Chapter 534

Chapter 534: Bowfin Fish Family Bucket

"We couldn’t hold out!"

"We had to hold out anyway!"

"Reinforcements!"

"We need reinforcements!"

"Battleship Number Thirteen is going silent. Good luck to everyone!"

…

Admittedly, the Abyss’s strategy had achieved some effect.

At least for now.

Screams from the ether Fleet and Void Fleet crews echoed through the Soul Network.

Deities remained deities.

Though both void battleships and ether battleships carried weapons capable of harming deities, that existed only in "theory." Actual combat required multiple ships ganging up on a single deity to have any real chance of bringing one down!

Albert Drake and Angna had conducted simulations—under ideal conditions, five or more ether battleships were needed to repel a deity of comparable size. To destroy one required at least ten ether or void battleships.

They also had to brace themselves mentally for those ships being crippled or half lost.

There was no alternative.

Though similar in size, a deity’s resilience and agility far surpassed anything human engineering could match.

It was like crafting a crude fish shape from scrap materials, attaching a motor for movement, then pitting it against savage bowfin.

Such a "toy" would inevitably be thrashed by the stronger, more agile bowfin—torn to splinters.

Worse still, this bore no resemblance to their simulated "ideal conditions."

"Boom—!"

"Boom—!"

Colossal divine bodies plowed through the Ether Sea, a raging flood of ether churning violently in their wake.

"Crash—!"

"Bang—!"

Impact noises, shattering machinery, and explosions erupted nonstop.

Though these "Ether Subordinates" weren’t vastly larger than ether battleships—typically double the size, occasionally triple or quadruple—they utterly dominated the battlefield.

They disdained even using spells, relying solely on brute-force collisions to shatter humanity’s sturdiest vessels.

Human ships, meanwhile, moved like lumbering fools against deities, hopelessly outmatched in agility.

Most disastrously, the "Ether Minor Gods" swarmed in overwhelming numbers!

A dark tide blotted the view. While perhaps not outnumbering the combined ether and Void Fleets, their tonnage…

could easily dwarf them!

This was never meant to be a fair fight.

Mortals seemed to understand this as well.

After losing five or six ether battleships, the ether fleet had to retreat deep into the Ether Sea behind the dam.

Having faced setbacks in the open waters, the ether fleet chose to set the battlefield in the Ancient Cup waters, relying on the cup-shaped Ancient Gods and Outer Gods as allies to put up a stubborn resistance against the overwhelming enemy numbers.

"Shame!"

Albert Drake’s furious voice echoed in the agile network.

"My fleet has been defeated!"

"No!"

"We must give these cowards a death order; otherwise…"

However, Angna saw things differently.

"Forget it."

"Let them go."

"If we keep this up, the ether fleet and void fleet won’t just fail to slow the enemy—they’ll be wiped out completely."

"Being wiped out isn’t shameful; retreating isn’t shameful."

"What’s truly shameful is failing the task the Giant God gave us—protecting the ‘Ancient Cup Domain’."

"And…"

"Do you feel it!?"

"Hey—!"

Angna suddenly found strength from nowhere and shoved away the two ether usurpers pinning her down.

"Roar—!"

Those two screamed and tumbled far off into the distance.

The female gladiator didn’t waste this chance; she charged fiercely, launching a brutal attack that left them only able to block, unable to strike back.

"Indeed…"

"Die already!"

Albert Drake cursed, easily dodging the Bite from the ether usurper tangled with her.

"This guy’s attack speed hasn’t changed; it’s still quick."

"I can dodge so easily because I’ve gotten stronger!"

"And… I’ve gotten much stronger!"

Thinking this, she smoothly dodged the enemy’s Bite again and whipped her tail hard!

"Bang—!"

"Roar—?"

The huge tail fin slammed into the ether usurper’s forehead, knocking that guy down to the sea floor.

"Whoosh—!"

A massive fog of Ancient God Fragments and Primal Mud spread through the Ether Sea.

This was precisely the effect Albert Drake sought.

Her "avatar body" was peculiar—even with closed eyes and no vision, it painted a clear picture for her.

"Whoosh—!"

The red-haired living saint shot forward like a torpedo, plunging headfirst into the disorienting "fog of Ancient God Fragments."

"Thud—!"

A heavy impact echoed.

"Roar—!"

The enormous fish-shaped Ether Usurper shrieked as it staggered out, trembling violently.

These two consecutive strikes had dealt massive damage; unable to withstand the assault, it turned and fled, seeking aid and refuge from its companions.

"Swoosh—!"

"Swish—!"

Two nimble, smaller Ether subordinates darted in, attempting to flank Albert Drake from behind.

But…

"Chomp—!"

"Crunch—!"

A swift spin brought a vicious Bite, followed by a tail whip into another Bite!

"Splash…"

Through the Ether Sea spread not only Ancient God Fragments, but two expanding clouds of blood mist!

Albert Drake had scored an instant double kill!

The tide of battle turned in a heartbeat.

"Ah!"

"This surging power!"

"This soaring spirit!"

Every fiber of Albert Drake thrilled, every pore opened wide in excitement.

Muscles and bones quivered with the electric sensation.

For a living saint, this meant only two things—either the Giant God prepared to bestow enlightenment, or He drew near.

He watched them now with His all-seeing eyes and all-knowing wisdom!

"Great is the Giant God!"

The living saint roared in triumph, charging the enemy anew. She no longer concerned herself with the ether Fleet or Void Fleet.

If the Giant God had come yet remained unmoved, why should she care?

Maybe the Giant God had his own plan!

—-

"Hmm…"

"My customers and spawn were happily chasing through the sea."

Trilobite noticed several regular customers splashing in the shallow sea—the Machimosaurus, that ichthyosaur, the round conical ichthyosaur, and the Nicoraptor from the plant dragon category.

They seemed to be hunting some larger fish.

His red-haired spawn sister and black-skinned spawn sister had joined them too.

After a few glances showed them growing even rowdier, he looked away.

He focused on the waters nearby instead.

"What are my spawn and customers chasing…"

"Too distant, too swift to make out clearly."

"Better check what’s right below me first."

"Hmm…"

Trilobite examined closely.

"These creatures…"

"Should be…"

The Giant God watched the fish swarm surge like a flood into the thicket within the dam, puzzling over their species.

Truthfully…

It proved tricky.

These "fish" were small, densely packed, and darting swiftly—hard to identify fully.

Luckily, they measured half a meter long, big enough for his calcite compound eyes to resolve clearly.

After a long, headache-inducing stare, Trilobite shook his head.

He’d pieced together a rough guess.

"Hmm…"

"This one’s likely a medium-sized lobe-finned fish."

"Probably from the goldtail fish superfamily."

The goldtail fish superfamily, a Mesozoic-era lobe-finned fish,

had traits…

frankly, too subtle for non-experts to spot easily.

Early small goldtails resembled plain little carp—utterly unremarkable. Such common yet featureless fish often faded into obscurity.

You’d never see them in documentaries.

If they appeared, they’d just be background filler or snacks for medium-sized ichthyosaurs.

This fish was very abundant during the Mesozoic Era, with a forked tail. Some larger types had sharp teeth and were quite big.

They roamed the shallow sea as fierce predators there.

"Hmm…"

"So, those smaller ones…"

"Should be an early type of goldtail fish, similar to the Chinese true jaw fish."

"About half a meter long, living in the shallow sea…"

"Overall, you should be a Kalaeomodus, a member of the lobe-finned fish family, found in the Santana Formation of Brazil."

The Chinese true jaw fish was what I referred to as background fish, and it was quite obscure, unlikely to appear in documentaries.

But the Santana Formation in Brazil was different.

There, several famous Mesozoic fossil creatures were excavated; among them was the South American Megapnosaurus, the renowned Ancient God pterosaur, and the Santana thief dragon.

In particular, the Ancient God pterosaur, with its tall and strange head crest, gained much fame, appearing in more than one documentary or game.

"Perhaps, if we look closely, we might find that the fish caught by the Ancient God pterosaur was this Kalaeomodus."

Lobe-finned fish were abundant during the Mesozoic Era, but suffered greatly in the Cretaceous ET event; now, only one type survives—it’s called the lobe-finned fish and lives in the Mississippi River.

In recent years, it was squeezed out by invading Asian carp, ruining its food sources, and its survival was not good.

"Let’s not even mention the sorry state of your relatives."

"But with your size, especially those similar to the ‘Chinese true jaw fish’…"

"Aren’t they pretty weak?"

"Always picking on my little sharks."

"Well, look what happened now, heh heh…"

Sure enough…

"Ah—!"

"Swish—!"

The "ancient cup animals" got stimulated, rising up with tentacles full of stinging cells, floating like ribbons in the sea.

—-

"Hahaha!"

"Mortals! Mortals! Easy to crush!"

"This shallow sea shall be ours!"

"Hey! Foolish Outer Gods! Ancient Gods like weeds!"

"Bow to the great Abyss!"

…

As the mortal fleet retreated, hundreds of Ether Minor Gods rushed into the area called the "Ether Sea behind the dam."

This was like breaking through a city wall or gate, with troops flooding into the inner city.

Usually, at that point, no big resistance was left in "the city."

In street fights, the attackers might take losses, but the city’s fall was certain.

The Ether Minor Gods under the Abyss shouted victory cries, charging into a new area as conquerors, waiting for the locals to surrender!

They pulled off a big sneak attack!

In their minds, seeing a crowd of gods like dark clouds, those scattered Outer Gods, and all sorts of "mortal" beings worth less than dust, they should have knelt and sworn loyalty to the Abyss, right?

But…

The "Ether Sea behind the dam" was silent.

No divine birds were there.

Not even the mortals of the divine birds were around.

Instead, some gods stared at these boastful "Ether Minor Gods" like they were fools.

The Ether Sea behind the dam felt eerily calm.

"Whoosh…"

The Ether Minor Gods sensed the odd mood and all stopped.

They glanced around, confused.

Just then, cheerful voices broke the quiet!

"La la la!"

"Ya ya ya!"

"Wa wa wa!"

Three large ear blades popped out, making "pop pop pop" sounds.