Chapter 609-Deep Ocean Beast
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
The committee meeting lasted for a full afternoon before everyone left for their own matters.
The enemy's ambition came wave after wave.
That very afternoon, the bank run that started in Chang An city started to spread through various avenues to the other eight imperial cities. All of a sudden, the Four Seas Bank faced a state of a state of emergency.
Meng Zhida was like a firefighter, running to the various imperial cities. Bai Hua and the others all helped out to clear the rumors regarding the branches.
Only then did this chaos slowly lessen.
However, it would not be simple to totally calm down this situation. The psychology of the masses was simply too terrifying, and they would rather believe the rumors were true just in case.
A massive sum of funds shifted from the gold vault to deal with this storm.
The next day, the Quick Daily News placed out an article targeting the rumors that the Chang An Night News had spread.
The mountains of gold in the Shanhai City vault was undoubtedly the best reply.
Despite this, some people still remained skeptical. Even if they did not go to retrieve their money, the number of players who went to save had drastically decreased.
People had once swarmed in through the bank doors, but now it seemed exceedingly empty. This was the biggest blow to the Four Seas Bank since its establishment.
If they had not handled the situation in time, the losses would be even greater.
The motive of the enemy was slowly becoming clearer and clearer. They knew that through these underhanded means alone, they could not completely crush the Four Seas Bank.
Their real goal was to deal hits to the Four Seas Bank, while simultaneously sweeping up large quantities of the market share.
While the Four Seas Bank faced a crisis, the Huitong Bank pushed out activities to attract those uncertain players.
All of a sudden, the business of the Huitong Bank boomed.
Bai Hua and the others naturally did not want to let matters rest. However, they had to wait for the investigations to be completed before they retailliated.
The smell of gunpowder grew stronger and stronger between the two banks.
3rd month, 3rd day, Beihai Bay.
After many days of travel, Ouyang Shuo and the disguised squadron smoothly entered the core area of the Annan region. Although they had bumped into many warships along the way, they managed to bluff their way through.
Ouyang Shuo's flag language naturally failed miserably, and he had no choice but to back down and rest. Otherwise, the sailors might mock him.
"Lord, not far from here is the marked location of the island." The one who spoke was a middle-aged navigation officer. His name was Zhang Chenghai, and he was one of the advanced navigation officers that Zheng He had recruited from Quanzhou.
Looking out into the distance, one could see the vast sky spanning miles and miles. Occasionally, some clouds would pop up here and there.
The only thing he did not see was an island.
Ever since his Yellow Emperor Internal Cultivation Technique broke through to the tenth layer, Ouyang Shuo's senses had all greatly improved. He could hear things clearly even though they were miles away.
Furthermore, this was the vast ocean. If an island was nearby, it would be impossible for them to miss it.
"Did we sail in the wrong direction?" Ouyang Shuo asked.
"Definitely not." Zhang Chenghai was extremely confident.
Ouyang Shuo frowned, "Don't tell me this treasure map is fake?"
If that was truly the case, he would have lost a lot of face this time.
"Continue forward; let's reach the spot on the map before deciding." Ouyang Shuo remained determined.
"Yes, Lord!"
In less than twenty minutes, the squadron arrived at the market location.
As they progressed, the fog grew thicker and thicker. A person's vision was limited to a hundred meters. The fog covered a large range, and one could not see the end of it; it was like the fog enveloped the entire sky.
In front of such a fog, they were just like ants.
"There's actually such a magical place?" Ouyang Shuo muttered.
"Although it's normal for seas and oceans to have mists, such a large-scale one is really rare. In my view, this fog did not just randomly appear, and it must have been here for a long time." Zhang Chenghai replied.
As an advanced navigation officer, Zhang Chenghai had travelled from north to south, and he had seen many mystical places. Despite that, the fog in front of him was still extremely weird and was unique.
"It has been a lasting presence?" Ouyang Shuo's eyes lit up, "If that's the case, there might really be a treasure island here."
Ouyang Shuo had also wondered about something. Three years had already past, and the unnamed island was near the Annan Shore. Won't the Annan region players have found it already?
The fog in front of them solved Ouyang Shuo's doubt. Only such a tough environment could hamper the advance of ships.
"Send two small boats into the fog to scout." Ouyang Shuo ordered.
"Yes, my Lord!"
Quickly, two small boats entered the fog and disappeared. After an hour passed, far beyond the agreed upon time, there were still no signs of them.
The fog in front of them suddenly turned exceedingly evil and weird, causing a look of fear to appear in the eyes of the sailors.
"Don't tell me we have met a ghost fog?" someone carefully said.
In the voyaging circle, there would often be legends regarding ghost fogs. Once a person met such a phenomenon, their ship would be unable to return.
As such, it was given the name of ghost fog.
Ouyang Shuo was not much of a believer of such matters.
In truth, with his shocking senses, he had already noticed something the others had not.
About twenty minutes ago, he had vaguely heard cries coming from deeper into the fog. The people sent to scout on the two small boats were most probably dead.
There were definitely ocean beasts in the fog.
Ouyang Shuo felt a little regretful that he did not bring Little Green along. With its identity as the ocean beast slayer, which ocean beast would dare to fool around before it?
"All of you, be alert. Firearm group, get ready. Enter the mist in battle formation." Ouyang Shuo ordered.
Even if this was truly a death zone, Ouyang Shuo still wanted to give it a shot.
"Yes, my Lord!"
Ouyang Shuo had an undeniable prestige.
The moment he sent down his orders, the soldiers all tossed their doubts aside.
The ten warships slowly sailed into the thick fog.
"Lord, look!"
The moment they entered the fog, Zhang Chenghai nervously approached Ouyang Shuo with a compass. His expression was unusually serious. The needle of the compass was shaking; it was completely unable to identify the correct direction.
"The compass is not working?" Ouyang Shuo muttered. With what he knew, he naturally did not believe in ghosts. In all likelihood, some electromagnetic interference caused the compass to malfunction.
This made Ouyang Shuo even more sure that the island was within the fog.
"Don't bother about our location and just proceed forwards." Ouyang Shuo said.
"Understood!"
The squadron sailed forth and completely entered the fog. The fog completely enveloped them. Moreover, as the compass had failed, they did not know which direction was which.
And the deeper they went, the lower the visibility.
If looking at the exact same warship, one could not tell the front from the back.
"Light the voyaging lights and use them as a guide." Ouyang Shuo ordered.
Soon after, a bright yellow flame was lit and shone through the fog. The voyaging light was researched and designed by the No.7 Research Institute, and it was modified from the technology of the nautical lighthouses.
In the fog, the lights had a miraculous effect.
Apart from that, Ouyang Shuo's shocking senses came into play once more. He held the Chixiao Sword in his hand, and he pointed out to the front. The ships would sail in the direction he pointed.
Thanks to these two factors, the squadron actually managed to not lose their way in the fog.
Another half an hour passed.
"Lord, there's a situation!" Personal Guards Captain Chen Dameng hurried over, "In the waters ahead, there are the wreckages of the two ships."
"Stay on alert and get ready to fight."
"Yes, my Lord!"
Peng!
At that very moment, something struck the bottom of the ship.
The massive impact caused the ship to sway left to right. However, Ouyang Shuo did not move an inch.
Hualaa!"
Along with the tremendous splashes of water, five to six waist thick appendages appeared on the water surface. They looked like snakes, and each appendage had two rows of suction cups.
"Octopus monster?"
Ouyang Shuo's eyes turned cold, and he chopped down with his Chixiao Sword.
Puchi!
His blow bisected one of the appendages into two; the limb landed onto the ship, where it continued to writhe and move.
After suffering an injury, the octopus grew crazie, as it waved its hands to smash down. Occasionally, it would wrap up sailors and drag them into the water, causing them to disappear.
"Open fire!"
The handgun group finally regained their senses.
Unfortunately, the accuracy gods did not shine on them at this moment. In the face of the flexible and quick moving tentacles, they only managed to land two hits.
The captain of the handgun squadron felt ashamed.
However, their actions had angered the octopus.
Its two longest tentacles struck down and messed up the handgun squadron. Under this impact, the members with slightly weaker bodies directly vomited blood, and their internal organs shifted.
"Kill!"
Chen Dameng led the Personal Guards and rushed up. Although he was not as strong as Ouyang Shuo, he was still a powerful general. Under the help of the Personal Guards, they chopped down and cut off one tentacle after another.
On the other side, Ouyang Shuo chased victory, as he sidestepped one tentacle before cutting it off.
The Chixiao Sword sliced through iron like it was mud, much less flesh.
Peng!
Another tentacle was cut down.
After it lost three tentacles in succession, the octopus monster finally realized the situation; the ships in front of him were not ones it could easily bully.
As for the tentacles that were chopped off, they could still be grown back.
The entire battle lasted less for than ten minutes. However, it was a real heart stopper.
Ouyang Shuo's strength had once again astonished everyone. Among the military, rumors had already spread that the Lord was like a war god. However, before now, the navy soldiers had never witnessed his might.
Today, they finally got what they wished for.
"The Lord is valiant!"
During the battle, Zhang Chenghai was so terrified that he hid inside the ship. At this time, he finally came out.
Ouyang Shuo did not mind it, as everyone had their pros and cons. As a sailor, sailing was his specialty. Even if he appeared weak on the battlefield, one could not blame him.
"Clear up this mess and continue forward." Ouyang Shuo ordered.
"Yes, my Lord!"