214: Chapter 214 The True Face of the Defeated Army, Hidden Dangers (2)

No spiritual light. No smell. No change in temperature. The moment the powder landed on the surface of the old sand—the color of the old sand deepened by about half a degree. The deepening was not obvious—even in daylight, it might not have been noticed by anyone. But the bonding surface between the old sand particles was decomposing. The speed of decomposition was extremely slow—after the powder seeped into the old sand layer, for every fraction it seeped downward, the layer above loosened. By daybreak—the sealing layer on the surface of the old sand would begin to leak sand.

Shorty put away the copper box. He squatted in place for about twenty breaths—confirming that the powder was spread evenly over the surface of the old sand. Then he retreated along the original path. Climbing back from behind the aggregate pile to the rear window of the third shed—the entire process took less than half a stick of incense.

At the third quarter of the Chou hour. The relief hidden sentries took their positions. Everything was normal.

At the Mao hour. Su Qingli opened her eyes on the rattan stool in the Formation Affairs Room. She had not returned to the shed last night—she had kept watch in front of the Receiving Formation all night. The waveform amplitude in the direction of the Connection Node on the Receiving Formation plate was still slowly decreasing—the decay efficiency of the interference formation pile was nearly five percent more stable than yesterday afternoon. The jump speed of the waveform amplitude in the direction of the Lock Core was nearly ten percent faster than yesterday—the spiritual energy released after The Lid was worn through was still being injected into the Lock Core at high pressure.

Her hand swept across the Receiving Formation plate from left to right—an habitual action, her finger stopping at the position of the third warning formation eye on the flank.

The light point marking the formation eye was dark yellow—the standard display color for the Receiving Formation path of the warning formation. Beneath the dark yellow was a layer of extremely faint grayish-white. There was no such grayish-white in the warning colors of the formation eye—it was spiritual energy decay. The sensing range of the formation eye was shrinking.

Su Qingli adjusted the detection sensitivity of the Receiving Formation from the daily setting to the warning setting. The warning setting only filtered fluctuations above Foundation Establishment—the daily setting filtered all frequency bands. After switching to the warning setting—the grayish-white of the third formation eye on the flank became more obvious. The sensing range around the formation eye had shrunk back from the original sixty li to less than twenty li. The shrinking speed was still accelerating.

She picked up the charcoal pencil from the pen slot—and drew a diagonal line next to the marked position of the flank formation eye. The diagonal line shrank inward from the marked point—the arrow pointed toward the northeast corner of the Blue Moon Island flank.

"Lu Changyuan."

Lu Changyuan turned from the nautical chart table. He hadn't left last night either—he had reviewed the defense assignment of the Sin Battalion again. The rolling adjustment list between the first and second pages was spread out on the table—Xue Mingyuan's name was on the last line of the first page.

Su Qingli did not look up. Her finger stopped on the Receiving Formation plate—resting in the gap between the third formation eye and the adjacent formation eye.

"The sensing range of the third formation eye—started shrinking from the Mao hour. The shrinking speed is nearly ten times faster than normal formation path aging. By the Chen hour—the sensing range might shrink to less than fifteen li."

"Direction?"

"Directly facing the northeast corner of the flank. The shrinking direction is from the outside in—the edge of the break in the sensing range is clear. The source of decay is in the outer layer—the buried formation path itself is not damaged. The sealing layer has been destroyed."

The sealing layer was destroyed. The outer sealing layer of the Blue Moon Island peripheral warning formation eyes—old sand mixed with shell powder. Under normal circumstances, it would not dissolve for half a year. Unless—someone had sprinkled something on it.

Lu Changyuan took the floor plan of the quarantine wooden shed that Leng Feng had drawn last night from the nautical chart table. The position markings of the twelve people on the floor plan—had barely changed since they entered the shed. They were all sitting on the edge of their bedding. Scarface and Shorty changed positions every half stick of incense. Someone passed paper outward—the person receiving the paper looked out. The direction they looked was toward the sentry posts, the warehouse entrance, and the perimeter of the formation base.

He flipped the floor plan over—and drew a line on the back. From the quarantine wooden shed—to the coral aggregate pile—to behind the Inner Harbor warehouse—to the third formation eye at the northeast corner. Every node on the connecting line maintained a gap of at least fifteen zhang from the patrol routes of the hidden sentries. The shift change time was exactly at the Chou hour—the shift change window was about thirty breaths.

"Leng Feng. Around the Chou hour last night—was there anything unusual outside the quarantine area?"

Leng Feng was standing at the door of the Formation Affairs Room. He had just gone to circle the perimeter of the quarantine area—all four hidden sentries were at their posts. The doors and windows of the third shed were all closed. There were no traces of anyone coming out of the shed. There were no footprints on the sandy ground behind the coral aggregate pile—the sea breeze had already smoothed out the loose sand on the ground.

"The hidden sentries did not report any movement." Leng Feng walked into the Formation Affairs Room. "But behind the coral aggregate pile—on the sandy ground on the side near the northeast corner, there was an extremely faint drag mark. The drag mark went from the aggregate pile toward the northeast corner—less than twenty zhang outward, it dissipated into a pile of gravel. The sea breeze hadn't blown it away—it was a mark made by someone wiping it with the soles of their feet. The direction of the wiping was outward—not back."

Outward—toward the third formation eye.

Lu Changyuan put down the floor plan. He stood in front of the Receiving Formation plate—watching the grayish-white at the marked position of the third formation eye on the flank slowly expand. Every time the grayish-white spread a circle—the sensing range around the formation eye shrank inward by a circle.

"They tampered with the formation eye last night." Lu Changyuan's hand stopped at the edge of the Receiving Formation plate. "They probably used something corrosive—specifically targeting the old sand and shell powder of the outer encapsulation. It wasn't a demolition of the formation path—demolishing the formation path would cause spiritual energy to leak, and Su Qingli's warning setting would immediately capture it. They used something chronic—letting the sealing layer seep inward layer by layer from the outside. Once the formation path is exposed—the sensing range shrinks on its own."

"After it shrinks—a warning blind spot will appear in the northeast corner of the flank."

Su Qingli marked the adjacent formation eyes on either side of the third formation eye on the Receiving Formation. The sensing range of the adjacent formation eyes was about sixty li—and there was an overlap with the sensing range of the third formation eye. The overlap area was originally enough to cover the northeast corner of the flank. Now the third formation eye had shrunk to less than twenty li—a gap was pulled out of the overlap area. "The width of the gap—is about two li. The blind spot covers all the shallows and half the reef wall of the northeast corner of the flank. In this blind spot—the warning formation cannot receive any spiritual energy fluctuations."

"The direction of the blind spot faces the Dragon Burial Trench."

"Faces the Dragon Burial Trench." Su Qingli drew the direction line of the gap on the Receiving Formation plate—the direction line extended from the northeast corner of the flank toward the Dragon Burial Trench. "The blind spot is exactly at the turn of the Ring Reef—the reef wall makes a nearly right-angle turn here. A team sneaking over from the direction of the Dragon Burial Trench—as long as they float up while hugging the inside of the reef wall, the warning formation cannot capture them at all."

Lu Changyuan looked at that direction line. The opening of the blind spot faced the Dragon Burial Trench—the gap width was two li. Enough for a medium-sized assault team to surface from the Deep Water Zone. From the Dragon Burial Trench to the northeast corner of the flank—the distance was about eighty li. The propulsion speed of the Haiyuan Clan patrol team in the normal water layer was about fifty li per hour. Without considering the influence of undercurrents—from the Dragon Burial Trench to the flank blind spot, it would take an hour and a half.

"They destroyed the formation eye—to open a door for the Haiyuan Clan."

Lu Changyuan flipped the floor plan Leng Feng had drawn last night to the front. The positions of the twelve people on the map were still marked on the edge of the bedding—sitting posture. Scarface and Shorty were on the outer layer—facing the window. "They want to take action during the chaos. What chaos—the moment the Haiyuan Clan sneaks up from the blind spot. At that moment, all of Blue Moon Island's attention and military force will be on the flank—no one will notice that a dozen or so defeated soldiers in the quarantine area have suddenly disappeared. By the time they sneak behind to the Lords Mansion and the Formation Affairs Room—after snatching the intelligence, they will withdraw through the blind spot. The Haiyuan Clan will hold back all the guards on their retreat route for them."

He paused for a moment. His finger tapped on Scarface's position on the floor plan. "The Haiyuan Clan will coordinate with their timing. This group dared to destroy the formation eye in advance—indicating that they have an agreed-upon operational sequence with the Haiyuan Clan. The formation eye is destroyed first—the blind spot appears—the Haiyuan Clan starts acting after receiving the signal. What is the signal—spiritual energy fluctuations sent from the flank toward the Dragon Burial Trench. The extremely weak kind—the warning formation cannot sense it, but the Haiyuan Clan patrol team underwater can receive it."

"A Guidance Talisman." Leng Feng said. He picked up the observation scope from the nautical chart table—the scope tube turned about twenty degrees toward the flank. "A type of extremely low-power directional communication talisman—made underwater with Spirit Beast bone powder. After it is sent, it emits neither light nor heat—it only produces a short string of spiritual energy pulses. The pulse frequency blends with the water temperature fluctuations of the seawater itself—the Formation Plate cannot identify it. But the spiritual energy detection bone pieces in the hands of the Haiyuan Clan patrol soldiers can receive it."