The airship slowly descended.

On the deck, the members of the Dragon Tooth Special Forces had long been captivated by the temporary helipad below.

Especially the airship belonging to the Free Federation.

It was entirely silver, with an exaggerated design, like a silver falcon poised to hunt. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Damn, as expected of the Free Federation, even their airships are so flamboyant."

Li Hao leaned on the railing, smacking his lips.

Beside him, Brother Wang's eyes were grave.

"It's flamboyant, but they have the capital to be flamboyant."

"It's said that the captain they sent this time is Thor, known as 'God of Thunder,' and his strength is terrifying."

Li Hao pouted.

"So what?"

"Our captain isn't bad either."

He looked back in the direction of the cabin door, his face showing unconcealed admiration.

"Our captain is a Forbidden Spell Mage; with just a few words, she can freeze their broken ship into a block of ice!"

The airship emitted a dull roar and smoothly landed in its designated parking spot.

The heavy cabin door slowly opened.

Principal Lin Zhu, expressionless, led the way down, her unapproachable aura chilling the surrounding air by several degrees.

Gandalf followed closely, while the members of the Dragon Tooth Special Forces, in perfect formation, lined up behind him.

As soon as they stepped off the gangway, a middle-aged man in a Great Xia Military Department uniform approached them with a wide smile.

"Oh dear! You all must be tired from your journey!"

The man appeared to be in his forties, slightly overweight, with a warm smile that made people feel comfortable.

He first hurried to Principal Lin's front, bowed slightly, his attitude respectful yet maintaining an appropriate distance.

"Principal Lin, you've worked hard."

"I am Zhang Cheng, the external liaison for this operation."

"Marshal Zhao specifically instructed that a secluded detached courtyard on an island has been arranged for you, ensuring no one will disturb you."

A hint of softening finally appeared on Principal Lin's icy face.

She nodded faintly.

"Hmm, he was thoughtful."

Zhang Cheng then let out a sigh of relief, turned around, and enthusiastically shook hands with Gandalf and the members of the Dragon Tooth Special Forces one by one.

"This must be Captain Gandalf, right? Indeed, heroes emerge in their youth!"

"And all of you are elites of the Great Xia Country; welcome!"

He was warm and polite, leaving no room for fault.

Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, shook his hand and got straight to the point.

"Manager Zhang Cheng, how is the situation now?"

"How many teams from other countries have arrived?"

Zhang Cheng's smile lessened a bit, and his expression became serious.

"To answer the captain, the teams from the major countries have largely arrived."

"The Free Federation, the Great Bear Country, the Sakura Country, Ancient Egypt..."

He paused, then added.

"And some smaller countries that want to join the fun are still on their way."

"After consultation, we have decided to officially begin the relic exploration tomorrow at noon."

"At that time, each country can send one team to enter."

"If a team has an S-Class Profession, the maximum number of people is ten."

"If a team does not have an S-Class Profession, they can send twenty people."

Zhou Huai understood.

This was to balance the power gap between countries, to prevent those without S-Class Profession from not even getting a share.

He spoke again.

"Since you already know the Divine Artifact in the relic is the pendulum of life, you must have some understanding of the relic's interior."

"What is the environment like inside?"

"Captain, you've hit the nail on the head."

Zhang Cheng's expression grew even more solemn.

"We have temporarily named that relic the Endless Sea."

"The world within the relic is very similar to our current environment; as far as the eye can see, it's almost entirely ocean."

"However, the exotic beasts in the sea are more numerous and incredibly fierce compared to those outside."

"Only a few scattered islands dot the surface of the sea."

"And that pendulum of life is on one of those islands."

Zhang Cheng took a deep breath, his voice lowering a few octaves.

"The most troublesome thing is that those islands move."

"Their movement is completely unpredictable; one moment they might be here, the next they could appear a thousand miles away."

"So, even if we know the precise coordinates of the Divine Artifact, it's useless."

"You must ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) be extremely careful once you enter the relic."

Zhang Cheng's gaze swept over everyone present, his tone heavy.

"Inside the relic, there are no rules to speak of."

"Whichever country's team can bring out the pendulum of life, that Divine Artifact will belong to that country."

"Therefore, the struggle within will be more brutal than you can imagine."

"The Endless Sea, huh..."

Zhou Huai's consciousness, within Gandalf, murmured softly.

This environment was extremely unfavorable for most Profession, especially fire and earth-elemental Profession, whose strength would be greatly reduced.

His destructive Forbidden Spell - Meteor Shower would probably not be of much use.

However, the good news was that the new Forbidden Spell Gandalf comprehended at level forty was water-attributed.

This compensated for that shortcoming.

Just as Zhou Huai was deep in thought, a small black dot suddenly appeared on the distant sea.

The black dot approached from afar, moving extremely fast.

"What is that?"

Li Hao, sharp-eyed, was the first to notice the anomaly.

Everyone looked in the direction he indicated.

They saw a small, dilapidated wooden boat, riding the wind and waves, speeding towards the shore.

That boat, rather than a boat, was more like a pile of barely cobbled-together wooden planks.

The hull was covered in pitted dents, and several places had cracked planks, as if it could fall apart at any moment.

Even stranger, there was no propulsion system at the stern of this broken boat.

Looking closely, it was a dark-skinned man pushing the boat with his hands, moving at high speed across the sea.

He was clearly a water-elemental Profession.

"Is that a boat from the island's fishermen?"

A member of the Dragon Tooth Special Forces asked curiously.

"It's too broken, isn't it? Aren't they afraid it will fall apart in the sea?"

Zhang Cheng shook his head, his eyes also filled with confusion.

"Probably not."

"This sea area is currently overrun with exotic beasts; the island residents wouldn't dare to go out to sea."

"Those who dare to go into the sea are no different from actively feeding the exotic beasts."

Under everyone's astonished gaze, the dilapidated small boat was forcefully pushed onto the beach with a grating, teeth-jarring friction sound.

"Creak--"

With a sharp sound, the cabin door, which looked even more worn than the hull, was pushed open from the inside.

A small, dark-skinned man with a thick turban wrapped around his head jumped out.

He wore a faded, curry-colored robe and had a meticulously groomed small mustache on his chin.

The moment he saw the man, Zhang Cheng's brows furrowed.

"It's someone from the White Elephant Country."

He whispered to Gandalf.

"But the White Elephant Country is so far from here; they didn't take an airship but came in this broken boat?"

Li Hao also mumbled softly.

"This boat is too small, isn't it? It doesn't even have a toilet; it probably can only hold seven or eight people at most."

However, the next sight completely overturned everyone's perceptions.

Just after that man from the White Elephant Country jumped off the boat, a second, a third, a fourth...

One by one, similarly dressed people, like dumplings being dropped into water, continuously emerged from the small cabin.

Three...

Five...

Ten...

Twenty...

Thirty...

On the deck, the expressions on the faces of the Dragon Tooth Special Forces members gradually changed from initial curiosity to astonishment.

When the fortieth person slowly walked out of the cabin and stretched, Li Hao's mouth was wide enough to fit an egg.

He vigorously rubbed his eyes and then pinched Brother Wang's thigh hard.

"Hiss--! Why are you pinching me!"

Brother Wang winced in pain.

"Brother Wang, quickly tell me, am I seeing things?"

Li Hao's voice was trembling.

"How the hell did they do this? Does this boat have a spatial array built-in?"

Zhang Cheng's mouth also twitched uncontrollably.

He felt his worldview had been challenged like never before.

However, it wasn't over yet.

When the fiftieth person, a white-haired elder who seemed to be the leader, slowly walked out of the cabin and adjusted his turban, no one else emerged from the small broken boat.

The entire beach fell into a deathly silence.