Chapter 78: If You Don't Even Bring Aphrodisiacs, What Kind of Mission Are You Running?

Huaguo.

Outside an Otherworld Rift that had appeared beyond a coastal city.

A force of over a thousand men was permanently stationed a hundred meters away, several Spirit Energy cannons aimed at the Rift. The moment any Fierce Beast emerged from within, they would blanket it with fire, ensuring none escaped to ravage their homeland.

The leading officer stared at the Rift's entrance and asked the adjutant beside him, "How long have they been inside?"

"Reporting, General, nearly an hour. As of now, no news has come out."

"Do we need to send people in to gather information?"

Hearing this, the officer shook his head.

"Since that Adjutant said to leave everything to him, we should just follow their arrangements. Sometimes no news is good news — no Fierce Beasts escaping the Rift means their progress is going smoothly." Reading novels every day to kill boredom, 𝒕𝒕𝒌. 𝒕𝒘 is super practical.

"Let us await their triumphant return."

…

At this moment, within the Fourth-tier Rift.

This Rift's environment was different from the ones Jiang Qin had encountered before.

There were no sky-obscuring giant trees, nor an endless expanse of land.

The sound of waves crashing filled his ears at all times.

Looking out, all that could be seen was a vast, azure ocean, with endless darkness in its depths — and the several hundred thousand Fierce Beasts moved about in those deep waters.

The only places to set foot were the scattered, isolated small islands dotting the sea.

No wonder it took Law Enforcement Officers to handle a mere Fourth-tier Rift. Aquatic Fierce Beasts' combat strength in water differed vastly from that on land; they could take out Martial Artists of the same level without the slightest effort.

"Splash—!"

Waves rolled and crashed against the reef rocks.

On one of those isolated islands, barely a hundred meters across.

Jiang Qin stood at the island's highest point, gazing out at the distant ocean, his face twisted in a headache.

"Damn it, sure, this Rift's space is less than ten kilometers long and wide, but god knows how deep this seawater is. And we still have to single out and precisely kill Fourth-tier Fierce Beasts from among hundreds of thousands of them — is this even a job for humans!"

The Military Department personnel who had followed him in were using equipment to scan the seabed.

Every now and then, they cast their gazes toward the young man ahead.

"Using small robots to lure them out one by one to find the Fourth-tier Fierce Beasts is way too inefficient. No wonder the Adjutant's got such a headache. I don't know what the higher-ups were thinking, insisting on using this area as a trial site."

"Seems like it's to hone Martial Artists' combat skills against aquatic Fierce Beasts. But I can't figure it out either — we've got perfectly good land, so why the hell do we have to go into the water to fight these beasts?"

"Cut the chatter, let's get back to work."

"Sigh…"

Time flew by, and another half hour passed.

Jiang Qin had been staring at the sea for a long while when a sudden idea struck him, and he began muttering to himself:

"Aquatic Fierce Beasts like staying in deep-sea areas because the temperature there suits them best. So if we could artificially disrupt that balance — cause a pressure drop and temperature imbalance to force them to surface on their own… then use some method to lure them up to the surface to numb them…"

His thoughts immediately broadened, and he waved over one of the men behind him.

"You — yes, you — come here for a moment."

The man jogged over and gave a military salute: "Adjutant, what are your orders?"

Jiang Qin nodded and said, "Did you guys bring aphrodisiacs?"

"Aphrodisiacs? We… uh, we didn't bring any!"

"What's the matter with you guys? For such an important mission, you didn't even bring aphrodisiacs? I'm seriously doubting your professionalism right now."

The soldier was covered in black lines of exasperation — what kind of decent person brings aphrodisiacs specifically for a mission?

"Then, sir… should I take some men back to get some now?"

"Mm, go ahead. Remember to bring plenty — the strongest stuff you've got."

Faced with Jiang Qin's order, the soldier didn't dare ask the reason and quickly led the rest of the group back through the Rift to the original world.

The officer outside the Rift was equally astonished upon hearing this request.

But obeying orders was a soldier's sacred duty. He immediately gathered personnel and began rounding up aphrodisiacs. In less than two hours, aphrodisiacs from several nearby cities had all been requisitioned — all concentrated formula.

The soldiers laboriously hauled barrels of aphrodisiac liquid into the Rift.

Each barrel held two hundred jin of aphrodisiac liquid.

And on-site, a full thousand-plus barrels had been gathered, every one packed to the brim.

…

The sky gradually darkened; the sunset reflected on the sea's surface, making the entire ocean shimmer with golden light.

The Fierce Beasts, utterly unaware of the impending catastrophe, were still happily swimming about in the deep sea.

The soldier, panting for breath, returned to Jiang Qin's side: "Reporting, Adjutant, the aphrodisiacs you requested are ready."

"Mm. Wait for my order, then dump all these aphrodisiacs into the sea."

"Yes, sir!"

The soldier withdrew, baffled and bewildered.

Jiang Qin took a deep breath and began mobilizing the surrounding Spirit Energy.

Vast amounts of Spirit Energy came rolling toward him. The sunset overhead was gradually replaced by a sky full of dark clouds — lightning flashed and thunder roared!

With every flash of lightning, the massive shadow of an enormous creature could be glimpsed deep within the clouds.

The soldiers were so shocked by the sight they were left speechless.

To actually be able to influence the heavens themselves… this was the Divine Image Realm!

All the power of thunder contained within this space was mobilized, transforming into colossal thunder dragons — their numbers blotted out the sky, already reaching over a thousand. If any master were present, they would only marvel all the more.

Looking closely, one could see that not a single trace of thunder power leaked from those thousand thunder dragons.

This requires absolute control over power.

This was the result of Jiang Qin's deliberate control; otherwise, even a tiny overflow would be more than those Second-order Beasts and Third-tier Fierce Beasts could endure.

"Fall!"

At the command.

A thousand thunder dragons dove downward in unison, plunging into the sea without losing any speed, racing toward the deep sea at extreme velocity.

Hundred meters… thousand meters… ten thousand meters!

Between the deep-sea zone and the shallow-sea zone, a thin barrier separated them.

Second-order Beasts cannot adapt to the pressure of the deep-sea zone, so they can only live in the shallow-sea zone, where they are also most numerous.

Once they reach Third-tier, they grow dissatisfied with the shallow-sea pressure and actively enter the deep sea.

Inside and outside the barrier, the figures of aquatic Fierce Beasts drifted about—so densely packed it was terrifying. Among them were fish several hundred meters long, octopuses a thousand meters in size, and sharks covered head to tail in scales, their bodies comparable to medium-sized fortresses; they too were the overlord creatures of the shallow-sea zone.

Compared to land Fierce Beasts, aquatic Fierce Beasts are far more ferocious.

"Roar—!"

Apparently sensing danger approaching, a Scaled Armor Shark let out a howl.

Before it could even look upward, it was blasted to ash by the thunder dragon that suddenly charged down; the scales it took such pride in were torn apart by the lightning like paper.

Today—this barrier maintaining the deep-sea zone—was broken!

A thousand thunder dragons all detonated at once!

"Boom—!"

Every Fierce Beast near the barrier lost consciousness in an instant.

The pressure between the deep-sea zone and the shallow-sea zone fell out of balance; massive energy was disrupting the equilibrium, and soon the Third-tier Fierce Beasts entrenched in the deep-sea zone rushed toward the shallow-sea zone in unison.

The pressure was rising—if they stayed any longer, they would be crushed to death.

Not only the Third-tier Fierce Beasts, but even those region-dominating Fourth-tier Fierce Beasts felt the pressure spiraling out of control, and following their instincts, they left their respective territories and charged toward the shallow-sea zone together.

Any Fierce Beast blocking their path was torn apart with ease.

…

At this moment, the sea surface was also bubbling furiously, foreshadowing the turmoil below.

Jiang Qin sensed the changes below, the corner of his mouth lifting: "Lads, bring out the goods!"

This is the concentrated version of the aphrodisiac fluid.

What a bargain for you Fierce Beasts.