Chapter 470 - Black Pool
The black pool was gurgling!
The water churned madly as a lot of bubbles came to the surface. As if someone had shaken a can of cola, the pool water suddenly shot up ten meters or so in the sky!
*Whoosh!*
Xia Fei abruptly accelerated, getting close to the camp those intruders had set up by the periphery of the pool. There were quite a lot of small probes going on along the way, but due to his Breath Control, none of these basic life sensors were triggered by his passing.
After seeing over seven to eight of these sensors, Xia Fei squatted and frowned. “Yuchi Dao isn’t exactly correct; these life sensors aren’t installed to prevent others from infiltrating.”
Phantom was nonplussed. “If not to prevent others from getting near, what’s the point of having these sensors at all?”
Xia Fei pointed to a sensor placed on the ground. It was shaped like a miniature flashlight, with its head the energy emitter and its butt the electric source. This sensor’s compass, used to detect life, was pointing to the black pool.
“Many of these small sensors form an array, and they are all pointed to the black pool. We can tell from this that these people set them up to detect the lifeform within the black pool.”
“There’s something living in that black pool?” Phantom was astonished.
“It’s a very powerful lifeform, too. These intruders are all very afraid of it, which is why they very carefully set up this array,” Xia Fei said.
“But why can’t we sense anything?”
“There are large energy fluctuations coming from the pool, but neither your energy sensitivity nor my keen senses are able to penetrate the depths of the water. In fact, these people formed the array with thousands of life sensors precisely because they wanted to enhance the signal detection.”
Phantom nodded vigorously. “So I see. With these thousands of life sensors all working in tandem, they essentially amplify the sensor sensitivity by over a thousand folds. These people have clearly come prepared!”
XIa Fei did not say another word, maintaining his Breath Control as he continued moving through the forest. He no longer went anywhere near the campsite those invaders had set up; in fact, he steered clear of it. Locating a sizable mound some miles away, he was able to observe the enemy movement through the many trees that stood between.
“Are we not saving the Sun family?”
“Let’s first wait a little. The situation is very unusual.”
All he saw were those invaders, who had been hiding in the forest, boldly walking out, standing right by the pool in a horizontal line. Among them was a brawny, dark-skinned warrior who carried a special knapsack. A bald head poked out from inside the knapsack, most likely belonging to that senior from Nanming Association.
“Everyone, get ready. Five, bring the bait out!” yelled the senior somewhat nervously.
The group spread along the embankment, each pulling out something that looked like a rocket launcher from either their spatial rings or behind their back. They then widened their stance and wedged the equipment over their shoulders.
“Hmm? What’s that thing they have there? It looks pretty powerful; could they be dealing with a giant monster?” Phantom wondered curiously.
Xia Fei’s two eyes flashed as he said in a low voice, “Those are called electromagnetic disruption capture devices. Once deployed, they’ll shoot a traction beam from the tube and hold the target in place.”
“So it works like a stasis webifier?”
“Something like that. It’s like a miniature version of it, portable for use against exotic beasts, small shuttles, hovercars, and the like.”
There was no need for any more words, since both Phantom and Xia Fei understood that these people intended to capture something as any of the capture devices was powerful enough to stop a shuttle. They brought seven of such devices, so it was obvious that they were trying to capture something huge!
A yellow-faced stocky man carried three individuals out from the forest: a middle-aged couple and a lady in her twenties. The three were bound together, unable to move, and appeared to be Sun Zhan’s parents and elder sister.
*Thud!*
The stocky man tossed the three to a small clearing by the embankment. “Brother Chang, the baits are here.”
The moment Sun Guang saw his ex-disciple, he began yelling. “Li Changlong! To think you’d try and capture the guardian beast of Nanming Association! You’re going to die an ugly death!”
The quadruple amputee, Li Changlong, laughed aloud. “What guardian beast?! If it’s truly as what you said, I wouldn’t be in this inhuman state right now! Master, have you forgotten how you lost your left arm?”
Sun Guang knitted his eyebrows. “If not for your greed back then, wanting to take away the Source of Life, the guardian beast wouldn’t have gotten enraged and bitten me, losing me my arm. Don’t forget; when you were reduced into your current state, it’s me who desperately brought you back, or else you’d have died here in this black pool!”
“Are you implying that I should be grateful to you?” Li Changlong said ambiguously.
Lifting his head, Li Changlong loudly shouted, “Brothers, there’s a strange beast and a priceless treasure here in this pool. Today, as long as we manage to slay the beast, we’ll obtain so many riches that we won’t be able to spend them all in our lifetime! Now, let’s do as we practiced and capture the beast!”
“Roger!”
“I’ve long waited for this day to come!”
historical
These men rubbed their fists eagerly, completely confident in the coming fight between man and beast. On the other side, Sun Guang heaved a long sigh, gritting his teeth. “A man’s mistake shouldn’t extend to their family. It’s fine if I die, but spare my daughter and wife!”
Li Changlong laughed sinisterly. “Weeds need to be removed, roots and all. You ought to know this very well; not only will your wife and daughter die, that disobedient and precious son of yours will die, too! Wait till we slay this beast and obtain the Source of Life, that’s when you’ll be able to reunite with your son in hell!”
Sun Guang remained restrained, but his stubborn temper was the same as ever, and he unleashed a litany of curses to Li Changlong, who no longer paid heed to him. Li Changlong rallied his men to form a concave semicircle and then toss the Sun family into the pool to act as baits.
This was when the black man who had his back to Li Changlong turned on an electronic screen and said in a low voice, “Brother Chang, the beast has already come out, and it’s moving very fast. It should take no more than a minute and a half to leap out of the pool.”
Li Changlong nodded as he yelled again, “The day of uncountable riches is nearly upon us! Once that thing appears, I’ll be able to kill the beast once all of you restrain it!”
“I wonder just what sort of beast it is, and what is that Source of Life they’re talking about,” Phantom asked Xia Fei.
Xia Fei answered, “This so-called Source of Life they’re talking about should be a treasure that keeps the Evernight Forest nourished, while that beast seems to be the guardian of that treasure.”
Phantom gleefully remarked, “that Source of Life is able to provide the entire Evernight Forest with enough nourishment, allowing the growth of so many precious medicinal ingredients in it; if you get hold of this thing, you’ll be able to cultivate medicinal ingredients as you like, growing whatever you may wish to.”
Xia Fei froze momentarily. What Phantom had said was indeed very tempting. If Xia Fei could get his hands on this Source of Life, he could very well set up a garden and use the Source of Life to grow plants rapidly in it. Even plants with survival requirements would be able to bear fruit with the aid of the Source of Life. If these were some precious and top quality medicinal ingredients, he could basically get as many of them as he wanted!
“But it looks like the monster is about to appear. Are we saving the Sun family or not?” Phantom asked.
Xia Fei smiled and pulled out the Immortal rank Protective Plane, Golden Jasper Spirit.
“Golden Jasper Spirit! Don’t you intend to give Avril this?” Phantom asked. “Are you gonna use it to protect the Sun family?”
Xia Fei nodded. “Best to test it first before I give it to Avril so that I’ll at least be able to set my mind at ease. It’s perfect to use on the Sun family right now.”
Phantom agreed. Xia Fei thought this through. Not only would he be able to rescue Sun Zhan’s family with that Golden Jasper Spirit, he could even use this chance to test just how effective it was, killing two birds with one stone.
Just as their conversation ended, a huge black shadow leaped from the turbulent waters and surged up in the sky!
“That’s a flying fish! The beast is actually a fish that can fly!” Phantom exclaimed.
Xia Fei held his breath, his hands clutching tightly onto that Golden Jasper Spirit. He had already calculated that, if the flying fish lunged right for the Sun family, he would merely need 0.2 seconds to reach them and cover them with it.
The humongous flying fish circled the air before it glared around with its unblinking eyes as its mouth gaped.
Its body was at least two kilometers long, and its mouth was a third of its entire size! Its gigantic fangs were a terrifying wall of white when Xia Fei looked at them through his night-vision goggles; they seemed capable of chomping on half a mountain peak with a single bite!
Li Changlong and his men were hidden amid the trees, and that flying fish finished a round of inspection before it noticed the Sun family by the embankment.
This flying fish appeared to be extremely infuriated by this affront. It was most likely the things Li Changlong had previously thrown into the pool that enraged it so, causing the beast to go crazy!
Its white eyes glared at the bounded Sun Guang and his family. His daughter let out a shrill cry before fainting. Though Sun Guang held on and endured as best as he could, the expression on his face said exactly otherwise.
Its huge and powerful fins flapped rapidly, raising a gust of wild wind by the pool, which sent the forest and trees around them swaying wildly. The flying fish relied on its two large fins to keep itself in the air, which of course could not sustain it for too long, but as a fish, just being able to leap out of the water in itself was already enough!
*Whoosh!*
The flying fish opened its huge mouth and went diving right for the Sun family, its fishy breath powerful enough to knock anyone out with a single whiff!
Unfortunately for it, Xia Fei was even faster!
His figure suddenly disappeared and reappeared right beside the Sun family in the next moment. That Golden Jasper Spirit he held in his hand was like a small circular disk; Xia Fei pushed a button on that disk and tossed it toward Sun Guang’s head.
*Zu!*
The three of them magically disappeared!
Xia Fei departed without a trace, either!
The flying fish was stunned, completely unable to understand just how its food had suddenly disappeared. Its upper and lower jaw met and ground, the loud sound making anyone who could hear it feel unsettled.
It was not particularly bright as a beast, so it was evidently very sad when it realized that its food was gone, rolling its eyes despondently as it got ready to head back into the black waters.
“Brothers, quickly snare it! Don’t let it get away!” Li Changlong bellowed.
The time to strike was upon them and there was no room for hesitation. A flying fish in midair was much weaker than when it was in water, so the moment it returned into the pool, there was no way that these few men would be enough to subdue it. If they planned to kill it, this was their only shot!
*Zuun zuun zuun!*
Seven white beams instantly shot forth like spotlights, tightly holding that flying fish in place.
This monstrous fish was of course unwilling to be restrained by anyone, so it desperately thrashed and flailed its body, all so it could escape from the ensnaring light!
The seven strong men were twisted every which way by the struggling fish. Their plan was to douse Sun Guang, his wife, and daughter with drugs, which would reduce the fish’s strength, weakening it the moment it swallowed the family, and Li Changlong would use that chance to come out and kill it.
Unfortunately, due to Xia Fei’s interference, this plan of theirs fell apart. The strength of the monstrous fish was not in the least bit reduced, which caused the very land around them to shake violently as it struggled!
“Brother Chang, make your move quick! We are at our limits!” shouted those men.