Chapter 1888: Dangerous Estuary
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
Senior Brother Zhang and Shen Qing came over to Mo Fan. Lingling happened to be arriving on the Flying Creek Snow Wolf from another direction. They gave the Donghai Mages and the Intermediate Mages a huge fright.
“It’s fine, that’s my Summoned Beast!” Mo Fan told them.
Shen Qing’s cultivation was not particularly high. She could not tell how strong the Flying Creek Snow Wolf was, but Senior Brother Zhang and the three Donghai Mages were experienced enough to notice that the Flying Creek Snow Wolf was most likely a lot stronger than the Scarlet Rending Demon!
“What creature was it?” Lingling asked when she saw the corpse burned beyond recognition on the ground.
“A Scarlet Rending Demon, a Commander of the Scarlet Soaring Demons. They are an amphibian species that can fight both on the ground and in the water…” Mo Fan explained.
Mo Fan was quite familiar with the Scarlet Soaring Demons.
“A Great Commander-level creature?” Lingling said.
“Yes.”
“Why did it take you so long, then?” Lingling asked with a puzzled face.
“I used the wrong spell at the start.”
Senior Brother Zhang and the three Donghai Mages had an urge to die after hearing Lingling’s question!
“I just came from the Wuyuan Bay. A lot of sea monsters are entering the island from the estuary there. They must be the Scarlet Soaring Demons. They are hiding in the water without revealing themselves. I believe they only sent the stronger members of their tribe to scout the area,” Lingling said.
“The Wuyuan Bay?” Mo Fan gave Shen Qing a puzzled look.
“It’s a bay connected to the sea. The sea monsters can easily enter the city from there,” Shen Qing explained.
“Aren’t there people watching it?” Senior Brother Zhang asked.
“We are currently short on men since more sea monsters have invaded the city, but the sea monsters are used to moving around in seawater. They feel more comfortable in areas that are submerged, and they aren’t able to fully utilize their strength in crowded areas. I just checked the map. There are some hills around the island which serve as a natural barrier to stop the sea monsters from invading the busier areas, but the Wuyuan Bay is different! The sea monsters can first hide in the water and swim into the bay before sneaking into the city…” Lingling said.
“You’re saying that if a lot of sea monsters are invading the city, they will choose to invade through the Wuyuan Bay?” Shen Qing asked after realizing what Lingling was hinting at.
“Exactly! There must be a reason the Commander-level Scarlet Rending Demon has shown up here. Didn’t you wonder how the creature snuck into the reservoir? This place is meant to be an enclosed lake surrounded by the buildings, roads, and mountains. It couldn’t possibly travel a few kilometers here even if it was amphibious, so it’s very likely that the creature swam to Wuyuan Bay first, before sneaking its way in here! The sea monsters are afraid of being stranded. Shallow waters, to them, are like places with insufficient oxygen to us. They won’t have the guts to invade the city from all directions unless the whole island has sunk or is submerged below thirty meters,” Lingling declared.
The sea monsters were fond of deeper waters. Such areas were common for most sea monsters in their homes, but not every area on the island was submerged more than ten meters. The mountains served as a natural barrier, s.h.i.+elding the island. Otherwise, the city would have long been overrun by the sea monsters, considering their numbers!
The rain was still falling, causing the water to rise slowly, yet most of the sea monsters were still unable to sneak into the city!
Therefore, the sea monsters needed to find a better entry point if they wanted to stir up troubles earlier.
This Wuyuan Bay was the best entry point for the sea monsters. The amphibious Scarlet Rending Demon was most likely scouting the area for the sea monster army, since it was able to move around freely on land. It was unlikely that a Commander-level creature would invade a human territory on its own. It might be able to put on a show if it did not stumble into a strong human Mage, but it was merely seeking its death if it did!
“I too agree that the creature was only a scout. I’ve fought a Scarlet Rending Demon before, and they don’t seem like the brainless kind,” Mo Fan nodded. Lingling’s a.n.a.lysis made a lot of sense to him.
Commander-level creatures treated their lives as very precious. Mo Fan was actually quite surprised that the Scarlet Rending Demon did not bring a thousand Scarlet Soaring Demons along to act as its lackeys!
“If their scout is a Great Commander-level creature, it means the species about to invade the city is quite strong. If they realized the Wuyuan Bay isn’t heavily guarded, they might invade with greater numbers,” Lingling guessed.
“Little girl, we know the Wuyuan Bay is extremely dangerous since it’s connected to the sea, but it’s not like we aren’t a.s.signing people to guard it. The whole city is under an emergency. Where can we even find enough people to protect it? We can’t necessarily move the soldiers protecting the bridges to the Wuyuan Bay just because of a Scarlet Rending Demon, right? What if the Scarlet Rending Demon only stumbled into us because it was roaming in our territory for no reason? It’s a bigger problem if we lose the bridges!” the middle-aged Mage named Zhang Xin spoke up.
“That’s true…” Senior Brother Zhang agreed.
“Lingling, are you sure a lot of sea monsters are going to invade through the Wuyuan Bay?” Mo Fan asked seriously.
“It’s very likely, and we have to protect it. If we lose it, there’s no way of fixing it, no matter how many rescue teams or Battlemages we have,” Lingling declared sternly.
Lingling had been studying the sea monsters ever since the sea level rose. There had been many incidents where cities had been wiped out by sea monsters in other countries. Lingling had done a lot of studies on how the sea monsters invaded the cities. She learned that the species that were the real threat to the cities were usually not amphibious, but species that could only move around in deep waters. These species did not just ride the waves and invade the city, but usually entered through the bays, ports, rivers, or lakes that were connected to the sea!
Lingling also knew the city was currently short on hands. It was currently lacking manpower…
However, Wuyuan Bay was not just threatening the people of a single building or a district, it was a threat to the entire city!
“Senior Brother Zhang, can’t we somehow get a team together?” Shen Qing was worried. She was very familiar with the Wuyuan Bay, since she had grown up in a nearby district. Lingling’s speculation was definitely on point!
“I’m afraid not,” Senior Brother Zhang shook his head.
“We’ll defend it then,” Mo Fan said.
“We? You mean just the few of us?” Senior Brother Zhang blurted out in shock.
“Mm, it’s better than giving the sea monsters a clear path!” Mo Fan said.