Tang San jumped into the Ring Sea for the second time, with fewer rope clasps fastening people together.
He did not put Dai Mubai at the very front of the team, either. Last time, Tang San had used the Blue Silver Emperor to hold five people together. The vines had snapped one after another, nearly dragging the whole team into the wake of Xiao Bai's tail. Oscar's prepared supplies were distributed among them, and each person packed their own share in a waterproof leather pouch before entering the water.
"If someone gets swept away, find them within ten breaths," Tang San said. "If we can't, we retreat. No one chases toward the far shore alone."
Ma Hongjun glanced at Xiao Bai, who stood in the sea. "She heard that."
Xiao Bai slapped up a wave with her tail in answer.
Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing took the left and right, Ning Rongrong and Oscar held the middle, and Ma Hongjun stayed behind to make air bubbles. Tang San hooked his Eight Spider Lances into the seabed, keeping lower than everyone else. Once the six entered the water, they did not form a single line. The current passed between them, and Dai Mubai no longer had to take every impact head-on for the other five.
The first school of arrow-shaped fish came from the left.
The light from Zhu Zhuqing's claws skimmed ahead of the school and sliced through the water. Ning Rongrong's speed boost reached her feet at the same moment. The fish turned along the newly opened channel toward the rear flank. Not one rolled over, belly-up.
"The left is clear!" Zhu Zhuqing shouted.
But Tang San struck the reef twice underwater.
The surface looked calm, but an undertow ran through the seabed. After Xiao Bai had pushed him