Chapter 182: Chapter 180: The Plan to Lure the Sea God

"This disguise... why does it feel like the base of the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association?"

Hilia stared at the stone wall before her, deeply puzzled.

"Maybe it actually is the Mutual Aid Association’s base, who knows," Rose smiled faintly.

Hilia stepped forward, pressed her hand against the stone wall, and Mage’s Hand pierced through the stone, letting her see the runes of the array inside the wall.

"Such a familiar disguise array..."

This time, she didn’t even need Rose’s help. Hilia used Mage’s Hand to manipulate the array within, easily opening the door.

She didn’t enter right away, kept using Mage’s Hand to probe deeper into the array, checking if this one had similarities to those she’d encountered before.

After a long while, Hilia withdrew her hand.

"I’ve figured it all out!"

The girl smiled, quickly used Disguise Skill to cover herself, then stepped into the cave.

"What a shame—the Mutual Aid Association’s array doesn’t have any attack modules, only self-destruct."

Very unfortunate.

Rose said, "There’s a Tier Four mage stationed here, but don’t worry, he’s busy praying right now. The Heart of the Magic Puppet I mentioned is in the center of the array, working as a spiritual object collecting power of faith. Just go straight over."

Hilia nodded, excitement flashing in her eyes.

The last time she faced a Tier Four mage was at a Dusk Sect base.

Even using the entire array’s power against her still let Hilia force her way out; in the end, the array trapped itself and self-destructed, failing to kill her—leaving Hilia with a lasting impression.

The Lost Lighthouse’s Bluewing Seahorse was strong, but aside from its brute strength, everything else couldn’t reach Tier Four, still stuck at Tier Three’s limit. When facing a real Tier Four, its flaws were exposed.

This really made Hilia appreciate the true power of Tier Four.

This time, she might be facing another Tier Four mage, and she was pretty excited.

Or maybe... nervous.

If that Tier Four mage noticed her, it’d be game over.

Still, Hilia knew as long as Rose was here, being discovered was nearly impossible, plus she was taking a secret path—a tunnel straight to the array’s heart, known only to array maintenance staff and the base leader.

This hidden path was set outside the base entrance, not inside the base, so she wouldn’t have to interact with heretics.

The disguise was just Hilia’s instinctive reaction.

The girl couldn’t help but glance at Rose ahead.

She sensed Rose was uncharacteristically rushed today.

"Usually Lord Rose would have me mingle with the heretics inside, but today the goal is very clear... does this Heart of the Magic Puppet have some special property?"

Lacking key information, Hilia had no clue what made it so special.

So, the two slipped into the tunnel and smoothly reached the array’s core—inside a stone chamber of the same style.

In the center of the stone chamber sat a stone table, and atop it, a Heart of the Magic Puppet lay quietly at the very center of the array runes, absorbing the power of faith from all the heretics praying in the hall.

This Heart of the Magic Puppet was similar in color to Hilia’s current one—a deep sea blue.

It radiated an intense surge of water element.

Standing before it, Hilia felt that her own merged Heart of the Magic Puppet was nothing but a cheap, artificial copy.

"So, so strong..." Hilia’s eyes widened as she stared at the blue Heart of the Magic Puppet on the table. "Is the difference between Hearts of the Magic Puppet really that huge?"

"The gap is even bigger than you think," Rose replied flatly. "This Heart is just a tenth of a complete Heart of the Magic Puppet. If you found the other pieces and fused them, even if you ascended to godhood, it would still be usable—and very powerful."

"If I sold it, what would it be worth?" Hilia couldn’t help but fantasize.

Rose said, annoyed, "Sell it? If you dared sell it, I’d possess you and steal it back myself. You could just sit quietly in the spiritual space while I handle your cultivation and your daily life."

Hilia made a weird face and dared not say another word.

Rose looked at the Sea God Divine Fragment in front of him and said, "This Heart of the Magic Puppet is so strong, it’s completely incompatible with any mage not of Water Attribute. Use it carelessly, and you’ll risk being influenced by the consciousness inside—it’ll take over from within, making you the one controlled by the Heart of the Magic Puppet."

"That scary?" Hilia looked at the Heart of the Magic Puppet like it was some abyssal monster.

Rose nodded, "You’re Ice Attribute. The best Heart for you is an ice-element one. But with this one, you can siphon some power to enhance your Heart of the Magic Puppet—strengthen it up to your limit. As for the rest..."

"The rest?"

Rose didn’t answer. He simply looked up at the sky.

The rest would go to the Star Spirit Tree—once the complete divine format was assembled.

The world’s power system hinges on the Star Spirit Tree. With almost no Tier Six humans—Tier Seven are legends—it’s all intricately linked to the Star Spirit Tree.

Maybe the tree hasn’t matured yet, or maybe the gods of the last generation stripped too much, altering the rules for this era.

Whatever the reason, Rose had to resume the unfinished main quest—

Defeat the Twelve Main Gods, return their divine formats to the Star Spirit Tree, and reach the ultimate ending.

This had become an obsession.

"Heretics are praying right now, so you can’t just grab the Heart. First, modify the array in this base: block the sound of the self-destruct rune, then trigger it with a countdown, steal the Heart, and run."

Rose gave Hilia her orders.

Watching her carefully modify the runes, Rose began to study the divine fragment in front of him.

"Sea God is so cautious. The moment things go south, he disappears—such a pain. If I keep chasing, who knows how many years it’ll be before I catch him. I need to find a way to lure him to me."

Rose fell deep into thought.

After a while, a rough but feasible plan began to take shape.

He looked at Hilia, who was focused on adjusting the array runes.

"Still gotta get Hilia to act as bait."

Suddenly, Hilia felt a chill up her spine. She turned and saw Rose staring at her, so she smiled and asked, "Lord Rose, is something up?"

Rose shook his head, "Nah, keep doing your thing."

"Okay."

Hilia nodded and kept adjusting the array.

After some time, her work on the array was nearly done.

The girl rubbed her hands like a fly, and gave a low shout, "Activate self-destruct rune!"

The rune panel turned red in an instant and began to flash.

As the countdown appeared, Hilia felt the urgency ramp up.

She looked at the Heart of the Magic Puppet.

"Lord Rose, should I just grab the Heart?"

Rose nodded, "Yes, grab and run."

"Okay!"

Without hesitation, Hilia snatched up the divine fragment on the table.

Just as she was about to run, calamity struck.

Cold sweat broke out across Hilia’s face—her whole body trembling.

"Lord Rose, this Heart of the Magic Puppet... it... it..."

Her words cut off, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed unconscious.