Boulder nodded, walking a circle around Ethan. “Are you sure how long it can bind him?”
The Deep Mirror Clam elder raised his other hand, lightly tapping the surface of the water orb with his fingertip.
The runes inside the water orb suddenly accelerated their rotation. “At least three days.”
Boulder grinned.
He turned around and gestured to the Giant Clam elder behind him.
The Giant Clam elder stepped out of the line, the spiral shell on his back shimmering with a pearlescent luster under the crystal light. “Three-Thousandth Prince.”
“Set up the array immediately, using this little wizard as the core.” Boulder pointed at Ethan. “As long as we can ensure the array can bypass the wizards' conscious monitoring, we will immediately begin capturing lone wizards. Starting from this Thorn Empire, I want this tiny Blood Bone Tower to be reduced to thousands of miles of scorched earth.”
The Giant Clam elder straightened up, the shell on his back slightly opening with his movement, revealing the layered nacreous structure inside.
He pulled out a dark blue sea chart from between the layers of his shell, its surface flowing with dense runic lines.
“Rest assured, Three-Thousandth Prince.” The Giant Clam elder spread out the sea chart. “Our Giant Clam tribe's Mirror Array has been passed down in the deep sea for tens of thousands of years. Using this First-Tier Wizard's mental fluctuations as a template is more than enough to simulate his life signs. Once the array is running, all wizard conscious monitoring within a hundred-mile radius will be replaced by the illusion we weave.”
Boulder nodded.
The Deep Mirror Clam elder withdrew the water orb into his palm and walked to the side of the Giant Clam elder.
From his sleeve, he took out a bundle of silver-white needles as thin as hair, each tipped with a grain-sized emerald-blue crystal at its end.
He inserted the silver needles one by one into the runic nodes on the sea chart. With each needle inserted, the corresponding rune on the chart lit up with a faint blue halo.
The Sword King Fish warrior took a step forward, the three bone-white spikes protruding from his shoulder blades gleaming coldly under the crystal light.
He knelt on one knee and pressed his right hand against the stone floor. Dark red blood seeped from the gaps between the scales on his palm, spreading along the grooves of the stone slabs and tracing an irregular circle around the sea chart.
The stout man from the Eight-Claw Giant Crab tribe extended four tentacles from beneath his robe, the tip of each encased in a dark red carapace. The tentacles wrapped around the four stone pillars at the corners of the altar, and dense dark red runes surfaced on the carapaces.
The runes spread from the tentacles to the stone pillars, then extended from the bases of the pillars toward the center of the altar.
The tall, thin figure from the Echinoderm Starfish tribe walked with a hunched back to stand directly beneath Ethan.
He raised his hand, whose fingers could bend in any direction, and the eerie blue glow at his fingertips drew five trails of light in the air.
The trails of light rose from beneath Ethan's feet, climbing along the water chains all the way to his extremities, leaving an extremely thin blue light membrane on the surface of the chains.
The golden patterns on the cheeks of the Electric Eel tribe youth all lit up.
Faint arcs of electricity leaped from the patterns, weaving fine golden threads in the air.
The threads extended in all directions, connecting to the emerald-blue crystals on the walls of the altar.
The waves of light inside the crystals trembled simultaneously the moment the electric arcs surged into them.
The Silver-Fin Merfolk spread their seaweed cloaks, removing several fist-sized dark green crystal spheres from the inner lining.
They formed a circle around Ethan, embedding the crystal spheres one by one into the grooves on the stone floor.
With each sphere embedded, the watery light on the altar's dome dimmed a fraction.
The Giant Clam elder stood straight, the shell on his back opening completely.
From the deepest part of his shell, he retrieved a fist-sized pearl, its surface swirling with patterns identical to those on the shell on his back.
He placed the pearl right in the center of the sea chart. The moment the pearl landed, all the runes on the chart lit up simultaneously.
Boulder stood at the edge of the altar, arms crossed.
The Deep Mirror Clam elder inserted the final silver needle into the sea chart and straightened up.
He looked at the Giant Clam elder, who nodded in return.
Both raised their right hands simultaneously, palms facing each other.
The runic patterns on the sea chart lit up in sequence from the edges to the center.
The silver needles inserted into the runic nodes began to vibrate, the emerald-blue crystals at their ends glowing in unison.
Twelve beams of light shot from the crystals, converging on the fist-sized pearl in the center of the sea chart.
Layer after layer of translucent light membranes welled up from within the pearl.
The light membranes spread outward in all directions. Wherever they passed, the pillars, crystals, and water chains of the altar were all coated in a pearlescent sheen.
The light membrane spread to Ethan's feet and climbed up along the water chains.
The moment the membrane touched Ethan's skin, it trembled slightly, then seeped inside like water.
The Giant Clam elder withdrew his right hand, and the shell on his back slowly closed.
He turned his head to look at Boulder. “Three-Thousandth Prince, the array is complete. The Mirror Array will use this wizard's mental fluctuations as a template to simulate his life signs, covering all wizard conscious monitoring within a ten-thousand-mile radius. From now on, any wizard looking at this area through their monitoring will only see the illusion we have woven.”
Boulder nodded, his gaze falling once more on Ethan suspended in midair.
A visible smile spread across his face. “Heh, our Sea Race's counterattack has begun. My father is unworthy of being the patriarch. For so many years, he has been content to be a dog for the wizards. Our Sea Race is so powerful; we are meant to rule the entire Wizard World. Heh, look at this. With just over a decade of preparation, we've achieved such results. It had to be me.”
Despite Boulder's self-aggrandizing, the surrounding Sea Race members remained entirely calm, offering no flattery, which was rather unusual.
The Deep Mirror Clam elder withdrew the last silver needle from the sea chart, putting the hair-thin needles back into his sleeve one by one. “Three-Thousandth Prince, let me add another layer of reinforcement to the Profound Water God-Binding Chain.”
He took a fist-sized emerald-blue crystal from his sleeve, its interior flowing with runic lines identical to those on the water chains.
He pressed the crystal against the stone floor beneath Ethan's feet. The moment the crystal touched down, the water chains binding Ethan trembled in unison.
The blue runes on the chains glowed a bit brighter, and the heavy pressure bearing down on Ethan's bones intensified by another level.
Boulder's lips curled up. “Korlo, your Deep Mirror Clam tribe's secret techniques are indeed reliable.”
The Deep Mirror Clam elder, Korlo, straightened up. “Rest assured, Three-Thousandth Prince. The Profound Water God-Binding Chain locks down not only the physical body but also the mental sea. His consciousness is currently suppressed to the absolute bottom of his mental sea, with no perception of the outside world. Let alone breaking free, he can't even remember who he is.”
Boulder walked over from the edge of the altar, standing directly beneath Ethan.
He looked up and suddenly asked, “Tell me, if he were awake right now, what would he be thinking?”
The stout man of the Eight-Claw Giant Crab tribe shuffled over from the stone pillar, his voice deep and muffled. “Three-Thousandth Prince, who cares what he thinks? Once the Mirror Array stabilizes, we'll go capture the next one. There are quite a few lone little wizards in this Thorn Empire.”
The Sword King Fish warrior knelt on one knee, his right hand pressed against the stone floor. “Three-Thousandth Prince, this subordinate is willing to be the vanguard.”
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