Is that a Wisp?

Chapter 1062 - The Labyrinth Grown Increasingly Scarier

"The real reason the Waves happen every 10 years is to control the aquatic population. The Neon Radiance fishes would attack any fish on their way and ensure that all populations remain the same," Zamuria explained. "Moreover, the Neon Radiance fishes contain the genetic material of every fish species that live in Layer 3. So, if a species went extinct, they would replenish the particular race's numbers by laying down some eggs during a Wave."

"That's how they maintain the balance of Layer 3 and prevent the ecosystem from being destroyed through imbalance," Zamuria added. "And Ocean Radiance is exactly that. It allows me to create any fish species. However…"

She sighed as she lamented, "The energy expenditure is too vast if I have to create a physical fish. So most of the time, I just create them out of light and use them for a variety of means."

Zamuria laughed after that. "Suppose I wish to scout my surroundings, I will unleash a certain type of fish that's great at that. And the best thing is that since I only release these fishes with bodies of light, they can swim through the air just as they do in the water."

"Then..." Feifei asked after a moment of thought. "Can you also make Monster Geckos?"

"Sure," Zamuria replied, condensing a Monster Gecko beside her. Of course, its body was only made out of light. After that, she then said, "If I were to condense them physically, I'd only be able to make five of them after exhausting all my energy. That's why I never do that."

"In any case, this is also the reason why the Waves happen." She told Feifei the truth that she had discovered in Layer 3. "The Neon Radiance fishes need a tremendous amount of energy to lay eggs for the extinct fish species. That's also why they devour through the ocean like a wave."

"That makes a lot of sense now," Feifei muttered before asking, "Can you leave some predator fishes in the pools of some of the trap chambers I've created? You'll have plenty of energy to do that if you rely on the miasma. We already have more than 30 Tier 3 Blood Essence Crystals in our reserves. They should be sufficient if you add in the Water Essences I've provided."

"That's great." Zamuria laughed as she replied, "I'll begin working on that now. The predator fishes I create would prove troublesome for even the Red Demons."

…

"We've reached the five-kilometer mark." A total of ten teams were at the place, each led by a Red Demon. The number of Yellow Demons in the place surpassed 300 hundred. After all, there were individual groups led by Yellow Demons as well, with each leading a group of 10 Green Demons each.

The total number of demons at the place surpassed two thousand in number. Currently, they were in discussion as they confided their various findings.

There was a team of messengers that relayed everything they discovered to the council of Black Demons. Having been exploring the labyrinth for three years, the Black Demons had grown through various trials and errors.

Even when a team discovered something impressive, they were usually annihilated as a result. So, a lot of sacrifices had to be made as a result every time until one of the team members survived by luck and managed to return to the surface.

Because of that, the Black Demons had installed roles to the demon groups. There were the scouts that only observed how a place functioned and relayed the information back to the council. They never engaged with anything.

The main passageways were scouted by the Red Demons. As for the smaller branching passageways, the scouts observing them reduced in strength accordingly.

The second role was logistics. Their sole function was to carry the miasma in the form of crystals or liquid and supply it to the exploring teams. They also created containers using the bones of their brethren to ensure the miasma within wouldn't be sucked in by the walls of the labyrinth.

Plus, the deeper they headed into the labyrinth, the stronger the bones used on the containers. Only through this manner would the miasma within remain safe.

The third role was comprised of the markers. They tested and trialed the strength of the suction force of the walls of the labyrinth, the depth a place was from the surface, the strength of the foes, and other things. They marked everything on parchments created using their skin and installed them at various checkpoints.

This way, the exploring teams would obtain information about the place and wouldn't lose their lives foolishly.

The fourth role was the scouts. They were the ones who tested the effects of a place, suffering the greatest damage as a result. Everything they experienced was observed by the messengers from a safe distance and reported back to the council.

And the final role was the dealers. They were the ones who went with clearing up the areas, ensuring it was safe enough for subsequent groups to traverse. Having conducted enough explorations, the demons had realized that if a place was cleared properly, it wouldn't recover.

After all, the Monster Geckos would have to manually set up everything in the place from the bone traps, the freezing blood siphoned from their bodies, and so on. When a place was wiped clean of everything, the Monster Geckos would have to start from scratch.

Plus, when they were constantly annihilated by the passing streams of the demon groups, they were unable to set up anything in the place, eventually abandoning it entirely. At this point, a chamber was declared as to have been cleared.

In this manner, within the span of three years, the demons had arrived at a chamber located five kilometers below the surface. It was a tremendous distance since the labyrinth only spanned from one floor to another in a series of levels.

So, making their way to the five-kilometer mark was already s significant feat in three years. After all, only a small fraction of the demons actually entered the labyrinth to explore it.

And now, an explorer group had arrived before a humongous chamber that was filled to the brim with water—the blood of the Monster Geckos. There was barely any space for them to fly above, spanning only around three meters in height.

For starters, they sent a Green Demon to fly above the waters first at its greatest speed. Nodding without hesitation, the Green Demon flapped its wings and flashed above the body of water when a certain creature jumped out of the water and bit the Green Demon's legs, dragging it into the water.

There were some signs of struggle following that.. But after five seconds, the water turned tranquil once again.