Chapter 225: Chapter 220: Arriving at Fujing Mountain! A Reminder from the Eye of the World

[Lighthouse: This operation is designated "Beyond S-Class." Priority elevated to maximum.]

[...: Roger.]

Controlling the Yellowstone Communicator meant he had infiltrated the enemy’s inner circle and secured a vital source of intelligence.

Trellin would never have imagined that a pair of eyes was watching his every move from behind the scenes. Every time he relayed orders to other members, he was also, in effect, reporting to Shi Ming.

The stream of messages died down.

Shi Ming put away the communicator.

’Five days left.’

’The Admiral-class Wandering Ship *Michael* is clearing the way... Are expeditions by King-level Wandering Ships always this ostentatious? The Twelve Stars do it, and now Lighthouse is, too. They’ve mobilized more than half their strength. It seems Trellin is determined to get whatever is under Fujing Mountain.’

’But you’re a step too slow.’

’I’m already here.’

’Fujing Mountain...’

Thirty nautical miles ahead lay the Vortex Country Old Domain.

"Activate stealth mode and reduce speed. Upon reaching the target location, hold position and stand by."

"Aye!"

Now, it was time for action!

As a "mercenary" for the Twelve Stars, and a man who earned three times the profit from a single mission, Shi Ming never wasted time. Standing on the deck of his personal vessel, the *Sunchaser*, he leaped into the deep sea, leaving the mothership *Da Yun* behind. He had already organized all the intelligence on the Great Black Heaven Dragon during the voyage; right now, no human in the world knew more about that nine-headed dragon than he did.

Submersion Mode: Activated!

Traceless Mode: Activated!

Stealth Mode: Activated!

Engage!

The *Da Yun* remained in the area, serving as backup, ready to provide support at any moment. It would also deliver a few unexpected surprises for the Black Society and the Renhuang.

Of course, that was a story for another time.

In the shallows, the light was murky. The *Sunchaser* moved like a phantom through the ocean, crossing the thirty nautical miles and entering the restricted waters of the Vortex Country. After another twenty minutes or so, he could finally detect two massive Admiral-class Wandering Ships in the distance. They stood on the solemn surface of the sea like a pair of guardian deities.

The *Renhuang*, 713 meters long.

The *Black Society*, slightly shorter,

but still over 600 meters long.

Both were fairly standard Admiral-class Wandering Ships. If the Brain of Creation were to assign them a grade, they’d probably be Level One or Two—even lower than the current *Sunchaser*.

In addition to the two Admiral-class ships, about seven ordinary patrol boats constantly roamed the surface. The underwater radar they emitted could detect biological fluctuations down to a depth of 3,000 meters.

But the *Sunchaser* could completely shield Shi Ming’s biological signature. With Traceless Mode and Stealth Mode combined, it could block all sonar, radar, and bio-detection, allowing him to pass through completely undetected, leaving not a single trace behind.

A completely different class of warfare.

True stealth, true invisibility.

He continued his course, diving into deeper waters.

Finally, a conical, sunken volcano appeared in his field of vision.

A familiar silhouette.

The iconic snowcap of Fujing Mountain was long gone. Now it stood as a dark tomb on the seabed—deep, mysterious, and silent. It possessed a deathly stillness, the very kind of "sorrowful beauty" so admired by the Vortex People. If this were an age where art still flourished, countless haikus would surely have been written to commemorate its somber quietude.

Occasionally, wisps of geothermal heat would escape from fissures in the mountain. Upon meeting the frigid seawater, they formed strings of pale bubbles that rose to the surface with a cherry-white hue. These were called "Sea-Rising Cherries"—*Hai Sheng Ying*—and they had become the spiritual anchor for both the Black Society and the Renhuang. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The terrestrial city at the mountain’s base had been eroded by the sea, its former shape long gone.

The torii gates of a Shrine, the wreckage of communication towers, the very skeleton of the city... all were now home to schools of sea fish, forming a silent yet grotesque deep-sea graveyard. But because an Admiral-class Ship was stationed here year-round—or perhaps because the destructive aura emanating from the Great Black Heaven Dragon was so terrifying—no sea beasts ever appeared here.

Not even D-class ones.

Glancing up at the shadowy hulls of the two colossal ships, Shi Ming didn’t hesitate. He piloted the *Sunchaser* straight forward, swooping down through the opening at Fujing Mountain’s summit. Like a probe, he slipped covertly into the mountain’s interior through its volcanic crater.

This was a massive volcano.

The space inside the mountain was narrow. The seawater was frigid, yet it was suffused with an aura of destruction.

It was pitch-black all around, with no signs of life to be detected. The crater was only about 250 meters deep; all the magma within had cooled in the seawater, forming strange, stacked layers of hard obsidian and basalt.

Shi Ming blinked.

He was about to activate the Eye of the World when it flickered on its own, offering a notification.

[Where there’s a mountain, there’s a way. And where there’s a way... there’s an excavator?]

[The Eye of the World has discovered that this place is a true treasure trove, a breeding ground for Holy Hall-level Sea Beasts that has gone completely undeveloped for thousands of years! The greedy brigands and assassins guarding this maritime gold mine have no idea how to exploit it.]

[Forty meters ahead, there is a research tunnel excavated by the Black Society. Bypass the detection instruments installed within, and you can follow the tunnel deep inside the mountain.]

[Descend another 1,230 meters to reach the magma chamber.]

[Every 300 tons of undersea magma can be refined into a single drop of Dragon Saliva. However, you currently lack both the means of extraction and a container to collect the magma, so that will have to wait!]

[A scale from the black dragon lies lost within the obsidian deep in the earth’s strata.]

[A tiny fragment of the black dragon’s dream-shed skin is hidden in a very, very secret corner.]

[Finally, the Great Black Heaven Dragon slumbers 2,134 meters below the volcanic chamber. Pass through another 2,000 meters of magma, and you will reach its lair! By the way, there was originally a strange plant growing in the magma there called the Sea-Rising Cherry Root. Unfortunately, the Eye of the World has detected that it was recently harvested by a person from the Dragon Country, just like you, leaving only a few insignificant rootlets behind.]

[The Eye of the World has selflessly told you all of this.]

[It is because it desperately craves this dragon’s flesh and blood. A mere 1,000 grams would be enough. You will grant it this small wish, won’t you?]

Shi Ming smiled.

"Of course."

’Who wouldn’t?’

He blinked twice more, and another notification appeared.

This one was glowing red.

[Warning! Do not, under any circumstances, allow the Red Pattern on your Right Arm to touch any wound on the body of the Great Black Heaven Dragon!]

...

...

...

More than 3,000 meters above Shi Ming, the Admiral-class Wandering Ship *Renhuang* floated.

At that moment, in an inconspicuous corridor aboard the massive vessel, a cold-eyed woman made contact with an ordinary-looking man in a naval combat uniform. Their lips barely moved as they spoke.

In the instant they brushed past one another, the intelligence exchange was complete.

S-Class Awakened! Codename: Virus.

S-Class Awakened! Codename: Abyss.

The Awakened from Lighthouse all had codenames—for example, Miss Yan, Shadow, Virus, and Abyss.

With a flick of her fingers, the woman codenamed "Virus" retrieved a small, sturdy vial from between the fingers of the man codenamed "Abyss." Inside the vial was half of a shed skin from some unknown creature.

"This is an optimized remnant of the Immortal Evil Eye. It’s now highly compatible with your cells. Feed this to your ability when the time is right. You will be the first human to unleash a Holy Hall Level Skill."

"Understood. I’m looking forward to it."

The woman’s cold face was devoid of any expression.

In a place hidden from view, seven terrifying eyes swiveled on the mounds of her cheeks, just like what Shi Ming had once seen on Edward.

An A-class skill, Flesh-Eye Roulette.

This was the fruit of a certain doctor’s labor at the Holy Hall Research Institute.

They had cloned a "pseudo" Seven-Eyed Chameleon and optimized the cells of the Immortal Evil Eye. The cost had been enormous, with materials including, but not limited to: the flesh-and-blood profile of a Seven-Eyed Chameleon, dozens of Sailing Crystal Stones, tens of thousands of Pure Dome Crystals, three living A-class sea beasts, and the flesh of five different S-class sea beasts.

...as well as Jia Fang, who had "returned to his homeland" from the ship *Pharaoh*.