The two appeared outside of the train. The train passed by at high speed. Not so long ago, Karni was incapable of locking onto space to Shift when travelling at high speeds.
Siduo tapped her spatial belt, and her motorbike appeared. Both of them got in and set the course to the emergency Tang Sect signal. It was the fastest way they could reach the location.
They drove fully offroad. Right now, they were located on the great plains in the southern part of the Douluo Continent. It was not a very hilly area, at most, there were a few bigger rocks standing out in between a bunch of grass.
It took the five minutes to make them see their goal. It was some thirty kilometres away. They were travelling at incredibly high speeds. But they crossed twenty-seven kilometres in the blink of an eye.
The sight that greeted them filled them with genuine dread.
The sky was grey, clouds circled in a constant swing, thrashing around everything in the surroundings.
To the very peak reached a great cyclone of thick winds. A hurricane. A tornado. Karni had never seen one so big. It was as if the very sky descended to destroy the world.
And then there was the ground leading out of the cyclone. Silver cracks shimmered even here, despite them not being close yet. The ground seemed to be crumbling, pools of mirror-like liquid had started forming in many places.
"Mercury…" Karni had seen a similar sight before, just not nearly as destructive as this one.
"Mercury Cyclone Flower…" Siduo gulped her saliva. "A flower borne of two gods' deaths. They fell in the great war that ravaged the Divine Realm before it disappeared."
"Did you know them?"
"Yes. They were good people. And their synergy was… well, you can see."
"Fucking terrifying." Karni answered.
"This flower has to have cultivated to at least ninety thousand years." Siduo said. "It's the only explanation for this amount of destruction."
"It's not surprising. These plains had been known to be dry for thousands of years. That's why no one built here. It had to be the mercury that the flower spread below ground that made this place so dry." Karni remembered the history of this area.
The plains were large, suitable for farming. However, there was a patch of land to the north of it, where they were now, that had been unsuitable for cultivation for years. It seemed that the cause had been hiding for thousands of years and had now been found.
This appeared to have been the best environment for the Mercury Storm Flower to grow. It looked almost like any other flower in appearance and size, but its roots were deep and strong. It fed on the vitality of the earth to grow mercury. Such wide plains with no other trees or plant type Soul Beast growing around it, it had the ability to grow freely. It had allowed it to grow into a Mercury Cyclone Flower.
And the result of a simple disturbance upon the flower was terrifying.
"I hope that whoever happened upon the flower was a Soul Master." Karni said. At least then, they might still be alive.
"It is plausible. Regular people don't usually venture out here… Oh, they've already made an encampment to the east."
The two arrived at a Tang Sect encampment. Only ten people were here so far.
The two stepped out and immediately verified their identity. They already had their Yellow Agent uniforms on.
There was a Black Agent on the sight as well. He was overseeing the small encampment. And the encampment would only grow. This small camp could not deal with all of this destruction.
"Here is the report." The man welcomed the two.
"A small battalion of Mechas from the nearby town decided to have a bit of fun here. They knew no one would bat an eye if they let loose here, so they did. The scout mecha managed to escape, there are four more inside somewhere. One of them apparently stepped on a flower, which is what we're dealing with here. Are you two familiar with it?"
They nodded.
"Good. Then you should know that what we need is someone who can keep the winds away for the journey to the core of the cyclone. The Mercury Cyclone Flower should be there. Are your abilities suitable for the trip?"
"Hm." Karni went into thought. He stepped close to the wall of wind. It was, frighteningly, under a surprising amount of control; despite the fact that the flower should be in the centre of it dying right now. Self-destruction. The fate of most Mercury Storm Flowers.
Relaxing Aura slowly released from his body. He stretched his arm toward the wall, adapting the intensity, and was positively surprised that the wall did not attack him. It was like the winds let him inside.
"How many people can you bring with you?" The Black Agent had no time to be surprised. The mission was urgent.
Karni checked out how much he could stretch his aura. He enveloped Siduo in it. He found that his bloodline was being used up twice as fast. With the size of the cyclone as well as the consumption…
"I should be able to bring two at most. Any more and there is a chance that there will be no return journey. I don't want to risk that."
"Hm." The Black Agent turned to look at the ten people that have gathered here. "None of them can help with easing your burden. How familiar are you with each other?" He asked Karni and Siduo.
"Partners since we were six." Siduo answered.
"Perfect. You two will go in alone. I would join you, but I need to command here. Grab this."
He threw them a sturdy metal communicator. "Send out three beeps every minute. That way we know you are okay. If you discover anything, report. This one is specifically made for environments that like to block communications, like this cyclone. There are only ten messages, two hundred words. Make sure to be careful with your reports."
"That should be plenty." Siduo grabbed the metal communicator, since Karni would be in charge of leading them through this terrifying cyclone.
"If it becomes too dangerous, or if you find the rest of the mecha squad press the red button. We will get a squad in there and extract you no matter the material damage." The Battle Hall was not fighting Evil Soul Masters right now, but a natural disaster. There was no need to actually risk the lives of the Agents. Furthermore, there was no civilian population around here, so emphasis was on carefulness.
"And one final thing. Take these and a few extra if you find any survivors. These should help alleviate any mercury poisoning. Take the small pill now and the big pill if mercury manages to invade your body. I hope you are aware that this mercury is not like normal mercury."
"Of course." The two confirmed and took the small pill. They felt like their blood became more resilient. Karni noticed it had a similar effect to his Relaxing Aura when he fought against toxins. It couldn't truly work like an antidote, but it helped keep the invading toxins at bay.
"And lastly. You are Yellow Agents. Do not go being needlessly brave and risking your lives. If you encounter something you are not confident in facing, stop and return so you can join the next expedition inside."
The two bowed slightly to their senior and turned toward the tornado.
They stepped toward the cyclone. This was a scouting mission first and foremost.
Karni grabbed Siduo's hand. He enveloped her in Relaxing Aura. "Oh, by the way, Sisi." Karni said with a cheeky smile.
Siduo got an unusual feeling.
"Get ready for a ride." He pulled her into the cyclone wall. The grey, almost liquid wind picked them up and brought them into the air.
"Wooohooo!" Karni screamed, expecting it all.
"Waaaah! Kiki, I'm gonna kill you!" Her irises and ears sharpened as she was pulled up with Karni.
He had felt the pressure of the wind. It was soft, not forceful, but it still pulled them into the flow of the cyclone.
His Relaxing Aura expanded, communicating with the wind.
The wind picked up the pace, then started gravitating inwards. It was almost like it was intelligent.
But their bodies were quite uncomfortable, and they had to use Purple Demon Eyes to see through the wall of wind. It was thick. At least twenty metres thick. All they saw was debris of rocks and stones. Everything else was grey.
Though parts of grey sparkled. Silver liquid flowed within the walls. Mercury truly was everywhere.
They soon reached the edge of the giant windy wall and saw the scenery that awaited for their exploration. Great, dry plains with flowers of mercury spanned before them, mercury veins going throughout the whole field, an uncountable number of mirror-like ponds littering the surroundings.
The two were thrown out of the cyclone from a great height, everything stretching in front of them. Farther away, at least two kilometres away, stronger winds loomed over the field. They couldn't see the end of it despite using Purple Demon Eyes. The windy area was at least five kilometres long. And inside it, only silver sparkled.
The two went into freefall. Karni looked to Siduo spreading his arms. "It was a fun ride, wasn't it?"
"I'll admit I was surprised, but it was quite fun. How did you know it would happen?"
"The winds feel semi-intelligent. They are directly connected to the flower. I sensed life in them through Relaxing Aura. Making the surroundings feel like I'm part of them and affecting people through the aura feel very different. But this felt like neither of them, so I took an educated guess. The winds already pulled on me when I put my hand in initially."
"Interesting, but Kiki. How are we going to land safely? This is dangerous even for us. Your mecha would be overburdened as well, wouldn't it? I don't think your thrusters are meant for actual flying."
"They aren't. Though I am working on an alternative design for the future." Karni was explaining in the middle of freefall without worry.
"No need to be worried. I have a simple solution. Hug me."
Siduo scoffed and hugged him. "Look at you, so bold."
"Oh shush."
"You could have said hold me, grab me, or something else, but no, you chose hug-" She was interrupted.
Karni spread his hands upward, his Royal Bamboo Panda flowing in its regal bearing. His third Soul Ring shone. Lily helped with control from within as well.
A giant Lotus bloomed in the sky from his hands. It was ten meters wide and upside down. It acted like an overly beautiful parachute.
The Blooming Loti had definitely become one of his favourite skills that Lily gave him. Sure, the base and intended form of the skill was spiritual suppression, either over an entire field or concentrated. It was a defensive control skill. However, due to the shape of the Lotuses, it had a lot of potential for versatility. It could be used to hide behind, to envelop oneself in, or even serve as a parachute. The physical form was quite resilient, even if it was not the main point of the skill.
The two floated down slowly, the winds carrying them in a slight curve. It took them a whole twenty minutes to land. Siduo took care to inform the Tang Sect that they were doing fine.
They managed to land quite deeply into the plains.
"Hm. Drylands? It's more like the Wetlands now." Siduo complained. The ground was uncomfortably soft. When they stepped in it, a little bit of mercury seeped out.
But despite everything now being wet, it was more of a wasteland now than it was before. A wasteland of mercury and dead leaves.
Karni's bloodline was on full display. Relaxing Aura travelled through his and Siduo's body. It seemed like nothing, but while the winds were quiet here, Karni and Siduo both saw how intense it was outside of Karni's influence. Without Relaxing Aura they'd be treated like invaders, winds and mercury would rise up to attack.
What this really was, was a humongous domain, however, because of how powerful and self-destructive it was, there was a clear lack of control. There was control present, it wasn't completely wild, but the situation was clearly worsening by the minute. The ponds of mercury were growing bigger, the cracks on the ground seeped more and more liquid, and every hole visible was growing deeper. It was like the whole place was falling apart, and they had the front seats to the event.
If Karni let go of Relaxing Aura even for an instant, he knew it instinctually that the very ground they walked on would explode in their faces.
Through the Relaxing Aura Karni could communicate with the surroundings right now, albeit unclearly. The ground, the winds, the mercury. It was not something he could usually do. Sure, he could make the environment accept him, but pseudo communication? The Mercury Cyclone Flower was terrifying to have mutated the surroundings in such a way. Would this stay after it would die? Would it get out of control?
The two walked in seeming relaxation, but Karni was using up a lot of his bloodline. Thankfully, Siduo was using none of her power. With her explosive power, if they had to escape, they should be able to.
The plains transformed the more they got deeper. What used to be small ponds changed into big ones. Big ponds became small lakes. Small lakes turned into large lakes mercury. However, all of it was shallow. They walked directly through the mercury, in a straight line. The mercury did not even reach halfway up to their knees.
When they got past the last big lake, they encountered a beautiful, yet terrifying scenery. Complete emptiness. No flowers grew; there were no discrepancies in the terrain. It was completely flat. Only wind and mercury remained.
An endless reflection of the sky was in front of them. A sea that stretched far, with the end of it barely perceivable. The end looked like a continuation of the glass. Everything was mirrored, which gave it the illusion of endlessness.
The winds have picked up and they got stronger farther in, until, at the very edge of their goal, they could see another wall of silver wind. So very far away.
Karni looked back and noticed that he did not see the beginning anymore. He looked up. So, they were in the middle of that wall of wind now.
They walked through the mirror-like sea lake. It still did not even reach their knees. Somehow, the liquid felt less thick now than before. However, Karni's consumption of his Bloodline was increasing. He wasn't confident of lasting another half an hour in this area.
The winds rose, but the mercury on the ground was undisturbed. The only thing proving that the ground wasn't one big mirror was the ripples caused by Karni and Siduo walking through it. The pills they took at the beginning were a great help. If they hadn't took it, all of the mercury in the surroundings would have been absorbed by their skin by now, which would have also made Karni's consumption of his Bloodline greater.
The winds picked up immensely as they reached toward the end of the endless mirror-like mercury lake. However, what waited for them there made their skin crawl up. It wasn't a wind cyclone that waited for them as it looked like from afar. No, it was all mercury. It was a humongous waterspout—in this case, mercuryspout.
"A wall of mercury… I don't want to go through that." Siduo complained.
"I think we should take the big pills." Karni said.
"Agreed."
"Hm. If we stay here for a long time, I'll only last another twenty minutes. The winds are too strong here."
"Let's hurry up then."
The two of them took the big pills and entered the cyclone of mercury together. Before, it was wind that took them on a trip; this time it was a great wall of mercury. They closed their eyes. Mercury invading their eyes would not be good no matter what. They used their powerful Spiritual Power to sense their surroundings. At least the journey was smooth.
It didn't take long for them to fly out into the air, their clothes and hair soaked in silvery liquid, however, as is the nature of a chemical element like mercury, it flowed off of them with ease.
The sight that met their eyes once they opened them was even more special than the one before.
It was a great, unruly sea of mercury. Raging and windy. A great storm. The waves were as high as ten metres. Worse still there were tons of mercuryspouts everywhere. From small ones to big ones.
"Sisi! My bloodline. I'll exhaust it in five minutes if I have to keep this up here." The pressure of the surroundings, the fact they were not pulled into this stormy chaos took everything Karni had. This was not a stable environment Karni could release his aura out easily. He had to constantly adapt.
The problem with chaos was that it rarely accepted anything as part of it. Its natural state was that of a one big battlefield.
"Farther in the land stabilises! It looks like a shore!" Siduo shouted.
"Let's get on it!" Karni was about to activate his Royal Bamboo Panda to strengthen himself and move through the sea.
"Wait, let me. You save up on your bloodline." Siduo activated her White Tiger and her strengthenings. All Black Five Soul Rings appeared.
The two charged through the raging waves, Siduo pushing them through, weaving between the mercuryspouts, and Karni calming the waves to the best of his abilities, but sometimes letting their current to carry them forward. They had to go with the flow of the waves if they wanted to use as little power as possible.
"Wait, Kiki! Look!" Siduo pointed to their right.
A mecha floated in the sea of mercury, just falling out of one of the mercuryspouts and into the aggressive waves.
They changed the direction immediately. The mecha was inactive, no one was in it, but it should be able to trace the others.
They reached it in great speed, Siduo pushing herself because she knew Karni had a limit.
The two hopped into an already opened cockpit and quickly closed it. Most of the systems were messed up. Karni disabled the Relaxing Aura for a bit, letting the waves carry the mecha.
Now they experienced what power this gigantic domain truly had. The thrashing intensified around them, mercury invaded the mecha and quickly destroyed the few limbs it still had.
The sea was not as aggressive to the mecha before. It was because the two of them had entered it. It reacted to living beings.
Karni and Siduo worked overtime on the systems, scrambling to find any sort of signal on the same channel as this mecha.
"I picked one up! Let's go!" Karni said, releasing his Relaxing Aura fully yet again. They opened the cockpit and headed toward the shore with renewed speed.
"That sea is scary." Siduo shouted among the surrounding chaos. "If not for the mecha, we'd be swallowed up immediately. I wouldn't be able to fight back at all… maybe if I use my fusion and all of my skills at once, I could get a strong enough burst, but only temporarily."
"Exactly! So, let's hurry up!"
Siduo swam through the waves faster and faster. The farther she was from the mercury wall, the less intense the sea was.
"Save your energy." Karni said. "I'm already better. That one part was the most intense out of all of them."
Siduo did as told. They didn't need long to reach the shore. Though in this case, the shore was just more shallow mercury, similar to the endless sea lake before.
"The frequency was in that direction." Karni pointed to the left.
The two started walking, admiring the wondrous scenery. On their left was the raging sea. From this side, the sea seamed to fuse into the giant wall. On their right was flowers which turned thicker and thicker the further in one looked, before they were so great nothing could be seen past them. A mercury swamp as thick as a jungle awaited in the distance.
But for now, they walked on the shore, an oddly calm area in between two threatening areas. Karni locked onto the frequency before. Not with any device, but with his Sound.
It didn't take long for them to see a single mecha standing in the distance. It seemed to only be transmitting the frequency they found but was otherwise shut down. The two reached the feet of the mecha and were relieved to find three people in military uniforms sitting in the mercury. They looked dispirited…
Until they saw Karni and Siduo that is.
"Help! You came!"
"It's alright now. We're from Tang Sect." Karni stepped forward. "You can call us Yellow One and Two. Yellow Two, send the message."
"Yes." Siduo immediately used the metal communicator that the Black Agent gave her.
"Weren't there meant to be four of you still here?" Karni suddenly asked.
Siduo stopped before she sent the message.
The military men slumped their shoulders. "Wuluo didn't make it."
"Explain yourself, soldier." Karni took on a commanding tone. He did not have the time for their self-pity right now. They could seek therapy later if they had to. Now was not the time. Thankfully they could not see under their masks, or they would not take them seriously.
Another soldier answered. "We panicked at first after we triggered the catastrophe. All we saw was a flower growing to half our height and… causing all this. We ran to the shore, losing a mecha, but managed to save all of us. After we reached this shore, we saw this mad sea. I went out to test it. I only managed to escape due to emergency escape seat. The sea took control over the mecha immediately."
The other men nodded, looking fearful.
"Then we tried to destroy the source. After all, there are only plants in that direction, right?" The man laughed in a self-mocking manner.
"The plants came to life." The man who first greeted them spoke in horror. "They… they took him. Him and the mecha! We didn't even make it a third of the way toward that swamp. This is the only safe area. We are doomed."
"You're safe now, calm down. How do you think we came here?"
The man looked over at the two Yellow Agents of the Tang Sect again. They did look calm.
"Where did you lose your man? Wuluo." Karni asked.
"Over there." A man pointed in a direction. It wasn't too far. Then he stopped. "You're not thinking of going in, right! The plants are more terrifying than the sea!"
Karni just grinned and started walking toward the mercury field of plants.
"You! Stop your friend! He's gonna die!"
Siduo rolled her eyes behind the mask. "Shut it. All of you take this and don't worry about Yellow One. He'll be fine." She gave them pills to alleviate the poison of mercury. They were not looking good. Breathing in this air constantly was terrible for the lungs. They would likely be hospitalised for a long time.
They took the pills and watched with horror as Karni stepped into the field of flowers… and nothing happened. He simply walked in the direction they pointed them to.
Karni walked the fields of flowers. His feet were submerged in mercury, while the flowers sprouted in green and silver. He was surprised to find that his Relaxing Aura was being used quite intensely here as well. It wasn't to the point of the chaos of the sea before, but it was still a large amount of consumption.
He looked ahead at the swamp. That would likely have the pressure of the sea. Even in this area, he did not have the leisure to search the whole area they pointed at.
He summoned the Cosmic Instrument and put it into the mercury. His Draconic Thunder activated, sending Sound through the mercury. It travelled even through the flowers—they were full of mercury. Liquid was great for the transfer of Sound.
His face changed into one of shock. The Sound travelled far and wide. Inside the swamp, to the very centre. And the scene there was… tragic. He shook his head. One thing at a time. He had to get the military man first.
He rushed ahead, jumping with Flight into the River, creating a small wave of mercury that travelled toward the military guys Siduo was treating.
He reached the spot of his destination in a single dash. A flower like any other. He placed his palm on its leaf and exerted his Relaxing Aura into it.
The flower bloomed, its leaves opening and revealing a big hole in which only mercury flowed. The mercury gurgled before a man was brought to the top. Karni grabbed him, then used Flight into the River yet again to bring them both back to the inactive mecha.
"Wuluo!" The men screamed.
Karni slapped the man's back, Soul Power and bloodline circulating. He puked out a great amount of mercury but did not wake up.
"He's alive, but barely. The mecha probably protected him for a short while, though I saw no trace of it. He'll need immediate medical assistance." Karni tapped his belt and a mecha appeared. His mecha.
"B-Black Mecha?" One of the men was in shock.
"And a good one at that." Karni said. "Yellow Two. Bring them out in the mecha."
"Yellow One?" Siduo was confused.
Karni sent Sound so only she could hear. "I checked the surroundings with Sound before. There's something I must check. I have to help it."
Siduo realised what he was saying. "The Mercury Cyclone Flower?"
Karni nodded. "At the centre of the swamp. The swamp isn't that big, but… at its centre, the flower is suffering. I could feel it all through the Sound. Siduo… I felt that pain through the Sound. Its Spiritual Power is out of control."
Siduo thought about. "Alright. Grab the communicator. I'll bring them back."
Karni grabbed it. "Just go full speed through everything. Don't let the surroundings capture you. Force yourself through the walls."
Siduo nodded. "Kiki. Be careful." She said only to him.
He nodded. The two hugged.
Siduo cleared her throat. "Alright everyone. We're getting out of here. We'll be doing so with extreme speed and in a straight line. We will do no evasive actions, so prepare for a lot of pressure. Someone will have to take care of your unconscious friend."
"Yes." They gave a military solute that had been drilled into them.
They got into the Black Mecha and Siduo took lead in piloting it. She activated the thrusters at full power and charged. The mecha was not meant for flying, but if they overclocked the engines? It should be more than enough to get them out of all of this at fast speed. Karni would need to do a lot of maintenance on it later.
Karni watched as the mecha sped out into the sea. The mercuryspouts tried to grab it, but the mecha forced itself through one, then broke through the mercury cyclone wall. Karni let out a breath of relief. The environment thankfully couldn't react fast enough to do too much. They should be fine after this.
He turned to look back toward the field of flowers and the distant swamp. His eyes focused. His Royal Bamboo Panda appeared, the first two Soul Rings activating, Relaxing Aura was released at full power. His Left Leg Soul Bone released its mighty power.
Then he jumped.