Volume 2: Shenzhou Academy & The Battle of Venice
Chapter 181
Military Report & Assembling the Rapid Strike Force
The fervent cheers reverberated from the Magic Arena like tidal waves crashing against the city walls. Tens of thousands of students from the Shenzhou Magic Academy were still reeling from Lin Feng’s shocking victory—the young man who had just defeated the Ice Phoenix Han Yue to claim the runner-up position on the Battle Rankings. Across the stands, people continued to buzz about his impending showdown with Ye Lingtian.
Yet, right at the epicenter of this dazzling glory, Lin Feng had quietly slipped through the subterranean corridor leading to the eastern parking lot of the academy district.
He did not linger to hear the adulation, nor did he care for the celebratory banquet. A black cloak shrouded his figure, concealing the tear on his tactical vest that was still dusted with frozen ice crystals.
At the final stone steps of the passage, a figure in blue-snow martial attire was waiting. Han Yue leaned against a marble pillar, her hair fluttering gently in the night breeze. Her complexion remained slightly pale from the depletion of her magical energy, but her sapphire eyes had regained their placid calm like a frozen lake.
“Are you certain about this intelligence?” Han Yue asked, her crisp voice laced with deep tension.
“The memories were extracted directly from the sea of consciousness of a Netherworld Cult captain.” Lin Feng stepped forward quickly, his tone decisive: “The seal coordinates and navigation charts are both in my possession. They aren’t hiding on the mainland; they’ve hollowed out the depths of Heavenly Port Island off the coast. We must head to the Military Command Headquarters tonight without a moment’s delay.”
Han Yue nodded decisively, her fingers tightening around the hilt of her protective sword: “Take my military-grade magical armored transport. My honorary Major’s insignia can override all priority checkpoints across Magic City.”
The ash-gray armored vehicle roared with a muffled rumble. Its quartz-core magic engine ignited explosive propulsion, rocketing into the night mist along the coastal boulevard. The high-rises receded behind them, yielding to pitch-black darkness and the salty sea spray blowing in from the coral reefs of Whale Sea Bay.
Two o’clock in the morning.
The Eastern Sea Military Region Command Base stood like a steel fortress anchored deep into a headland jutting out into the sea. On the watchtowers, magical searchlights swept continuously across the pitch-black waters amid the urgent sirens of the shift change. Squads of heavy-armored guards with magic assault rifles slung over their shoulders marched in unison across the reinforced concrete.
Guided by Han Yue, the two bypassed three tiers of biometric scans and magical barrier checks, heading straight down to the Top-Secret Operations Room situated on the fourth subterranean level.
The half-meter-thick titanium alloy doors slid open to both sides.
The domed chamber was bathed in a cold blue glow emanating from a colossal holographic tactical sandbox. Over twenty field-grade officers and reconnaissance specialists were hunched over operational files. Military telecommunication channels crackled incessantly with urgent reports regarding abnormal undersea currents.
At the head of the sandbox table stood a robust, broad-shouldered figure with his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes locked onto the Whale Sea tidal chart. On the blood-red epaulets of this middle-aged military commander gleamed three golden magic stars radiating an imposing might—Lieutenant General Lu Haojun, Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Sea Frontline.
The general’s square face, etched with the scars of countless campaigns, turned around at the sound of footsteps. Recognizing Lin Feng and Han Yue, Lu Haojun’s thick eyebrows knitted together:
“Lin Feng? Han Yue? You just finished your Battle Rankings match; why aren’t you resting and recovering your injuries instead of barging into the top-secret operations room in the middle of the night? The military base is not a playground for talented youths to seek late-night amusement.”
“Reporting to the Lieutenant General, we are here for the safety of the entire Magic City coastal region.”
Lin Feng took three steps forward, standing at attention before the sandbox table. He reached into his tunic and placed a weathered, water-sealed sheepskin navigation scroll alongside a hazy, grayish memory crystal directly onto the tempered glass surface.
“These are the spoils of war retrieved after I eliminated a squad of Netherworld Cult assassins who ambushed me in the Old Town,” Lin Feng said in a deep voice. “I extracted the memories from the captain’s remnant soul. The true lair of the Netherworld Cult branch is not on the mainland; it is hidden deep beneath Heavenly Port Island.”
The operations room suddenly plunged into a stifling silence.
The clacking of keyboards and the whispered discussions among the staff officers instantly ceased. Heavenly Port Island was a barren islet located on the outer edge of Whale Sea Bay, surrounded by countless jagged black coral reefs and treacherous maritime currents—a zone the military had classified as a dead zone for years.
“Activate the consciousness projection right now!” Lu Haojun commanded sharply.
The chief staff colonel immediately stepped forward, pouring a stream of pure Wind-element magical energy into the memory crystal.
SWISH!
The space above the sandbox trembled violently. Gray mist billowed upward and condensed into a series of holographic images so vivid they were bone-chilling, exposing the entire criminal lair before the eyes of the Shenzhou generals.
It was a colossal artificial cavern excavated more than fifty meters beneath the seabed of Heavenly Port Island.
At the center of the underground stone plaza, a blood-red pool spanning hundreds of square meters churned violently, emitting foul, reeking columns of smoke—the Blood Sacrifice Pool! Surrounding the edge of the blood pool were thirty-six pitch-black Abyss stone pillars engraved with evil ritual runes, discharging crimson arcs of lightning.
Yet the sight that made every officer in the room grind their teeth, veins bulging on their foreheads, was the hundreds of rusted iron cages suspended from the surrounding rock walls.
Imprisoned within those damp iron cages were over three hundred emaciated, skin-and-bone human beings. Among them were impoverished coastal fishermen who had mysteriously vanished over the past few months; rogue mercenaries and freelance mages; and in the eastern corner were over twenty young men and women clad in tattered magical academy uniforms—none other than the elite students from the magical academies around Magic City who had been kidnapped by the Netherworld Cult!
The projection recorded scenes of blue-robed cultists casually dragging victims to the rock ledges, slashing their throats with daggers, and letting streams of fresh blood drain along guiding channels directly into the sacrificial pool. Desperate cries of anguish mingled with horrifying forbidden spell incantations amidst the roaring subterranean waves.
And deep beneath the bottom of the Blood Sacrifice Pool, stimulated by the massive influx of human blood, a pitch-black serpent stretching a hundred meters long was writhing. Scales as red as molten iron frictioned against the rock bed, spraying ghostly magical sparks.
It was the most ferocious mutated Commander-level monstrous beast of the deep seas—the Blood-Scaled Giant Python!
CRACK!
A dry cracking sound echoed. A corner of the ultra-hard alloy sandbox table shattered into rubble beneath Lu Haojun’s grip. Lightning-element magical energy surged wildly around the Lieutenant General’s body, emitting crackling, piercing explosions amid his boiling wrath.
“Those filthy scumbags... Daring to kidnap our compatriots, using the blood and flesh of students to nurture a Commander-level fierce beast right under the nose of the Military Command?!” Lu Haojun roared, his overwhelming coercion shaking the underground chamber: “The Blood-Scaled Giant Python... If it absorbs enough blood Qi and reaches peak Commander-level, the Magic City seawall will collapse in an instant! Tens of thousands of coastal civilians will become food for the aquatic horde!”
“Lieutenant General, how much time do we have left?” the chief staff colonel asked urgently, sweat beading on his forehead.
Lin Feng pointed his finger directly at the holographic moon position on the map: “Tomorrow night is the fifteenth day of the lunar month—the full moon and the highest tide of the month. According to the dead operative’s memories, the ultimate blood ritual will conclude right when the moon reaches its zenith. All hostages will have their souls and life force drained to shatter the final seal of the Blood-Scaled Giant Python. We have less than twenty-four hours left!”
“Twenty-four hours...” Lu Haojun repeated, his bloodshot eyes laced with crimson veins.
“Commander! I request the immediate deployment of the 3rd Armored Fleet along with two Magic Air Force regiments, using long-range artillery fire to flatten Heavenly Port Island!” an operations lieutenant colonel slammed his table and sprang to his feet.
“That won’t work!”
Han Yue spoke coldly, her decisive tone cutting off the hasty proposal: “Look closely at this sea chart. Heavenly Port Island is surrounded by an underground Warning Array system and dense jagged black coral reefs. If large warships or aerial mounts approach within a ten-nautical-mile radius, the detection array will instantly trigger an alarm. By then, before the military can even open fire, the cultists will activate the Blood Sacrifice Pool’s self-destruct matrix, slaughtering all three hundred-plus hostages before diving deep into the seabed to escape!”
The operations room fell back into a tense, suffocating silence.
Han Yue had hit the nail on the head regarding the tactical deadlock. Eradicating a desolate island was no difficult task for the Shenzhou military, but rescuing over three hundred innocent compatriots from the enemy’s grasp was the trickiest problem of all. Opening fire indiscriminately was tantamount to murdering the hostages!
Lu Haojun suppressed the lightning fire surging within his chest. The razor-sharp eyes of the veteran general swept across the sandbox and locked onto Lin Feng:
“The main army cannot approach, which leaves only one path: The sharpest dagger team possible! A deep-penetration strike from the subterranean seabed, bypassing all warning arrays, infiltrating the underground cavern to seize the altar and rescue the people before the enemy can react!”
Lu Haojun stepped right up to Lin Feng, his voice resounding with resolute steel:
“Lin Feng! You hold the navigation chart and the cavern layout. Do you dare accept this life-and-death responsibility?!”
Lin Feng puffed out his chest, saluting with standard Shenzhou military precision:
“Reporting to the Lieutenant General, Lin Feng accepts the mission! I swear not a single citizen will perish at the hands of the cult!”
“Very good!” Lu Haojun slammed his hand heavily onto Lin Feng’s shoulder: “In the name of the Eastern Sea Military Region Commander, I hereby declare: Operation Thunderbolt is officially initiated! Appointing Lin Feng as Vanguard Strike Team Leader! Han Yue as Deputy Leader! You are granted full authority to select three elite members to accompany you!”
“Reporting Lieutenant General, I need the three comrades who shared life and death with me at the Blood Wave Trench: Ye Qingwan of the Healing Institute, Gu Xiaowei of the Lightning Institute, and Xie Zhaoyuan of Military Intelligence!” Lin Feng replied decisively.
“Granted! Dispatch an aerial magic mount to fetch them immediately!”
Twenty minutes later.
The metal doors burst open. Ye Qingwan, Gu Xiaowei, and Xie Zhaoyuan strode into the room in crisp field uniforms, radiating intense urgency.
Upon seeing the holographic image of the Blood Sacrifice Pool and the hundreds of dying hostages in iron cages, Gu Xiaowei’s usual playful demeanor vanished completely, her small hands clenching into fists. Ye Qingwan pressed her lips together, her phoenix eyes flashing with unwavering resolve. Xie Zhaoyuan tightly clutched his magical terrain reconnaissance device, his brow furrowed in profound rage.
Lin Feng did not waste a single second. He spread the sheepskin map out before his comrades and began delegating assignments:
“This mission is ten times perilous; every phase of coordination must be precise to the very breath.
First, Xie Zhaoyuan: Use Light-element magic combined with the military reconnaissance device to guide our submarine through the narrow gaps of the black coral reef, neutralizing the three underground Warning Arrays without leaving a trace.
Second, Ye Qingwan: The moment we infiltrate the underground cavern, immediately deploy Wood-element magic ‘Vine Forest’ to wrap and seal all the hostage cages, while scattering purifying medicinal powder to neutralize the toxic miasma from the blood pool, ensuring the survival of over three hundred people.
Third, Gu Xiaowei: Coordinate long-range firepower with Han Yue and me. Your lightning arcs will take out the auxiliary watchtowers and paralyze patrolling blue-robed squads.
Fourth, Han Yue: Freeze the entire Blood Sacrifice Pool! Use ultimate frost to stop the fresh blood from continuing to flow down and awaken the Blood-Scaled Giant Python.
Finally, I will personally decapitate the purple-robed branch leader and destroy the summoning altar!”
The sharp, meticulously structured combat plan drew nods of approval from the entire regional staff. There was no hesitation or redundancy; every individual was assigned precisely to the role that maximized their strengths.
“As for rear backup...” Lu Haojun pointed out toward the sea: “The military district will dispatch two Black Whale-class subterranean high-speed patrol submarines to shadow you from five nautical miles behind. The moment you destroy the array core and fire the flare signal, the subterranean fleet will close in to rescue the hostages, while all long-range coastal artillery batteries unleash a full barrage to completely annihilate Heavenly Port Island!”
With that, two alloy-armored military supply chests were rolled forward.
“These are five sets of ‘Deep Sea Combat Armor’ crafted from thunder-shark leather fused with magic-infused metals, capable of withstanding water pressure at a depth of a thousand meters while absorbing darkness to grant camouflage. Alongside them are top-secret military communication talismans and ten vials of Special Energy-Recovery Potions,” Lu Haojun stated.
All five quickly donned the sleek, jet-black armor that fit snugly against their bodies. Faint blue magical veins ran along their spines before flashing and fading into the shadows, entirely suppressing any outward magical energy fluctuations.
Lin Feng tightened his tactical belt, his gaze sweeping across his four teammates. Not a trace of hesitation showed on any of their faces—only a burning fire of determination in each pair of eyes.
Lu Haojun stood at attention, raising a formal salute: “I wish the soldiers of Shenzhou a triumphant return! Go save our compatriots!”
“Understood!” The synchronized shout echoed throughout the subterranean chamber.
Three-thirty in the morning. The seabed of Whale Sea Bay.
The ocean surface was pitch black, with subsurface currents churning under a moonless, starless night.
At a depth of thirty meters, the military magic submarine Black Whale glided silently like a colossal metal ghost. Its vacuum propulsion system neutralized all sound, leaving behind only tiny trails of bubbles that quickly dissolved into the chilling currents.
In the cramped deployment compartment, the dim red emergency lights cast a glow over five resolute faces.
Lin Feng leaned against the steel bulkhead, harmonizing the four magical energies within his body. The Primordial Dragon Pendant on his chest radiated warm heat, driving all his senses to their sharpest peak. Beside him, Han Yue checked her frost throwing daggers, Ye Qingwan silently chanted incantations to nurture her botanical sprouts, and Gu Xiaowei and Xie Zhaoyuan closely monitored the magic radar display.
“Reporting Leader, the submarine has passed the third underground trench, one nautical mile from the black coral reefs of Heavenly Port Island,” Xie Zhaoyuan whispered through the magic comms pipe. “The safe corridor between the three Warning Arrays has been opened. Prepare to flood the deployment compartment to swim into the submerged cave entrance.”
“Engage maximum camouflage; prepare to deploy,” Lin Feng opened his eyes, his piercing gaze locked onto the compartment hatch.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Suddenly, a series of piercing, urgent alarm chimes wailed from the magic radar screen!
The entire green scanning grid instantly vanished, replaced by a blazing crimson hue that flooded the monitor like fresh blood spilling across water!
At the center of Heavenly Port Island, a terrifying evil magical fluctuation suddenly erupted violently. Shockwaves from the magic surged straight through the seabed, hammering heavily against the submarine hull and making the steel plating vibrate violently as the metal groaned under the stress!
Xie Zhaoyuan’s eyes widened in horror as he watched the energy indices skyrocketing wildly on the control panel, his voice breaking:
“Oh no! The blood Qi fluctuations inside the island have surged fivefold! The cultists... they aren’t waiting until tomorrow night’s full moon!”
Lin Feng and Han Yue sprang up in unison.
Through the pressure-resistant observation port at the bow of the sub, a ghostly crimson beam shot straight up from the depths of Heavenly Port Island through the dark water column, illuminating jagged black coral reefs shaped like the talons of death. The muffled, bloodthirsty roar of an ancient behemoth echoed from the abyss, shaking the entire vast maritime territory!
The blood sacrifice ritual... had been forcibly activated ahead of schedule by the Netherworld Cult! Over three hundred lives were now counting down their final breaths at death’s door!