The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

At the southeast corner of Black Horse Island, there is a barren sandy beach, sparsely dotted with a few wooden huts.

Although it's impossible to grow crops here, the beach boasts abundant seafood resources. The sampan fishing teams from the harbor town often come here to catch seafood, providing food for the territory.

At this moment, Li Si Te, wearing only a close-fitting leather armor and shorts, was personally sitting in a sampan, rowing out to sea.

All his servants stayed on the beach; he had come to explore the Giant Algae Forest beneath the sea on his own. Since he needed to communicate with Sea Sprite Ake at all times, it would be inconvenient to bring servants along.

With Ake to guide him underwater,

they easily reached above the Giant Algae Forest, where he lowered a rope for Ake to secure the sampan.

Before preparing to dive to the seabed, Li Si Te asked, "Ake, although I can swim, it's difficult to exert my strength in the sea. After all, I possess Fire Attribute Dou Qi, so I will need you to guide me a lot."

"Brother, don't worry, Ake will protect you, just like brother protects Ake!"

"Currently, my limit for holding my breath is fifteen minutes. To expedite the exploration, you need to lead me while swimming."

"Hmm."

Ake's swimming speed was very fast. If Li Si Te swam by himself, he would spend most of his fifteen-minute breath-holding time swimming and would barely have any time to explore the Giant Algae Forest.

Taking a deep breath.

Splash.

Li Si Te jumped directly into the sea and, following the currents controlled by Ake, quickly dived towards the bottom. His strong physical constitution allowed him to use his Dou Qi to slow down his oxygen consumption—if the physical rules of this world were the same as those on Earth, where burning and breathing both utilized oxygen.

In this world, ordinary people could hardly hold their breath for a minute, and fishermen who trained regularly could normally hold their breath for three to five minutes.

Any longer would require the use of Dou Qi. On Black Horse Island, there was an Apprentice Knight who often dived, capable of breath-holding while swimming for twenty minutes and thirty minutes while still.

Li Si Te hadn't trained much, but with the help of Dou Qi, his record for breath-holding while swimming was fifteen minutes, and eighteen minutes when still.

The seawater was exceptionally clear. Although the underwater visibility was narrower than on land, it was still possible to see a great distance.

Ake controlled the water flow from within a seashell, carrying him swiftly to the edge of the Giant Algae Forest. Looking out, the entire forest really resembled a forest growing on the seabed. The giant algae stretched straight towards the surface, breaking the sunlight into tiny specks of light.

Their colors were mostly yellow or green.

They looked a bit like kelp.

However, Giant Algae had a single main stem with many long, slender leaves that swayed left and right with the movement of the seawater. Their roots clung to the rocks at the bottom of the sea, with many small fish darting between the algae. Sometimes, the fish would disturb the algae, causing them to entangle with each other.

The seafloor was also dotted with a large number of corals, anemones, and other life forms.

Li Si Te was not in the mood to admire the underwater scenery. He quickly deployed his Eye of Magic, scanning over the algae, but found no glow of magic feedback.

He then patted Ake's shell.

Understanding the gesture, Ake immediately controlled the water flow, taking Li Si Te swimming into the Giant Algae, though mostly staying near the periphery of the forest's nearshore end. The Eye of Magic continuously scanned, searching for the possible presence of Cordyceps. Fifteen minutes passed in a blink, and he did not spot any Cordyceps.

Resurfacing, Li Si Te took deep breaths, giving himself a moment to recover.

Once again, he had Ake take him toward the next area of the Giant Algae Forest underwater. Indeed, the undersea forest was boundlessly vast, with no visible end in sight.

Inside the Giant Algae Forest, the poor lighting and limited visibility made it even harder for the Eye of Magic to observe.

But Li Si Te's nature was all or nothing; he never left anything half-done. Time and again, he extended his search through the expanse of the Giant Algae Forest. Finally, after three hours and on his ninth dive, he saw the luminosity he had hoped for.

The chaotic colors of the light spread over a thirty-meter-long piece of Giant Algae.

It nearly reached the surface. Enjoy new adventures from empire

Swimming quickly towards this piece of Giant Algae, Li Si Te soon found the Elf Bug nestled at the root of the kelp, a yellow-brown Elf Bug. Originally, Li Si Te had thought to let Ach contract with this Giant Algae Bug, but since he had already put in so much effort, he decided to do it himself.

So he took out some Jade Powder and sprinkled it at the base of the Giant Algae.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

In the seawater, the Jade Powder shimmered, not easily adhering, but it still successfully attracted the Giant Algae Bug, which slowly swam over to lick the powder.

Then, as it opened its mouth, Li Si Te forced his finger in.

A snap.

A sensation of soul connection came through, he had successfully bonded with the Giant Algae Bug, feeling the little fellow's peaceful, tranquil, and relaxed mood, as if embodying a quietly stretching piece of Giant Algae in the sea.

With the Giant Algae Bug in tow, he quickly surfaced.

"Phew!"

He exhaled deeply, purging his lungs of stale air and breathing in the salty, fishy air above the sea. When Ach also emerged and opened his shell, Li Si Te threw the Giant Algae Bug into Ach's shell, "Ach, take good care of this Giant Algae Bug for me."

"Mhm."

Now, Ach's shell had all but become a little Worm Room for the Elf Bugs, following him around every day.

"After I rest for a bit, we'll head back," Li Si Te said, being kept afloat on the water by a current controlled by Ach, as he recovered his strength.

He also called out to the Smoke Mission.

"Mission completed, reward one Giant Algae Elf Bug."

Three hours of hardship for an Elf Bug was well worth it, although the only regret was that the seaweed crops cultivated by these sea Elf Bugs were still in the ocean. The Kelp Bugs and Laver Bugs' kelp and laver had already become food for fishermen to harvest.

But the crops planted by the Redstone Flower Bug, the Horsetail Bug, and the Inkangle Bug had yet to be utilized.

As for this Giant Algae Bug, whether its corresponding Giant Algae was edible was not known. If it was, it could potentially be harvested by fishermen.

In a daze,

The serpent-like script made of smoke had already twisted to reconfigure its message: "Mission: The Giant Algae Elf Bug seems to be just one facet of the secret of the Giant Algae Forest. This vast Undersea Forest is worth your deeper exploration, to thoroughly uncover its secrets farther and deeper within the forest. Reward: A new variety of Giant Algae."

"Hmm?"

Li Si Te was surprised; he hadn't expected that the Giant Algae Forest mission was not over yet. It seemed to be a chain mission, "What kind of new variety could this Giant Algae be, could it be Magic Medicine?"

No matter whether it was Magic Medicine or not.

The exploration of the Giant Algae Forest had to continue. The morning was already late, and he had arranged with Ach to continue in the afternoon. He then swam to where the Sampan was anchored and rowed himself to shore. Surrounded by his servants, he put on Flack·Abaie and returned to the port town for lunch.

After lunch, a short rest.

The search continued.

This time, Li Si Te and Ach divided the work: Li Si Te mainly scanned the Giant Algae Forest broadly for possible magic light feedback, attempting to find Magic Medicine Kelp, while Ach meticulously distinguished between each piece of Giant Algae, looking for non-magic-medicine mutant varieties.

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