Reborn as the Last van Ambrose-Chapter 144: Chaotic Waters

The descent into the deepest regions of the Abyssal Trench showed the effects of the BloodGate on the underwater ecosystem. What should have been the coldest, darkest waters Grim had ever experienced were instead uncomfortably warm, heated by a gate that seemed to emanate from the very sea floor itself.

"This isn’t natural," Lin said, her voice strained as she struggled to maintain her ice barriers in the elevated temperatures. "The water down here should be near freezing. Instead, it feels like a warm bath."

Suanni’s flames, which had been flickering uncertainty in the chaotic environment above, now burned more steadily in the heated water. "The BloodGate’s activation is affecting the entire Trench," he observed. "It’s like someone lit a furnace at the bottom of the ocean."

Around them, the effects of this sudden environmental change were becoming increasingly apparent. Creatures that had adapted to the crushing cold and darkness of the deep were now being driven mad by the unprecedented warmth. Bioluminescent displays that should have been rare and beautiful were instead frantic distress signals as deep-sea life struggled to cope with conditions their species had never encountered.

A massive anglerfish, easily the length of a ship, thrashed past them in obvious distress. Its normally controlled bioluminescent lure was flashing chaotically, and its movements were erratic, aggressive. When it spotted them, it looked desperate rather than a predator.

"It’s overheating," Lin realized as the creature approached. "The warm water is killing it slowly, driving it to attack anything it perceives as food."

The anglerfish lunged at them with jaws that could have swallowed a small building, but its movements were sluggish. Suanni met its attack with a burst of golden flame that, in the heated water, created a scalding steam cloud that sent the creature fleeing back into the depths.

"Everything down here is dying or going insane," Grim observed grimly. "How are we supposed to find Jiaolong in this chaos?"

His answer came from an unexpected source—the sea floor itself. As they descended further, the disturbed sediment and rock formations told a clear story. Something massive had passed this way recently, leaving a trail of destruction that cut through the deep-sea sand.

"There," Lin pointed to where the seafloor had been disturbed. "Someone’s been digging. Recently."

They followed the trail of disturbed sediment, swimming through water that grew warmer with each meter of depth. The normal life of the deep ocean had been replaced by an apocalyptic scene—creatures fleeing upward toward cooler waters, others fighting desperately over the few remaining cold spots, and some simply floating dead, overcome by the environmental shock.

The trail led them to what appeared to be a massive excavation site. Ancient structures, buried for millennia under layers of sediment, had been unearthed. The architecture was unlike anything from the current dragon realms—older, more primitive.

"Pre-Dragon King civilization," Lin breathed, studying the exposed ruins. "These structures are from before the four realms were divided."

"And someone’s been studying them," Grim added, noting the systematic way the excavation had been conducted. Tools and equipment lay scattered around the site, some still glowing with residual magical energy.

A sound from above made them all look up—the distinctive roar of a large predator in distress. Something was approaching through the heated water.

What emerged from the thermal haze above was a creature Grim had never seen before—a deep-sea serpent with characteristics of both dragon and a sea serpent, its scales black as the deepest ocean trenches. But this creature wasn’t acting with the maddened desperation of the others they’d encountered. It was clearly looking for a snack.

"That’s not random," Suanni observed. "It’s hunting us specifically." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

The creature opened its massive jaws, revealing rows of teeth like crystalline spears, and began to descend toward them with lethal intent. But before it could close the distance, a figure shot up from the excavation site below—moving so fast through the water that it was hard to follow.

Ao Shun emerged from the depths like a force of nature, his massive dragon form cutting through the heated water. He intercepted the attacking Serpent just as it was about to reach them, and what followed was less a battle than an execution.

The Dragon King’s clawed fist connected with the sea creature’s skull with a sound like breaking mountains. The impact was so powerful that it sent shockwaves through the water, and the massive predator simply... stopped. Its eyes went blank, its body went limp, and it began the long fall toward the sea floor—killed instantly by a single devastating blow.

"Father!" Lin called out, swimming toward Ao Shun as he shifted back to a more manageable size.

"Daughter," he replied, his voice filled with concern. "I had feared the worst when we found signs of the Leviathan’s awakening."

"Shen Lao..." Lin began, her voice catching.

"I know," Ao Shun said gently, his tone carrying no anger or judgment. "His sacrifice was... honorable. As was his choice to remain imprisoned all these years."

Behind Ao Shun, two more figures emerged from the excavation site—Bi’an and Xu Wu, both looking somewhat battered but alive. Their reunion was brief but heartfelt, the relief of survival in the face of impossible odds evident on all their faces.

"What did you find down there?" Grim asked, gesturing toward the exposed ruins.

"Evidence of Jiaolong’s work," Xu Wu replied grimly. "He’s been here for awhile. And he’s been studying texts and artifacts that predate the current sea realms."

"More importantly," Ao Shun added, his expression dark with concern, "we found evidence of where he’s gone next."

The heated water around them pulsed with another wave of energy from the BloodGate, and in the distance, they could hear the sounds of more creatures being driven to madness by the changing environment.

"Then we’d better move quickly," Lin said, her grief over Shen Lao’s loss tempered by the urgency of their mission. "Before this entire ecosystem collapses and takes the sea realms with it."

As they prepared to continue their pursuit of Jiaolong, following a trail that led deeper into the mysteries of the ancient sea realms, Grim couldn’t shake the feeling that they were no longer just chasing a rogue dragon. They were racing against time itself to prevent something that could fundamentally alter the nature of reality in the North Sea Realm.