Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 186 Opportunity
While Cheng Lang and the others inside the digging beetle fell into a coma, the digging beetle, now freed from the constraints of the sacred tree's roots, remained somewhat conscious thanks to the trustworthy dwarven technology.

Amidst the increasingly faint sounds of artillery fire emanating from the surface, the burrowing beetle, manipulated by Yun Lan before she fell unconscious, burrowed deeper and faster.

Finally, as the fish oil stored in the three miner's lamps was exhausted, the digging beetle, whose horns had turned red, finally stopped after drilling through a rock and wedged most of its body onto it.

"laugh--"

Accompanied by thick water vapor, gurgling underground river water flowed out from the cracks between the horns and rocks, first cooling the red-hot horns, and then slowly enveloping the digging beetle and the rock that had pulled it out.

But this time, thanks to Vanhart's modifications, the Tunneling Beetle was wrapped tightly in a huge bubble, as if it were also wearing a belt made of snake molt.

However, although the bubble blocked the cold underground river water, it was also affected by the impact of the water flow and the vibrations caused by the beetle's drilling into the rock.

Before Cheng Lang and the others could even come to their senses, both the digging beetle and the huge rock that had trapped it plunged headfirst into the underground riverbed and sank to the bottom in the blink of an eye.

Fortunately, this time, as the digging beetle fell into the water and tumbled around, Cheng Lang and the others finally woke up.

"Oh no! How did we end up in the water?!"

Yun Lan's shout immediately made everyone, who were already traumatized by the incident, instinctively tense up.

"No, look outside!" Yavso, who was peering out of the porthole, exclaimed in surprise.

Subconsciously peering out from the portholes on either side, Shenba looked completely bewildered. The window he had chosen happened to be the spot where the digging beetle was stuck in the rock.

Gerta and Yunlan were equally bewildered; one was an orc and the other an elf hybrid, so they couldn't see what was happening outside.

Fortunately, at least Cheng Lang and Yun Ji could at least clearly see the bubbles outside through the thick porthole.

"Thank you, Vanhart," Yun Ji breathed a slight sigh of relief and calmed down.

"So while we were unconscious, the burrowing beetle kept burrowing into the ground and eventually fell into the riverbed?" Cheng Lang guessed first.

"I'm afraid that's the case."

Yun Lan pulled out the three nearly extinguished miner's lamps and said, "The fish oil in the miner's lamps has all run out."

"Would you like to take another look outside?"

Just then, Yavso spoke up, "There seems to be something in the riverbed."

In the riverbed? Cheng Lang and the others moved closer to the porthole and looked outside.

Come over here.

Yavso called out, "Right there, in the riverbed right in front of my porthole, next to that rock."

Following her directions, the group quickly found something that shouldn't be in the riverbed; it seemed to be...
The group exchanged bewildered glances; it appeared to be a chain.
But this chain is way too thick!
The same thought popped into everyone's mind: every link of this chain was made of steel as thick as a thigh.

Most importantly, who knows what this chain is used to lock? It's actually made up of two interlocking double rings.

"What do you think will be at the end of this chain?" Cheng Lang asked, swallowing hard.

"I do not know"

Yun Ji answered Cheng Lang's question first, and then said, "But I think, more importantly, do you think the thing that is chained up or down is upstream or downstream?"

“It’s definitely upstream,” Cheng Lang, Yun Lan, and Gerta answered in unison.

"Why?" Yafso and Shenba asked in unison.

“If something needs to be hidden underground, perhaps chains aren’t necessary; bridles would be a better choice,” Gerta explained.

"So, should we go upstream and take a look?" Yun Lan's tone revealed undisguised excitement.

“We can’t stay here forever,” Cheng Lang said, handing the boat bottle containing fish oil to the other person.

Taking the bottle from the boat, Yun Lan immediately filled the oil tanks of the three miners' lamps. The burrowing beetle hidden inside the bubble also broke free from the boulder that was holding it, and began to climb the huge chain and move upstream.

The chain was much longer than they had anticipated, especially as they climbed further upstream closer to the surface and encountered other branches of this underground river.

To their horror, they discovered similar chains in other underground waterways, and all of these massive chains were connected to an even thicker chain hanging down from further upstream.

As they continued climbing along the thicker iron chain, Yun Lan suddenly stopped the digging beetle at a certain moment, then began to retreat, and finally came to a stop.

"What's wrong?" Cheng Lang, who had just been catching up on sleep, asked hurriedly as soon as he woke up.

“We can’t get through,” Yun Lan pointed ahead. “There are many roots of ancient sacred trees there.”

Bending down to look out the porthole, Cheng Lang frowned. The chain that had been there was now thicker than the mast.

But directly in front, the massive, verdant roots of the sacred trees were pulling on this heavy chain from all directions like a tug-of-war, not only suspending it almost in the underground river, but also nearly completely enveloping it with their roots.

Moreover, these roots seem to extend outwards, intending to entangle the invading digging beetles as well.

At this moment, although they could not hear the sound of artillery fire from outside, the surrounding soil and rocks were trembling slightly from time to time.

"What should we do?" Yun Lan asked.

"rest"

After some thought, Cheng Lang made an unexpected decision. Since we've been traveling day and night for the past few days and we can't get to the other side, let's just take a break.

"We can't just keep resting, can we?" Shenba pressed. "We don't have much food."

"Let's talk about this after we've all rested."

Cheng Lang was exceptionally patient. "The air bubbles that have been enveloping the digging beetle haven't gotten any smaller along the way, and we haven't had any difficulty breathing. In that case, let's fill the headlamps with fish oil and get some rest."

At this point, he turned to look at Yun Lan, "We should be inside the royal city by now, right?"

"I guess so," Yun Lan shrugged. "I don't really know since it's been burrowing around underground all this time."

"Since things have come to this, let's rest first."

Cheng Lang said with unusual nonchalance, "Let's get some food, then take turns sleeping. Once we've rested enough, we'll try to find a chance to sneak out."

“If only your moth-eaten earrings were still here,” Yafso sighed.

"Yes, if only that earring were still here." Cheng Lang sighed as well.

"Since we have some time now, Yun Lan, why don't we talk about how we can get the Verdant Sacred Tree to accept us?" Yun Ji started a new topic while taking food out of her bag and distributing it to everyone.

"This matter is actually very simple."

As Yun Lan took the food, she pointed to the ceiling with her other hand. "There's a tree hole on the ground part of the Verdant Sacred Tree. Just walk into that tree hole." "It's that simple?" Cheng Lang, who had also taken the food, asked in surprise.

"How much more difficult could it be?"

Yun Lan shrugged. "But even if it's just a process like this, even for legitimate pointy-eared elves, not everyone has the opportunity to gain recognition."

I know that.

Yun Ji nodded. "One needs to undergo 18 years of education before being eligible to receive the Holy Tree's recognition."

"In my time, elven citizens only needed 15 years of education."

Yun Lan shrugged. "I know what you're going to ask next. The process of being recognized by the Sacred Tree is very short, but the abilities bestowed by the Sacred Tree are random."

"Like the power granted by the heart of the ship?" Cheng Lang asked.

"That's right"

Yun Lan nodded, "But there aren't that many kinds. There's the medical heritage of elves, the skill heritage of battle dancers, the knowledge heritage of bards, or simply the artistic heritage of dancers. That's basically it."

Of course, I'm referring to those with silver hair and pointed ears; I have no idea what will happen to you black-haired folks.

"We'll see when we try."

Cheng Lang asked expectantly, while also speculating, "What kind of inheritance do you think that woman named Yun Hai obtained?"

“I’m starting to wonder whether her ability to see through illusions comes from the ship’s core or from the Verdant Sacred Tree,” Yun Lan said.

"Is there a difference?" Yafso asked, puzzled.

Of course there's a difference.

As Yun Lan spoke, a long thorn appeared in her hand. "This is the power that the ship's heart bestowed upon me. Among the types of powers that the ship's heart bestows, this is already considered a very powerful one."

“But Yun Hai’s ability to see through illusions is practically cheating,” Yun Ji sighed.

"Where is the captain? Is the captain's ability powerful or abnormal?" Shenba pressed.

"The ability to make the Valkyrie disappear is a very powerful one."

Yun Lan said, "But the whip that the ship's heart gave him is not very powerful among weapons."

"It's nowhere near as useful as your thorns," Cheng Lang said truthfully.

Although his whip was made from exceptionally precious materials, in combat it was indeed not as treacherous and insidious as the thorns that the ship's heart had given Yun Lan—especially after the latter had mastered the vicious technique of the Poison Dragon Drill under Shenba's good advice.

"I wonder what kind of power the Celestial Tree will grant me," Shenba murmured expectantly, echoing the sentiments of all the dark elves present.

With everyone eagerly anticipating what would happen, they quickly filled their stomachs, arranged the order of sentry duty, and then slumped into their not-so-comfortable seats or simply lay down on the floor of the digging beetle to conserve their energy.

Meanwhile, the Elf King's City, located on the surface of the earth, did not calm down.

In the elven palace, almost above the clouds, several elegantly dressed elves were gathered together, frowning as they discussed the current situation.

"More than five scale insects have already burrowed into the sacred tree, and they are frantically devouring its sap."

"Arrange for all the insect catchers to catch the insects."

The elf sitting at the head of the table asked, "Where are the burrowing beetles? Have they been found?"

"Currently, it is only confirmed that there is a burrowing beetle hiding in the underground river, but for some reason, it suddenly stopped moving forward."

In addition, several more burrowing beetles appeared outside the city, but they were all stopped; the Emerald Cannon even destroyed one of them.

"A burrowing beetle has also appeared inside the city, and we have already brought it under control."

"What exactly are these trash trying to do?" the elf sitting at the head of the table asked with a gloomy face.

"I bet they're aiming for the cloud."

"boom!"

Before the elf who was answering the question could finish speaking, a deafening explosion came from the elven capital city beneath the clouds!

"what happens?!"

"Artillery fire! From the summit of Dwarf Mountain!"

One of the elves who ran in shouted in a panic, "It's Rikka! Rikka opened fire on us!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

As if to confirm the veracity of the messenger's words, amidst a series of explosions and tremors, massive cannonballs, nearly as powerful as the Azure Cannons, slammed into the trunk of the giant house tree where the Elven Royal Palace stood, as well as the surrounding area.

"Counterattack! Counterattack! Order all the Emerald Cannons to launch a counterattack immediately!" The elf sitting at the head of the table angrily issued the order.

“Our Verdant Cannons can’t reach that high and that far,” one of the elves quickly reminded them, “unless…”

"Now is the time."

The elf seated at the head of the table said, "Tear off the disguise and fight back! We must destroy the Ancestral Mountain Fortress before we are besieged!"

"Yes!" The many elves present bowed in response.

A moment later, all the verdant cannons of the Elf King's City began to slowly turn, raising their thick barrels as cannonballs fired from above were launched.

Immediately afterwards, elves who had run from the royal palace began to insert blood-red, rod-like objects into the muzzles of these verdant cannons.

If Cheng Lang and the others were here right now, they would probably immediately recognize that those red, rod-shaped objects were Iron Oak Blood Cores from Iron Oak Island!
But at this moment, they were not only not here, but they also had no time to be here, because just as these verdant cannons resumed firing and successfully launched powerful shells onto the summit of Dwarf Mountain.

The thick iron chain in the underground river suddenly taut as if it had been pulled hard by something!
Under this immense force, not only did the underground river water instantly become polluted and the riverbed collapse, but even the roots of those verdant sacred trees were completely shattered into wood chips!

"Captain, we..."

"Go! Go! Go!"

Cheng Lang realized what was happening and quickly issued an order. He had originally planned to wait until everyone had eaten and drunk their fill and then try to drill out of the ground from a different direction, but now there was clearly a better opportunity!

Urged on by him, Yun Lan pushed the forward control lever all the way again. The burrowing beetle, which had just been nearly struck by the taut chain, immediately began to crawl rapidly toward the other end of the iron chain through this rare gap in the defense!
Unbeknownst to them, at that very moment, several other burrowing beetles, which had been lurking underground for who knows how long, were also taking advantage of this rare opportunity to rush towards the surface.

Or rather—this was an opportunity created for these digging beetles.

(End of this chapter)