Versatile Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-2454

Chapter 2454: Seaweed Forest

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

—

The sky was clear and blue, but the sea was dark and muddy. The seawater close to the land was not very clean, especially since there were many factories and sandy cliffs along the coastline.

The color of the sea slowly turned dark green after they traveled a certain distance.

“We should look for a huge area filled with seaweed first,” the old man said. “If I remember it correctly, it should be ahead of us…”

Tian Cheng regrouped with the troop not long after the old man finished his sentence. The Triumphant Eagle Dragon’s feathers glimmered under the sunlight.

“General, I’ve discovered a huge amount of floating seaweed ahead. There might be dangerous creatures hiding in it. We should maintain our current altitude,” Tian Cheng said.

Zhang Xiaohou looked at the old man. It was extremely difficult to pinpoint a specific location in the vast sea. Even if they had accurate coordinates on the map, finding it was a different story. After all, there were not many reference objects in the sea.

The old man had brought them to the right place without relying on any devices. He was very familiar with the sea.

Zhang Xiaohou was relieved.

Only nine days left until the Forbidden Curse was launched. If the marine trench was indeed the Dragon King Ants’ nest, they would be able to accomplish their mission!

“Head thirty nautical miles east after passing the floating seaweed, and you should see an underwater plain,” the old man said.

—

Zhang Xiaohou did not understand what the old man meant by an underwater plain at first, but he was shocked when he saw a huge field of swaying green plants appear on the horizon.

It was hard to imagine finding a green field in the middle of the ocean. The green grasses were obviously not weeds growing out of soil, but green seaweed.

Most algae would grow on rocks, coral reefs, and close to the bottom of the sea, but for some reason, this seaweed was on the surface of the water.

Some of them had even grown out of the water. One might even mistake them for a damp field of grasses at first glance.

“The trench is down there. Many people have no idea there’s a deep trench under here because of the thick seaweed. It’s even scarier than many trenches in the Pacific Ocean,” the old man declared.

The old man also had no idea how deep the trench was. He had only discovered it during a mission when he was younger.

“Mister, is there any place for us to land our mounts? It would be better if we could set a camp there,” Tan Feng asked.

“I can’t tell for sure. There should be submerged reefs around here, but we’ll have to look for them,” the old man said.

“Captain Tong, bring some Shadow and Water Mages and do a quick scout of the area to locate the exact coordinates of the Dragon King Trench and estimate the density and level of demon creatures in it,” Zhang Xiaohou ordered.

“Affirmative!”

“Tian Cheng, look for a suitable spot to set up a camp.”

“Affirmative!”

The troop immediately split up to carry out their tasks.

It was important to set up a camp first. The trench was full of unknown forces. Even if there were no powerful demon creatures in it, They would have to explore it first before going deep into it.

Otherwise, if something happened and they were not prepared for it, the whole troop might die!

—

“General, there aren’t any reefs that we can set up a camp on around here. We now have three options.”

“First, we can use an Ice Formation and freeze the surface of the water about the size of a soccer field for our camp.”

“Second, we can use the dragon beasts to set up a camp in the air. The Triumphant Eagle Dragons will take turns holding the vines and build a network of them in the air.”

“Third, we’ll set up a camp under the water. The Water Mages will build a barrier to maintain the oxygen supply. The water isn’t very deep, so we won’t need a high-level barrier.”

Tian Cheng gave a few suggestions and let Zhang Xiaohou make the decision.

Zhang Xiaohou looked at the old man. He was the most familiar with the Bohai Sea. It was wiser to consider his opinions on the suggestions.

“It’s better to set up a camp at the bottom of the sea. The forest of seaweed is like a maze with lots of demon creatures living in it. Building a camp on the surface isn’t safe,” the old man said.

“The bottom of the sea is clearer as there isn’t as much seaweed down there. It’s also easier to react if anything happens, but can these dragon beasts go underwater?”

The Flying Dragon was able to swim, but it could not fight freely in the water.

The Triumphant Eagle Dragons insisted on staying above the surface. It would be suicide to ask them to go into the water, since they had feathers.

“General, the Triumphant Eagle Dragons have a Tame Level of six stars. They can hunt for food themselves on the islands. I believe no demon creatures would dare to provoke them, especially with the Flying Dragon around,” Tan Feng added.

“I almost forgot, they don’t need us to look after them,” Zhang Xiaohou remembered.

It was fine letting Six-Stars Tamed Beasts roam around freely. They could summon the Tamed Beasts back whenever they wanted.

Therefore, there would be no problem setting up a camp under the water!

“Very well, we are setting up a camp in the water.”

——

The area was not in the deep sea. They did not have to go too deep to reach the seabed.

After they set up a barrier, an enclosed area separated from the water appeared at the bottom of the sea. Military devices were set up rapidly.

“Build sensor towers,” Zhang Xiaohou told his men.

Sensor Towers were extremely important magic devices. They would release energy ripples over a wide range that could detect nearby demon creatures.

When they were in the wild, particularly in the Red Zones or Purple Zones, they would encounter countless demon creatures if they were unaware of their whereabouts.

“General, the Sensor Towers are functional. Their range has been set to two and a half kilometers. Do you want us to increase them?” a captain asked.

“How far are we from the trench?” Zhang Xiaohou asked.

“Two kilometers,” the captain declared.

“Does that mean we can detect the demon creatures a kilometer deep into the trench?”

“General, it doesn’t work that way. The energy ripples are emitted in a sphere. It can reach one and a half kilometers into the trench!” The captain showed a diagram to Zhang Xiaohou.

Zhang Xiaohou looked awkward for a moment. “So has it reached the bottom?” he quickly switched topics.

“No, the trench is deeper than we thought,” the captain answered.

“Then we’ll evaluate the demon creatures at a depth of one and a half kilometers into the trench,” Zhang Xiaohou said.

“General, from our first scans, there are few creatures in the trench. However, the seaweed forest above us is over ten kilometers long and three hundred meters wide. It has an insane number of demon creatures within it. It has already reached the level of a Red Zone!” the captain informed him.