On the morning of January 2, 998, the tank of magic algae that had once covered a wall in Iowa's secret ruins was gone, and the carved stone wall had been restored.
As more and more mermaids became utterly devoted to Landen, the layout of this magically isolated underground ruin changed once again. All the mermaids were settled in a dedicated underground water cavern. The water layer was like a small, temperature-controlled lake, with a surface area of tens of thousands of square meters. Hundreds of rock pillars of varying sizes rose from the water, leaving more than ten meters of airspace above it. This space could be filled with plenty of air, while above it lay the rocky strata of the Iowa Mountains, more than a thousand meters above sea level.
Landen had drawn some illumination Magic Patterns and Life Magic Patterns on the pillars and the ceiling slabs, ensuring the mermaids could live reasonably comfortably in the water layer.
Landen had moved the many tanks of magic algae in the ruins into several rectangular caves. The pool of green water left behind by the legendary creature Life Pearl had a powerful stimulating effect on the algae. This was especially true of the dozen or so seeds the legendary Panda-kin Xiu Ming had given Landen. After they hatched and sprouted inside the jellyfish, they grew even faster once added to the green water, and had to be moved to larger tanks with greater depth.
The remaining living Sea Monsters had also been moved into a cave of their own. Aside from the ones that had signed some kind of magical agreement with him, Landen had planted magic algae directly on a few stubborn ones, making them examples to frighten the others.
Early that morning, after paying his respects at