Chapter 353 - 955-963

Chapter 955: Gajor and Gehen

"Please wait." Krune raised his hand and spoke aloud. 

The Seamstress turned around, looking at Krune as she faintly increased the intensity of her Neon Radiance, taking a better look at Krune. Even though the skin armor covered Krune from head to toe, making him resemble a monster that was almost similar to a Monster Gecko, due to the experience she had accumulated, she knew that Krune wasn't a bloodthirsty individual.

It was an instinct of hers that she had honed through her life. Even though it seemed like Krune had some problematic inclinations, overall, he was a decent individual. That was why she wasn't completely guarded against him.

"Yes?" she said after turning around, noticing the way Krune held the baby, noticing his mild awkwardness in doing so but still did a good job. She determined that when Krune was a cultivator, he had experience raising a child. 

"What are you planning to do now?" Krune could not help but ask.

"Before the pirates pillage any more from the scattered people, I'll stop them," the Seamstress replied. 

"Why don't we move together, then?" Krune suggested as he pointed at the baby. "For some reason, the pirates targeted this baby first and didn't bother with the escaping people. So, they're bound to attack here again."

"Then, you wish for me to protect you from harm?" the Seamstress could not help but frown after hearing his words.

"No, I can take care of myself," Krune replied. "But when the pirates attack again, it would be helpful if you can protect the baby while I take care of them."

"The boss of those pirates is Gajor, ranked 75th in this place. Are you saying you can handle him?" the Seamstress looked at Krune from top to bottom before asking, "What's your name?"

"Krune," Krune replied. "I can't say for certain if I would be able to finish him since I lack mobility in water like the pirates. But with some footing, I can defeat them."

"Are you that confident?" the Seamstress frowned as she asked, intending to test his strength.

"Yes, they were attacking me for some time before you arrived." Krune pointed at the corpses floating on the water. There were six of them in total. The rest weren't killed, only severely injured. They managed to escape after that.

The Seamstress looked at Krune's figure, noticing that he hadn't suffered any damage. With that, she nodded in response, replying, "Alright, I'll accompany you, then."

She then tied the boats to the side of Krune's boat, one per each and harnessed the caged Motor Fishes, one on the front, and the other on the back, saying, "The Motor Fishes can only swim in a straight line. So, this arrangement allows us to advance and retreat when necessary."

Once she was done, she grabbed Krune's extended hand and climbed into his boat before gazing at his oar, noticing that it was able to change the direction of the boat by affecting both oceans. This way, it was more effective than trying to change the boat's direction using the oar on one ocean surface alone. 

Only now did she notice the numerous compartments, the bed, a boxing bag, the Whale Tooth Sword hanging on one of the walls, etc. Upon seeing the elaborate setup, she was shocked as she asked, "How were you able to create this?"

"I spent a lot of time while I was on the Primary Landmass making this. It has everything I would ever need in this layer," Krune replied with a hint of boasting. After all, he didn't create it as a cultivator but as a mortal. 

When he was a cultivator, Krune could make something like the paddle within a day. But as a mortal, he had put in a lot of effort. Besides, he also managed to hide the bone tree within, being able to reap the fruits at regular intervals. 

Based on what he tested while he was on the Primary Landmass, there were four compartments to produce the bone tree fruits. And in each compartment, there were two fruit-bearing branches. So, with enough supply, a fruit ripened every day. 

And now, as the paddle was on the water, the bone trees had a lot of supply. Moreover, six people had just died near his boat. Krune looked into the water once, noticing no traces of blood. All of it had been absorbed by the bone trees forming the inner layer of his boat. 

So, this time, his harvest would be greater. Krune thought as such when the Seamstress whistled once, causing one of the Motor Fishes to begin pulling the boat. Seeing the speeds his boat began to travel at, Krune was surprised as he could not help but say, "Wow, this is fast."

"Yes, the Motor Fishes are a species created specifically for this." The Seamstress nodded in agreement. 

Krune then thought for a moment before deciding to ask, "Can you tell me the method you used to obtain its ability as a passive ability? I'll repay you accordingly."

"How do you plan to repay me?" the Seamstress asked in response as she looked at him with curiosity. Krune didn't just ask for her secret but offered an appropriate reward. So, her opinion of him had improved. Besides, she did have a good opinion of him from the start.

"I have a method to condense an ability to its limit. So, it would be at its strongest state," Krune replied with confidence. 

The Seamstress shuddered once as she thought over it through, realizing that the person before him was kind of unfathomable. Normally, she wouldn't have been too much shocked. But in the current situation, they had only been on the layer for a bit more than a year. 

It wasn't a long enough duration to accumulate anything terrifying. Even if a person possessed terrifying strength, it could just be regarded that they had accumulated a lot of Godly Points from Layer 4 and had used it in the Checkpoint Turtle to gain benefits. 

But, it seemed that the advantages Krune accumulated were from the layer itself. After all, his name wasn't in the top hundred. So, he wouldn't have possessed enough Godly Points to gain anything much from the Checkpoint Turtle. 

"Alright, I hope you aren't lying." Even though the Seamstress spoke as such, she was able to judge that Krune wasn't lying. That was the reason she was shocked in the first place. She then pointed at the Motor Fish in the front, soon telling Krune, "Keep them beside your flanks and kill them with a single slash. When their blood mixes and touches you, you'll gain their passive ability. As they only possess this one trait, you will get the passive ability, Moving Water."

"Fair enough." Krune nodded. "Then, we would need one more Motor Fish. I guess we'll have to wait until we find the pirates once again."

"Actually," the Seamstress spoke. "The reason all the pirates have this ability is that they found a cove where a lot of Motor Fishes live. Gajor trapped them in that area and forced them to breed while nurturing more Motor Fishes to kill and obtain the passive ability. It's because of this is why it's hard to catch him since all his men are able to travel freely in the water."

"And..." She spoke, "I managed to locate this place. But, there are too many people guarding it. I can't determine how, but Gajor managed to make more than two hundred people follow him. Even as we speak, they're trying to use all the stolen goods to create a large ship that they can use to dominate the oceans. On top of that, he's actually building it around the cove."

Followed by a sigh, she continued, "This cove is just a piece of floating rock. So, with enough power, it can be moved. With that, it will give him a piece of land to establish his base. Since it's the breeding ground of the Motor Fishes, he would be able to accumulate more power as time passes. And from what I saw once, he also has a lot of captives."

"So, it's a pirate den with around 200 pirates, not to mention Gajor, who's among the top hundred in the rankings." Krune nodded before asking, "How many strong men does he have?"

"Among Gajor's pirates, there are two noteworthy people. The first is Heuk, in charge of scouting and tracking. I can't fathom the passive Ability he obtained, but they are pretty unique and have mysterious effects," the Seamstress replied. "The second one is named Frontiff, the second strongest person in their group. He has a mysterious ability that works similar to the Helper Whistle sold in the Checkpoint Turtle. It's because of him that I was never able to defeat them. After that, most of the other pirates are disposable to Gajor. He only values these two."

"But now that they're here, wouldn't his base have lacking defenses?" Krune proposed. "We can simply raid the place and free the captives."

"That's not easy to achieve. First of all, even if they're weak, there are 200 pirates in that place. Secondly, there are three more noteworthy people there that are strong. Among them is Gehen, Gajor's twin brother. His abilities are mysterious, and he ranks at 70th place. He's stronger than Gajor." The Seamstress sighed as she continued, "I attacked their base once, but as soon as I did that, Gajor returned. I think he's able to sense anything related to his base somehow."

"Seems fairly complicated." Krune sighed as he muttered, "At least, on land, I am many times stronger. I should be able to handle quite a lot of them."

"It's still hard," the Seamstress said as she picked up a wooden whistle. "This is a Helper Whistle. Gajor and Gehen have relied on this to hunt really powerful fishes. Using all their Godly Points, they have only purchased these. So, when their lives are truly threatened, you can expect a swarm of predator fishes that would try to kill you."

"Gajor and Gehen, huh..." Krune muttered. "Truly a troublesome duo."

Chapter 956: Confiding Abilities

Krune soon noticed that while they had been talking, the Seamstress had been panting a little, a sign of exhaustion. It seemed she had been on the trail of the pirates all along and hadn't managed to get enough rest yet. 

'This isn't good.' Krune thought before asking her, "Do you want to eat something?"

He didn't even wait for a reply as he approached a relatively large cupboard, opened it and used the knife lodged within to scoop up some slices of meat. He then placed them on a plate and presented them to the Seamstress before telling her, "The taste is bland since there aren't any spices. But, it is edible."

"Thank you," the Seamstress replied, expressing her surprise when Krune gave her cutlery to use and also pulled up a piece of board from the walls that he used to set up a temporary table. The arrangements were a bit crude in any other place. However, they were luxurious in the ocean area, where people were constantly adrift and didn't have enough space or materials to create anything elaborate. 

And in such a situation, Krune managed to create basically everything he needed. 

Upon seeing her reaction, Krune asked, "Did you spend the past year on these waters?"

Hearing his question, her eyes lit up as she asked in response, "Were you from the first batch as well?"

"I'm from the Zamuria Continent." Krune nodded. 

"So, you must have heard about me." The Seamstress nodded after hearing his words, realizing why Krune was being polite with her all along.

"A crazy genius did praise your efforts. Plus, he's the type to never care about people. With that, I could recognize you immediately." Krune smiled as he began to eat quickly. Well, even though he was speaking, he had kept his Sonic Radar active all along. So, his speech acted as signals that scouted their surroundings and ensured they weren't ambushed by anyone.

Now that he was on the ocean once again, Krune realized just how overpowered the Sonic Radar was in terms of detection. He basically had no limitations over the range. 

"What was his name? Maybe I might know him," the Seamstress expressed her curiosity as she asked. At present, the two of them emitted a gentle light, keeping the place well illuminated. This way, they were able to eat at peace.

"He called himself Cultivator." The moment he mentioned the name, the hands of Seamstress paused for a couple of seconds before resuming her eating.

She looked at Krune like he was a monster before saying, "A crazy genius indeed."

As Cultivator was from her continent, she knew of him very well. Considering his antics, anyone he considered as a companion would be equally as powerful and eccentric as him. With that, she began to treat Krune on the same level as she would have done to Cultivator, thinking to herself, 'I'm curious of his abilities as a cultivator. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to see once we leave this place.'

"Well, it wasn't just because of your character that I invited you. It's also because you won't try anything on this boat and would be able to sense anything amiss instantly," Krune spoke, noticing that the Seamstress wasn't completely confused, realizing that she had indeed sensed some danger from within the boat. "Well, just consider this boat as a beast that would devour you if you carelessly touch it."

The Seamstress was alarmed when Krune waved his hand, speaking after a chuckle. "There's nothing to be worried about. I have closed it under multiple layers. On top of that, you'll only be affected if you touch it with an open wound. Otherwise, you'll be fine."

"I see." The Seamstress nodded as she finished eating. She then landed on the boat tied beside and crouched, using the ocean water to clean the plate. 

After finishing his meal, Krune, too, did the same. Satiated, he observed the baby once, wondering how he would feed it. 

"Directly feeding him meat would be harmful. Supplying the nutrients through a juice of sorts would be appropriate," the Seamstress said when Krune stared at her in silence, continuing to look at her. Only after a couple of seconds did she realize his intention, snorting as she replied, "I don't have breast milk."

"Then, there is only one option," Krune muttered as he cut out a cube-sized piece of meat from the cupboard that stored meat. He then placed it on top of something and took in a deep breath, activating his Ocean Heart as he used its healing effect.

By activating his Neon Radiance, he emitted a blue beam of light into the meat cube, increasing the intensity as the Seamstress could feel its effects even from far away. She was shocked internally, able to sense the image of the ocean appear in her mind as she concentrated on the blue beam of light for long.

'As expected of a friend of Cultivator,' she thought as she observed. 'He has the Neon Radiance and is able to use it to heal others. A rather valuable ability since its effect looks many times better than the healing effect in the ocean.'

"What do you plan to do with this?" the Seamstress asked after observing for some time.

"Well," Krune spoke after a moment of thought, speaking without any hesitation. Through his experience, he was able to judge that the Seamstress was someone who could be trusted. Well, having a teammate would help him on his journey and allow him to harvest Godly Points faster. "My healing ability is no different from the Water Essence sold in the Checkpoint Turtle. Since it can even regenerate limbs, I'm planning to seep the essence in this piece of flesh and then squeeze it so that I can obtain some in liquid form. Feeding the baby this would be better, right?"

"Hopefully. Indeed, it might be better." She nodded, speaking after a moment of thought, steering the boat at times, "Since we've decided to act as a team, let's introduce ourselves further."

She pointed at herself before saying, "My goal to arrive at this place was to prevent people from slaughtering each other in the face of treasures. I thought I would be able to do something with the followers I brought. But all of us were separated at Layer 4, and I haven't managed to see anyone yet. I hoped to see at least one of them since the Checkpoint Turtle is able to pull us towards itself automatically upon its arrival, but unfortunately, none of my followers are here."

"I have filled all five of my passive ability slots." She then lifted her hand, showing a coral sword as she explained, "This is my most important ability, Coral Wave. It's an accumulation-based ability when I slowly create coral on my body. It is also developed by consuming the deposits from my body. Among its uses, one is to store the healing effects in the ocean water and store it inside the created coral. This way, it would eventually be able to condense a Water Essence. Though, just as that Octopus had said, it took me a year to do so."

"Since it's stronger than a normal passive ability, I began to call it a mutated passive ability. The second one is called Heat Radiance, a mutated version of Neon Radiance. Using this ability, I can also emit heat when necessary. With that said, I can even emit a domain beyond which my heat of light will not move. They will simply lose power and vanish beyond the designated point." Saying so, she emitted heat from her palm, warming up the place a little. 

"My third ability is Bubble Touch, something I rely on all the time. It allows me to mark any place I touch, whether it's stationary or moving. That works as a compass for me, so I can track anyone easily." She smiled before continuing, "My fourth ability is Thermal Sight, allowing me to see all heat signatures. While using Heat Radiance, I can increase the effectiveness of this ability."

She then displayed her dagger, causing it to emit intense heat enough to melt objects upon touch, stating with a smug expression, "My Coral Wave and Heat Radiance are completely synchronized to one another. So, I use the Heat Radiance to refine my corals and improve their quality. This way, I can continue to increase the power of my sword without limit. Also, I store a lot of heat inside and just release it in times of necessity."

"And with that, the final ability is Moving Water." The Seamstress smiled, motioning for Krune to talk about his abilities so that the two of them coordinate with greater ease in future battles. As they were bound to use the abilities, information about them would be known anyway. So, it was best to learn about them first hand so that they could use the knowledge to their advantage and fuel their growth further. 

As he heard details regarding her abilities, Krune was in awe. The Seamstress had passive abilities that greatly complemented one another. And most of all, the Coral Wave was an accumulation-based ability. 

His Spiritual Incarnation and Cultivator's Spiritual Incarnation were accumulation-based. So, Krune knew the advantages of such an ability. At the start, it would be super weak. But in its later stages, it would become overpowered.

Krune then expressed his doubts as he asked, "Why do you not have Underwater Breathing? Surely considering your rank, you must have more than enough Godly Points to obtain it. In this layer, being able to breathe underwater is a must."

Krune had said it because the Seamstress was ranked 64th, rather high. With that, there wasn't any wide gap between her rank and the one at 50th place. Most of them were close to one another. There was a good chance everyone among the top 100 would have been cultivators with Spiritual Incarnations. Only then would they have been able to obtain sufficient Godly Points in layer 4.

So, having such a high rank was incredible. This was to be noted that all along, even Krune had never slacked and had always been trying to increase his advantages. Sure, he spent most of his time in Layer 4 trying to create Pestlor. But even then, it showed the competition in the place. 

Hearing his question, the Seamstress laughed as she replied, "That is because even if it isn't efficient, Moving Water allows us to breathe to a certain extent. Efficiency-wise, it's only half of Underwater Breathing. But, this ability is just a plus while allowing us to move in water at great speeds. With a simple comparison, and considering our limited five slots for passive ability, it is apparent which one is superior, right?"

"That it is." Krune nodded, sighing as he began to talk about his passive abilities. Once he spoke about Ocean Heart, it was the Seamstress's turn to look at him with her mouth agape, astounded.

Chapter 957: An Organisation of Pirates?

"There, there, there. There is more than enough still." Krune smiled as the baby began to drink the liquid he fed it. It was the extract he had taken after squeezing a piece of meat after filling it to the brim with his healing ability. Normally, he was only able to emit the healing effect through his Neon Radiance. 

But now, by focusing it on the piece of meat, he allowed the energy to heal the muscles forming the piece of meat, revitalizing its individual cells. This way, he soaked it up full of the healing effect. After that happened, he squeezed it dry, obtaining some liquid. 

It was in a concentrated form, barely amounting to 10 milliliters. He then drank a bit first, finding that it tasted better than he had expected. It was fully nutritious, and once consumed, it began to circulate through his body, alleviating the slight tension in his body. 

"This is better than I had expected," Krune muttered in surprise as he gave it to the Seamstress, allowing her to sample a little of it as well. Upon tasting it, she could feel its effects, nodding with widened eyes. 

"This is truly great, you know? When you're free, make some and store them in a container. It would prove to be useful later. It can be used for nourishment during the time we can't find any fish. Better to use this when there's a surplus," she spoke in a string, watching Krune listen to her in silence. 

Krune then diluted the extract using the ocean water that he had filtered and fed it to the baby in little quantities, watching the baby smile happily while drinking it. "It seems that he likes the taste."

All along, the boat had been traveling through the ocean, being pulled by the Motor Fish at the front. The Seamstress was rowing it by using the oar. On top of that, using her passive ability, Bubble Touch, she was able to sense the direction the bandits were heading towards.

All this time, they had come across numerous people floating aimlessly on the ocean with distraught expressions. Whatever they had saved up over the months while adrift on the ocean and the items from the Checkpoint Turtle they had bought with their accumulated Godly Points, all of them had been snatched by the bandits. 

Moreover, she focused on their foreheads, frowning when she was no longer able to see the dots on them. 

Upon noticing the same, Krune cursed, "So, the bandits are stealing their tablets as well? Quite despicable."

He then expressed his curiosity as she asked her, "Do you wish to save them?"

"If by saving them, you mean to shelter them on the boats I have, then you're mistaken. I won't do something like that." The Seamstress shook her head, causing Krune to look at her in surprise. "After all, it's not like surviving is easy for even me. All I will do is ensure the bandits don't steal their hard-earned items. As for the rest, it's all up to them. If they wish to reclaim what is rightfully theirs, they have to stand up for it. Despairing as pieces of rocks is not what peace amounts to."

"I thought you would try to return their items back to them once you defeated the bandits? Could it be that it wasn't the case?" Krune expressed his doubt.

"Now that we're all humans, I can say something with assurance. There's no end to human greed. If I hand them over to these people, there's a good chance they would turn out no different to the bandits. After all, they've experienced loss and despair once already. Whether they like it or not, they would try to project it onto others." The Seamstress vented as she continued, "And, those who aren't such a type wouldn't have remained standing while the bandits snatched everything from them."

She let out a deep sigh after that. "Peace dulls the hearts and minds of people. It makes them appreciate less of what they have. Even if there are no wars fought or life and death battles that are waged, people would still fight for money, resources, men, women, if nothing else, pride."

"The peace I wish to attain and spread around isn't anything that would create even complex situations and create an even greyer world." She looked forward to this future of hers as she continued, "When seated on a grass-filled plain, hearing the flow of water while watching the setting sun, the breeze that makes a gentle tune in your ears, your state of mind in that situation is exactly the peace I wish to bring about."

"So..." Krune gazed forward in the darkness, setting the baby comfortably on the bed to rest as he noticed a faint light far away, "Our objective is to destroy the enemy ship and scatter the items all over the ocean. Without killing the bandits, we just have to make them helpless."

"That's the only option." The Seamstress nodded. "If it was the previous me, I would have been able to affect their thoughts so that they would live as honorable men. But now, we have to drill that notion into them slowly."

'No, that's the option that seems like the most pain in the ass.' Krune thought as he spoke, "Well, you do whatever you want. However, if they try to kill me, I won't pull my punches." Those words coming from a wisp seemed quite weird in Krune's mind...but he decided to ignore them.

"I won't force my ideals onto you." The Seamstress nodded. "I know how absurd and troublesome they sound, but that's my way of life."

"So you do realize they are absurd." Krune laughed and adjusted the baby's position, tying it up a little to ensure it wouldn't roll over when the boat rocked during the ensuing fight. Upon seeing that the baby was sleeping peacefully, Krune chuckled as he muttered, "He's one tough guy."

Krune then thought of something, asking the Seamstress, "About that Water Essence you spoke about…relating to your Coral Wave. Have you finished forming it?"

"Almost." The Seamstress nodded before asking, "Why do you ask?"

Krune slipped his hand into a pocket and took out a Blood Essence Crystal, giving it to her before explaining, "Consume it only when necessary. It would give you a slight boost to your physique and abilities and lasts around two to three hours. But, once the duration ends, your body would be severely exhausted. You have to immerse your body in the ocean water for a couple of days after that to heal all the damage."

The moment she looked at the Blood Essence Crystal, the Seamstress looked at Krune with curiosity. "Who the heck are you? How come I never heard of you before?"

"I had troublesome karma that always put me in dangerous situations. So, for most of my life, you can say I was living under a rock." Krune chuckled. "Only after I managed to solve it did I emerge out in the open. Well, it hasn't been long since then, less than a decade, I think."

As they spoke, their boat approached closer to the bandit ship as the other party spotted them immediately. They had been looting a group of people and were in the process of loading all the goods in their ship.

Krune could immediately spot a pile of tablets in front of Gajor. Upon noticing his gaze, Gajor smirked as he ordered his men to leave the rest behind. Their ship took off immediately and sped forth. 

When they gave chase, Krune realized that his opponent's speed was greater than his boat as soon after, they had sped far beyond his range. Even while using his Sonic Radar, he wasn't able to find them any longer. 

Krune hadn't tested the limit of this ability yet, so he wasn't sure how far they had gone past. Nevertheless, it was at least beyond a kilometer. Before they had fully vanished from his Sonic Radar's range, he remembered that at the front of the bandit ship were eight Motor Fishes. 

They were apparently due to the specialized cages that held them. He cursed immediately, "Just how did he manage to get more Motor Fishes in this short duration?"

He looked at the Seamstress, asking her, "Do you know anything about this?"

"No, this is the first time I'm witnessing such a change as well. I never knew they had a method to replenish their Motor Fish reserves. If they were able to do it…" She frowned, immediately using Bubble Touch to see where the bandit cove was, frowning. "Their cove is still in the same place. Then, how were they able to transport them so quickly? Judging by the distance, it shouldn't be possible."

"There's a good chance they have individual boats rowed by the Motor Fishes as standby." Krune frowned. "They might probably have a larger net than we had thought. In the place of the two boats you had detached from their ship were two new boats. They were possibly the reinforcements that were roaming farther beyond our reach and had quickly come to their reinforcement when needed."

After some thought, the Seamstress finally spoke, "It seems they managed to figure out the secret to this layer already."

"Do you still wish to pursue them?" Krune asked after a moment.

"Of course," the Seamstress replied like it was a matter of fact.

"If our lives are threatened, I'm pulling out."

"That's for sure. I am not reckless, you know."

Chapter 958: The Baby's Tablet

As dawn was just beginning, Krune got up and checked the condition of the baby, smiling when he noticed that it was healthy. He then jumped on the bone boat attached nearby, holding a toothbrush in his hand as he began to clean his teeth. 

He didn't have anything like toothpaste. So, all he did was use the ocean water to clean his dental cavity while using the toothbrush to scrape off anything unpleasant. Thanks to the healing effect in the ocean water, he noticed that when he was done, his teeth were sparkling clean, and his gums weren't injured in any way.

He then looked up, noticing the sleeping figure of the Seamstress. She had placed her bed on the other side of the boat. It seemed that she had been significantly exhausted. So, the moment she closed her eyes, she fell asleep like a log. Then again, the stable movement and soft flooring, not to mention the bed and the blanket, allowed her to have a pleasant sleep. 

Seeing that she had yet to wake up, Krune didn't bother her, using a bucket to scoop the ocean water and pour it into a certain container at the top. It acted as a water tank within their boat. After all, Krune had built a bathroom in the boat.

After all, he was now a mortal and had to take care of mortal things. He never had such things to worry about as a wisp back then, a being of pure energy. Krune carefully placed his fingers near his mouth and held the ends of his skin armor, pulling it as it stretched.

His head soon peeked out as Krune continued to slowly peel away the entire skin armor. It did take him considerable time, considering its elasticity wasn't to the extent he could easily pull it off like a piece of cloth. 

Once he had pulled it out completely, he sighed, relaxing his muscles once. Even though the skin armor had become fully in tune with him, it was still an extra layer over his body. With that, he had to remove it while taking care of his bodily needs every day. 

Krune habitually soaked it in the ocean water once and left it on the floor to dry as he headed into the bathroom, using the pod to empty his bowels first. He then took a shower, feeling refreshed as he exited. 

He then wore a pair of leather knickers he had stitched, sitting on a seat as he allowed his body to dry. He only had leather to use, so he couldn't prepare a towel. That's why he had to sit until his body dried itself. 

Moreover, the humid weather made it even worse. Sighing, Krune got up and lifted the boxing bag. It was something he made using three layers of Monster Gecko Skin, filling it with the bone tree's bone powder. 

It had considerable weight to it, and when he practiced using it before, he felt that it was perfect for his current physique. The ends of the boxing bag were attached to the floors on either side. Once he fastened the hooks to it, Krune lightly punched on it, feeling the response as he could not help but exclaim, "Great! That's how I wanted!"

He then made a series of punches and jabs on it, moving his body around as much as possible to become an agile fighter. Having used shields all his life, Krune was an expert when it came to defending. Moreover, having multitasked by controlling 102 shields each time, he was able to divert his attention span on other things while boxing.

Krune looked at the baby, counting the number of times it breathed and the duration it took each time based on his counts. Using the Sonic Radar, Krune sensed the flow of fishes beneath his boat, their numbers, their depth with respect to his position, and so on. 

He continued to do a flurry of attacks on the boxing bag, intending to improve his skill. After all, the previous night, no matter how they gave chase, they were unable to close in on the pirate ship. On top of that, they had looted the belongings of everyone in the vicinity. 

After that, they just headed for their base. As the pirate cove was too much for them to handle, for the time being, they decided to retreat first. As for the people whose belongings were stolen from, they just drifted through the place, intending to head as far away from the range of operation of the bandits. 

When Krune extended a helping hand, they simply looked at him in fear and paddled faster. Without their tablets, they no longer had any hopes of surviving in the place. Even if they obtained any Godly Points, they wouldn't be able to use them. 

Surprisingly, most of them had indignant expressions, planning to scour for powerful fishes to hunt and obtain strong passive abilities and reclaim their tablets one day. Upon seeing their expressions, Krune didn't stop them. He was never a saint, so he didn't poke his nose into where it didn't belong. 

As for the Seamstress, she just pointed them in the direction where some of the materials left behind by the bandits still remained. After that, they decided to call it a day since their Motor Fishes were getting exhausted. 

Due to all their rowing, they had lost considerable weight. If it continued like that, they might even die. Krune fed them some meat and headed to sleep after taking care of the Seamstress's sleeping arrangements.

And now, while punching the boxing bag, Krune kept thinking about what Gajor had been plotting all along and why he had been snatching the tablets too. 'Considering the rate at which he is pillaging everything from these areas, I'm afraid he's scheming something grand.'

'One way or another, he might prove to be an obstacle to my growth here. If I can't leave this place because of him...' As he thought, Krune's eyes shone with a dangerous glint. He had been killing the Monster Geckos daily, and during the end of his stay in the Primary Landmass, he had been killing quite a few daily. That was quite a rare sight, though. Since he wasn't the killing type usually.

So, the moment he thought of anything remotely dangerous, the air around him was filled with a bloodthirsty tang. 

Upon sensing the bloodthirsty scent, the Seamstress woke up in a hurry and flashed her coral sword, looking around to find Krune's figure standing before the boxing bag, deep in thought. Only now did she see his actual appearance, for a moment blushing a little upon seeing his sculpted abs. 

She then coughed once and got up as she asked, "Did something happen?"

"I just couldn't remove the thought of Gajor stealing all the tablets. Those from the other batches might not know since they were mortals by the time they sensed the tablet on them. But, as we were there when they were created, we know what they're made from." The moment Krune voiced his opinion, the gaze of the Seamstress shuddered. 

Tribulation Lightning!

In the Four Sectors' Border Region, there was a place where the Predominated Vines had broken through from the Ninth Stage Nascent God Realm into the Semi-God Realm. As they didn't possess a Spiritual Incarnation, the First Stage Semi-God Realm was their limit. But even then, those Predominated Vines could be considered immortal Predominated Vines. 

And as all of them had broken through in the same place, tribulation lightning had struck the place so many times that the Tribulation Laws had fused into the soil of the place. With that, the mountainous demon beast, the representative of a God, had used the Tribulation Lightning Law rich soil to form their tablets. 

Up to now, Krune was unsure of the reason they had used such a material to form their tablets. He knew there was a deeper reason for that. But due to his lacking comprehension, he was unable to determine them.

He wasn't sure if the tablets of the other batches of people were also made from the same material, but the fact that Gajor was accumulating them rubbed him off the wrong way. Just the quantity he had stolen overnight was already in the triple digits. After all, except for Krune and the Seamstress, he didn't seem to have left anyone else in the area. 

As for Strinker and his group, Krune hadn't seen them after that. He wasn't sure if they had escaped or had their items stolen by the bandit group. He gazed at the Seamstress and asked once more, "In the end, this problem seems like a grander scheme. Are you sure you don't wish to stain your hands with their blood?"

"If the situation dictates…" She swung her coral sword, showing her stance on the matter as she responded, "I'm someone who believes that there is good in everyone. But, if the situation doesn't allow me to bring out their good, I won't hesitate to put an end to their evil."

"Then, we would need a team. Just us two alone are insufficient." Krune then became curious, wondering the reason Gajor had been after the baby from the start. Focusing on the dot on its forehead, Krune used the baby's index finger to double-tap its forehead and hurriedly caught hold of the tablet that appeared.

At the moment he gazed at it, he was left at a loss for words due to the words the tablet contained.

"What?" 

Chapter 959: Firstborn

"What?" Krune was left at a loss for words when he looked at the details displayed on the baby's tablet. There were four rows of words on it, with each line as shocking as the other. 

[Sub-Realm's Firstborn]

[Obtained: 100 Credits]

[Obtained Passive: Ocean Affinity]

[Obtained Passive: Solar Breathing]

"Just…what are these? I have not seen them before..." The Seamstress went closer to him and looked at the words displayed on the baby's tablet. "These abilities, they were gifted by the Sub-Realm itself? Also, his tablet looks a bit different from ours as far as I can see, don't you think?"

Naturally, Krune also noticed a tiny difference in the baby's tablet. On its top were a couple of waves, making the tablet look grander than theirs. Upon seeing the rewards displayed on it, Krune realized the reason they were after the baby in the first place. 

Just as Krune had done, they could easily use the baby's finger to summon his tablet. Even if he wasn't able to use it now, once he waited until the baby was three to four years old, Gajor would be able to manipulate the baby to purchase everything he needed through the Checkpoint Turtle. 

After all, 100 Godly Points was a large sum. If one solely relied on their ability to hunt, it might take decades to obtain such a sum in Layer 3. And this was in the case they were able to fight and already possessed helpful passive abilities. 

Otherwise, a typical cultivator in Layer 3 might never even touch the double digits in his lifetime. So, the allure of 100 Godly Points was already significant enough to make a move. 

Nevertheless, there were also the two passive abilities the baby had been awarded. They weren't obtained but were rewarded by the Sub-Realm itself. In short, they were powerful abilities. Gajor could very well raise the baby like his son and obtain a powerful ally in the future. 

Considering the sheer impact of the names, the two passive abilities should definitely be insanely powerful. After all, Krune's most powerful passive ability was named Ocean Heart. On the other hand, the baby had a passive ability titled Ocean Affinity. 

Whether it was related to wielding the powers in the water, living in the water, manipulating the water and so on, Krune wasn't sure. In any case, what he was sure about was the fact that no matter what, Ocean Affinity would be an ability on par with his Ocean Heart.

Not to mention the baby's second passive ability, Solar Breathing. Krune wasn't able to guess as to what this ability entailed. No matter what, he decided to consider them as abilities on par with his Ocean Heart, if not superior. 

Having seen the way they were named, the Seamstress frowned, muttering, "If we consider them to be on par with your Ocean Heart, their two abilities will make him overpowered in this layer once he grows up into an adult."

"That is very well a possibility. But it's not guaranteed," Krune replied, "Remember that there's something in the Tertiary Landmass. The one who possesses that is the one who would dominate this place."

"The active ability!" The Seamstress nodded in realization as she frowned. "No matter what, this baby should never fall in the hands of Gajor."

"You don't need to say it twice." Krune nodded as he spoke after some thought, "We have to grow stronger first. Say, is there any way you can track more of these Motor Fishes? We'll need greater mobility than them if we wish to target them. Otherwise, it's impossible if we were to have a water bottle."

He gazed at the Seamstress as he continued, "At present, your mobility in water is no different to any average pirate. You're better skilled, but you can also be overwhelmed. After all, you're just a mortal. You have your limits."

"What you said makes sense." The Seamstress nodded before asking, "But, are you really able to enhance a passive ability to its peak?"

"Yes." Krune nodded as he replied, "Though, the process might take anywhere from a month to three months. Also, I need at least four Motor Fishes and two Water Essence to make it happen. After that, we would still need two more Motor Fishes for our boat."

"Hmm..." After thinking it through, the Seamstress nodded. "Leave it to me. I can ambush their individual boats and bring in enough Motor Fishes. There should be some prowling all the time in search of more people to plunder from."

She then pointed at Krune as she told him, "The healing extract you made for the baby, create a container full for me so that I won't end up dead by exhaustion mid-journey."

"You're planning to tackle it alone?" Krune frowned, just about to retort when she motioned towards her dress, or rather the thin layer that had appeared on it by now.

Smiling, she spoke, "While keeping my Coral Wave active, when I drift through the water, I will seem no different from a piece of coral. I'll move through the dark layers, so they won't even know I hit them. As long as I have enough energy to sustain myself, I can handle this easily."

"Alright." Krune nodded and headed to one of his compartments before slicing out a piece of meat bigger than his head. He had saved up enough for him to consume for three months, so this hardly put a dent in his storage. 

He then activated the healing effect in his Ocean Heart, condensing it into a beam using his Neon Radiance before emitting it through his palms, focusing it entirely on the piece of meat. It took him a couple of hours, having expended an entire ring's worth of energy. 

When he filled the piece of meat to the brim with the healing effect, he used a couple of tools to squeeze it completely, pouring the juice into a filter. He then collected the concentrated solution into a bottle that he had created using the shaft of the Monster Gecko's fishing rod. 

He then gave it to the Seamstress, who took a sip to test its effectiveness first before nodding in response. "This is enough for the entire journey. I'll be back."

Saying her piece, she grabbed hold of her coral sword before jumping into the ocean, speeding forth underwater. She then headed into the darkness within, positioned beyond a depth of ten meters from the surface and disappeared. 

Using his Sonic Radar, Krune was able to keep track of her motion until she moved beyond his range. He then looked around, deciding to get to work immediately. Upon noticing that there were many fishes near his boat, he smiled, picking up his fishing net before casting it over the place. 

As for the piece of meat that was left over after he had extracted the essence from it, Krune diced it up into two pieces and before throwing each piece to a Motor Fish. He also opened one of the four compartments attached to the pillars of his boat, looking within to see that there were around eight fruits within instead of the usual two. 

Thanks to the sheer volume of blood that flowed into the ocean water thanks to the bandits, the number of fruits had increased. He took out two of the fruits before throwing one each to the Motor Fishes. They gobbled the fruits immediately, recovering significant vitality.

Krune then noticed that they were still hungry, smiling as he threw in a second batch of fruits. "Eat more and grow faster. I know this isn't your limit."

He then opened up a secret cupboard that had the tightest defense in the entire boat. From within, he took out a tiny container, opening its lid to reveal tiny shards within. He carefully picked out two of them, closed the container and placed it back in the cupboard. 

Krune tied the bone boats sideways to the boat as he carefully planted a shard in the center of each. He then pulled up his net, capturing a lot of fishes that he dumped in equal halves over each boat, using a knife to stab them in quick sessions. 

Within a few seconds, a tiny sapling sprouted amidst them before beginning to grow, soon reaching his height. All the blood of the fishes had disappeared while their bodies had been devoured by the growing bone tree. 

Krune then caught a lot of fish and killed them, using their blood to water the bone trees. While doing so, Krune noticed something strange. Unlike on the Primary Landmass where the bone tree reached a height of three meters, the one before him stopped growing at the height of 1.5 meters, resembling a bonsai.

It seemed as if it couldn't cross the line beyond which the gravity reversed. Instead, the size of its trunk widened accordingly. Upon seeing it, Krune chuckled as he could not help but say, "Well, this saves me a lot of trouble."

He then continued to water them until they reached complete growth. A couple of days passed in such a fashion as they no longer showed any signs of growth. Soon after, a wheezing Seamstress arrived, pulling with her exactly four Motor Fishes. It seemed to have taken a toll on her to rely on the passive ability, Moving Water for so long as she appeared thinner, weaker. 

Krune pulled her up as he smiled. "Rest and recover your strength. We won't be moving from this point for at least another month or two."

Chapter 960: Speedrun

As Krune had said, they really didn't do anything beyond being adrift on the ocean. From time to time, they used fishing nets to capture a large batch of fish. Krune cut them up accordingly, separated the meat from the rest before dumping the remains back into the ocean.

He only collected some useful parts that he thought would come useful later. Well, he needed a lot of meat, for he and the Seamstress were consuming through it quickly. The Seamstress was moving through the water in search of any large fishes they could hunt to obtain Godly Points. 

Moreover, she was also moving around to train her body accordingly. After all, the passive ability, Moving Water was incredibly useful. When activated, all it did was generate currents around the body, propelling it forward.

Of course, this burned up all the energy in the body, causing the Seamstress to grow thinner every time. With that, Krune took this chance to supply her with healing energy, familiarizing himself with the ability more and more. 

After all, he had determined a simple result from his one year of stay on the Primary Landmass. As long as he used a certain ability a lot, his body would gradually grow accustomed to it and would develop accordingly. 

So, even though a mortal's stamina was limited and they couldn't rely on the passive abilities for a long duration, as long as they trained with them to the extent their efficiency was on par with the body's reflexes, the passive abilities would become no different to breathing or blinking to them.

This way, they would stop being passive abilities and would just become a part of them. With that, attaining such a state was a must for them. In any case, they had to get stronger, greatly so if they wished to demolish the pirate organization that was gaining more and more momentum.

As the days passed, Krune and the Seamstress had clashed with the pirates numerous times. Every time, they managed to kill one or two of them. Of course, it was mostly Krune that did the killing. As for the Seamstress, all she did was destroy their boats, leaving them stranded in the ocean, adrift. 

Lured by the blood, the fishes did the rest of the work. When need be, she could be vicious in her own way. 

Krune fed the bone tree fruits to the six Motor Fishes every day. And as he had expected, the results started to become noticeable after a couple of weeks. The Motor Fishes had grown in size and were steadily growing. 

At the start, the Motor Fishes were only able to consume one fruit per day once they recovered to their peak. Of course, it would take too much time for them to mature in such a fashion. It might take a decade before they reached a level that Krune wanted. 

So, he worked them to the limit, actively targeting the smaller pirate boats. He pillaged from the pirates. As long as the pirates didn't try to kill him, he didn't kill them either. Most of the time, when they surrendered, he just pushed them into the ocean and looted all their items. 

Most of the time, though, they didn't have anything. Well, in cases when they returned from a trip, they might even have a Water Essence that they had stolen from some poor soul. In such cases, Krune gladly pocketed them.

After all, he did have some uses for them. Nevertheless, the prime reason he attacked the pirates was to steal their Motor Fish. 

Eight out of ten times, they were unable to catch up to the pirates. During the first few tries, Krune did manage to steal their Motor Fishes. But soon after, it seemed that Gajor noticed his motives, sending out larger groups.

All such groups were only pulled by one Motor Fish. At the moment it seemed like they were about to lose, the pirates would grab all their belongings and jump into the ocean.

All they did was leave behind an empty boat. They would circle around the Motor Fish and use their passive ability, Moving Water, to propel themselves forward. Their abilities, plus the Motor Fish's power, would create a powerful propelling force that Krune and the Seamstress were unable to match. 

It seemed that the ability Moving Water was stronger when used as a group. Once Gajor used this strategy, Krune and the Seamstress were unable to do anything to his group. They were no longer able to cause the pirates any losses. 

Krune had already swapped his Underwater Breathing with Moving Water. He killed three Motor Fishes simultaneously and absorbed their blood, gaining the passive ability. He almost cried at losing Underwater Breathing, not because it was a useful ability, but because it had cost him 20 Godly Points. 

After that, he had also trained with the Seamstress daily, using Moving Water to the limit, getting accustomed to it. Even though breathing underwater while using it was harder than while using Underwater Breathing, as he continued to train, Krune's body began to adjust to it accordingly. 

Over time, it gradually became more bearable for him. Then again, he couldn't remain underwater for too long and would have to resurface before his body turned numb from the lack of air. Moving Water wasn't able to provide enough air for his needs. 

All it did was prolong the duration one could remain underwater. Krune and the Seamstress eventually timed how long they could last, making a note that they were able to remain underwater for around 10 minutes. The Seamstress could stay for a slightly longer duration than him because she was more attuned to the ability. 

Krune was currently maintaining 10 Motor Fishes. Among them, four were for moving the boat. There were two Motor Fishes on each ocean, facing opposite directions. This gave the boat enough propulsion and stability in movement. 

As for the remaining six, they were to be harvested for their ability. Upon thinking that he was already making two of them, Krune decided that he might as well make three of them and give the third one to the baby. 

Krune wasn't sure how long he would be in the Sub-Realm and for how long he would have to live as a mortal. But if it took him a long time, he might as well nurture a strong future companion. Besides, the baby was blessed with two powerful abilities. 

He wasn't sure what Ocean Affinity did. In any case, Krune didn't care. The baby had three slots to fill. Having Moving Water as one of them didn't hurt. In the future, if it looked like Ocean Affinity was able to mimic whatever Moving Water was capable of, they could simply replace it with another ability. 

After all, it didn't hurt to have more. Thinking as such, he planned the third one. Maintaining three bone trees wasn't a hard process. With two of them, they managed to capture enough fish from the ocean.

Sometimes, they would even capture pretty huge fishes. As both of them had underwater mobility, they would just head into the water and sprint up the nets over the fish. 

It was when he showed the Seamstress the rope bush did she almost lose her mind. When he asked her about the reason, she told him to think about her name. From the looks of it, she was an expert when it came to threads. 

Unsurprisingly, the nets she created were incredible, allowing them to catch groups of fish like it was no big deal. As always, all the blood was given to the bone trees to develop and bear fruits. The fruits were the only source of nourishment to the Motor Fishes. 

Over time, all ten of them began to grow in size, also gaining an upgrade in their movement speed. Unfortunately for Krune and the Seamstress, it seemed that the pirate group had veered farther away from them.

After all, the area was already looted dry by them. With that, they went to a different place to pillage more. But, Krune didn't give chase. Rather, he was pleased with the development. The Seamstress had already marked the pirate cove once with her passive ability, Bubble Touch. 

So, no matter how far they went, she would always be able to track them. Without them being in the vicinity, Krune could safely proceed with the important part of his project. He could rest assured that no one would try to steal the fruits of their labor. 

Moreover, through his Sonic Radar, he would know the moment anything approached close. It was also how he was able to track groups of fishes and veer the boat in that direction before he and the Seamstress jumped into the water to capture them all. 

As the development of the Motor Fishes continued, three months passed in such a fashion. At this point, they needed to eat five fruits daily to sustain themselves. This was because all this time, Krune made them swim from morning to evening. In the evening, he even provided them with the fruits. 

This caused their bodies to easily digest all the excess energy derived from the fruits. Moreover, they also began to grow as a result. Normally, when a Motor Fish swam all day, it would have to eat for at least a week or two before it could swim for another day nonstop. 

After all, it needed the energy to move its body. And that was the energy stored in its muscles. So, that was why the bandit activity wasn't conducted daily but only at certain intervals. 

As for Krune, he simply brute-forced his way through. 

Chapter 961: Frozen Cylinder

Whenever a Motor Fish was drained of all energy and had even thinned in size, Krune fed it with a lot of fruits. He also gave it the extract he created by infusing his healing ability in a piece of meat and squeezing the juices out. 

Without much surprise, it worked wonders in developing their bodies, causing them to gain muscle mass quite quickly. Even though a lot of time was being consumed in this elaborate process, and the two knew for a fact that the bandit group was getting progressively stronger as the days passed, they had no other choice but to wait. 

Even though the bandit group was getting stronger, Krune and the Seamstress were getting significantly stronger individually. It was because they were using their abilities without care and constantly trained like madmen. 

It came as a pleasant surprise to Krune that the Seamstress was more or less similar to him in views and ideologies. The only difference was the fact that she wished to stick to her childhood's ideals. 

As for the reason, she simply said that she wished to accomplish a challenging task. So, she took up a task that seemed the toughest and would never end. With that, even if she were to become a God, she would never be bored.

Whether she was weak or invincible, her methods might change, but the goal she should strive forward would always be the same. At the start, she was driven by her vow. After that, it became her obsession due to an incident she experienced. 

And now, it was her way of life. 

It had been eight months since the day Krune met the Seamstress. Krune observed the Motor Fishes, speaking, "Alright, we have attained a limit of sorts. For the past two days, there have been no noticeable differences when they consumed the fruits."

"Are we going to kill them now?" the Seamstress inquired. All along, Krune hadn't explained the method to her yet, saying that she would only understand it when she witnessed it herself. 

"Nope." Krune smiled, dragging one of the bone cages holding a Motor Fish with him. The bone cage wasn't something it had at the start. It was what he had created over the months to house it. After all, it had doubled in size over the months. 

Just by sensing its sheer presence, Krune determined that it was on the level of a Mutant Monster Gecko right now. On top of that, it seemed that it wasn't able to grow beyond this level...at least, not naturally. Its natural limit was what it was eight months ago. 

Its current form was already because of the bone tree fruits that had boosted its growth tremendously, evolving it into a higher existence. 

Over the eight months, other than training, Krune expanded the ship's size. From its initial radius of three meters, it had expanded to five meters. As its skeletal base was the bone tree, expanding it was simply too easy. 

All Krune had to do was cover it with bones of other fishes before layering it with leather. He had plenty of Monster Gecko leather, so he simply used them, already used to them aesthetically. The increase in space made the boat seem too big, especially considering that there were only two people and a baby living on it. 

Krune and the Seamstress sparred against one another a lot, understating the complex dynamics at play when humans used their passive abilities to fight. This way, they built up more experiences related to the fights between humans and not just between humans and fish. 

"Now, what happens next will shock you." Krune smiled as he grunted, slowly pulling the Motor Fish's cage above a bone boat. It was created by stringing three bone boats together. It was tied to the Paddle. Growing on it was a bone tree. 

Krune carefully placed the Motor Fish cage next to the bone tree. He then took in a deep breath as he gazed at the Motor Fish within. Despite possessing a presence on par with a Mutant Monster Gecko, it wasn't even in the least bit threatening. 

It was because the Motor Fishes were a tamed race. They lived by using their superior agility to steal the hunted prey of other marine creatures. So, they would never attack. 

As Krune pulled it out of water, the Motor Fish began to face difficulty in breathing as its body began to twitch. He swiftly made a small cut on its tail and touched it on the bone tree, watching the Motor Fish shudder in response and twitch harder.

"Help me hold it!" Krune shouted as the Seamstress jumped out of the Paddle and landed on the bone boat, grabbing hold of the Motor Fish as she tried to keep it as steady as possible. Even though she wasn't as strong as Krune physically, she wasn't that far off.

Within a minute, the Motor Fish stopped twitching as it lost all strength, gazing with glazed eyes as its body visibly shrunk further until all its blood had been sucked away. Krune maintained the position for some more time before he noticed that no more blood flowed out from the Motor Fish, heaving a sigh of relief as he let go of his hold. "Now, let's do it two more times."

Krune then placed the dried Motor Fish on the floor of the Paddle. Without wasting any time, they did the same to two other Motor Fishes. Once that was done, they continued to wait while going about their daily activities. 

The Seamstress tested the Blood Essence Crystal, marveling at the boost she obtained from it. After using it to the limit, she rested for a day, recovering from the side effects. Krune then gave her another three, telling her to use it when they fought against some tough opponents. 

The number of weapons they had created during these past few months was significant. Using their combined prowess, they managed to create a bow, a really powerful bow that was only a meter wide but packed a powerful punch. The bowstring was something the Seamstress had created using the thread from the Rope Bush.

She processed it for months using the heat from her passive ability, Heat Radiance. She did the same thing for the bows, too, upgrading their strength to a greater level. And when she was bored, the Seamstress worked on Krune's Whale Tooth Sword and the pair of Whale Tooth Daggers, slightly upgrading their quality. 

On the other hand, Krune worked on the arrows, making a special component in the tip where he was able to store some of his blood inside. It did take multiple trials and errors before they managed to create an arrow tip that was able to contain his blood without freezing over. 

With that, they obtained arrows that would inject his frozen blood into his pierced enemies, turning their bodies numb from the cold. They could put it to good use when attempting a Secondary Landmass next. 

Even though heading to a Primary Landmass was easier, a Secondary Landmass would prove to be better in terms of profit. Moreover, they could head inside as a team, which was the most important. 

Only one person could enter a Primary Landmass. Three people could enter a Secondary Landmass. As for the Tertiary Landmass, a total of nine people could enter it. If they all held hands or made bodily contact while ripping the entry tickets, they would all end up in the same Secondary or Tertiary Landmass. 

It was unknown how many Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary Landmasses were in the layer. So, they couldn't get an accurate grasp. Moreover, even though they had roamed about a significant distance, they hadn't come across any of the landmasses. 

The only piece of land that could be said was the cove where the Motor Fishes lived. Now, it was controlled by the pirates as a mobile fortress around which they were building a ship. 

Whatever they were preparing, Krune and the Seamstress had to make a breakthrough. So, they were accumulating some of their own secret weapons. The one that played a major factor in this was the Seamstress' passive ability, Coral Wave. 

Using it in conjunction with her Heat Radiance, she was able to refine tiny cylinders that were capable of holding his frozen blood without freezing over. It did take three months of continuous trial and error to figure out the correct combination. But when it did, it paid a lot. 

Using it, she created tiny thumb-sized containers, cylindrical in shape. Krune was able to store his frozen blood in them, around 10 milliliters. Surprisingly, they worked no different from a grenade. There was a tiny pin on their top that, upon pulled, would turn the container fragile. 

And, when it collided with any object, the frozen blood within would splash forth. If the pin wasn't pulled, the container wouldn't shatter. Krune had experimented and noticed that only if he hacked it using his Whale Tooth Sword would the container break if its pin is not removed. 

Surprisingly, ten milliliters of his blood was pretty effective. After testing it, they realized that it was the perfect amount to slow a relatively larger creature for a moment. Moreover, it had the most efficiency of usage. Krune called it the Frozen Cylinder. 

They were making a Frozen Cylinder every five days. It did take time to create them. After all, if the containers were of subpar quality, they would break if the user ran or fell or suffered an attack. They would just freeze over. 

After all, even Krune wasn't completely immune to it, even though it was his blood. If it landed on his foot, it would form ice over the ground and his foot, keeping him stuck to the place. Even though the ice wouldn't directly damage him, it would still hinder him. 

Chapter 962: Moving Ripple

After that, they also created three large Frozen Cylinders that would serve as their trump cards. They each held 100 milliliters of his frozen blood. So, if they faced a behemoth of a creature, the large Frozen Cylinders would prove effective. 

Of course, that wasn't the only grenades they possessed. The Seamstress also accumulated her Heat Radiance in some coral cylinders she made. They worked similar to the Frozen Cylinder. But, there was a difference here. 

The Frozen Cylinder directly used his frozen blood to create a freezing effect. But, the Seamstress didn't possess such blood. So, she used another technique to make bombs out of it. As she already stored intense heat within her coral sword and only unleashed it when necessary to melt objects, she used the same principle here. 

She stored a reasonable amount of heat in a coral cylinder and filled it with water. There were two compartments within, a chamber where the water was stored and another block of coral where the heat was retained. 

Similar to the Frozen Cylinder, when a pin was pulled, the block would release all its heat, instantly vaporizing the water, causing it to explode. To increase its efficacy, she also added some coral fragments that she had refined within the water. When it exploded, the coral fragments would act as shrapnel. This was almost like a real grenade. 

Sadly, Krune took the chance to name it, calling it the Exploding Cylinder. The Seamstress rolled her eyes while accepting the name. As it took too much time to create, the Seamstress only managed to create five for each. 

After that, she made arrowheads using her coral that, upon piercing, would emit intense heat, enough to melt flesh. In total, they had prepared an arsenal of weapons while waiting for the bone trees to bulge even more until they looked like miniature versions of the Paddle. 

Among their branches were numerous massive fruits, something that would cause a Mutant to become a King. Krune knew that only one among them was real. Based on experience, he was able to guess them accurately by now. 

Around three months later, the fruits had ripened. They had taken a considerably longer duration than in the Primary Landmass. The reason might be because they had absorbed too much variety of blood that they weren't able to concentrate one type of essence. 

In the Primary Landmass, all the blood only belonged to the Monster Gecko. The rest was only ocean water. So, they were able to concentrate the essence and process faster.

Though finally, once the fruits ripened, Krune heaved a sigh in relief. In the meantime, their arsenal consisted of 20 Frozen Arrows, 20 Heated Arrows, 24 Frozen Cylinders, 6 big Frozen Cylinders, and 10 exploding cylinders. They were equally divided between the two. 

Moreover, they also had around 100 normal arrows that they planned to use against the small fry. Overall, they were completely geared up for war. 

"Let's pull them up on board," Krune said as he placed three tubs on the boat floor. He scooped out the ocean water and filled them, barely enough for the Motor Fishes to survive but not enough for them to use their abilities and escape. 

Krune and the Seamstress then carried three Motor Fishes and placed them in a tub each. The tubs were then shielded by a cage, giving the Motor Fishes no chance to escape in the unlikely event. Though, they were a tameable species from the start and had already been tamed by them. 

Upon seeing that the cages worked perfectly, Krune smiled as he plucked out three massive fruits from the bone trees. 

"What about the rest of the fruits?" the Seamstress asked in curiosity.

"They're fakes," Krune replied as he placed a fruit in each tub, closing the cage immediately. Without him needing to urge them, the three Motor Fishes jumped on the massive fruits immediately. But, even though he called them massive fruits, they were only half the size of the Motor Fishes. 

The fault to be attributed here was the numerous miscellaneous fish blood Krune had made the bone trees absorb. If it had only been the blood of the Motor Fishes, then the massive fruit would have been as big as the Mutated Motor Fishes. 

Unfortunately, they didn't have that many Motor Fishes. So, Krune had to work on it differently. In the end, as long as they reached the status as a King, he would be content with them. The Seamstress held three Water Essences in her hands, just in case they failed to handle the stress. 

Krune held the Whale Tooth Dagger in his hand as he turned around and looked, noticing that all the three bone trees began to wilt. He smiled, thinking that he had picked the fruits correctly. 

As the fruits were only half their body size, all the three Motor Fishes were able to eventually eat them completely. Once they had finished eating, all three Motor Fishes began to squeal in pain as something seemed to be happening in them.

Their bodies turned hotter as their bodies continued to grow bigger. But having seen the same process many times before, Krune realized that they would survive the process, but wouldn't attain the status as a King. 

So, he quickly took out all the fruits he had saved up, all thirty of them and dumped 10 in each. The Motor Fishes immediately gobbled each of them up, causing their bodies to become bloated to an exaggerated extent. Even then, they didn't die.

It was thanks to feeding them numerous fruits daily that their bodies got used to the energy levels and became tougher. When the final fruit was swallowed, Krune smiled as he noticed that the process was a success. 

He could feel a suffocating presence build up within the Motor Fishes. But unlike before, their presence was no longer tame. As the blood essence of numerous fishes were mixed into them, they were partly affected.

A horn began to grow on their foreheads while their bodies shrunk instead, turning more streamlined. Though, the process would take a couple of days before concluding. So, Krune and the Seamstress began to take action.

They carried each tub carefully and placed it beside the bone tree each, using other methods to constrict the Motor Fishes accordingly to their change in body size. Krune quickly explained the entire process to the Seamstress, telling her to do it herself on the second wilting bone tree. 

After a couple of days passed, the entire air surrounding the Paddle was heavy. In the ocean, there weren't any fishes in a hundred-meter radius. This was a result due to the sheer presence exhibited by the three Motor Fishes that had attained King status. 

Though, it seemed that they had gone way past their genetic limitations as their bodies looked like they would collapse within a week. It was too unstable. Though, as they finished evolving, Krune tightened the hold on all three Motor Fishes and made an incision on each, connecting their tails to their respective wilting bone tree. 

Even though the Motor Fishes struggled to move, the bindings held them rigidly. The water in the tub swirled around as the Motor Fishes tried to break free. With that, Krune and the Seamstress took turns to go around the three boats and ensured they wouldn't be able to break free.

Within an hour, the Motor Fishes lost all strength in their bodies, laying weakly as everything of substance in their bodies was sucked into the bone trees. After some time passed, only their skin was left. And when Krune touched them, they collapsed into dust. "If we had tried to fight them in the water, we wouldn't have been able to even touch them. But with enough planning…"

"Indeed." The Seamstress nodded, watching the three bone trees continue to wilt. Almost five days later, they completely finished wilting as there was a gem in each. Krune grabbed them and smiled, giving one to the Seamstress as he told her, "Here you go. I kept my end of the deal. Once you swallow this, you'll get a stronger version of Moving Water."

Storing the third gem in a safe place, Krune placed two tubs on the floor, filling them to the brim with ocean water that he freshly scooped, speaking to the Seamstress, "It's for the best to remain in the ocean water. There is a chance the pain would subsist for a considerable duration, and our body might be damaged."

"Alright." The Seamstress nodded as she sat in the tub, taking in a deep breath as she gazed at the gem. She noticed through the corner of her eye that Krune had already swallowed his, immediately inciting a reaction as his body began to emit a stronger presence. The water in the tub began to tremble, forming minute ripples. 

Smiling, she consumed the gem as well, exhibiting a similar phenomenon to Krune. 

Krune quickly double-tapped his glabella, summoning his tablet and accepting the prompt that appeared. The Seamstress did the same soon after. 

Almost a couple of hours later, Krune grunted, shaking his head as he double-tapped his glabella, gazing at the new row of words that appeared.

[Killed Motor Fish King: Obtained 1 Godly Point]

[Obtained Passive: Moving Ripple]

Chapter 963: Solare

Krune took in a deep breath, feeling the changes in his physique as he noticed the currents that were forming in the water in the tub. As he thought about it more, ripples formed on the water, lifting his body a little. 

At the same time, the Seamstress observed the changes, expressing her delight as she said, "This is…stronger. Moving Ripple? Has it changed anyhow?"

"We can only test it to find out." Krune nodded as he jumped into the water, noticing a ripple form the very moment his feet touched the water surface. For a moment, he felt like he could use the propulsion from the water to not enter it. 

'This is amazing. I can breathe almost on the same level as Underwater Breathing. If I stay still, I can remain underwater without any difficulties for as long as I want., Krune thought, creating water currents around himself that propelled him forward, immediately expressing his surprise as he muttered inwardly, 'The speed is at least 1.5 times faster than before.'

After swimming through the water for some time, Krune leaped into the air, heading into the ocean above as he swam through it. He leaped like that for some more times before he landed on the ocean water, increasing the propulsion the water generated around his legs, but this time, aiming it towards himself.

"Woah!" Krune exclaimed as he looked around, standing atop the water. Even though the feeling was like he was stuck in wet mud, it was still amazing that he could stand on top of the water. Krune looked below, seeing that he was submerged until his ankle. 

He then used his right leg, taking a step forward to find his leg sinking until the knee. But a second later, the water currents pushed his leg upwards, only keeping the part below the ankle underwater. 

At present, it wasn't even possible for him to walk properly before he would fall into the water. But, upon seeing the extent where he could train and develop himself, Krune began to get excited. He carefully began to step on the water, getting used to the propulsion his legs were subjected to.

He noticed that when he pressed down on the water surface, a ripple was created to disperse his weight. The water pushed on his feet, using its force to cancel out his weight, thereby keeping him on the surface.

Once he understood the basic concept, Krune continued to train for the entire day, finally calling it a day once he got tired. Only then did he notice the Seamstress jumping to and fro the two ocean layers, using both oceans as a platform of sorts. 

Upon noticing his gaze, she smiled, kicking into the water as her body flashed towards Krune, shocking him. But, just when he planned to defend himself, the Seamstress lost her footing, drowning in the water. 

She soon surfaced, laughing. "Ahhh, I was close to executing it correctly."

"It's still the first day," Krune said as he helped her get up. "This is better than what I bargained for."

"True." The Seamstress nodded, "It also helps me fight faster. Unlike Moving Water, I can use this ability to accelerate faster. It has great uses in battle."

"I guess we're more or less prepared to face the pirates," Krune said. "Though, it might have been better if we had a couple more allies."

"We can look for more allies as we chase after the pirate ship then," the Seamstress said as she whistled, causing two of the four Motor Fishes to begin propelling the boat forward. All four of the Motor Fishes had reached Mutant status. 

Unless they were fed a massive fruit, this was their limit. The only other possibility was to feed them the bone tree fruits daily and hope they would eventually surpass their limits over time. 

Nevertheless, their current level was more than enough for Krune. Any stronger, and there was a good chance they could no longer be controlled. Boarding their boat, they gave chase. 

Krune took out a bottle containing the healing extract, feeding it to the baby, seeing that it was growing at a steady pace over the past few months. At present, the baby was able to make cute sounds and walk wobbly. 

In their free time, the two played with the baby when realization hit them, causing them to look at the faces of one another and say in unison, "The baby has no name!"

"How come I missed such a chance?" Krune patted his forehead, immediately thinking of a great name as he opened his mouth, about to say it when the Seamstress shut him up. Having lived together for almost a year, the two had gotten quite close. "Don't make him hate you for the rest of his life." The Seamstress glared at him as she stared at him with calm composure, "Your naming skills are abysmal."

It felt like Krune had suffered from a heart attack as he sulked in one corner. The Seamstress looked at the baby, observing his bright personality. Having heard of Krune's encounter with him, and having observed him over the months, she knew that the baby had a hardened nature.

Though, despite suffering much as an infant, the baby still had a bright personality, having a smile filled with laughter throughout the day. As she played with him, the Seamstress she spoke after a long time" "Since you're the first ray of life in this sub-realm, I'll call you Solare." 

"That's...a name..." Krune looked at the Seamstress for a while before nodding. "Sounds good. We'll call him Solare from now onward."

Krune then played with Solare after that while the Seamstress was resting, seated in a tub of water as she was meditating, observing the ins and outs of her new passive ability. She then frowned all of a sudden, shooting her eyes open as she said, "This is strange."

"What's strange?" Krune frowned.

"We have been traveling for almost a day now, but I can't sense that the distance between us and the pirate ship has reduced. In fact, I feel like the distance between us has increased." She massaged her forehead, feeling irritated.

"Are they moving while making use of a lot of Motor Fishes? The generated currents are immensely powerful with a lot of them, right?" Krune thought as he spoke.

"That is true, but why?" the Seamstress muttered, gazing at Solare as she muttered to herself, "Have they given up entirely on Solare?"

"Fighting the two is too risky for them," Krune said as he frowned. His voice then turned solemn as he continued, "But, it seems they have higher priorities, no?" 

"Let's continue giving chase," the Seamstress said as Krune nodded. Among their four Motor Fishes, two took charge of moving the boat in half-day shifts. This way, they kept moving nonstop. Moreover, no matter what, the bone trees continued to supply them with enough fruits for their needs. 

As for Krune and the Seamstress, they occasionally stopped in places where a lot of fishes were close to the surface and fished them quickly using the nets. They then proceeded with the chase. 

Days passed in such a fashion before Krune muttered, "It has already been a year. I can feel something drawing my focus."

"That should be the Checkpoint Turtle. I can feel it as well." The Seamstress nodded as she sighed" "Until now, we have been unable to close in on the pirate ship."

"There is no other choice, then." Krune nodded as he suggested, "Let's give up on them and focus on heading to the upper layer." 

"You're right on that one." The Seamstress nodded before asking him, "Do you have any plans?"

"I've already visited a Primary Landmass before. I am confident of accumulating all 15 Godly Points there now, as long as the place isn't too unsuitable to my abilities" Krune nodded, looking at the Paddle before continuing, "Also, I figured out a method that can be used to take this boat with me while heading there."

"But." He looked at Solare before adding, "We can't leave him behind. No matter what, since his mother handed him to me, he's now part of my responsibilities."

"Alright." The Seamstress nodded, suggesting, "Then, instead of heading to a Primary Landmass, we'll head to a Secondary Landmass together. Three people can head into one at the same time. This way, we can protect one another and harvest points faster."

"But, I only have 7 Godly Points with me right now," Krune said. "I can't buy a ticket to a Secondary Landmass. And besides, one ticket costs 15 Godly Points. Three tickets cost 45 Godly Points. And the total amount of Godly Points you can obtain from it are 45 as well. So, we would only be wasting our time there."

"That is true, but..." The Seamstress smiled as she shot a glance at the cupboard where the bone tree fruits were. "Will it really be a waste of time?"

"Hah!" Krune flashed her a thumbs-up as he agreed. "Indeed. If we do it right, we can profit a lot from the place. Plus, the Secondary Landmass has a radius of 150 kilometers. It's huge."

As the boat headed towards the nearest Checkpoint Turtle, the Seamstress spoke, "I'll buy the three tickets. So, the first 45 Godly Points are mine. We'll split the profits after that."

"Perfectly fine by me." Krune laughed as he looked around, noticing that they were the first to arrive at the Checkpoint Turtle. The Seamstress quickly entered the entrance in the shell, purchased the three tickets and exited.

She then looked at Krune and asked, "Do we have enough Water Essence for emergencies? I think we have enough."

"Yes." Krune nodded, also noting that he had stocked up to the limit on food and water. The three people then hugged each other while holding the boat, ripping apart the three tickets. Not long after, they vanished from the scene.