Chapter 623 - Seabed Monster
Chapter 623 - Seabed Monster
The helicopter landed on the helipad of the giant ship, the largest of the warships. According to Erina's grandfather, it was the mothership of the entire world's Esper Association with shared ownership. So, it was more like a base with the most advanced weapons on Earth.
"Why does humanity have a warship of this class? Are we going to fight the alien nation or start invading other planets? I can imagine a space war with this mothership." Elysia spoke in a whisper-like voice to Erina.
"For that, I also don't know, Elysia-san. However, we can call this mothership the most incredible defense mechanism ever.
This question is the same as why America, Russia, North Korea, and several other countries have so many deadly nuclear bombs even though there is no war." Erina replied with her own opinion as she didn't really understand that.
"Hmm." Elysia just nodded.
After that, Erina and her grandfather wore masks, helmets, and equipment like those of a fully armed army, but only for disguise.
However, Elysia and Sylvia refused to disguise themselves in this seabed operation. After all, they had already changed their plans to be well known in this world.
"The meeting will be held at twelve o'clock. For now, we will rest for a while at our country's headquarters." Kenji informed Elysia of their schedule.
Elysia just nodded in understanding, and they got off the helicopter. It was just a group of seven people with a cat. Their arrival got some attention from the nearby soldiers.
A squad of soldiers in black and white uniforms came over and saluted. A captain took a step forward and reported a few things to Kenji. "Welcome to the mothership. We have been waiting for your arrival. This may be a bit sudden, but our meeting with America and Russia will be held in a few minutes."
"Hm? Did something happen?" Kenji frowned as he had a bad feeling about this.
"Yes, sir. British and Chinese troops have arrived here. The operation is scheduled to be accelerated by an hour. I will guide you to the meeting room. Please follow me." The captain turned around and walked into the mothership.
"Let's go." Kenji narrowed his eyes and followed the squad.
"Is this white uniform with black attributes the dress code for the Japanese troops here?" Elysia once again asked in a whisper-like voice.
"Mm, you're right." Erin nodded slightly.
They went into a large hall like a circular auditorium with a stage in the middle and surrounded by seats. Each seat had a border with the symbol of the country's flag, but only four groups were occupying their places.
"Hou, it's a good thing you came earlier than estimated as you might be left out in this joint operation due to your delay, Commander Kenji." A man in a black gold uniform greeted with a hint of sarcasm.
"Haha, you are joking, as usual, Admiral Tang Zhou. We would have come sooner if only we had known that the operation would be carried out sooner." Kenji smirked in reply.
"It all happened because of the sudden unexpected emergency situation. However, look at the core group that came with you. It was only seven people with you as the leader, and... Heh, you even brought two seductive little girls and a useless cat? Haha, are those your bargaining chips?" Tang Zhou glanced at the two beautiful girls behind Kenji with a strange glint in his eyes.
"They are the elites of my clan alliance. You will never want to offend them, or you will suffer the consequences." Kenji responded casually. He sat in the seat of the Japanese army leader.
"The elites of perverted and weird things like your country likes to do? That's a ridiculous joke. Are you trying to smack me with that reasoning?" Tang Zhou frowned.
"..." Elysia glanced at Erina and at Sylvia. She then checked everyone in this hall.
They all used English in their conversations, but there seemed to be two groups that didn't get along quite well there. Japan with China, and America with England. Meanwhile, the Russians just sat in their seats.
Each core group that attended this meeting had less than a dozen members, but each group had an elite squad manning the exit.
"You guys are old, but you still like to bicker like little kids." Elysia quipped everyone in her mumbling. However, it was loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear.
"..." Silence fell for a moment. Almost everyone looked at Elysia as if she was an outcast.
"All the groups are here. Why not start this meeting now?" Elysia responded casually despite the mental pressure she received from some people.
"Haha, you have a good person right there, Commander Kenji. Although she sounds a bit presumptuous, what she said is true. Let's start this meeting now as we should start this joint operation right away." The leader of the Russian group stood up with a light laugh.
"Americans and our group decided to invite back the latest forces who are researching this mysterious ancient ruin at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean for a reason." The Russian leader displays an image on the screen to each country.
"We accidentally found this giant gate in the eastern part of the ancient ruins. It was the last photo before our exploration squad lost contact there yesterday. Nothing strange indeed, but please see the video footage that was last linked to us." The Russian leader slides the slide and plays the video.
Sylvia looked at Elysia in confusion.
'Let's see the video on that screen. It's the last record before a squad loses contact.' Elysia enlightened the confused Sylvia via telepathy.
Everyone's attention was focused only on the screen. It was a recording from the squad leader's point of view. They're just swimming into deep territory with state-of-the-art equipment.
There was a dark ocean with some fish and strangely shaped marine life. However, the lighting there was adequate enough to look around.
That squad was just exploring as usual while chatting and checking around. Until they find a giant hidden gate.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense. A shadow was caught on camera when the camera looked around, and a black giant fanged creature suddenly attacked the squad. The video was ended with reddish water, and everything suddenly went black.
Elysia gasped in surprise as she didn't like that kind of jumpscare.
"Let's look at the re-recording. We assume an unknown, unidentified creature is an alien or an underwater monster. We can confirm that it's not a fish or the like. We also suspect that behind the gate lies the lost civilization of the sentient underwater creatures." The Russian leader informs about several other things.
The group from another country then threw a few questions, and a discussion and a bit of debate broke out.
However, Sylvia suddenly informed Elysia of something surprising. 'Ely, it's like the underworld's hound. I've seen something like it, but this one is much uglier and weaker than I've ever seen.'
'Underworld hound? Is it the gate of hell or something? Uhm, I mean underworld. Why is that gate in this ancient underwater ruin?' Elysia became confused.
'Who knows, but you once said that Earth had a lost civilization. Maybe, this is just one of those?' Sylvia's eyes sparkled as she realized what might await them. 'That hound might just want to come back or just guarding the gate? Ely, if it really is the underworld gate, then I can likely open it.'
'Shall we go to the underworld? Ah, I need to consult my master first.' Elysia weighed her decision.
'Mm, all right.' Sylvia just obeyed and went back to observing those humans arguing with each other. She had no idea what they were saying, but she could see all of them were just selfish people who wanted to work together on a common goal.
'I think it's fine, Master Elysia. Let's go to Earth's underworld. We might be able to study the dimensional laws of this world and find something there.' Rhea voiced her agreement.
'Hmm, we're also looking for that Ruvoid God and Xero's existence, right? Might they be in the underworld? If they are on Earth's surface, that Earth God obviously knows something, but he knows nothing.' Elena folded her arms and voiced her favourable consideration.
'Ah, we might be able to cheat the law by removing our magic seal there. Earth wouldn't be in any danger if our energy messed up the balance there, would it?' Rhea had an interesting conjecture and conveyed it.
'I thought it could make the underworld collapse. It's just a separated dimension of this world, right? That giant gate might just be a dimensional gate for teleportation only. Should we try it? If we get stuck there, we can tear apart the dimensions and return to Earth.' Elena suggested an idea.
'Um, fine. Let's do that.' Elysia made up her mind after the suggestion from Elena and Rhea.
She then told some details to Sylvia and Vanessa. However, the meeting surprisingly ended, and everyone left the hall to do their own preparations.
'E-eh? I didn't listen to what they were discussing! This is terrible. We have missed such an important piece of information.' Elysia felt a little panicked in her mind, but she still followed her group to leave.
'Hehe, it's okay, we can ask Erina's father later. He promised to tell us the details of this ancient ruin after the meeting, right?' Elena chuckled lightly.
'Oh, yes, I almost forgot.' Elysia calmed down.
They went to the Japanese headquarters and went to a command room.
"Excuse me, we need to talk privately, just our group. Could you spare a little of your time?" Elysia stood in front of Kenji and looked into his eyes.
"Good, I also have some things I want to talk to you about.." Kenji nodded and ordered his men to stand guard before their core members entered a lounge.