139: Chapter 139 Patrolling the Island
Shen Shuang's team patrolled the outer islands from east to west as planned.
On the first four islands, a few Iron-Armored Crabs lay scattered on the beaches, several nests of Rock Turtles were hidden in the crevices of the reefs, and a few Stinger Jellyfish drifted in the shallow waters.
They were all low-tier Armor Beasts with Ranks barely in the early twenties; upon sensing human presence, they retreated into their shells or sank to the bottom of the water, requiring no attention at all.
Shen Shuang led the three of them quickly across the edges of the islands, marking "no abnormalities" on the map before heading straight for the next one.
At the fifth island, Lin Fan suddenly stopped. His left eye warmed slightly, and in his vision, a faint ripple of spiritual power appeared deep within a reef cave on the northern side of the island.
"Captain, there's an Armor Beast in that cave, around Rank thirty. It's curled up and still, looking like it's asleep."
Shen Shuang glanced at him without speaking, waving her hand to signal Yu Nian to go check it out.
Yu Nian hunched over and crawled into the cave, emerging a moment later to give Shen Shuang a hand signal.
A sleeping Rock Ore Turtle, Rank thirty-one, no threat.
Shen Shuang withdrew her gaze and looked at Lin Fan. "Your eye... can see through caves?"
Lin Fan pointed to the layer of pale gold crystals on his left cheek and gave a chuckle.
"An Armor Skill. It can sense spiritual power fluctuations."
He didn't mention his left eye's true ability, but by attributing the credit to Tongtong, it wasn't exactly a lie.
Shen Shuang hummed in response and didn't ask further. Yu Nian walked back and patted Lin Fan's shoulder.
"Not bad, kid. You saved us the trouble of crawling through caves."
Xu Tao also spoke up for once, his voice muffled. "From now on, I'll leave the cave scouting to you."
Lin Fan smiled but didn't respond.
While following the team on patrol, he kept an eye on the movements on the sea's surface.
The heart of the tide would only condense in the sea where tidal energy was most concentrated; it was impossible for one to be on an island.
He needed to find an opportunity to enter the deep-sea area.
The seventh island. Lin Fan stood on a reef at the island's edge, gazing at the distant sea.
The color of the seawater had changed from light blue to deep blue, looking as if a layer of ink-colored gauze had been spread beneath the surface.
His left eye warmed slightly; in his vision, blurry dark shadows were slowly swimming beneath the surface. They were quite large, but their spiritual power fluctuations weren't strong, around Rank thirty or so.
"Captain, there's something in the deep-sea area," Lin Fan said, turning to look at Shen Shuang.
Shen Shuang walked over and followed his gaze. The sea was calm, with no abnormalities visible. She fell silent for a moment.
"Can you tell what it is?"
Lin Fan shook his head. "It's too deep to see clearly. But the spiritual power fluctuations aren't strong, seemingly in the thirties."
Shen Shuang thought for a moment and unfolded the map.
The island they were on was the seventh; there were ten more to the west.
However, according to the mission requirements, the patrol range included the waters around the islands, not just the islands themselves.
"Get on the boat. We're heading out to sea."
She put away the map and pulled an inflatable boat out of her Spatial Ring.
Yu Nian took the helm, Xu Tao stood at the bow on guard, and Lin Fan sat at the stern, his left eye scanning the sea surface without pause.
The inflatable boat slowly sailed away from the island, pushing toward the deep-sea area.
The water grew deeper, its color changing from deep blue to inky blue. The waves grew larger, and the boat rose and fell with the swells.
Lin Fan's left eye captured more and more spiritual power fluctuations—schools of fish swimming beneath the surface, larger Armor Beasts in Stealth, but none were a threat.
"Captain, there's a school of Swordfish ahead to the left, swimming toward us!"
Lin Fan shouted.
His left eye warmed slightly, and information surfaced in his field of vision.
[Race]: Silvery Swordfish School
[Quantity]: Approximately 50
[Rank]: Ranks 20-35
[Aptitude]: Low-tier Mystic Spirit
[Attribute]: Water
[Status]: Cruising for food; will attack proactively if disturbed
[Skills]: High-speed Dash, Fin-blade Cut, Water Bullet Jet
[Evaluation]: A social fish-type Armor Beast. Extremely fast and poses a significant threat in a group attack, though individual defense is weak.
Shen Shuang raised her binoculars and saw silvery-white dorsal fins cutting through the waves at high speed.
"Evade!"
Yu Nian jerked the wheel, and the inflatable boat tilted as it turned.
But the school of Swordfish was too fast, reaching them in the blink of an eye.
Lin Fan took a deep breath, and the golden crystals of his left eye lit up—Dream-weaving Rhapsody!
Dreamy feathers of light spilled from Lin Fan's left eye, falling silently onto the sea surface.
The dorsal fins of the Swordfish school began to wobble. Their sense of direction was instantly scrambled; no longer charging at the inflatable boat, they began to chase and kill one another.
Silvery light flashed wildly on the sea as they took advantage of the Swordfish killing each other to quickly turn the boat around.
The inflatable boat turned, bypassing the area of sea churned into a boil by the Swordfish school.
Silvery-white dorsal fins were still darting around in the distance, splashing water everywhere; occasionally, a few Swordfish leaped out of the water and crashed back down heavily.
Yu Nian looked back while steering and clicked his tongue.
"This Armor Skill of yours is pretty good, making them fight themselves."
Lin Fan rubbed his left eye; the pale gold crystals were slightly hot to the touch.
"There are too many of them. Short-term control is fine, but I can't sustain it for long."
Shen Shuang stood at the bow, her gaze fixed on the distant horizon.
"Stop joking around. Head west; the eighth island is up ahead."
The inflatable boat continued forward. The sea had turned a deep blue that was almost black, the waves were higher, and the wind was sharper.
Lin Fan's brow furrowed deeper and deeper; his left eye was constantly heating up.
In his vision, a massive ball of spiritual power deep on the seabed was slowly moving upward.
The brightness of that light ball far exceeded any Armor Beast they had encountered before, and its spiritual power fluctuations were so intense they made his scalp tingle.
"Captain!"
Lin Fan's voice rose several notches. "There's something under the sea—something huge—and it's coming up!"
Shen Shuang's expression changed.
She raised her binoculars, but there was nothing on the sea surface.
Yet she felt it too... an invisible sense of pressure surging up from the seabed.
Xu Tao clenched his fists at the bow. "Captain, do we retreat?"
Shen Shuang didn't answer.
She looked at Lin Fan. "How big? What Rank?"
Lin Fan's left eye worked frantically as the ball of light drew closer, and a blurry silhouette began to emerge in his vision.
"It's huge... at least Rank sixty or higher..." His pupils contracted sharply.
"It's coming up!"
The sea surface exploded.