novelnext Chapter 1506 766: Prelude to the Revelry
Chapter 1506 766: Prelude to the Revelry
Under an unprecedented fierce storm, the Thousand Islands on the Endless Sea have been shrouded in chaos.
Evil news flies in like snowflakes.
Either an entire island is devoured, or some city-state suffered heavy losses, or terrifying battles between Disaster Beasts...
In the Eastern Central Earth, a newly hatched Destruction-level Disaster Beast has crossed the sea to land, devouring several villages, then battled fiercely with local Disaster Beasts, unable to claim victory either way. They retreated to regain strength, planning to fight another day. However, posing a threat to nearby Fuel Production Areas, they were hit hard by both Federation and Empire forces, completely annihilated.
Within a thousand miles, everything turned into barren land.
In the Frozen Zone to the north of the Endless Sea, the awakened North Sea Kraken has devoured all Disaster Beasts in the White River Belt and now, famished, shows signs of approaching human settlements...
Meanwhile, in the Federal Wilderness State, amidst untouched snow, a scene of scorched darkness.
Mountains turning to bones, oceans stained red with blood.
Flames and ashes rising ceaselessly.
Federation bombers fly in three shifts daily, conducting large-scale bombing missions, setting ablaze any areas showing signs of reanimation.
Signs of Leviathan's reanimation were temporarily suppressed, but large numbers of beasts began to gather. The Military Department has established a defense line on the snowfield, starting to hunt down and drive away any approaching living creatures, ensuring Leviathan remains in a dormant state, unable to recover.
There is still no news regarding the abnormal movements in the Kunwu Region, but internal shifts within the Security Bureau have become somewhat irregular, rumors abound like mist, difficult to discern, leaving only speculation.
A few days ago, mysterious disturbances appeared near the Imperial Territory, suspected to be the Heavenly People's intervention from the Empire on a newly born Destruction-level Disaster Beast. No further information has been reported yet.
On the Endless Sea, between the Thousand Islands, disturbances are everywhere, stories of various Disaster Beasts abound, leaving everyone on edge.
"Wow, the outside world is really dangerous."
Ji Jue looked at the headlines on the screen and couldn't help but make the face of the subway old man looking at his phone, with complicated expressions: "Isis?"
"Sir, I am here."
A gentle response echoed from the workshop, the distant Spirit of Workshop in Punabantu glanced with eyes: "What are your orders?"
"How is the situation in Punabantu?" Ji Jue asked, "No slack in Disaster Beast defense work, right?"
Isis replied calmly: "Rest assured, sir, everything is orderly, we have reaped rich harvests and seen no high-threat targets for now."
"That's good."
Ji Jue breathed a sigh of relief, asking: "Besides that, any recent occurrences?"
"Nothing worth mentioning."
Isis said: "However, according to statistics, under the Integration of the Red Cloud Foundation, Fly King's organization and execution rates have significantly improved, and departmental progress is promising.
Though spiritual consumption has also increased, compared to the rewards and profits gained, this expense is negligible."
The Spirit of Workshop sincerely exclaimed: "Unexpectedly, one day, you would bring such positive contributions to your workshop, truly commendable, worthy of celebration."
"..."
Ji Jue's expression twitched, curious about how abstract his image as Creator was in the tool's eyes.
"Anyway, remember safety first, such little foundation, facing great storms, would immediately disappear."
Ji Jue flipped through Punabantu's safety log, confirming there were no abnormalities before finally relaxing: "Safety first, safety first."
"Understood."
Isis nodded naturally, reassuring again: "No matter how many times it's said, rest assured, sir."
She said, "In Punabantu, there are no Disaster Beasts."
At this moment, amidst the billowing smoke of the steel city, the hustle and bustle continued, many engineering cats carried building materials back and forth, roaring with energy in the expansion and production.
Meanwhile, outside of surveillance in the surrounding sea region, it's empty.
No Disaster Beasts, no storms.
Nothing at all.
On the gray-black sea surface, only stark white flowers silently blossomed in the water, covering the undersea stacks of skeletal remains.
They seemed endless, spreading, leading to a sea domain of a thousand square miles covered by flowers, where all living things have been utterly exterminated.
Further at the boundary, even the lament of gigantic beasts became so feeble.
The once formidable giant manta rays trembled, futilely struggled under the entanglement of silver light, their bodies covered by petals, ultimately devoured wholly.
Thus, they sank into the sea.
In the prolonged sinking, their massive bodies gradually shriveled, life and residual spirit fully drained, until even the last ashes dissolved in seawater, no longer to be seen.
Within disintegrating ashes, dots of light emerged.
Those tiny seeds absorbed the last of life from the ashes, sprouting from the deep sea, growing, ultimately reaching the surface, blooming tender buds, amidst waves undulating, drifting far away...
So they spread, so they expanded.
Like thousands of slowly extending hands, taking in all living things, eradicating hidden threats before disasters could occur.
Then, reaching further beyond...
Safety log updated.
Calm seas as always.
Punabantu remains safe today.
Nothing happens.
.
.
Compared to Punabantu under the management of Isis, which made Ji Jue worry-free, the Seven Cities nowadays, in some sense, could be said to be in utter chaos.
It even makes one wonder if these people's minds are functioning properly.
Clearly, it's the season of violent winds and rampant Disaster Beasts, yet everywhere is teeming with life and a sense of competition. After an excessively long and torturous depression, a distorted prosperity has arrived.
The disasters brought by the Disaster Beasts haven't ended, but the economy brought by these beasts is already soaring...
It can even be said that it's all thanks to the passing Charybdis days ago, that the Seven Cities transitioned from an unexpected difficult situation to an unforeseen festive season.
It all originated from the unknown Disaster Beast carcass left behind by Charybdis!
Within the chaotic gravitational field, huge chunks of the carcass were still floating on the sea surface.
The closest city, Yamen, quickly dispatched a fleet to bring back a large piece of the carcass, only to find that the flesh on the carcass still maintained traits of activity, a type never seen before.
Once the news spread, even before the fleet returned to port, the fragments were reportedly already snapped up by mysterious buyers.
As for who this buyer really is, that's hard to guess... Wouldn't you say it's Ah Bang? Ah Di? Or maybe Taiyi Ring had a hand in it as well?
After the information leaked, other city-states rushed to send out fleets, and even earlier, well-informed fishermen had already begun to venture out to sea.
In less than two days, the giant beast's carcass was completely divided up. Allegedly, on the Desert Market's bounty board, the heart was once auctioned off at sky-high prices, making Dan City a fortune.
With the onset of the violent wind period, the demand for the tissues and organs of other Disaster Beasts has surged.
Nowadays, the sea is teeming with Disaster Beasts fighting and preying on each other. If one gets lucky, it's easy to earn unimaginably lavish rewards from a single venture.
Once the violent wind period ends, even the remaining carcasses, under the gnawing of fish or other scavengers, might only leave few remnants, making it hard to even gather a skeleton, let alone for research or as materials.
The rougher the seas, the more expensive the fish.
Having tasted success, Yamen was the first to organize a fleet and offered bounties, advancing rapidly during this season of high winds and rough seas. Soon, others followed suit...
Nowadays, what's rampaging the sea isn't the Disaster Beasts, but glistening silver!
Money, it's all money!
The Disaster Beasts' revelry hasn't ended, yet the Seven Cities' celebration has already begun!
In no time, even though it's such a dangerous season, the seas around the Seven Cities are brimming with scenes of a thousand sails competing and hundreds of boats vying.
The once dead-silent docks have sprung back to life in a clamor.
Cheering resounds continuously, abuzz with activity.
"Quick, quick, make way."
Harsh urging rings out as the crowded masses are forcibly cleared to make a path. Several blood-soaked, barely-alive figures are loaded onto ambulances, while others have missing limbs.
Yet even in such condition, those on stretchers grin broadly, indifferent to their plight.
The recently returned fishing boats are riddled with fractures, yet the giant sea serpent bound by layers of cables on the deck stands out so starkly, drawing envious gazes from countless onlookers.
Amid the cacophony, a makeshift platform piled with broken crates is surrounded impenetrably.
"Anyone up for work, hurry!" roars the mate on the platform, "We need four sailors, military experience preferred! Priority to engine room staff—"
Before he could finish, numerous hands shoot up.
"Me! I can! I have a machinist license."
"And me!"
The needed personnel is quickly assembled, not even half a minute passes before the departing mate is held back, unable to proceed.
"Sir, I can too, sir!" a gaunt man squeezes in, eyes alight with an unusual excitement, "I can be a deckhand, I'm nimble! I have service proof..."
"Get lost, no addicts!"
Amid the chaos, the mate disgustedly shakes off his hand, hurrying towards the large fishing boat preparing to leave port, when another climbs the platform, shouting, "White Ice, need five people, same rule, military experience preferred, any doctors..."
"Me! Me! Me!"
"And me!"
"I can too!"
Once more, the crowd beneath surged and bustled.
Each pair of once withered, lifeless eyes now glimmered with hopeful light.
On the dock, under transport, the dead sea serpent is thoroughly disassembled in the newly constructed warehouse, with bones, organs, eyeballs, spinal cord, and brain rapidly preserved, packed, and sealed amid the shouting and haggling of money-waving buyers' agents, distributed to various parties.
Sticky blood trickled across the ground, while amidst the rotten stench, a large amount of meat scraps were carted out of the warehouse and dumped into ditches.
Flies buzzed chaotically.
In the shantytown of the seaside slum, a clamor ensued.
In a drafty, run-down house, even with the door closed, cries from afar could still be heard, unsure which widow had just received news of her husband's death, sobbing and wailing.
"Meat! So much meat!"
The child's gaze was drawn to a bubbling pot, as rich aromas and fishy scents wafted from it. The snotty child drew closer, eyes wide and gleeful, "Wow, it's all meat!"
"Eat slowly, eat slowly."
The elderly man with a sallow complexion coughed repeatedly, watching the child's ravenous eating with a wry smile. Yet the words in his mouth contradicted themselves unconsciously.
"Eat more, eat a bit more."
He extended his hand, patting the child's sparse, yellowing hair, muttering a redundant phrase over and over: "Once you're full, you won't be hungry..."