Free Web NovelChapter 146: Chapter 146: Journey to the Deep Sea
Third floor, Second Noble Academy.
Even compared to seven hundred years ago or Bai Wu’s previous life, the educational resources of the third floor were in no way inferior. After all, the education of children could determine the shaping of character, which was conducive to the rule of the upper echelons.
Therefore, even though the educational environment in the lower levels was poor, the overall education system established by humanity over thousands of years had not fallen into disuse.
The content of morality taught to both the lower and upper levels was actually the same. From childhood, they all knew which traits were good and which behaviors were wrong.
What was different, however, was their lives after leaving school.
Half of the nobles were able to maintain their fine character, but among the lower class, due to the harsh living environment, the number of people who could maintain such character drastically decreased.
Apart from basic cultural knowledge and moral education, what made the Noble Academy better than the institutions of the lower two levels were various "rich man skills."
Painting, music, sculpture, and various subjects inaccessible to those in the lower levels.
As an art teacher, Mr. Xia had always been very famous; his art exhibitions always attracted many nobles. Most of these paintings featured styles of many artists from the Pre-Tower Era.
As one of the few grandmasters of art in the High Tower, Mr. Xia also held an extraordinary status in the Second Noble Academy.
To have him teach, the cost in Tower Currency was not low.
He had always been the pride of the Second Noble Academy, for Mr. Xia was not only endowed with exceptional artistic talent but also a life mentor for many children and even adults.
He always seemed to solve complex life contemplations with simplicity.
However, Mr. Xia had not shown up for his classes in the past few days.
Day after day, the teacher seemed to have evaporated from the world, his whereabouts undetectable.
So four students from the Noble Academy decided to group up and visit this teacher.
They reached the villa area in the noble living quarters and pressed the doorbell of a brown-black house.
This was where Mr. Xia lived. Acknowledged and even respected by most on the third floor, his passion was not limited to art.
In fact, the teacher also had his own business ventures and was on good terms with many of the administrators.
A few of the children were surprised to find that Mr. Xia’s house was more impressive than their own homes; they did not know that Mr. Xia had disappeared.
Vanished, turned to dust.
Thus, although people from the school had also visited the teacher in the past few days wanting to know what had happened to Mr. Xia, the ringing of the doorbell had yielded no response.
Logically, these four students should have also returned without success, but the villa’s main gate... opened.
Then the students seemed to hear the sound of the lock turning from the inner courtyard door.
"My children, have you come to see your teacher? Your teacher is truly delighted."
The voice sounded like rusted iron scraping against the ground, as if the speaker’s throat was slowly melting away.
Despite expressing happiness, his tone carried a hint of agony.
The students had not yet realized something was awry. They recognized this was not the teacher’s voice but still boldly moved forward.
They then noticed that the villa... seemed to have shifted to a black and white color palette.
"Come, my children, if you have encountered any problems, let your teacher help you solve them."
The voice held a bewitching allure, and the students furrowed their brows, seeing a figure shrouded in shadows.
The silhouette was hunched over, looking frail, but the gaze from within the shadows was mocking and longing.
...
...
Lower East Square. Five o’clock in the afternoon.
When Bai Wu, Wu Jiu, Lin Wurou, Yin Shuang, and the others gathered together, they had no idea that a murder was taking place on the third floor.
They were preparing to leave the Tower.
Previous Tower exits had always been arranged by the team leader, who would notify them two days in advance. But ever since Bai Wu gained Wu Jiu’s trust, Lin Wurou and the others felt that they could be called to exit the Tower at any moment.
Lin Wurou was in the midst of a comfortable nap when she suddenly received the mission to prepare for a Tower exit, leaving her somewhat bewildered.
Was Bai Wu crazy? He had just returned a day ago, and now they were immediately heading out again?
Shang Xiaoyi and Wang Shi, on the other hand, were excited, although their excitement was completely different.
Yin Shuang noticed that this time Bai Wu did not call on the two rookies but took Xiaoyi and Wang Shi with him. Additionally, the mood of the team leader seemed much better than before.
These details seemed to indicate that Bai Wu and the team leader’s last Tower exit had alleviated the leader’s grief over the loss of a close friend.
What exactly had he done? And what was he planning by taking them with him this time?
"Speaking of which, that time you guys went out together without me and Xiaoyi, what exactly happened?" Wang Shi asked a question he shouldn’t have before departing.
The expressions of Lin Wurou, Yin Shuang, and Wu Jiu changed instantly.
Last time they exited together, they visited a manor where they played house. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Bai Wu said:
"We got along affectionately, ate lots of delicious food, then defeated the Evil Fallen, and returned. It was a very interesting experience. My relationship with Lin has made a quantum leap. She felt a deep..."
"Bai Wu! Don’t think I won’t hit you just because you’re new!" Lin Wurou snapped.
The six stood in front of the blue stele, Bai Wu’s hand touching it first. He said:
"That’s too bad, now you can’t beat me, not only am I your daddy in spirit, but I’m about to become your daddy in physical strength too."
The blue light engulfed Bai Wu. He did not use the Traction Disc but went to the area Cain had set up outside the Tower.
"Hmph, arrogant guy. You’re just a fourth-tier little brother, and although you’ve made quick progress, compared to me..."
"He’s sixth-tier now," Wu Jiu interrupted Lin Wurou.
Then Wu Jiu was also swallowed up by the blue light, heading outside the Tower.
Lin Wurou stood still, stunned, and looked at Wang Shi, asking:
"What did the captain just say?"
Wang Shi was also shocked, but it was Shang Xiaoyi who spoke:
"It seems he said... Bai Wu’s Innate Force, is at sixth-tier..."
Yin Shuang’s face was expressionless as she touched the stele. Rather than standing there puzzled, it was better to head outside the Tower quickly and ask what was going on.
Women think differently. Yin Shuang did not find anything wrong with being surpassed by a newcomer. After all, she was just a support.
But Wang Shi, Lin Wurou, and Shang Xiaoyi suddenly felt deflated.
They were the strongest members of the seven Vanguard Groups, but now, they had been surpassed by a newcomer who had recently required protection, and it left a bittersweet feeling in their hearts.
"He seems... It hasn’t even been two months since his first excursion from the tower, right? It shouldn’t be possible," Wang Shi said, puzzled.
Before long, the three of them were enveloped in blue light and transported outside the tower.
After everyone had left, the investigator shook his head:
"Another blue area."
...
...
The blue light gradually dissipated, and Bai Wu lifted his head, taking in the surroundings.
Sea water.
They were aboard a giant elevator, not ascending, but descending.
The view outside the elevator was the deep blue depths of the ocean.
"Thi-thi-this... Could this be the sea we saw when we were kids?" Shang Xiaoyi exclaimed.
Naturally, there shouldn’t be any light in the deep sea, but the lights surrounding the elevator illuminated this unknown region.
Separated by a thick layer of glass, Bai Wu and the others could see the scenes of the deep sea.
This elevator, it turned out, was heading to the bottom of the sea.
Many fish swam in the blue water outside the glass, and with Bai Wu’s knowledge, he should have been able to recognize quite a few of them.
But he couldn’t, at least not with his eyes. He couldn’t identify these fish simply based on their appearance.
Shang Xiaoyi, Lin Wurou, and the others also couldn’t recognize them; this was completely different from the sea creatures of the Pre-Tower Era they had seen in books as children.
The mutations outside the tower affected not only land but also the oceans.
And mutation had nothing to do with the size of the creatures; a giant blue whale might only have a level six mutation, and it could easily be defeated by a level nine mutated sardine.
Coral reefs mutated in clusters, turning into terrifying zones of death, leaving only skeletons when fish swam through.
Sharks became ferocious, their strength and speed exponentially greater than before their mutations, yet they might meet their end in a swaying blade of seaweed.
The combat power levels of all marine life seemed to have been randomly reset, and the food chain was completely rewritten.
However, Bai Wu and the others didn’t need to concern themselves with this, at least not now, as they were heading deep into the sea, but not to the deep sea itself, rather to a certain place within the deep sea.
Shang Xiaoyi, Lin Wurou, Wang Shi, and even Yin Shuang and Wu Jiu were so astonished by the deep-sea scenery that only Bai Wu noticed there were other people in the elevator.
These people seemed to be equally intimidated by the deep-sea view.
The lighting was dim, and the scale of the elevator was immense, almost on par with the ones inside the High Tower. Therefore, Bai Wu could not make out the faces of those in the shadows.
But vaguely... he thought he saw the uniforms of the Garrison Corps.
By now, everyone had descended two hundred meters, and Lin Wurou and the others suddenly stepped back.
The people inside the elevator let out a collective gasp.
The sea water outside the elevator grew even dimmer, indicating that they were diving deeper into the sea.
In the distance, no schools of fish could be seen anymore, just a vast expanse of dark blue.
But suddenly, an aberration appeared in everyone’s eyes.
A huge eye, veined with blood, abruptly opened.
Those who had never seen the ocean naturally did not know if they suffered from bathophobia, claustrophobia, or the like.
This massive eye that could cover everyone’s field of vision instantly pressed close to the glass of the elevator.
All could only see this eye, unable to make out the even more massive body beyond it.
[Deep Sea Giant, a mass-produced type of Evil Fallen. Many who drowned before the apocalypse underwent an Evil Fallen Transformation into the things they feared most. They were drowned by the sea, they feared the monsters within its depths, and thus they became deep-sea leviathans that did not fear the water. It is worth mentioning that the size of the Deep Sea Giants is not uniform, starting from a minimum of seventy meters, as for the tallest... perhaps they could become the Sea-Calming Divine Needle?]
Level seven mutation: Mutation Entry: Oxygen Absorption. Perfect Mutation Entry: Super Gigantification.
Bai Wu glanced twice, assured that this Deep Sea Giant would not break through the elevator and enter, then he began to observe his surroundings.
With his sixth-order Innate Force, even without specializing in perception, Bai Wu could now do many things. Moreover, he possessed Prayle’s Eye.
"Four humans, one Evil Fallen," Bai Wu first looked at the four humans, whose remarks were uniformly noted.
[Without Talent Sequence, without Innate Force, first time in such a place, in comparison, your foundation is better than theirs, but they will not participate in the interesting activities to come, they are guaranteed to pass through.]
What did guaranteed to pass through mean? Bai Wu stared at the Evil Fallen in the shadows. If it were absolute darkness, then Prayle’s Eye would only provide some directional cues.
Fortunately, the Evil Fallen revealed partial contours.
[Level nine mutant, Mutation Entry: Poison Gas Spray, Rare Mutation Entry: Flexibility, Perfect Mutation Entry: Extreme Flexibility, Extreme Hardness.
It’s a lucky bastard because bastards always offend other Evil Fallen, and due to its luck, this is the third time it has been summoned into this elevator. Perhaps you will encounter it in the coming duel.]
Although he did not understand what extreme flexibility and extreme hardness entailed, the mere words "level nine Evil Fallen" let Bai Wu know this person was a major threat.
"It’s not possible that they haven’t sensed us. By all accounts, although there are many ten of us here, no one except the team leader is a match for them."
"The remark mentioned it was summoned into this elevator. It seems that apart from travel tickets, there indeed exists other means for Evil Fallen to transfer between regions."
"The fact they haven’t made a move, is it because there’s no need? And what does it mean that we will encounter them in a duel afterward?"
As Bai Wu pondered, Shang Xiaoyi had already come to his senses. The giant eye from before had excited him immensely, but now he had calmed down.
"Captain, there’s an Evil Fallen in this elevator... And it’s... very strong," Shang Xiaoyi said.
Shang Xiaoyi did not know the concept of a level nine Evil Fallen, but since he sensed the Evil Fallen but did not show a fake scared expression of drooling, the others knew that this Evil Fallen was not simple.
"If the enemy doesn’t move, I won’t move either," Wu Jiu’s hand was already gripping his knife.
Murderous intent lurked in the dimly lit elevator.
This oppressive atmosphere did not last long because everyone saw a light.
Below everyone’s feet, through the glass, they saw a luminous, colossal structure.
It was less a single building than a huge palace formed by the connection of many buildings.
From the outlines of the light, these structures resembled ancient imperial architecture, only far more magnificent than any high tower seen in books.
Only at this moment did Bai Wu realize where this adventure was going to unfold.
[Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho, want my treasure? If you do, I can give it all to you! Go search, Sequence, Entries, power, life, luck – they’re all up for grabs; I’ve put all my treasures there—Ah ha, the above isn’t my words, but those of the Black Gold Island Master, Little Octopus, who meddled with trade for seven hundred years. This place isn’t Black Gold Island, but here, if you’re fortunate enough, you might gain many interesting things, or you could end up penniless, thrown out to feed the sea monsters. Welcome to—the Deep Sea Royal Casino!]
