The Martial Unity

Chapter 3216: Troubling Waters

Their journey was unlike anything that Rui had ever experienced before. He could say with confidence that he had never experienced such a strange and exotic means of travel. It was almost straight of a fairy tale.

And yet, they soared across the Great Nam Ocean at great speeds as they whizzed above the surface of the ocean, crossing over great distances at high speeds. The warm, humid winds above the ocean grew chills as they brushed past it at great speeds. The temperatures began reducing as the Sun dipped below horizon and the sky grew dark.

Rui and Amare, on the other hand, merely enjoyed the ride as they drew closer and closer to West Genora.

Their first contact with the true world, however, came after they left the sphere of influence of Great Nam Ocean. The waters of the great ocean surrounding the Panama Continent did not mix with the waters of the true world, for whatever reason. They were lighter and were intensely blue-green in color than the darker waters of the true world.

Likely because the compounds contained in both oceans conferred upon them different densities, causing there to be a distinct and visible boundary between oceans. The deeper they crossed into the waters of the true world, the more they could sense the differences.

The waters of the true world had its own diverse and versatile biosphere, far more diverse than one would have ever imagined from a world without esoteric substances. There were giant, vast creatures beneath the surface of the ocean.

And despite that, they didn’t give Rui the same impression of power and peril that the Great Nam Ocean did. The creatures of that ocean were quasi-Transcendent in their power, making them far more powerful than any conventional creature without esoteric substances could ever hope to be.

It also meant that the monsters of the Great Nam Ocean were free to essentially terrorize the waters of the true world. Rui could expect a diffusion of at least low-grade sea monsters to spread across the oceans and seas of the true world.

He also expected that seafare would become much more dangerous than it ever had been before for the sailors of the true world. Even if the Great Nam Ocean did not attack trade vessels systematically, it didn’t mean that the true world was just immune to standard predatory behavior from the monsters of the ocean.

He highly doubted that Jormungandr would suppress basic predatory activities for the benefit of land-dwelling civilizations. And if, by chance, there were underwater civilizations in the true world like there were in the Panama Continent, then he suspected that they were especially in danger.

”What is the relationship between the elves and the ocean?” Rui raised an eyebrow, turning to Veruschia. ”I would imagine that you likely don’t have a strong relationship with it.”

”That is not entirely true,” she replied with an informative tone. ”For one, there is plenty of marine flora within the depths of the water. It’s just that we are unable to very easily access them the way we are able to normal land-dwelling flora. That is why we largely stick to the latter, but there are tribes of elves that specialize in marine flora. These elves spend most of their time on the coasts and on islands surrounding Genora and in between the two halves of Genora.”

Rui’s eyes lit up with interest. ”Fascinating. Are tribes divided by racial traits or by the type of flora they choose to connect with?”

”Tribes in our culture were formed by groups of the latter,” she explained. ”During the Era of Tumult, our ancestors took to different parts of the continent with different kinds of flora, making each tribe much more accustomed to one particular type or set of plants and trees. Of course, we are still very much of the same species with a handful of racial differences and are entirely compatible with all forms of flora.”

”I see...” Rui murmured with a curious tone. ”Well, I don’t envy the tribes that have marine flora as their focus. I fear that the Unfolding may have greatly disaffected them. Because the Great Nam Ocean is a fearsome force to be reckoned with.”

Veruschia winced at those words. ”The formidable sea monsters of your waters has indeed... posed challenges to certain elven tribes. They are actually quite eager to meet with you and speak with you regarding the matter. They hope that you can potentially use your Authority of Alpha to tame the monsters of the seas and protect their marine flora and civilization.”

Rui shook his head, heaving a sigh. ”Sorry, but as you guys already know, I’m not in control of the Great Nam Ocean. A much greater and much more powerful authority has control over the waters surrounding our continent. And while it is kind as it restrains itself to prevent the destruction of this planet, it can also be ruthless. At the end of the day, it is a monster. It largely believes in survival of the fittest and will not disrupt the circle of life within the waters. I’m afraid that these tribes of elves will need to figure something out.”

”...I see, that is unfortunate,” Veruschia murmured with an uncertain tone. ”They will likely request dialogue with you anyway.”

”I can offer them advice, but that’s about it,” Rui heaved a sigh. ”Still, given how powerful you elves have shown to be, I’d imagine that handling a few monsters is not that difficult.”

Versuchia’s expression grew complicated. ”All civilizations have hierarchy and we elves are no different. The simply fact of the matter is that not all tribes of elves are equally powerful. Some tribes are more powerful than others. There are, in fact, more tribes that do not have a Mother of Nature than there are those that do. Regardless, it appears that marine elves will have to move to more shallow waters if they wish to avoid confronting the exotic monsters of the oceans.”