Chapter 257: Sea-stained Flower Essence, Barthelon Abyss
As the mermaid queen's most trusted coral craftsman, Perlin had already started preparing to take them to find the ore as soon as she learned that Bringa had asked her about the sea-stained flower marrow.
Sea-stained Flower Marrow is only produced in the remains of Barthelon. It is an extremely rare mineral among the mermaids. It can make those who see it feel soothed and relaxed. Therefore, it became the mineral of choice for the eyes of the Simparai Goddess Colossus. As time goes by, the effect of Sea-stained Flower Marrow disappears quickly due to its departure from the remains of Barthelon.
This is also the reason why Bringa, as one of the master craftsmen invited to be responsible for the goddess statue, needs to come to the mermaid territory to mine.
"I'm Mowen Ondakanto. Her Majesty the Queen has ordered us to escort the craftsmen to the Basilon Abyss." The blue-tailed mermaid flicked her tail, her face firm.
The two golden-tailed mermaids behind her then introduced themselves.
"Hello, I'm Marinus."
"Andre Olydis is a mermaid from the deep sea who once entered the Basilon Abyss."
Brynja nodded.
Although the Basilon Abyss is dangerous, this is a rare time when the water flow is calm. With a mermaid from the deep sea leading the way, most of the undercurrents can be avoided.
Sarek looked at the three young faces and asked, "Are you mermaids still on the fin pilgrimage?"
The Fin Certificate Pilgrimage is an important symbol for the mermaid clan to test whether the little mermaids have reached adulthood. The little mermaids need to go to dangerous places to complete tasks. Only after returning can they be considered adults and have the right to speak in the clan and the freedom to choose their future careers.
Mowen smiled upon hearing this. "Yes, Master Craftsman, we are a team heading to the Basilon Abyss. Our mission is to obtain the Sea-Stained Flower Essence."
After her explanation, the two dwarves understood why the Mermaid Queen asked them to assist. Those who could get specific tasks were the young generation who were highly expected by the mermaids. Moreover, they had the same goal. The danger of the Basilon Abyss was much lower now, which was enough to serve as training for the young mermaids.
Arnold, who is usually quiet, diligently shared with Vifia and Kaharun the common knowledge about the mermaids from the conversation between Bringa and the others.
As the three of them looked at each other, Vifiya easily thought of the speculation about Debbie's completely magical creation in Iskana, the explanation he helped to give, and the source of the explanation - the notebook that was burned by his father in his previous home.
Perlin, who had been secretly paying attention to them, felt that something was wrong. How could the humans in the East Continent be so familiar with the mermaids? She couldn't help but look at the gray-haired human carefully.
Her gaze was so obvious that Vifiya and the others couldn't help but look over. They saw the coral craftsman holding his chest, examining him from head to toe. As if he had discovered something, his eyes turned to surprise. "He actually has the blood of us mermaids."
Her words immediately attracted the attention of the other aliens present. Perlin swam over, took another careful look, and concluded, "It's a pity that the bloodline is so thin."
The human lifespan is far shorter than that of other races. Therefore, on the other hand, the human reproduction rate is much faster than that of other races, and the speed of historical changes will also be faster.
Time has always been an ambiguous concept. What seems like a normal passage of time to aliens is like the falling of a meteor to humans.
The true history will gradually become blurred over time, just like memories are left with scratches.
It wasn't difficult for Perlin to guess that the history of their alien race had become blurred in human records, but the aliens' records of humans had not yet been made. Apart from the records on the ancient stone tablets, most of the others were passed down by the elderly aliens.
There are still a few alien races in the Western Continent who have experienced the war and lived with humans.
The only thing they were unsure of was whether, after four hundred years, human thoughts and customs were still the same as before.
Perlin made no further comment on Arnold's merman bloodline, but the other three young mermen looked at him curiously.
Kaharun stuck to his sea foam, moved towards Arnold, and asked curiously: "Arnold, can you grow a tail?"
"No," Brinja answered. "Putting aside the rare bloodline, if a mixed-blood doesn't possess the characteristics of a different race from birth, the probability of that characteristic manifesting when they grow up is extremely low. As far as I know, there's no record of this happening."
Kaharun was a little disappointed. He was still looking forward to seeing the serious Arnold grow a fish tail.
Vifiya and Arnold had been with him for so long, how could they not know what he was thinking? The latter stared at him coldly.
His question is the same as asking why Osa doesn't have pointed ears.
It’s not that Arnold is so opposed to being a foreigner. He has always guessed about it since he saw his mother’s diary when he was a child, and now it has been confirmed.
Whether he is a human or a mermaid, it doesn't matter to him. Besides, he has been a human for a long time, and it is impossible for him to get used to having a tail all of a sudden.
The little incident passed quickly. Mowen, the pure magician in the three-person merman team, deployed a large teleportation array and directly teleported the three people, two dwarves and four mermen to the Basilon Abyss.
The azure waters surround a pristine sea area. Seaweed as tall as three people sways with the flow of the ocean. Looking up, you can see the faint light of the invisible sea surface. Strangely, no other marine life is seen.
The deep-sea mermaid Andre made a gesture and naturally took over the task of leading the way, signaling all humans and aliens to follow him.
All around was quiet, with only the sound of shallow water flowing over the sea foam reaching my ears.
Perhaps because she learned that there was a mermaid hybrid among humans, Mowen's attitude towards Vifia and the others was a little more natural. After all, as young mermaids who had never seen humans before, they didn't know how to get along with humans.
She concealed her curiosity about humans and explained to them, "Barcelon was a sea monster that plagued the sea thousands of years ago. After being personally hunted and severely injured by Her Majesty the Queen, it fled to this nameless deep sea."
She glanced at Vifiya and said, "Barcelon escaped when the situation was most dangerous. He was seriously injured and on the verge of death, but he couldn't escape the ocean current."
It would be better to say that it is other dangers hidden in the sea rather than ocean currents. At this point, the nameless sea got a name, the Bathelon Abyss.
Bringa took over Mowen's words: "The sea-stained flower marrow was found in the remains of Barcelon." In other words, the remains of Barcelon and the environment of the Barcelon Abyss are indispensable.
Although the young mermaids had heard that several humans in their group were able to safely escape the White World, they still placed them in the middle of the team along with the craftsmen. No other group knew the ocean better than them.
Andre led them through many undercurrents, heading deeper into the abyss. Mowen and Marinus, at the end of the group, were wary of possible dangers. She warned, "Everyone, remember not to touch anything in the abyss."
The depths of the Basilon Abyss were not as magnificent as Vifiya had imagined. Compared to the sea area she had seen at the beginning, it was much darker.
The surroundings were so quiet that Kaharun didn't dare to make a sound. The blue sea was gone, the rippling waves were dark, and everywhere was a kind of giant seaweed that was so green that it was dark, and the white bones in the middle were faintly visible.
Marinus spoke softly, but clearly enough for Vifia and the others to hear. "After Barthelon's death, his body released a large amount of toxins. The Barthelon Abyss was polluted, and all life in the area died. Now, thousands of years later, the only thing that can survive here is the wild weed. Wild weeds absorb impurities from the ocean, so the wild weeds in the Barthelon Abyss are highly toxic. Furthermore, the toxins in the seawater are already within our reach, but they are still lethal to other marine life."
"The currents in the Barthelon Abyss are now at their calmest in five hundred years. In the past, approaching directly would have torn you to pieces. Once you enter the sea, the first thing you'll encounter is the heavy pressure of the water. The deeper you go, the greater the pressure will be. Whirlpools will also form more frequently than they do now, and bubbles may form, trapping you. Even mermaids wouldn't be able to breathe in these bubbles."
He explained the most common dangers to Vifiya and the other two in one breath, and was simply a more qualified guide than the dwarves.
Vifiya moved forward with concentration, her hand reaching for the sword at her waist. Realizing something, she lightly brushed her hand across Xander's lyre.
She originally wanted to ask Kaharun to put it into the magic circle, but she remembered that Zander's whereabouts were always erratic and he might suddenly appear at any time. In order to prevent the tragic situation of not being able to return the lyre to him in time and being muttered by him, she had to carry it with her. Besides, the lyre that could tell her stories should not be easily damaged.
Her hand had barely left the lyre when, unseen, the strings flashed like flowing light.
Just as the aliens had described, the current Basilon Abyss was unusually peaceful. They had not encountered any danger along the way, and had even reached Basilon's remains very smoothly.
There was no trace of wild grass at the ruins of Basilon, and the bare, soft ground was occasionally dotted with round balls of grass that came from nowhere.
In the red eyes, there are winding curves like mountain peaks, and the translucent stones are as clear and azure as the sea. Going downwards, the blue becomes deeper and deeper, leaning towards purple, and upwards, there are layers of gradually lighter blue. At the very top, a few touches of light green can be vaguely seen. The distribution of the mineral colors is not clear, but rather seems to be blurred.
The dark seabed is reflected by irregularly distributed stones, creating patches of bright light, which is magnificent.
Vifiya felt that her sight was fixed on it, and the sense of urgency that she had been accustomed to for many years was slightly loosened, and her instinct was clamoring wildly in an instant.
Her eyes twitched, and she lowered her eyes to hide the expression in her eyes, and her peripheral vision was filled with the soothing beauty of the colors in the sea.
She didn't know what this stone meant to other people, but at least to her, it was not a good thing.
She was used to being nervous and tired of being nervous, as if she was walking on a tightrope. This feeling was not a bad thing for her, she needed to stay vigilant at all times.
She secretly slowed down her pace and looked up again, her will struggling with the light, her eyes calmly observing the remains of Barcelon and the aliens gradually approaching the ore.
Most of the remains were buried in the sand and stones. There was no moss or stone on the white surface. The entire remains vaguely resembled a giant conch.
Compared with the craftsmen's scorching heat at the sight of the sea-stained flower marrow, Vifiya keenly noticed the hidden solemnity of the team leader Mowen.
Her gaze shifted secretly to the mermaid Andre from the deep sea in the front, with a hint of confusion on his face.
"Jiang Suian, be careful."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
