Ocean Master

"Everyone is here, good!"

"I, Lieutenant Clown D.D, am your commander for this mission".

A giant clownfish that seemed more muscular and intimidating than the others took center stage and addressed the army once everyone was gathered.

The giant clownfish was indeed muscular and intimidating, but this was only from the perspective of other clownfish and smaller predators. For predators like Sebastian in his original size, this giant clownfish was a little brother.

The clownfish didn't seem to mind as he continued his speech.

"As the commander of this mission, I expect absolute cooperation from you all. Listen to my orders, execute them well, and our mission will be a success".

"For this mission, I believe that you all have already been briefed".

"Our brothers out there like usual have gone to work for the city's prosperity but they are trapped. They met an unusual opponent, now they need our help".

"Unlike other professionals in other fields, we are professional predators!" 

"We are soldiers, we live and feed in the battlefield all our life, our life belongs in the battlefield, we kill, it is what we do!"

"Now, I implore you brothers, give me your best, make this mission a success and let's rescue our brothers from the tentacles of death".

"For the army!"

"FOR THE ARMY!" The beast soldiers roared.

With that, the reinforcement army comprising of one warship and 12 military-grade shuttles ferrying clownfish and clownfish mechs set out for the battlefield to save their comrades.

Sebastian, Miniman, and Jodeheim were ferried on the warship.

…

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Loud booming sounds echoed in the battlefield as the army of both sides comprising of brutal clownfish and their mechs and a terrifying army formed by the unrelenting and notorious fire ants clashed in a mega battle royale.

In this region of the Green Mist Sea, it was widely known that the real Emperors were the clownfish and the snakes.

This dominance was all because of the 2 high-grade rival rural settlements, the Anemone Domain and the Snake Kingdom.

Though these 2 were undoubtedly the best and most dangerous, they were not the only rural settlements in this region. There were dozens of middle-grades and low-grade rural settlements.

Putting that aside also, there were the terrifying rare beast species.

In the A-Z Monster Dictionary that Sebastian had the privilege to read, some of the more known rare beasts were listed. As for the really rare ones, those were exclusive to the A-Z Monster Dictionary of the advanced library.

Sebastian already decided to read the advanced version of the dictionary at the first opportunity that he got; he just didn't expect a field mission so soon.

In the advanced dictionary, the rare beasts there were not only more, their common traits and characteristics were also explained. Of these rare beasts, the fire ants were among the few that took this region of the sea as home.

After years of observation, it was already discovered that fire ants were like nomads, peaceful and with a habit of living under rocks, far away from other beast environments where they could live a life of seclusion.

Fire ants were called peaceful due to their reclusive lifestyle, but they were not always this way, most especially when their peaceful life was disturbed.

When they were disturbed, they turn into furious rabid fire ants.

Capable of breathing fire, secreting and spitting venomous gums, teeth as sharp as a razor blade, and with a rocky hard carapace that could absolve a lot of damage, fire ants were at the top of the food chain when it came to damage potential and survivability.

A certain patrol of clownfish went on their usual food hunting patrols which were the main food production methods that kept the anemone domain going.

The live prey that was fed to anatomists like Sebastian and his colleagues didn't just come out of nowhere, those were the hard works of these clownfish.

This patrol of clownfish already filled up their coffers with food which mostly comprising of live prey, and they were ready to return to the city.

On their way back, they encountered a small group of fire-shell crabs. These crabs' shell was part of the main materials used in creating clownfish mechs, so once the patrol team saw them, they attacked to kill them.

With the explosive firepower of dozens of clownfish mechs battering at their position, they stood no chance despite their hardy shell, they all died.

The rock below their location cracked from the firepower bombardment. The clownfish didn't pay attention to this originally as they went closer to secure their booty, but it was on getting closer that they saw hell.

The sensors of the military-grade shuttles first picked up the familiar signals as a red glow slowly started engulfing the cracked rock.

It took a few seconds before the commander of the patrol team understood what was going on, but by this time, the die was already cast.

Boom!

An army of furious fire ants came after them with vengeance-filled eyes.

The fire ants were too fast, there was no retreat for the clownfish army so they made the best decision to engage the fire ants. While engaging them, the commander of the patrol army wisely sent a distress signal to the city.

The reason for his decision was quickly proved. It took only 15 minutes before the furious fire-breathing and venom-spitting ants dismantled the formations of the clownfish, wreaking untold havoc like eternal destroyers.

"Hold the lines!"

"Reinforcement is coming!"

"Let's not let these motherf*cking ants make fun of us!"

"Bombard the life out of them!"

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Even as more mech armors were melted by the raging fire and lethal venoms of the fire ants, more mechs overloaded their weapon systems and unleashed hell back on the fire ants.

Despite their hard carapace, more and more fire ants fell to the oppressive fire of the mechs. Despite this though, they remained as ferocious as a bull.

The fire ants' logic was simple. You may hide in your mechs, bombarding us, but even if more of us die, there are more of us still coming behind the rock.

That was a simple truth, the fire ant numbers were straight ridiculous.

Even as more of them died, more surged out of the rock underneath, bloating the water space everywhere like a group of undying ants. The spectacle was extremely thrilling to spectators but horrifying to the participants.

Boom!

After one last explosion, only 1 military-grade shuttle was left on the battlefield. The fire ants also already reduced in number, but those left were more than enough to overrun the last shuttle.

The soldiers surviving in this clownfish army patrol despaired. 

Was this the end? Immediately after they asked this question, it was like God himself answered them as a formidable army of 12 military-grade shuttles appeared. The surviving clownfish experienced a morale surge immediately.

"Reinforcement is here!"

"Oh yes! We're saved! Blast these motherf*cking ants!"

While the survivors of the last shuttle rejoiced, the 12 military-grade shuttles that were originally coming at them at full speed slowed gradually until it became clear that something was wrong. 

Lieutenant Clown D.D was referencing the information that was sent to him by the patrol team that was in danger for the past few minutes.

After intensive review, he discovered a strange pattern.

Fire-shell crabs were highly coveted beasts by literally every established beast settlement, and they were famed for living in only specific regions. It was literally impossible to see them in such open water bodies.

What were the odds of them appearing here? Also, what were the odds that fire ants would also be in the same location where they appeared?

The more this Lieutenant thought of the situation, the more he felt that something fishy was going on but he decided to continue with the rescue operation until he saw the location for himself.

Immediately after his army arrived at the battlefield, on referencing a vantage-point projection of the battlefield, he discovered the anomaly.

Too many things were wrong, or it was more like, there were too many coincidences that would never have occurred at the same time before.

His eyes widened. "This is an ambush!"

Immediately after he discovered this and ordered his military-grade shuttles to slow down, activity was detected from underneath the rocks.

Lieutenant D.D looked and his clownfish face darkened.

"The Snake Kingdom!"