Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
—
Mo Fan and the others were surprised when Lingling and Jiang Shaoxu brought the old soldier over to them.
“If you really want to go to the island, bring me along,” the old soldier told Tangyue.
“Are you familiar with the situation on the island?” Tangyue asked.
“Twenty years ago, I was the captain of the defense troop. My name is Chen Shuo!” the old soldier declared.
Tangyue did recall seeing the name Chen Shuo on the list of Mages who were in charge of the island’s safety. She thought the overseers of the domestication ranch had long run away, but little did she know, one of them had been keeping watch at the tower for almost ten years!
“It’s great if we have someone experienced leading us. Otherwise, we will be wandering around like headless flies, even if we made it to the island!” Mo Fan exclaimed cheerfully.
“Chen Shuo told us that the Featherless Birds are actually hibernators, but the temperature around here is too warm for that,” Lingling said.
“It’s still a long way from winter,” Zhao Manyan said.
“I should be able to lower the temperature,” Mu Bai said firmly.
“How low do we need it to be?” Tangyue asked.
“Zero degrees; every Featherless Bird below the Commander-level will fall into deep hibernation when the temperature is zero or below. They will go deep into the sea, too. A huge number of Featherless Birds are guarding the perimeter within five kilometers from the island. They will attack any living creatures or humans that are approaching Dawn Island. Even with an army, there would be a lot of casualties just to break through their defense. However, if the temperature is low enough, these Featherless Birds will hibernate instead,” the old soldier stated firmly.
“Are the Featherless Birds in the water tricky to deal with?” Mo Fan asked.
“The Featherless Birds have great numbers. Their intelligent emperor has trained them into an army of reckless soldiers. They are fearless and poisonous, making them extremely troublesome to deal with,” the old soldier answered.
“Mo Fan, trust me, you better let them fall into a deep sleep at the bottom of the sea,” Zhao Manyan said.
Mo Fan was convinced how annoying the creatures were if even Zhao Manyan, the Turtle-Shell Mage, was afraid of them!
“So the plan is, Mu Bai will lower the temperature to zero degrees, and the rest of us will take a boat to the island,” Mo Fan said.
“You will have to kill the Greater Featherless Birds. Otherwise, a new bunch of Featherless Birds will spread to the nearby islands in just a few years. Once the Greater Featherless Birds are dead, the rest of the Featherless Birds would be nothing but a sheet of loose sand,” the old soldier said.
“Greater Featherless Birds… are they the species that was raised on the island?” Tangyue asked.
“Yeah, only I know how terrifying they truly are,” Chen Shuo confirmed.
—
The plan was simple and straightforward. The group waited until it was around two in the morning, when the temperature was the lowest. Mu Bai was responsible for lowering the temperature of the area. In just an hour, the Featherless Birds that were on duty in the sea fell into a deep slumber.
The rank of the Featherless Birds on the island was higher, so it was unlikely they would be deeply asleep. The group had to advance cautiously to locate the Greater Featherless Birds and the Featherless Bird Emperor, in order to take them all out at once!
“This isn’t an easy dungeon,” Zhao Manyan sighed. He added, “We are going to end up as the creatures’ takeaway meal if Mu Bai fails to control the temperature.”
“You must leave by five,” Mu Bai said, ignoring him.
The group was heading toward Dawn Island on a boat. The boat was not very big, and was covered in metal sheets. If there was anything in the water, it could smash the boat in half easily.
Mo Fan was feeling extremely insecure on the little boat.
“Why do we have to leave at five? Is that when the creatures usually rise from bed?” Zhao Manyan asked with a confused look.
“The sun rises relatively early around here. Sunlight will start appearing after five. I can only maintain the temperature of such a huge area at zero degrees at most, but once the sunlight starts shining on the water, the temperature will surely rise and wake up the Featherless Birds at the bottom of the sea,” Mu Bai told them.
“That’s true, don’t underestimate the power of sunlight,” Chen Shuo nodded.
“How useless are you, you can’t even keep the temperature at zero degrees!” Zhao Manyan teased him.
“Why don’t you take a look at how big the area is!?”
Dawn Island’s diameter was already around ten kilometers, not including the water around it. Mu Bai would have no chance of lowering the temperature of such a huge area if he had not reached the Super Level!
—
Mu Bai started channeling his magic as they approached the island.
The temperature around the boat dropped rapidly. A mist started appearing above the sea.
Snow began to fall from the sky. It spread across the surface of the sea like a breeze at Mu Bai’s command.
As a matter of fact, it was more difficult to lower the temperature on the sea than on land, since the seawater would constantly transfer the heat around.
If it was on land, Mu Bai would only have to lower the temperature of the air, but if it was the sea, he had to lower the temperature of the water, too. The sea was so huge and was flowing constantly. It was almost impossible to maintain the temperature of the whole Dawn Island and its vicinity at zero degrees.
The sea would not freeze at zero degrees. It would only form a layer of fog on its surface. Mo Fan preferred to travel on the sea when Mu Ningxue was around. Her Domain could easily turn the water under her feet into ice without expending any energy, turning a part of the sea into land. Mo Fan would then no longer be afraid of the underwater creatures.
“It’s getting colder.”
“They are going to sleep soon. Let’s wait for another ten minutes,” Chen Shuo said.
They kept track of the time and set out for Dawn Island after receiving the confirmation from Chen Shuo.
“I was attacked about here last time,” Zhao Manyan roughly estimated the distance from the island.
“Go straight through it!” Chen Shuo said confidently.
Zhao Manyan was controlling the waves to speed the boat up. Mu Bai did not stop channeling his Ice Magic. In order to spread his magic further, he was traveling together with the group to guarantee their safety, keeping the temperature around them at zero degrees.
Mo Fan poked his head out to check the water. He could not see a thing in the darkness. He spread his Dark Material deep into the water to probe around.
“They are all down there, sleeping on the seabed,” Mo Fan told everyone softly.
The creatures’ numbers were quite insane. When Mo Fan’s Dark Material swept across the seabed, it felt like the Featherless Birds were some kind of plants covering the entire seabed. Mo Fan shivered when he recalled how Zhao Manyan had described he was attacked by countless boomerangs in the sky!