’The Perception Tentacles could be detected, and that might bring him danger.’

He considered it carefully. Although he was currently only at the Overlord level, his "Bloodthirsty" skill had already pushed his strength to the Venerable level.

Furthermore, his "Eye of Truth" skill had previously been upgraded to Tier 5. This was equivalent to a Venerable Powerhouse using a Tier 5 "Eye of Truth" skill to spy on the New King.

Compared to a direct Spiritual Power probe, the biggest advantage of the "Eye of Truth" skill was that it was difficult to detect. It could generally evade the notice of lifeforms one rank higher than him.

’Theoretically, my Perception Tentacles should be able to evade Legendary powerhouses and Tier 6 mutated beasts without being detected at all.’

’What is the New King’s level of strength? Will it discover me if I use my Perception Tentacles to spy on it?’

’The information from the Mother Tree and Lin Hua Country all said the New King was about to be born. "About to be" means that this current New King isn’t yet worthy of the title; it hasn’t truly become a Tier 7, God-level mutated beast.’

’That means it’s still at the Tier 6 level. It shouldn’t be able to detect my Perception Tentacles...’

’That has to be right. If it had really become a Tier 7 mutated beast, it would have personally attacked the Lin Hua Continent long ago. Unless those aliens have some trump card, humanity on Blue Star would be powerless against a God-level mutated beast.’

After thinking it over, Su Ze decided to take the risk and use his Perception Tentacles to probe the New King’s true nature.

He wasn’t choosing to take this risk merely to satisfy his curiosity, but because of that miraculous golden energy.

Having personally experienced the miraculous properties of the golden energy, Su Ze was desperate to know its source. If he had the chance, he wanted to obtain more of it.

He was still only at the Overlord level. The subsequent Venerable and Legendary levels each required absorbing two vials of high-level extract, for a total of four. Without the aid of enough golden energy, he had no idea how many years it would take to fully digest all four vials.

Su Ze had set a goal for himself: to become a God-level powerhouse.

He never thought of himself as some kind of savior, but whether for self-preservation or to complete the Mother Tree’s commission, he had to become a God-level powerhouse.

Only by ascending to godhood could he leave Blue Star and escape this chaotic quagmire.

Judging by the current situation, he didn’t have much time left to grow in peace. He needed to use an external force to accelerate his progress, and the golden energy was the most suitable thing he had encountered so far.

With enough golden energy, it was entirely possible for him to achieve godhood quickly.

So, he decided to take the risk...

’Of course, I can’t be too reckless.’

Su Ze split off a clone and controlled it to drift slowly down into the sea trench.

Both his main body and his clone were in a liquid state, allowing them to merge with the seawater and making them extremely difficult to detect.

The clone possessed its own soul and body and could use any of Su Ze’s skills.

The greatest limitation was that the clones couldn’t be too far apart. Otherwise, the connection would break, causing the smaller mass of the clone to lose control and "die."

However, Su Ze had no intention of having the clone dive directly to the bottom of the trench. It simply stopped at the entrance.

The clone maintained the maximum possible distance from him, then began to use the "Eye of Truth" skill, causing the clone to emit Perception Tentacles to spy on the New King on the seabed.

This way, even if the New King detected it, Su Ze could immediately abandon the clone and make a swift escape.

The Perception Tentacles released by the clone spread across the bottom of the sea trench, and Su Ze finally saw what it was that the hordes of beasts were worshipping.

’Is that... a giant pineapple?’

Su Ze wasn’t entirely sure.

At first glance, a bright yellow object was planted in the seabed. It was round, over ten meters tall, and covered in spiky bumps, looking exactly like a giant pineapple.

But upon closer inspection, it seemed a little different.

It didn’t have the spiky leaves on top like a pineapple, and besides, he’d never heard of pineapples growing on the seabed.

’This thing is the new king of the mutated beasts?’

Su Ze felt this was a little different from what he had imagined.

He had assumed the new king of the mutated beasts would be some majestic, domineering creature, not something that looked like a giant pineapple on the seafloor.

Moreover, when his Perception Tentacles touched this "giant pineapple," it didn’t react at all.

It seemed his earlier worries had been for nothing.

Su Ze probed it again with his Perception Tentacles. Seeing that the "giant pineapple" still showed no reaction, he grew bolder and used his tentacles to conduct a full 360-degree, no-blind-spot examination of it.

After a detailed examination of the "giant pineapple," Su Ze suddenly thought of a marine animal—the sea squirt!

He realized that this "giant pineapple" seemed to be a sea squirt.

Sea squirts are very strange animals; many people mistake them for plants.

In their larval stage, they resemble tadpoles with large heads and are adept swimmers.

A few hours after birth, they find a suitable object to attach to, "rooting" themselves like a plant, and begin a process of retrograde metamorphosis.

During this process, parts of their bodies degenerate, and they lose their ability to move. Even more incredibly, the creature eats its own brain!

From then on, they become brainless, immobile husks, unable to feed, doing nothing but drawing in and expelling water.

’Logically, the chances of such a low-level animal evolving into a mutated beast should be minuscule. Then again, even Coral Insects evolved into Tier 5 mutated beasts, so the appearance of a mutated sea squirt here isn’t all that surprising.’

’I just wonder if it grew its brain back after evolving into a mutated beast.’