novelraw Chapter 198: Prepared
Chapter 198: Prepared
It was a heaven-spanning net woven from thunder and lightning.
Hundreds of colossal bronze serpent statues, activated by electric currents, gazed with glowing blue eyes at the small boat in the center of the river channel.
Thick blue electric arcs leaped and linked between the statues, ultimately forming a cage that slowly contracted inward.
"Zzzzt—"
With a taunting air, the electric arc closest to the boat suddenly lashed into the black river water beside them.
"BOOM!"
The struck water immediately boiled. Hydrogen and oxygen, electrolyzed and mixed with water vapor, formed white water columns several meters high that shot skyward. The air filled with the pungent smell of ozone mixed with sulfur.
Faced with this "hopeless situation" constructed from hundreds of high-voltage electric arcs, any ordinary expedition team would likely fall into despair.
But on this precarious, rocking boat, no one uttered a panicked scream.
Ethan merely curled his lip disdainfully, as if the thunderous hellscape before him was nothing more than a slightly ostentatious performance by a country circus troupe.Because they had come prepared.
Lin Jie quickly distributed the rubber outerwear from the oilcloth bundle. As they donned the Indian natural rubber raincoats and rubber-soled boots Ethan had procured using his privileges, they transformed themselves from fragile "conductors" into walking "insulators."
Although it remained unknown whether these mundane items from the Surface World could withstand the supernatural lightning from the inner world.
"These rubbers can only ensure we aren't instantly electrocuted into charcoal," Julian spoke up amidst the clamor of roaring currents.
"Our boat's material, while special, cannot withstand this level of energy impact for long! And we're trapped in the center of the cage. Once it contracts to its limit, we'll still be 'roasted alive' by that terrifying heat and shockwave!"
"We need a gap," Ethan chimed in. "A gap for us to charge through!"
"Then let's create one."
Lin Jie struck the first note for this "Thunder Concerto."
His gaze locked onto the one and most fragile "singularity" on the [Electromagnetic Cage].
That was the bronze serpent statue closest to them, serving as the starting point of the entire circuit.
If they could cut off or disrupt the energy output from this starting point, the entire cage would experience a brief collapse due to power instability.
"Julian!"
"Use your [Withered Thorns] and unleash your widest-range attenuation on the statue nearest to us!"
Julian froze for a moment, then a flash of epiphany burst in his eyes.
Yes!
The core ability of [Withered Thorns] was "order attenuation."
And electric current, a highly ordered directional movement of a vast number of electrons, was itself an excellent physical manifestation of the concept of order.
Although he had never imagined his ancient holy wood staff could affect such a pure energy with a "scientific" flavor.
This was already their only theoretical possibility.
Julian raised his Irish blackthorn staff and poured his mental energy into it.
An intangible field carrying an aura of decay erupted from the holy wood, then enveloped the boat and the bronze serpent statue less than ten meters to their left, which was spewing blue electric light.
A miracle occurred.
The blue electric arcs on the surface of the statue shrouded by the attenuation field behaved like hot oil doused with liquid nitrogen.
Its brightness, intensity, and stable conductivity were all instantly lowered by more than one grade by that field.
"It's working!!" Julian exclaimed with delighted surprise.
"Ethan, now!" Lin Jie's prompt followed immediately.
Ethan was already poised for action.
The moment Julian's attenuation field took effect, the small mithril shield on his left arm erupted with bright blue light.
He condensed his mental energy into a repulsive [Blade of Deflection].
An intangible deflection field capable of distorting light sliced precisely into the energy connection point between the statue shrouded by the attenuation field and the entire circuit.
"Zzzzzzzzzzt—"
The currents, already "downgraded" by Julian, which had been flowing stably along the underwater track to the next statue, were forcibly diverted from their straight conduction path by the brutal distortion of this [Blade of Deflection].
They were like a derailed train loaded with explosives.
Uncontrollably deflected in another direction, they ultimately all crashed into the turbulent dark river, which possessed excellent conductivity.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
A series of muffled underwater explosions sounded one after another.
They had succeeded.
Relying on their team's seamless coordination, they had opened a gap for themselves in this tight cage constructed from hundreds of statues.
"William! Get us through at your fastest speed!"
William concentrated all his strength into the two tough, heavy wooden oars. The boat, originally trapped in the cage's center, suddenly shot forward.
Its course was cunning, its timing precise. It skirted the very edge of the electrified zone in a daring maneuver.
It narrowly passed through that brief lifeline, which existed for less than ten seconds, created jointly by Julian's "attenuation" and Ethan's "deflection."
Just as their boat, after a nerve-wracking escape, charged out of the slowly closing encirclement of the [Electromagnetic Cage], just as they thought they had temporarily escaped death's fate and could breathe a sigh of relief...
An even deadlier crisis emerged from the depths of the pitch-black river below.
Perhaps the prolonged, high-intensity yet fruitless continuous discharge had exhausted the bioelectricity within the terrifying UMA hidden underwater.
Or perhaps it had been enraged by these "little bugs" that simply refused to die no matter what.
The true master of this subterranean river of the underworld, whose presence had only been heard until now, finally decided to surface personally to enjoy its dinner.
"SPLASH!"
A tremendous sound of churning water.
A terrifying, grotesque head, as massive and dark as a small hill, rose inexorably from the river water.
It was an eel's head of unimaginable size, impossible to compare to any known creature.
Its skin showed a morbid pallor from living perpetually in a lightless environment. Its eyes had degenerated, leaving only two pit-like black depressions.
But its mouth had evolved into something utterly horrifying.
It was a maw large enough to easily swallow their small kayak, people and all.
Within that giant mouth were no teeth, only terrifying layers of keratin covered in barbs, contracting inward in concentric circles.
Any prey consumed by it would have absolutely no chance of escaping from this "meat grinder" constructed of muscle and keratin.
"Subterranean Giant Eel"!
This legendary UMA, existing only in the appendix of the [Black Book], had finally revealed its true form.
It opened its abyssal maw, aiming at the kayak that was no different from a toy model in its presence.
A thick stench of sulfur and rotting flesh assaulted their senses.