West of the Elf Forest, deep in the ocean
Ordinarily, this part of the ocean served as a crucial sea route connecting two shores, with numerous merchant ships visible on the surface. There was even a time when every merchant ship along the route could see others both ahead and behind.
This sea lane was thus bestowed with the beautiful name "Thousand Sails Route."
But all of that came to a complete halt once the war began.
In the current war, commerce has been severely compressed, and most merchant ships have been requisitioned for nearshore transport to supply the front lines with resources.
One can forget about the usual thriving scene; even making a circuit might not lead to encountering a single oncoming merchant ship.
At least, the Sea Sons ventured through the ocean for a day and have yet to come across a human vessel. Their original plan to devour a few ships as an offering to the "Mother" has thus been completely foiled.
However, although no ships were captured, the good news is that they encountered a target more valuable than ships.
—It was a group of demons swimming from the direction of the Central Mountain Range.
Much like the map Bai Yi saw earlier, the Sea Sons also shared this intelligence, and along the way, they added to it by including underwater geographical information and oceanic currents.
The continent in this world resembles a large pistol leg, and the location where the Sea Sons currently are is the inverted "V" shaped sea area between the thigh and calf.
The apex of the inverted "V," adjacent to the Central Mountain Range, is where this group of demons came from.
As to why the Sea Sons could recognize them as demons, the most crucial reason is that they were already aware of the demons’ existence.
Right, that’s very important.
Upon suddenly discovering an unusual team of creatures underwater that looked as bizarre as they did, coming from a battlefield direction, the Sea Sons immediately reached a conclusion.
They were quite self-aware of their appearance, convinced that their own looks could probably scare children to sleep, unthinkable for the normal biosphere to produce.
So when they saw this group with an equally strange appearance, they had already confirmed the target.
After all, what normal creature would look like a humanoid tentacle monster, complete with numerous spikes, almost as if fearing others wouldn’t recognize them as antagonists?
However, the Sea Sons also knew that the demons were difficult to deal with, and as they had no prior strategy for handling demons while merely "expanding the map," they refrained from taking action, intending to first confirm Bai Yi’s stance.
But at this time, not only were the Sea Sons confused, but the demons they encountered were also entirely at a loss.
Could it be that they sent out other companions?
Or maybe it’s other secret operations?
They hadn’t even considered the possibility that the Sea Sons could be indigenous to this world; after all, where would you find normal creatures looking like that?
By the demons’ limited understanding, only they could look .
And they didn’t have the Sea Sons’ network ability to identify their kind either, so even with an 8th Rank archdemon among them, they hesitated.
After all, they themselves were involved in secret operations, so it’s possible other compatriots were also in action.
Regarding the other side’s inaction, it seemed simpler; perhaps the opponent was also embroiled in a similar mental conundrum, pondering how to respond.
The key issue is that the demons’ unique nature meant their internal language wasn’t fully coherent; different demonic races had entirely different linguistic systems.
As a novice demon, frankly, this situation was indeed beyond their handling scope.
They came out this time only tasked with leading a group to assault humans at an opportune moment. Follow current novels on NoveIꜰire.net
Yet no one informed them how to distinguish allies!
I can’t tell! I really can’t tell!
Thus, both sides fell into an eerie stalemate, engaging in a staring contest, reluctant to make the first move.
On one side, they realized the opponent’s strength seemed overwhelmingly powerful, beyond what a Tier Six could counter alone, requiring reinforcements.
On the other side, they simply couldn’t distinguish the situation, leaving them momentarily stumped about what to do.
The standoff even persisted as a rare merchant fleet sailed by on the sea surface, without either side initiating combat.
Fortunately, once the information reached Bai Yi through the network, Bai Yi immediately responded.
On one hand, they quickly gathered available forces, calling together all the Mechanical Brain Worms bred over the day.
With one day’s preparation, although large-scale combat wasn’t yet possible, the metal generated by the Creation Array using stored Magic Power was sufficient to produce a large cannon.
This was just to test its power and probe the true strength of this world’s 8th Rank!
On the other hand, they also amassed a large number of Sea Sons to encircle the battlefield from afar, as in case of battle, should the opponent scatter within the ocean, they’d be hard to locate.
They had already learned enough lessons from those Ocean Lords, and this time the confrontation was underwater, allowing nearly 360-degree maneuverability and evasion, requiring preemptive setup.
Finally, with her personally ensuring the bottom line, this battle was settled!
Shortly after the merchant fleet disappeared beyond the horizon, the standstill with bulging eyes was finally broken by a surge of teleportation energy.
A flash of white light, and Bai Yi did not descend; instead, an orange-haired figure appeared.
The newcomer showed no indication, reaching out to grab one of the demons upon arrival, then vanished again.