Chapter 539

Chapter 539: Being Flooded by the Sea Might Not Be a Bad Thing

“Well, this is…”

Trilobite had originally planned to wear a mask and catch small fish, but while walking…

he got lost!

He trotted north along the coast but somehow wound up on the opposite side of the “swamp.”

“Still, losing your way isn’t always bad.”

“See? Found a whole new world…”

It was a bleak, desolate marshland; the air reeked of rotten eggs.

Wispy white fumes seeped from the bog.

This seemed to be why this patch of marsh appeared more barren than other areas.

Though rich in geothermal energy with promising hot springs, few aquatic creatures could survive the scorching, sulfide-saturated environment.

“But now… things seemed to have shifted somewhat.”

Though the sulfide’s rotten-egg stench remained distinct, it was noticeably diluted.

Resembling a hot spring paradise, yet the air lacked sulfur springs’ thick, acrid punch; fainter but oddly more offensive—this concentration always made Trilobite feel surrounded by the stench of farts.

Trilobite tiptoed to test the water.

He found it only slightly warmer than seawater, comfortably lukewarm—far from hot.

“Must be the Marine Invasion’s doing.”

“Seawater flooding the marsh diluted the iron sulfides while cooling these hot springs.”

“Even without sunlight, warmth lingered.”

“At suitable temperatures, sulfide-feeding bacteria and algae could multiply en masse here, much like salt lakes.”

“They’d sustain swarms of crustaceans.”

“Crustaceans would feed small fish, small fish would nourish big ones…”

“Just like that, a fresh ecosystem took root; this wasteland would soon teem with life.”

“Turns out Marine Invasion isn’t purely disastrous…”

“Often brings unexpected benefits.”

“Plus…”

Trilobite eyed distant splashes.

“Ha!”

“Seems some sizable creatures were already prowling these waters, eager to move in.”

“Perfect!”

“This venture wasn’t wasted!”

“Let me see what tasty treat is coming!?”

“Splash… splash… swoosh…”

Trilobite moved his long legs like an egret, slowly wading through the warm water.

The Marine Invasion formed one "big pool" after another, interconnected by "waterways" that created a vast network.

Those "fish" seemed territorial, each claiming its own pool; each held at most five or six fish.

Yet now they abandoned their territories, darting through the waterways southward.

“Hmm…”

“If you’re taking this path…”

“Then I just need to…”

“Splash… splash…”

Trilobite moved far quicker than the fish; after all, Megapnosaurus could stride fast through shallows, dry land, and swamps.

Soon, he stood silently in a broad waterway.

This was less a waterway than a "river," where multiple channels converged; its "seawater" flowed south toward the "red tree fern tree dam."

“Perfect!”

“Right here!”

“This must be the fish’s only route!”

“Block this spot, and none escape!”

Trilobite halted.

His stout legs rooted like tree trunks in the riverbed’s sludge, silent and steady.

His Calcite Eyes scanned ahead as his slender head swayed…

“Ah, right…”

“This ‘mask’ changed my head, but not the eyes…”

“Still Calcite Eyes.”

The Megapnosaurus now looked faintly absurd, like he’d strapped on odd goggles.

Yet thanks to the Shape-Shifter mask preserving his eyes, the drifting "smoke" didn’t blind him—letting him spot fish clearly in the hazy water.

“Here they come!”

“Hey! Big ones!”

“Thick-scaled too!”

“So it’s you lot…”

“The bony fish rulers of Cretaceous America’s Inland Sea.”

—-

“Charge!”

"Hahaha…"

"This mission was perfectly made for us!"

"The Abyss actually bowed to us!"

"Interesting…"

A group of fish-shaped deities flicked their fins in the "Ether River," swimming fast south.

Other deities called them "Tyrants of Stubbornness."

Their name has "subordinates," meaning they weren’t as strong as a "Tyrant," but their bigger bodies showed they were tougher than regular "Ether subordinates."

They were stuck in the middle.

Pretty awkward.

The "Stubbornness" part meant they didn’t fully obey the Ether Abyss like other subordinates.

They lived in the "swamp-like ether sea" formed by the spread of "Endless Ether."

This was a new world. As the first pioneers, they did well there and ignored the so-called "Will of the Abyss."

Their home was outside the usual "Endless Ether" range, so the Ether Abyss couldn’t force them to come. But if the Abyss paid a price and made a deal with these "Tyrants of Stubbornness," they’d happily help.

The Abyss sent out a "golden swimming snake" as both a down payment and the job details.

The Tyrants of Stubbornness learned they’d head south through the "Ether River," go around the "Fantasy Tree Long Dyke" built by chaos deities, and attack the ether sea full of "Ancient Cup Gods" from behind, causing chaos!

The Abyss didn’t mean to trick them and shared info about the Ancient Cup Gods’ "scary tentacles" and "long-mouthed monster deities."

With this came the down payment from the Ether Abyss—lots of shards of divine rank!

"The Abyss picked the right deities."

The Tyrants of Stubbornness bragged proudly.

"Those weak tentacles might beat other weak ‘Ether subordinates.’"

"But we’re different!"

"We wear heavy divine scale armor; we’re armored subordinates."

"Those flimsy tentacles can’t hurt our scales."

"Even the thin teeth of the ‘long-mouthed monster deity’ can only bite us, not break our armor!"

"Hahaha…"

The leader of the Tyrants of Stubbornness laughed.

But then…

"Buzz—!"

"A shadow covered his head!"