Chapter 110: The Whirlpool Sea (Part One)

The reconnaissance drone sped forward, pushed to its absolute limit. After about half an hour of flight, it finally reached the coordinates indicated by the satellite imagery.

Under the lens of the drone, everyone on the aircraft carrier's bridge beheld an incredible sight. In a desolate stretch of ocean, a massive water tornado was swirling violently, towering into the sky. Its height had long since exceeded one hundred meters.

Under the influence of this vortex, the surrounding seawater was churning and being drawn inward. For a moment, it appeared as though the ocean within a twenty-nautical-mile radius was sinking, creating a bizarre and unsettling scene. Dark, powerful whirlpools formed continuously, rushing toward the tornado, with some even rising into gargantuan pillars of water. These water columns moved in parabolic arcs, appearing around the tornado and launching with pinpoint precision into the hollow opening at the top of the vortex. The center of the tornado acted like an insatiable black hole, swallowing every drop of the incoming water.

As the drone pressed forward to hover above the vortex, its cameras finally captured the scene within the hollow center. It was tightly sealed by water, forming a thin, translucent membrane. Through this film and the refraction of the seawater, the drone captured countless scattered beams of pale blue light shining from beneath. The light was dazzling, brilliant, and possessed an otherworldly, divine quality.

"The Commander has finished the calculations. The area affected by this vortex is nearly one hundred nautical miles in diameter. Furthermore, this bizarre phenomenon is absorbing seawater at a rate of nearly twenty-two million tons per hour."

"Twenty-two million tons? Are you certain?" A naval officer asked, his face pale with shock, as if needing confirmation.

"Yes, and that might even be an underestimate," the sailor replied. He pointed to the small reconnaissance screen on the bridge and added, "Officers, please look. The surrounding sea level has clearly subsided. This change indicates that the rate at which the surrounding ocean can naturally fill this area is far outpaced by the suction speed of this unknown tornado."

"As for where this absorbed water is going, no one knows."

"But one thing is certain: what is happening here could not possibly be a natural occurrence." The sailor spoke with solemnity, a grave expression etched onto his face.

"A mutated marine creature? This... that’s impossible, isn't it?"

"Impossible? In this day and age, what is still impossible? Regardless, we cannot just stand by and watch. Commander, I believe it is absolutely necessary for us to bomb this site."

"Under a saturation strike, no matter what kind of monster is inside, it won't escape death."

"Agreed, we cannot just watch. I also suggest we initiate a saturation strike immediately!"

In an instant, the high-ranking officers present voiced their unanimous agreement. Their agitation was justified; the scene caused by the water tornado was simply too extreme. The base of the vortex had reached a staggering diameter of three hundred meters, surrounded by massive, flying pillars of water. The tension created by the tornado and these columns had turned a hundred-nautical-mile radius into a sea of whirlpools with immense pulling force. Even a three-hundred-seventy-meter-long aircraft carrier would struggle to resist such power.

Such a spectacle was terrifying. Furthermore, the officers believed this was no random act of a mutated creature; perhaps it was using the water to facilitate something unimaginable. If it were to move this vortex sea toward the coastline three hundred kilometers away, it would be a catastrophe. Considering all this, the officers dared not delay.

Fleet Admiral Morton remained silent, his gaze fixed on the monitoring screen. Under the scrutiny of all present, and within the heavy silence, Morton closed his eyes briefly before opening them again.

"Patch me through to the destroyer *Wemyss*, ship one."

"Yes, sir!"

***

At the center of the water tornado, Ji Yu felt wonderful.

While meditating, his consciousness was split in two, just as it had been when he meditated for the oak tree. One part remained in silent meditation, while the other observed the shifts in the surrounding seawater. Now, amplified a thousandfold by his meditation, controlling the water felt as effortless as it would for a mythical dragon. With a mere thought, he could reshape the nearby ocean into whatever form he desired.

The dozens of water columns circling the vortex were the masterpieces of his active consciousness. They cascaded in parabolas, falling into the rhombic crystal at the center of the tornado, which naturally accelerated the crystal's absorption of the water.

Observing the water, Ji Yu glanced at the little girl lying prone on the ice beside the giant salamander. He had expected her to be frightened by such a scene, but the result was unexpected. The girl sat on the ice, her arms wrapped around her legs. She stared at her surroundings with bright, clear eyes, but most of the time, her gaze remained fixed on the head of the giant salamander. She watched the blue light scattering from the creature and the swirling water with curiosity, yet she remained silent, making no unnecessary movements. She was incredibly well-behaved, sitting quietly in place.

Seeing this, Ji Yu’s estimation of the girl rose another level. She lacked the fussiness and the fear of the unknown common in other children. Her quiet, well-behaved nature made it impossible not to like her.

Ji Yu felt a sense of poignancy. *She doesn't have the rebelliousness of many children from broken homes, nor the inferiority complex typical of those who are neglected or bullied. This resilient character is truly endearing.*

*What a wonderful little girl.*

Ji Yu didn't wish to comment on her family history, but through their time together, he had grown fond of her. There were many children in this world far more tragic than her, and while her background wasn't particularly remarkable, her quiet grace alone earned his respect.

As he reflected, Ji Yu slowly turned his thoughts back to the giant salamander’s breakthrough. He wanted to test the full extent of what the creature could achieve under the thousandfold amplification.

However, just as he prepared to push his water-control abilities to the limit, he suddenly spotted more than a dozen bright, glowing objects in the distance, streaking across the sky directly toward the sea area where the giant salamander lay.