Five Battleships began to move through the Tsloch Sea, from their port at Tsloch Vitara. Standing on the deck of the Central Peak Battleship alongside Bnapbnap was the Brimgan Prince, Brunta Brimgan.
He had Gold Grade strength with a 6-Life Stage cultivation. His sixth body’s Spirit Container was extremely damaged as a result of the Chief Researcher’s torture and mineral extraction attempts.
But the rest of his stack was perfectly fine. So, Brunta Brimgan intended to see if he could salvage his sixth body and make it recover. However, if the costs were too high, he planned to kill it and build a new body from scratch.
Seeing the Battleships reach a speed of 90 kilometres per hour and stabilise their movements, he turned around to eye the figure of Bnapbnap standing nearby, "I was sure the Cooter Clan’s Battleships could move faster."
"We could, but not here." Bnapbnap said as he eyed the sea waters, "The terrain makes it difficult. If we were to go faster than this, the turbulence generated underwater will make us expend energy at an exponential rate as compared to now."
"After two days, however, we’ll reach a stretch of water that allows us to hasten our pace." He spoke quickly upon noticing Brunta Brimgan’s displeasure.
"What is your highest speed?" Brunta Brimgan asked next.
"Around 140 kilometres an hour." Bnapbnap replied, "The Prana expenditure associated with it is less economical, but we can sustain this pace for months at a stretch."
’That is slow.’ Brunta Brimgan frowned but didn’t voice out his opinion. The Cooter Clan’s speed of travel was indeed inferior when compared to what the Brimgan Empire was used to. However, the Battleships were capable of transporting goods and people in numbers vastly beyond what the Brimgan Empire could.
The Brimgan Empire’s Raid Teams usually consisted of a Brimgan Royal at the Body Stage leading around twenty to forty Free Humans with Silver Grade strength in vehicles designed for speed and storage of the goods.
"Will the Empire be sending anyone to the Dralh Sea?" Bnapbnap interjected upon feeling the other party’s silence.
"If I can get a word out fast enough." Brunta Brimgan sighed, "But we’ll probably have to manage with the Empire’s forces stationed at the Dralh Sea for trade. They won’t amount to much, but any help will help us."
"And..." Bnapbnap hesitated, struggling to voice out his words, "They..."
"What of them?"
"What are they doing that they’ve become so helpless?"
The Dralh Sea was originally under the Cooter Clan’s control. It was their leading branch, where over 28 Empyrean Snappers and their respective Settlements were stationed. Most of the strongest Empyrean Snappers lived in the Dralh Sea.
Not only was the region extremely treacherous, there was enough danger and benefits born from the region that the strongest of Empyrean Snappers lived there. Even the Cooter Clan Chiefs, generation after generation, lived at the Dralh Sea.
The last of the Cooter Clan Chiefs, named Geugeu, was touted to be the third strongest existence on Sumatra, a step above the Brimgan Emperor who reigned at the fourth.
But that was in the past, as a pinnacle existence wiped out the entire branch and feasted upon the Empyrean Snappers. The sheer scale of the feast created a permanent landmark in the Dralh Sea.
The Cooter Clan’s Bowl of Shame!
The sole survivor of that incident was Wally, when he was a mere child.
The defeat of the Cooter Clan changed nothing, as thanks to the sheer amount of resources generated by the Dralh Sea, a new force appeared in the region and quickly dominated the place. They were few in number but were ridiculously strong and had quickly expanded to form connections with countless Free Human Kingdoms and Empires.
The Dralh Sea’s Mystic Humans!
Their rise prevented the Cooter Clan from ever having hopes of reclaiming the Dralh Sea. It was why Bnapbnap was having difficulties voicing out his opinion, for the Dralh Sea’s status quo was a clear picture of their dreadful defeat.
’The way his facial muscles twitch resembles a storm.’ Brunta Brimgan thought as he observed Bnapbnap’s facial expressions, ’But the fact he’s assisting me is still commendable.’
"You are aware of the invasion that has started, right?" Brunta Brimgan eyed Bnapbnap, "I don’t mean the Nirclick Invasion by that."
"The enemy Continents, yes." Bnapbnap nodded, "We’ve received communications from our Transcendents."
"At present, five Continents have docked at our borders." Brunta Brimgan began explaining, "Of them, only three have access to our landmass."
The way Sumatra Continent was structured, there were treacherous terrains that segmented the continent into multiple landmasses. And in the landmass they were situated at, there were only enough provisions for three Continents to dock.
Of course, the three spots were taken up by the strongest invading Continents, since this landmass had historically been concentrated with the majority of the strongest existences Sumatra had to offer.
So, defeating this landmass alone meant the invading Continents could casually win against the rest of Sumatra.
"These forces have unanimously classified the Dralh Sea’s Mystic Humans as the highest priority to deal with." Brunta Brimgan snorted, "They have been targeting every other force with priority too, but their primary attention is on the Mystic Humans."
"Once they are dealt with, the Narlakks can spread across Sumatra like a plague." Brunta Brimgan sighed, "That will cause us to lose most of our populace in a matter of months."
"I see," Bnapbnap frowned in silence for a few minutes. And then, as he watched the Battleship begin accelerating once again, he whispered, "Will the Guardian make a move?"
"I don’t have the authority to know that." Brunta Brimgan shook his head, "Only the Emperor is aware."
There was silence between the duo following that as the Battleships continued about their pace. And as the Battleships moved about their path, there was action from deep within the water.
A horde of corals were bouncing around, carried by an undercurrent that accurately sent them trailing after the Battleships. They were Nirclicks.
Moving about them were four Narlakks, all armed with the physical characteristics associated with Mystic Mist Art. This was how they governed the undercurrents and moved the horde of corals along their intended path.
Their movements couldn’t be sensed, since they moved at depths beyond the sensory means of any Cooter Clansman.
Using a platform of cloud to descend across the rear end of the Battleship’s hull were a team of Maintenance Crew. A patch of moss was growing on the hull, purposefully plastered upon by a group of Pranic Beasts intending to compromise the hull’s integrity.
Amidst the crew was Torq as he painted a layer of whitish fluid on a patch of moss. And once the fluid hardened into Gentle Coral, he ripped it out, clearing out the moss in such a fashion.
"Even though it compromises our hull’s integrity when left untouched, it is extremely nutrient rich." Inin advised the Maintenance Crew, "Therefore, we will keep extracting it as it appears and transfer it to the Mobility Crew, who will refine medicines out of them."
"Look," He blew upon a clean section of the hull and spoke, "Gentle Coral has self recovery properties. So, as long as the moss doesn’t eat into it too deeply, it will recover in a matter of hours."
"Otherwise," He plastered a Gentle Coral dome over a damaged section, "Make a temporary cover like this. While the moss is eating though this temporary cover, the actual hull within will have finished recovering."
"This is just the basics," He shouted, "So, keep up!"