Plague Doctor

Chapter 277: Open Fire

Based on Gu Jun’s understanding of rituals, he knew that every ritual had an anchor. It was the equivalent of a creature’s heart, examples including the patients’ consciousness in the House of Worm, and the transmission tower inside the desert loop. The eye of the storm that he saw was clearly the heart of this dimensional ritual. Every other spell casted on the battlefield originated from this one spot.

“As long as we can disturb this eye of the storm, we might be able to interrupt the ritual. Even if it’s only for a few seconds, that’s more than enough for the cannonballs to sink those ghost ships!” Gu Jun explained, “Once the ships are destroyed, we should be safe.”

This new update excited the people at both the command central and frontlines. Two more members from the dreaming team awakened. They reported that Gu Jun had indeed accomplished ‘reverse dreaming’ at Dreamlands. Combine that with Wu Siyu’s affirmation, they could confirm that the giant tree was really Gu Jun!

“I’ll leave the decision to you!” Elder Tong changed his order. Certain situations would have to be gauged by those physically in the battlefield.

“What do you need us to do?” Xue Ba enquired as he opened fire.

“We need to assault it with an Ancient Seal.” Gu Jun said hurriedly. “I can feel a great store of mental power in my current state but I need someone to help me channel and release the seal. Dirty-minded Yu!”

Dirty-minded Jun needed her to act as a medium to draw out the Ancient Seal. She shrugged. “O well, you’re the boss.”

As if sensing that the humans were about to do something, the nearby Deep Ones suddenly became agitated again. They were not creatures without intelligence evidenced by the fact that they had their own system of language which enabled them to coordinate each other’s assault by howling among themselves.

“Protect Siyu!” Xue Ba shouted. The group fired. Flamethrower burned. They formed a protective circle around Wu Siyu. The command central at the mothership was silent. Zhang Jinming was just clued into the latest plan. He resisted the splitting headache and moved into preparation with his crewmates.

The Deep Ones kicked up their aggression. It was like they had lost their mind, but thankfully, they were forced back by the focus fire.

“Dirty-minded Yu,” Gu Jun said desperately, “I need you to walk into the tree’s shadow, I will channel my mental power into you, you might feel a great pressure from it so be prepared. Whenever you capture the eye of the storm or when I point it out, you draw out an Ancient Seal and shoot at it!”

“Here goes nothing.” Wu Siyu took one step into the shadow. Suddenly, a mental wave swallowed her up. She almost collapsed…

It was not entirely a painful experience, it was like she had been swallowed up by a whole sea of salt.

“Damn you, dirty-minded Jun… Are you trying to preserve me with salt?!” However, after the first onslaught, the visions around Wu Siyu changed. She began to see traces of supernatural energy in the air. When she lifted her head, she saw the aforementioned eye of the storm clearly. Others might not assimilate into the experience of being bombarded by heavy stimuli so easily but for Siyu, this was not more complicated than her usual synaesthesia.

‘Now is the time, hold on tight!’ Gu Jun’s voice echoed in her mind.

“Okay.” Wu Siyu instantly gathered all of her mental power and drew out an Ancient Seal with her right hand. As she painted the picture of the branches, the branches of the giant Lai Hwa Tree’s shadow started to creak as well. The shadowy leaves rustled noisily as some kind of energy gathered. Cai Zixuan, Xue Ba noticed this from the corner of their eyes. Then many flowers appeared to bloom on the shadow of the canopy, were those Lai Hwa Flowers?

A giant seal gathered before the tree. Just as Wu Siyu’s right finger finished the last stroke, the Ancient Seal blasted into the sky!

The Ancient Seal could not be captured by camera, it was only visible to naked eye. Even the researchers could not confirm its nature. Some suspected it was a kind of yet to be discovered psychological or electromagnetic wave. In that moment, all the radars on the ship went down like they were shot by an electromagnetic pulse. The monitors turned into static. Seeing the giant Ancient Seal, the Deep Ones’ fish head grimaced with pain.

‘Carry on!’ Gu Jun yelled internally, ‘Send these creeps back to hell…’

The seal slammed into the eye of the storm. The blast wave of the collision sent people flying and blew away the thick fog on the sea. The ghost ships then appeared on the satellite images.

“Open fire!” Zhang Jinming ordered. The disturbance to the ritual was achieved, now was their chance to strike back. Their earlier powerlessness transmuted into fury. The gunners on the ship pressed on the attack buttons immediately!

The cannonballs and artillery flew at their targets. The previously invincible ghost ships crashed under the pressure. Holes were made on the cabins and many masts fell. Some of the Deep Ones on deck were immediately burnt into crisp by the fire. Their wails crackled along with the flames.

Then came another round of heavy fire!

As the real ships sank into the ocean, the illusory ships started to flicker. The Seagull was part of the latter. It was like they were being blown out of sorts by the sea breeze. The Deep Ones were gripped by panic and hatred. Most of them turned to dive into the ocean, attempting to retreat. The tables had officially turned.

“Go get them!” Wu Siyu shouted. An urge to take down the enemy rose in her heart, it was hard to tell whether it was her own or Gu Jun’s. As the mental corruption that gripped the guards and Spell members faded away, their minds cleared. Their hands steadied on their firearms and the latter was quickly put to use at the retreating monsters. The Deep Ones moved fast but they were not faster than bullets especially when they were not actively trying to avoid them. As thick as the Deep One’s scale was, they were unable to resist the penetration of modern bullets.

“Ah…” A Deep One was turned into a beehive by machine gun. Another had its head shot through by a sniper bullet. A whole group of them were caught in the flames of the flamethrower. Their bodies melt in the extreme heat, the creatures of the sea perishing in a sea of fire. The lucky ones, who managed to escape into the sea, were fired at by the heavy artillery on the ships. Whenever one surfaced, they would perish immediately…

At the command central, people of all ages cheered. Elder Tong took out the small flash of alcohol that he carried everywhere. Staring at the screen, he gulped the alcohol down and felt its warmth coursing through his veins.

…

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