Chapter 349: The Sky Ridge Collapses |
The torrential rain outside the window hammered against the sea.
Qin Ziwen grabbed his raincoat and strode towards the balcony.
Rain poured down like a waterfall, visibility was extremely low.
But within the gray, murky expanse of sky and sea, the coastline, which had originally been dozens of meters away from the residential complex's main gate, had now completely vanished.
The floating bridge planks built near the shore had long been shattered into splinters by the waves, carried by the surf and crashing against the perimeter wall.
The sea level was rising, in a way that defied common sense.
Mogu's pale golden pupils contracted into slits.
Its body trembled slightly, uncontrollably. This wasn't fear, but a trembling originating from a bloodline instinct.
Its gaze fell upon the distant sea surface.
It wasn't a wave, but an existence of unimaginable size was surfacing!
Accompanying the ascent of this colossal being, the entire sea was "responding." The seawater wasn't being pushed aside, but was being displaced and lifted by its massive body! This was the true reason for the rising sea level!
Mogu felt its sixth sense screaming a sharp alarm.
"Hmm..." Du Yu closed his eyes, furrowed his brow, and nearly collapsed to the ground.
His Hunting Instinct granted him a perceptive insight far surpassing ordinary people.
At this moment, that superhuman insight was like a sharp dagger being plunged into his skull.
On the distant sea surface, Qin Ziwen finally saw it.
An unimaginably vast, slowly rising black silhouette, like an undersea mountain range breaking free from its restraints and surfacing.
Layer upon layer, a massive body thick and rough like reef rock pierced the sea's surface. Amidst the sky-filling torrential rain, just the portion that was revealed already exceeded the size of an ordinary island.
The next second, he saw the side of that "mountain range" suddenly erupt with countless thick jets of water!
Immediately after, the sea surface visibly dropped around it, forming a whirlpool.
This reminded Qin Ziwen of a whale filter-feeding on krill.
The whirlpool persisted for over ten minutes before gradually dispersing.
On the sea surface, that terrifying black silhouette began to slowly sink.
The seawater rushed back in to fill the void, emitting a deep, rumbling roar.
Finally, only surging waves and the still-violent storm remained on the sea.
Qin Ziwen didn't know whether to feel relieved or terrified.
This unimaginable leviathan didn't seem to have noticed them, just as a walking person wouldn't deliberately pay attention to a certain ant colony's nest among the grains of sand beneath their feet.
"Could you hunt it?" Qin Ziwen tilted his head to look at Mogu.
Mogu: "..."
A rare trace of helplessness appeared on its usually cold face. "Master, it has already exceeded the limits of the Superhuman tier. It does not belong to the category of beings our level can confront. Even if there were a hundred more of me, there would be no hope."
"Haha, that kind of giant beast isn't our enemy either. As long as we don't provoke them, it should be fine," Qin Ziwen said with a laugh, just teasing Mogu.
"Master, this giant beast... I feel it looks somewhat similar to that mountain range we saw on the seabed before..." Mogu said solemnly.
"Could it be that very mountain range, just... awakened?"
"No." Mogu paused, then added, "Even if they are of the same kind, it is definitely not the same individual. The mountain range we explored gave me the feeling of being already dead, devoid of any life force. If it were alive, it would never have allowed those little things to build nests within its body."
Qin Ziwen thought of the many Superhuman creatures he had seen inside the mountain's interior.
If the undersea mountain range truly was formed from the corpse of such a giant beast, then it made sense why so many Superhuman creatures lived within it.
Why would a seemingly ordinary mountain interior give birth to a large quantity of Silver Marrow, a Level 6 Rare Treasure.
Why would there be rare species like the Silver Bobbit Worm, capable of refining Silver Blood.
When a whale falls, a myriad of lives are born.
Perhaps only such an existence, its body transforming into an unimaginable treasure trove after death, could nurture so many Superhuman creatures.
This Silver Marrow and Silver Blood really were good stuff.
He had previously thought that Superhuman Sea Beasts possessing Silver Blood might not be particularly rare, after all, quite a few had been discovered within the mountain range.
Now, upon reflection, that wasn't the case.
The remaining Silver Bobbit Worms in the mountain range couldn't be missed, but there was also no need to exterminate them completely. Leaving some as seed stock, waiting for them to reproduce, and then harvesting them continuously was the best method.
After that indescribable deep-sea leviathan submerged back into the ocean depths, the rain gradually lessened.
Pattering raindrops fell on the sea surface.
An unexpected guest arrived on the island.
Yang Long's hair was soaked by the rain, his steps hurried. Seeing the dry surroundings, a flicker of envy passed through his eyes.
"Guild Leader Qin, we discovered a cave on the island," Yang Long said in a low voice. "Inside the cave, there's a water pool. A tree that looks anything but ordinary grows on the water pool, and there's a protective fence around it, like something left behind by a previous transmigrator."
"Oh?" A glint of interest flashed in Qin Ziwen's eyes.
Cave triggered a keyword.
The Sky-Touching Fruit was discovered in a cave back then.
"What's there?"
"There's a very large fruit tree."
Qin Ziwen narrowed his eyes.
It felt familiar.
Qin Ziwen asked, "Why didn't you dig it up yourself?"
Yang Long smiled bitterly. "There's something in that water pool. Two of my men were dragged down by something in the pool water. I thought it over carefully. Even if I managed to get it after a whole day of struggle, it's not something I could hold onto."
He raised his head and looked at Qin Ziwen. "I want to sell it for a good price."
"Fine, but I'll need to get the item in hand before I can give you an assessed price."
"That's only fair. Thank you, Guild Leader Qin." Getting Qin Ziwen's reply, Yang Long felt a sense of relief mixed with complex emotions. If not forced by circumstances, who would willingly give something away?
But unfortunately, the commotion at the time was too big, and many people knew about it. If he didn't speak up, others would.
If someone else sold the information to Qin Ziwen for a good price, aiming for the position under his backside, that would be awkward.
So, after much thought, it was better to sell it himself.
"I'll go make some preparations. Have some hot water first, don't catch a cold." Qin Ziwen stood up, poured him a cup of warm water, then found Zhao Pu, asking him to go to the urban village side to verify the truth of the news.
Because many residents from the urban village commuted daily to work here, the node had never been closed. Yang Long had come over through the node.
Zhao Pu was responsible for cooperation with the urban village and had some informants under him.
Not long after, Zhao Pu hurried back.
"Guild Leader, Yang Long did indeed take some trusted followers out. He came back with two fewer people. However, he's kept the news tightly under wraps, the specifics are unclear."
"No matter. Let's go take a look."
Having confirmed the news, Qin Ziwen took Mogu and Du Yu, passing through the node directly to the urban village side.
Traces of the recently receded seawater remained everywhere in the urban village, with some residents busy everywhere cleaning up seafood.
Seeing Qin Ziwen, many people stood up to greet him. "Big Boss." "Guild Leader."