Chapter 108: The Undersea Prison Cage

As Lin Chong and the special task force lost contact, Hua Feng and his group on the other side also found themselves unable to connect to the mission channel.

“Encountered unknown medium interference, signal interrupted... attempting reconnection, connection failed...” The system repeatedly alerted them amid the chaos. All signs indicated they had lost contact with the logistics base, and this disconnection was undoubtedly caused by the Atlanteans. Looking at these seemingly friendly sea-dwellers before them, Hua Feng and his team realized without a doubt that they were behind this.

“What do you mean by this? Is this how you Atlanteans treat your guests?” Hua Feng felt a surge of anger, sensing they had been betrayed.

“Why waste words? Just attack!” Li Long, like a lit powder keg, had long wanted to test the results of his recent training with Uncle Li Yun, the commander of the Flying Dragon Battalion.

Yun Meng, Bai Feng, Wang Yue, and Shuang Ning all waited silently for Hua Feng’s command—once he gave the word, finishing off these few would be a matter of minutes.

“Don’t be hasty, Brother Long,” Hua Feng cautioned, unwilling to be seen as reckless and strike without clear cause, despite the urgency of the situation. It had only been a little over three hours since they entered the sea, yet events were already spiraling beyond their expectations.

“You’re more sensible,” came a voice from the Atlantean leader, now tinged with malice. “Do you think our words were weakness? Brothers, come out! There’s no need to hide anymore.”

As his words drifted away, the surrounding buildings began to shift. Many stones and patches of floor transformed, converging slowly into a crowd gathering before Hua Feng’s camp.

Within minutes, two to three hundred Atlanteans stood outside the luminous shield, expressionless as they watched Hua Feng’s group. Each seemed fully adapted to the ocean’s pressure and environment, breathing effortlessly without any equipment, an astonishing sight to Hua Feng and his comrades.

“Brother Hua, do you think we’ve just stormed into their lair? Now we’re truly trespassers. With so many watching us like this, it’s honestly a bit chilling,” Yun Meng muttered softly.

“Don’t be afraid, I’m here,” Hua Feng replied. “What puzzles me is that during our earlier scans, neither our machines nor our psychic probes detected any living beings here. How did they evade our detection?”

Li Long scratched his head, suppressing his impulse to charge in and fight immediately. While adjusting his equipment, he said, “It’s more than that. I can feel their combined signal network is blocking both our communication signals and our psychic energy.”

“But if we don’t act soon, who knows what fate awaits us next,” Wang Yue said, a note of concern in her voice.

“So, what do you think we should do?” Hua Feng was momentarily uncertain.

“Have you forgotten our current predicament? Just moments ago, we invited you out for negotiations. Now, your fate—whether you stay or leave, live or die—rests entirely in our hands. Remember my name: I am Xingtian! There’s a legendary warrior in the East with the same name,” the Atlantean said, his mask still covering his face, his deep blue eyes gleaming with the thrill of having caught a great prize.

Looking at the three men and three women of Eastern descent before him, Xingtian sensed that among them were some experts at the Yuan Emperor level. Two, in particular, stood out: one balanced multiple elemental forces, a harmony of elements that he knew was rare; the other was unmistakably a fully transformed female vampire.

Raised in the West, Xingtian did not understand the significance of the Five Elements’ Yin-Yang balance embodied by the first, but he clearly recognized the latter.

“Hmph… Such arrogance!” Hua Feng bristled at the Atlantean’s haughty tone, which implied they were mere prey. “Our Chinese war god is not someone your deceitful kind can comprehend! Today, whether we leave or stay, the decision is not yours to make, let alone our lives!”

In an instant, Hua Feng’s aura surged to its peak, radiating the force of a 63rd-rank Yuan Emperor. Gripping his Unified Qi Staff, he concentrated his true energy between his hands and struck the invisible psychic net outside the shield with all his might.

Yet, unexpectedly, the net barely reacted. “Ah, damn it!” Hua Feng exclaimed, stunned that the full force of his blow was dispersed by the psychic network.

The crushing feeling of futility struck him sharply. This was Atlantis, this was the Atlanteans’ home turf. As uninvited guests, this was the kind of reception they could expect—merciless and overwhelming.

“Has there been any contact with Hua Feng’s team yet?” In the office of the Flying Dragon Battalion on Mount Lu, Chen Sheng paced anxiously.

“Report! Their vital signs remain stable, but they are still out of contact. Major Lin Chong urgently requests Taoist reinforcements!” The communications officer replied swiftly.

“Tell Major Lin Chong that support is en route. Tell them to hold out at all costs—no harm must come to the children!” Chen Sheng said as he called Dan Qiusheng.

“Alliance leader? It’s me, Chen Sheng! Hua Feng’s team is in trouble. We urgently request your personal leadership in support. Here are the coordinates—I’m sending them now!...” Chen Sheng ended the call and exhaled deeply. No one understood the Taoist Alliance’s strength better than him. Dan Qiusheng had promised to reach the Atlantic Ocean as quickly as possible. Zhang Sanfeng from Wudang, who had just sealed the Qiongqi, would lead the team personally! With a Yuan Saint on the way, this situation would almost certainly be resolved!

“Hold on, children,” Chen Sheng silently prayed.

Time passed moment by moment, the sky darkening, the light above growing dimmer. In the city center of Atlantis, Hua Feng tried every means to breach the barrier but failed. Now, the net had solidified into a cage of shimmering, multicolored light pillars enclosing them.

This cage, controlled by hundreds of Atlanteans, was locked in a tug-of-war with the spherical defensive shield around Hua Feng’s camp. Under immense pressure, what had been ample space grew cramped; they no longer even had the option to break free and fight.

Hua Feng regretted deeply that they hadn’t acted sooner. Even if it had meant a desperate battle, it wouldn’t have ended with them nearly captured like this. But regrets were useless now.

The Atlanteans, though unusually pleased at their success today, concealed their triumph well.