In the Yinping Sea Region, the *Black Society* sailed across the ocean, having departed from Fujing Mountain.
WHOOSH!
His back to the sea, the golden-haired Tatasta—spirited, handso, and radiant—sheathed his sword. The space behind him, like a sheet of frozen ice, rapidly cracked apart. An A-rank Sea Beast, trapped within, shattered into pieces as a torrent of blood gushed out.
"Mission,"
"perfectly accomplished!"
Tatasta pointed his right finger to the ground and his left to the sky, striking a cool pose!
Princess i Jia, over fifty but exceptionally well-preserved, applauded for her little puppy warrior.
Yan Dao Lin, who had been watching from the side, simply waved his hand.
His crewn imdiately cast out the Blood Collection Net to gather the A-rank Sea Beast’s remains and blood.
"S-rank Awakened are truly incredible!"
"Such imnse power... Mr. Tatasta, your abilities leave breathless! Not even the late Demon Sword, who was renowned for his Attack Power, could have hoped to match you!"
Yan Dao Lin spoke these words of praise,
then his tone shifted.
"Princess, His Majesty the Renhuang must miss you dearly. Why don’t you..."
i Jia’s expression turned cold.
"Yan Dao, have you forgotten our agreent?!"
The two parties had made an agreent. Princess ijia had promised to have Tatasta help the Black Society create two more A-rank Awakened to compensate for their lost combat strength. But A-rank Sea Beasts were very difficult to find. Now, the blood from this dead sea beast was more than enough to allow two people to advance, aning the Princess had fulfilled her end of the bargain.
In return, the Black Society was required to keep her return a secret, provide her with a false identity, and consult her on certain major decisions.
And that was all.
In reality, it didn’t require much of a sacrifice on their part.
Yan Dao Lin was a very loyal soldier, but his loyalty was to the First Governor on the ship and the Renhuang, not the Princess.
If a request from i Jia went against his beliefs, he would certainly refuse it.
But for now, this was a mutually beneficial cooperation, so he didn’t mind. Besides, the family matters between the Renhuang and the Princess were none of his business.
"Of course, I rember. The Black Society honors its agreents."
"That’s for the best."
Tatasta helped i Jia into their VIP room aboard the *Black Society*.
Nailu Ye, who followed close behind, drew the curtains.
They had already confird that this opulent room was secure, with no listening devices or surveillance equipnt. Besides, the crew wouldn’t dare monitor the Princess in such a manner.
The little puppy bent down and kissed the back of i Jia’s hand.
"My dear,"
"Is there anything else your knight can do for you?"
It was a drama starring a young "knight" in love with a domineering old woman.
If this were a light novel, it would be titled *That Ti I Was Adrift at Sea and Fell in Love with a Domineering Old Woman* or *The Forbidden Love Between a Genius and the Princess of Vortex Country*.
Tatasta was a young man with a clear goal in mind.
i Jia had a certain mature charm.
And most importantly, the Great Black Heaven Dragon was an incredibly tempting prize.
He had co for love, but he had also co for that Holy Hall-level Sea Beast.
The two were not mutually exclusive.
However, they both knew that the Renhuang and the Black Society would never hand over the Holy Hall-level Sea Beast they guarded, the Great Black Heaven Dragon, to an Awakened without Vortex Country blood. They needed to cultivate a loyal warrior from their own nation, not so blond kid of unknown origin.
Therefore, i Jia and Tatasta’s goals were surprisingly aligned.
i Jia waved a folding fan, her fingers stroking Tatasta’s slightly golden chin.
"Your next mission is to head to the African Region and rendezvous with the Awakened from Lighthouse aboard the *Pharaoh*."
"Oh? My dear, do you need to kill that Shi Ming for you and take back the Map of the Endless Sea?"
Tatasta seed reluctant to travel so far away from his lover.
"No."
"You must understand, he is not our enemy."
"Find an opportunity to muddy the waters, make things a little more interesting."
"But don’t leave behind any evidence that could be used against you."
Tatasta secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Understood, my princess."
As Tatasta whispered softly, Nailu Ye pulled up a screen of moonlight gauze edged with white cherry blossoms.
Sunlight refracted through it, transforming into the romantic moonlight of night. Waves of joyous sound emanated from the cabin, slowly pushing the salty, humid atmosphere of the sea from a low point to its very peak.
The seawater lapped against the hull of the *Black Society*, layer by layer, gentle yet fierce.
...
...
...
The Let There Be Light communicator was back online.
Shi Ming opened it and looked over the ssages he had missed over the past few days.
The first big news was that Lighthouse’s Golden Wandering Ship, the *Old Days*, had been plundered. All the valuables on board were cleaned out. The culprit was Prince Atte from the Great Chiefdom, who, with a magical oil lamp, had emptied the *Old Days* in an instant.
The *Old Days* had suffered a huge loss and was seeking aid within the group, preparing to contact the Great Chief to get even.
Trellin’s advice was not to resolve this matter through official channels.
That oil lamp was clearly more valuable—more valuable than all the wandering ships of the Great Chiefdom combined.
’The Lamp of Wishes?’
Shi Ming thought.
’Don’t tell this was a case of the predator becoming the prey. The *Old Days* tried to rob Prince Atte, only to get reverse-plundered by the Prince with his Lamp of Wishes? That lamp really is outrageous. Not only could it whisk the Prince and his ship away from right under my blade, but it also managed to make Lighthouse suffer a huge loss.’
Next was a crowdfunding effort from three days ago.
Shi Ming saw that Lighthouse was preparing to purchase the latest research findings from Da Yu. It was the result of 572 days of work by the Xirang Research Institute, which had used its most powerful computer and top experts to crack what was rumored to be entries 60 through 99 of the *Catalog of Endless Ocean Curiosities*.
The selling price was 800 Pure Do Crystals.
Lighthouse could certainly afford the full price, but since the intelligence would be shared with all mbers of Let There Be Light, every mber was required to contribute their share.
Admiral-rank wandering ships had to pay 200 Do Crystals, and Gold-rank wandering ships had to pay 300 points.
No one objected to this.
Understanding the items on that list was crucial for not missing out on treasures and for having strategies to deal with them when encountered.
Take the lamp that plundered the *Old Days*, for example. It was clearly a wondrous item from the list. If the captain of the *Old Days* had recognized it, they might have had a way to counter it instead of just taking such a huge, silent loss.
Finally, there was the matter of accountability from a day ago.
The commanders at Lighthouse expressed extre disappointnt with the captains of the *Michael*, the *Divine Cody*, and the *Jinshan*. Fortunately for them, the three incidents turned out to be related. The culprit who murdered the three A-rank Awakened—Edward, Miss Yan, and Thunder God—had been identified. With a full report and supporting evidence submitted, the three captains narrowly escaped punishnt.
As for the subsequent arrangents, Trellin stated that he would handle them.
The three captains loyally expressed their gratitude.
Of course, Trellin wouldn’t share the details of the arrangents in the group chat, but Shi Ming found it easy to guess. It would be nothing more than using the *Pharaoh* and the Black Society to charge ahead, with Lighthouse swooping in from behind to reap the final rewards.
That had always been their habit:
treating allies as cannon fodder while they seized the greatest prize for themselves.
But their plan had crashed and burned with Miss Yan, so weren’t they afraid of making the sa mistake again?
’You all can take your sweet ti plotting.’
’If you’ve got the guts, then follow to the Sea of Boiling!’
Shi Ming put away his communicator.
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