Chapter 79: Beneath the Deep Sea

Hmm, that's not right either…

Baichuan noticed that some of the sharks weren't actually fleeing, but were using this golden opportunity to have a hearty meal.

Take the great white sharks, for instance. After observing them for a while, he found that these few great whites kept circling within the school of fish, taking bites every now and then.

Because the fish were packed so densely, every bite was a mouthful of food.

Then there were creatures like dolphins and whales. Baichuan noticed that they weren't just swimming forward; they were also slowly diving, seemingly trying to escape to deeper waters.

Watching the various fish employ different tactics left Baichuan stunned for a moment. Once he came back to his senses, he too slowed his swimming speed and looked at the school of fish.

Right, with his Frost Ability now, he could to some extent fear no parasites.

So wasn't this heaven-sent opportunity exactly what the heavens had given him—a perfect chance to add various ability models?

Why had he been busy running the whole time? This herd mentality really had gotten to him.

At this moment, having come to his senses, Baichuan's eyes lit up as he gazed at the school of fish, filled with longing.

Instinctively, he licked his mouth, then gave his tail a fierce flick and charged into the school of fish, beginning to bite and swallow.

Blood spread through the water at this moment, growing all the more eerie alongside the distant storm and waves.

For a time, slaughter and escape played out simultaneously.

……

Twenty minutes later, after sampling his way through the school of fish, Baichuan had no choice but to stop his tasting spree and glanced back at the typhoon drawing ever closer.

The suction generated by that super typhoon was growing stronger and stronger.

If he delayed any longer, even he probably wouldn't be able to withstand that tremendous suction and would get swept up in it.

By then, life or death would truly be left entirely to fate.

"A natural disaster—the great power of nature is truly vast and boundless!"

Watching such a terrifying scene, like the end of the world, Baichuan couldn't help muttering to himself.

He wondered when he would ever possess such terrifying power.

Then he glanced again at the great white shark that had already begun diving toward the lower waters, a flicker of regret flashing through his eyes.

Clearly, that great white had also sensed the situation growing more perilous and had long since abandoned the fish within reach, fleeing toward deeper waters.

If the situation allowed it, Baichuan would have loved to try taking down that great white shark. He was awfully curious about its ability.

It would surely make him stronger once again.

Unfortunately, it seemed he'd have to wait for next time. Fortunately, he could afford to wait.

He clicked his tongue in regret, then began sinking toward the waters below.

As Baichuan dove down meter by meter, the pressure from the seawater he felt on his body grew greater and greater.

At the same time, the light he could perceive around him began growing scarcer and scarcer.

The temperature was also dropping lower and lower. An ordinary snake staying in such frigid temperatures would likely have long since entered a state of suspended hibernation—or perhaps been crushed outright by the pressure from all directions.

Fortunately, he now not only feared low temperatures but actually liked them, so this posed no problem.

50 meters…100 meters…150 meters…

The deeper he went, the greater the pressure Baichuan felt, but the powerful suction from the sea surface gradually weakened.

By now, the light had gradually vanished, and what greeted Baichuan's eyes was a hazy, indistinct scene.

Looking far and wide, there was nothing but water all around… No, if he hadn't looked carefully, he might not have even sensed the water's presence, because it was just like how land creatures are enveloped by air—yet who can perceive the existence of air?

This place was deep and silent, as if he were in an illusory space devoid of substance.

All around was nothing but illusion; stillness, depth, and lifelessness were the eternal themes here.

Eventually, Baichuan reached a depth of 200 meters, and at this point he finally felt the tremendous pressure the water pressure exerted on him.

That powerful pressure came from all directions, squeezing every inch of his skin. At this moment, he felt as though a small mountain rested on his body, exceptionally heavy. The surrounding currents grew increasingly viscous, and moving his body became far more difficult and strenuous than before.

He seemed to have dived to the limit of what his body could endure.

And here, the light from above had completely vanished.

This place was pitch-black, like a lightless, sunless Cage.

Stretch out a claw and not see four toes.

If not for the occasional glimmers of light in the distance, and the few strange fish that swam by now and then, emitting faint green, yellow, or pale red glows—

—he would have thought he'd entered the depths of outer space.

Because here, set off by those scattered glimmers of light, it looked just like the cosmic deep space he'd seen in his previous life—those glimmers were stars, and that seemingly empty water was the vacuum.

The environment here unconsciously gave him a very oppressive, stifling feeling.

As if he couldn't catch his breath.

It always made him feel that at any moment, some deep-sea monster might rise from below and swallow him—a mere seven-meter-two little snake—in a single gulp.

The feeling sent an involuntary shiver of dread down his spine.

Baichuan knew this was the fear intelligent beings felt in the face of the unknown.

Fortunately, at this position he could basically no longer sense the typhoon's effects.

He only needed to wait a while, then he could go back up—no need to linger.

With nothing to do, Baichuan began examining the strange glowing creatures around him. When something caught his interest, he would spot a glowing fish in a color he liked.

He would try to stun it with electricity, then exhale a small stream of cold air to freeze it solid into a block of ice.

Only then would he cautiously extend a single claw to carefully hold the ice block and begin scanning.

Of course, he didn't dare eat them carelessly; he was even cautious about touching them. For someone like him who had never been to this area before, it was better to be careful and cautious with every creature in this region.

At the same time, he slowly swam forward along the direction he had come from.

Hoping to pass through the range of this super typhoon as quickly as possible and return to waters above a hundred meters.

The water pressure at this depth was still far too great for him.

He had no idea how a creature like the great white shark could dive to waters over 1,000 meters deep, knowing that he himself felt unbearably uncomfortable at barely past 200 meters.

And the ocean's apex predator, the killer whale, only manages a diving depth of 260 meters.

Yet the great white shark can dive to such deep waters.

Not to mention the deepest-diving creature ever recorded in history, the sperm whale, which can dive to waters 2,200 meters deep.

That's twice the depth of the great white shark.

How on earth do these terrifying creatures reach such deep waters?

Baichuan was curious for a moment—if only he could obtain their ability models right now.

……

In geological sedimentary facies, it is mentioned: the Wave Base, also called the wave base, wave datum, or wave bottom, is the lower boundary where waves act on the seabed topography. Half the wavelength is considered the lower limit of wave action, and this depth is the Wave Base.

The meaning is that a giant wave with a 200-meter wavelength has a maximum influence depth of half the wavelength—of course, this is the theoretically perfect condition.

Of course, in reality, the influence of other factors must also be considered.

Under normal wind conditions, the depth in the Qian Hai at which the water body is unaffected by surface waves is 20–40 meters.

But under the force of a typhoon, the ocean surface water body will undergo large-scale violent movement. The upper and lower water layers will exchange due to this movement, and the water temperature, which gradually decreases with depth, will tend to converge and merge. This creates a significant temperature difference with the water body that is unaffected and does not participate in the exchange. Within a certain depth of the ocean, this region of significant temperature difference (the Thermocline) can indicate at what depth the water body will be unaffected by the typhoon.

So, how deep is the Thermocline?

Data provided by the navy submarine forces, who pay the most attention to the Thermocline, puts it at 100–200 meters in the Qian Hai, and as deep as 400 meters at minimum in some offshore Shenhai Qu.

Below this depth, the seawater is no longer affected by the typhoon, and the turbulence of the typhoon cannot be felt.

PS: Personally, since I couldn't find the maximum depth of seawater that a typhoon can affect, I've taken 200 meters deep here, the dividing line between Qian Hai and Shenhai Qu, as the depth at which there is absolutely no effect. (My knowledge is rather shallow; if there are any errors, please point them out.)

(End of this chapter)