Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
Mo Fan noticed quite a few people inside the hall when he arrived.
He was planning to find himself a vacant seat like a bystander, but Mu Linsheng quickly came over and led him to the seat for the host.
Mo Fan abruptly realized he was the master here. The entire land was in his name!
“Don’t mind me, keep going!” Mo Fan waved his hand casually, signaling the others not to be so courteous around him.
The truth was, no one was being courteous. Mo Fan was just being dramatic!
“The Shoreline Alliance has sounded an alarm to warn us of a potential calamity. According to their rough estimates, the Asian countries along the coastline will face it first. Japan and our East China Sea are in a great crisis!” Mu Linsheng proclaimed.
A few people in the Shoreline Alliance’s uniform were sitting next to Mi Linsheng. They were obviously sent here to alert the people along the coastline.
The rest of the headquarters cities had a certain level of defense to protect them from a potential calamity, but Feiniao City was a new headquarters city, and the city was not necessarily more developed than Fanxue Mountain. Therefore, the authorities of Feiniao City and the representatives of the Shoreline Alliance and the Magic Association had arranged a meeting at Fanxue Mountain.
“Take a look at this map!” A woman from the Shoreline Alliance projected a map onto the screen.
Mo Fan followed the voice and noticed the woman was quite good-looking…(cough cough), the relationship between him and Mu Ningxue had only come to fruition. He could not afford to check other women out. He had to control himself!
Mo Fan shifted his attention to the screen, showing a photograph taken from high up in the sky. The layer of clouds was faintly discernible, with a dark blue ocean below it. However, one side of the screen was densely covered by glimmering silver-white objects.
“Those things are a kind of Shelled Salamander. According to a patrol squad from Hawaii, the photograph is only showing the tip of an iceberg. The Shelled Salamanders can easily cover a country with their numbers. They are riding the waves and approaching us slowly,” the woman in the Shoreline Alliance’s uniform informed them.
“What was their altitude when the photo was taken?” Shao Yu asked.
“Ten thousand meters.”
A huge portion of the photograph was occupied by the demon creatures, even though it was taken from a height of ten thousand meters. How many of these creatures were there out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?
Mo Fan was not interested in the meeting in the first place. He was constantly staring at Mu Ningxue, but his face filled with astonishment when he heard her description.
“Do these demon creatures actually live in the Pacific Ocean?” Mo Fan asked.
“Not necessarily. According to the information we have gathered, the waters of many countries are being invaded by these Shelled Salamanders. They have strongly toppled the balance of the ecosystems,” the woman from the Shoreline Alliance told him.
“I just got rid of a bunch of Salamander Demons recently. Could you identify them?” Mo Fan told her. He immediately asked Lingling to send the information of the Salamander Demons to his phone.
Lingling responded quickly.
Shao Yu glanced at Mo Fan, who had been carefree most of the time, and asked, “Where did you stumble into these creatures?”
“I accepted a quest from a Councilman. The Thousand Islands Lake was overrun by these Salamander Demons. They were reproducing like a factory, but their numbers were nowhere close to the numbers of the creatures in the Pacific Ocean. I can feel my scalp turning numb just by looking at them!” Mo Fan answered.
“We came to alert you beforehand so you could carry out some preventive measures. We’ll notify you as soon as we have any updates,” the woman from the Shoreline Alliance spoke up. She rose to her feet and nodded politely at the others before leaving the room with her colleagues.
—
The people left in the room were all close acquaintances once the representatives of the Shoreline Alliance left. They were mostly authorities from Feiniao City who were relatively close with Mu Linsheng, Mu Ningxue, and Mu Zhuoyun. Mo Fan only knew the deputy mayor of Feiniao City.
“When will those creatures reach our coastline?” Mu Zhuoyun asked.
“It’s hard to say. Japan is most likely their first target, and we are next. If we want to prepare ourselves, we should send some people to Japan and help them familiarize themselves with those creatures first…” Mu Linsheng suggested.
“Japan? We aren’t close to them! Even if they found a way to handle the creatures, they aren’t generous enough to share their findings with us!” Mu Zhuoyun harrumphed.
“The Shoreline Alliance has already set up a branch of the Research Union in Japan to analyze those creatures. I believe we still have some time to spare before the calamity reaches us, but it’s definitely going to be our biggest threat for the next few years. We should work together with the Shoreline Alliance and gather some funds to send some people to Japan,” Mu Linsheng calmly replied.
“Who should we send?”
“I’ll go!” a young woman seated in the back rows piped up.
Mo Fan was rather surprised when he saw the woman.
Wasn’t that Cao Qinqin? He did not expect Cao Qinqin, who was among the only batch of graduates he had ‘taught’, to climb the ranks of Fanxue Mountain so quickly. She was already qualified to take part in an important meeting like this!
Cao Qinqin was one of the core members of Fanxue Mountain. Mo Fan had helped her secure the opportunity to learn the Water Circulation Magic Formation from Dean Xiao. She had used the knowledge to set up a Water Circulation Magic Formation along the river leading to the ocean. It now played an important part in Fanxue City’s defense!
“Mo Fan, aren’t you close to the Mochizuki Clan in Japan? The Shoreline Alliance is setting up the Research Union in the Mochizuki Clan. You should contact them,” Mu Ningxue urged him.
“Ah, I’m not really that close with them… but sure, I can ask Mochizuki Chihaya and Mochizuki Ken to provide our people with food and accommodations,” Mo Fan agreed.
Mochizuki Chihaya and Mochizuki Ken kept inviting him to Japan, as they were keen to express their gratitude to him for dealing with the Essence Orb on their behalf.
Mo Fan was not planning to visit Japan anytime soon. Since Cao Qinqin happened to be going there, however, he did not mind asking the Mochizukis to take care of Cao Qinqin and her group.
“The Mochizuki Clan is famous when it comes to fending off the sea monsters. The Twin Guardian Towers and the East Maritime Fortress remain standing today because of them. I believe our people are going to learn a lot from them,” Cao Qinqin said.
“Yeah, our Fanxue Mountain is just getting started. The Mochizuki Clan’s private territory faces the sea and is leaning against a mountain, just like us. They have a lot of young and experienced talents, especially when it comes to the defense of their territory. We can surely learn a great deal from the Mochizuki Clan. It’s a relief that the mayor knows an authoritative figure like Mochizuki Ken personally!” Mu Linsheng agreed.
Mo Fan had never realized Mochizuki Ken was such an impressive person in fending off the sea monsters.
“We are no longer familiar with the terrain after the rise of the sea level. Not only does the tide rise and fall without a fixed pattern, it’s difficult to forecast the weather, in addition to the sudden appearance of sea monsters that we have never encountered in the past. Many cities have fallen in just a single night. We must be extremely careful from now on!” the deputy mayor of Feiniao City said.
“The situation is looking grimmer. We seriously can’t tell what’s going to happen in the future,” an elder of the Feiniao City’s Magic Association sighed, staring at the photograph of the ocean showing the approaching calamity!
—
—
When the meeting came to an end, Mo Fan was planning to discuss what had happened the previous night with Mu Ningxue, but he failed to find her anywhere. She obviously had important matters to attend to.
It made perfect sense for Mu Ningxue to be so busy, since he was not in charge of the development of the new city or the crisis threatening its safety.
Mo Fan had goosebumps when he recalled the photograph of overwhelming numbers of demon creatures. He could not help but wonder how disastrous it was going to be when they reached the coastline of human territories. How were the Mages going to fend them off?
“Teacher!” Cao Qinqin called out to Mo Fan from behind. Her dimples set off her charming smile.
“You’ve seriously improved a lot, you are now an advisor of Fanxue Mountain!” Mo Fan smiled when he saw her.
“I have always been impressive. Speaking of which, someone wants to meet you,” Cao Qinqin said.
“Who is it?”
“You will know when you get there.”
Cao Qinqin was being mysterious, and dragged Mo Fan to the receiving hall.
A tanned and handsome man was sitting on the couch. A young maid was pouring tea for him while glancing at him flirtatiously, but the man was staring ahead without losing focus!
“Who’s that?” Mo Fan did not recognize the man, examining him with a confused expression.
The man immediately rose to his feet when he saw Mo Fan. He brought his hands together respectfully and bowed to Mo fan, “Teacher, I’m back!”
Mo Fan was startled. Only the graduates he was once in charge of would call him teacher, and the greatest talents among them were none other than Cao Qinqin and Bai Hongfei. Mo Fan observed the tanned man closely and finally recognized him.
“Bai Hongfei? Holy crap, how are you so tanned? Where’s your fair and carefree appearance?” Mo Fan was shocked.
Was this man really Bai Hongfei? He had changed so much!
In Mo Fan’s memory, Bai Hongfei used to have an imposing and handsome appearance. He shone among the disciples of the renowned clans… but now, he was almost like an African with an untamed bearing. He was deliberately withholding his savagery…
Mo Fan recalled Bai Hongfei telling him that he was going on an adventure to train himself before bidding Mo Fan farewell. He did not expect the man to be gone for so long. He had only just returned from his adventure!
His determination and will had led him through some shocking changes!