Chapter 341 - Monsters in the Deepsea Trench
Chapter 341: Monsters in the Deepsea Trench
Along the way, Xia Fei discovered two corpses. The blood on their bodies had not dried yet, and they were still warm—signs that it had not been long since they were killed, and the reason for their death was none other than this fight over the ancient civilization’s ruins.
After all, this was a rare opportunity that many would not come across in thousands of years. Anyone would see a complete change in their fate if they came upon such ruins or if they managed to obtain a large number of relics which held extraordinary value.
Of course, this was not something everyone could succeed in doing, and those few men who had died before were just the sacrifice for this ruthless struggle.
Anxiety was quietly building in Xia Fei’s heart, for as time passed, more and more people gathered here on this unnamed island. More and more rapid transport ships landed, and the sea became filled with the roaring sounds of jet yachts. He reckoned that the people here on this island at the moment had already broken to a thousand.
What made him even more annoyed was how this island was originally deserted. Xia Fei found no traces of the ancient civilization’s ruins when he did his cursory search of the place… Could he have arrived at the wrong location?
There was a bluff several hundred meters ahead, and he saw nearly over a hundred warriors all gathered there. They had split into several factions according to their organizations, and the one with the most was of course the Adjudicator Union, with more than thirty men together. Second was the Monastic Order, numbering in the twenties; all the other smaller organizations, meanwhile, varied in numbers, with the most just above a dozen.
They were all standing opposite, keeping a safe distance from the other factions.
Xia Fei found a large boulder for him to hide himself behind as he pricked his ears to eavesdrop on what they were discussing.
“We of the Adjudicator Union were the first to find this place; best for those people unaffiliated with us to leave immediately.”
“You must be kidding. None of you can prove that you’re the first discoverers of the place. We of the Monastic Order were the ones who first got here.”
It sounded as if they were arguing over the rights to the ancient ruins, which Xia Fei found hilarious. None of them had even found where the ruins were located, yet they were already arguing over being the beneficiaries.
Pondering over this for a moment, Xia Fei decided to continue searching for traces of the ruins by himself, since staying to hear them bicker would simply just be a waste of time.
All of a sudden, the demonic squall erupted once more.
This time, it was a lot nearer, and Xia Fei could finally see the huge and snaking beams of light diffusing from deep within the sea. He saw them intermingled, the resulting glow shooting forth into the clouds, making it somewhat hard for anyone to see.
“So the ruins are underwater!” Xia Fei was shocked.
It was too late. Over a thousand of these warriors still on the island went splashing into the water, swimming swiftly in the direction where the demonic squall had appeared.
There were some, those poor swimmers or timid warriors, who scrambled to their jet-powered yachts, but they would most definitely waste quite some time this way.
The place where the lights had appeared were about thirty away to the west of the island. Xia Fei did not think too much, and just like the other warriors, he leaped into the sea and swam.
His two arms moved rapidly. Given that he was a speed ability user, though he was in water, his speed was still faster than what any normal humans could demonstrate.
Very soon, he was ahead with plenty of other water type, speed and strength ability users—ahead of the majority.
There was an ice type ability user some five hundred meters in front of Xia Fei. Ice would form every time the tip of his feet touched the surface of the water, and he would step on this to rapidly advance across the ice.
What made Xia Fei curious was not how outstanding his ability was but rather the professional scuba gear from Cimarron company strapped on his back.
The gear was shaped like a tortoise shell, which was secured snugly on his back. It had two water jet engines to provide the user with propulsion, and four pressurized oxygen tanks enough for the user to remain underwater for six to nine hours, allowing for extended periods of diving.
An idea came to Xia Fei. The ruins were very clearly underwater, and there was no telling how deep they were located. There was a very good chance that the oxygen tank his combat suit had would not be enough to reach the said ruins, so the professional scuba gear in front was perfect for his need.
With this quick thought came quick action.
His finger swiped across his spatial ring and Xia Fei retrieved that ancient weapon Butterfly Serpent. A light tap of the activation switch on its tail, and the metal snake went chasing without a sound.
Wrapped and bound in the space of a breath.
That man, who was tied up like a dumpling in the blink of an eye, abruptly lost his balance, falling into the water.
Xia Fei held his breath and dove right up to that man like a nimble loach. Celestial Moon very lightly brushed past his neck, ending that painful process of drowning.
Phantom looked at the badge on his chest and wrinkled his forehead. “Xia Fei, this person’s from the Adjudicator Union just like you.”
Xia Fei was unfazed. “Who cares which organization he’s from? I’m only interested in the ancient ruins and can’t be bothered about anyone else.”
Strapping on that professional scuba gear over his combat suit, he did not surface from the water anymore but went diving deeper for the seabed.
Putting on his mask, he waited for the infrared vision to adjust itself.
It was deep into the night now, and the sea was pitch-black. There was no trace of light to speak of, which meant the infrared goggles were indispensable pieces of equipment.
*Splash!*
Dozens of warriors on the sea surface went diving one after another, but they very quickly surfaced again, for none of them had professional diving gear. It was very evident that the small canister of air they had was enough for deep-sea diving.
Several water-type ability users went ahead and seized the opportunity due to their ability being compatible with diving, even as a tragic battle unfolded on the water surface, a massacre unfolding due to the limited diving gear around.
Xia Fei ignored this chaos entirely. In his eyes, only people capable of diving could be considered his real opponent, while there was nothing to fear from those still on the surface.
“Though most of the warriors are unable to get underwater due to the lack of diving equipment, there are still quite a handful of competitors around you. What are we going to do?” Phantom asked, feeling a mixture of excitement and anxiety.
Xia Fei gritted his teeth. “Anyone who or anything that gets in my way shall die—gods and Buddha alike!”
……
Xia Fei could finally make out the outline of the seabed, and it looked like there was a slope ahead, about three thousand meters below sea level. Sand and rocks filled the seabed, with plenty of unknown fishes swimming about.
Xia Fei held onto Butterfly Serpent, relying on the cover from the seaweeds and coral to close in on a water-type ability user. He created a huge air bubble in the water and controlled this bubble as he rapidly made his way forward.
Just like before, he first released Butterfly Serpent and trapped the target before using Celestial Moon to finish him off without a hint of hesitation.
Faced against the temptation of the ancient ruins, Xia Fei finally began killing indiscriminately, no longer having any reservations.
…
Very soon, the sea was enveloped in thick blood. Many bloodthirsty sharks came swimming over from afar, baring their rows of razor-sharp teeth as they came surging toward the people in a frenzy.
*Swoosh!*
A large spotted shark, like a small bulldozer that was going at great speed and force, came charging at Xia Fei from the side.
Celestial Moon swiped past as it left a trail of air bubbles, accurately slicing the shark’s brain, rendering it into two pieces from the middle.
A lot of blood spurted forth as the surface of the sea turned into a bloody slaughter. It was impossible to differentiate the blood that came from humans and sharks.
Xia Fei was mad from the killing; as long as there was anyone or anything within the range of attack, man or shark, they would all be unable to escape his hands. Men and sharks alike were being slain left and right.
After the short frenzy passed, the warriors who were still on the surface also managed to get their hands on plenty of diving gear. All of them dove down and followed right behind Xia Fei’s trail.
Unfortunately, the vast amount of blood spilled had attracted even more sharks, and as the humans around were also ready to kill one another, the area of the massacre slowly expanded, even as the color of the sea water gradually turned redder. There were bits of flesh and body parts floating about, looking like purgatory in the mortal realm.
By the time the butchering behind him got busy, Xia Fei had already managed to kill his way down to a deep sea trench.
This deep sea trench cut across the continental shelf. It was dozens of kilometers wide, while its depth and length trench was impossible to measure.
Phantom poked his head out and took a glimpse at that trench which he could not make the bottom of and spat, “Oh, my god! Just how deep does this go?”
Xia Fei shook his head, a solemn expression etched on his face.
Such a seemingly bottomless trench meant that it would be extremely difficult for him to dive and explore it on his own. Besides, there was no way he was certain that the ancient ruins would be in that trench.
Bloodthirsty Ice God armor was a decent combat suit, able to help Xia Fei withstand the underwater pressure, but the pressure resistance it provided had limits, too; he would not have any problem if this deep-sea trench had depths of ten thousand meters, but what if it was a hundred thousand or even a million?
Xia Fei could vaguely make out a feeble light coming from deep within the trench, looking to be a searchlight from a set of diving gear. It seemed that there were people who had ventured into the depths a step ahead of Xia Fei.
“There’s no time to waste contemplating this further; let’s just go down,” Xia Fei said with a determined look.
Before Xia Fei could even finish his thought, a strong beam of light suddenly shot forth from deep within the trench.
“The demonic squall is really from inside that deep-sea trench!” Phantom excitedly declared.
That burst of light was accompanied by a huge current. It was as if a high pressure faucet had blasted from the depths of the earth, rushing right to the surface.
Xia Fei buried both his feet deep into the muddy sand on the seabed to prevent himself from being carried off by the strong current.
A glaring light even brighter than a midday sun shone, as the huge current tore the rocks all around Xia Fei. He crossed both his arms in front of him, doing his best to endure the deluge.
After a moment, when the light faded slightly, Xia Fei tried to look down at the trench before all the light dissipated, and what he laid his eyes on frightened him to the core.
Deep in that seemingly bottomless trench were monsters which had been growing for who knew how long. They had a soft body like water snakes and teeth even sharper than sharks.
They populated the two walls of that deep-sea trench, where they had dug themselves round caves and made this part of the sea their home.
*Swoosh!*
The warrior who had dived ahead of Xia Fei got eaten alive by such monsters, fresh blood instantly diffusing out and about.
These monsters, which had swallowed the warrior, immediately shrank back into their cave after the meal, leaving just their heads poking out, their pairs of golden eyes gleaming viciously.
Perhaps one such monster would not be considered much of a threat, but in fact, there was one such monster every few meters on both sides of this abyss, so many that they were innumerable.