Chapter 239: Chapter 6: Dragon’s Roar (Part 2)
To say nothing of other incidents, the Giant Whale and seal Demon Beasts that appeared near the European Federation led their kin to alter the local weather. They caused torrential downpours and surging tides, severely impacting numerous coastal cities and shipping lanes. The direct and indirect losses exceeded tens of billions of euros.
If powerful Demon Beasts truly appeared in the oceans, then maintaining the current open shipping lanes would likely become quite difficult.
With this in mind, Su Zhou turned and headed back to the shore. The beach manager approached him, acting very polite—almost subservient, even—to speak with him.
What was there to discuss? The manager had clearly recognized Su Zhou and his companions and wanted to gently dissuade him. He suggested that, if possible, Su Zhou might refrain from entering the water. He even offered compensation, like a free trip for them to visit some of the small islands and beaches along the coast...
But this offer wasn’t very persuasive. Shao Qiming wasn’t short on cash, and Su Zhou didn’t seem like the type to be swayed by money. So, halfway through his spiel, the manager simply shut his mouth. ’Besides,’ he probably thought, ’business has been slow lately anyway. Let them do as they please. Who knows? Maybe they’ll see how empty it is, get bored, and leave on their own.’
In truth, Su Zhou, who was very much moved by money, had no intention of ruining anyone’s rare trip to the beach. He was already having a good time, and even if he didn’t go to this beach, wasn’t there fun to be had anywhere?
He had, however, come into quite a bit of money recently.
Ever since Su Zhou had taken first place nationally in the physical and Spiritual Testing, the Hongcheng local education bureau had given him a massive reward, just as promised. Su Zhou wasn’t too concerned with the exact amount and had left it all for his parents to manage.
The resources he needed were essentially impossible to buy with money, and for his daily needs, mooching meals off Shao Qiming was more than enough. ’Why not pay for my own food now that I’m rich? What a joke! Doesn’t everyone know that food tastes best when it’s free?’
’When you eat someone else’s food, not only does your conscience not hurt, it even asks for a second helping!’
"I’m going to do some diving over at Deep Water Bay."
Walking along the sidewalk of the coastal road, Su Zhou discussed his plans with the Shao siblings. "There are a lot of Spiritual Creatures in the sea," he said. "My instincts are telling me something’s off, and I want to go check it out. Are you two heading back to the hotel, or going somewhere else? How should we meet up later?"
"I want to go check out Electronic Street!" Shao Shuangyue raised her hand high, full of energy. "I heard they’re testing a pre-release version of the personal terminals there. I want to see!"
"To Electronic Street it is." Shao Qiming smiled and nodded, going along with his sister’s wishes. "After we change at the hotel, we’ll grab a bite to eat nearby and walk around. You can just find us there when you’re done. How long will you be diving?"
"Not long. A few dozen minutes, maybe an hour at most," Su Zhou estimated, calculating his diving speed. He figured that was enough time to survey the surrounding waters. He shrugged. "You two be careful. I’m off."
"See you later."
The diving spot wasn’t very far from the beach. Besides, Su Zhou didn’t need any equipment to dive. After parting ways with the Shao siblings, he simply picked a spot and strode into the ocean.
Su Zhou’s body was incredibly dense, almost as heavy as rock. He didn’t need to swim; he could just walk, and he would naturally stride along the seabed.
Coupled with his rarely used but very real ’Water Assistance’ power, Su Zhou could even breathe freely underwater... although, he could breathe the water directly anyway, so there wasn’t much of a difference.
The waters of the South Sea were reasonably clear, with no fish or shrimp in sight. It seemed the earlier convergence of seafood had indeed been an accident he had caused.
’Come to think of it, my vision isn’t affected at all, even after entering the water.’
He had already walked a long distance into the sea, so far that the light had begun to dim, yet Su Zhou could still clearly see for hundreds, even a thousand meters through the water. He couldn’t help but marvel aloud, "Looks like choosing to enhance my eyes was the right call after all."
Of course, it wasn’t just his eyes. Su Zhou now deactivated his Water Assistance. Through his skin and nose, he could perceive the minute shifts and scents in the water, allowing him to discern the subtle currents and the presence of living creatures... Once again, he sensed many spiritual fish and Sea Serpents drawing near.
Su Zhou released a faint wave of his Suppression to warn them off, and the creatures scattered.
After a quick patrol, Su Zhou found nothing unusual in the area around South Sea Beach. There were no Demon Beasts that had surpassed Spirit Awakening to reach the Awakened Level. The strongest creature he found was a giant starfish crawling through the sand on the seafloor. It had no intelligence and no trace of Dragon Blood, but it had grown to the size of a dinner table and hunted sea fish for food.
Of course, given the chance, it probably wouldn’t have a problem hunting humans either. So, after a moment’s thought, Su Zhou used his Extraordinary Level Spiritual Pressure to drive it away.
"You’re surprisingly kind-hearted."
It was hard to tell if Yara’s words were praise or criticism. It watched as the starfish curled its arms and crawled away into the deep sea, its tone calm. "For a Demon Beast with no intelligence but a clear threat, I thought you’d just kill it."
"The heart itself is neither good nor evil; only our intentions make it so," Su Zhou replied casually. "I wasn’t trying to be kind-hearted, it was just an impulse. I’m in a good mood today, so I just drove it off. Different time, different place, I would have killed it."
He continued deeper, reaching a depth of nearly one hundred meters. Though some light still penetrated, the water pressure was immense. Looking out into the distance, the sea was an indistinct blackness, like the night sky.
Having come this far, Su Zhou felt he had done enough. Within his sensory range, there were still no threats worth his concern.
It made sense. Though marine life was abundant, it was but a small fraction of the entire ocean. And while marine Demon Beasts could theoretically threaten humanity, in reality, it all depended on their distribution and habitat.
After all, to a Demon Beast, humans were also a massive threat. It was like a bear and a tiger encountering one another in the mountains; unless absolutely necessary or driven by unbearable hunger, they would never attack each other.
Even wild animals aren’t suicidal. A lion has to be careful not to get injured while hunting antelope or buffalo, to say nothing of a far more intelligent Demon Beast.
’I should probably head back.’
Thinking this, Su Zhou prepared to turn back.
But as luck would have it, a black Sea Serpent was swimming toward him from nearby.
It was the very same Sea Serpent that had first approached him a short while ago.
Ordinary sea serpents wouldn’t venture this deep, but this black Sea Serpent was different. It was brimming with Spiritual Energy, and its power was not low—at the Spirit Awakening Tier. If not for its weak innate physique, among humans it would have been considered quite talented.
Most sea creatures would immediately retreat upon sensing Su Zhou’s faint Suppression. This Sea Serpent could clearly feel it too, yet it overcame its instinctual fear to draw near. It then began to twist and turn in front of him, as if trying to express something.
"Yara, what’s our Sea Serpent friend trying to say?"
When it came to snake-related business, Su Zhou couldn’t be bothered to think and asked Yara directly. "If this is another mating proposal, just tell it I refuse. I’m already taken."
"It barely has any intelligence, and its Soul is a chaotic mess. How am I supposed to know what it wants to say?"
Yara sounded helpless as well. "How can I analyze a jumble of garbled code? But it’s not a mating proposal. It seems to want you to continue into deeper waters... As for why? How should I know!"
The jet-black Sea Serpent continued to swim about. Su Zhou did a quick mental calculation. Only twenty minutes had passed. The trip back wouldn’t require such slow, careful exploration. Since he had plenty of time, he might as well check out the deeper waters.
So he grabbed the Black Serpent in one hand and said with a laugh, "You’re too slow. Just point the way."
He could move through the water at over twenty meters per second—faster than an average person’s 100-meter sprint. A normal sea serpent’s speed was no match for his.
The Black Serpent bobbed its head repeatedly, then, with surprising intelligence, used the front half of its body to point the way like an arrow.
After advancing into deeper waters for nearly ten minutes, Su Zhou finally sensed a faint, indistinct humming.
’What... is that?’
The surroundings were now shrouded in twilight, hundreds of meters deep. Su Zhou frowned, closing his eyes and holding his breath to listen to the ocean’s sound. ’No, this isn’t a physical sound wave... It’s a Spirit Sound!’
He could faintly perceive it: deep within the ocean, a call echoed from some distant, unseen place. The sound was beckoning, guiding... and it gave Su Zhou an incredibly familiar feeling.
Opening his eyes, Su Zhou narrowed his cyan-purple Dragon Eyes. A bright Spiritual Light flowed within his vertical pupils.
"This is... a Dragon’s Roar!"
"The roar of a True Dragon!"
