130: Chapter 130 What whisper? This is infuriating!

The blood-red announcement was branded onto the sky before slowly fading away.

The entire Source Realm was instantly divided into countless independent battlefields, where clamor and deathly silence coexisted.

Outside the South Gate of White Jade Capital.

Almost the same second the announcement vanished, the space rippled as if a stone had been tossed into water, sending out circles of grayish-black waves.

An aura mixed with fishy brine, foul decay, and the unique chill of the deep sea surged into existence out of thin air, rapidly displacing the fresh scent of grass and trees in the Qinling Valley.

Immediately following, figures slowly solidified.

Chen You's figure appeared silently atop the South Gate tower.

He was clad in the moyuan star river robe; countless star-like specks flowed slowly across the deep black fabric, resembling a real universe, making him appear even more mysterious and unfathomable.

He didn't act immediately, merely gazing down calmly outside the city walls.

Those uninvited guests were members of the "House of the Sea King."

They were a group of fish-men of varying heights.

Their skin was slick, grayish-green, covered in fine scales that reflected an oily sheen under the constant light of the Source Realm.

Their heads retained the characteristics of deep-sea fish: huge eyeballs, completely black, showing not a trace of emotion, only stillness and coldness.

Their limbs were thick, with webbing between their fingers, and the weapons they held were diverse.

There were rusty anchors, sharp-edged coral tridents, and bone knives polished from giant fish skeletons.

They uttered no battle cries or roars. Upon appearing, they began to array themselves in an eerie silence.

The fish-men who were relatively stockier, wielding anchors and bone knives, consciously moved to the very front, forming a shield wall defense.

Next came those holding coral tridents, who were slightly leaner.

At the very rear were some stooped fish-men holding conch shells or peculiar staves, clearly the casters and healers.

In less than thirty seconds, a standard siege formation composed of nearly five hundred fish-men was perfectly arrayed below the city.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Only the dripping slime from their bodies and the "slap-squish" sound made by their slick webbed feet hitting the ground seemed exceptionally jarring on the empty battlefield.

Chen You's gaze swept slowly across the entire formation.

Due to the Guild War rules, names and information were invisible; only levels were displayed.

"LV.22," "LV.19," "LV.25"...

At the edges of the group, he even spotted a few fish-men at "LV.9" and "LV.8."

A motley crew.

That was Chen You's first impression of this group.

His sight finally settled on the most conspicuous entity at the rear of the formation.

It was a giant fish-man, over three meters tall.

His skin possessed an ominous deep blue hue, his muscles were knotted, and in his hand, he gripped a trident constructed from a massive spinal column and black coral.

Above his head floated a faint energy emblem.

"LV.31."

This was the opponent's leader, and the only one whose level posed a slight threat to Chen You.

"..."

Chen You said nothing.

He just watched quietly.

Behind him, atop the city wall, the thousand defending troops were already arrayed and waiting.

Long spears stood like a forest, their aura dense and heavy as a mountain, forming a stark contrast with the scattered fish-men outside the city.

...

In reality, at the Qinling Command Center.

The massive screen clearly displayed the scene outside the city; every detail of every fish-man was captured perfectly by the drones.

"The data analysis is complete."

Sun Feng's fingertips quickly swiped across the virtual screen, a cascade of data refreshing like a waterfall.

"The enemy totals 537 individuals, with an average level of 17.4. Comprehensive combat power assessment is D-, Threat Level: Low."

"Based on the White Jade Capital defense model calculation, the five thousand defenders at the four city gates alone are sufficient to annihilate them within five minutes."

Once the analysis results were released, the atmosphere in the entire Command Center grew even more solemn.

"It won't be that simple.", Zhang Yunhai's brow was deeply furrowed as he stared intently at the Level 31 fish-man leader on the screen.

"They must have a trump card we don't know about. The background of 'Abyssal Whisper' is definitely not baseless."

Director Li Guoan stood with his hands clasped behind his back, watching the screen in silence, his gaze as deep as the sea.

His voice betrayed no hint of emotion: "The other three directions?"

"Report!" A technician responsible for monitoring the overall situation immediately stood up, speaking rapidly.

"Energy readings outside the East, West, and North gates, as well as the high-altitude area, are all zero."

"All enemies have massed at the South Gate."

Aboard the city tower, Chen You had already confirmed via Guild Leader authority that the enemies had only appeared in the South Gate direction.

But his expression showed no relaxation.

Concentrating all forces at one point meant the opponent's next attack would be overwhelming.

"If they can be dealt with outside the city, don't dirty my floor tiles."

Chen You grumbled internally.

He raised his hand and made a simple downward gesture toward the solemn military formation behind him.

"March out of the city to meet the enemy."

The cold and concise command instantly transmitted through divine sense into the mind of the defender commander.

"Yes!"

Accompanied by the grating sound of machinery turning, the heavy South Gate, weighing tens of thousands of tons, slowly rose upward.

A chilling, iron-blooded aura sprayed out from within the gate like water breaking a dam.

"Stomp—"

A sound of perfectly synchronized footsteps rang out. The thousand White Jade Capital defenders, clad in heavy Profound Iron armor, arrayed themselves into ten formations and marched out of the gate with steady and resolute steps.

Long spears like a forest, shield walls like a mountain.

Their movements contained no unnecessary flourishes, only the instinct of soldiers tempered through a thousand trials.

With every step they took, the earth seemed to resonate, and the imposing aura condensed from absolute discipline instantly pressed down upon the disordered fish-man formation opposite them.

Outside the city, the three-meter-tall fish-man leader holding the bone trident reflected the grim military bearing of the White Jade Capital defenders in his pitch-black eyes.

An unmistakable look of shock appeared on his face.

It wasn't just him; all the smaller fish-men looked utterly bewildered.

This lineup—was this a guild member force?

No way!

Why did it look so much like the standing army of a Source Realm city?!

But why would a guild territory have a standing army?

Who can explain this?

The fish-man leader recovered relatively quickly, snapping back to his senses.

He raised the trident in his hand and swung it down sharply!

Simultaneously, he let out a strange roar.

"Waa—"

The next second, an indescribable noise erupted violently among the merman tribe!

"Waaa—wa wa wa wa aaaa—"

That was not merely sound.

It was a mixture of the death wails of countless drowned souls, the maddening whispers of colossal deep-sea beasts,

And a roar filled with malice and chaos emanating from some unknown dimension.

It was... absolute high-decibel noise!

An absolute source of sonic pollution!

It was as if ten thousand invisible steel needles were simultaneously piercing the cerebral cortex of every living creature that heard the sound, stirring wildly within.

The fresh air in the Qinling Valley instantly became viscous and foul; even the light seemed to distort.

The first to bear the brunt were the thousand White Jade Capital defenders who had just marched out of the city.

"Ugh!"

The expression of grim determination on the face of the soldier at the very front instantly gave way to pain and confusion.

He instinctively raised a hand to cover his ears, but the sound seemed branded directly onto his soul, completely impossible to block out.

He staggered a step.

This acted like a signal.

"Clang..."

Someone's long spear slipped from their grasp and clattered onto the ground.

Someone else clutched their helmet, emitting a muffled groan of pain.

The military formation, previously solid as bedrock, became shaky within a mere three seconds.