The sea wind skimmed over the water, carrying a damp, cold stench of fish. Chen Wuya stood atop a reef, still gripping the green jade token in his palm, his knuckles white. He had barely caught his breath when black waves rose again in the distant sea—denser and faster than before.
Three shark-shaped sea beasts with bony spikes along their backs burst from the water, opening their jaws to spew green mist. The moment that mist touched the metal mechanisms along the shore, white smoke rose, and flakes of rust began peeling from the cannon barrels.
Mo Feng rushed out from behind the barricade, clutching a row of unloaded mechanism dice. He shouted as he ran, "It's no good! The acid is corroding everything too fast—the main control array's burned out!"
Before his words had faded, a turret exploded. Shrapnel grazed his shoulder, tearing a gash through his clothing. He staggered a few steps, crouched behind a low stone block, and stuffed the remaining dice into his clothes.
The sea beast horde pressed forward, seizing the chance. A monster resembling an orca leaped from the water and rammed the shoreline defenses, its spray overturning two arrow towers. Then more shadows closed in from every direction, far outnumbering the earlier wave.
Gritting his teeth, Chen Wuya poured his remaining Misaligned Force into the Penglai Token. The token trembled faintly in answer to his summons. The massive blue-black scaled beast let out a low roar and charged into the enemy swarm, clamping its fangs around an enemy beast's neck and flinging it away.
But there were simply too many of them. The moment one breach was plugged, another side was broken through.
Bai Zhi's figure suddenly appeared on the front lines. She sprang into the air, her flexible sword sweeping in a