16
The next day, dawn broke.
The sea breeze carried a salty and humid scent, blowing across Yuanbo Island.
Gandalf stood in the open space in front of the camp.
In front of him, more than twenty members of the Dragon Fang Special Forces had already lined up.
Their postures were upright, and their expressions were solemn.
After a night of rest, everyone was full of energy, and their desire for the upcoming battle flickered in their eyes.
Zhou Huai's gaze swept across everyone's face.
His calm voice rang out in the morning air.
"This ruin has a special environment, primarily oceanic."
"Therefore, we need a team that is better at underwater combat."
Without any hesitation, he directly started calling names.
"Wang Meng, Chen Chi, Li Hao, Zhao Jing... Step out."
Zhou Huai quickly called out nine names.
Among them were three water-attribute Classer, two healing-type, two tanks,
and two support-type Classer skilled in crowd control.
The nine team members quickly re-lined up in front of Gandalf.
Although a trace of disappointment flashed across the faces of the remaining unselected members, they had no complaints.
They knew that the captain's choice was to maximize the team's survival rate and combat effectiveness in a special environment.
"The rest, stand by at your positions."
Gandalf's voice was unquestionable.
"Be ready to provide backup at any time."
"Yes! Captain!"
The neat and uniform response resounded across the seaside.
Soon, Gandalf led this carefully selected ten-person squad and rendezvoused with Lin Zhu and Zhang Cheng, who had been waiting for a long time.
The group boarded a medium-sized ship and cut through the waves toward the coordinates where the ruins were located.
The ship advanced rapidly on the sea surface.
The dark blue seawater was cleaved by the bow, churning up white foam.
About twenty minutes later, the ship's speed slowly slowed down.
Finally, it stopped in a calm expanse of sea that looked completely normal.
Looking around, everything was empty all around.
Only endless ocean and sky.
At this moment, several ships of various sizes had already gathered in this sea area.
The Freedom Federation's airship, resembling a silver falcon, was hovering in the low altitude not far away, casting a huge shadow.
The teams of Great Bear Country and Ancient Egypt had also arrived long ago.
"Strange."
Li Hao supported the ship's railing, looking around, his face full of puzzlement.
"Where is the entrance to the ruins?"
"Why can't I see anything?"
Zhang Cheng walked up to him, pointed at the bottomless seawater beneath their feet, and explained.
"The entrance to the ruins is located three hundred meters below this sea area."
"Non-water-attribute Classer need to wear special diving suits to go down."
As he spoke, crew members began distributing the prepared diving suits to everyone.
The diving suits were pitch-black in color, light and tough in material, full of a sense of technology.
Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, shook his head.
"I don't need it."
Ever since he comprehended the water-attribute Forbidden Spell 【Surging Giant Waves】, his affinity for water elements had reached a terrifying realm.
Not to mention breathing underwater, he could even control water currents to make his speed in the water even faster than on land.
Wang Meng and Chen Chi in the team also refused the diving suits.
They were inherently water-attribute Classer, and the ocean was their home turf.
The remaining seven people quickly put on their diving suits.
Just at this moment.
A pitch-black iron ship, with a ferocious ghost head carved on the bow, had quietly docked beside the Great Xia Nation ship at some unknown time.
On the hull, a flag painted with a red sun fluttered in the sea breeze.
It was Sakura Country.
An old man wearing a black kimono stood at the bow with his hands behind his back.
He was short in stature, even a bit hunchbacked, and his bald head reflected bright light in the sunlight.
The moment his muddy little eyes saw Lin Zhu, they suddenly lit up.
"Hehehe..."
A harsh, night owl-like strange laugh came from his mouth, revealing a mouthful of jagged, rotten teeth.
"Ms. Lin Zhu, trust you have been well."
His voice was hoarse and full of mockery.
"It's been a really long time."
Lin Zhu leaned against the railing and closed her eyes to rest, not even bothering to lift her eyelids.
She just let out a disdainful cold snort from her nose.
"You old ghost, are you still not dead?"
"Thanks to your blessing."
The kimono old man showed no anger at all, and the smile on his face became even brighter.
"I'm still hanging on by half a breath, and I probably won't die for a while."
His small eyes unscrupulously sized up Lin Zhu.
"Instead, Ms. Lin Zhu, you look a lot older compared to the last time we met."
"It seems that the battle last time caused quite a bit of damage to you."
The moment his voice fell.
Lin Zhu's fingers holding her cane tightened abruptly, her knuckles turning white from the force.
The temperature of the surrounding air plummeted.
The seawater beneath the Sakura Country ship violently surged without warning, as if instantly boiling.
"What is that?!"
A cry of exclamation came from the Sakura Country ship.
Countless bowl-thick, barbed dark green vines burst out from the dark seawater like awakened pythons!
They intertwined and wound around each other, binding that iron ship into a huge rice dumpling in an instant!
"Clank! Clank! Clank!"
Teeth-grating metal distortion sounds kept ringing out.
The sturdy iron hull began to deform and cave in under the terrifying strangulation of the vines!
The Sakura Country members on the ship changed their expressions one by one.
They pulled out their weapons and released skills, wanting to cut off these damned vines.
However, those vines were unimaginably tough; their attacks landing on them only splashed a string of sparks, failing to leave even a white mark.
"Hehe..."
Just as everyone was terrified, the kimono old man at the bow still maintained that nonchalant appearance.
He didn't even look back.
Nor did he make any movement.
Only a crisp sound of "clang" was heard, as if an invisible sharp blade had slashed through the sky.
The next second.
Those hundreds of vines that tightly bound the ship were cut off at the roots!
The fracture was smooth as a mirror.
The vines, having lost their vitality, slipped down powerlessly like dead snakes and sank into the bottom of the sea.
The kimono old man slowly turned his head, and his muddy little eyes fell on Lin Zhu again.
"Ms. Lin Zhu, what do you mean by this?"
His voice was still hoarse, but with a hint of coldness.
"Could it be that you want to tear up the agreement between various countries in full view of everyone and make a move directly?"
Lin Zhu finally slowly opened her eyes.
Her face was still indifferent.
"I just simply think you're an eyesore."
"What?"
"Do you have an opinion?"
"Hehehe"
The kimono old man laughed again, but that smile was filled with dangerous meaning.
"If Ms. Lin Zhu's hands are really itchy, why not wait until the matter of the ruins is settled."
"Let's find a separate place to spar properly."
"I am indeed somewhat nostalgic for your 'All-Encompassing Forest', Ms. Lin Zhu."
Just as the two sides were at daggers drawn and the atmosphere was on the verge of breaking out,
a gentle and holy voice came from the horizon.
"You two, why the need for such a fiery temper?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice.
They saw a middle-aged man stepping through the air.
He wore a pristine white priest robe, with fair skin, a handsome face, and short blonde hair shining brilliantly in the sunlight.
He held a crucifix made of pure silver in his hand, and a compassionate smile hung on his face.
Just by appearing there, he exuded a sacred aura that made people involuntarily want to worship him.
Seeing the newcomer, Lin Zhu's brow furrowed imperceptibly.
And the smile on the face of that overbearing kimono old man instantly restrained, his expression becoming unprecedentedly solemn.
As the priest kept approaching,
an invisible, vast as the ocean spiritual coercion descended from the sky and enveloped this sea area!
On the ships of Great Xia Nation and Sakura Country, the complexions of all the lower-Level Classer instantly turned pale.
They felt as if countless grand and solemn hymns were ringing in their minds.
A sense of insignificance and humbleness originating from the depths of the soul arose spontaneously.
Their legs began to grow weak and uncontrollable.
"Thump!"
A Dragon Fang Special Forces member could no longer bear that terrifying spiritual pressure, his knees softened, and he actually knelt directly on the deck!
Lowering his head, his face was full of struggle and pain, but he couldn't control his body.
It was as if he was making the most pious worship to the descended deity.
"It is Archbishop Andrew of the Freedom Federation!"
Zhang Cheng's complexion became ugly to the extreme.
He gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, struggling hard to resist that spiritual coercion.
"Hold your minds together, everyone! Do not kneel no matter what!"
However, his reminder was ultimately in vain.
"Thump!"
"Thump!"
With the first, there came the second, the third...
Not just on the Great Xia Nation side, the situation on the Sakura Country side was the same.
Those Prodigies who usually looked down on everyone now knelt down one after another like gentle lambs.
Veins bulged on their foreheads, and their entire bodies trembled violently.
Sweat had long soaked their clothes.
They tried their best to resist the coercion from the depths of the soul.
Yet their resistance appeared so pale and powerless in the face of an absolute gap in strength.
Even Takatsukasa Arashi, who had been standing behind the kimono old man,
at this moment also had a flushed face, leaning on his Katana, kneeling on one knee, and letting out a reluctant muffled grunt.
Zhou Huai's consciousness inside Gandalf's body also felt that terrifying coercion.
A strong, irresistible urge to kneel surged wildly from the depths of his soul, trying to force his knees heavily onto the ground.
"Want to make me kneel?"
In the depths of Zhou Huai's consciousness, a sneer escaped.
"I refuse to kneel!"
The next second, he withdrew his consciousness from Gandalf's body.
Gandalf, whose knees had already slightly bent, paused abruptly in his movement.
Then he straightened up straight again!
He raised his head and calmly gazed at Archbishop Andrew, who was slowly descending in mid-air.