The sea near the entrance to the ruins had already turned into a purgatory.

The roars of the beast tide intertwined with the roar of the Profession’s skills, churning the seawater into a murky mess.

Just as the powerhouses from various great nations joined forces to clear the area and barely stabilized their positions, a sudden change occurred.

Hundreds of exotic beasts that had just rushed out of the blue light barrier froze without warning.

A layer of dazzling, multicolored ice crystals rapidly spread from their bodies at a visible speed.

In just the blink of an eye, this subsequent army of exotic beasts transformed into crystal-clear, lifelike ice sculptures.

This eerie scene made all the Professions engaged in fierce combat stop their movements, their faces filled with astonishment.

"What’s going on?"

"These exotic beasts... how did they freeze themselves?"

Before they could figure it out, a figure suddenly burst out from among the multicolored ice sculpture beast horde!

Following closely were a second, a third... a total of ten figures, like Dragons emerging from water, swimming rapidly towards the sea surface!

Behind them, within the frozen ice sculpture beast horde, several exotic beasts that had miraculously escaped being frozen were letting out furious roars, hot on their heels!

On the Great Xia Country’s ship, Lin Zhu’s deep eyes narrowed slightly.

She gently tapped the [N O V E L I G H T] sea surface below with the staff in her hand.

Whoosh—!

Countless thick, emerald-green vines, like living giant pythons, suddenly burst out of the water!

They accurately coiled around the pursuing exotic beasts and squeezed tightly!

Pfft—!

Blood and shredded flesh instantly stained that area of the sea red.

A safe passage cleared by the vines was thus formed.

After completing all this, she turned her head and slowly spoke to Zhang Cheng beside her.

"Send someone to meet them."

"They are our people."

Zhang Cheng’s face immediately showed a look of surprise.

The first ones to come out were actually people from the Great Xia Country!

A surge of ecstasy instantly welled up in his heart, which was then replaced by immense doubt.

They came out so quickly?

Did they successfully obtain the Divine Artifact?

Or did they... simply give up?

Now was not the time to think about these things.

Zhang Cheng immediately snapped back to reality and loudly ordered several of his excellent swimmers behind him.

"Quick! Into the water to meet them!"

"Yes!"

The few team members jumped into the cold seawater without hesitation.

In a short while, several figures successively leaped out of the water, landing steadily on the ship’s deck.

Leading them was Gandalf.

And in his hand, he conspicuously held the golden pendulum of life, filled with a sacred aura.

The moment Zhang Cheng saw the golden pendulum of life, his eyes widened abruptly, and his breathing quickened slightly.

"This... is this the pendulum of life?"

Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, held up the Divine Artifact in his hand, a perfectly timed expression of excitement and ecstasy on his face.

He let out a hearty laugh, his voice echoing across every surrounding ship.

"Mission accomplished!"

"The pendulum of life is ours, the Great Xia Country’s!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the Dragon Tooth Special Forces soldiers on the ship were first stunned, then erupted into earth-shattering cheers!

"We won!"

"We won! Captain is awesome!"

"Hahahahaha! The Divine Artifact is ours!"

However, Zhang Cheng and Lin Zhu exchanged glances.

Neither of their faces showed much excitement; instead, there was a hint of strangeness.

The powerhouses from other countries around them, after hearing Gandalf’s declaration, also did not show the expected shock or unwillingness.

They merely watched calmly, and some even had a faint, almost imperceptible sneer at the corners of their mouths.

Now it was Zhou Huai’s turn to be surprised.

No way.

This is the pendulum of life, isn’t it?

A legendary Divine Artifact!

Why are you all so calm?

Seeing Gandalf’s “praise me quickly” expression, Zhang Cheng stepped forward, lowered his voice, and explained somewhat awkwardly.

"Uh... Captain Gandalf."

"To be honest, before you, Thor from the Free Federation, Yingsi Lan from the Sakura Country, and Prince Karen from Ancient Egypt..."

"All three of them brought out a golden pendulum of life from the ruins that looked exactly like the one in your hand."

"But it turned out later that they were all fakes."

Zhou Huai then realized what was going on.

So that’s what happened.

No wonder their reaction was so subdued.

Indeed.

The pendulum of life’s Divine Might was completely restrained now.

It really looked no different from those previous counterfeits. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

It was normal for them to misunderstand.

However, this was perfect.

He might as well play along and put on a good show.

Zhou Huai immediately controlled Gandalf’s face, and his ecstasy instantly solidified.

In its place was an expression of incredulous astonishment.

"What?"

"You mean... this is also fake?"

As if he suddenly thought of something, he slapped his thigh, a look of sudden realization on his face, his voice filled with annoyance.

"I knew it! How could I have gotten this pendulum of life so easily!"

"It was just sitting there all alone on the island!"

"So it’s a fake!"

"I got excited for nothing!"

With that, he casually tossed it away.

That Divine Artifact, priceless in the eyes of countless people, was carelessly thrown onto the deck.

It landed with a dull clang of metal.

The team members who had emerged from the ruins with Gandalf exchanged bewildered glances.

What was the captain talking about?

Didn’t he obtain this pendulum of life from deep beneath the sea?

However, they did not voice this doubt.

Instead, they maintained a tacit silence.

The Professions from other countries on the other ships, seeing this scene, all showed a “just as expected” smile.

Another fool who was tricked by a fake Divine Artifact.

How could finding the true pendulum of life be such an easy task?

Only Lin Zhu, watching Gandalf’s slightly exaggerated acting, had a flicker of an imperceptible anomaly in her deep eyes.

In her impression, Gandalf was not someone whose emotions were easily displayed.

He had always been uncharacteristically calm for a young man.

His current performance, however, seemed more like a deliberate act.

Thinking of this, she slowly walked forward, bent down, and silently picked up the “disliked” pendulum of life from the ground.

She held the cold metal in her hands, closed her eyes, and carefully felt it.

The next second, an indescribable astonishment flashed deep within her eyes.

This vast, magnificent feeling, filled with endless life Qi... it couldn’t be wrong!

This was real!

This little fellow actually brought out the Divine Artifact!

A tumultuous wave surged in her heart, but her face remained impassive.

She slowly opened her eyes, threw the pendulum of life back onto the deck, and let out a perfectly timed sigh.

"Alas..."

"It really is fake."

As soon as these words were spoken, the last shred of hope on the faces of the already somewhat doubtful soldiers on the ship was completely shattered.

Everyone showed expressions of disappointment.

Gandalf, as if in a fit of pique, kicked the pendulum of life.

"Damn it! All that work for nothing!"

"Fighting for my life in the ruins, and all I brought back was this piece of junk!"

He turned around, his face filled with impatience.

"Now the ruins are full of beast tides, and there’s that pervert Thor."

"Going back in would be a near-certain death; I’m not going back in."

With that, he walked into the cabin without looking back, lost in his own thoughts.

Leaving behind only a cold command.

"Zhang Cheng, turn around, return to base."

"Our Great Xia Country will not participate in this ruins exploration."

Zhang Cheng’s face was full of hesitation.

He never expected things to develop to this point.

Just give up like that?

"Ah... this..."

He instinctively turned his head, casting a pleading look at Lin Zhu, seeking the opinion of this important figure.

Lin Zhu, however, remained expressionless, her tone calm.

"He is the captain."

"Listen to him."

"Return to base."

On the Sakura Country’s ship next door, the old man named Watada Heizan, seeing this, immediately revealed undisguised mockery on his face.

"Heh heh, your Great Xia Country’s young people really can’t withstand even a little setback."

"When our people found counterfeits, didn’t they return to the ruins without hesitation to continue searching?"

"But your people, as soon as they suffered a bit of a blow, immediately decided to retreat."

"Ultimately, they’ve simply experienced too few hardships."

Lin Zhu, hearing this, snorted coldly and retorted without ceremony.

"At least all our people came back safely."

"As for your Sakura Country, who knows how many people will still be alive to come out of those ruins in the end."

Watada Heizan’s face instantly darkened, almost dripping with water.

This was indeed the truth.

Under such a dense beast tide, the probability of an S-Class Profession surviving and coming out was extremely small.

For someone like Gandalf to bring everyone out intact was already a miracle.

Subsequently, under Zhang Cheng’s command, the Great Xia Country’s ship indeed slowly changed direction, gradually moving away from this chaotic sea area under the varied gazes of the crowd.

Not a single person came out to dissuade them.

After all, at this time, the fewer countries’ teams participating in the competition, the greater their chance of obtaining the Divine Artifact.

They wished the Great Xia Country’s people would just leave quickly.