Chapter 21 Plans, Counterplans, And More Plans
In the depths of the ocean was a large island that was fully taken over by the Aberrants. The PADS hadn't bothered to save this place as it was cut off from the rest of the world, too dangerous to intrude.
Even if they were to save it, they would be overwhelmed by the Aberrants surrounding them on all sides, with no way to escape.
This was why Rhizen had strategically excluded it from their operation. But, that was his oversight.
Had he been an expert in climatology, he wouldn't have excluded this place and instead would have prioritised it. After all, this island, spanning a length of 180 kilometres and a breadth of 70 kilometres was of principal importance.
The monsoon season on the mainland originated from here as the clouds formed over the island, absorbing vapour from the ocean along their travel to form large clouds that irrigated a good fraction of the mainland.
Gasker Island!
At the moment, standing on the island were a group of Keras, accumulating corrosion in their bodies that they released nonstop.
And hovering in the air was a Keras resembling an insect, only fist-sized. Even though it was tiny, having been accumulating strength for a day, it had surpassed in strength in comparison to all the nearby Keras.
Slowly, this insect type Keras took off to the skies, gradually entering a cloud overhead at the centre of which it settled. The corruption continued to flow into the cloud as the insect type Keras absorbed everything, gradually fusing with the cloud itself.
Cloud Keras!
There was just one of it in the entire world. Producing it was difficult even for the fragment of Apocalypse in this world. Upon seeing the action taken by the PADS, the Aberrants had to do something.
Otherwise, their rotten Core Principle would fail. Hence, they counteracted with a rather brilliant scheme, giving it a grand name.
Heaven's Will Scheme!
In a short few hours, the Cloud Keras gained complete control over the cloud, beginning to move as it absorbed all the water evaporating from the ocean.
But, it wasn't just absorbing the water but also the dense corruption emanating from it. And in response, the cloud gradually expanded in size, soon turning into a thundercloud.
The thundercloud was accompanied by a long stretch of clouds that were natural at this time of the year as they steadily approached the mainland.
Upon seeing that they had succeeded, the remainder of the Keras smiled, slumping to the ground in exhaustion.
"Just this alone isn't enough to defeat them." One of them, a Keras with twenty arms said, "We have to initiate some natural calamities. That would slow down their development."
"What city should we target first?" The humanoid Keras asked.
"Yonka City would be the last." The twenty-armed Keras continued, "Rhizen is akin to a disaster himself. Unless our Celas is birthed, we won't face him. We'll target the city farthest from Yonka City."
"Greire City it is then." The humanoid Keras nodded.
"It's the farthest from Yonka City and best of all, it's situated next to a river." The twenty-armed Keras said, "Through that, we can swiftly attack it. But, there's one more thing to note."
"What is it?" The humanoid Keras asked.
"It seems the PADS have a method to communicate with other Cities in a matter of seconds. As it's not following the communication system of this world, it's hard to block it." The twenty-armed Keras said, "If we don't deal with their means of communication, our plans would be found out the moment we attack Greire City."
"I can do something about it." A serpentine Keras said, "We'll mask Greire City with a film of corruption that blocks all forms of Nacre. That should buy us enough time to destroy the city without alerting the rest."
"By the time they notice something amiss, we would have destroyed at least a few cities. And while they are distracted by this, the Heaven's Will Scheme would begin." It hissed in laughter.
Such was war, especially between two sides that wished to wipe out the other.
Both sides created plans and counterattacks to the plans of their enemy. And only the best and the brightest would be able to emerge victorious.
Their primary plan was the Rotten Core Principle. As long as they succeeded in that, victory would be theirs. Every other plan was just to buy time and impede the plans of their enemy.
And in the end, depending on the completion rate of the Rotten Coe Principle and the Diamond Skin Plan, the victor would be decided. After all, it would end up in a battle of energies, between Nacre and Corruption.
As both sides were aware of this, they moved in accordance, erecting forts for their protection while destroying the forts of their foes.
While the thundercloud with the Cloud Keras continued to approach the mainland, Rhizen and the rest were active in the Yalore Sea, attacking every Aberrant they came across.
Moreover, the Nacre Balls had already begun to take effect, causing Nacre to dissolve in the waters closer to the shore. And as time passes, its concentration and seepage would only grow.
As the Nacre crept through the Yalore Sea from the west, the Corruption began to flow eastward, partially avoiding the Nacre while mostly being kicked out by it.
Within a month, the entire shore of the Yalore Sea was fully covered by Nacre Balls, forming three rows, enough to ensure the Corruption wouldn't manage to seep into the land.
"Up next is the water channels," Rhizen said as a group continued to fish for more Aberrants to turn into Whale poop.
Having turned into the All-Devouring Whale, Rhizen condensed a massive pair of wings on his back, hovering in the air as a group of Mystic Humans gradually fitted him with a harness.
This harness was attached to a massive container that contained more than fifty tonnes of Whale Poop. It was meant to be transported further inland.
On any continental mass, there was one thing that connected and also affected everything. And that was the water cycle.
As the Aberrants dominated the ocean, they were able to affect the land through the water cycle, ensuring the people living on it never got any rest. After all, if the people were to slack off in their efforts, the corruption in the land would gradually increase until the people would start to show signs of turning into Aberrants.
Underground water channels, underground canals, overground rivers, glaciers, ponds, lakes, the water network created by them all, evaporation and the subsequent rainfall; covered the entire landmass.
So the one that controlled the water cycle held the initiative in this war. And currently, that lay in the hands of the Aberrants.
To prevent that, the team of experts from the Geographical Society proposed a plan targeting the rivers on the land. And to be more precise, targeting the source of the rivers.
Most rivers began from ice formed high up in mountain ranges. And hence, if they installed Nacre Balls there, then the water itself would become rich in Nacre.
This means that as it flows down, through interaction with the various tributaries, the Nacre-rich water would make its way throughout the land.
And eventually, when it flows into the ocean, it would fight the Corruption there and purify the water there to a great extent.
This was better than just tackling the Corruption head-on, lacking the initiative.
As long as they took control of the rivers, the initiative would fall into their hands. And the moment the Geographical Society understood the corruption concentration on Gasker Island, they formulated this plan.
Immediately after, Rhizen took action, transporting large volumes of Whale poop to the river sources.
Boom!
Followed by a muffled sound, a hill of Whale poop was compressed into a Nacre Ball with a 10-metre diameter. Rhizen planted it into a hole dug at the centre of a lake, covering it up to see a faint stream of Nacre seep into the water.
'But, it wouldn't be able to generate Nacre infinitely.' He frowned, 'They are like batteries. They would lose power eventually since there's no corruption here to harness and replenish themselves with.'
'Only if the very land itself produces Nacre can we win this war.' Sighing in response, Rhizen continued to plant more Nacre Balls, observing mild changes to the water colour.
He soon covered the lake bed with Nacre Balls, nodding in satisfaction at the concentration of Nacre flowing downstream. "This way, even after it's diluted by the tributaries, its concentration is still potent enough to protect the land from the corruption-filled rain."
"If only we had more Tower of Purifications…" He muttered, sighing in the end.
The resources required to create a Tower of Purification were steep and also required a lot of time and labour. Currently, the entire PADS had less than a hundred Tower of Purification. Splitting them into three worlds, they weren't left with much.
If the first world was fully rid of the corruption, then they could retract the Tower of Purifications from there and bring them over to this world. But, even there, their Diamond Skin Plan was yet to be finished.
After all, terraforming an entire world wasn't as simple as it sounds.
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