Chapter 364: Crystal Mountain [Part 2]
The size of the creature was impossible. They could stand in a group and probably still not measure up to the width of one tooth.
Its sudden appearance gave everyone quite the fright. Even Wheeze puffed out its fur and nearly transformed into its cyborg form.
However, they quickly discovered that they were worried for nothing. One, the maw was completely still. Two, it was trapped inside some sort of crystalline substance.
Their gazes shifted sideways. The creature was without a doubt a sea giant that lived at the bottom of the sea. Its head was humongous, and its body stretched deep into the darkness. The weak light reflecting off the crystalline substance coating its body also gave it an indescribably eerie appearance.
More importantly, the group finally realized that the “underwater city” wasn’t an underwater city at all. They were a field of crystal mountains, and you guessed it, each “mountain” had a sea beast trapped inside of it. It was like an underwater museum where specimens of the giant overlords of the past were stored.
Speaking of which, the sea beast before them wasn’t the only frozen giant in their vicinity. There were other types of frozen giants in various postures—lying on the side, standing or crawling—around them as well.
Everyone felt as tiny as a speck of dust before these giants. That their reflections could be vaguely seen on the crystals only added to the terror in their hearts.
How exactly was this museum of giant sea overlords made?
Was this the work of the Xi Family?
Czedow—he still wasn’t wearing a protective suit despite the sea level they were under—touched the crystal and analyzed it for a moment. Then, he said, “These crystals have existed for a thousand years at least.”
A thousand years?
Lung and his subordinates were shocked all over again.
Who could possibly possess the technology to freeze these giants a thousand years ago? And under such an extreme environment no less?
Cillin took a moment to observe the sea giants sealed within the crystal. They looked very lifelike even though they had been frozen for a thousand years, and he recalled a small number of existing sea beasts that looked almost similar to the ones before him, which meant that they most likely belonged to the same species. The reason a descendant didn’t look the same as its ancestor a thousand years later was because Sea Paradise’s unique environment had rapidly accelerated their rate of evolution. Usually, a thousand years wasn’t enough time for any significant evolutionary changes to occur. Here though, plenty of species might look drastically different from what they were a thousand years ago.
“What do we do now, young master?” Pascado asked.
Lung thought for a moment before producing the star map once more. The holographic key was pointing toward a certain direction as usual.
Big Rock’s nerves were already taut since the discovery of the “museum”, but now he couldn’t stop himself from breathing heavily.
God’s Tear!
It really was God’s Tear!
No wonder the young master was acting so strangely! No wonder he wasn’t following procedures! It was because he possessed the complete star map of God’s Tear!
Big Rock shot Cillin a glance. If he wasn’t sure before, he now knew for sure that Cillin was the one who had given Lung the missing fragment.
It was surprising that the B Squad commander of a hunter regiment would possess a star map fragment. It was even more surprising that he would be willing to give it up to someone else!
Big Rock wasn’t the only one who recognized the Aurelio star map, of course. Everyone who had accompanied Lung on this journey was his or Fergus’ servant after all. It would be stranger if they weren’t made aware of at least some secrets.
Now that they knew what they were really here for, Lung’s subordinates quickly regained their calm. They resolved to obtain God’s Tear for Lung even if it costs them all of their lives!
“Let’s go.” Lung pointed at the direction of the key and began walking.
Cillin took two steps after Lung before realizing that Wheeze wasn’t following. He looked back and noticed immediately that the idiot was lying on top of a frozen giant beast and getting ready to take a bite. His mouth twitched as he seized the glutton by the nape.
“Seriously? It’s been dead for a thousand years,” chided Cillin before letting it go and slapping it lightly on the head as a warning.
And so the group walked across the museum of sea giants following the key’s guidance for an hour or so. Despite their obvious worry, they hadn’t encountered a single living overlord throughout their journey. In fact, they had found two of their lost scanners.
“It looks like there aren’t any big fellows in the area,” Pascado said while looking around him.
The guy next to him immediately slapped him at the back of his head for jinxing them. “Do you want to meet one?”
Pascado shook his head. “Of course not!”
Eventually, the star map led them to a small hill. Unlike the crystal mountains, this one was just a natural protrusion on the ground.
The star map was pointing at the hill, so they circled around it to discover its hidden mysteries. They quickly discovered a tightly shut door.
Lung approached the door with the star map. The closer he went, the brighter the holographic key glowed.
CREAK—
The door opened. As it turned out, the holographic key was literally the key to this door.
The area behind the door must be pretty huge because seawater poured into it with incredible force. Lung would’ve been sucked in uncontrollably if Cillin and Big Rock hadn’t caught him in time. They stepped inside only after the current had fully subsided.
They scanned the cavern interior with their luminous stones. Contrary to their expectations, the three hundred square meter wide room looked empty and perfectly ordinary.
CREAK—
The door closed on its own behind them.
To their surprise, the seawater in the cavern was gradually siphoned away after the door was closed. Then, a round-shaped hole appeared at the center of the cavern floor. From it, a flight of stairs extended upward until it connected with the hole in the ceiling. That one had opened up around the same time as the one on the ground.
Big Rock took the lead and walked up the flight of stairs first. Everyone else followed behind him.
After Big Rock had entered the second cavern, the room lit up on its own. The moment Cillin saw the murals on the walls, he knew that it was the work of the Xi Family from a thousand years ago.