The colossal Turtle-Shrimp was over ten meters long, and with the shell on its back, I estimated its weight exceeded a ton.

Although it didn't fall from a great height, it still churned up waves of mud that reached the sky.

Buffeted by this surge, I sank considerably lower into the mire.

However, at that moment, I couldn't spare a thought for myself, as Xiao Bai was pinned directly beneath the Turtle-Shrimp.

I thought, even a massive crane couldn't lift the creature now.

Though I felt a pang of regret, there was nothing to be done.

But then, a voice resonated in my mind: "I'm fine, hurry and swim over here, this spot seems quite shallow!"

Hearing Xiao Bai's voice startled me. The image of what had just happened flashed through my mind, and I realized that at the very moment the Turtle-Shrimp crashed down, Xiao Bai, figuring death was inevitable, had plunged straight into the mud pit. To his surprise, not only did he not die, but he discovered a raised mound beneath the swamp, a spot where he could stand without drowning.

Yet, it became even stranger, because even if drowning was averted, the sheer impact of the fall had been real.

Though I couldn't fathom the reason, this wasn't the time for investigation; I had to find a way to swim over.

To be honest, this was my first time swimming in a swamp. The resistance was something ordinary people couldn't overcome, as the slurry was incredibly viscous.

But to seize that sliver of hope, I gave it everything I had.

Fortunately, my stamina was beyond the ordinary; with just a few powerful strokes, I actually began to move through the muck.

But that resistance was truly beyond normal endurance; I swam perhaps two or three meters, and my entire body felt like it was about to fall apart.

Just as I was slick with sweat and on the verge of collapse, several bubbles suddenly erupted from the swamp ahead, and then a dry, gnarled branch extended up from the mire.

I thought, when did Xiao Bai become so agile as to extend a branch to me?

Those two rows of appendages beneath his body shouldn't possess such a function.

But there was no time to dwell on it; my life was on the line. I clung to the branch as if it were the last straw.

Xiao Bai's body was obscured by the Turtle-Shrimp's shell, and I couldn't see him at all, but the immense, steady strength pulling on the branch conveyed his fierce will to live.

As he pulled, I crawled forward along the branch, and soon I reached the area beneath the Turtle-Shrimp’s shell.

By then, I was utterly exhausted, only managing to gasp for air, paying no mind to who might be beside me.

Although I couldn't see Xiao Bai, I assumed I would soon see a mud-caked monster emerging from the earth.

But what I hadn't expected was that after a few seconds, a human head suddenly popped out of the mud pit.

The head was completely covered in silt, its features indistinguishable, and perhaps because the eyes were too large, the whites of the eyes were strikingly visible.

I assumed it was a corpse drowned in the swamp long ago—perhaps even an ancient, preserved corpse—and I flinched, instinctively reaching out to push it away.

To my surprise, as my hands pushed forward, they landed squarely on the person's chest. The texture felt wrong, soft and yielding, and warm.

Crucially, the moment I touched it, the figure cried out, "Stupid alien! Where are you touching!"

The voice I had heard in my mind earlier, supposedly Xiao Bai's, had been genderless. Now, hearing this, the voice was unmistakably a beautiful female one.

This instantly dispelled the image of Xiao Bai I held, and I stammered out, "Where! Where did a woman come from!"

The figure replied, "No need to panic, this is merely the secondary form of us Ilkherethians. However, we rarely use this form because it’s frankly rather unsightly. There was no choice this time; if I had remained in my previous configuration, I certainly would have been crushed by the Turtle-Shrimp. In this second form, my body is smaller, making me less likely to be flattened. Otherwise, I’d be dead now."

I nodded, feeling a flush creep up my face, because I could see she was completely unclothed, her two rounded breasts making my blood rush.

I turned my head aside and said, "So, you are a woman, then?"

Xiao Bai responded, "You could say that. Among the Ilkhereth, we don't call it a woman; we call it a Nubi."

I murmured softly, "Oh, Nubi."

Hearing me utter the word, Xiao Bai immediately snapped back in a stern tone, "But you cannot call me that!"

I froze, unsure why she was angry, and managed to ask haltingly, "W-Why..."

Xiao Bai fell silent for a moment, then said, "I cannot tell you yet."

I shrugged helplessly, saying, "Fine... if you won't tell me, then don't."

As we spoke, the two Turtle-Shrimps started up again, kicking their legs about haphazardly.

The one that had fallen off its back was now lying helplessly upside down, struggling to right itself.

But whereas the male had resisted violently before, now it seemed to yield, slowly climbing onto the female's body.

The mating of arthropods is always so complicated; clearly, neither desired injury or consumption, but the instinct to propagate offspring drove the male to approach the female.

Xiao Bai and I fought the churning mud, desperately trying to keep our footing amidst constant peril.

Xiao Bai suddenly remarked, "This posture..."

Having an unclothed female discussing copulatory postures right in front of me—even if they weren't human postures—made my face burn all the way to the roots of my neck.

I stammered, "W-What's wrong with this posture?"

Xiao Bai explained, "This posture signifies they have begun mating."

My face grew hotter. "Is... is that so?"

Xiao Bai looked at me, exasperated. "What are you, an alien, thinking!"

I averted my gaze, muttering, "Nothing! I wasn't thinking anything."

Xiao Bai paused again. "Forget it, foolish human—or rather, foolish descendant of Atlantis. We are still in danger. We don't know how far this stable ground in the swamp extends. We need to move toward the edge of this area and escape this predicament as soon as possible. I will deal with you later."

Hearing that sent a cold sweat down my spine. "I didn't do anything, why do you have to 'deal with me'..."

Xiao Bai ignored me and walked ahead, leaving me utterly speechless.

However, seeing her figure—the gentle curves, that waist, those breasts, that rear... gods above!

Xiao Bai swayed and moved forward, and the Turtle-Shimps behind us grew restless. Having no choice, I followed close behind.

Though I stayed close, I still dared not stare directly; I could only use my feet to gauge the terrain beneath the mud, feeling my way forward.

As I walked, I suddenly remembered something critical: if we moved away from the Turtle-Shimps, wouldn't the dangerous insects in the swamp charge us without restraint?

I sniffed myself—the insect-repellent gas had almost entirely evaporated.

Xiao Bai had clearly noticed this too. She turned back to look at me, just about to speak, when suddenly a thick, tentacle-like limb, resembling an octopus arm, shot out from the swamp beside us and instantly wrapped around Xiao Bai's waist.

Xiao Bai gasped in terror. Before she could utter a sound, she was hoisted into the air by the tentacle.

I thought, what is an octopus doing here? This is too strange!

Thoughts aside, I knew saving Xiao Bai was paramount. I raised the strange magic flute in my hand and began pressing the keys randomly.

Unexpectedly, I hit the right note! The sonic wave bullet fired once more, striking the tentacle hard and forcing it to retract, releasing Xiao Bai.

Seeing Xiao Bai about to drop back into the mire, I threw caution to the wind, lunging forward to catch her. The result was that we both plunged downward, sinking deep into the mud.

I thought, this is it; we are finally going to drown in the mud!