964-972 - old man elder

Chapter 964: The Cove

Somewhere along the vast ocean was an elongated ship, a construct with a spherical front and a pointed end. Its sheer scale was enormous, being 400 meters long and 150 meters wide.

Its body was equally submerged in both oceans, keeping it perfectly balanced. Though at times, it moved into its ocean of choice. At present, it was wholly inside one of the oceans, with a small portion of it exposed to the air layer to keep it circulated in its interior.

Wherever it went, intense water current accompanied it, carrying it forth naturally. When seen in its interior, there were hundreds of Motor Fishes propelling it. Moreover, forming the center of the ship was a piece of land, one that had once been the breeding grounds of the Motor Fishes.

And now, the cove had become the central structure around which the ship had been built. Quite a few rooms had been constructed within it where workers ran to and fro, busying about various tasks.

The entire place seemed to have been created using a material similar to bone, resembling a shell or a rock. But despite that, it was sturdy. Moreover, the walls were tremendously thick and seemed to be slowly getting reinforced further and further as time passed.

The Cove!

It was the name of the pirate ship, named after the cove where the Motor Fishes lived, the symbolic existence that allowed their pirate organization to grow from the initial hundred to the current two thousand strong.

Seated in one of the rooms, acting as the leader of the forces, was Gajor, smirking as he spoke, "Who would have thought the shell of a Checkpoint Turtle would have such miraculous properties? It was our sheer luck to have discovered one, that too of such an ancient one that's even bigger than the Checkpoint Turtles we see."

Seated beside him, his twin brother, Gehen laughed as he said, "It's worth all the risk I went through to bring it up. And now, even if we do nothing, this would condense 10 Water Essence every year. Just that alone would give us tremendous authority to control everyone else, not to mention the Motor Fishes we control."

"Still, I'm thankful that you have abilities related to maintaining and managing the Motor Fishes and being the eyes of The Cove." Gajor smiled as he patted the shoulder of his brother, speaking before he exited the room, "I'll complete the remaining preparations. It should be done about now. I'll signal when the plan's about to commence."

"Alright." Gehen nodded, maintaining his cordial smile as he watched Gajor exit the room. But at the moment he left the place, Gehen's expression morphed into one of anger, cursing inwardly, "That useless coward."

He stomped on the ground, muttering with a hint of rage, "It was me who went into the darkness under the ocean and braved through all the frightening sea monsters to discover this Checkpoint Turtle shell. It was also my passive ability that discovered it in the first place. I am the one who can control all these Motor Fishes. And, it's my ability that we relied on to obtain more Godly Points."

He scowled. "It was also me who discovered the firstborn of this Sub-Realm. But not only did Gajor screw it up and allow the baby to land in the hands of two powerhouses, he even plans to take credit for all my effort?"

He then let out a deep breath, sighing as he continued to mutter, "You have always been a hindrance in my life, Gajor. Despite your inferior talent, Mother loved you the most. And it's only because of my promise to her that I have been supporting you all these years. I can take it no longer."

"The world has always been the survival of the fittest. And, someone without talent, wit, and ability like you will only be left behind." He muttered, closing his eyes as he sensed the location of the baby, Solare, "It seems they have been chasing after us all this time."

He then thought, muttering, "Judging by how the distance between us is increasing, it seems they have plans to give up. After all, despite her nature, the Seamstress only focuses on her immediate surroundings. Even she knows she cannot put an end to all the atrocities that happen in the world."

"As for that guy named Krune." He smiled as he said, "As long as I don't involve myself with him, he will never bother me. Plus, he doesn't seem the type to be content with staying here."

"Right, who would like to live as a mortal for all their life?" He laughed out loud. "Even if you were to have a lot of strength, you would soon die. So, no sane cultivator would try to remain here for long unless it was their plan…just like me."

"I'm fed up with the God Realm. No matter how strong I become, there's always someone stronger. But here, as long as I put in enough effort, I can reach the top and secure a stable life for myself. This Sub-Realm is just too vast. So, even the God that created it wouldn't ever set it aside." He then grinned, clenching his hand into a fist. "With my special passive ability, I can live for many centuries."

"This is the best!" He laughed, closing his eyes as he kept watch on the ship's progress.

In the meantime, Gajor arrived at one of the rooms closer to the ship's walls, looking at the groups of pirates that streamed in. They then saluted and placed a bunch of whistles on the table. "Sir Heuk has been significantly injured and fell unconscious. It seems controlling too many fishes took too great of a toll on him. But thanks to him, all of us have accumulated enough Godly Points over the past few months."

The pirate continued, placing a total of fifty whistles on the table, "This is what we obtained by pooling the resources of all the pirates. To obtain this number, we had to visit numerous Checkpoint Turtles."

"Impressive." Gajor nodded, laughing out loud as he looked at the fifty whistles on the table before him, "Adding onto what we have collected before, we have one hundred Helper Whistles in total now."

'If Gehen hadn't figured out the method of pooling our Godly Points in the Checkpoint Turtle, this wouldn't have been possible. As always, he's impressive.' He then mentally snorted, 'Once this plan is successful, I have to keep him in check. At present, it seems most of the pirates admire him more than me.'

'Though, once this is successful, no one would be able to go against me, hahaha!' He mentally smirked as he grabbed all the Helper Whistles, speaking, "Alright, take up positions. If we succeed, our lives would be significantly easier in the future. We would become the dominant force on these waters, haha."

Yes, Boss!" All the pirates saluted and left. While adrift on the ocean, almost everyone was helpless. Among those, Gajor recruited those he thought would become useful subordinates. Those without value, he dismissed, giving them dangerous missions until they died.

As for those that proved their worth, he nurtured them. And, immediately after surviving the First Wave, Gehen found him and they concocted their scheme, creating a pirate organization.

'It was Gehen that found me, discovered the cove where the Motor Fishes mated, and so on. One way or another, once this plan is successful, I must wring out the details of his passive ability. He must have falsified the information on his abilities. Since he hasn't left The Cove for more than a year now, I haven't been able to see him use any passive abilities.' Gajor was deep in thought as he arrived in the room where Gehen was sitting, speaking, "We have one hundred Helper Whistles now."

"All preparations are complete." Gajor looked at Gehen and asked, "Which Checkpoint Turtle are you planning to target?"

"We are heading towards it right now. I feel like this Checkpoint Turtle is the youngest of the lot. So, targeting it is the easiest," Gehen said as he thought, 'I have been leading the Seamstress and Krune accordingly so that they would use the services of this weakest Checkpoint Turtle.'

'They're probably planning to head into a Secondary Landmass to harvest more Godly Points. They must have figured out the baby's secret by now, so they wouldn't leave him behind. So, that gives an assured possibility that they would head into a Secondary Landmass. Even though they wouldn't obtain any extra Godly Points than the cost of their tickets, a year on land would be more than enough for them to grow even stronger. With their strength, they should be fine.'

He mentally laughed as he continued, 'And, if the Checkpoint Turtle they bought their tickets from dies, they wouldn't be able to return here. So, I can rest assured that I wouldn't see them again. Even if I do, I would have tremendously outclassed them by then.'

He then closed his eyes and shared sight with a fish that was seated on The Cove's front, looking forward to seeing a massive Checkpoint Turtle come in sight.

Chapter 965: Attacking the Checkpoint Turtle

Krune, the Seamstress, and Solare vanished from the scene, along with the boat, Paddle. Within a minute, people were beginning to appear from all sides, intending to board the Checkpoint Turtle to exchange their Godly Points for rewards.

But then, they noticed a group of boats heading towards the Checkpoint Turtle, forming a file. On top of that, there seemed to be something huge moving underwater behind them. The people looked at the expressions of each other, having guessed that the group were the pirates that have been infamous around the parts recently.

Without any hesitation, they turned their boats around and left the place, intending to search for another Checkpoint Turtle.

Situated inside the Checkpoint Turtle's shell, floating amidst the water within was the octopus. Its head peeked out of the water as it was able to sense the incoming pirate ship, muttering, "Interesting. My lord would definitely love this development."

It didn't do anything and simply vanished from the spot, similar to the people that ripped their tickets.

It reappeared in a faraway place and watched the Checkpoint Turtle with a curious expression. As for the Checkpoint Turtle it had been inside all along, it was still oblivious of its disappearance.

It then felt something as its head coiled around, gazing at the massive pirate ship that was approaching. Upon seeing the shell of its brethren used in the making of the ship, it felt anger.

"Let's greet it first, shall we?" Gajor laughed as he transmitted his voice using his passive ability, informing the people, "Send two torpedoes first and see what happens."

Two small entrances were manually opened by a group of fish. It was the place the Checkpoint Turtle's head was supposed to be if it had been alive. From each hole exited a long tube, possessing a sharp tip. It was the one Gajor called a Torpedo.

It seemed to have been created using the bones of a Sonic Radar, judging by its toughness and the sharpness of its tip. The front was a cone, while the rear was just a hollow cylinder. The walls of the cylinder sported numerous gaps through which water flowed.

Situated within, biting a protrusion for support, was a Motor Fish, accelerating the construct through the water. Moreover, it wasn't alone. There were two hatchling Motor Fishes that had been affixed within the cylinder perpendicularly to the Motor Fish.

When they moved forward, they caused the Torpedo to rotate. And, as the two hatchling Motor Fishes moved with all their might, the Torpedo rotated with a tremendous speed. It swiftly moved through the water, making a wide arc as it headed straight towards the Checkpoint Turtle.

The two torpedoes moved separately, aiming from different angles. Upon seeing their approach, the Checkpoint Turtle expressed fury as it unleashed its tremendous presence, for a moment causing everyone in the place, humans and fishes included, to shudder in fear, choking as they seemed to be on the verge of fainting.

As for the Motor Fishes in the two torpedoes, they weren't that different either. Though, even after they had fainted, their bodies continued to affect the water and generate currents. In the pirate ship, Gehen was kneeling on the floor as he directed the Motor Fishes in the torpedoes.

This was the reason they continued to move. Unlike everyone who only tamed them, Gehen was controlling them using his passive ability. Thus, he was able to do something like that.

Upon seeing the two Torpedoes continue to head towards it, the Checkpoint Turtle grunted as its tail peeked out of the water, rapidly sucking in air. It then opened its mouth and unleashed a sphere of air that headed towards the two torpedoes.

The torpedoes swiftly changed directions, making a wider arc to escape the air bubble. But even though it missed, the air bubble exploded, causing a wave in the water that slammed into the torpedoes, killing the Motor Fishes within.

'That is tremendously powerful!' Gehen inhaled a sharp breath of air, shouting towards Gajor, "Quick, begin the plan!"

"Alright!" Gajor replied as he transmitted his voice, "Send out all the torpedoes and breath blockers. Commence full-scale attack!"

The moment he transmitted his voice, Gajor looked at Gehen. Gehen nodded as he patted his brother's shoulder, saying, "I'll leave it to you, brother."

"Haha, leave it to me." Gajor laughed as he grunted and quickly moved through the floors. Even though they had been affected by the Checkpoint Turtle's suffocating pressure, having consumed a Water Essence each, they were able to move.

As for the pirates, they had also done the same. Even the Motor Fishes had been fed a quarter Water Essence each. All of it were those they had plundered from the people throughout the two years. And now, they were spending them all for this one mission.

Almost twenty torpedoes were shot out from the pirate ship. They instantly spread out in all directions and headed towards the Checkpoint Turtle through different paths and at uneven times, preventing it from reacting accordingly.

Despite its tremendous size and powers, at the end of the day, it was a turtle, not famed for its speed. Moreover, when the Checkpoint Turtle unleashed another air bubble, something shot towards it at tremendous speeds, colliding into it.

And upon collision, the impact of the wave only caused a ripple, one that spread vertically in a two-dimensional manner. Unlike before when the shockwaves traveled radially, none were affected this time as they ensured they weren't around the singular wave.

It was a piece of cake to predict and dodge such an attack when in comparison, the radial shockwave couldn't be dodged.

The one that had caused this was a flat piece of wall that was slightly bigger than the air bubble unleashed by the Checkpoint Turtle. And, despite facing the attack head-on, it wasn't even scratched.

That was because it was made using the tablets of the people. The tablets were stuck to one another to create a wall large enough to block an attack. There were three rows of tablets arranged accordingly to create an unbreakable wall.

Upon seeing its effectiveness, Gehen heaved a sigh of relief, muttering, "Thankfully, the adhesive I used to stick them is powerful enough."

He then nodded, recalling a powerful creature that was capable of secreting mucus that caused all fishes to be attracted towards one another. Upon contact, they would stick to one another. The creature used this to create massive baits that attracted even more fishes towards it, creating a beneficial cycle.

And in the end, it would swallow them whole. Just the memory of it caused Gehen to shudder. He hadn't personally killed it, but had used the Helper Whistle to summon a lot of predator fishes to kill it.

In the end, he obtained its ability, storing its secretion to later apply on the tablets. It was an incredible ability to rely on and was one of his main weapons. And, now that he noticed its adhesive properties was enough to not fall apart from one of the Checkpoint Turtle's attacks, he heaved a sigh in relief.

He hadn't used the adhesiveness generated using his passive ability, for that wasn't potent enough yet. Rather, he had used the one sourced from the creature itself. Only because of that was it so powerful.

There were four walls in total. Hidden behind each was a team of pirates. They moved through the water, propelling towards an air bubble immediately upon notice. Upon receiving every attack, their bodies shuddered, on the verge of death.

The moment they defended against an attack, they retreated to recover while another team replaced them immediately. Since everyone had swallowed a Water Essence, they were managing somehow.

One of the Torpedoes managed to swerve through the Checkpoint Turtle's attacks, arriving before its neck before colliding into it. Even the neck muscles were ridiculously tough as the Torpedo stopped by the time the tip was lodged a couple of centimeters deep.

But soon after, the hatchling Motor Fishes began to proper forth as the torpedo continued to rotate while the Motor Fish continued to press it into the Checkpoint Turtle's neck. Moreover, quite a few torpedoes headed towards its back, a place it couldn't reach easily under the situation, landing on its tail one after another.

Upon noticing this, the Checkpoint Turtle moved, intending to head deeper into the water and rotate so that it could throw them all off. But, the moment it began to move, the pirate ship arrived from underneath and rammed into its belly.

The shell covering it was tougher than the Checkpoint Turtle's as it was sourced from a mature, ancient Checkpoint Turtle, possibly the strongest of them when it was alive. So, the younger Checkpoint Turtle was unable to handle the impact, suffering mild internal injuries as it was pushed up, prevented from escaping into the depths of the ocean.

At this time, Gajor arrived at the center of the pirate ship, out into an open tunnel that traversed from the front to the end of the pirate ship, acting as the channel that all the Motor Fishes in it used to propel the ship forward.

He laughed, saying, "One Helper Whistle can summon a predator fish. On top of that, a Helper Whistle can be used ten times."

Followed by his laughter, he began to blow into each Helper Whistle ten times. Something immediately changed in the waters as numerous dangerous fishes emerged from the depths of darkness, each at least three to four times his size.

Chapter 966: Killing the Checkpoint Turtle

Predator Fishes!

Any fish that hunted other fishes were classified under this category. But the ones summoned by the Helper Whistle were at least one to two meters in length and had a vicious nature. On top of that, it was calculated based on their ability to resist a wave.

In other words, that meant only fishes capable of killing at least three Neon Radiance fishes were classified as the predator fishes summoned by the Helper Whistle.

With that, Gajor blew a hundred of them ten times each, causing the ocean water to dim a little as a thousand predator fishes appeared, swimming through the waters as they headed straight towards the Checkpoint Turtle.

Using the Helper Whistles, that was the command Gajor gave them. A Helper Whistle worked on chance. Only the closest predator fish would be summoned. And by summoned, it wasn't as if they would be teleported.

They would simply be called forth. The closer they were, the faster they came. Since he had called forth a thousand predator fishes, they arrived in numerous batches, splitting up as they began to attack the Checkpoint Turtle.

The breath blockers—the tablet walls—blocked all of the Checkpoint Turtle's breath attacks while the torpedoes continued to drill into its body. Even though its body was tremendously tough, after drilling continuously, they were beginning to pierce through it.

They hadn't aimed at its shell. Gajor and Gehen were knowledgeable about just how ridiculously tough the Checkpoint Turtle's shell was. Even its muscles proved to be tremendously tough. As for the shell, they could drill it for an entire year and still fail to penetrate it completely.

First of all, they didn't have the proper tools to damage it. And secondly, the shell absorbed the healing properties from the ocean water. Therefore, it was capable of healing the damage inflicted on it.

So, attacking the shell was perfectly useless. Moreover, even its body was the same, capable of healing by absorbing the healing properties in the ocean water. Moreover, it was able to condense all the healing effects in a damaged part.

Since it was stupendously huge, resembling an island, the amount of healing effect it could absorb was nauseating to drill through. Despite everything, they continued to attack it.

The greatest damage dealer to it was the pirate ship that rammed into it from time to time, jerking it completely. This caused it internal damage while at times causing it to shoot breath attacks on the pirate ship.

Gajor and Gehen were happy whenever that happened. That was because even they knew the ship's hull wouldn't fall apart that fast. It would be able to bear at least forty to fifty attacks before even beginning to crack.

Plus, it took almost a minute per breath attack.

The predator fishes entered the gaps between its shell, biting into its flesh. A torpedo retreated, revealing the hole it had drilled through. A group of predator fishes hurriedly swamped the area, biting through the exposed flesh.

Just the sheer nutrition within it caused the predator fishes to enter a state of frenzy, drilling through it in an effort to devour more.

The Checkpoint Turtle flailed its limbs, failing to hit anyone as it was just too slow. As for its breath attacks, they were being defended by the tablet walls. Though at times, they failed to completely negate the damage and caused some casualties. In any case, it didn't matter on the grand scale of things.

Neither of the twins cared about the losses. In their minds, all losses were recoverable.

"Time to send in the big one now." Gehen laughed as a large space was opened in the ship's front. Exiting it was a torpedo ten times the size of others. There were four Motor Fishes just to propel it forward and another four to spin it. All of them were adults.

The moment they appeared, the Checkpoint Turtle noticed them. But, when it targeted them, the pirates controlling the tablet walls desperately moved forth to defend. More than half the pirates had suffered serious injuries now.

But now, that didn't matter as they persisted.

The Checkpoint Turtle condensed another breath attack. This time though, it didn't unleash it, instead storing it and compressing it further. Upon seeing it, Gehen knew that the situation had turned dangerous.

He immediately summoned all the fishes under his control to move forth, forming a large spherical school in the water, heading towards the Checkpoint Turtle's mouth. As for the two massive torpedoes, they spun ominously in the water, traveling at insane speeds.

Right when the Checkpoint Turtle opened its mouth, the two of them pierced into either side of its shoulder, targeting the point where its neck touched its body. The insane revolution it possessed caused it to readily drill into the Checkpoint turtle's flesh, drawing out copious amounts of blood.

As the Checkpoint Turtle's mouth opened, a sphere of air exited, looking almost no different to the bubbles from before. But this time, it seemed slightly heavier. On top of that, it didn't blast forth, moving slowly as it arrived before the school of fish, breaking apart.

For a moment, the ocean water seemed to have frozen over as everything seemed still. But immediately, a vortex formed in the center before a powerful shockwave blasted forth, attacking everything in its path.

It hit the pirate ship, sending it flying back a little. As for the pirates, they turned into a sea of blood. Most of the torpedoes had been destroyed, the Motor Fishes within, dead.

Gehen quickly got up and ran through the ship, soon exiting it as he was only able to see a sea of blood. His brother had already been floating outside. The two arrived within the ship and looked at each other, looking at the confusion and fear in the eyes of one another.

Gajor asked, "Is it dead?"

Gehen shook his head as he replied, "It's still going strong."

"Damn it. I guess we have no other choice but to go all out," Gajor cursed. "We might be able to replenish the pirates within a couple of years. But, we won't be able to replenish the Motor Fishes that quickly."

"But once you get that, we'll have more power. We can slowly accumulate everything back once again," Gehen said.

"Fine. What you said makes sense." Gajor nodded, commanding all the pirates to head out, "It's almost dead. One more push. The one that contributes the most would be directly supported with powerful passive abilities."

All the remaining pirates exited the pirate ship, swimming towards the Checkpoint Turtle. The remaining torpedoes were also launched as the pirate ship accelerated towards the Checkpoint Turtle, ramming into it.

The two monstrous objects moved past the sea of blood as Gehen was able to notice the two torpedoes lodged deeply into the Checkpoint Turtle's neck. It seemed the force from its attack had caused them to be lodged deep into its neck, preventing it from healing itself.

Moreover, there still seemed to be around a dozen predator fishes that were alive. They were the ones that had penetrated deep into the Checkpoint Turtle's flesh and had avoided the shockwave.

Gehen rammed the pirate ship into the Checkpoint Turtle continuously while Gajor commanded the pirates to attack accordingly. The earlier attack had caused all four of their tablet walls to be sent flying. When the momentum died, they sunk to the depths of the ocean.

Thankfully for them, the injuries in its neck prevented the Checkpoint Turtle from unleashing strong breath attacks anymore. The ones it unleashed, although terrifying, weren't at the previous levels. The shockwaves didn't directly kill them.

And with the Water Essence healing them, combined with the fact that they were surrounded by water, the pirates persisted. The battle continued for three more days when the last of the pirate perished. None of them had escaped because the closer they got to killing the Checkpoint Turtle, the greater they were enveloped by greed, wondering if they would be the lucky ones to obtain its ability.

Eventually, only Gajor and Gehen were alive. Without saying anything, they sped through the waters, intending to deal the final blow to the Checkpoint Turtle. At present, its neck was almost snapped as it was oozing out blood.

It was on the verge of death. Upon seeing it, Gajor carried his blade, expressing his greed as he sped forth with his maximum speed. Summoning all his strength, he hacked on the tethered portion of the neck, barely causing a dent.

Gehen had arrived before him, positioning himself on the other side as he began to hack into it. To prevent being stabbed in the back, the two faced each other and continued to hack into the Checkpoint Turtle's neck.

And when it seemed like it was about to die, Gajor raised his blade high up, condensing all his strength in it as he brought down his blade, pausing abruptly as he noticed a blade peeking out of his chest.

His first thought was of Gehen betraying him. He looked at his brother, noticing the shocked look on the other party, suffused with anger and disbelief. Gajor turned around, wondering if there was any other pirate that had survived and had stabbed his back, only to see a Motor Fish hatchling holding a blade.

His eyes widened as he mentally sighed, watching a sword pierce his neck. It was Gehen.

After killing Gajor, he didn't even waste another second on him as Gehen hacked with his sword, dealing the final blow to the Checkpoint Turtle.

Chapter 967: First King

The moment the Checkpoint Turtle died, all its blood that had mixed into the ocean mystically converged around Gehen, seeping into his body as he screamed in pain. Even though the healing effect from the Water Essence was still active in his body, the pain made him feel like he would be unable to hold on.

His body seemed like it would no longer be able to hold on. The sounds of bones crunching resounded as they seemed to be broken and rejoined repeatedly. Gehen could not help but bawl from the pain, unable to tolerate it any longer when a warm feeling permeated through his body.

All the blood in the surroundings vanished as the body of the Checkpoint Turtle floated before him, its eyes glaring at him. This startled him for a moment before he realized it was dead. For a moment, Gehen felt like there was unbelievable power in him before it seemed like that wasn't the case.

It was a confusing situation as he noticed the body of the Checkpoint Turtle began to dissolve into the water. Gehen stared at it for a couple of hours until it finished dissolving completely. He then looked around, noticing the numerous seas of blood surrounding him as he sighed, thinking to himself, 'Just what happened?'

He then returned to his ship, noticing that he was the only one alive in it. There were a couple dozen Motor Fishes that had been kept in reserve. They were also alive. As for the Motor Fishes that worked in pushing the pirate ship, they had died from overexertion.

"I have to make them breed and increase their population number. It would take me a year before I have enough Motor Fishes to even move this ship to a reasonable level." He sighed, clenching his hand into a fist as he felt his body to be in perfect condition.

But, just when he thought he could rest, he noticed a group of people arrive on boats. They seemed part of the group that had fled at the start upon seeing the pirates. It seemed that some of them had detection abilities that were able to sense the loss of life in the place.

Upon discovering that there was just one survivor, they arrived as a group, lusting for all the treasures the pirates had hoarded.

"I'll test it on them." Gehen smiled, realizing that he wasn't the least scared, despite there being around forty people that had arrived. He exited the ship, swam through the water, and landed on its surface.

It almost seemed like he was on land now as the ship had barely surfaced. Upon seeing him, the group of people didn't display any pleasantries, treating the pirate like they would treat a monster.

They jumped on the surface of the pirate ship and brandished their weapons, heading towards him, intending to hack him to death. Gehen planned to evade their attacks when an unnerving level of confidence emanated from deep within him, causing him to feel the weapons weren't threatening to him.

He then raised his arm, watching the sword of a man land on him. The force did send him skidding back, but Gehen noticed that his arm wasn't even scratched by the attack. Even though he felt the force, he didn't feel any pain. It was a strange feeling, considering the amount of pain he always felt corresponded to the force behind the attack.

Now, he felt the attack but felt no pain. He felt strange. But, upon realizing that he had obtained what he had hoped to gain, Gehen laughed, kicking the ground as he jumped towards the attacker, slamming a punch into his stomach.

His opponent felt like a rock had hit him as the air in his lungs escaped. He fell backward as Gehen stomped on his head, silencing him.

Gehen gazed at his hand, noticing that the skin was covered with a faint texture. It was akin to the Checkpoint Turtle's shell. He noticed how the shell was only at the place the man's sword had landed. 'So, this layer of armor will be auto-generated when I receive an attack?'

Intending to verify it, he jumped into the fray and attacked a couple more people, taking more attacks in response. Even though he felt the impact of the attacks, he didn't feel any pain. Soon, he noticed how the places he was attacked were now covered by a faint layer of the shell. But it soon disappeared after not being attacked anymore for a certain duration.

Gehen continued to hit them, slowly experimenting with his abilities. After some time passed, all the attackers were lying down, exhausted, beaten and battered. As for Gehen, he was completely fine. As the effect of the Water Essence was still in him, he wasn't even tired.

He then looked at the group before him, saying, "Since you dared to steal from me, that makes you pirates as well."

They were too tired to even refute him. Seeing their response, Gehen smiled as he said, "I was just intending to search for subordinates. You came at the right time. Follow me, and I can promise you wealthy lives. I'll also nurture you to become stronger than you are."

After a while, all of them submitted. Gehen then spent the day showing them the ropes, drilling into them everything they needed to take care of. Their battle was enough for the group to know that they couldn't do anything to Gehen.

But, none of them showed any expression of regret. Rather, they were happy. Without having to be adrift on the ocean on their small boats, afraid about being capsized by a large fish at any moment, or encountering strong opponents that tried to rob their belongings.

Now, they had become the robbing party. Moreover, their leader, Gehen had mysterious powers and was tremendously powerful. So, as long as they worked hard, they would lead wealthy lives, just as he had said.

So, they wholeheartedly followed him. Once they settled within the pirate ship and had begun to take care of the various tasks at the place, Gehen arrived at the top, watching the scene of the two oceans before him, muttering, "It is unfortunate I lost Heuk, Frontiff, and the other two. They had powerful abilities that proved helpful all this time. On top of that, unlike Gajor, they were significantly talented. It's such a pity..."

He then sighed as he muttered, "It would take me ages to find such useful subordinates like those ones."

He then closed his eyes, having figured out his power, shooting his eyes open as he was almost exhausted in a second. Followed by a flicker, a silhouette of the Checkpoint Turtle's shell materialized around him like a protecting cover.

All the veins on his body bulged as he gradually became more and more exhausted. The shell slowly gained form, growing out four limbs, a tail, and even a head. It was the Checkpoint Turtle. At present, it was just three meters in size. That was all the muscular energy in his body could afford to summon.

Gehen touched it once, noticing that even if it seemed like an entity of energy, it felt real to the touch, just like a real Checkpoint Turtle. He then concentrated further, almost becoming exhausted enough to fall unconscious.

The energy was streamed into the Checkpoint Turtle projection that began to suck in air from its tail and collected it in its stomach. It then channeled the air towards the throat, pressuring it with a chamber created to facilitate it.

Aiming at the ocean above, the Checkpoint Turtle projection unleashed the ball of wind. Gehen watched the ball of air land on the ocean above, causing a meter-wide crater that had a depth of almost three meters before expanding within the water, causing a mild shockwave.

Upon seeing the extent of the damage, Gehen laughed aloud. "As long as I improve my stamina, I would be able to condense it even bigger and deal even greater damage. Just this alone was worth all the sacrifice!"

He then double-tapped his glabella, summoning his tablet to see the words displayed on it.

[Killed Supreme Monster [Checkpoint Turtle]: Obtained 10 Godly Points]

[Obtained Active: Checkpoint Turtle]

"My own active ability. I love how it's named the Checkpoint Turtle. So, does that mean it possesses all the abilities of a Checkpoint Turtle?" Gehen laughed when he noticed another row of words appear.

But this time, it seemed it wasn't transmitted to him alone. It was transmitted to everyone on Layer 3.

[Birth of the First King: Gehen]

[Killing a Checkpoint Turtle will no longer reward an Active Ability]

"Ha…hahaha!" Gehen broke out into a burst of laughter. "That's right, this is for the best. Now, no one will be able to mimic my strategy against a Checkpoint Turtle. Good luck obtaining an active ability by killing a Supreme Monster in the Tertiary Landmass, a place it rules over, with only the help of nine people."

His laughter was carefree and was filled with a sense of pride. After all, he would probably be the only one in Layer 3 that would ever obtain an active ability by barely suffering any wound.

Chuckling, he turned around, looking at all forty people that had become his subordinates. Upon meeting his gaze, they thought of his mysterious ability and the announcement a while ago, linking one to two as they kneeled on the ground instantly. Chuckling, Gehen spoke, "That's right, I'm Gehen, this world's first King."

Chapter 968: World Map

Gehen gazed at the octopus that was standing before him, staring at the other party and said, "So, you're still alive."

It was the octopus that had been within the Checkpoint Turtle he had killed. Now that it showed itself before him, Gehen was curious about the reason. Even though he assumed it wouldn't be as strong as the Checkpoint Turtle, a Supreme Monster, he didn't dare be careless.

"No need to worry. I'm not an opponent you will have to face here." The octopus let out humane laughter as it responded, "The reason I am here is to hand out your punishment for killing a Checkpoint Turtle. No matter your reason, a Checkpoint Turtle has been established to help the humans struggling on this layer."

"What…kind of punishment?" Gehen frowned, becoming alert.

"For the crime of killing a Checkpoint Turtle, you are banned from anything related to the products sold in the Checkpoint Turtle. And that includes the items in the possession of others," the octopus replied, noticing Gehen heave a sigh in relief. It then expressed a frown as it asked, "You don't feel like it's a punishment? The products sold in a Checkpoint Turtle have tremendous value, you know."

"Yes, but I already have everything I need." Gehen smiled. "And, I have no plan of leaving my base behind to head into a Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary Landmass. I have already reaped all the benefits that can be obtained."

"There's also the entry ticket to Layer 2. It can only be bought in a Checkpoint Turtle," the octopus said.

"I have no plans for that," Gehen said, noticing the octopus laugh in response.

"Interesting, indeed!" It laughed.

Gehen pointed at it and spoke, "You mentioned before that you aren't an opponent I must face. Then, when and where will you be my opponent?"

"In layer 2." The octopus laughed. "But, since you won't go there, you don't have to concern yourself with it."

It then said a word of caution. "Also, unlike passive abilities, you can pass your active ability to your kids. They would become what is called an active ability bearer. When you die, the most suitable one among them obtains your active ability. So, if you wish to form a kingdom, don't leave your seeds in every sow you encounter."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind." Gehen nodded.

The octopus then pointed at his forehead, saying, "Now that you have an active ability and have been recognized as a King, your Tablet has gained an extra feature. Every year, you can look at the world map for exactly an hour. It would show all the various kingdoms in Layer 3."

The octopus cackled as it disappeared. "I wonder if you'll still be happy staying on Layer 3 once you see that."

Gehen returned to his room and sat in one corner. He didn't have anything like a pen and paper to take notes. It would take him a long time before he managed to install all the necessities in his ship. So at present, he just wished to look at the feature.

Thinking as such, he double-tapped his glabella, summoning his tablet to see that it was now bordered by waves on all sides, making it look fancier. He then messed with it until the map of the Layer 3 was displayed.

Immediately, the tablet changed. It displayed things related to an ocean on either side. Gehen looked through it, noticing that most of the place was just water. On top of that, there seemed to be minuscule dots scattered across it.

He swiped with two fingers, noticing that he was able to zoom in a little bit. Once he zoomed in to the limit, one of the scattered dots became as big as his finger. That seemed to be the limit of the function.

Soon, he noticed that the dot he had been looking at was a Landmass. Judging by its relative size with respect to the other dots, he determined that it was actually a Tertiary Landmass.

"What the heck?" He quickly zoomed in and out of the map, noticing that the Tertiary Landmass alone was in the four digits. Using it as a reference, he made a general estimate of the scale of the map, sweating buckets immediately as he muttered, "Approximately a million kilometers?"

He then noticed that there were various colors displayed on every island. After surfing through it for a while, Gehen noticed that humans were displayed as black. Not only that, but he noticed that most of the humans were concentrated in just one part of the map.

When he zoomed in further, he noticed that the distance between one edge of a human area to another was around two to three thousand kilometers. So, most of them had only been scattered in and around one part of the map.

The only reason they hadn't come across too many people was because their population was still too small, considering the area they were scattered across.

Gehen then looked past the area humanity was scattered, noticing some rocks situated closer. Judging by their size, they seemed to be some Primary Landmass. But then, Gehen noticed how the colors of a couple of Primary Landmass seemed to be the same. Judging by that, it seemed that one of the colors seemed to be invading the others.

As he hovered on it, a word was displayed, outlining the race that was invading. "Monster Gecko…?"

"It seems that are invading other Primary Landmasses. Once they cross that, they would start attacking humans." He frowned after realizing that, sighing as he said to himself, "Well, it's not something I have to care about for the time being."

He then located his position on the map and looked for the nearest place with the highest density of people, intending to recruit them. He planned to have around 2000 pirates with him, a number he felt would be optimal to man within his pirate ship. If he expanded even further, he planned to make more follow in individual boats, like a fleet.

After looking at the map until its time was up, Gehen laughed. "There are allies to recruit, enemies to face, and a massive world to explore. I won't ever regret staying behind."

…

There was a massive fish currently floating on the ocean water. And, seated on its back were twenty people while standing at the front was a woman, possessing features similar to Cultivator.

She was the one that had birthed him, the Third Princess of the Zamuria Royalty, hailing from the Zamuria Continent, and currently, the top-ranked person in Layer 3.

She had been looking at a certain name on her tablet ever since she was in Layer 3, focusing on it for a long time. It was Cultivator. Since she planned to rectify her mistake, she had been keeping an eye on his development all along.

Cultivator had become her prime focus. Everything else was secondary. But, as she continued to stare at his name, the display on the tablet changed as two rows of words were displayed. It showed the announcement of Gehen becoming the First King and the fact that no more Checkpoint Turtles could be hunted.

"So, the Checkpoint Turtle was indeed a Supreme Monster. Sucks that someone beat me to it," she muttered, but didn't seem disappointed.

Princess Zamuria!

She gazed to her back, looking at the ground with twenty people on it, asking, "How is it?"

"We have lured another one, Princess!" one of them spoke, heaving a sigh of relief as she let out an exhausted grunt.

"Good." Princess Zamuria nodded as her body shone with a gentle radiance. She noticed the display on the tablet change back to the rankings. She then tapped it once, pulling up her information, looking at her Passive Abilities.

[Neon Radiance]

She then nodded, thinking, 'It's for the best to develop with this unless I find a better ability. But for that, I have to wait a decade for the Second Wave. Only the passive ability given by the creature in a Wave has such potential.'

She then watched a shadow loom in the water above as a massive fish jump out, opening its mouth as it intended to gobble up the twenty people behind her.

The moment it jumped out, all the twenty people simultaneously jumped into the water, acting like they were used to the situation, timely escaping as the fish landed into the water.

Princess Zamuria smiled as she walked forth. The Neon Radiance she unleashed condensed into a blade of light as she leaped into the air, making a slash as the blade expanded accordingly, creating a long gash on the massive fish.

It seemed like Neon Radiance couldn't emit such a phenomenon. But, it was only possible because it was in her hands. Even now, the light blade had five flickers that combined to give it solidity. Even then, it seemed like she hadn't perfected the technique yet as a lot of light was simply radiated out, a waste considering her purpose of use.

Though, all she needed was only training. Smiling, Princess Zamuria attacked the massive fish in a flurry, preventing it from even nearing her before it bled to death. She easily farmed for a Godly Point, wiping her sweat as she sat on the fish carcass.

The twenty people soon went aboard it, beginning to lure in another massive fish that might award a Godly Point. Upon seeing their zealous work, Princess Zamuria waved her hand, telling them to rest for the time being as she frowned, deep in thought, 'Once I master this ability, I should head straight into a Tertiary Landmass. But before that, I have to purchase a lot of Water Essence to heal and replenish my stamina as I train myself. This will increase my stamina reserves the fastest.'

Chapter 969: I Love Stories

It was currently nighttime. But even if it was daytime, it wouldn't have mattered for Cultivator, who had gone beyond a depth of 10 meters from the ocean surface. At present, relying on just Underwater Breathing, he proceeded underwater.

Soon after, he activated another passive ability that allowed him to head deeper into the ocean depths. Once he noticed any dangerous fishes approach him through one of his abilities, he activated another passive ability, causing them to ignore him, as if they could sense that he would taste disgusting.

This way, he avoided all battles, continuing to head deeper and deeper into the ocean. He didn't seem bothered about Gehen obtaining an active ability, minding his own business. He seemed pretty excited about the exploration, gazing at the various fishes that swam past.

He then stopped, watching a Sonic Radar fly below him, sucking everything in its way as it used sharp teeth to shred them apart. Only after it went a long distance away did he continue to head deeper. And the deeper he went, the more bizarre the fishes got.

They stopped being streamlined, taking on unnatural shapes and sizes. Some of them were stupidly huge, while others were stupidly larger than huge. As if the depth necessitated a bigger body size, the fishes continued to become bigger and bigger.

As Cultivator headed deeper into the water, he initially thought it would be harder to breathe since he was too far from the air layer for the diffusion of air into water to reach him. But on the contrary, he felt like it was getting easier to breathe.

Cultivator traveled for well beyond two days, noticing that it was still easy for him to breathe. Thanks to his final passive ability, he wasn't crushed by the water pressure at all. At present, he had swapped out all his previous passive abilities to ones that were suitable to explore the depth of the ocean, taking an entire year to collect them.

And now, his abilities had finally paid fruit. Irrespective of how strange the sea creatures got, none of them tried to eat him, allowing him to pass by. As he was underwater, the healing effect of the water satiated him to a certain extent.

He had trained himself to be able to absorb enough healing effect from the water, using his previous passive ability to do so. Instead of depending on his passive ability like an extra ability, he trained using them, gaining part of the traits on his body himself.

That was how he increased his advantage. And now, using the same advantage, he kept himself satiated, continuing deeper into the ocean. By this point, he was able to witness sea creatures that were more than a hundred meters in length.

Judging based on their suffocating presence, Cultivator thought to himself, 'All these are probably on the level of a Supreme Monster.'

Eventually, after more than a couple of months of travel, he reached the bottom, noticing a barrier before him. When he touched it, he was sucked into it and dropped to the ground. Cultivator got up and dusted himself, looking around to see he was in a small air bubble that was hemispherical in shape, possessing a radius of 100 meters.

The entire place was almost devoid of life. Almost, because there was actually a living being before him, one that was actually sentient.

"Welcome!"

Upon seeing him, the being spoke. Though, its voice seemed like it didn't have a singular source. Cultivator looked around, observing the desolate place. There were quite a few pillars that were broken and almost grounded into dust due to the passage of time.

Among them, there seemed to be a pillar that was still standing. Only spanning a height of 10 centimeters, it was a humanoid creature with tentacles in place of legs. It still retained a humane upper body, though.

When Cultivator stood before it, the stature spoke, barely moving its mouth as it emitted a weak voice, "Welcome, mortal of a new era. May I know your name?"

"Cultivator."

"Cultivator is but a thing of legend."

"I'm not a legend yet."

"…"

"My name's Cultivator."

"Right! No wonder! Sorry, my bad! I got confused for a moment there," the statue said before its hands weakly shot towards his forehead, pointing at his glabella, asking, "That thing there, can I see it?"

"Why?" Cultivator asked in return.

"I want to see what's the controlling race of my world now," the statue said.

"Sure." Cultivator just smiled as he double-tapped his glabella and showed it for the statue to see.

Upon seeing it for a couple of seconds, the status emitted crunching sounds. "Dammit, it's still those blasted octopuses."

Cultivator simply watched the statue rage around for a good couple of hours, smiling when it calmed down.

It then looked at him, saying, "This world was once dominated by us Immortal Statue race. We were those that grew without having to consume any race. As long as we were in the ocean water, we would absorb nutrients and grow. Every adult from our race would reach a height of 80 meters and possess tremendous power."

"Once we mature, we break one of our arms and watch them grow into a copy of ourselves. It wasn't easy to kill us since our bodies were made from tough stones."

"We were one frightening race, but also the most peaceful, having never harmed any other race since we never had a reason to do so." The status groaned as it continued, "But, everything changed once the octopuses attacked us. Their ink was capable of eroding our proud stone sculpted bodies."

"One after another, we were killed by this blood-thirsty race. Eventually, I became the last survivor. I, the last king, who was once deemed as the strongest of my kind, a 200-meter-tall symbol of power, ran into the depths of the ocean to survive. My only safety net was the fact that the octopuses cannot reach this deep."

"From then onwards, I have been waiting for a day when I could pass all my powers to someone that would carry out my revenge." The statue looked at Cultivator and said, "If you promise to avenge my race, I'll pass you the strongest of my race's power, something that your race now knows as an active ability. Do you wish to obtain this ability and avenge us after hearing my complete story?"

Cultivator took a comfortable seating posture, smiling as he responded, "I love an interesting story."

Chapter 970: Oh Shit!

Krune, the Seamstress, and Solare appeared within an expansive cave. It was slightly dark and moist, while the ground seemed to be covered in a layer of mud. Krune immediately uttered minute sounds, using his Sonic Radar to scout his surroundings.

Immediately, he began to sweat as he looked at the Seamstress, telling her, "We've ended up in a rather tricky place."

Upon making sure that Solare was comfortably sleeping, the Seamstress gazed back, looking at the walls of the cave. She then accompanied Krune as they reached the exit, peeking out cautiously before they exclaimed in alarm, "Oh shit!"

They had arrived in a rock pillar that had a diameter just slightly bigger than the size of their cave. Their cave was almost positioned near the top of the pillar. Though, it was the bottom that caused Krune to sweat buckets.

Using his Sonic Radar, Krune determined that they were at least a kilometer from the ground. And that alone spoke facts about their plight. If it was just him and the Seamstress, they would manage to head down one way or another.

But unfortunately, they also had Solare to take care of, not to mention their boat, which had all their needs and necessities. With that, bringing it down was hard, if not outright impossible. Moreover, they were unsure about the dangers involved in the place.

After all, there was even a layer of cloud that blocked their vision from seeing the surface.

Krune looked upward, noticing that the water layer was almost a hundred meters above them. It was the ocean above. The Secondary Landmass was no different from the Primary Landmass in shape, shaped like a bowl that was submerged in one ocean while its ends touched the ocean above. This way, it wasn't possible for the ocean water to leak inside.

And from their spot, there was no way to reach it. Krune then used his Sonic Radar, frowning as he cursed, "This is bad, really, really bad."

"What is it?" The Seamstress also frowned while looking at him, holding her coral sword as she remained vigilant.

"There seem to be two races living here. And one of them...can fly," Krune said.

"What?" The Seamstress was left at a loss for words. If she was still the Seamstress she previously was, she wouldn't have been shocked. After all, she could simply tame a demon beast that was capable of flight. She had quite a few of those.

But now, as a mortal, the sky was off-limits. Hearing one of their foes was capable of flight almost frightened her. After all, they were currently stuck on a pillar. And, if they decided to descend to the ground, they would need to climb down the rock pillar for a kilometer.

During this time, they were fair game for the flying creatures. So, it would place them in a passive situation.

Unless they were careful, they could very well say that their lives were currently at risk. Krune maintained his Sonic Radar, scouting through a couple of kilometers in his surroundings. Only by activating his Ocean Heart was Krune able to shout loud enough without ripping off his throat.

It seemed that the flying creatures didn't cross the layer of clouds, ensuring that they were currently safe. He then thought of something, saying to the Seamstress, "We'll have to begin creating enough rope. Once we figure out a method to gain a water supply, our situation would turn for the better."

"But first, we have to scout our surroundings." Krune inspected the side of the rock pillar, touching with his hands as he felt around, gazing up. "But first, I have to see from the top."

"Be careful!" the Seamstress said as Krune exited the cave and grabbed hold of a rock protrusion, feeling it around with caution before he began to scale it up. Thanks to his Monster Gecko skin armor, he had better grip on the rocky surface, being able to move without much trouble.

There were less than ten meters to the top as Krune reached it within a minute. Standing at the top of the rock pillar, he looked around, for a moment beginning to laugh. His laughter was one of mockery but also of a sense of relief. That was because the walls of the Secondary Landmass were only positioned forty meters away.

The walls were steep, unlike the Primary Landmass with the Monster Geckos. Though, Krune noticed a couple of caves in his vicinity. After looking at them, he realized, recalling his experience of arriving at the Primary Landmass.

He muttered, "So normally, I would have been teleported into one of those caves. But since I arrived with my boat, the caves weren't big enough. Thus, we were teleported into a big enough cave that was nearest to the wall. That makes sense."

Even though 40 meters was still a vast distance that couldn't be traversed easily, Krune was confident of obtaining a solution. The reason he hadn't noticed it before while using Sonic Radar was because he had activated it while standing within the cave.

Thus, the only sound waves that exited it traveled in the direction of the cave's entrance. With that, he wasn't able to scout his back and sides yet. And now that he was at the top of the rock pillar, he was able to scout around without any blind spots.

He observed all the caves, noticing the ones under the cloud layer to be filled with the flying creatures. "So, for some reason, they won't fly past the cloud layer? That makes it a lot safer for us to be here."

He then looked around, noticing numerous pillars situated everywhere. Some of them were situated close while others were far from each other. The closest rock pillars only had a gap of 20 meters between them.

Krune closed his eyes, deep in thought, before deciding his course of action. "With enough ropes, we should be able to salvage the situation. Thankfully, we have enough food to last that long."

He then gazed up, looking at the ocean layer a hundred meters above. He then returned to the cave and talked with the Seamstress.

"We have enough rope but not enough to bear your weight for that great a distance." The Seamstress nodded as she offered her thoughts on the matter. Eventually, they decided on the course of their action.

"Let's use our water judiciously. We should be able to last for a month with it," Krune said as he noticed the Seamstress take action immediately.

In the meantime, he began to work on other matters. Two days later, the Seamstress had completed a thick enough rope. Krune tied one end of it to a large Frozen Cylinder. He then climbed to the top of the rock pillar, looking at the bone tree growing before him.

It hadn't reached full height yet. Rather, it had only reached his knee in height. It was because it was only growing by relying on his blood and some of the water he had supplied it. It didn't have any source of water to finish growing.

Krune tied a knot around it, ensuring that it wouldn't be damaged when the trunk of the bone tree widened in girth. He then created the same knot around the big Frozen Cylinder, taking in a deep breath as he inserted a bone tree fragment in a safety hole the Seamstress had installed into it.

He then hurled it with all his might, aiming it at one of the caves. Followed by a mild whistling sound, the big Frozen Cylinder crashed into a cave situated quite lower from his altitude. Sadly, it didn't explode.

Rather, there was only a crack on the two flat surfaces, making it seem like it would shatter soon enough. Its inherent weight prevented the rope coiling it from slowly moving out of the cave. Moreover, the knot was just around it.

Krune had kept them separate, one for tying up the big Frozen Cylinder and a knot for the growing bone tree. Once he had thrown it, Krune sat in silence as he awaited, using his Sonic Radar to notice a thin bone sprout emerge from the cracks on the cylinder.

One of its roots had eventually touched the ground, seeping into it when all the other roots had also followed suit. The upper part of the tree exited the cylinder soon after as it began to grow in size, having absorbed all of Krune's blood.

To increase its speed of growth, Krune had infused a lot of energy from his Ocean Heart into it. So, it quickly began to grow, eventually stopping at a meter in height. Krune then threw two more big Frozen Cylinders, hitting them on the bone tree.

They shattered and caused a layer of ice to form on the bone tree. Though, it wasn't affected. Rather, it absorbed all the blood before the freezing effect could even spread, quickly growing to reach its full height of three meters.

Krune also smashed the remaining two big Frozen Cylinders on the bone tree beside him, watching it grow in real-time until it reached its maximum height of three meters. He noticed how the stem was sturdy while the rope was perfectly taut around it.

The knot the Seamstress made seemed advanced. Moreover, the way she had tied each string to create the rope was different than what he had ever witnessed. A simple touch was all he needed as a master blacksmith to determine that it was strong enough to bear his weight.

To grow the two bone trees to full height, they had expended all six of their big Frozen Cylinders. But, since they could be created at any time, Krune didn't care about them. Instead, he was pleased with the solution to his problem.

Once it was done, he tugged the rope once, determining that the bone trees were lodged deep into the ground and wouldn't be uprooted. This was the reason he used them in the first place. If he had resorted to any hooks, they were bound to come off during repeated use.

But in the case of the bone trees, their roots would dig deep and not only hold the rock steady, but also create the most stable and toughest foothold to string their ropes around. With that, Krune slung a shovel that he had created using the shaft of the Monster Gecko's fishing rod and held the rope, using it to move like a sloth.

Chapter 971: Shattered Hope

With the rope being inclined downward, Krune did not hasten his travel at all, proceeding at a slow pace. The rope had a length of 50 meters he had to traverse. Even though the distance between the walls and the rock pillar was 40 meters, since the rope was declined, he had to travel a longer distance.

It took him more than ten minutes before he managed to land in the cave, patting the bone tree the rope was coiled around. As the bone tree had a near smooth surface, he was assured the rope wouldn't be damaged by wear and tear every time he used it to cross.

He then exited the cave and traversed across the walls, using its slope to his advantage as he climbed faster. It wasn't a vertical wall but had a small slope. Because of that, his time was a lot easier as he could simply rely on the extraordinary grip his Monster Gecko skin armor provided, quickly scaling up the place.

After spending half an hour, Krune reached the topmost cave in the wall. It was positioned the closest to the top, only three meters away from the water surface. The cave had a length of five meters and a width of three meters.

It was a fairly decent cave as he immediately began to dig into it using the shovel. The cave contained a lot of mud that made his life easier. Spending almost half a day, he managed to dig a pit of three meters deep, spanning the width of the cave.

While doing so, he was relying on the healing effect in his Ocean Heart to alleviate his exhaustion, continuing to work nonstop. With that, he created a dam of sorts, heaving a sigh of relief. As for whether or not it was sturdy enough for their needs, Krune wasn't the one taking care of that.

The Seamstress would continue from that point onward. After finishing his task, Krune slowly returned to his cave, suddenly noticing something amiss as he looked at the figure of the Seamstress.

At present, she was clutching her ticket, staring at it in shock. Upon seeing him, she said in a solemn tone, "I can feel this ticket losing power."

"What?" Krune was shocked as he quickly took his ticket out, soon able to feel something amiss about it as well. "Just…what is happening?"

"The Checkpoint Turtle is the source of the ticket's power," the Seamstress said. "And now that the ticket is losing power, it means something has happened to it."

She had just said it when the ticket snapped, crumbling into dust immediately. Krune's and Solare's tickets were no different. The fact that the tickets disappeared meant that the respective Checkpoint Turtle had died.

The Seamstress summoned her tablet as she gazed at the two rows of words that contained news about Gehen. After seeing it, realization hit the Seamstress as she muttered, "I see, we were played right into his hands. That damn fox."

Upon noticing that Krune hadn't figured it out completely yet, she sighed, explaining, "I had been suspicious when the pirate ship continued to change directions constantly. But I just thought they were looking for people to loot and didn't wish to miss even a single one of them. But now, it seemed they were targeting us to follow them and ensured that we were the closest to a certain Checkpoint Turtle."

"And..." She grunted. "It seemed that they had been aiming to a weak Checkpoint Turtle, judging by how they managed to kill one. So, they managed to kill it, obtaining incomparable benefits while causing us to remain stranded here. Now, without our tickets, we can't return to the Checkpoint Turtle anymore since it's already dead."

"In short, we won't be recalled even after a year has passed. And if we wish to leave this place, we have to manually exit it and hope we stumble upon a Checkpoint Turtle." Krune nodded. "I must say, they got us good."

"You're not concerned?" The Seamstress glared at him, almost shouting.

"Nope." Krune laughed. "Instead, I would like to thank them."

As her expression morphed into that of anger, Krune smiled. "It means we have a longer time to stabilize ourselves in this place. If I didn't have to leave the previous Primary Landmass, I would have created a steady supply of Godly Points myself. And now, we have the option to do that."

"Besides." He chuckled. "Don't forget that we still have the four Mutated Motor Fishes. So, no matter the distance, once we're ready, we would be able to find a Checkpoint Turtle. Let's obtain enough Godly Points to leave Layer 3 by then."

"Fine." The Seamstress let out an exhausted sigh, looking at Krune. "I'm just afraid that we would have to spend the rest of our lives in this place. We're just mortals now. And every day, we are aging further and further."

"Uh…huh…" Krune nodded awkwardly, mentally sighing as he thought, 'I already have a wife.'

He could figure out the intention of the Seamstress. She meant that if they would be stuck in this place for the rest of their lives, they might as well start a family. As mortals, they needed hope to press forth in their lives.

"Even though I already have grandkids in the God Realm, if this is our fate…" The Seamstress slumped on the floor, lacking the strength to speak.

As for Krune, he wasn't any different either. The fact of losing the tickets took a greater toll on their minds than they had expected. Even though he tried to put it off in an optimistic way, he too was plagued by the thought of 'What if?'.

What if even after he accumulated 200 Godly Points, he was unable to find any Checkpoint Turtle? What if the Secondary Landmass was situated in a dangerous ocean area that prevented them from ever leaving it? What if they became too old to even battle by the time they obtained enough Godly Points?

What if he was unable to endure being alone anymore and started a family with the Seamstress? What if he came across Feifei after he had a child with the Seamstress?

Thoughts that he never had as a cultivator swarmed his mind, steeping him in worry. Even though Krune had immense trust in his character and loyalty to his wife, he couldn't guarantee any of that as the current him. Maybe he won't give in for a year or two or three.

But what if a decade had passed? What about two decades later when the signs of aging would become apparent in him? Would he still remain as the same Krune? He wasn't sure. As a mortal, he could be assured in himself.

After all, a mortal's mind was susceptible to the weakness of the passage of time. As a cultivator, even if they were old, they would still maintain the strength dictated by their cultivation base. They wouldn't ever feel weak.

But as a mortal, beyond a point in life, it was only downhill. The body would slowly begin to weaken over the years. And beyond a certain point, they would become too weak to even take care of themselves.

In this dangerous world where they had to constantly fight for survival, even reaching old age wasn't guaranteed. Rather, becoming old was a curse since they would only drag everyone down. That night, they went to bed early.

Krune was woken up quite a few times during the night by Solare, but in the end, he still managed to get enough sleep. When he woke up in the morning, he noticed that the Seamstress was getting dressed. He quickly turned around.

Unlike in the ocean, the gravity was only facing one direction. So, they couldn't use the other side of the boat's surface. Therefore, they slept on the same side. Even though there was around three meters of space between their beds, it was still a bit awkward between them.

Krune began to feed Solare while the Seamstress let out a forced smile, speaking to Krune, "I'll complete the dam first. The Motor Fishes, too, need water urgently."

Saying so, she exited the cave, holding with her a couple of coral tools that she had created. She also held a couple of containers of the Healing Extract, soon leaving the place as she traveled using the rope, soon heading towards the topmost cave in the walls.

She then entered the cave, looking at the tank that Krune had created. It had a depth of a meter. As for the dugout soil, he had flattened them into bricks and lined them in one side. His part of the work was impeccable.

The Seamstress carefully jumped into the tank and placed her hand on the floor, slowly emitting a murky white radiance.

Coral Wave!

The floor was soon layered with a thin layer of coral. It acted as a layer to prevent the water from seeping into the ground. She continued with the process, drinking the Healing Extract from time to time to replenish her stamina.

At the end of the day, she layered the insides of the tank with a centimeter-thick layer of coral. It hadn't ended as there was a lot of work to be done. She was already exhausted.

"Work is slow as a mortal." Sighing, she returned to her cave, plopping to the ground in exhaustion. She then looked around, noticing Krune taking care of the four Mutated Motor Fishes.

He placed two tubs on the ground, filling them with their water reserves, expending more than half the reserves. It wasn't enough for them to live comfortably, but he didn't have many options. It was barely enough to ensure that they wouldn't die.

They were brought with them because Motor Fishes were considered as property. Since they were attached to the boat, they were teleported with the boat. It seemed the teleportation wasn't something that could be selectively executed. It was the advantage they took to bring the Motor Fishes with them.

For the next two days, Krune and the Seamstress hardly conversed, busying themselves with their respective work. At the end of the second day, the Seamstress heaved a sigh of relief in the topmost cave as she muttered to herself, "Finally, it's done."

Before her were coral walls that were a meter high. They were a centimeter thick and had been equipped with a tap mechanism.

"Now, to prepare the pipes and other items." The Seamstress sighed, shaking her head as she continued to work on her next task. "I hope I can leave this place before my death."

Chapter 972: Creating Water Tanks And Ropes

"Alright, this looks pretty good." Krune heaved an exhausted sigh as he looked at the ground before him. He was currently inside a wide cave where he had dug the ground and placed all the rocky gravel on one side.

He then made numerous trips from the cave to the topmost cave, bringing with him the mud that was in there. The closer the cave was to the ocean layer, the more abundant the mud in it. Thus, he transported the mud from there to the large caves in the walls.

It was to plant the Rope Bushes. Having raised two of them for more than a year now, Krune had collected quite a few of their seeds. A Rope Bush finished growing within a month and bore a seed at the end of each month.

Krune collected the seeds and stored them. As he hadn't uprooted the two Rope Bushes, they bore seeds every month. Because of that, he had 30 Rope Bush seeds now, including what he obtained from the Primary Landmass.

As they needed a lot of rope to descend to the ground, their priority was to grow even more Rope Bushes. With that, all their needs would be satisfied.

The Seamstress worked on the delicate parts of making rope, pipes using the rope, and so on while Krune worked on the grunt work and created places to plant the Rope Bushes, the bone trees, and other plants they had.

He also dug a large pit in one of the longest caves. This cave only had a width of three meters but a length of almost 30 meters. He chose this place for the Motor Fishes to live in for the time being. Keeping them in a small place would cause them to die sooner or later. After all, even if they were a tamed species, moving in the water was what they loved.

So, if he didn't wish to lose them, Krune had to create a place for them to survive. He couldn't leave them in the ocean since it was too risky. When he checked using his Sonic Radar, Krune noticed a lot of predator fishes in the vicinity.

Even if he was strong, they would swarm him to death within a dozen seconds. It was too risky. This was another reason he almost despaired. After all, he would have to face them when they planned to leave the place.

The Seamstress only had one Helper Whistle with her that she carried around for emergencies. Naturally, it was clearly insufficient in this place filled with predator fishes. Even if she summoned all 10 predator fishes, they would easily be overwhelmed.

'Once the two of us grow stronger, leaving this place should be possible,' Krune thought as he finished planting all the thirty Rope Bush seeds in a couple of caves.

The Seamstress had created a bundle of threads that were wound close to one another to create tiny flexible pipes. She lodged a rectangular piece of coral into the walls that were submerged in the water, fixing all the thin rope pipes into it.

She then extended them straight, stopping them at the entrance of the topmost cave.

Capillary Rise!

It was a concept of physics where water moved up in a thin tube against gravity. She used the same concept here, making the water move a certain distance until the gravity changed. At that exact point, she increased the diameter of the rope pipe, causing the principle of capillary rise to fail.

With gravity acting on it, the water soon dripped down. This way, she created an automatic pumping system. Even though the water only dripped one drop per second, she had placed around a hundred pipes in the cluster. In other words, it was a considerable amount that was generated automatically every second.

She had created an inclined slope over which the water dripped. They slid down into a funnel that was connected to another pipe, with it being connected to the water tank. The water tank had a width of three meters, the same as the cave's width.

It was a considerable reservoir of water, able to hold 24,000 liters of water. Once filled, it would last them for a month. Though, they still had other necessities, like watering the bone trees and the Rope Bushes. With that, they needed even more water.

Then again, considering the speed of water influx, they would have more than enough water to use after a couple of days. After all, the dripping from the numerous thin pipes equaled to five milliliters per second, which amounted to 18 liters per hour.

It was more than enough for all their uses. As the water began to drip into the water tank, the Seamstress continued to make more rope pipes, intending to connect them to the other tanks that Krune was making.

They intended to have a couple more water reservoirs just in case they had an emergency. Moreover, they also needed to provide a source of running water in the tank with the Mutated Motor Fishes. After all, if they lived in stale water, they would come down with diseases.

Setting up everything required time, a lot of it. Once the first water tank was completed, Krune made numerous visits to it, carrying a small bottle that he filled with water and used to water the Rope Bushes.

Making repeated travels along the slope was hard and exhausting. Nevertheless, he persisted while relying on his Ocean Heart. The Seamstress relied on the Healing Extract he had created, subsisting on it to continue working with almost no rest.

In the night, they played with Solare for some time before sleeping. It almost seemed like they had formed a routine as they worked without a single complaint, soon running out of rope to use. They had first prioritized creating pipes using the ropes to obtain a reserve of water for their use.

And now, the water tank in the topmost cave was fitted with almost ten taps, with each tap connected to one of the caves. Among them was the longest rope that caused them to run out of their stock. Even though Krune had brought in a massive amount that he had stolen from two Monster Gecko villages, their expansive project quickly burned through the reserves.

"Thankfully, it was enough." Krune sighed in relief as he noticed the pipe continue to drip a drop of water every couple of seconds. Currently, he was standing atop the rock pillar. And surrounding the bone tree before him was a small circular platform.

It had been built around it, with enough space between it and the bone tree to house some water. The walls were made of coral. And inserted into it was the pipe that continuously dropped a drop of water every couple of seconds. This way, the bone tree would have a continuous supply of water.

At present, Krune wasn't sure if that level of water was enough for the bone tree. So, he was just experimenting to see the level of water it needed. Moreover, another pipe was attached to the walls around the bone tree.

From this pipe spanned a rope, heading into their cave, connecting with their boat, the Paddle. This way, they can fill up their water reserves. Moreover, Krune also installed a simple drainage system in their cave so that their level of hygiene would be maintained.

The drainage was connected to a thick rope pipe that was connected to the nearby rock pillar. From there, it fell wherever. Krune noticed how the murky drainage water fell through the layer of clouds, coughing once as he muttered, "May you have pleasant rains under."

A month later, the first batch of Rope Bushes finished growing. Krune harvested them and planted the thirty Rope Bush seeds that grew on their top. Now, they got more material to use. They constantly worked to finish setting up.

When they rested, they took turns to teach Solare about simple stuff, carefully taking him to the top of the rock pillar for fresh air. Once the pool of water for the Mutated Motor Fishes was completed, Krune and the Seamstress struggled a lot to transport them to their respective cave.

It took them a day to transport each. Once they reached the cave and noticed the pool with a length of 30 meters, the Mutated Motor Fishes were overjoyed. It was more than enough for them to live happily.

After all, Krune had increased the depth of the pool to a staggering four meters. It gave them plenty of space to swim. Moreover, a pipe was connected to the pool, supplying it with fresh water from the ocean.

Plus, another pipe was connected to the pool that siphoned out the murky water at regular intervals. Thanks to the Seamstress and Krune's efforts, they had made it entirely automatic. Thanks to the bone tree fruits, they could keep them fed easily.

After three months passed in such a fashion, they were close to running out of food. After talking it through, the two of them headed into the ocean layer above, struggling for some time before they killed a massive fish.

Krune dissected it while in the waters as they constantly moved around, dodging the attacks of other predator fishes that had been lured by the blood. Once he had cut out sizeable chunks of the fish, they left it in the water and arrived at the topmost cave.

"This is enough for a week." Krune heaved a sigh. Then, they carefully brought in pieces of the meat, making numerous trips to do so. Once he stored all the meat in his boat, Krune said, "Let's hunt once every three days. That way, we can stock up on food. I need a lot of energy since I've already expended four rings of my Ocean Heart."

"Fine by me," The Seamstress nodded and headed out to work once again, keeping her conversation with Krune to a minimum. He understood why she was doing that. It was because if they interacted more, over time, they might become used to the company of the other party.

Chapter 354 - 964-972