Treasure Hunting System： The Ocean Conquerer
Chapter 75 The Performance Begins

Chapter 75: Chapter 75 The Performance Begins

As Lucilia’s words echoed in her ears, Alka immediately looked back. A gleam from a blade flashed past him, and a dagger embedded itself in the wall beside him. He looked at the newcomer: a figure in extravagant attire, his face painted like a jester, walking toward Alka with exaggerated steps, a manic grin and crimson eyes fixed on him.

"Hahaha, I’ve finally caught you again!"

The dagger that had been stuck in the wall vanished, and new daggers materialized in the jester’s hand, one after another appearing between his fingers. With a flick of both hands, he threw eight daggers toward Alka. Alka rolled aside to dodge, yet one dagger still tore the fabric on his back.

A card shot along the ground toward the jester. Just as it was about to hit him, it suddenly flew upward, but he knocked it away with a dagger in his hand. However, this bought Alka some time.

"So, it’s you, my defeated foe."

Alka got back to his feet, looking somewhat disheveled. His clothes were covered in dust from the ground, and the fabric on his back was sliced open. His words instantly enraged the jester before him.

The jester ran swiftly toward Alka, flinging his hands and continuously throwing daggers. He was also yelling madly, "I will slit your throat and then make you eat it!" This jester seemed even more deranged than before, completely unable to calm down.

Alka swiftly retreated, continuously pulling cards from his waist and shooting them at his enemy. The trajectory of the cards was unpredictable, firing from various directions and cutting strange arcs that forced the jester to halt his advance.

The relentless daggers left Alka struggling to cope. He pulled out the Locking Device from its holster on his thigh, flicked the lever on its back, and fired a shot. A spray of scattering pellets shot out, each like a burning, pale-white Fireball, knocking down all the incoming daggers. Alka’s other free hand was already holding his handgun. He aimed it directly at the enemy and emptied the cylinder.

Faced with this barrage, the jester rolled to the side, ignoring the flying cards. Even when they struck and cut into his flesh, he remained indifferent. Then, kicking off the ground, he turned and sprinted toward Alka.

By now, Alka was backed against a wall with nowhere to escape. A card slipped out from his pant leg, and he subtly pinned it under his foot.

"Die!"

The charging jester brandished daggers, swinging them furiously at Alka. Alka could only use the Locking Device and his handgun to defend himself. However, his close-combat skills were clearly inferior to the jester’s; even though he had intentionally trained recently, he was still lacking. After blocking just two attacks, daggers slashed his wrist and shoulder.

Wincing in pain, Alka squatted down and then rolled past the jester. Such a move delighted the already bloodthirsty jester, who plunged a dagger straight down without hesitation. Alka was now full of openings, as if offering his life to his opponent.

Just then, the jester realized his hands couldn’t move. Turning his head, he saw four Water Chains that had appeared from nowhere, connecting to the ground and binding his limbs. A blue card lay on the ground near them.

Rolling back to his feet, Alka unhesitatingly grabbed the Locking Device, flicked the lever on its back again, and aimed it at the jester. "Goodbye, idiot!"

Aiming at the jester’s head, a tightly packed cluster of pellets erupted from the barrel. The burning, pale-white flames on each pellet merged, making the cluster look like a single Fireball.

CRACK!

The sound of shattering glass echoed. The pellets struck a faint Shield. The Shield shattered under the assault, but the pellets had also expended all their force, falling to the ground along with the broken Shield fragments. Behind where the Shield had been stood the grinning jester.

"This thing... you’re not the only one who has it."

It’s just like last time, Alka thought. A Shield saved my life then, and now a Shield has saved my enemy.

Just then, Alka felt a numbness spreading in his left hand. Turning his head to look, he saw the wounds on his left wrist and shoulder felt slightly numb and were showing an unnatural color. "You even coated your blades with poison?"

The jester’s grin grew even more dreadful. He forcefully broke free from the Water Chains and strode quickly forward, while Alka could only stagger back. "I told you, didn’t I? I’ll cut your throat out piece by piece and feed it to you."

"And then you’ll cut open my stomach, retrieve my throat, and sew it back on for me?" Alka retorted.

"Huh?"

Alka’s sudden comeback clearly stunned the jester for a moment. Then, his previously somewhat faded crimson eyes once again blazed with a bloody light. Fury almost visibly contorted his clown-painted face, as if he had been deeply insulted. Gritting his teeth, he roared, "You truly deserve to die! Die!"

This guy is far more mentally fragile than I thought, Alka mused. A few casual words are enough to provoke him. He controlled his breathing and continued to retreat.

The enraged jester no longer planned to give Alka any chance. Holding his daggers, he charged like lightning. Seeing the jester rush toward him, Alka, whose face had previously shown distress, suddenly smiled. At some unknown point, a blue, gradient-colored card had appeared under the jester’s feet.

As it activated, Water Chains erupted from it one after another, instantly shooting out. They bound the charging jester in mid-air, forcibly yanking him to a halt. Besides binding his limbs, chains also wrapped around his waist, firmly immobilizing him. This was the first card Alka had received from Jack. Compared to the ones he made himself, its power was far stronger, and it activated much more smoothly. After all, the cards Alka crafted couldn’t even achieve gradient colors.

Alka took this chance to reload his weapons.

Dense red, thorn-like lines appeared on the jester’s face. Accompanied by his roars, the Water Chains began to show signs of instability, water spraying from them erratically.

Seeing that the jester had already freed his hands, Alka, still in the process of reloading, quickly dodged to the side. Dagger after dagger flew past, scraping by Alka to strike the surrounding muddy ground and walls. The jester was now once again forcefully trying to break free from the Water Chains on his legs. Simultaneously, daggers kept appearing in his hands, which he threw at Alka to prevent him from attacking. Alka ran forward, rolling to dodge the onslaught of daggers.

Suddenly, the attacks ceased.

Alka turned to look. The jester had broken free from the chains on his legs.

Alka raised his handgun and fired. The jester, who was in the process of breaking free from the Water Chains around his waist, was too late to dodge completely and quickly raised his hands to protect his head. The shot struck his wrist directly. The concentrated blast of pellets mangled his wrist and the surrounding area. The crimson, thorn-like lines on his face began to glow; non-lethal injuries were clearly no longer an obstacle for him.

Alka, at some point, now held a magician’s top hat in his hand, which he placed on his head. Seeing the jester with only the Water Chains around his waist still unbroken, Alka smiled and said, "The performance begins now."

The cards that Alka had previously thrown, which were now pinned in various spots on the ground, began to emit a faint glow—a transparent, colorless light.