The Data Terminal's detonation plan successfully destroyed the portal. The deep-sea vortex quickly vanished in a cloud of smoke after the bomb exploded, but the incident did not end so simply—the waters around them began to behave strangely.
Chaotic currents gathered from all directions, nothing like normal water movement. The temperature of the entire region was rapidly dropping, and this abnormal loss of heat was clearly no natural phenomenon. The Siren Queen warily raised her upper body. The tiny scales beneath her cheeks shimmered with a pale blue chill, as though sensing the information carried by the currents. "Something... It feels like something has been awakened... A vast consciousness is watching this place!"
Hao Ren quickly opened a communication channel. "Terminal! Something's wrong here. Can you see anything?!"
The Data Terminal's voice came through, mixed with bursts of static. "The sea level is deforming... Two massive low-temperature storms are forming simultaneously at the North and South Poles. The seawater's movement is deviating from normal... Leave immediately! Something is heading your way!"
Hao Ren saw "that thing" without needing the Data Terminal's warning. It was a strange flow of frozen water spreading from somewhere unknown. Along its path, the seawater froze into pillars of ice almost in the blink of an eye. Now, that raging white tide was only a few hundred meters from Hao Ren and the others!
"Retreat!" Hao Ren bellowed. He had no time to worry about the engineering machine. He grabbed Shaqila, who was nearest to him, and shot upward. "Terminal, teleport us out!"
The Terminal's voice was still mixed with intense interference. "...Failure. Coordinate displacement! The Wall of Reality hasn't fully recovered. Teleportation is being disrupted!"
"Aw, damn it..." Hao Ren glanced back. "Then give us a solution! A blizzard of ice at minus one or