hachmuga had been fully lured out of the underground lake. It continued to ravenously strike at the Uruk-hai before it. These fierce and strong warriors were, in Hachmuga’s eyes, like freshly baked Portuguese egg tarts served for afternoon tea, perfect for replenishing its weakened state. Therefore, facing the enemy’s retreat, it showed no mercy. Though its movements appeared slow as it used its tentacles to traverse the land, its pace was in no way inferior to that of the Uruk-hai.

After killing six or seven Uruk-hai consecutively, Saruman made a subtle gesture, and the vanguard of his troops immediately broke ranks and fled. Hachmuga’s eyes flashed fiercely, unwilling to let them go, and it gave chase frantically. Along the way, it devoured four more Orcs, but when it chased them to the entrance of the cave, the Uruk-hai leader Lurtz was standing in the distance, positioned on a high boulder directly opposite the cave mouth!

He was still dripping water, his face bore scrapes, and his appearance was quite wretched, but he narrowed one eye, within which shone an indescribable light.

He drew the longbow that could match the Elven Prince Legolas blow-for-blow, and nocked the arrow that even the Regent’s eldest son, Boromir, former commander of the armies of the White Tower, had shot down alive!!! The blue veins on his thick arms coiled and twisted like snakes. He then directly drew the bow—Hhhiiissstttt!!

This shot was no longer Lurtz’s own strength, but an attack released jointly by Saruman and him! Accompanied by the harrowing curse of ten thousand vengeful souls howling together!

It was utterly impossible to track the arrow’s trajectory. One only saw Lurtz bend the bow, nock the arrow, aim, and then, as if instantly aged ten years, he violently vomited blood and collapsed. The colossal octopus Hachmuga’s massive, bell-like eye burst open! It let out a piercing, agonizing shriek and tried to retreat into the cave to escape into the lake.

But Saruman’s clone raised his staff high, chanting an incantation. The spell was articulated word by word from his wrinkled lips. The first syllable seemed utterly soundless, but the second was already booming, and the final syllable of the incantation erupted with the force of thunder!

The solid rock wall at the entrance of the cave rapidly developed spider-web cracks that continued to spread, followed by a collapse! With a thunderous crash, the entrance crumbled away completely. In the huge cloud of dust, the narrow passage was still vaguely visible, but for the giant beast Hachmuga, it was now an impassable chasm—a dead end!

At this moment, the three of them rushed toward the underground lake without hesitation. As they passed over the ground where the octopus had previously rested, they found the slime there was extraordinarily thick; with almost every step, their soles dragged out long, silken strands.

Suddenly, their minds hummed with a resonant WENG, and their thoughts seemed to go blank for an instant. They staggered forward and fell to the ground together. Fang Senyan’s mouth and nose were almost completely covered in the transparent slime, looking utterly disgusting, as if plastered with snot.

But as soon as he recovered, he said calmly, “Saruman is about to have some serious trouble. Hachmuga is no tame creature either…”

Wuge shot him a confused look. Fang Senyan sighed, “Don’t forget, this damned octopus can also spew powerful hallucinogenic gas that can mentally dominate Orcs and even the ** next to me (Jieshi glared)! These two monstrous abilities are useless against the Balrog, but…” Never forget that the many Tentacle Monsters Saruman created were based on Hachmuga’s genes. The wise can err a thousand times; I suspect the old man didn't pay enough attention to this aspect, or perhaps he was overly confident in his own research. He’s going to suffer a great loss here today!”

As Fang Senyan finished speaking, dense screams could already be faintly heard—the screams of several Uruk-hai warriors at once! Clearly, Fang Senyan’s deduction was correct: the powerful Tentacle Monsters had been instantly counter-controlled by the enraged Hachmuga, catching Saruman completely off guard.

Could the dignity of a legendary creature be so casually affronted?

It was likely that the betrayal of the Tentacle Monsters at this moment left a huge psychological scar on Saruman, leading him to abandon his research on them forever and focus his energy solely on the Uruk-hai. Thus, the briefly appearing Tentacle Monsters vanished from the world forever…

Fang Senyan casually picked up a few Hachmuga Eggs nearby. Although they had been burned by the Balrog’s fire spirits and lost their souls, they were still premium healing artifacts. He then had Wuge apply the divine spell of underwater breathing, and they jumped into the underground lake to swim away.

After casting the underwater breathing spell, a thin, transparent mask formed over the faces of Fang Senyan and the others, emitting a faint, gentle green glow, efficiently separating the air to supply them.