195: Chapter 195 A formidable array, the vanguard breaks through the water (2)

About an hour later.

The sensor formation piece on the easternmost side of the Formation Plate captured the first water surface disturbance.

The waveform of the surface disturbance was shorter and denser than deep-water low-frequency pulses—it was a sawtooth shape that only appeared when something on the surface was pushing upward.

Su Qingli imprinted this waveform—a jagged line appeared on the imprint paper.

She held the imprint paper up to the cold light—the spacing of the sawtooths was narrowing.

The narrowing spacing meant the source of the disturbance was approaching the surface.

She put the imprint paper down and walked to the door of the Formation Affairs Room.

"Surface—fourth sensor formation piece, approximately fifty li."

Her voice carried out from the doorway of the Formation Affairs Room—it reached the Pier.

Lu Changyuan stood on the Pier—he was not holding anything in his hands.

He pressed his hand against the edge of the stone platform—then looked up toward the easternmost sentry post on the Ring Reef.

Leng Feng also heard it on the stone platform.

He tightened his grip on the handle of the Formation Flag by one notch—the dark golden spiritual light on the copper Array Pattern at the base of the flag pole brightened by one layer.

The preheating status of the three rings of Array Patterns on the Killing Array shifted from "Standby" to "Activation Ready"—the temperature of the Formation Flag handle jumped up by another small notch.

Old Mai Liu's third sampan happened to be patrolling the easternmost end of the fourth sector.

The oarsman on the sampan lifted the oar out of the water—the seawater dripping from the oar blade glistened in the morning light.

Old Mai Liu stood at the bow of the sampan—holding an emergency talisman in his hand.

He glanced at the sea surface in the direction of the Dragon Burial Trench—the morning mist on the sea had dispersed, and the sunlight shone directly onto the water.

The water was dark blue—there were no abnormalities yet.

But he untied the emergency talisman from his belt—and clutched it in his hand.

At the easternmost sentry post on the Ring Reef.

The Old Veteran adjusted the focal length of the observation scope from medium range to short range by one notch.

The sea surface in the lens turned from blurry to clear—the morning light spread a very thin layer of silvery white over the water.

His fingers stopped on the focus ring.

On the sea surface about three li away—the morning mist was pierced from below by something.

The mist was pushed open from bottom to top—the direction of the wind and the direction the mist dispersed were exactly opposite.

The location where it was pushed open was a patch of water about ten zhang wide.

The water surface was bulging upward—the arc of the bulge was clearly visible in the observation scope.

When it bulged to its highest point—the water surface split open.

A very thick column of water sprayed upward from the sea.

The diameter of the water column was about three zhang—it sprayed up about ten zhang high before shattering into water mist.

The water mist dispersed in the morning light—the direction of dispersal was opposite to the wind direction.

The wind was blowing from east to west—but the water mist was spreading in all directions simultaneously.

The back of the first Abyssal Beast emerged from the water mist.

Its back was covered in dark gray bone armor—the edges of the bone armor reflected a cold, damp light in the morning sun.

There was a very thin layer of mucus on the surface of the bone armor—the mucus began to drip down after it emerged from the water.

The back of the Abyssal Beast rose from the water mist—it stopped when half of its body was out of the water.

Its head had not yet fully emerged—but the row of bone spines on its back had already unfurled above the water mist.

There was a translucent membrane between the bone spines—the membrane emitted a very low wailing sound as it was blown by the sea breeze.

The repeater in the Old Veteran's hand—the green light went out.

The yellow light turned on.

He lowered the observation scope—and brought his mouth close to the speaking tube next to the sentry post.

The speaking tube was a stone pipe chiseled out of the stone wall of the sentry post—the stone pipe led down to the adjacent sentry post.

His voice carried down through the stone pipe—his vocal cords were a notch hoarser than usual because he had been clutching the emergency talisman too tightly.

"Yellow light—fourth sentry post, target has surfaced."

The yellow lights of the twelve sentry posts all lit up within about ten breaths.

The light from the yellow lights on the repeaters shone out from the stone walls of the sentry posts—the twelve sentry posts were arranged in an arc, and the position of each sentry post was marked by a yellow light on the Ring Reef.

Looking from the Pier—those twelve yellow lights on the Ring Reef looked like a string of light points chiseled out from the inside of the reef wall, arranged on the gray-black stone surface of the reef wall.

Leng Feng saw the yellow lights turn on from the stone platform.

He pulled the Formation Flag out of the socket—the dark golden spiritual light on the copper Array Pattern at the base of the flag pole jumped from "Activation Ready" to "Ready to Trigger."

He grasped the flag pole in his right hand—his left hand pressed against the edge of the stone platform.

The edge of the stone platform had been baked by the morning sun for half an hour—the surface had turned from icy cold to slightly warm.

Lu Changyuan stood on the Pier.

He shifted his gaze away from the string of yellow lights on the Ring Reef—toward the sea surface in the direction of the Dragon Burial Trench.

On the sea surface three li away—the water mist began to disperse to both sides.

What was revealed after the water mist dispersed was not just the back of the first Abyssal Beast.

More backs were floating up from under the water—about seven or eight water columns exploded simultaneously on that small patch of sea.

The water columns shattered into water mist—the water mist piled up and covered the entire sea surface.

The reflections of the bone armor in the mist moved within the water mist at fixed intervals and directions—the spacing between each reflection was stable, and the direction of movement was consistent.

A formation. They were forming a formation on the water surface.

Lu Changyuan lifted his hand from the edge of the stone platform—and pressed on his cuff.

Inside the cuff was Commander Tie Zhan's communication Jade Slip—the surface of the Jade Slip was cool.

He pulled the Jade Slip out by half an inch—then pushed it back in.

It was not time yet.

He placed his hand back on the edge of the stone platform—and tapped his finger on the stone surface.

Su Qingli walked out of the Formation Affairs Room—and stood on the Pier.

She copied the latest data from the Receiving Formation onto a palm-sized piece of imprint paper—the fluctuation intensity of all four sensor formation pieces on the paper had jumped up by one notch.

She handed the imprint paper to Lu Changyuan.

"The eighth fluctuation source—it just appeared. At the edge of the Formation Plate—it is still moving outward. The depth is becoming shallower. It is floating upward."

Lu Changyuan took the imprint paper—without looking at it.

He folded the paper and stuffed it into his cuff.

Then he looked toward the stone platform where Leng Feng was.

Leng Feng stood on the stone platform—behind him was the shallow water area inside the Ring Reef.

The water in the shallow area was still calm—but beneath the water, the five hundred men of the first page of the Sin Battalion were already in position according to their assignments.

Each person stood behind their own shield position—the shields were wedged into the grooves between the reef rocks, with the shield faces pointing outward.

The gaps between the shield faces were less than a finger's width—through the gaps, one could see the gray armor plates and the arms holding the shields behind the shield wall.

The Old Veteran switched the emergency talisman to his right hand at the sentry post.

The sweat on his left palm had dried—after the sweat dried, a very faint damp mark was left on the paper of the emergency talisman.

He set up the observation scope again—the lens aimed at the water mist that was expanding outward three li away.

On the repeater—the yellow light was still on.