Chapter 144: The Giant Jellyfish (Part Two)

The changes within the Ryan military were truly substantial.

Simultaneously, the senior military leadership began researching further tactical developments, naturally designed to coordinate with the newly enhanced twenty-four thousand soldiers.

On the drill grounds, Li Tao, who had recently undergone a heavy blood extraction, was running at high speed.

He carried a rocket launcher on one shoulder and a specially modified heavy machine gun on the other.

At the same time, a stack of ammunition and equipment was strapped to his back.

Behind him, nearly a hundred soldiers moved in close tactical coordination.

Each of these soldiers wielded a heavy machine gun, carrying substantial loads of ammunition and various modular light artillery mounts and shells. Additionally, every one of them wore a specially crafted, broad alloy heavy saber strapped to their backs.

These heavy alloy sabers were intended for pre-enacting future military scenarios involving small-scale surprise attacks against Purple Moon creatures, serving as a necessary fallback measure in the event that ammunition was completely depleted.

Taking less than a minute, the squad rushed to a target zone one kilometer away. Li Tao firmly steadied his heavy machine gun with one hand, unleashing a frantic barrage of fire while simultaneously triggering the shoulder-mounted rocket launcher.

The recoil of the rocket launch caused Li Tao not the slightest discomfort.

The machine gun continuously razed the firing range, and the moment a rocket was expended, the soldiers behind him rapidly loaded another.

In less than three minutes, the target area directly ahead of Li Tao and the hundred soldiers was reduced to utter devastation.

The roar of gunfire mingled with the explosions of rockets and artillery shells, creating a thoroughly astonishing spectacle.

At the very front, Li Tao resembled a humanoid tank, standing firm and embodying a supreme aesthetic of brute violence.

Having emptied all his bullets and shells, Li Tao immediately discarded the heavy machine gun and rocket launcher, drawing a massive alloy saber approximately three meters in length from his back.

Wielding the blade with both hands, he burst upward with explosive force, leaping high into the air and bringing the weapon down in a ferocious downward slash toward a scarred target zone ten meters away.

"Boom!"

Combining Li Tao's body weight of nearly five hundred pounds with the kinetic momentum of a multi-meter explosive leap, the strike produced a thunderous roar upon impact.

At peak Tier Two status, Li Tao's tyrannical strength was displayed here to its absolute limit.

Witnessing this scene, both Duan Jiaxiang, the squad leader, and the high-ranking military officials observing the drill via surveillance were thoroughly satisfied.

The reinforcement of individual human physiology, combined with modern weaponry, multiplied the combat effectiveness of small squad raids by several dozen times.

Heavy artillery that was previously impossible to transport could now be dismantled into components by human strength, then carried forward on backs or shoulders.

Furthermore, beyond the pure enhancement of frontal combat capabilities, every soldier's perception of the Purple Moon's energy grew increasingly distinct. This allowed them to timely detect and evade attacks by Purple Moon creatures during actual combat.

In short, from every perspective, the gains acquired by the Ryan military this time far exceeded the value of the fawn they had gifted away.

——————

Meanwhile, aside from the changes in the fawn and the Ryan military, the past two weeks had also brought considerable transformation to the Oak Tree.

Specifically, the number of subordinate oak trees of the same species under the oak tree Adam that had broken through to Tier Two life had reached as many as fourteen.

Beyond these newly advanced oak trees, among the tribes surrounding Adam, over a dozen birds and humans had achieved breakthroughs.

Among them, including Hughes, a total of seven humans had advanced to Tier Two lifeforms, alongside six birds.

One golden eagle, one hyacinth macaw, and four other avian species.

In total, across these two weeks, twenty-seven lifeforms among Oak Tree Adam's kin successfully entered Tier Two.

Though this change seemed minor, it finally appeared to be accelerating. Most of the kin accumulated by the oak in the early stages had now reached the extreme limit of Tier One, and from this point onward, such breakthroughs would undoubtedly occur at a faster pace.

This granted Ji Yu hope for the oak and the fawn to break through to Tier Three, while also prompting him to invest greater energy into the giant salamander.

Over the past two weeks, the giant salamander's own vitality had not increased significantly, but in the coastal waters off France, nearly five hundred marine lifeforms led by the salamander had now gathered.

Among them were thirty-one blue whales, one hundred twenty-eight killer whales, and over two hundred sixty other cetaceans.

Mixed within this group were also several sea snakes, sharks, and two seabirds.

At this moment, in the open waters of the Western Ocean, the giant salamander was cruising alongside these behemoths, searching for further targets.

Throughout the cruise, the salamander continuously provided the surrounding cetaceans with the Essence of Water to increase their strength.

Over the past two weeks, the changes within these cetaceans were by no means insignificant.

The blue whales underwent the greatest transformation.

Although the blue whales consumed the largest amount of the Essence of Water and their growth appeared gradual, accumulated day by day over two weeks, the largest among them had successfully grown from a length of thirty meters to fifty meters.

Their external appearances remained largely unchanged, but compared to their previous slight clumsiness caused by massive bulk, they had grown agile through the enhancement.

The skeletal structure of the blue whales had become far tougher; even when executing rapid barrel rolls and leaps, there was no fear of snapping the main spinal column running the entire length of their bodies.

In terms of movement, the speed of most of these blue whales had surpassed one hundred kilometers per hour, more than doubling their velocity.

Furthermore, in terms of size, the fifty-meter blue whales looked even more massive and substantial than the giant salamander, which stretched two hundred meters.

While the salamander was long, its girth remained remarkably sleek and slender.

"Cruising without a care actually feels rather nice."

Ji Yu controlled the giant salamander as it led the pod of whales deeper into the ocean. All the while, high-altitude reconnaissance planes hovered continuously in the skies above this colossal marine congregation.

The giant salamander's strategic importance to the French Federation remained extremely high.

Terrified that other individuals or nations might harbor designs on the salamander, the French implemented strict surveillance every time it ventured out.

On occasion, neighboring nations that discovered the presence of the salamander and the massive whale pod attempted to approach, only to be driven away by those reconnaissance planes via public channel radio warnings.

Although some nations refused to acquiesce during these incidents, all they could ultimately do was conduct reconnaissance.

After all, when it came to the giant salamander, no one was willing to willingly antagonize a still formidable nation.

At the same time, these parties were acutely aware of the dangers posed by the salamander.

Therefore, to avoid misunderstandings, over the past two weeks, Ji Yu had controlled the salamander's movements with increasing blatancy.

Besides, even if Ji Yu had wished to remain subtle, it was impossible, given the sheer scale of the whale pod; they could not remain submerged in the deep ocean indefinitely without surfacing to breathe.

Consequently, under these circumstances, the nations of the Western Continent gained an increasingly thorough understanding of the giant salamander.

Across the azure ocean, the giant salamander forged ahead, followed by the whale pod trailing in a sweeping, fan-shaped formation.

Amidst this cruising, sensing that the whales had replenished their oxygen, Ji Yu immediately directed the pod to submerge back into the ocean depths.

This time, the destination Ji Yu intended to enter was a trench potentially reaching a depth of ten thousand meters.

The Domidala Trench, situated in the mid-southern region of the Western Ocean of the Western Continent.

Its deepest point was estimated to be around 10,137 meters, a figure Ji Yu had retrieved via internet searches.

Therefore, prior to entering the trench, Ji Yu was deeply eager to discover whether the internet rumors regarding the existence of giant octopuses and colossal squids held any truth.

The existence of giant octopuses and colossal squids remained shrouded in mystery, with the world's only sparse reports consisting entirely of carcasses washed ashore on beaches.

As for the exact whereabouts of these creatures, no one had yet discovered or deduced them.

However, if such lifeforms truly existed, Ji Yu reasoned that humanity's failure to clearly detect them implied their numbers were undoubtedly very small, and they likely resided permanently in the deep sea.

In the modern Blue Star, only the deep ocean still held countless unknowns for humanity.

Myriad mysterious discussions regarding the deep sea had never ceased, for the unknown not only provoked fear but also sparked boundless associations and speculation.

Thus, since his giant salamander avatar was finally an aquatic species, Ji Yu naturally would not abandon the exploration of such unknowns.

Ignorance was one thing, but now that he knew, Ji Yu was certainly willing to spend time searching.

Even if he failed to find giant squids and giant octopuses, he could simply treat it as taking in the scenery of the deep sea.

With that, Ji Yu controlled the giant salamander to begin its descent, quickly leaving behind the zone penetrated by sunlight.

At five hundred meters, the sunlight in the deep sea grew dim.

At one thousand meters, light and brightness vanished completely from the deep sea, save for the flickering bioluminescent organs of small fish.

By this point, the whale pod, unable to endure the immense pressure of the deep sea, had successively surfaced to quietly wait at the sea level for the salamander's return.

In the deep sea, the trench into which Ji Yu descended was far more desolate and silent than he had imagined.

Devoid of light in the abyssal depths, Ji Yu controlled the salamander to channel the energy within its body, causing a faint, gentle glow to emanate from it.

Thus, in a pitch-black abyss devoid of any visible light, a creature over two hundred meters in length swam with unbridled freedom.

During this time, the light and size of the salamander practically frightened away all nearby fish and predators.

Deafening silence and absolute darkness, an endless expanse of desolate bleakness, caused Ji Yu to feel a slight trace of dread.

The pressure of the deep sea exerted virtually no effect on the salamander. Possessing the Aquatic Morph capability, the salamander sped forward unhindered, quickly descending to a depth exceeding five thousand meters within the trench.

Here, Ji Yu located a flat sandy plain at the bottom of the trench.

The sand was utterly barren, save for the discarded shells of deceased mollusks and scattered, sparse colonies of small scavenging marine worms.

Life was truly scarce here.

Describing it as a dead zone for life would not be an exaggeration at all.

"Will there really be giant octopuses and squids here? An environment like this makes the existence of ordinary large lifeforms nearly impossible, seeing as sustenance itself is a problem."

Pondering this, Ji Yu swam toward the edge of a massive 'cliff' flanking the sandy plain.

Beneath the cliff lay the even greater depths of the trench, but at this moment, Ji Yu began to hesitate.

Yet, just as Ji Yu hesitated, within the salamander's field of vision, a faint glimmer suddenly seemed to appear amidst the darkness below the trench.

This gleam grew increasingly intense, shooting rapidly upward toward the upper reaches of the trench like a thread of light.

"What on earth is that?"

The blue thread gradually expanded in the salamander's field of vision, surging directly toward the spot where the salamander was positioned.

Without hesitation, Ji Yu immediately commanded the salamander to ascend a short distance, simultaneously inhaling a mouthful of seawater and spitting out a remarkably hard, razor-sharp icelike spike downward toward the approaching linear light.

The moment the ice spike plunged into the deep sea and penetrated the darkness, Ji Yu suddenly witnessed illumination spreading throughout the pitch-black trench.

At last, Ji Yu saw that what had risen from the trench was a colossal jellyfish radiating blue light across its entire body.

The jellyfish was umbrella-shaped, with a diameter no less than fifty meters, and possessed numerous threadlike tentacles, every single one exceeding three hundred meters in length. Confronted with the appearance of such a behemoth, Ji Yu naturally felt a trace of surprise.

Yet following that surprise, as even more intense blue light radiated from the jellyfish, Ji Yu perceived the unmistakable energy fluctuation uniquely belonging to the Purple Moon.