Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Luca used the Merman Pearl.
The pearl-like bead glowed, and streams of radiant white light surged into his body.
[Ding! You have used the “Merman Pearl” and gained 100 points of mental attribute!]
[Ding! You have used the “Merman Pearl” and gained 120 points of mental attribute!]
[Ding! You have used the “Merman Pearl” and gained 150 points of mental attribute!]
…
A series of game prompts popped up in front of him, and Luca’s mental attributes rapidly increased.
Purple magical power enveloped him.
The pressure around him grew stronger, making everyone feel slightly breathless.
Sophia glanced at him, then ordered everyone to leave the cabin and not approach.
Before long, Isaac and the others returned.
After understanding the situation and seeing the dense mass of monster corpses floating on the sea.
They all felt a chill run down their spines.
It was hard to imagine that so many monsters had previously been living on the same ship as them.
Especially after learning that these monsters were after her, Ellie’s face turned as white as paper.
While she was filled with lingering fear, she was also puzzled, unsure why these monsters were targeting her.
“Boom!” Just then, a loud noise came from the cabin, drawing everyone’s attention.
A gust of wind swept through, and golden light shot up into the sky. A figure instantly appeared in midair.
Luca’s expression remained calm, his robes fluttering, and he seemed unchanged on the surface.
His aura settled, like a calm sea.
However, upon closer inspection, one could see that deep within his eyes, there seemed to be an immense golden ocean.
Isaac and the others looked up, all sensing that his aura seemed even deeper than before.
“It’s still not enough.” Luca clenched his fist, feeling that his mental power had touched a certain barrier.
He was still some distance away from breaking through to the Divine Realm, but at least it wasn’t like before when there was no hope at all.
He opened his status panel and carefully checked, noticing that his mental attribute had reached 200,000, his health had surpassed 2 million, and his basic magic attack power had increased to 1.12 million.
The Merman Pearls alone had provided him with nearly 30,000 points of mental attributes.
With his current strength, he should be able to handle Star-level Superclass fighters.
Once his emotions settled, Luca’s gaze swept over the soldiers behind Isaac.
The Mutated Merman’s ability to hide was incredibly strong. Even with so many monsters climbing onto the ship, he hadn’t sensed anything. It was hard to say if there were still any monsters hidden among these people.
After some thought, Luca decided to ask the old man Sharp. That guy surely knew a lot, and maybe he would have a way to solve the problem. It was also a good opportunity to inquire about the whereabouts of the Soulflower.
This time, Luca only brought Sophia and Ellie to the island.
The others stayed on the ship, keeping watch over each other to prevent any further incidents.
Not long after, they arrived back at the village on Ghost Island.
Seeing that there were only a few of them, the villagers’ hostility seemed to lessen significantly.
However, the young man named Jell Jenoan was still staring at them intently.
Luca raised an eyebrow, because he noticed that although Jell’s gaze was fixed on him, he often subconsciously looked at Ellie.
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Had this kid developed an interest in Ellie?
As he was pondering this, they soon saw the old Dwarven man again.
Sharp, with his graying hair, was sitting on a stone bench at the entrance of a stone house, puffing on a cigar he must have gotten from somewhere.
The blue wild boar was tethered in the nearby open space, munching on rocks with a crunching sound.
The smoke he exhaled was black, and the scent of the cigar was strong and acrid.
As soon as they approached, Ellie couldn’t help but cough.
She covered her nose and frowned. “This tobacco smells awful…”
“You little girl don’t know any better. This cigar is made from Clear Spirit Grass and the hide of a Ghost Fish. You can’t even buy it outside,” Sharp huffed, then looked at Luca and asked, “Got it sorted?”
With the loud commotion earlier, it was impossible for someone of his strength not to notice something.
Luca nodded. “What’s the deal with those monsters? They seemed to be specifically targeting Ellie.”
Sharp’s expression turned slightly strange. He gave Luca and the others a quick glance, realizing they weren’t faking it. He was surprised. “You mean you didn’t know that this little girl is from the Barnes family?”
Luca was confused. “I knew, but what does that have to do with those monsters…”
He trailed off mid-sentence as it suddenly hit him. “Could it be Farlenben?”
Sharp nodded. “Those half-human, half-fish monsters used to be the native inhabitants of Farlenben. But after Farlenben sank, they seemed to have encountered some sort of curse, which transformed them into their current grotesque forms. Now, we call them the Fish Human Race.”
Ellie was even more confused.
She asked, “My grandfather said our family was once royalty in Farlenben. Why do these creatures harbor such deep hostility toward us?”
It was normal for common people to have no love for royalty, Luca thought to himself.
Sharp’s attitude towards Ellie was far more cordial than his towards Luca.
He patiently explained, “To be honest, I’m not exactly sure. Those fish people, covered in scales, are difficult to communicate with. They’ve got something wrong with their minds.
“However, I once heard Levin mention that your ancestors had a conflict with the former ruler of Farlenben and were exiled from the island. It’s probably because of that old history that they hold such hostility toward your family.”
After Sharp finished speaking, the group exchanged uncertain glances.
None of them had expected that a grudge from tens of thousands of years ago could still persist into the present day.
“Is there any way to detect these monsters?” Luca asked, posing a crucial question.
If they couldn’t figure out how these monsters were hiding among them, then by the time they found the Celestial Pearl, the people accompanying it might already be dead.
“Of course,” Sharp replied, nodding without hesitation.
Under the eager gazes of the group, he raised the thick, black cigar in his hand and said, “Creatures from the Sea of Mist, including the Mutated Mermen, dislike Clear Spirit Grass.
“The difference is that these creatures have some intelligence and can resist that natural aversion, so simply using Clear Spirit Grass won’t expose the Mutated Mermen.
“However, if they smell the scent of Clear Spirit Grass burning, they won’t be able to hide anymore.”
Luca suddenly had a bad feeling. “This cigar…”
Sharp looked up at him, grinned, and said, “10,000 gold coins each, no bargaining.”
…
Meanwhile, in the Western Sea, Starlight Sea.
Dozens of figures stood suspended in the sky, radiating an overwhelming, terrifying pressure.
The island-sized Starlight Ship had disappeared, and the massive red octopus floated motionless on the surface of the sea.
Its body was covered in wounds, and foul blood stained large areas of the sea. Its tentacles had all been severed, and its vitality had completely dissipated.
On the luxurious airship, Evelyn knelt on one knee, looking somewhat apologetic as she said, “Sorry, Your Majesty, Eva managed to escape.”
The others appeared slightly embarrassed.
It wasn’t that they had let her go; it was simply that the mutated monster from the Sea of Mist was very difficult to deal with. Even after they had killed it, it quickly regenerated.
Plus, Eva herself was a top-tier Superclass fighter, and in the end, she had used some sort of secret technique to escape the encirclement despite being severely wounded.
The curtain slowly parted.
Fratis emerged, dressed in royal robes, wearing a crown, and with a stunningly beautiful face.
She didn’t reprimand anyone but instead said, “After what happened, Eva probably won’t dare to come out of the Sea of Mist again.”
“Let’s not worry about her for now. We have more important matters to attend to.”
Fratis turned her gaze to the endless sea in the south, her eyes glittering like stars. “The people from the Via Empire should be arriving soon. Have everyone prepare; we need to go meet them.”
Upon hearing this, everyone stiffened.
They had received word of the Via Empire’s arrival earlier, but they hadn’t expected them to arrive so quickly.
Everyone understood the significance of this war and didn’t dare to slack off. They took their orders and left to prepare.
Soon, only Evelyn and a few others remained, tasked with guarding Fratis’s safety.
Fratis looked at them and asked, “Any news from Luca?”
“I heard he went to the Sea of Mist. We haven’t been able to reach him for a while,” sighed Selin, the dean of Starry Academy.
“This guy…” Augustine rubbed his temples, a little frustrated.
The kid caused such a commotion, leaving them with a mess to clean up, and now he had just run off. When he comes back, he was definitely going to get a proper scolding.
Fratis didn’t say much more, only instructing, “Send someone to fetch him. Once he’s found the item, he should return.”
…
Meanwhile, in the Western Sea, at the boundary of the sea.
The sky was a brilliant blue, the sea glittering in the sunlight. A small fishing boat, no more than a few meters in length, drifted on the water.
A tall, dark-skinned fisherman and a younger boy, both wearing wide-brimmed hats, were busy hauling in their nets.
The coarse fabric and hemp ropes of the nets were slowly being pulled onto the boat. Five or six large, plump fish were thrashing about in the net, their silvery scales gleaming in the sunlight.
“The first haul has this many fish; looks like we won’t have to worry about food this winter,” the man said, wiping the sweat from his brow and smiling as he pulled the fish into the boat.
The boy beside him also smiled.
He was about to tell his father about proposing to the village chief’s daughter.
When his eyes caught something on the horizon, and he let out a soft gasp.
“What’s that?” the boy asked, confused. “A school of fish?”
“If it were a school of fish, we’d be heading back early today,” the man chuckled, still focused on handling the catch. He turned his head to look.
At the far end of the horizon, he saw a black line appear on the sea’s surface.
“A tidal wave?” The man was slightly surprised and squinted to get a better look.
His expression gradually shifted from confusion to astonishment, and finally, it turned into sheer terror.
“Plop!” At that moment, the boy also saw what was on the water. He sat down abruptly on the boat.
His lips trembling, face pale, his eyes wide with fear.
That wasn’t a tidal wave!
What was coming wasn’t water—it was a massive fleet of warships, densely packed and covering the sea!