Chapter 79
A high-end diving mask can swim 200 meters per minute, but the dark shadow deep in the reef cave is even faster—or rather, its tentacles are faster.
Qiao Ning had only swum a few hundred meters when her diving mask was bound by several thick, long tentacles. These tentacles were blackish-red with purple dots on them, and a single sucker on one tentacle was larger than several of Qiao Ning's heads. One could only imagine how big the thing's true form, hidden behind the cave in the reef, must be.
The tentacles' strangulation and binding power was strong, and the slime on their bodies might even be poisonous. However, Qiao Ning's advanced diving shield was not to be underestimated; it didn't even deform under the strangulation of the tentacles.
Qiao Ning was dragged deeper into the rocky cave by the tentacles at an extremely fast speed. Every time the Black Flame Bone Blade severed a tentacle, a new tentacle would immediately take its place and bind to it. The previously severed tentacles, even after being broken, were still alive, wriggling and searching for the mother tentacle. They would grow back completely within about 2 minutes, without leaving a trace, making it impossible to tell that they had ever been severed.
Just as she was about to be dragged away by the tentacles, Qiao Ning desperately grabbed onto them and activated her ice power to the fullest extent. A layer of frost began to condense on the huge tentacles, and the speed at which she was being dragged finally slowed down.
Qiao Ning suddenly caught a glimpse of the shape of diamond ore on the rock wall of the cave next to her. She swiftly plunged the Black Flame Bone Blade into the crevice of the diamond ore, gripped the handle tightly, and refused to let go no matter how the tentacles dragged her.
The durability of the advanced diving shield continued to decrease, but Qiao Ning gritted her teeth and persevered. After an unknown amount of time, the tentacle's main body seemed to realize that this was a tough nut to crack, and perhaps not even palatable, so it stopped wasting time on her and gradually retracted all its tentacles, retreating like the dark depths of the sea.
Qiao Ning let out a deep breath, her hands and arms trembling as she gripped the Black Flame Bone Blade. The power of the deep-sea behemoth was far beyond what ordinary humans could imagine. Even though it was just ordinary feeding and hunting, not a life-or-death struggle, it had already almost overwhelmed Qiao Ning.
This was under the condition of her body tempering, plus the Black Flame Bone Blade being indestructible enough, which gave her the strength to contend with a few tentacles of the deep-sea behemoth. If it were an ordinary player, they probably wouldn't even be left with ashes by now.
Qiao Ning activated her diving accelerator and swam towards the outside of the reef cave. The glittering diamond chest she had seen earlier was likely just a tactic used by the deep-sea monster to lure its prey. She had no intention of continuing to search for the diamond chest at this point; even the best treasure chest was useless if she didn't live to claim it.
As she swam close to the cave entrance, a powerful sound wave came from the depths of the sea, blasting her away. Even with the diving mask protecting her and weakening the sound wave, Qiao Ning still lost consciousness.
When Qiao Ning woke up again, she found herself floating near the submarine. Fortunately, the protective effect of the diving mask had not yet expired, otherwise, even if she did not drown, she would have been killed by the pressure of the deep sea while unconscious.
Ice Scale, who was lying on a large seashell, immediately whimpered happily when it saw her wake up.
The seashell was also azure blue, which is why Qiao Ning didn't see it immediately when she woke up. Now that she saw it, she quickly picked it up and said, "I'm sorry, it was my carelessness. Did I make you worry?"
"I promise you I will never be so careless again next time."
This time, she was indeed too complacent, assuming that with the diving shield in place, she wouldn't encounter any danger. Subconsciously, she believed that many dangerous deep-sea creatures often lived in deeper waters and wouldn't easily swim upwards because of the difference in seawater pressure.
Qiao Ning was comforting Binglin when she suddenly realized that something seemed wrong with it.
Normally, if Qiao Ning hugged and cuddled it like this, the beast would have already snuggled up to her and rubbed its face against hers. However, this time it only let out a low whimper and then stopped moving, looking completely listless.
With the diving mask's time limit about to expire, Qiao Ning carried it back to the submarine.
Once inside the submarine, Qiao Ning turned on the brightest headlights to carefully examine the ice scales. In the deep sea, there was no light; they relied entirely on searchlights. These lights could illuminate a relatively long distance, but some details were difficult to see clearly.
"What... happened to you?" Qiao Ning was shocked and heartbroken when she saw the cracked patterns on its scales.
"Did I encounter any danger while I was unconscious?"
Binglin's eyes darted away, and she didn't say a word, but instead stuck out her pink tongue and licked Qiao Ning's hand in a flattering manner.
Qiao Ning wasn't fooled by its sweet talk; she thought of the sonic shock she experienced before losing consciousness.
It's hard to describe what kind of power it was. The sound wasn't loud, but it made her head ring, made her dizzy and nauseous, and then she passed out.
She never wanted to experience that kind of shock again in her life.
Could that sound wave be related to the ice scales?
Ice Scale wouldn't stray too far from her; it would definitely catch up once it saw her swim away. However, she didn't see Ice Scale during her ordeal. Although the Reef Cave was a labyrinth of countless caves and crisscrossing passages, Ice Scale might not be able to immediately find the path she entered even if it caught up. But they had a contractual connection, so it shouldn't have been completely absent from beginning to end.
There's only one possibility: Ice Scale was tripped by something, or...
Qiao Ning looked at the dog's droopy ears and asked tentatively, "You didn't sense that I was in danger, so you went straight to fight that monster's main body, did you?"
Otherwise, there's really no way to explain how Binglin, who is so powerful, could still get injured. This is the second time Qiao Ning has seen Binglin get hurt in a fight.
The last time was during an extreme cold disaster.
Ice Scale was much weaker this time than before. It couldn't even transform into its larger size, and could only transform into its least favorite tiny size in order to conserve every bit of energy and recover as quickly as possible.
Qiao Ning was heartbroken to see that it didn't even have the strength to lick her fingers. She didn't know what to do.
"Ice Scale, how can I help you? Do you need energy stones? Here are plenty, use them quickly."
"Do you need medication? Even just a little pain relief would be helpful."
The scales on Ice Scale's body are extremely important to it. If it hadn't been destroyed by a tremendous force, how could Ice Scale, with its immense power, have so many cracks on its most prized scales?
Seeing Qiao Ning applying medicine and feeding it energy, Binglin couldn't help but pat her leg with its paw.
【Master, these things are not very useful to me, don't waste them.】
"What should we do?" Should we just let her lie there so weakly?
Ice Scales let out a howl, then used all its strength to spit out a purple crystal, about the size of a fist, that emitted a dazzling light. The light was almost identical to the magical light that had previously lured Qiao Ning down into danger.
As soon as this thing appeared, Ice Scale seemed to be greatly tempted and couldn't help but lick it.
Then, the shattered scales on its body showed faint signs of healing.
Ice Scale originally intended to avenge its master by extracting the evolution crystal from that ugly monster to nourish its master's body. However, it underestimated the creature and was attacked and injured by it before it died.
This injury would heal in about two or three days if left untreated. However, not wanting its master to worry unnecessarily, it absorbed some of the Ugly Monster's evolution crystal's energy to accelerate its recovery.
Qiao Ning could sense the thoughts it was transmitting and was at a loss for words. It had indeed gone to fight that deep-sea behemoth, and not only did it win, it also obtained the deep-sea behemoth's evolution crystal as a trophy.
Qiao Ning had already fused with one evolution crystal and didn't need to fuse a second one for a while. But Bing Lin wouldn't listen to reason and insisted on giving her the evolution crystal. Even though it was drooling with envy, it pretended to be indifferent and didn't care about the evolution crystal at all.
"You really won't eat?" Qiao Ning asked it.
With a serious expression, Ice Scale pushed the evolution crystal toward its master. It had just licked it several times, absorbing enough energy, and its scales would be fully restored by tomorrow morning at the latest.
"Master, you need this more than I do. If I eat it again, I'm afraid I'll mutate, and I don't know what I'll become. I might even forget you, or even turn against you."
I will not allow this to happen.
Therefore, it would rather give up the opportunity to become stronger, simply because it does not want its owner to be in any potential danger.
Compared to the ice scales encountered during the extreme cold disaster, it is now increasingly able to clearly convey its thoughts to Qiao Ning.
Qiao Ning could only put away the evolution crystal, which was clearly stronger than the one she had absorbed before.
She couldn't absorb it all at once; she could only absorb the energy bit by bit during cultivation.
Having learned her lesson, Qiao Ning never dived too far again when searching for treasure chests, and each time she went out, she never stayed out for more than two hours.
Until night fell.
In the deep sea, the difference between day and night is minimal, so Qiao Ning piled all the newly found supply boxes inside the submarine. There were a total of 10 golden treasure chests.
After taking out the necessary ingredients and seasonings, Qiao Ning began to prepare a nutritious meal for Bing Lin.
This guy claimed he was injured and needed Qiao Ning to cook him lots of delicious food to make up for it. Qiao Ning could easily see through his intentions, but considering he was sick, she still dutifully cooked him a variety of dishes.
Before going to bed at night, Qiao Ning habitually glanced at the disaster information:
On the third day after the natural disaster, the sea temperature was 38 degrees Celsius, with moderate rain. The acid rain concentration was 70, and the air pollution level was 120.
Qiao Ning was startled. How could the acid rain acid value and pollution value suddenly increase so many times?
Is there something wrong with the highway on the sea?
She's been diving deep into the ocean in a submarine, almost completely isolated from the world.
At night, Qiao Ning woke up after sleeping for two or three hours. Bing Lin opened his eyes groggily, saw that it was his master getting out of bed, and then closed his eyes again and fell asleep again.
This injury has undoubtedly affected its health to some extent.
Qiao Ning went to the cockpit, activated the diving function, and began to raise the submarine to the surface.
Not long after, the submarine surfaced, and Qiao Ning was finally able to see the situation on the sea, the road, and in the sky.
The sky was pitch black, with no thunder or lightning, and you couldn't even feel the wind; there was only the endless rain.
The acid rain on the fourth day of the natural disaster was bright red and had a fishy, foul, and pungent smell.
This time, Qiao Ning wasn't foolish enough to test the destructive power of acid rain with her own body. She threw a piece of titanium alloy into the heavy rain and watched helplessly as the titanium alloy turned into a molten metal half an hour later and was washed into the sea by the rain.
She only peeked out once, and even with the protection of an acid-resistant membrane, when she returned to the submarine, her entire respiratory tract was infected and she couldn't even make a sound.
Qiao Ning drank the antibacterial disinfectant and also applied some internal and external wound medicine, finally managing to save her damaged respiratory tract.
Seeing that Binglin was still sleeping, Qiao Ning, having nothing else to do, decided to open the boxes and organize the supplies.
The 10 golden treasure chests didn't yield many items this time; they were almost entirely food, gasoline, daily necessities, and 2 blue capsules (preservative), 2 purple capsules (frozen), 2 red capsules (fresh), 1 basic gas mask, and 1 intermediate gas mask.
At the current level of pollution, basic gas masks are not very effective, while intermediate gas masks can filter out 70% of polluted gases. That is, out of a pollution level of 120, they can filter out 84 points.
The remaining 20 or 30 points are within the pollution level that Qiao Ning can accept. There is some discomfort, but it is tolerable.
Through the submarine window, Qiao Ning could clearly see that many marine creatures had died due to acid rain seeping into the seawater.
A large number of dead fish were floating on the sea surface. Qiao Ning didn't waste these corpses and collected them all.
Even if these dead fish are inedible, throwing them into the toilet to decompose into fertilizer is a good idea.
Green Pearl doesn't like eating blood, while Fat Tiger is an omnivore. After evolving into an evolved species, he eats just as much bamboo as meat and isn't picky about food; he eats all kinds of meat. He also loves fish.
Needless to say, there's no food in the world it doesn't like. But after eating them, both of them suffered from diarrhea and vomiting. They only recovered after fasting for a day.
Qiao Ning asked Bing Lin, who said she suspected they might be allergic to seafood.
No one could eat it all, and the ice scales didn't like it either, so all the dead fish carcasses could only be decomposed into fertilizer.
High-concentration acid rain fell from morning till night, getting heavier and heavier until it almost sounded like water pouring down from the sky.
Besides searching for treasure chests, Qiao Ning also collects and reuses the carcasses of marine life.
She didn't dive into the deep sea, and the day passed peacefully without incident.
On the fifth day after the natural disaster, Qiao Ning's submarine remained in the waters a few dozen meters above the surface.
After studying it for the past few days, she found that this depth was the most suitable, where only small fish and shrimp could survive, and there wouldn't be much disturbance from other marine life. She could sleep peacefully at night.
However, when she opened the hatch, she saw a giant mantis shrimp preying on smaller fish and horseshoe crabs.
Qiao Ning almost thought she was seeing things. This didn't seem to be in the deep sea, did it?
Why did the deep-sea creatures we encountered before reappear?
Qiao Ning knows that many deep-sea creatures generally don't go to shallow waters, but that doesn't mean they can't. For example, ribbonfish; if a ribbonfish is caught, it will immediately succumb to the sudden change in seawater pressure, leading to its death.
However, if the ribbonfish swims to the surface on its own, its body will gradually adapt to the pressure change. Therefore, sometimes live ribbonfish can be found in shallow waters.
The appearance of the giant mantis shrimp served as a wake-up call for Qiao Ning.
"Something seems off."
"Acid rain infiltrates seawater, causing the death of a large number of shallow-sea organisms. This leads to a decrease in organisms at the bottom of the food chain, and some large creatures in the deep sea also indirectly lose their food source?"
Those large deep-sea creatures don't necessarily eat these shallow-sea fish, but they are very likely to eat shallow-sea creatures.
With food supplies dwindling in the deep sea, these large creatures will have to gradually adapt to the pressure and swim to the surface, won't they?
Qiao Ning thought of those dark purple tentacles and her heart skipped a beat. She didn't care about anything else and decided to sail away from this area in the submarine first.
She subconsciously believed that deep-sea monsters wouldn't go to shallow waters, but she didn't expect things to change so quickly.
She had actually considered the food chain issue before, but after all, the ocean is so vast and contains countless creatures. If there is no food in this area, there may be food in other areas.
Who would have thought that just one day later, deep-sea creatures would be foraging upstream?
Indeed, natural disasters cannot be judged by common sense.
Qiao Ning instructed the smart assistant to drive the submarine as fast as it could.
However, things still took a turn for the worst.
The vast and boundless ancient ocean was home to far more than one or even a single deep-sea monster.
Qiao Ning had just escaped the territory of the deep-sea giant octopus when she found herself back in the territory of the ancient Dunkleosteus.
Moreover, it is a clearly evolved variant of Dunkleosteus, much larger than modern fossils of Dunkleosteus.
Even Qiao Ning, who doesn't know much about ancient creatures, knows the infamous name of Dunkleosteus. Its fame is no less than that of marine creatures such as Anomalocaris, Mosasaurus, and Plesiosaur.
Qiao Ning could only keep running. Ice Scale's beautiful scales had just grown back, and she didn't want to see Ice Scale get injured again.
Ice Scale was, after all, a beast. While she could stay cooped up in the submarine from morning till night, Ice Scale couldn't stand it. It practically tore the submarine walls apart, and after much pleading and cajoling, it finally managed to get Qiao Ning to let it out for a stroll and a swim.
Qiao Ning warned it: "Remember not to fight with any creature. Play for a while and come back quickly. It's 7 p.m. now. If you're not back by 8 p.m., I'll go out and look for you."
Binglin estimated the time and then nodded.
Seeing how well-behaved it was, Qiao Ning let it go out to play for a while.
An hour later, Binglin returned on time. Qiao Ning looked it over and found no injuries or other abnormalities, so she didn't say anything, brought over the prepared food, and let Binglin eat.
During the meal, Qiao Ning sighed and said, "These deep-sea creatures are getting harder and harder to deal with, don't you think, darling?"
Binglin nodded vigorously as he ate his rice.
"I went out for some fresh air today and encountered a big shark. I almost got hurt. What about you? Did you get hurt?"
Ice Scale patted its chest with its claws.
[I'm not injured. I'm almost an adult now. Those ugly monsters can't hurt me. I'll take them down one by one when I encounter them, and I won't get hurt anymore.]
Qiao Ning looked at it expressionlessly.
Binglin's movements suddenly froze.
It slowly raised its head, meeting Qiao Ning's eyes, its guilty conscience evident even through the fur on its face.
"Awooo..." Let me explain...
"Awoo, awoo."
【It's not what you think, Master. Here's what happened: I went out just now, and I hadn't been playing for very long when I encountered a huge ichthyosaur. I was a little scared and tried to run away, but it chased after me and bit me.】
Qiao Ning crossed her arms and listened to it weaving.
I had no choice but to turn around and fight it; it almost bit my tail.
I really tried my best to run away from my owner, but it insisted on giving me the fish head.
Qiao Ning stared into Binglin's beautiful, azure beast eyes for a long time before sighing. She knew this guy was acting and fabricating, but she just couldn't bring herself to be ruthless.
Qiao Ning asked it, "Are you really not injured?"
Ice Scale nodded emphatically.
It wasn't really injured; otherwise, it would have used its wounds to gain its owner's affection. Its owner is the most lenient with it.
Qiao Ning pinched the back of its neck: "This is the last time. If there's a next time, I'll untie you. Anyway, you're so opinionated and don't listen to me, so this contract is useless to you."
Binglin was immediately frightened. She stopped eating and kept whimpering and crying next to Qiao Ning. She was really crying, and tears were streaming down her face.
Qiao Ning sighed helplessly. Was this dog made of water? It would start crying at any moment, and its two big eyes were like a faucet that couldn't be shut off.
Qiao Ning coaxed Bing Lin from eight o'clock to ten o'clock, and finally managed to stop her from crying, but she was still hiccuping and sobbing.
That pitiful little face would make anyone's heart ache and soften.
At midnight, Qiao Ning received a system update regarding the natural disaster.
On the sixth day of the natural disaster, there was torrential rain, acid rain with an acid value of 150, air pollution level of 300, severe marine pollution, and a deteriorating marine ecosystem, with many species endangered.
The highway has sunk to the bottom of the sea, and treasure chests will no longer respawn.
The highway barriers won't disappear, but some parts might be destroyed by deep-sea monsters.
Players are advised to try to escape via the underwater highway and not to stay in one area for too long.
Upon seeing this message, Qiao Ning suddenly found herself unable to sleep.
She got up and piloted the submarine herself to dive. Lately, she'd been searching for treasure chests in waters only a couple hundred meters deep. Although the quantity was small, it wasn't too dangerous. And she'd change the area several times a day.
It wasn't until they descended to a depth of about 4,000 meters that Qiao Ning saw the so-called underwater highway.
In such deep waters, only those with a super-grade diving shield can move freely. Of course, it's possible that some players have a talent for diving, or possess related items or cards.
Qiao Ning opened a total of ten platinum treasure chests, more than one hundred gold treasure chests, and five diamond treasure chests during this natural disaster.
Of all those treasure chests, I only got two top-tier diving shields. You can imagine how low the drop rate for that item is.
The shallow seas are no longer safe to live in; the acidity is almost as bad as acid rain. Moreover, some marine life that has been exposed to acid rain has not only survived but has also undergone new mutations.
This mutation is somewhat like a zombie virus from a movie, making mutated marine creatures fearless, devoid of pain and fatigue, constantly hungry, and solely focused on attacking any living thing around them. They are extremely sensitive to the smell of all living things, especially the smell of flesh and blood.
This biological mutation has not yet spread to the deep sea because the deep sea water is not acidic and has not been polluted by acid rain.
Qiao Ning drove at breakneck speed along the underwater highway, almost without stopping. Since the treasure chest was gone, there was no need to stop anymore; she just needed to keep running forward.
The deep sea, four thousand meters below the surface, was darker and more mysterious than Qiao Ning had imagined; it seemed as if a giant beast might emerge from any corner.
This time, the system finally did something right. After its map was updated, it will unlock the surrounding sea areas whenever players travel to a certain sea area.
The text clearly divides the sea areas and marks the dominant races and their information for each sea area.
Qiao Ning is currently sailing in the Giant Turtle Sea.
According to the information provided, this should be one of the most docile and peaceful deep-sea monsters.
Qiao Ning realized that after upgrading her car to level 7, she had unlocked a pet slot that was currently empty. Unlocking the pet slot required both car level and experience points. She didn't lack experience points; she had exchanged a large amount for supplies during the previous natural disasters, which was more than enough for her needs. So, every time she upgraded her car, she would unlock the pet slot as well.
As Qiao Ning was pondering, she suddenly felt her sleeve being tugged.
Looking down, she saw Binglin tugging at her.
Ice Scale seemed to know what she was planning, its azure beast eyes clearly filled with accusation.
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