CHAPTER 462: 462. EXPLORING THE OTHER PASSAGE

"Oh... You came back faster. Just a few seconds passed," Lily said, watching Tyler as he emerged from the bubble gate.

Beside him was an unconscious girl wearing a white, plain mask that covered half of her face. Tied to her chest was an amulet— an underwater charm— glowing faintly, clearly placed there by Tyler to allow her to breathe beneath the crushing depths.

He was also shielding her from the immense underwater pressure with his own aura.

"Only seconds, huh?" Tyler glanced back at the gate, which now stood closed— its energy fading with each breath.

"There are so many mysteries in this world," he muttered. "But finding the answers... isn’t always easy."

He gently handed the unconscious girl to Mana.

"You carry her, we are leaving."

The three of them reactivated their Phantom Pirate disguises, melting into the ghostly personas they used to keep their true identities hidden. The moment Tyler stepped away, the gate behind him shimmered faintly—its surface rippling like liquid—before vanishing into the ancient wall, as if it had never been there at all.

Whatever connection it had to the other world was severed. It is because of a Chaos treasure went inside and came outside. The Gate likely exhausted by the passage of a Chaos artifact— Tyler’s copper pot —draining its unstable energy.

"We need to find a Safe Zone," Lily said.

After another half day of underwater navigation through winding tunnels and dormant ruins, they found a relatively stable chamber with sealed stone walls and ancient glyphs that pulsed with low-grade aura.

It was enough.

Mana took out a fluffy bed, which is exactly contrast for this environment, from her storage and gently laid the masked girl onto it. The bed automatically adjusted itself to support her posture and vital signs.

Mana leaned in and examined the mask.

"Hmm... I’ll try to remove it."

She tugged gently— but the mask didn’t budge.

"It’s stuck," Mana said with a frown.

"What?" Lily walked over.

"The mask. It’s practically glued to her skin... I can’t remove it."

"Let me try," Lily said, and placed her hand on the edge of the mask. Her fingers glowed faintly with aura.

A few seconds passed.

"Yeah, I could remove it."

"Really?!" Mana said, surprised.

"Sure... if you don’t mind peeling off her skin with it," Lily added casually. "Though I’m not sure her skull would survive the trauma."

Mana recoiled. "Please don’t."

Lily chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. "Relax, I won’t. Just saying—this mask isn’t ordinary. It might be cursed, bonded, or part of some weird ancient magic. Either way, it’s not coming off easily."

"Where’s that guy?" she asked.

"He went to check the other rooms nearby," Mana said, still watching the masked girl.

---

Meanwhile, Tyler was exploring.

He opened a nearby door and immediately had to leap to the side as something large darted past him.

An ox.

A massive, horned ox ran through the water—ran, not swam—its hooves pounding through liquid like it was solid ground. It didn’t even glance at him as it thundered away, disappearing down another tunnel.

"A Water Ox?" Tyler blinked in confusion.

That shouldn’t be possible. In the Academy, he’d studied that Water Oxen were freshwater creatures that lived in lakes, rivers—not oceans. And definitely not in the depths of ancient, ruin-infested underwater tombs.

He turned back to look at the room it had come from. Inside, he spotted something even stranger.

"How?" Tyler muttered.

A few minutes later, Tyler returned to the Safe Zone.

"Girls, guess what I found—" he began, but stopped short.

The masked girl was awake.

She sat upright in the bed, clutching the sheets, clearly disoriented but conscious. Her masked face turned toward him as he entered.

"Oh... you’re awake," Tyler said, offering a smile.

"I am... so grateful you saved me," the girl said quietly. She knelt and placed a hand on her chest in a formal gesture of thanks.

Tyler raised an eyebrow. "No need to be that formal. Also... try not to mention what you saw of us before. You know, our other appearances. Not that I’m planning to let you go roaming around just yet."

He looked at her more seriously now.

"Can you stay in my pocket dimension for the time being? I’ve got other things to deal with, and it’ll be safer for you there."

The girl tensed. She wasn’t expecting that. She hesitated— clearly nervous after witnessing their phantom forms.

"Relax," Tyler said with a faint grin. "I’ll be gentle."

He reached out and touched her shoulder to cast the pocket dimension spell.

But in a flash of movement, the girl raised a staff under her sleeve — activating some kind of magical defense.

A burst of light surged from the staff.

But... nothing happened.

The staff glowed, then flickered... and died.

"Oh..." Tyler tilted his head. "Yeah, that’s not going to work here."

He folded his arms as she stared in disbelief at her unresponsive weapon.

"There’s no Mana in this world," Tyler explained. "That spell of yours needs energy you can’t find here. I noticed the same when I was in your world— only my internal reserves worked. Couldn’t draw from your surroundings at all."

He casually waved his hand and activated the pocket dimension. The girl vanished in a gentle flash of light.

"Well," Lily said from behind him, arms crossed. "That looked a lot like kidnapping."

"We’re pirates," Tyler replied with a shrug. "So... technically accurate."

Mana rolled her eyes. "What did you find in the nearby doors?"

Tyler smirked. "Well... aside from a freshwater ox sprinting underwater like it’s got places to be, I found something strange. There’s freshwater nearby."

"Freshwater?" Mana raised a brow. "Under the ocean?"

"That doesn’t make sense," Lily echoed, just as surprised. "How could freshwater even exist here?"

"I’m not sure yet," Tyler admitted, rubbing his chin. "But I’m guessing this part of the Wyvern Nest was either used to store freshwater creatures, or it’s some kind of trial zone. You know, like those weird trials from Old Games of Gods."

"The ocean water didn’t mix with it?" Mana asked curiously.

"Exactly," Tyler nodded. "The seawater isn’t entering that chamber or the rooms nearby. It’s like an invisible boundary is holding it back."

"Bending nature to their will... Is this the power of gods or saints?" Lily mused aloud, eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

"Anyway," Tyler said, snapping back to the mission. "Back to the main topic. I’m pretty sure the Dragon Princess is somewhere along the left path of that fork we saw earlier. So let’s head that way."

"Yeah... We’ve found everything except the actual Dragon Princess," Mana sighed, was about to retrieve the bed.

She paused and said with a seductive smile, "Wanna Lie-down here? I can suck you dry because you did some recklessness today."

"Hold that offe– I mean that punishment for a while... We will do it after we get back to the ship." Tyler winked.

Then, They exited the strange safe zone and pressed on through the watery ruins.

Eventually, they arrived back at the familiar forked passage where they escaped the Water Wyverns and Trial Illusion. Without hesitation, the group veered left.

"Well, at least we haven’t run into any Wyverns or those creepy Beckman illusions," Tyler said, visibly relieved.

"Don’t jinx it," Mana muttered, giving him a light jab in the ribs.

"Hehe... Don’t worry," Tyler replied with a smug grin.

Just then, a tremor rippled through the passage, and a strange light blinked to life far below.

"...Did I seriously just jinx something?" Tyler muttered under his breath.

The trio exchanged glances and moved toward the light.

Without warning, Tyler unsheathed his trident and hurled a projection at a suspicious-looking door. The ethereal weapon pierced through and slammed into the stone wall behind it.

"...Must’ve been the wind," Tyler said with mock seriousness.

Lily deadpanned. "Bruh... we’re underwater."

"Oh. Right." Tyler scratched his head. "Then I guess it’s not a ’Must be the wind’ moment..."

With a spark in her eye, Lily pulled out her whip and lashed toward the area. A bolt of lightning surged through the water like an electric eel on a sugar rush.

A humanoid figure suddenly shimmered into visibility, twitching from the shock. Its body was covered in camouflaged scales, like a cross between a chameleon and a lizard-man.

Mana blinked. "Oh... is that a lizard guy? Maybe a... chameleon ninja?"

"Finally, another living person," Tyler said, stepping forward. "Maybe we can get some info about the Dragon Princess."

But before they could approach, the lizard-man suddenly jerked violently and collapsed like a sack of underwater potatoes.

Mana tilted her head. "Uh... is he dead?"

Lily crossed her arms and smirked. "Nah, he’s faking it. Badly."

The three of them stared at the "dead" man with varying degrees of skepticism. None of them noticed the faint flick of his tail... or the subtle motion of his fingers.

He had just sent a signal to his Allies.