Cave Refuge

This time, the natural disaster targeted not individuals but those boats floating on the water, so a small tornado would appear around each boat.

Although these tornadoes were initially not very strong, others could not destroy them in their initial state like Dong Tianyu once did; otherwise, more tornadoes would split and emerge around the boats.

Therefore, for this natural disaster, all boats were unable to preemptively prevent it and could only brace for impact or evade.

As the small waterborne tornadoes gradually expanded, eventually growing into their final Dragon Siphon form, aside from relying on the boat's own structural hardness to withstand them, there was actually another way to avoid the disaster.

That was to escape the reach of the Dragon Siphon, which continuously attracts all objects in its vicinity toward its center, much like encountering a whirlpool on the water.

Even if a boat fell within the influence of the Dragon Siphon, as long as it had enough horsepower, it could still forcibly escape from the attraction range.

What's more, it was only that the small-state waterborne tornadoes could not be destroyed beforehand, not that one couldn't escape the coverage area of a tornado.

However, although this disaster targeted boats, it did not mean that Dragon Siphons wouldn't appear in areas without boats; thus, while the boats could escape, it did not mean that Dragon Siphons wouldn't emerge in other places.

As time passed, the small tornadoes, initially only as thick as an arm, started to grow indefinitely in size. Many boats stayed far away, but as the tornadoes increased in size, they also advanced toward the location of the boats.

However, compared to the speed of the boats, the advancing speed of the tornadoes was indeed slower, allowing many boats to easily shake off those following tornadoes.

But what they did not know was that while their lookouts could no longer see the still-forming tornadoes, those that had formed around their boats were like they had trackers, advancing steadfastly and deliberately towards the boats.

Unlike those nimble boats, the massive Water Base did not pay any heed to the small tornado that appeared nearby.

The reason for this was not that the Officials controlling the base were negligent, but rather that many of them noticed the still undeveloped small tornado as soon as the natural disaster began.

Just as they were preparing to tentatively handle it, they immediately received intelligence from the Imperial Court.

The response from the Imperial Court was much quicker than theirs. As soon as the waterborne tornadoes appeared, they quickly realized that those small tornadoes seemed to emerge around every boat on the water.

Whether it was the massive vessels that weighed thousands of tons or those in Raft Form of the initial Companion Spiritual Treasures, there would be a juvenile tornado appearing not far from them.

After grasping this situation, the Imperial Court immediately arranged for a boat to try and destroy the small tornado that had appeared around it.

Possessing numerous scientific researchers, the Imperial Court was very knowledgeable about the formation principle of tornadoes, so they immediately thought of directly destroying the still-forming tornado by using a method that halted the exchange of airflows.

That was their plan, and the frontline members on the scene executed it accordingly. Indeed, as expected by others, they successfully destroyed the small emerging tornado.

Seeing this outcome, those who had devised the plan did not show excitement but merely a satisfied smile.

After all, the trial plan they had just devised was not complex, so even though it was carried out perfectly according to plan, the result was within their expectations, and their hearts contained no surprise.

Just as they were preparing for the second round of experiments, unexpectedly, six small tornadoes suddenly appeared around the boat that had carried out the mission.

When they heard the report from the frontline members, everyone's face at Command Headquarters suddenly became somewhat embarrassed.

Upon discovering this, they immediately ordered another member on the scene to destroy the tornado that had appeared around it, while also directing the first frontline member to again attempt to destroy the new six tornadoes that had emerged.

Not long after, the intel from the frontline turned all faces at Command Headquarters sour.

The second executor, upon destroying the small tornado that had emerged around his boat according to their instructions, encountered the same situation as the first tester; six new small tornadoes suddenly appeared in all directions around him.

And there was a problem with the first tester as well: for each small tornado he destroyed, six new small tornadoes appeared around the boat.

Because the locations of the emerging small tornadoes were random, after destroying a few, the first tester could no longer discern among the densely packed tornadoes which were the six newly refreshed ones.

Normally, when two tornadoes met, either the stronger tornado would absorb the other, or both tornadoes would bounce away from each other like colliding balls.