Chapter 888: White Silver Death Desert, the Sea That Swallows Stars!
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Endless secrets were buried inside the boundless ocean. Even the ‘Sea Clan’, who claimed to be dominators of the ocean, could only live in the offsh.o.r.e area near the continental shelf where the resources were abundant.
After diving in the deep sea for an entire day, making sure that n.o.body was following them, the sky-hunting wars.h.i.+p finally leapt out of the ocean and flew at a high speed close to the surface of the ocean!
Half a day later, they reached the ‘White Silver Continent’, which was the smallest, the most barren, and the least populated of the three continents of the Blood Demon Sector.
Inside the cabin that was filled with buffer liquids, an extendable synthesized nerve had been planted on the cabin wall behind every pa.s.senger. Through the interface at the back of the cell infiltration suit, it was very convenient to connect the pa.s.senger’s brain to the entire skeleton wars.h.i.+p and form an enormous command and battle network.
On the surface of the skeleton wars.h.i.+p, dozens of enormous biochemical observation eyes were growing. Such biochemical eyes, which were made with the eyeb.a.l.l.s of the deep-sea squid as prototypes and had received all kinds of genetic optimization and refinement, were among the most precise observation equipment both in the Heaven’s Origin Sector and in the Blood Demon Sector. On every square millimeter of the retina, there were more than a million visual cones that could perceive the light, making the sensitivity of the eye hundreds of times more than that of an ordinary human being and allowing them to clearly see the undersea environment hundreds of meters below the surface despite the darkness.
When the pa.s.sengers connected to the skeleton wars.h.i.+p, they would be able to share the vision of all the biochemical eyes and enjoy the splendid view of nature.
The White Silver Continent deserved its name. If one looked at the horizon, it was indeed a magnificent world built with silver.
After a flight of more than two hours, they did not even see a plant, much less a demon beast. As far as one’s eyes could reach, dull and boring sand was everywhere.
The seemingly spectacular environment was in fact full of perils.
Because of the climate and the magnetic field, the entire White Silver Planet was made of a special type of sand named ‘White Sulphur Sand’. It was a continent of deserts, also known as the ‘White Silver Death Desert’.
The White Sulphur Sand’s surface was extremely smooth. It was even softer and greasier than mercury. The tiniest breeze was enough to blow it into the most terrifying quicksand.
On the continent, the natural environment was changing almost every second and every minute. There was not a stable appearance at all. Any creature that touched the White Sulphur Sand would be deeply mired in it and drowned within several minutes.
On the other hand, the White Sulphur Sand was extremely reflective and could return almost all the sunlight. As a result, not only was it impossible for the White Silver Death Desert to acc.u.mulate any energy, it was also radiated by the sun without the slightest shadow every minute during the day. It was truly a death zone.
No creature could survive in the White Silver Death Desert. Even the demons whose bodies were tough and who were adaptive to various kinds of environments considered the White Silver Death Desert a hot and silent graveyard.
After hundreds of years of prospecting, no important resources were discovered on the White Silver Continent. The only thing that could be found in this place was sand and more sand.
Therefore, the Pantheon of Demons would rather risk developing new world fragments than wasting precious resources in the bottomless hole.
On the horizon, a black spot gradually appeared. On the contrary to the White Silver Death Desert, it was like a two-dimensional blackhole that absorbed all the rays of sunlight.
It was a great lake of the Blood Demon Sector—the Star Swallowing Sea!
Since the lake was named a ‘sea’, it was not hard to imagine how vast the inland lake was.
It was weird enough that an enormous lake should exist at the center of the desolate White Silver Death Desert, but there were more uncanny things about the Star Swallowing Sea.
The area around the Star Swallowing Sea, just like Void Turmoil City and the Dark Desolate Domain, boasted an independent small climate. Clouds might appear, raising thunder and lightning that would tear the sky and the earth apart, at any moment.
The lake water of the Sea Swallowing Sea, in the meantime, contained a lot of heavy metal const.i.tuents, which made the water as thick as oil and carry lethal poison.
The lake that contained heavy metal triggered the abnormal blast of the magnetic field, forming invisible turbulences above the Star Swallowing Sea that would disturb the brains of living creatures and make them lose their direction should they come close to the Sea Swallowing Sea. They would fall into the Sea Swallowing Sea and drown in the poisonous lake water.
That was how the Sea Swallowing Sea got its name. It was a terrifying lake that could even swallow the stars!
In the past, a number of specialists of the demon race were curious about the environment of the Sea Swallowing Sea and initiated large-scale surveying, but to no avail. During the one mission with the direst consequences, they even lost a dozen skeleton wars.h.i.+ps and thousands of warriors.
However hard the specialists probed, they did not find any valuable mother lodes, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, or strong demon beasts around the Star Swallowing Sea. Even if the bottom of the Star Swallowing Sea really stored abundant mother lodes, with the technology of the demon race right now, the cost to develop them would be astronomical, and it was certainly not worthwhile.
Therefore, since decades ago, the White Silver Death Desert and the Star Swallowing Sea had been in the most primitive state without any inhabitants.
But right now, the sky-hunting wars.h.i.+p of the Blade of Chaos had barged into the most dangerous water of the Blood Demon Sector.
It was not until he moved deeper into the Star Swallowing Sea that Li Yao began to understand why an inland lake could be called a ‘sea’!
Looking back through the biochemical eye on the surface of the skeleton wars.h.i.+p, Li Yao discovered that the White Silver Death Desert was nothing but a shallow white line right now, and the boundless lake in front of him was as impressive as the ocean that they had pa.s.sed through the day before.
The black lake seemed to have joined hands with the clouds in the sky. A b.l.o.o.d.y mouth seemed to have been opened slowly and was about to swallow them into a bottomless abyss.
BOOM!
BOOM! CRACK!
Bolts of lightning pierced at the Star Swallowing Sea from the sky like thousands of tusks inside the b.l.o.o.d.y moth. Every wave was like a mountain that rose high into the sky and could consume the tiny sky-hunting wars.h.i.+p easily!
The sky-hunting wars.h.i.+p was struggling to make its way forward under the a.s.sault of the lightning and the waves, as if it were rus.h.i.+ng in a deep valley with the enormous tides as cliffs. Even Li Yao could feel cold sweat running down his back.
A while later, hundreds of scattered islands appeared in front of them.
Every island was no more than a hundred meters in diameter. They were bare and entirely lifeless, like fish that had extended their heads out of the swamp as they struggled to get out.
Chi!
Right then, deafening noises echoed outside. The waves inside the Star Swallowing Sea were more and more furious, and the tides grew higher and higher. Eventually, giant swirls formed on the surface of the lake, giving Li Yao the feeling that the lake water was leaking to the underground through the crevices at the bottom of the lake!
No. It was not his imagination but exactly what was happening!
The Star Swallowing Sea was indeed shrinking at a visible speed. The lake was lower and lower. The evidence would be the islands with only their top revealed just now!
A moment ago, only a few sharp ends were exposed above the surface of the lake. But right now, their real appearance was on display in the hollow of the swirls. They were actually giant mountains standing at the bottom of the lake!
The sky-hunting wars.h.i.+p dived down and descended into the swirl below the surface of the lake.
The black water around them was like majestic walls thousands of feet high that could collapse toward them and bury them completely at any moment.
A few enormous cracks appeared on the abdomen part of the sky-hunting wars.h.i.+p. Black, fusiform coc.o.o.ns were tossed into the lake water.
Li Yao knew that they were biochemical beasts specially designed to explore the territory below the lake.
Yuchi Ba’s voice echoed near his ear through the neural network that covered the entire wars.h.i.+p. “The most famous characteristic of the Star Swallowing Sea is that the water level changes in a fixed pattern on a daily basis. During the day, the lake will drop down, and at night, it will soar crazily. The lake seems to be… breathing!
“n.o.body knew where the lake water was leaking to during the breaths of the lake.
“According to our specialists, who have a.n.a.lyzed the comprehensive files in various regards, it is very likely that the entrance to the Mausoleum of Chaos is somewhere in the mountains below the lake.
“Normally, the mountain is completely drowned by the Star Swallowing Sea and is hundreds of meters away from the surface of the lake. That’s why n.o.body has discovered it for thousands of years.
“Even when the water level of the Star Swallowing Sea is at the lowest, there will only be one to two hours when the mountain shows up above the surface of the lake!
“Locating the mountain below the lake is the key to locating the Mausoleum of Chaos!”
The sky-hunting wars.h.i.+p quickly searched hundreds of meters below the surface of the lake.
Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo!
The biochemical beasts that had dived into the depths of the Star Swallowing Sea sent back information with dull signal sounds. A complicated map of the mountains below the lake was gradually drawn.
As the surface of the lake continued plummeting, many mountains continued to emerge out of the lake. The high mountains cut into each other and extended forward in parallel, like countless dragons that were zigzagging deep inside the Star Swallowing Sea.
Right then, Li Yao heard exclamations around him.
He looked ahead, only to discover that an enormous beast more than ten times larger than the sky-hunting wars.h.i.+p had crawled out of the black lake water, which was almost vertical on their left side. The beast looked like a whale that had grown sharp, jagged tusks and iron armor, and it was beyond any doubt that a yawn of the beast was enough to shatter the sky-hunting wars.h.i.+p into smithereens!
However, the primeval beast did not have the chance to demonstrate its strength because it was tied up by a bright golden squid. Every tentacle of the super large squid was thousands of meters long. A few of the tentacles grabbed the bone armor of the enormous beast so hard that it was being torn apart, while another few tentacles pierced deep into the body of the enormous beast and devoured the internal organs and meat of the beast like leeches.
The roars of the two animals were almost suppressing the noises of the swirls.
Most of the warriors’ faces were pale as they watched the two animals cras.h.i.+ng at the sky-hunting wars.h.i.+p.
If there was really a collision, not a sc.r.a.p of the sky-hunting wars.h.i.+p would remain.
Shua!
But the two beasts seemed to be made of air. The sky-hunting wars.h.i.+p pa.s.sed through them without being damaged at all.
When they looked back, the two animals gradually blurred before they turned into streaks of brightness and dispersed in the darkness.
“There’s no need to panic. It is the image recorded by the special magnetic field of the Star Swallowing Sea. The two beasts perished tens of thousands of years ago,” Yuchi Ba said. “But we believe that the two beasts were probably G.o.d Chaos’ creatures!”