Chapter 190: 190. Chapter 188: The Minor Turmoil Brought by the Dragon King

190. Chapter 188: The Minor Turmoil Brought by the Dragon King

A flood dragon goes out to sea, a giant sword looms across the sky.

The people of the Divine Illumination State turned deathly pale, even their pupils somewhat scattered, intimidated by the sword qi they could not speak, only able to tremble all over and kowtow.

"No, don't!"

The most devastating thing in the world is when the hope of life is right before your eyes, yet you can only watch helplessly as the opportunity slips away.

Clearly the rescue ships are en route, yet no one can hold on until that time.

Woo!

Ye Qin didn't waste much time either; as the dragon head gave a slight nod, the giant sword came down from above, and the huge air wave instantly blew the soldiers off the planks.

They didn't even have time to utter a miserable cry; the might of a single strike at the Primordial Spirit Realm was already comparable to conventional thermal weapons, not inferior to a missile's attack.

Such power is something human flesh cannot resist; even before the giant sword had fallen, the warship began to emit creaking sounds of disintegration.

And when the giant sword fell, waves and sparks surged upward, sweeping across the secondary sea area!

……

In the distance, just as the Great Xia Navy was advancing at full speed, suddenly a raging wind and huge waves rolled up, making the view even more blurred.

Just as Fan Haiqing wanted to see more clearly.

"Boom!"

The next second, a distant frigate emitted a huge boom; in full view of everyone, the entire ship shattered and broke apart.

The seawater rolled up black spray, mixed with soaring flames, and a mushroom cloud rose on the sea surface, blurring everyone's vision.

Fan Haiqing vaguely saw a huge black shadow sweep across the ship, but it was too fast for him to tell what creature it was.

Everything happened too suddenly; the people on the Great Xia side had no time to react at all.

"What's going on? How did the ship suddenly explode?"

Logically, even if a warship malfunctioned, internal safety systems would prevent such a rapid explosion; it simply defies common sense.

"Something's off. Everyone be careful."

Fan Haiqing frowned slightly, ordered the helmsman to heighten vigilance, and the ship cautiously approached the forward sea area, while the lookout constantly monitored the surroundings.

By the time they neared the incident site, the sea surface had already returned to calm.

On the sea water that had turned dark green, blood spread outward, all of it being ship debris.

The hull of the Divine Illumination State's ship shattered explosively, splitting in two, as if some sharp object had cleaved it down the middle,

It's hard to imagine what the hull underwent to suffer such destruction.

This sea area had been dyed red with blood; besides ship fragments, there were only shattered human limbs, hardly any intact bodies remained, and the whole scene was in utter chaos.

The strong smell of blood accompanied the salty sea breeze; the air's scent made people almost want to vomit.

Judging by this scene, there likely aren't any survivors.

"Report, Colonel: all personnel on board have perished."

This result surprised Fan Haiqing somewhat; having no survivors meant they could not learn what had actually happened.

Now we can only check the ship's black box for any new clues.

"Send people to salvage and search, find this ship's black box."

Several small boats drifted on the sea, while Fan Haiqing and the others prepared to return, to report this to superiors; after all, the ship's debris and corpses here need professional cleanup.

"Roar!"

Just as they were preparing to return, a deep, resonant roar came from afar.

Fan Haiqing's expression showed some surprise as his gaze fell into the distance: "What sound is that?"

All they could see in the distance were horrendous waves nearly touching the sky, as if some unknown creature were moving within, stirring up countless winds and clouds, but because it was too far away, they couldn't see clearly.

The huge waves rolled on, yet they gradually moved farther away; soon only a thin white line remained, vanishing into the boundless horizon.

"Could it be the sound of some large whale?"

Fan Haiqing shook his head: "Not really."

This sea area had just experienced an explosion; dolphins and whales, being highly intelligent, would certainly not come here.

What creature could it be?

Was it just passing by—

or had it been here all along!

Was the black shadow he saw earlier related to this creature?

Fan Haiqing's mind filled with many doubts, but now is not the time to dwell on them, for there are more pressing matters at hand.

When the ships returned, Fan Haiqing immediately reported the matter to the local First Fleet Commander.

"What! The Divine Illumination State's frigate was attacked by an unknown force, and the entire force was wiped out?"

Upon hearing the news, the commander's face instantly showed utter disbelief; although the Divine Illumination State's international reputation is poor and it has made many enemies, few dare to openly strike against it.

After all, though their territory is small, they rely on a big tree for shade, with M Country as their backing and support, so their technology develops rapidly, and their naval military power is not to be underestimated.

Moreover, it's impossible for them to go to war for no reason; such consequences are unimaginable.

"Did you see clearly which side did this?"

The Divine Illumination State's ships were destroyed in international waters; fortunately it wasn't in the Great Xia sea area, otherwise those people wouldn't know how many troubles might arise from this.

"When we rushed over to investigate, the ships were already severely damaged, with no suspicious personnel seen; I sent people to salvage the black box, hoping to find useful information from it."

The commander nodded: "You handled this correctly."

Whether this accident was man-made or involved a conspiracy, since Great Xia is already implicated, we must get to the bottom of it.

Because that route, besides the Divine Illumination State, is also used by the Great Xia Navy.

"If this accident wasn't accidental, then the behind-the-scenes country's methods can be imagined as terrifying—using thunderous means to deal with a warship, even unbeknownst to gods and ghosts, drawing no one's attention. What country could possess such military strength?"

The Daxia navy also happened to be passing by, so they managed to spot it; otherwise, the news of the Shenzhao Guo ship's destruction would have remained undiscovered for a long time.

Fan Haiqing's expression also turned grim, "The fate of Shenzhao Guo is a bloody example; we must investigate this matter thoroughly!"

This also sounded an alarm for the Daxia navy, because the whole process revealed unusual traces; this time it was Shenzhao Guo's bad luck to encounter this, but if it were Daxia's turn next, what would we do?

Whether it was an accident or deliberate targeting, Daxia must prepare in advance.

Since there were no survivors, the Daxia side could only conduct a basic review based on what Fan Haiqing and others saw at the scene and the damaged ship debris.

In the office.

Fan Haiqing looked at the information he had gathered; after staring too long, his eyes grew sore, and after returning from the sea surface, he had barely slept for almost a day and night.

"Thump thump thump—"

The sudden knocking on the door pulled Fan Haiqing back to his thoughts; only to see Wei Yifan enter holding documents.

"Colonel, Shenzhao Guo has already sent relevant personnel to retrieve the ship debris and bodies."

Fan Haiqing nodded, "Did they say anything?"

Thinking of this, Wei Yifan's face involuntarily showed some anger, "Those people from Shenzhao Guo are all the same; they even suspect that we Daxia secretly tampered with something."

After saying that, he sneered, "If it weren't for our arrival, these people wouldn't even have anyone to collect the corpses; they'd all have become fish food."

The ship's black box had been found, but unfortunately, due to severe damage, its contents could not be preserved.

Neither Daxia nor Shenzhao Guo knows exactly what happened.

Although Shenzhao Guo suspects Daxia, the Daxia navy's navigation recorder records everything.

From the video, when Fan Haiqing and his party arrived, the ship's condition was already poor, and it subsequently broke apart; there is no possibility that Daxia had intervened.

Daxia could not have foreseen this; they had no prior knowledge that the Shenzhao Guo warship would take this route, and only rushed over after receiving a distress signal, leaving no chance to intervene.

In the face of incontrovertible evidence, the people of Shenzhao Guo could hardly say anything.

"Never mind Shenzhao Guo; how's your investigation going?"

"There are no signs of artillery attack on the hull, but there are traces of impact by an unknown creature, and the fracture surfaces are extremely sharp and neat, as if sliced by some kind of blade."

Fan Haiqing showed an incredulous expression.

"Sliced by a blade? What kind of blade could have such power to split an entire warship in two? Does Earth possess such a technological weapon?"

Fan Haiqing thought of the huge black shadow he had seen through the telescope and the strange sound he heard before leaving, "Could it really be the work of a deep-sea monster?"

Originally, their speculation was that the Shenzhao Guo warship might have encountered an enemy attack, resulting in a small-scale sea battle on the surface.

However, the hull showed no traces of thermal weapons, so this speculation does not hold.

Wei Yifan seemed to think of something and quickly added, "The navigation recorder also detected the shadow you mentioned, Colonel, but because the image is too blurry, nothing can be seen clearly."

Fan Haiqing immediately summoned the relevant technical staff, repeatedly zooming in and slowing the footage, finally capturing the shadow's movement, but due to the great distance, even after adjustments the image remains distorted, making it hard to identify what creature it is.

"Can the image be made any clearer? It's too blurry to see."

After the technicians worked on it, as time passed, beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads, and they finally shook their heads, "Sorry, Colonel, this is the clearest image we can get."

Fan Haiqing glanced at the blurry screen, couldn't help but sigh, and realized that trying to identify the creature via the navigation recorder was doomed to fail.

Although that creature was near the Shenzhao Guo ship at the time, it cannot be concluded that it was the cause of the ship's sinking.

Although the Shenzhao Guo warship is small in scale, it is still not to be underestimated, for it is the crystallization of human military technology; its materials and equipped thermal weapons are obviously beyond what a carbon-based lifeform could oppose.

And what else, besides thermal weapons, could cause such a warship to break apart and leave no survivors aboard?

If it were indeed some kind of monster responsible, just how massive would its true form be?

"By the way, during our investigation we also came across something quite interesting."

Hearing Wei Yifan's words, Fan Haiqing raised his eyebrows, signaling him to continue.

"When the waterspout arrived, earlier a huge surge had swept along the coast; the situation was extremely perilous, but afterward the waterspout and surge dissipated, and coastal personnel reported hearing strange animal roars, followed by a rain of fish."

This matter has spread locally, and the older generation of fishermen say it is the Dragon King blessing them.

Many have witnessed this strange sight and heard the creature's call; according to Wei Yifan's inquiry, that sea area is close to the high seas and not far from where the Shenzhao Guo ship met its accident.

Combining the black shadow Fan Haiqing saw and the strange cries heard by coastal residents, the outline of a deep-sea giant beast gradually emerges.

"Perhaps it really was a deep-sea giant beast that destroyed the Shenzhao Guo ship."

Is it a giant squid? Or perhaps a deep-sea giant octopus? Or some unknown deep-sea creature?

What kind of creature could possess such means? This is already enough to overturn human understanding!

All of this is beyond Fan Haiqing and Wei Yifan to know; perhaps the Shenzhao Guo crew saw the creature's true form, but unfortunately none of them survived.

"There was also a strange incident at that time: before the waterspout arrived, a ship lost contact; when the rescue team later conducted a search, everyone aboard was unconscious but unharmed, and according to the crew, they had also seen an inexplicable black shadow before losing consciousness."

Speaking of this, Wei Yifan himself finds it somewhat unbelievable; he originally thought it was someone spreading exaggerated rumors, but everyone on the ship said the same thing.

A flash of astonishment also crossed Fan Haiqing's eyes, "There's actually this as well?"

Wei Yifan nodded, "Exactly, both ships encountered the same mysterious black shadow, yet the outcomes were worlds apart—one unharmed, the other utterly destroyed."

After saying that, his eyes held a hint of schadenfreude, "It seems the deeds of Shenzhao Guo that provoke heaven and anger people are so egregious that even a deep-sea giant beast cannot look on, wishing to enact heavenly justice."

"The old coastal fishermen all say it's the Dragon King manifesting; could it really be a dragon?"

Wei Yifan casually remarked, and everyone fell into contemplation.

What besides a dragon could sink a warship?

Because it's hard to imagine, what monster in reality could have such power? Surely it can't be Godzilla, right?

But after all, dragons are merely legendary creatures; no one has ever truly seen one.

Relying only on a blurry shadow and strange cries, we cannot determine what exactly it is.

Rumors about the deep-sea giant beast are rampant.

Not only Daxia, but also Shenzhao Guo, M Country, and other nations have dispatched research vessels to study and explore, hoping to capture an image of the deep-sea giant beast, yet all have come up empty-handed.

Strangely, after this single incident, no further attacks on ships have occurred; it seems to have been merely an accident.

The deep-sea giant beast is also just everyone's speculation; lacking clear evidence, subsequent investigations were dropped, but attention remains.

On the Divine Illumination Country's side, losing a warship naturally made them furious.

Although the warship was small in scale, its construction materials and onboard equipment were all bought at great expense from the West, consuming considerable effort.

It had only been in service a short while when this happened, and worse, it occurred in international waters, leaving them no way to pursue responsibility.

"A conspiracy! There must be a conspiracy here! How could it be such a coincidence that the Great Xia Navy was right nearby when it happened?"

The senior officials of the Divine Illumination Country Navy flew into a rage.

"General Ito, do you mean the Great Xia side secretly tampered with things?"

Ito Hirobumi nodded. "Great Xia and we have been on bad terms for a long time; secretly striking back to give us a warning is also possible."

His subordinates looked uneasy, saying, "We thought so too earlier, but the Great Xia side has clear maritime navigation records, making it impossible for them to have acted."

Ito Hirobumi was extremely angry; although he wanted to pour this dirty water on Great Xia, he had no evidence, so he didn't believe the Great Xia Navy's side, even turning to conspiracy theories and sending people to investigate.

"Have you found out the cause of the accident through your investigation?"

His subordinates carefully shook their heads; their investigation results were similar to Great Xia's, and they found nothing useful.

"The ship was struck by an unknown creature, everyone on board perished, it doesn't look like human action, and according to the investigation results, it's likely some kind of marine creature."

As he spoke his last words, his voice grew softer and softer.

One could say Ito Hirobumi was furious beyond measure: "Useless! You were told to investigate, and after all these days you've only come up with this."

No matter how furious the Divine Illumination Country's side became, they could only swallow their broken teeth and accept their bad luck.

Since there was no concrete evidence, the matter could only be left unresolved, but they didn't give up, jointly dispatching a scientific expedition ship with a certain Western country to conduct experimental probing in this sea area soon.

Moreover, this news was not concealed; it quickly spread within Great Xia, drawing netizens who voiced their approval.

"The Divine Illumination Country's warship was attacked by an unknown creature in international waters, so the saying goes: normally one should accumulate virtue and do fewer bad deeds."

"Hearing this news made me so happy I ate two extra bowls of rice today; I heard it was a deep-sea giant beast that did it—what a fellow, what kind of giant beast doesn't even regard a warship as anything."

"What deep-sea giant beast? That's our Dragon King Lord punishing the wicked!"

"What else is the Dragon King Lord saying? How did we get involved with the Dragon King?"

"I'm a local of Luxuriant Isle; I suggest you search for the waterspouts and waves in Luxuriant Isle's coastal area—those related terms will tell you everything."

Netizens from other places, curious, searched a bit, and soon the relevant information surfaced, letting them know about the recent series of events in Luxuriant Isle.

More and more people paid attention, and soon the hashtags #waterspout#, #fish falling from the sky#, and #miraculously returned Whale Fall# topped the hot searches! (End of chapter)