Chapter 2377 Turbulent Currents <TOC> Chapter 2379 Fire Charge
Translator: SumTLMan
Within seconds, a creature resembling an eel in form, but of a grayish-black hue, glided close to them.
From a distance, it truly bore the essence of an eel, moving with an elegance and grace, albeit magnified nearly a hundredfold in size. However, as it drew nearer, a slight furrow appeared on everyone’s brows.
Its body maintained the sleek, streamlined elegance of an eel, but its head bore a gigantic round mouth that seemed almost incapable of closing. This mouth was ringed with numerous tentacles and sharp teeth, and at its very end, there were polyps resembling a closed chrysanthemum.
This immense orifice could instill a sense of spiritual contamination and eeriness even in those who are typically unfazed by claustrophobic fears.
“Ugh, how ugly,” Dangros murmured under his breath, voicing the collective sentiment.
“There are creatures uglier than this dwelling in the depths of the sea,” Nisi casually remarked, then turned to Angel, “This sea beast’s form doesn’t seem well-suited for combat. I’ve observed closely; the skin near its round mouth shows slight signs of dark, corroded traces, as if eroded by toxins. It’s likely a creature that employs poison in its battles.”
Nisi continued, “If we take precautions in advance, we should be able to deal with it quickly. Shall we engage?”
Before Angel could respond, Reynolds quickly interjected, “The sea beasts grazing here are the eyes of the laboratory. What they see, the laboratory sees. Should they suffer harm, the people controlling the sea beasts in the laboratory will be alerted immediately.”
From Reynolds’ perspective, since illusions could obscure the sea beasts’ vision, it was best not to disturb these creatures to avoid alarming the laboratory.
“What does it matter? Even if we forcefully break in, the laboratory can’t stop us…” Although Nisi muttered this, he adhered to pragmatism. Dealing with this sea beast offered low benefits and high risks, making it unnecessary. Thus, he did not insist on confronting the creature.
Angel had no intention of engaging in meaningless combat unless the sea beast discovered them.
However, as Nisi mentioned, the creature’s abilities were not sophisticated enough to detect the presence of illusions. Even with its animal instincts possibly sensing something amiss in their direction, after patrolling the vicinity for a while, it failed to uncover anything.
After a while, the creature, swaying its elongated body, vanished from their sight.
Once it had departed, they continued forward.
With the cover of illusions, as long as they didn’t cause any significant disturbances, they were unlikely to encounter any problems.
As they ventured deeper, the surrounding seawater became noticeably murkier, and the currents more turbulent, with dark whirlpools appearing sporadically. Few sea beasts were seen, but these whirlpools became the primary source of danger.
These whirlpools often emerged out of nowhere, making it virtually impossible to avoid them in advance. The only option was to remain vigilant and either dodge the whirlpools as they appeared or disrupt their formation.
In just a few minutes, they had dismantled numerous whirlpools of varying sizes.
In one of the whirlpools, the force was so great that it even tore a hole in the barrier released by Angel. Fortunately, Nisi immediately used a water structure spell to disrupt the essence of the whirlpool, thereby stabilizing the barrier in time.
However, after Nisi destroyed the whirlpool, it led to some subsequent problems. Due to the internal instability, the whirlpool began to have energy coalescing within it. More than ten seconds later, it directly caused an explosion at the bottom of the sea.
The noise from the water explosion was not significant, but according to Reynolds, what the sea beasts perceive is what the laboratory perceives. Once a sea beast is attracted by the sound of the explosion, the laboratory should quickly become aware of the problem.
To avoid this situation, Angel initially planned to set up a relatively natural illusion nearby to confuse the sea beasts.
However, they waited for a long time without seeing any sea beasts approaching.
It seemed that the sound of the explosion did not attract the attention of the sea beasts at all.
“This is a bit strange. The last time we came here, although we deliberately avoided the routes of the sea beasts, we indeed encountered many traces of sea beasts along the way. This time, why have the sea beasts become so scarce?” Nausica spoke and then looked towards Reynolds, wanting to hear his opinion.
Reynolds also showed a look of puzzled confusion: “It is indeed a bit unusual. The number of sea beasts seems to have decreased a lot. What’s going on?”
“Maybe something has happened at the laboratory.” Nisi said, “We’ll know if we go and check.”
Angel nodded in agreement. Since the water explosion did not attract sea beasts, they should not waste time and head directly to the laboratory.
As for the “incident” Nisi mentioned, everyone actually had some guesses. Perhaps it was something Firo had done. Firo did not know that the sea beasts were the eyes of the laboratory. Maybe when he broke in, he cooked all the sea beasts with fire.
Continuing forward, perhaps because Reynolds was part of the team, they were fortunate not to encounter any more whirlpools on their way.
They successfully reached the Sea Splitting Water Wall.
According to Reynolds, the center of the Sea Splitting Water Wall was where the laboratory was located.
And the Sea Splitting Water Wall was literally a division of the sea…
Looking at the scene before him, Angel appeared calm on the surface, but his heart was tumultuous.
Because the location of the laboratory was said to be at the bottom of the sea, but there was no water nearby!
It was like the mythological story of “Moses Parting the Red Sea” that Jon had told. In front of them, behind a constantly fluctuating wall of water, was an empty seabed plain, an area without water, filled with a faint mist!
Although the water wall was constantly compressing, and the pressure of the ocean could breach this temporarily created seabed space at any time, each time it reached a critical value, the laboratory would again isolate and draw away the nearby water flow to maintain such a large-scale division of the sea.
And each time the water barrier was isolated, it was at noon. This is also why the sea currents fluctuate at noon because… the parting of the sea begins.
“Expanding the Parting of the Sea every once in a while? What’s the point of putting so much effort into your laboratory?” Nisi looked at Reynolds somewhat puzzled: “With the time and ability, constructing a purely underwater laboratory would have been sufficient.”
In the depths of the ocean lies a laboratory, a concept that might seem daunting due to the immense pressure, yet there are numerous methods to circumvent this issue. This is evidenced by the existence of mermaid cities and underwater metropolises like Rhodes, not to mention the headquarters of the Song of the Deep Sea, all located beneath the sea.
Thus, constructing a purely underwater laboratory is entirely feasible through various means. Even opting for the most expensive construction methods would prove more cost-effective than the periodic water displacement method currently employed.
Reynolds shook his head, expressing his confusion, “I don’t understand the upper management’s reasoning. Ever since I arrived, parting the sea has always been the norm.”
Initially, Reynolds might have found this practice peculiar, but as the sight of the sea parting became commonplace, his curiosity waned.
Nisi, unable to glean any useful information, muttered, “There’s no need to part the sea. There must be some underlying reason.”
Angel agreed with Nisi’s sentiment. However, without even having seen the laboratory in person, speculating further would be futile.
Instead of dwelling on these details, it would be more prudent to investigate the laboratory directly to uncover any answers.
“Will we be detected by the laboratory personnel if we pass through the water barrier?” Angel inquired, looking towards Reynolds.
“No,” Reynolds replied, then hesitated before adding, “Well, probably not.”
Nisi pressed, “Probably not? Can’t you give a definite answer? Will we be detected or not?”
After a moment of silence, Reynolds shared, “I always thought we wouldn’t be detected, but after my last visit with Nausica to the laboratory, we were discovered by a contingency left by Number 17. I initially thought it was an accident, but upon reflection, I realized I had made extensive preparations before returning to the lab. I even timed our entry during a guard shift change when most personnel were absent. Despite these precautions, we were still detected, which in hindsight, seems suspicious.”
“Perhaps we were discovered before even entering the laboratory. However, I can’t pinpoint where we went wrong,” Reynolds admitted, basing his conclusion on speculation rather than concrete evidence.
Yet, Reynolds’ speculation isn’t without merit.
This secretive organization, for the sake of discussion, maintains no presence in the Southern Region. Despite exhaustive efforts to uncover them, only marginal clues have been found: two apprentices once witnessed an inconsequential chase.
If the organization were weak, its obscurity might not matter. However, the information at hand suggests their strength is formidable, surpassing most wizard families, with apprentices who could rival supernovas in power.
Such an organization, choosing to remain anonymous in the Southern Region, must have deliberately opted for secrecy.
Given their preference for secrecy, it’s plausible that the laboratory itself is highly confidential, with mechanisms in place at every level to prevent leaks, including entry through the water barrier.
“If entering through the water barrier could potentially expose us, what should we do now?” Nausica asked.
“Even if the water barrier might reveal our presence, it doesn’t matter. We’re bound to be discovered eventually, so worrying about the water barrier is pointless,” Nisi concluded.
The conversation goes like this, but facing an unknown opponent and an unknown battle, the one who reveals fewer cards will likely have the scales of victory tip in their favor. The laboratory, through monitoring, suspects their presence might be detected in advance by the opposition. Angel and Nisi, being quite famous in the Southern Region, could be at a disadvantage if the enemy prepares specifically against them.
Nisi suggested, “Then let’s not go through the water wall, but emerge from the sea surface and enter from above.”
Nisi’s suggestion is one way to approach the situation. However, if the laboratory is determined to take comprehensive precautions, there might be monitoring mechanisms in place for the airspace as well.
Nevertheless, they still need to enter the other side of the water wall. Since being monitored is a possibility either way, they choose the option with the lesser likelihood.
Angel finally decides to enter from above. He plans to transform the illusion into a nightmare illusion, lowering their presence, blurring, and distorting the direct perception of the outside world.
This way, they can avoid detection to the greatest extent.
However, as Angel and his companions begin to ascend, wanting to leave the water surface, a surge of tumultuous energy comes from behind the water wall.
This complex energy is not directed at them but seems to originate from something happening behind the water wall, causing energy to leak out.
Everyone pauses.
Nisi, sensing the energy coming through the water wall, said, “This is primal magic power. I feel the rhythm of water, and also…”
Dangros suddenly interjected, “I sense the power of fire, such formidable control. The essence of the flame seems to be constantly concentrating, ready to explode at any moment, yet it’s restrained by a force of order, preventing even the slightest hint of chaos.”
Dangros’ explanation was complex, but it conveyed a simple message: there might be a fire elemental wizard inside.
Beings like Dangros, creatures of flame, unleash fire indiscriminately, incapable of harm to themselves and thus never learning restraint.
Only a fire elemental wizard, or a flame being that has been trained, would start to learn restraint to avoid harming both foes and allies.
And speaking of fire elemental wizards… Angel and Nisi exchanged glances, a name coming to mind.
Could the cause of this disturbance be the ‘Firewalker’ Firo?
Such a leakage of energy, could there have been a battle inside?
If it truly was a battle, one side might be Firo, and the other, possibly a wielder of water elemental powers.
“What do we do now?” Nisi looked towards Angel. Although it was just speculation, the possibility of it being Firo was quite high.
“Let’s wait a bit longer,” Angel said softly.
Nisi frowned, thinking Angel was hesitating, wanting to confirm it was Firo before taking action. But if it really was Firo inside, any delay on their part that led to Firo’s harm would be regrettable.
Just as Nisi was about to speak, Angel suddenly said, “Alright, let’s go in.”
Nisi: “…Huh?”
Wasn’t the plan to wait? How did the waiting end in less than two seconds?
Without further explanation, Angel, sensing a new wave of residual energy, extended his hand, with hidden energy flowing in his palm.
In a flicker of light, an ancient door appeared before them.
——The Gateway of Fantasy.
Angel crossed the water barrier, opening the Gateway of Fantasy directly behind it!
“I’ve minimized the leakage of energy from the Gateway of Fantasy as much as possible. Taking advantage of the complex energies inside, which are hard to detect, we’ll enter now.”
Angel’s reason for waiting wasn’t to confirm if Firo was inside but to wait for the energy within to become chaotic and leak out.
Only amidst chaotic energy could the energy of the Gateway of Fantasy go unnoticed by the lab’s monitors.
This way, their infiltration could be maximally concealed.
Chapter 2377 Turbulent Currents <TOC> Chapter 2379 Fire Charge