Sweep the Bases

Bai Xiaowen steered the Ghost Dreadnought out to sea, then began its descent. After a moment's thought, he said:

"I still don't believe the Snakefolk would send only one tribe to seize the dreadnought. Geshwen is dead, and two of the three priests remain. The priest who showed up today was Morken, but there's another one, Orwin, who hasn't appeared... So where is he? Could the Snakefolk of the Bonus Waters really be fighting among themselves at a time like this? Or did he discover Ahan and the others were coming and decide not to show himself..."

His Super Brain worked fast. In an instant, Bai Xiaowen thought of no fewer than ten possibilities, but in the end, he shook his head. Some were more likely than others, yet he had no evidence for any of them.

Bai Xiaowen decided to play it safe and support his teammates first. There was nothing else he particularly needed to do, and regrouping with them could only help.

The Ghost Dreadnought sailed beneath the waves and followed their intelligence to the first Snakefolk base.

The Snakefolk tribe living there was called Nataki. But when the Ghost Dreadnought arrived, Bai Xiaowen found that the base's central altar had been destroyed. The Divine Runes installed there to sustain the giant bubble shield had been wrecked as well. The Snakefolk base no longer existed.

Relieved, Bai Xiaowen steered the dreadnought toward another Snakefolk base to the northeast, the one farthest from the deserted island where the naval battle had taken place.

The dreadnought traveled along the seabed, occasionally passing schools of fish. These were shallow waters, so there were no great sea beasts, though he sometimes spotted fish one or two meters long swimming around dimly glowing reefs in the distance. The fish seemed to take