Chapter 691: Clashes Amidst Fierce Thunderstorm (1)
Chapter 691: Clashes Amidst Fierce Thunderstorm (1)
After Dorienne and Vanessa reconciled, Elysia looked right and left. "Oh right. Vann, where is Gio now? Where are Ella and Eve too?"
"Gio? He should be near the coral. Ah, that's him! Ella and Eve are also there. Gio is digging something? Maybe a metallic mineral caught his attention?" Vanessa pointed at a big dragon-like man in brown armor behind the coral reef.
"Digging for treasure? Ely, why don't you try asking him using telepathy? Even though his intelligence hasn't fully recovered, he can already speak via telepathy, right? It doesn't matter whether we can use Beast Language or not." Elena patted Elysia's back lightly.
"Ah, I almost forgot we can do that to overcome the language barrier. Mm, I'll do that, master." Elysia slapped her forehead as she just remembered that. She nodded at Elena, and they went over to Gio.
'Gio, look like you are having fun. May I know what you are trying to dig up?' Elysia was somewhat amused to see a three-meter tall man having difficulty digging the underwater sandy soil.
"Hmm?" Gio was digging, but the hole he just made quickly closed again somehow. However, he suddenly heard Elysia's voice out of nowhere. He stopped his work to look left and right. Sure enough, Elysia was there, looking at him.
"Grr, rarr... rawr?" Gio answered with a glint in his eyes.
'Err, please respond to me via this telepathy. Can you do it, Gio?' Elysia scratched her head awkwardly. She completely does not understand that rawr language.
Gio nodded in understanding and tried to do as he was asked. It was much easier now that he could hear orders from Elysia directly, not through intermediaries anymore. 'This voice... It's unmistakable. Can you use the same language as me, Master Elysia? Has Senior Vanessa taught you?'
'No, I'm not proficient in the beast language yet. However, this telepathic technique is a shortcut in communication despite the walls of language because we speak directly to the mind of thought between each other.' Elysia explained a bit.
'I see... So, I can also use this method to talk to other beings? Hehe, this will make things easier.' Gio smirked and went back to digging.
'Hey, you haven't answered my previous question.' Elysia tapped Gio's shoulder with her finger.
'Please wait a moment, Master Elysia. I found a surprise down there.' Gio accelerated his hand to dig the sandy soil.
A moment later, Gio took something out of the hole and immediately stood up with a ball-sized shiny white thingy in hand. He stared at it with a gleam in his eyes as if he had just dug out a peerless treasure.
'Pearl? No, the shiny white ball is living marine life. It's not a gem.' Elysia examined the suspicious pearl with her keen eyes.
"Woah, what a surprise. Is that a Pearly Orb? It's scarce, and some mermaids say it can bring good luck to whoever finds it. However, please be careful because it can bite." Dorienne swam over to the pearl to examine it for a moment. She then distanced herself from it.
*Bite*
A warning was just said, but the pearl suddenly opened its mouth wide and bit Gio's finger with its sawtooth.
Unfortunately, Gio's entire body was clad in thick dragon scales that formed like full body armor. The pearl couldn't hurt Gio, but he was surprised that he was attacked by the treasure he was about to present to his master.
*Bam!*
Gio moved reflexively and slammed the pearl into the nearby coral.
*Crack* *Crack* *Crumble*
A slight shock occurred. The coral shattered into pieces, and so did the pearl.
"Oh no, it's so rare and has a million uses. Why did you smash it to pieces?" Dorienne widened her eyes in surprise and widened her eyes at the crushed pearl.
"Gio was just surprised that the pearl suddenly bit him. After all, what kind of pearl has such a big jaw and sawtooth." Elena covered her mouth as she almost laughed.
Gio just shrugged his shoulders and collected the pearl shards. The peerless treasure had a trap mechanism, but it was okay now. Luckily, it wasn't his master who was bitten, or he would have done something more unexpected to this shiny thing.
He then handed the pearl shards to Elysia with the bonus of a handful of sand.
'Eh, um, what's this for me? Thank you.' Elysia could only accept that because Gio looked at her with an innocent yet expectant expression. It was like a little boy trying to impress his parent by giving them a gift.
Elysia discarded the sands and put the pearl shards into a pouch. It was still splinters of shiny things worth a kilogram.
"What happened?" Oceanid came closer.
"Nothing. Just a faithful vassal is giving a gift to his master. Anyway, what about the big deep trough over there? The accursed monsters might choose to escape there." Rhea waved her hand in front of her face.
"For that, hm... We've set traps around this sealed area to ensure everything goes according to plan. Elysia and her master have ensured that this place doesn't seal any strong monsters above Spirit-level. Everything will be fine. And again, we will immediately check the situation if the sealed area down there collapses." Oceanid glanced at a trough in the distance. He had already taken the risk into consideration.
"Very well, is it time for us to go?" Nell folded her arms with a hum.
"Yes, we need to leave immediately to continue our search to the southeast. I suspect a place there but can't be sure yet." Oceanid folded his arms and looked far to the southeast.
"Ely, everyone! We're back." Sylvia waved her hand as she swam closer.
"You're back, Sylvi, Yuuki. What about the traps you set with Sir Clyde's squads?" Elysia welcomed her friend's arrival.
"Everything went smoothly and well. The traps around the ruins were also set up perfectly." Sylvia gave a thumbs up with a big smile.
"Since everyone has gathered, we will leave now. You mermaids and mermaids need to guard this site and be prepared to fight at any time until we come, understand?" Oceanid nodded slightly and looked at the troops nearby.
"That is a certainty, Lord Sea God. With the weaponry you provided for us, we can defeat even a giant Kraken." Osharus replied with confidence.
Sylvia then took out the Gravy Ark, and Sea God took control of it as he would be the pilot.
"See you later, Dori. We'll be right back here when the time comes. Please take this, just in case. It will protect you from a fatal blow, a live-saving artifact." Elysia gave a shimmering aurora leaf to Dorienne.
It was a magic container filled with single-use protective magic. Everyone will get into battle, but she was worried about this clumsy, happy go lucky mermaid.
"Uhm, thank you. See you again next time. I hope this broken world will become peaceful and beautiful soon." Dorienne grasped the aurora leaf and waved her hand.
"Yeah, we were expecting that to happen too." Elena responded curtly and looked up.
Sylvia then took out the Gravy Ark, and Sea God took control of it as he would be the pilot.
"See you later, Dori. We'll be right back here when the time comes. Please take this, just in case. It will protect you from a fatal blow, a live-saving artifact." Elysia gave a shimmering aurora leaf to Dorienne.
It was a magic container filled with single-use protective magic. Everyone will get into battle, but she was worried about this clumsy, happy go lucky mermaid.
"Uhm, thank you. See you again next time. I hope this broken world will become peaceful and beautiful soon." Dorienne grasped the aurora leaf and waved her hand.
"Yeah, we were expecting that to happen too." Elena responded curtly and looked up.
Sylvia, Vanessa, and the girls said their goodbyes to Dorienne and the mermaid clan before Oceanid controlled the Gravy Ark to speed away.
Osharus looked at his daughter with some satisfaction. His daughter quickly blended in and became close to that divine group as if she was a part of them. That was good news because she was well received by them.
About two hundred kilometers to the southeast, Oceanid brought everyone across that distance in just under an hour.
"Hm? An underwater storm? A ferocious vortex is hitting the ocean up ahead?" Oceanid frowned as he stared at the calamity happening in the distance.
"Are we close to the place you are worried about? This will be the sixth place, right?" Nell asked in wonder.
"No, this one is different. We spotted the previous five just because of the Goddess of Light and Elysia while on our way here. The place that makes me worried is the one around there. But, it looks like something odd is going on there." Oceanid looked around and slowed the Gravy Ark's speed. He didn't want his group to be drawn into that storm.
'Hm, Ely, can you see that? It's very thick and dense curse energy. The hordes of accursed monsters have broken free and polluted the ocean beyond the storm.' Elena looked up reflexively.
Elysia also looked up with her sacred eyes. She instantly widened her eyes in shock when she saw what was waiting there. 'That, what kind of creature is that... It's huge. Was that creature the one that created this storm to block anyone from coming near?'
"!?" Oceanid seemed to feel the same oddity. He instantly controlled the Gravy Ark towards the sea's surface to confirm his bad premonition.
"Sea God, a sealed area has collapsed in that storm. Thousands of accursed monsters have taken their nests in the ocean there. One, no, a few strong monsters are the ones that caused this storm. They seem to know that we will come here, and they create this storm to block us." Elena told everyone about what she and Elysia had just discovered.
*Splash*
"My bad hunch turned out to be telling me the right thing. It seems we're a bit late for this one. The anticipation mechanism I put around there didn't give any signal either. They're smart enough to create a violent storm to disrupt and block the signal." Oceanid squinted his eyes.
The Gravy Ark emerged from the ocean and flew several tens of meters into the sky. Everyone stared at a massive thunderstorm that swept across the sea before them.
The sky was so dark up there. White and purple lightning often struck. A vast whirlpool engulfed the black sea behind the fierce storm, and several tornadoes could be faintly seen within it.
It was a dangerous zone to explore, but they would still enter regardless.
"Look at that, up there!" Elysia pointed up. Everyone immediately looked up at the black sky within the fierce storm.
Oceanid widened his eyes with a wicked grin. "You all turned out to be sealed in this place, huh..."