CHAPTER 276: CHAPTER 274: THE CONCH HORN AND THE MAJESTY OF THE KING

"Hehehe..."

Upon hearing Solomon’s unfriendly questioning, Aiven awkwardly chuckled; in this matter, he was purely an innocent victim caught in the crossfire.

But how could he explain?

The goddess "Kurutena" ruling the sky from the "Golden Kingdom," the "Golden Kingdom" truly being full of gold, and the ultimate secret of the world possibly hidden behind the "Thirteen Compasses."

Moreover, human adventurer Jelos was already ahead of all national official expeditions, and the compass in his hand would undoubtedly be his target...

Before having enough strength and being able to confirm how the kingdom would react to this information, all related information would be kept as top secret in his heart, as revealing it wouldn’t benefit him at all.

At most, he could fulfill his duty as a Guardian Knight by selectively disclosing part of it, such as informing the Crown Prince that the Eldest Princess was still alive, allowing her to prepare in advance.

So, after Aiven played dumb for a while, Solomon, with a face covered in blood scabs and dust, looking quite miserable, had no choice either.

Furthermore, naturally averse to trouble, Solomon only harbored unrelieved bitterness and wasn’t very interested in knowing about an unknown god’s affairs.

"Alright... then let’s talk about the hush money issue!"

"Hmm? Hush money?! Brother, are you that realistic?"

However, in the end, the two of them reached a secretive deal.

The price for silence was the two "Shadow Talismans" Aiven had just used, which allowed the holder to hide in shadows, plus a bottle of Aiven’s cherished good wine.

For his first attempt, Aiven’s success rate in creating the "Shadow Talisman" wasn’t high.

Besides the one devoured by the little lizard Kaka, Aiven only managed to produce five finished products out of fifteen raw materials he had, a success rate of around one-third.

Sophisticated Solomon looked down on everything else, but was intrigued by these rare items and that bottle of wine.

Additionally, the wine that Aiven considered just a bonus to cater to his tastes wasn’t ordinary either.

It’s rumored to be a specially customized rum for the centenary national day of Hilus twenty years ago, with only 200 bottles produced, each with a unique code and mark on the bottle.

The rum was something Aiven had confiscated in the past.

It’s said that even an empty bottle now could fetch over 200 Golden Lions at auction.

Being not much of a drink lover, Aiven certainly thought that the rum was just an extra compared to his meticulously crafted talisman, but perhaps in Solomon’s eyes, the wine might be the real focus.

Therefore, accepting someone’s courtesy, Solomon, as an officer of the Tyrone Kingdom, easily neglected his duty and solemnly promised not to divulge today’s events.

"If the already jittery kingdom high command and garrison commander knew that a demigod had strolled through their own domain just now, wouldn’t they be thrown into chaos?

Well, it’s not because I accepted a bribe, but because the stability of the kingdom comes first! That’s it!"

As for the other innocent victim of this incident, it was probably the mainland girl of unknown origin, "Vinya."

Some people are naturally highly spiritual, though they might not qualify as wizards, but are born "spirit mediums."

Even an untrained "spirit medium" isn’t considered an extraordinary profession, but such individuals, due to their special constitution, easily attract spiritual entanglements.

However, Miss Vinya had exceptionally "good" luck, instantly attracting the largest one.

Yet it’s unknown what fate the girl’s original soul would meet after being possessed by a god.

"After all, she was such a lovely young lady..."

There was a tinge of regret for the girl.

However, Aiven also understood.

No matter the outcome, constraining and judging a god with human’s narrow perspective, moral code, and behavior norms is meaningless.

Just like peeking at the stature of immortals with the fleeting perspective of the short-lived, and concluding that "eternal life is a curse" isn’t it too laughable?

Thus, Aiven decided that until he had enough strength and perspective, he wouldn’t delve into the so-called "ultimate secret of the world."

Feeling the "Adventurer’s Blood," seemingly awakening from slumber within his body after recovering from an uncontrolled state, Aiven thought this... was the most crucial concern for him at present.

...

Crash, crash, crash—!

With thunderous waves pounding the shore, it was still on that remote rock island suspended in the depths of the Black Sea.

It seemed as though another Black Sea hovered above, desperately unleashing its wrath with torrential rain and fierce winds, with monstrous waves reaching a terrifying height of fifteen meters.

Howl!

Hiss!

Yet such adverse weather couldn’t conceal the continuous roars of giant beasts from the stone cave behind the island.

"White Remains" Heimtz, "Shepherd of Tide" Tien Kute, and "Octopus Ghost" Harkins stood high on a cliff at the back of the island, overlooking the cavernous stone cave below and the vast, tumultuous waves.

Around these three powerful extraordinaries, the howling wind and rain seemed to fear their power, avoiding them from several meters away.

Not only were they untouched by the storm, but even the ground they stood on wasn’t wet at all.

Pirate King Harkins might be summoning wind and rain outside, but among these three, he could only take a back seat.

Upon hearing the increasingly frantic roars of the sea monsters, he took out a luxurious gold pocket watch from his chest and checked the time, courteously addressing the tall figure in white beside him:

"Lord Heimtz, the time has come. What do you think?"

"Hmm!"

Heimtz looked up at the distant layers of towering waves rolling in and nodded, "Such good weather is perfect for welcoming the arrival of fledgling sea monsters, open the gate!"

With an order.

A large group of bizarre, half-human, half-monster Brotherhood members worked together to slowly pull open the heavy volcanic rock gate blocking the entrance of the cave.

Swish——

Surging seawater began pouring into the sea monsters’ hatching ground.

However, the sea monsters trapped in the hatching pools deep within the cavern were filled with joy. As sea monsters, the longing for the ocean was an instinct etched deep in their bloodline.

Even these defective products, rapidly cultivated in just a few months, were no different!

Before the water could fill up, the newborn "adult" sea monsters were already impatiently rushing out along the waterways.

Roar——!

Moo——!

Hiss——!

As the natural rulers of the sea, even a storm at sea was no different to them than a light drizzle.

Especially with a total of eighty-seven sea monsters gathered together, their innate extraordinary abilities instinctively activated, further intensifying the downpour overhead.

Half of the large species among them threw back their heads and howled to fully express their boundless joy of entering the ocean.

However, the waves on the sea surface were indeed a bit too much, making it tough for the inferior small species, barely 30 meters long, to handle. After struggling for a while, they all dived below the surface.

"Hmph!"

Upon seeing such an embarrassing display, the president and vice-president of the "Deep Sea Brotherhood," Heimtz and Tien Kute, both let out a snort.

But for these creatures with even lower intelligence than wild low-grade sea monsters, there was nothing worth saying. They were merely disposable biological weapons, and there was no expectation for them to return after this mission.

Having shown some slight displeasure, they just left it at that.

Heimtz turned his head to the Black Sea Pirate King beside him and said:

"Mr. Harkins, according to the goddess’ prediction, the next ’Blue Cave’ will appear at 8:15 a.m., 28 days from now, near the ’Fluorescent Beach’ on the south shore of the Eternal White Land.

You can set off now. The ’Blue Cave’ there will directly teleport you to the boundary of the open sea nearest to the Tyrone Kingdom, and I don’t need to say more, do I?"

The "Blue Cave" as a peculiar natural phenomenon, its main ability is: random teleportation!

It manifests as a blue water hole with a diameter ranging from a few kilometers to tens of kilometers appearing unannounced on a calm sea surface, and all the seawater, fish, shrimp, algae... even passing ships in that area are magically teleported to another place randomly.

Although the "Blue Cave" originates from this world’s own phenomenon, its principle remains unknown and uncontrollable by man.

However, Echet, who has mastered part of the Black Sea’s power, can accurately predict the time, location, and destination of the "Blue Cave" in the Black Sea!

What appears as a perilous and unpredictable extraordinary natural disaster, "Blue Cave," to the "Deep Sea Brotherhood" is merely a very useful means of transport.

What’s quicker and more convenient than the "Blue Cave" for secretly transporting as many as eighty-seven giant sea monsters for a strategic assault?

If you don’t use the "Blue Cave" and march furiously like this with stormy winds and rains all the way, you’d attract groups of human Tier 4 "Titled Knights" before halfway.

But with a surprise attack via "Blue Cave," by the time the Kingdom Guardian, who typically stays in the capital, arrives, you would have completed the mission and vanished already.

"No problem, Lord Heimtz! My subordinates and I are all ready, the plan can commence at any time."

Harkins bowed deeply, bowing his head to conceal the nearly overflowing ambition in his eyes. At this moment, he had waited...for too long!

The tall man in white stared at the back of Harkins’ head for a moment, then opened his large hand to hand over a delicate conch horn before him.

"Do not disappoint the goddess! Mr. Harkins!"

Harkins rose carefully to receive it.

The surface of the dark green conch in his hand seemed to have a layer of lustrous glaze, with natural growth like wave patterns, resembling some enigmatic runes, flickering with visible emerald spiritual light.

This conch represents the command authority over the eighty-seven sea monsters!

"Rest assured, I will absolutely not let the ’goddess’ down! Absolutely not!"

After bowing again, Harkins turned and left.

Half an hour later.

"Target Fluorescent Beach, set sail!"

Harkins’ flagship, the "Eternal Imprisonment Sacred Statue," set sail, the ghostly ship’s figurehead bound with chains released a hazy spiritual light suppressing the roaring waves, and then plunged into the increasingly violent storm.

Blare——

The loud sound of the conch horn penetrated through wind and rain, reaching the ears of each rapid-growth sea monster nearby.

The sea surface churned instantly, and beneath the waves, nearly a hundred sea monsters formed a massive shadow stretching nearly ten kilometers, where they passed, the tempest raged, and great waves surged.

The mighty and imposing aura was unstoppable!

Today, Pirate King Harkins truly possessed the majesty of a king over the Black Sea!