{Ha, grant a wish? What do you mean? }

“Weren’t you always boasting to the outside world that your treasure had been stolen? “

The shadow in the water was taken aback for a moment, then laughed:

{Hahaha. Ridiculous, do you still have the guts to jump into this water and look for treasure? }

The White Shadow Mind Dragon emerged from behind Yang Zicang, silently stretching down to the ground and entering the water.

In an instant, the underwater perspective became clear.

Hua Mi, who was stealthily watching everything, covered her mouth tightly with both hands, as if she had just discovered the man’s long-hidden secret.

After two or three minutes, the dark blue humanoid figure resurfaced, sneering at the young man by the broken pool.

{Why so quiet? Waiting to die? }

“Just wait. “

{Weren’t you chirping so happily just now? Come on down! Thought you still had a handle on the treasure right here, didn’t you? }

In a giant woven circle, the two—both battered and drained—traded verbal jabs.

Suddenly, Yang Zicang’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Through the mind perception of the White Shadow, he sensed a dark blue thing, which was emitting a mellow, faint halo in the seawater. The seaweed and even the rocks around it grew thick and lush, brimming with vitality.

• ｛Distributor February. Di’an is watching the glorious prelude I am giving birth to.｝
• ｛The awkward distributor February. Di’an is feeling thrilled.｝

A dark hole appeared, spinning gently, and a silver long spear extended out like a cue ball striking, making the object tangled in seaweed shift slightly.

With the tap, a blurry, phantom voice emerged.

{Who are you… you are a child born from the depths of the sea… }

That’s it! Yang Zicang’s heart leaped with joy.

-｛Distributor Di’an wishes to pre-order the glorious light I am nurturing.｝

-｛Distributor Di’an gave me a favorable review.｝

-｛Distributor February. Di’an raised the price by 20% for the glorious prelude I am nurturing.｝

Yang Zicang felt as if he were looking at a gentle figure—like the most familiar person, yet utterly strange, evoking both fear and yearning.

The commotion here made the octopus, which had been focused on the pool, pause its movements.

……

Ka. Yunni felt his entire sleep robe trembling.

The Fogfolk had learned of the treasure’s existence, and he struggled to calm himself, carefully pondering what that person had just said.

“He doesn’t know the Secret Treasure is there, does he… He probably just heard we once possessed that thing and guessed it based on the existence of the ‘Mutants.’ Right, he definitely doesn’t know where it is… “

In the study, Ka. Yunni pressed a switch, cleared his throat, and placed the microphone to his lips.

“Fogfolk, ” he said.

— “Lord Yunni of the island, how much are you willing to pay to redeem your treasure? ” The infuriating voice came through the earpiece.

“What! ” As soon as he reactivated the speaker, Ka. Yunni was so shocked he stood up abruptly.

Then it occurred to him that the other might be taking advantage of his grandfather’s inability to speak, trying to deceive him.

Clenching his teeth, Ka. Yunni spoke: “Hmph, you little brat, our family’s Secret Treasure was lost long ago. Where on earth would you have picked it up? “

“——Of course, I picked it up from beneath this pool. To be precise, it was about forty-five meters north under the water, wrapped in a clump of seaweed. “

With a crash, the island master lost his footing and tumbled to the floor, nearly snapping the headphone wire, while the microphone clattered away, emitting a piercing electronic screech like a “whoop! ” from the distant speaker.

……

So it had been hidden in the sea beneath the warehouse all along, thought someone silently monitoring the radio station, who was tracking the conversation.

……

The old island master was now hurling the most venomous curses at Yang Zicang, frantically attacking the man by the pool with his dark-blue phantom.

As for that giant octopus, it had already headed toward the treasure’s location, though one of its tentacles remained hovering nearby.

The White Shadow’s telekinesis truly couldn’t locate the opponent’s psychic body, but the octopus was also helpless against the Dragon of Thought.

Hua Mi, who had remained silent since their sensory link connected, unable to hold back any longer, inquired:

“{_Bu Chen, what are you planning to do? } _”

Only then did Yang Zicang notice there was someone watching him.

A flicker of thought surged through his mind, and the telepathic bond, unconsciously overlooked during the tense battle, became sharply clear again. Hua Mi was sitting there like a little girl by her bed reading a story, her pitch-black eyes wide open as she stared over at him.

From off to the side, Xue Qi’s haggling voice could still be faintly heard, going on about “Four hundred fifty at most, ” or some such.

Yang Zicang dodged a strike and lashed out with his sword, smashing into the dark-blue shadow’s form.

“Ka Bomu! Come out, I’ve already found you hiding under the waterway! “

{You might as well expect me to be more reliable than him! }

“The island lord is right. ” Beneath a piece of fragmented floor in the rear passage, Ka Bomu poked his head out. “But Fogfolk, if you leave now, I can plead with the island lord, and we’ll just call it even. “

A black hole appeared beneath him in an instant. With two popping sounds, his tentacles snapped, and the aberrant cried out in agony.

“Do you want to be trapped here for life, neither living nor dying, or follow me out into a broader world?! “

“But… I’m just a nobody… “

{If he dares to come, I’ll show him one hell of a surprise. }

Conscience-stricken, Ka Bomu said, “This lord from the Mist World, you’d better think of another way. I truly… “

“Have you ever once made your family proud? “

“You… “

“Have you ever done even one thing worth bragging about to others?! “

“I… but for me, that’s simply impossible… “

“You’ve seen this rug, haven’t you! ” The giant rug shook violently, flinging the person inside out like a shuttle thrown from a loom. “With it to protect you, and my weapon to defend you, youcando it! “

Ka Bomu found himself actually becoming tempted.

A violent blast of water pressure surged from beneath, and the octopus-man, sensing the change in force, instantly understood that the old island lord had made up his mind to kill him. The great octopus’s spread tentacles reached tens of meters, and with just one stretched out, it charged straight at them.

Sensing all this unfolding, Yang Zicang’s mind was pulled in several directions at once, and he felt his spirit starting to strain.

｛Hua Mi, ever done any accounting work?｝

{You… are you asking me to cycle the Time Sequence? I’ve never done that before, you know. }

｛There’s a first time for everything! Come on, invest in me. Think of any way you can – just cycle me a round of 100,000 years of Time Sequence without an increment cost!｝

The connection broke.

｛Gravitational Arc Light!｝

Thump!

A black hole materialized directly beneath the water, and from it a long spear shot out like a torpedo, slamming into the colossal tentacle rushing towards Ka Bomu. The seawater burst outward from the point of impact.

The massive rug, caked with filth, transformed back into a silk scarf before unfolding again and sinking into the water. It rolled towards that direction, curving upward to catch Ka Bomu, who had come swimming this way only to be flung aside.

Yang Zicang had no idea exactly how far this carpet could stray from him. He recalled that in the past, even when he had leaped from a great height, the flying carpet would never suddenly plummet out of the sky. He surmised that if it was only a few dozen meters away, it likely wouldn’t lose its control entirely…

｛Hua Mi wants to invest 100,000N of full warrant order Time Sequence into me.｝

｛Because my upper limit of 100,000N Time Sequence has already been exceeded, the investment fails.｝

｛I, the Great Quadrilateral, if I possessed the Bloodline Resonance Statue, should now begin illuminating the next dim Guiding Star.｝

As soon as he reconnected with Hua Mi, the other side replied in a flustered panic: {It’s no use, I can’t accept your 100,000-Year Time Sequence. }

Yang Zicang snapped back, irritated:

｛Find someone else to accept it. Once my 100,000 years have been transferred to you, you pass them on to a second person, then the first person gives the 100,000 years back to you.｝

{Oh, then wait a bit longer. }

The link cut off.

In the span of those two to three sentences, multiple attacks had already erupted back and forth underwater.

The additional three hundred thousand years’ worth of time sequence amplified by the hundred thousand years Yang Zicang carried on him had been completely exhausted; when relying only on the mere 100N attack power of the “Century Weapon” to fend off the tentacles’ collision, the silver spear was being knocked flying wildly all over the place.

Ka Bomu felt very strange at this moment. He had never imagined he would oppose that terrifyingly overpowering old tribal chief; the oppressive pressure from a mutant of that level left one with no will to resist.

But now, he was doing exactly what he had never thought of before.

Boom! Another fierce wave of hydraulic pressure surged and crashed over, causing Ka Bomu, wrapped in the giant carpet, to tumble out uncontrollably.

“Not as terrifying as I imagined after all!“

Swoosh~ Ka Bomu quickly adjusted his position in the water with the not-so-heavy giant carpet, braving the rapid current toward the lush seagrass area where the treasure lay.

{Get back here, Ka Bomu! }

The water flow beside the little octopus-man Ka Bomu changed speed rapidly, and a dark shadow of the old island lord emerged. The moment it appeared, Yang Zicang immediately activated the “Gravity Arc” to appear at its side.

｛Hua Mi invests 1N for me.｝

{Come! }

｛I invest 97,000N for Hua Mi!｝

｛I kept a thousand years’ worth of principal that can still be amplified.｝

The link cut off instantly.

And at this moment, the shadow of the old island master underwater, who had discovered it wasn’t being attacked immediately, boldly swung its arm, and with a single claw, it tore off two of Ka Bomu’s tentacles.

{Die! } The phantom cacophony of the shadow, frenzied with excitement, echoed through the cave.

The investment link flickered back to life.

｛Hua Mi invested 99,000 N of Marque of full warrant order for me! What a long, drawn-out epoch this has been.｝

｛Gravity Arc.｝

｛Because I am the Great Quadrilateral, I can quadruple the amplification.｝

｛400,000 N!｝

At the very moment Ka Bomu truly felt the grip of death, in his vision rapidly consumed by darkness, an orange radiance suddenly emerged from a single point!

The light of the Amplified ChronoInstant tore through the darkness, causing even the maimed triple-ringed eye staring directly at it to feel seared by this heatless glow.

{Ah—— }

Boom boom boom rumble!

The water beneath began to tremble violently, the sea surging in response. This place, originally a warehouse and now nearly a large pool, churned with rippling waves.

He Yishu, who had been lying on the ground coughing up goodness knows what for ages, just propped himself up with a cough when the pool burst open with a bang! The water pillar erupted from the giant octopus’s violent thrashing, crashed into the ceiling, and then slammed back down, pinning the man to the ground with a single wave.

The filth on him was washed clean by the torrent.

Yang Zicang had also become a drenched, hapless sod.

The girl at the other end of the telepathic link watched anxiously as the churning waters gradually began to still and calm.