Chapter 204: Shaq’s Realization, Roger’s Plan
Fourth Prince Darrell was very fortunate. Shaq arrived in time, breaking through Black Shark Fortress and bringing his army to reinforce. He also brought the necessary Base Coral sub-species for establishing an advanced base.
These special sub-species could grow to a sufficient size in just one to two minutes, and when combined with mature floating predators, they could form a self-expanding production base.
As for whether to risk saving Darrell’s life, Shaq, as his closest living relative present, had to make the decision.
“Given my fourth brother’s personality, as long as there’s a glimmer of hope, he won’t wait for death. So, if he’s conscious, he’ll definitely choose to try. I respect his choice.”
This was royal family etiquette, and no one else present dared to object. They watched as Shaq personally planted a young Base Coral sub-species onto the Life Vine supporting Darrell’s last vestiges of life.
The Base Coral didn’t even need floating predators. It directly absorbed the abundant life energy from the vine and the nuclear waste, beginning its rapid growth.
Roger couldn’t help but frown, asking the projection of Lydia floating beside him, “Madam, by absorbing indiscriminately like this, won’t it grow in a distorted way?”
That was nuclear waste! Look at how Darrell had already mutated!
“Don’t worry, my little treasure isn’t that fragile. Frankenstein’s weapons are just forms of energy damage. It has proteins within itself to absorb this energy.”
Lydia replied with full confidence.
Just as chloroplasts absorb sunlight to synthesize organic matter, Base Coral could produce proteins that absorbed nuclear radiation, using their energy to help itself grow.
Since it absorbed all the radiation energy, it naturally wouldn’t need excessive radiation that could harm its core.
This was why I can digest anything and break down anything, so don’t be afraid of accidentally ingesting toxic substances!
Base Coral was an artificial life form that Lydia had modified countless times, integrating genes from an unknown number of powerful creatures. Its use of nuclear energy seemed unsurprising…
Meanwhile, the magicians of the Secret Society set up a series of equipment, and Lydia began remotely manipulating the Base Coral, which had already grown to the size of a small mountain.
It continued to expand, engulfing Darrell’s mutated body entirely. His bodily tissues, bones, and flesh melted into the Base Coral’s organizational structure.
The sight caused many to instinctively look away. Little Joey, nestled in Roger’s arms, sighed softly.
“May the deceased rest in peace” would have been the best outcome. However, due to Darrell’s choice, if Lydia’s plan failed, Darrell would cease to exist entirely.
As a commander who held the front-line fortress until his last breath, such an end was truly unfair to him.
Shaq stared intently as the Base Coral fully closed and, nourished by the floating predators, grew rapidly.
However, it didn’t form an incubation sac. According to Lydia’s secret explanation, she was controlling the Base Coral to fully eliminate the mutated genes and cells it had absorbed. The results would likely take about a day.
“This Base Coral cannot be moved for this entire day; otherwise, it will wither directly from divine poisoning, and Darrell will have no hope. So, you’ll be alright, won’t you?”
Lydia knew the Sea Kingdom had suffered a major defeat and was concerned that if the Naga returned, they wouldn’t be able to defend this ruin.
Roger said confidently, “Don’t worry. We were planning to establish a blockade line here anyway, ensuring that any Naga who pushes into the Sea Kingdom’s territory will never return!”
Shaq nodded vigorously, supporting Roger’s statement.
Darrell’s matter was temporarily concluded. Shaq, the Crown Prince, now radiating a valiant spirit, secretly proposed a treaty with Roger.
Regardless of whether he or the recovered Darrell became the Sea Emperor in the future, the Sea Kingdom would be an ally of the Azurevine Empire.
The Sea Kingdom and the Azurevine Empire would coordinate their offense and defense, open their markets, and neither would proactively impose tariffs on goods, provided the basic livelihoods of the Sea Kingdom’s citizens were not harmed.
This was essentially a form of vassalage, or in more modern terms, a semi-colony.
This was the ideal blueprint the Empire had originally planned, but Shaq brought it up himself. He had only one request:
He hoped that none of the expeditionary forces that had passed through Black Shark Fortress would return alive to Naga territory.
They had received news that brutal and indiscriminate massacres had already begun. How could the commoners of the Sea Kingdom outrun regular troops with various mounts and magical means? With no one to protect them, they had all become playthings under the enemy’s iron hooves.
Roger pondered for a moment before agreeing to Shaq’s request.
Although he hadn’t originally intended to kill Nicole in this battle, her actions had indeed exceeded Roger’s expectations. Not letting her return to Naga territory was one way to handle it. Was there another method – perhaps bringing her to the Azurevine Empire?
After signing a magical contract witnessed by the Source Sea, Roger also began to speak frankly with Shaq, sharing more information and discussing the upcoming battles.
First, Roger made it clear to Shaq that Nicole possessed two more Overlord Fungi, far more terrifying than the绣球菌 (Xiùqiú Jūn -绣球 Mushroom), which were strategic weapons with ten times the destructive power.
Quantity leads to a qualitative change. Although this world had magic equivalent to that level, the preparation was troublesome and the consumption immense – the defensive difficulty was also incredibly formidable.
As a result, the entire Sea Kingdom, especially in field combat, had no means to defend against a five-million-ton Overlord Fungus without being damaged.
Therefore, the Naga intended to use these two Overlord Fungi as a deterrent. After establishing defensive fortifications at the landing point, they would then blast open the blockade line that the Sea Kingdom would inevitably establish, achieving substantial occupation of the landing zone.
Otherwise, occupying a mere foothold and trapping the Saintess there was an outcome the Naga could not accept; they would eventually break under the pressure.
However, by opening such a corridor, the Naga territory would divide the Sea Kingdom’s land into two disconnected parts, north and south. The already declining Sea Kingdom’s imperial power would see its control over the ocean drastically diminish.
At that point, the Naga could adopt a strategy of appeasing and winning over factions individually, gradually absorbing the nobles and vassals on this side. The complete downfall of the Sea Kingdom would be imminent.
After conquering Black Shark Fortress, the coordinate changes of the two Overlord Fungi indicated Nicole’s intentions, just as Roger had predicted.
Following the unpredictable hidden killer, Collins, Nicole had no other tricks that exceeded Roger’s calculations.
Therefore, the current battle arrangement allowed the Empire to act with fewer reservations after gaining the Sea Kingdom’s allegiance. Roger’s battle strategy was, conversely, easier to plan than before.
…
…
The Naga expeditionary force was currently in a state of revelry.
Their yearning for the land, their hatred for the elves who had driven them into the sea, and their reverence and love for the Sea God made this victory especially meaningful.
Saintess Nicole issued the order for a massacre, and her subordinates scattered. However, she and the military generals rushed towards the coastline at top speed.
They needed to find a suitable location to quickly construct a semi-permanent fortress, defend it, resupply, and then open the path back to Naga. Only then would the campaign to establish the landing point be truly completed.
Although the Naga did not possess modified creatures like Base Coral, which could rapidly generate a jungle and produce biochemical fish, they had tens of thousands of years of survival in the deep sea and had inherited the magical civilization of the elves, who produced druids. They also had means to quickly establish temporary fortresses.
These were seeds from the World Tree of the elven world, preserved in the ancient warehouse of the Naga Empress. After being researched and polluted by interdimensional magic by Naga ancestors, they yielded seeds of the Dark Tree.
The large force behind them had scattered across the plains, madly attacking surrounding villages and towns, plundering the Sea Kingdom’s wealth, and indulging the dark side of humanity. They freely wielded their blades against ordinary commoners, and any woman with a modicum of beauty was subject to violation.
Faced with captive mermaids and fish-human beauties, the Naga found themselves lost in aesthetic confusion. What was more important, the face or the legs?
Such a force, having completely lost its humanity, was beyond Nicole’s ability to control for the moment. She could only abandon the main force and, with the military generals, search for a location close enough and with advantageous terrain for defense, where she planted the Dark Tree in advance.
Of course, while named a tree, it had adapted to the underwater environment. Individually, it resembled a giant sea anemone, waving its vibrantly colored tentacles.
In just over two hours, the Dark Tree grew over a hundred meters tall, and fruits began to form beneath it.
These fruits quickly matured, fell to the ground, and sprouted new tree species, originating from the same line as the Dark Tree but with sharp thorns on their heads.
They were called Dark Guardians, also a typical mutated variant of elven tree species. They could shoot their thorns at enemies when mature, with a power equivalent to that of a heavy crossbow when fully developed.
They were the subjects that guarded the Dark Tree.
The rapid development of these elven tree species came at the cost of rapidly devastating the land. Other plants and animals were stripped of their vitality.
Simultaneously, numerous druids and other spellcasters continuously supplied the Dark Tree with magic power, and even life force.
It was not just the Dark Tree; even the authentic Life Tree’s growth process was somewhat eerie, though perhaps with more beautiful visual effects.
The elves of this world, though possessing slender and beautiful bodies, were not the graceful and traditional races found in stories.
On the contrary, elves were arrogant, conceited, cruel, and cold. They usually possessed exceptional talents and were ruthless towards other races.
Elves generally had the most fanatical faith, but because of this fanaticism, their faith could easily turn and defect to other deities. Afterward, believing that fanaticism affected their appearance, they would directly alter their racial characteristics.
To some extent, elves were excellent providers of Faith Power. In many worlds, the Seven Gods’ flocks were often elves. If speed of reproduction was a concern, they would interbreed with humans to produce half-elves.
Even distorted elves like the Naga and Dark Elves remained extraordinarily devoted to the gods they believed in.
After planting the Dark Tree, the generals of the expeditionary force breathed a sigh of relief. Nicole then entered the Sea Temple carried by a giant turtle to pray.
Other generals used magical communication to live-stream their landing on land to their families, relatives, and even to the Naga Empress.
This was a moment of great historical significance. Logically, Nicole, the current commander, should have completed this, and the Naga Empress would then claim credit.
As a devout believer herself, she was more eager to announce the good news to her god. The Empress’s flattery could be left to her subordinates to handle.
At this moment, the overall morale of the Naga expeditionary force was extremely high.
Black Shark Fortress had been captured; what other means did the Sea Kingdom have to turn the tide?
Even if the Sea Kingdom could muster another army to attack them, they possessed strategic weapons. If they could hold their ground this time, time was on their side!
Although the Naga generals present had not joined the massacre, their minds were filled with fervor.
They were keenly aware of how devastating the sudden fall of a fortress would be to the morale of the Sea Kingdom.
The capture was one thing, but to have it simply erased from the map like this might mean the Sea Kingdom couldn’t even find another general willing to confront them!
The time spent traveling and planting the tree caused considerable delays. Night slowly descended upon the seabed.
Although it was mostly dim here most of the time, the deep-sea creatures that provided illumination seemed to sense the changes in the sun, indicating the passage of day and night on the seabed.
Some soldiers who had participated in the massacre began to return to the Dark Tree’s camp, but many more were still indulging in the aftermath of victory.
Nicole’s order for the massacre was until dawn tomorrow, so there would undoubtedly be those who would delay, savoring the last second.
The excited Naga did not notice that while they were enjoying the fruits of their victory, an army had already fragmented and, with the resolve to kill them all, dispersed into the vast territory between Black Shark Fortress and the Dark Tree.
The Naga army had come to massacre, while the Sea Kingdom’s army was here to save its citizens. Fighting on their own territory, the two sides’ intelligence was on entirely different levels.
When the commoners of the Sea Kingdom saw the Mermaid Royal Flag flying, they would actively approach for help, provide intelligence, and lead the Sea Kingdom’s forces to encircle and annihilate the vicious Naga.
Shaq’s contingent was carrying the latest improved fruits of Base Coral: bone weapons.
Weapons had always been a significant weakness for underwater races. The Naga, with support from the Terra Kingdom and through multiple trades, could only equip their elite troops. A large portion of their secondary troops still used traditional bone and coral weapons.
These weapons were not necessarily inferior to metal. If made from the bones of certain large sea beasts, like specific parts, their hardness and usability could even surpass metal.
However, such special bones were rare items. Therefore, most bone weapons lacked durability and sharpness.
The Empire had not supplied metal weapons to the Sea Kingdom, but with Lydia’s renewed enthusiasm for work, she had improved Base Coral based on the excellent bone weapon samples provided by the Sea Kingdom.
Consequently, the incubation sacs now produced not only self-destructing fish but also bone weapons of various models.
They might not be top-of-the-line, and even those with magical properties, but they were at least comparable to the high-quality weapons of elite ground troops.
Thus, the ordinary soldiers of the Sea Kingdom and the frontline troops of the Naga finally had comparable weapon and equipment levels.
Carrying new equipment, the Sea Kingdom’s soldiers, possessing an intelligence advantage and fueled by the hatred of their invaded homeland, searched everywhere for the deliriously happy Naga…
It was a one-sided slaughter.
It was a righteous slaughter, killing Naga soldiers who had attacked civilians!
The Naga soon discovered this force hunting them and began to gather and consolidate to resist the scattered pursuit by the Sea Kingdom.
Naturally, the Sea Kingdom’s forces were also gathering.
Nicole, upon hearing this news, realized that the lingering presence behind them was Shaq’s contingent. She wore an expression of impatience: “This must be the Sea Kingdom’s last mobile force, right?”
One Overlord Fungus was deployed, moved, and delivered to the Naga troops who had gathered near the Dark Tree…
And then, BOOM!
