Ice Factory

Several days ago, Su Ming and Zijin interrogated the captured members of the Plundering Clock.

It's still the same old problem.

These official members were all restricted by the mark of the World Serpent.

"Erase this, and they will die."

Zijin summoned the Divine Favor Scepter, and with a flick of her wrist, she created a flourish with the scepter.

"But if someone dies, it will trigger the ' Interrogation and Separation Ritual '."

"After asking one question, my soul dissipates."

Su Ming pressed his temples.

That unlucky Jörmungandr is really troublesome.

So far, they have captured quite a few members of the Plundering Clock.

However, the information that can actually be obtained each time is very limited.

"This time, let's focus the problem on Charybdis."

Su Ming said.

He remembered clearly the moment when the Pansy rose from the sea and capsized the ship.

One of the members cried out in alarm, "Charybdis is here!"

The documents seized from the ship also mentioned this sea monster in many places.

Or rather, that's why they came.

There must be something wrong with this.

"Okay, let's keep an eye on this and dig it out," Zijin agreed.

****

Three days later, the documents that Feimaina had seized were piled up in front of Chloe.

"Deep Sea Abyssal Devourer."

Zijin then described the results of her interrogation.

"This is the Plundering Clock's official classification of it."

Chloe pulled out the top document and began to read it.

Based on testimonies and existing data, the Deep Sea Abyssal Devourer originated in Eden.

It is impossible to determine exactly which era it was active in.

But since Eden's recorded history, only one of the Deep Sea Abyssal Devourer has survived.

Five thousand years ago, Jörmungandr crushed it.

But before it died, this Deep Sea Abyssal Devourer left behind a descendant.

The offspring was still very young at the time and was thrown directly into Taya by Jörmungandr through a spatial rift.

"How extravagant, using something like this as a stepping stone."

Chloe clicked her tongue.

"Jörmungandr is certainly generous."

She then looked down.

For five thousand years, Charybdis lived in the ocean of Taya.

It wasn't until recently, upon learning that Su Ming was going to submerge to the North Pole, that the Plundering Clock suddenly remembered its existence.

"He"? Chloe raised an eyebrow slightly.

"These people actually refer to a living being as 'He'?"

"It might be a translation error."

Zijin Path.

"Most of the manuscripts are in Eden script, and we're still struggling to translate them."

"It's also possible that this Deep Sea Abyssal Devourer is related to the mythological beliefs of Eden," Chloe speculated.

She continued reading.

The plan of the Plundering Clock was to use their knowledge of the Deep Sea Abyssal Devourer to lure "It" to the North Pole subglacial shipping lanes.

This will create trouble for Su Ming.

"Even they themselves aren't very confident about the plan itself," Chloe said.

"Their response seemed to be a desperate attempt to revive a lost cause," Zijin said, shrugging.

Chloe quickly finished reviewing the documents.

There aren't many anyway.

Neither the documents nor the testimonies mention the specific combat capabilities of this Deep Sea Abyssal Devourer.

Those members of the Plundering Clock had never seen them with their own eyes.

All I know is -

It's huge!

Its shape resembles a lying ribbonfish.

Or a flying carpet.

"So, what exactly is Charybdis?" Su Ming asked.

"You're asking me?" Chloe looked up and said irritably.

"I've never kept it at the bottom of the sea."

"Aren't you well-versed in all sorts of historical materials?" Su Ming asked, puzzled.

"This thing has existed in Taya for five thousand years."

Surely you didn't spit out a single bubble?

Chloe flipped back to the previous page of those documents and thought about them carefully.

If we're talking about the Taya Plane, who has read the most historical records?

If she acknowledges the second-

Anyone who claims to be number one will definitely get a sack over their head from Zijin.

****

In the end, Chloe shook her head.

"There are indeed quite a few records and legends about sea monsters."

"But those sea monsters are probably not even as big as that giant octopus you killed before."

"If it's just that kind," Zijin said, "We can easily handle it."

"The Plundering Clock to such great lengths; it couldn't possibly be just for such a pointless endeavor," Su Ming added.

"Since it's from Eden, don't try to apply it to things from the coastal waters of Taya."

Chloe slammed the documents back onto the table.

"It'll probably be another behemoth like that Super Crystal Dragon from last time."

Su Ming let out a breath.

"Yes, that's exactly what we're worried about."

Chloe patted Su Ming on the shoulder.

"It's alright, at least we've already captured the ship of the Plundering Clock."

"I was really unlucky; I still ran into them."

Chloe's eyes, on the contrary, held a hint of eagerness.

"Then just like last time, smash it to pieces!"

"Anyway, it's not like you didn't bring your Vermilion Bow."

Su Ming said helplessly, "I hope so."

****

One hundred and fifty kilometers east of the settlement of the Frost Scale Clan Fishmen.

This is an extremely blue sea.

It was so blue it was almost transparent, like a huge gem embedded in the ocean.

Standing on the deck and looking down, you can even see directly into the depths of more than ten meters.

It was incredibly clear.

It even reached a point where it exuded an abnormal emptiness.

The First Sunrise Republic Navy Second Fleet is currently conducting a search in this area.

The sonar swept across the vast sea surface again and again.

The seabed topography is very clear; reefs, sandbars, and trenches are all clearly visible.

The echo signal was excessively clean.

The density of marine life is abnormally low.

There were no signs of large schools of fish.

Over the course of several days, they have searched this area of sea repeatedly.

But they gained nothing.

Logically, the Deep Sea Abyssal Devourer should be extremely large.

Feimaina frowned slightly.

"That shouldn't be the case, how could they not have noticed at all?"

She simply divided the fleet into two parts.

Part of the process involves re-examining areas that have already been searched.

The other part continued to expand the search further outwards along the perimeter.

Then, Feimaina turned on the radio and reported the situation to Su Ming.

"Nothing's wrong?" Su Ming was also surprised.

There is one.

Feimaina glanced at the sea in the distance.

"This sea is so blue."

"The whole area is like this."

"Test results show that the chlorophyll concentration in seawater is less than three percent of the normal value."

The marine biologists on board determined that this was a blue tide phenomenon.

Blue tide refers to the phenomenon of an abnormal decrease in the density of plankton in the sea.

Su Ming frowned immediately.

Although individual planktonic organisms are tiny, their total number is astonishing.

It is the true cornerstone of the marine ecosystem.

In one square kilometer of sea area, the content of plankton can exceed five hundred tons.

On average, this is far higher than that of the vast majority of marine life.

Moreover, they are constantly multiplying.

These seemingly insignificant creatures constitute the food source at the very bottom of the marine food chain.

At the same time, they also silently contribute 70% of the world's oxygen production.

****

"There's one more thing to add," Feimaina continued.

"We've also made some progress in our interrogation of the Frost Scale Clan Fishmen."

"According to them, this area of the sea began to change thirty years ago, with a significant decrease in fish density."

"At first, the big fish disappeared."

"Later, the little fish disappeared too."

"Later on, we couldn't even find shrimp anymore."

They had to move to their current settlement.

"But the blue tide continued to expand, so they were eventually forced to attack the residents on the shore."

Su Ming now understood the reason.

However, this did not stop him from continuing the crackdown.

Using the communication network, Feimaina sent back a detailed marine survey report.

In this sea area, the blue tide covers an area of 800,000 square kilometers.

"What are the scholars saying?" Su Ming asked.

They believe it's impossible for any single organism to have consumed such a large quantity of food simply by eating.

Su Ming agreed with this assessment.

Numbers can be calculated.

Each square kilometer of plankton can absorb about 120 tons of carbon from the air per year.

With an area of 800,000 square kilometers, the annual absorption capacity is close to 100 million tons.

If this carbon is converted into the total amount of plankton, it needs to be multiplied by a factor of two.

Moreover, ocean currents will continuously bring plankton from other places.

"Ocean scientists are continuing their investigation," Feimaina said. "They suspect it was caused by some special seabed geological conditions."

"But more evidence is needed."

Su Ming zoomed in on the photo of that strangely blue sea for two seconds.

"Continue the investigation."

"We must get to the bottom of this!"

"Yes!" Feimaina replied.

****

Port in Northern Ice Island.

Su Ming hung up the call and headed to a nearby industrial park.

Another batch of equipment was summoned.

The equipment team of the Final Bone Mad Machines was already very familiar with this and quickly stepped forward.

Handling, positioning, fixing, and calibration.

Flowing like clouds and water.

On the other side, the Feather Race mage was using Ice-Melting Spell and Frozen Earth Spell to carve out a semi-enclosed workshop from within the ice cap.

Further reinforce the walls, lay insulation layers, and install load-bearing frames.

This is a mineral refining and packaging factory.

It is not the previous satellite ground observation station.

Therefore, it can be built directly on permanent ice.

The technology and processes used in the factory are actually not complicated; in fact, most of them are local Taya technologies.

The technology-based equipment only handles the most efficient and critical steps such as purification and detection.

"Snow Glauber's Salt, Frost Magnesium Crystal ----"

Su Ming looked at the production list and felt quite emotional.

"You have quite a lot of good stuff here," he said to Chloe beside him.

The ice sheet in Northern Ice Island is up to two kilometers thick, making it the second thickest ice sheet in the entire Taya world after Antarctica.

Under these unique geological conditions, many low-temperature salts that would dehydrate and decompose elsewhere are instead enriched here over a long period of time.

The purity is astonishingly high.

For Su Ming, this was simply a convenient and inexpensive industrial raw material warehouse.

This is why, with the gradual improvement of the mining chain in Northern Ice Island, the packaging plant is now ready to be established.

These chemical materials are continuously transported to the production base.

It has been transformed into part of the industrial system.

Because the products must be processed in a low-temperature environment, this is why Chloe chose to build its factory directly under the ice.