Western Sea Harbor.
Dozens of cargo ships of all sizes came and went. A great liner roared its horn, then carried thousands of tons of goods as it drifted unhurriedly into the distance. There were also sailors heading out, full of swagger. Fishermen made their living by fishing, while sea soul masters naturally made theirs by hunting sea spirit beasts to obtain soul rings.
"Wow, the sea!" Ke Ke said excitedly, shading her eyes from the sun with one hand as she tugged Ju Zi forward.
The girl was short, but well-proportioned—curvy in all the right places. If she could charm Wang Shaojie at the academy, she clearly counted as a little beauty.
She wasn't wearing the Mingde Hall school uniform this time, but a white fitted outfit instead.
Ju Zi had her hair in a ponytail. Her smile was sweet; she wore a yellow dress and a small sunhat. Under the blazing sun, the snow-white skin exposed on her arms looked even more dazzling…
"Why are you wearing black? Aren't you hot?" Xuan Ziwen glanced at Su Wen's black fitted outfit and raised an eyebrow.
"A calm heart is naturally cool," Su Wen said with a smile.
"Teacher Xuan, are you calm?"
"Uh… I think I'm calm, but it's still hot. It's peak summer, and we're on the Western Sea." Xuan Ziwen lifted his brow—then suddenly felt a wave of chill wash over him. "Brat. I forgot you've got the ultimate ice attribute."
"Wow, then why did I even bring beachwear?" Ke Ke exclaimed at the cool air, then pulled out an extremely revealing outfit—basically a bikini from a previous life.
"Your soul power might not be enough to maintain it the whole way," Su Wen said, expression unchanged.
"Still, you've gotta wear it. What if you get heatstroke?"
"I bought some too!" Ke Ke said with a giggle, yanking Ju Zi closer. "I went with Ju Zi yesterday! Hers is even more revealing."
Ju Zi's face flushed. She glared at Ke Ke. "You were the one who talked me into it yesterday, and now you're exposing me!"
"…"
With Ke Ke, the walking mood-maker, the team stayed lively the whole time.
Not far from the harbor was a bustling area like an open market.
Xuan Ziwen didn't rush to sea. He led everyone into the market first.
"Recruiting a hunting-at-sea squad! Need a Level 4 soul engineer or above! Four thousand gold soul coins—interested parties, talk in person!"
"A nautical soul-tool compass, only two hundred gold soul coins! Guaranteed you won't lose your way at sea!"
"Witch's potion—will bless your voyage so you won't be mentally controlled by the Sea Princess…"
"…!"
All kinds of information flooded their eyes.
In the end, Xuan Ziwen only hired an honest, simple fisherman as a guide, then headed toward the bay.
"Teacher Xuan, this is the vessel for our mission?" Ke Ke stared, dumbfounded, at the battleship surfacing—about fifteen meters long. "An A1-model Abyss Diving Dragon craft? This model's ancient! It's been out of use for centuries. Did Mingde Hall dig up an antique?"
As the hatch slowly opened, Xuan Ziwen crossed his arms. "Having a dive craft is already good. Who cares what year it was made—as long as it still works…"
"We're not going to war or sneaking behind enemy lines. We're exploring sea minerals—just treat it like a company-funded vacation."
"And before we left, I specifically repaired it."
Ke Ke's face screamed resistance.
She'd expected at least a C-series model, and it was an A-series—an epic-level fossil…
"Is it really that old?" Su Wen chuckled.
"More than old…" Ke Ke nodded hard. "Its defense is basically zero. Back when it was designed, they never even considered sea spirit beasts attacking during a dive. It was made for experimentation."
Even Ju Zi frowned slightly.
Her hand unconsciously clenched—clearly, with her intelligence, she'd also sensed the faint smell of a conspiracy.
"In that case, why not take mine?" Su Wen said with a pleasant smile.
As he spoke, he lightly brushed his storage soul-tool ring. In front of them, the sea suddenly surged in a swelling wave. Even the dive craft Xuan Ziwen had brought rocked violently, like it might capsize at any moment.
Beneath the water, a massive shadow spread, blanketing the area.
The waves parted to either side as an enormous object slowly surfaced.
Even though only the tip of the iceberg showed, it was enough to make countless onlookers gasp.
"This is…" Xuan Ziwen looked stunned.
"Abyss Submersal Vessel—A1 model, wow!" Ke Ke recognized it first, voice full of awe.
"Su Wen, you actually have something like this? Wait—no! Isn't this a Mingde Hall secret? How did you…?" Ke Ke stared at Su Wen as if she'd discovered a world-shaking secret, then hurriedly covered her mouth. "Don't kill me to silence me—I don't know anything…"
"Idiot," Xuan Ziwen said, rubbing his forehead. "That submersal vessel was openly auctioned in Mingdu last month."
"But to buy one, it'd cost at least… what, twenty or thirty million?" He looked at Su Wen.
"Ten million gold soul coins," Su Wen said, smiling as he shook his head. "The power source is a co-mineral from Blazing Sun Spring. The auction house included the ore, but right now it's only enough for us to use it once."
"No wonder…" Xuan Ziwen looked regretful, then understanding.
"…"
Everyone boarded.
Under a sea of astonished, curious gazes, the blue "giant whale" dove toward the depths.
…
The market.
Many watched the enormous submersal vessel recede, still marveling at the waves it had raised on departure.
"What is that—some kind of soul tool?"
"It's probably at least a Level 9 soul tool. I once saw a submersal vessel at auction in Mingdu—only seventy meters long, but it sold for over twenty million gold soul coins. That one… it has to be over one hundred and twenty meters long, right?"
"More than that… I saw those young people earlier, wandering around the sea market. They found a pilot and left."
"Looks like they're nobles from Mingdu. Maybe even Mingde Hall students."
"Learned something new today…"
"…!"
But as the crowd chatted and marveled, several black-robed figures hidden among them wore grim faces.
They relayed the information up the chain via a communication soul tool.
The response was a furious dressing-down.
"Trash!"
"You can't even handle something this small—how dare you call yourselves royal elites?!"
"My lord, they were too fast. We couldn't catch up. That level of submersal vessel—its dive depth and speed—are far beyond what a few sea soul masters like us can reach." The black-robed man's face was bitter.
"...Fine. Come back." The voice on the other end finally cooled, then hung up.
…
Sun Moon Empire. Imperial Palace.
Several true big shots—people who could make all of Mingdu quake just by stamping a foot—gathered here.
"The one who bought the Abyss Submersal Vessel… was Su Wen?" Xu Jiangliu sighed.
"Yes." A white-haired elder frowned slightly. "He attended the Mingdu auction last month—together with Meng Hongchen."
"…"
The hall atmosphere turned awkward.
"It's a submersal vessel. If something 'accidentally' happens, will Shrek Academy even be able to find the wreckage?" A burly old man with a calm face spoke.
"Elder Kong, you mean…" Xu Jiangliu said quietly.
"That turtle shell can be cracked. It just depends on who cracks it—and with what." Elder Kong's voice was hollow and faint…
…