Chapter 414: Unseen Threats Revealed
"Mission Control, this is Squad Alpha. Do you copy?"
[Copy. Proceed with the Investigation. Keep all headlights up and sound the alarm at the slightest amount of danger.]
"Roger."
200 members of the Aramisian navy, led by a Lieutenant once again moved underwater to investigate the vicinity of Sector 35.
They moved carefully, having spotlights pointed in all directions to prevent anything from slipping past without their notice.
When they reached the demarcation point between Sectors 34 and 35, they noticed something and quickly reported it.
"Mission Control."
[Report.]
"We have a visual on eight shark type monsters within the area."
Just as he said that, the shark monsters turned around and looked at the company, prompting them to raise their weapons in preparation for battle.
"Wait a second. That shark’s teeth."
The Lieutenant noticed that there was something caught in the teeth of one of the sharks, and when he zoomed in with his underwater binoculars.
"Red meat...?
?!No, that’s human flesh!"
Hearing his declaration, the Army Captain who was with him frowned and questioned if they should move to eliminate the monsters, but the Lieutenant gave a different reply.
"No. A battle here could startle whatever it is in Sector 35 we’re meant to be looking for."
[Alpha One, this is Major Lamkins speaking.]
"?!"
[I’m detecting eight life signs on your 12’oclock. Ignore them and do not show even the slightest bit of hostility. I’d send bait to draw them away.]
It did not take up to 15 seconds after the Major’s words for the shark monsters to suddenly tout their noses like they were sniffing something.
Almost immediately, the leader of the group turned and swam in another direction, carrying the remaining seven monsters with it.
"The Monsters have cleared the area."
[Good. Proceed.]
The Lieutenant relayed the orders and the company swam into Sector 45’s area, quickly coming across the anchor they had been told was entwined with tree vines.
"Mission Control."
[Report.]
"We’ve arrived at the Anchor. There’s nothing here."
"Could it have been startled by our presence and retreated?"
[Captain, we’re looking at something that wiped out a Platoon of 44 good men. Do you think it’d be startled so easily?]
The Captain went silent after Major Lamkins admonished him, while the Lieutenant swam forward and inspected the anchor all over.
"Major, I don’t see a single thing in the area."
[Move forward and investigate the Damaged Area.]
"Roger."
◇ ◇ ◇
While she had instructed the Company underwater to inspect the damaged area of the Triton’s Ark, Major Lamkins had some engineers go down to Sector 35’s underground layers and inspect it from the inside as well.
The team of engineers were putting on their helmets when they all heard a strange rumbling sound, followed by some vibrations on the walls.
"Hmm?"
[Technical Team? I’m detecting strange waveforms from your location. What do you see?]
"We don’t have any visuals, Major.
However, we are feeling some vibrations coming from the Outer Rim."
[Vibrations...? Hmm? There’s an energy reaction as well...?!!
Impossible!
Technical Team, hold your position. I’m sending a Company to guard you right now!]
The members of the Technical Team didn’t know what Major Lamkins had detected to make her suddenly wary, but whatever it was, it was serious enough that she wanted to send a Company of 200 men to guard a team of 10 engineers.
◇ ◇ ◇
The Admirals and Generals in the situation room were wrapping up their discussions when a loud buzzing sound rang out across the entire room, silencing them all.
"An emergency transmission?! Put it on, now!"
The analysts did not even need to be ordered to do this, and when they switched on the transmission, a magic projection image of Major Lamkins manifested in the middle of the room.
Without waiting for anyone to even say anything, the woman started speaking quickly.
[I just detected localized micro-vibrations around Sector 35, in the controlled access area of the Ark.
At the same time, I also detected energy waveforms with very distinctive features.]
The woman projected several graphs and the analysts of the situation room began studying them while she continued speaking.
[Cross referencing with all logs, there are not meant to be any Energy-powered devices active in Sector 35 due to the Damage.
Exactly two minutes later, I noticed a fluctuation in spatial mass that led to the disruption of the Ark’s magnetic field, impeding my communications with the Company I sent to the Technical Team down in Sector 35.
This is where the problem begins...the company was still in Sector 34 when I lost contact with them.]
The expressions of all of the Military heads present turned grim when they heard this. Losing contact with a company on a mission was never a good thing, but Major Lamkins was about give them worse news.
[Exactly one minute later, the magnetic field disruptions spread to Sector 33, preventing me from being able to contact the Lieutenant Colonel in charge of the Sector.
As we speak, the disruption has gone as far as Sector 3-?!]
**BEEP-BEEP!!!
Her words were cut off by the sudden alarm sound that rang out both on her end and in the Situation room. Very quickly, the analysts checked it and their eyes widened in shock as they cried out in alarm.
"Damage detected to the Bulkhead of Sector 29!!"
"Similar report from Sector 27!"
As if that wasn’t enough, another alarm rang out coming from the Resources department, and the report that came through was one that confirmed the conjecture that was blooming in all their minds.
[Resources department has detected thick root-like vegetation in the Food Storage areas of Sectors 28 and 29!!]
[Sector 35 Technical team here!! Get us Major Lamkins!!
Major! There’s some kind of plant growing here! It’s moving through the maintenance tunn-ARGAHHH!!!]
The line went dead after the engineer’s scream, and at this point no one needed to inform them of the current situation.
"We’re under attack.
Shift the Triton’s Ark in to ’Fortress Mode’. Evacuate all civilians to the Shelters and prepare Military Personnel for an Attack!
Analysts, find where that plant monster is headed! It’s gone from Sector 35 to Sector 28 in a few minutes, track that thing down.
Generals, I want at least Two Brigades surrounding the affected sectors and I want it done yesterday!"
Fleet Admiral Gnurl began dishing out orders, and though the Generals were lightly surprised that the man gave the order to mobilize over 6000 soldiers instantly, they didn’t hesitate to move out to carry out his commands.
Aramisian Army Colonels rose to the occasion and quickly got into their transport vehicles to head towards the affected Sectors while Warrant Officers moved out to begin Evacuation processes.
"Launch a high-altitude emergency signal quickly. We need to notify Land forces on Zefesh!"
One of the Vice-Admirals barked out orders to his Division and they complied immediately. Within seconds, a beacon was launched from all four corners of Sector 1—the Sector where their Headquarters were located.
"The emergency signals have been sent."
"Good, now let’s redirect all our focus to finding and containing this Hostile Plant-type monster."
Gnurl commended the Vice-Admiral before giving out another ordered that everyone obeyed. Everyone present, from Technicians and Analysts to Vice Admirals and Lieutenant Generals all followed his orders and had their attentions on the rapidly spreading underground threat.
Everyone, except his daughter.
And it was precisely because she did not follow this order, that she was the first to notice it.
[The Emergency Signal beacons have been destroyed!!]
"What?"
Gnurl frowned when he heard his daughter’s words, and very quickly live footage of the smoking beacons falling into the ocean was projected for all those present to see.
[This Energy Waveform! It’s the same as that of the Plant in Sector 35!
I’m scanning the Ark’s vicinity and I’m seeing that the ambient magic power right outside our magnetic field has been attributed...!!
The law energy concentration has also increased!]
Normally, the ambient magic energy—energy of the surroundings—was usually stagnant and in a non-attributed state.
Skilled magic power manipulators, could infuse this energy with their attribute and use it for combat, without having to expend energy from their own reserves.
Law energy was quite similar, it was omnipresent within the universe, and the ambient energies could be controlled by expending one’s magic power/ether/aura etc.
Unlike magic power, however, there was no non-attributed law energy.
"Major Lamkins! The energy signature you sent to us had multiple law energy signatures disrupting us from deciphering it but we’ve finally cracked it!"
[What’s the result?]
Faced with the gazes of the Vice Admirals and Generals of the Triton’s Ark, the analyst gulped and called out the result in a low voice.
"...it’s Demonic Energy."
"?!"
The already sour mood in the room turned even worse with just that one line.
It was then that Lieutenant General Tamal remembered Major Lamkins’ words about the increasing universal law energy concentration and quickly posed a question to her.
"Major, what attribute is the Universal Law which is increasing in concentration?"
Though the man found it strange that they were unable to perceive the increasing law energy concentrations until this point, he knew of one other universal law that could prevent them from doing so.
He had a Pseudo-Authority in it, after all.
Major Lamkins expression turned into one of shock when she ran tests and confirmed the law energy in question.
"What Law is it?"
[...Light.]
