Chapter 1 Leaving the Sea Tomb

Leaving the Sea Tomb eliminated concerns about life and death.

The heavy stones weighing on the hearts of the Dawn Mercenary Group members also fell away.

The Eternal Night Emperor sailed happily on the sea, and the crew returned to their regular nautical life.

Whether it was the initial group brought by Qian Tiao or the later additions from the Tribunal, almost everyone who remained in the Dawn Mercenary Group possessed considerable talent. This great opportunity to travel upstream through the River Styx yielded rewards for eight or nine out of ten, and many also broke through their cultivation bottlenecks.

The trip to the Sea Tomb had been exceptionally fruitful, and the Dawn Mercenary Group's team warehouse was not lacking in treasures. Suren also brought out the spoils seized from the North Sea Fleet, and everyone sought out space materials for advancement. In just a few days, the Dawn Mercenary Group saw the addition of twenty to thirty new fourth-tier professionals and three fifth-tier ones. The team's overall strength visibly increased by a large margin.

The days at sea were calm and leisurely, and the Dawn Mercenary Group enjoyed a rare period of peace.

Suren continued to stay in the laboratory every day.

His two apprentices made rapid progress. Suren himself had almost digested the gains from recent battles, engraved the Hymir Sea God Rune, and the Rune Golem technique was already exceptionally strong, taking his life-saving abilities to a new level. The gargoyles were also nearing completion of a set of fifth and sixth-tier solidification techniques...

Unknowingly, the Dawn Mercenary Group had been sailing on the sea for another six or seven days.

......

One day, the weather was fair and sunny.

Near dusk, the sky was filled with rosy clouds.

The ship was as lively as ever.

"Caught another sea monster, we're in for a treat today!"

"Wow, 'deep-sea anglerfish' are hard to catch. This one is over a hundred meters long; I've never seen one so big in my life."

"Hahaha, this time our Dawn Mercenary Group's 'Top Angler' should cede the title to Leicht. He broke our Dawn Mercenary Group's fishing record!"

"..."

On the deck, the crew was using a crane to lift a giant anglerfish over a hundred meters long.

"Alright, who's free to cut the fish?"

Someone called out.

At this moment, a figure leaped up.

Only a few flashes of sword qi were seen, and when the figure landed back on the deck, streaks of blood already appeared on the giant sea fish. The streaks instantly split open, and chunks of fish meat separated from the fish.

"Thump," "thump," "thump"... a series of muffled sounds.

Clumps of fresh fish meat, each weighing several hundred pounds, landed on the deck, neatly arranged.

Seeing this scene, the crew praised without end.

"Yo, Lolota's swordsmanship has improved again! The sword qi can now extend three meters."

"This cutting technique is indeed remarkable. The muscles are separated without damaging the internal organs, preserving the freshness of the fish meat to the greatest extent. Tsk tsk, tonight's fish sashimi will have great ingredients."

"..."

Lolota sheathed her sword, smiled, and responded to everyone's praise, then helped carry the fish meat onto the conveyor belt, sending it to the warship's kitchen.

This was the daily routine of the Dawn Mercenary Group.

The Sea Emperor-class warship's huge deck allowed the Dawn Mercenary Group's daily activities to be varied.

Catching deep-sea giant beasts was almost a daily activity, providing food and enhancing teamwork.

......

As the sea fish was being loaded onto the conveyor belt, everyone suddenly saw several people walk onto the deck.

Someone shouted, "Mr. Suren is here!"

Not only Suren, but also Qian Tiao, Barrett, and Dr. Banks were with him.

The high-ranking officers, usually busy, gathered on the deck, and everyone realized something important had happened.

Tani, holding onto a rope, jumped down from the cockpit like an ape, and asked expectantly, "Mr. Suren, is it time?"

Suren nodded, "Yes, it is."

They had been wandering in the vicinity of this sea area for several days, waiting for this day.

Because the Toxter Void Royal Alchemist Academy was located in a special space secret realm, a very wide overlapping space.

To reach that secret realm required a specific wind direction, like now, with no wind on the sea.

This situation might occur once a month, or only a few days every few months.

It required patience.

Suren had previously stripped away the intelligence about this secret realm and knew the methods of entry and exit like the back of his hand.

He knew that the space secret realm was very large. But normally entering that space secret realm from the southeast almost always meant encountering the North Sea Fleet's patrol sentries. Circling around such a large area, entering from the desolate northwest, was to avoid being discovered immediately upon entry.

But even so, combat might still be encountered.

Barrett also notified everyone through the communicator, "Everyone, prepare to enter Level Two combat readiness!"

"Yes!"

For a time, everyone sprang into action.

Everyone was also curious about what enemies they would encounter on this sea of ten thousand miles of tranquility.

......

The Dawn Mercenary Group members, hearing Suren say there was a great spectacle, gathered on the deck, watching the sea as the sky gradually darkened.

The sea was still without wind, calm as a flawless glass mirror.

Everyone had dinner on the deck. Before long, the last trace of red in the sky changed from red to cyan, then the luster dimmed, gradually merging into the night.

All the lights on the ship were extinguished, and everyone comfortably looked up at the brilliant starlight in the sky.

The brilliant stars were reflected on the sea, extremely beautiful.

The sea and sky were the same color, and the Eternal Night Emperor floated on the sea, like floating in the starry sky.

Suren rarely didn't stay in the laboratory. He leaned against the mast, watching the stars in the sky.

Only in the darkness could one see such a brilliant starry sky.

His gaze became momentarily blurred.

Nearby, several teenagers were already very familiar with each other, laughing and playing.

Only Aberk seemed a bit out of place. Even after being called to the deck by Suren, he was still tinkering with his puppet.

Lolota, with her carefree personality, wasn't shy with people. Her strength was firmly in the lead among the teenagers, and she was also the king of the kids on the ship.

Seeing Aberk alone, silently tinkering with a puppet, she sat down next to him, hooking her arm around his shoulder, and teased, "Little kid~ what are you doing? The starry sky is so beautiful, why are you always holding a puppet?"

Aberk's physical age was only six years old, a head shorter than Lolota. Hearing this, he replied very seriously, "Sister Lolota, I'm engraving the Heavy Shield Rune. Now is the crucial time; if I interrupt it, this golem will be ruined..."

As he spoke, he turned his face to Lolota, but the movements in his hands didn't stop at all, still rustling as he blindly engraved the rune.

Lolota, seeing his state of multitasking, twitched the corner of her eye, instantly seeing Suren's shadow.

But after a moment of pause, she seemed to understand, and said in surprise, "You can already draw second-tier runes?"

Aberk nodded solemnly, "Yes. Teacher taught me this yesterday."

"..."

Hearing this, Lolota seemed to have been forced to take a bite of lemon, and her gaze suddenly became resentful.

She felt that her progress was already very obvious, and she had been praised by everyone before. But compared to this, it suddenly didn't seem so worth rejoicing about.

She had only heard a few days ago that Aberk had integrated a first-tier implanted armor; now he could already be involved in the second-tier professional field?

Lolota turned to look at Kama, incredulously saying, "Kama, your brother... is so amazing now?"

Kama smiled and said, "Yes. Teacher even said that Aberk's strength will soon surpass me."

Lolota, hearing this, held her forehead and sighed, exaggeratedly saying, "Oh, then I have to work harder at practicing my sword. Otherwise, I feel like in a few months, I won't even be able to beat your brother."

Hearing this, everyone on the deck laughed.

The learning atmosphere in the Dawn Mercenary Group was like this, crazy "involution."

Ordinary pirate groups would definitely eat, drink, and enjoy themselves when they made money. But Suren, Qian Tiao, Barrett, Dr. Banks, and the others were constantly cultivating. With several leaders like this, everyone was infected by the atmosphere, and each one cultivated even harder than the last.

It wasn't that Lolota wasn't good enough, but that everyone in the Dawn Mercenary Group was now working very hard, and their progress was rapid.

Meeting Aberk, whose talent was particularly abnormal, naturally made her progress less obvious.

......

The atmosphere on the ship was very harmonious.

Suren and Qian Tiao leaned against the ship's railing, watching the brilliant starry sky.

The movement of the stars allowed one to clearly feel the passage of time and space.

It was good for time to slow down, and the two also enjoyed this tranquility as if they were traveling in the Milky Way.

Qian Tiao pursed her lips and softly murmured, "The void is really boundless."

Suren smiled slightly.

Suddenly.

Qian Tiao seemed to sense something, raising an eyebrow, "The wind you've been waiting for is here."

Suren also realized something, and replied indifferently, "The secret realm is about to appear."

The observer on the mast was a second slower, and then shouted, "Everyone, the wind is rising!"

In the next instant, the sails drooping on the mast suddenly billowed out, blown up by the wind.

With that huge thrust, the Eternal Night Emperor, which had been hovering in the starry sky, slowly accelerated, and the speed became faster and faster.

At this moment, a very special current appeared on the sea.

Tani in the cockpit had long heard Suren talk about the method of entering the secret realm. He immediately notified the sail handlers on the deck, "Everyone, control the sails, start the alchemical array to accelerate, and prepare to 'ascend to the heavens'!"

Under the blessing of the alchemical sails, the Eternal Night Emperor's speed became faster and faster. The huge hull was not clumsy, but like a speedboat, vaguely showing signs of leaping off the sea.

This Sea Emperor-class warship was originally the fastest sailing warship on the sea; it was the darling of the wind and waves.

Most people didn't know why the ship suddenly accelerated. One by one, they looked at the revolving starry sky with excitement and anticipation.

As the speed became faster and faster, they also surprisingly found that the surrounding environment seemed different. The starry sky and the sea seemed to gradually merge into one, and the sky and sea were indistinguishable.

Suren squinted slightly, and caught Aberk, who was focusing on carving puppets, stumbling from the inertia.

Aberk scratched the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed.

Suren said indifferently, "Watch carefully; this is a spectacle that is rare to see in a lifetime. It would be a pity to miss it."

In the Eye of Omniscience, he also saw a special barrier identified as a Space Barrier suddenly appear in the originally empty air.

Just as he finished speaking, the warship's acceleration suddenly slowed, and everyone on the ship stabilized.

But at this moment, they found that the view in front of the warship was getting higher and higher. The bow of the Eternal Night Emperor tilted slightly, as if climbing a wave.

However, there were no large waves in this sea area.

Climbing higher and higher, everyone realized that the warship was floating in the air!

The waves under the ship turned into circles of transparent ripples, and the entire sea vessel was sailing towards the starry sky.

"We... we are actually traveling in the starry sky?"

"Incredible, it seems we can reach the stars with our hands..."

"Where are we going? Are we going above the void? Heavens, without the waves supporting us, how did our ship fly?"

"..."

Everyone gathered on the ship's railing, watching a scene they would never forget in their lives. The warship was really sailing slowly towards the void.

Even Suren didn't understand what the principle was, only feeling that the surrounding space fluctuations were very special.

His eyes shone brightly, and he sighed in his heart, "The ancient great alchemists really created a magical space secret realm."

......

The Eternal Night Emperor floated in the void, surrounded by a dark cyan starry sky.

Floating, floating, suddenly the transparent ripples under the hull slowly condensed into waves, and the sound of the waves breaking came from their ears.

Everyone realized that they had once again appeared on the sea.

It was still a night scene where the sea and sky were the same color. It looked no different, but upon closer inspection, there were swimming fish in the water, and faint shadows of some small islands could be seen in the distance.

Suren confirmed the environment and then said, "We have entered this space secret realm."

Because he had deliberately made a big detour in advance, he did not encounter anyone from the North Sea Fleet in this space. Suren estimated that the Toxter Void Royal Alchemist Academy should be several tens of nautical miles away.

This area belonged to a blind spot where almost no one patrolled.

The original plan was that after they entered, they would first familiarize themselves with the environment, and then find a place near the Void Academy to see if they could find an opportunity to go in and take a look.

But just as the ship landed on the water, Dr. Banks suddenly walked over.

He said with a serious face, "I have re-sensed the biological marker I left on that Mafa submarine. It's nearby, northwest, about seven or eight nautical miles at most."

Hearing this, Suren's eyes widened in surprise, "What a coincidence?"

Previously, when Dr. Banks said he couldn't sense the biological marker on the submarine, he knew that it was likely not that the marker had been cleared, but that they had come to this space secret realm, cutting off perception.

Now, he didn't expect it to be such a coincidence that the submarine was nearby as soon as they entered?

But... why wasn't that submarine with the main force of the North Sea Fleet near the academy, but stopped in this desolate sea?

Thoughts flashed through his mind, and Suren immediately understood.

The submarine was probably stopped nearby for safety.

During the previous attempt to break away on the sea, Princess Frost Moon thought she could win, so she sent a submarine to intercept them.

But she didn't expect to encounter Suren and the others, and after probing, neither side could do anything to the other.

But the fact that the Princess Fleet had a submarine was exposed.

Moreover, Suren was using mechanical octopuses at the time, which forced Princess Stika to be even more careful.

The submarine was her dowry and the most important part of the Mafa Empire's technical support for Oleg.

Now that she knew that all forces were watching her, wanting to kill her and destroy the alliance.

Therefore, Princess Stika knew very well that even the North Sea Fleet was not absolutely safe. After all, this group of pirates was a mixed bag, and there might be spies from Luyin, or pirates who had been turned.

If there was a group of warships protecting them on the surface, the target would be too big, and anyone could guess that the submarine might be nearby.

As long as the target was confirmed, the enemies of Luyin might use some extreme measures.

On the contrary, a submarine hidden alone in the sea was not easy to detect and was safer.

Warships could be wiped out, but the submarine could not be lost.

No one except the North Sea Fleet knew how to enter this secret realm, and they had stopped in such a remote place...

Anyone would probably think it was foolproof.

But they didn't expect to encounter the Dawn Mercenary Group, this "accident."

Suren happened to know how to enter the secret realm, and Dr. Banks could accurately pinpoint the location of the submarine.

......

"Prepare for battle."

Hearing Dr. Banks say that, Suren weighed it for a moment and immediately made a decision.

"Dr. Banks, Miss Pandora, and I will go to sneak attack on those submarines. Sister Qian Tiao and Commander Barrett, you will take everyone to ambush in this area, first to prevent the submarines from escaping, and second to block any possible reinforcements. I will end the battle as soon as possible, and if there are any unexpected situations, go to this place..."

As Suren spoke, he drew several lines on the map of the secret realm that he had casually drawn.

The vice-fleet commander of the Void Fleet, Ghost Hand Dorosel, who had been killed before, was a high-ranking officer in the North Sea Fleet, so Suren knew everything about the various sentry arrangements of the North Sea Fleet in this secret realm.

These arrangements could minimize the risk of the Dawn Mercenary Group falling into danger.

Hearing Suren's tactical arrangements, Barrett also nodded, feeling that he had considered everything very carefully. "Okay!"

Qian Tiao asked, "Are you confident? Or should we leave more people here?"

"I'm about seventy to eighty percent confident. The main thing is that I don't know how many submarines there are."

Suren nodded and said, "We don't need too many people. This time my plan is to capture that submarine. Too many people will scare them. If they really know they can't win, those guys might self-destruct. And if there are irresistible factors, such as seventh-tier professionals, it's easier for us to escape with fewer people, and we can reconsider."

Another reason was that the Eternal Night Emperor didn't have any cannons or other equipment, and he didn't want to engage in naval battles with Mafa submarines equipped with the most advanced torpedoes.

Hearing this, Qian Tiao didn't insist, and said, "Okay! Communicate in time if there are any situations."

Suren nodded.

He took out a speedboat and placed it on the sea, with Pandora and Dr. Banks by his side.

The two boats sailed away slowly, one to the east and one to the west.

The Eternal Night Emperor, a black sail warship, had a special alchemical coating, and seemed to have a natural camouflage in the dark, quickly blending into the darkness.

......

On the small boat, none of the three spoke, and the atmosphere was slightly heavy.

Because he had touched it once before, Suren could say he was "seventy to eighty percent confident."

At this moment, he looked at the distant sea and said, "Miss Pandora, I will hold back the combat personnel later. When the submarine surfaces, once the hatch opens, it's up to you. Mafa soldiers without combat armor should be easy to control. Don't kill them if you can avoid it, especially the researchers and mechanics."

Mafa's mechanical armor was indeed very strong, but its shortcomings were also very obvious, that is, the operator's physical body was very weak (relatively).

Although Mafa's mechanical armor almost all had helmets that defended against mental attacks, if they didn't wear armor, they would be too "weak."

Pandora, the Tsukuyomi, was best at mental attacks. Once controlled, they would not be able to choose to self-destruct.

This was the only way Suren could think of to fully acquire the submarine!

Pandora, her face covered by a hood, silently listened to the tactical arrangements, said nothing, and only spat out one word: "Okay."

Suren said politely, "Sorry to trouble you."

He felt that after he helped her obtain faith in the Sea Tomb last time, Pandora's attitude had obviously improved a lot. Even without a contract, they could probably be considered half-friends.

Speaking of this, Suren said to Dr. Banks again: "Dr. Banks, you should pay attention to other submarines in the sea. Once you find that secret research base, mark it immediately. Be careful, and if things are impossible, we'll retreat first."

Dr. Banks also nodded: "Okay."

There were no people in this remote sea, and Mafa's submarines had very advanced life detection and perception equipment, so it was almost impossible to approach silently.

Therefore, the speedboat that Suren and the three were riding didn't bother to conceal its movements, and went straight to the submarine's coordinates.

When they were one or two nautical miles away, Dr. Banks and Pandora got off the boat and lurked in the sea.

Suren had learned about some of the technical parameters of Mafa's military equipment. The range of the instruments was also limited, and this distance was almost the limit.

Then he took the speedboat alone and continued forward.

He didn't expect not to be discovered.

Because he was sure that even if the people on the submarine knew that a small boat was coming over the sea, they would probably think it was a patrol boat from the North Sea Fleet.

......

Sure enough, just as Suren's speedboat was traveling fast on the sea.

Under the sea, the people on the submarine immediately discovered the movement.

"Your Excellency, Major General, a speedboat has been found traveling in our direction."

"How many life target fluctuations were found?"

"The instrument is not sure, but it should be within five."

"Ignore them, it should be a patrol boat from the North Sea Fleet."

"Yes."

"..."

The people on the submarine didn't pay attention to the speedboat, and let it approach the submarine.

But at this moment, metal reactions suddenly lit up on the instrument, and the observer shouted sharply: "Your Excellency, Major General, something is wrong, a living being with a metal reaction is approaching! It may be the mechanical octopus we encountered before!"

At this saying, the huge submarine immediately became tense.

Although they didn't know why the mechanical octopus appeared in the secret realm, the instrument would never be wrong.

......

At the same time, on the sea, Suren successfully controlled the speedboat to reach above the submarine.

Without stopping the boat, he formed a series of hand seals, released his implanted armor. The void black hole in his hand appeared, and more than fifty mechanical octopuses fell into the water like poured beans.

Suren, with a black scythe in one hand and a rune umbrella in the other, didn't give the enemy any time to react, and jumped into the sea.

Using the thrust of the water, he suddenly stepped out, like a hand grenade exploding in the sea. He shot down like an arrow.

Diving dozens of meters, he could already sense the soul fluctuations of people.

"Three submarines?"

Suren sensed the location of the soul fluctuations. There were no more than five hundred people on the three ships.

This wasn't a big difference from what he estimated.

When those guys didn't use torpedoes to sink him just now, they had already lost the opportunity to strike first.

Suren confirmed the location and controlled the mechanical octopus army to rush toward the three submarines.

Seeing that there were enemies, the three warships suddenly changed their formation. One quickly surfaced, rushing towards Suren, and the other two were planning to slip away.

Seeing that the submarines were about to run, Suren was not surprised, but overjoyed.

Because if they were all combat ships, they would definitely work together to eliminate the enemy if they were attacked.

Now that they were about to run as soon as they met, such an abnormal performance also meant that the secret mechanical research base was likely in those two submarines that were running away!

......

"Now I've caught a big fish!"

Suren didn't bother to be polite, raised his hand, took out his modified underwater single-soldier rocket launcher, and blasted it towards the direction of the soul fluctuations.

The shell exploded suddenly, but it wasn't fire, but a pool of ink-like black liquid.

That was Dr. Banks' biological marker!

Now, there was no way to run.

Suren didn't back down, controlling the mechanical octopus army to rush toward the three submarines.