Chapter 1337 - 289: The Price (Part 1)

"The first and only internal conflict for our clan has begun, but I underestimated Ibira’s power."

"He had been concealing his prowess, perhaps just to prepare for a day like this."

As Sea King narrated the events, Wen Yu seemed to sense the ferocity of the battle.

Countless sea beasts and the Sea King Tribe surged towards Ibira like tides, yet crumbled under Ibira’s power. Ibira, who had just reached Level 5, already possessed the ability to fight one against ten thousand, or even a hundred thousand.

"Yet, individual strength remains insignificant against collective might..."

Wen Yu heard these words and remained silent, though he felt an urge to laugh.

When Wen Yu first reached Level 5, he could probably fight against a million or so. At that time, his individual strength indeed couldn’t compare to the overall strength of Yanjing. But with the snowball effect, individual strength grew rapidly, until now...

Well, there’s no need to elaborate further.

However, one fact shouldn’t be overlooked—when at Level 5, no matter how capable Ibira may have been, he certainly couldn’t escape the ocean’s collective pursuit.

The losses from that battle were glossed over by Sea King, who only mentioned the outcome.

"Ibira was exhausted by the endless swarms of sea beasts, and at the end, still wanted to resist, but I used a skill to seal him away. Now, he is beneath the ancestral land of our clan."

Upon hearing this, Wen Yu squinted and asked.

"Is he merely sealed?"

According to Sea King, the battle situation should have been extremely clear. For Sea King to dispose of Ibira was merely a trivial task—Wen Yu placed himself in Sea King’s scenario back then and thought, rather than sealing away such a calamity, it would have been better to eliminate it.

Upon hearing Wen Yu’s query, Sea King spoke again.

"That’s the second reason I wanted to find you."

"Regarding your way of dealing with our clan."

...

Just as Wen Yu previously thought—after he dealt with Earth’s will and the Demigod, the Sea King Tribe would surely react.

Resistance isn’t realistic because it would only lead to the clan’s annihilation. Better a living servitude than dead rebellion, and after the conversation with Sea King, Wen Yu also realized Sea King is a sensible fellow.

He didn’t want to lead his clan to accompany Earth’s will to its burial—not even accompany it, they might die worthlessly!

Therefore, he is naturally inclined to give Wen Yu a satisfactory explanation.

"Deep Sea Order (Species-specific Esoteric Level, Passive Skill) (Group Will Exclusive): Augmented upon all life forms of the same tribe, each member is born with the ability to command all Sea Clan."

Note: The quality and quantity of sea beasts one individual can command depend on the individual’s strength."

"This is my fifth skill, and precisely because of this skill, our Sea King Tribe became the absolute ruler in the deep sea."

Sea King spoke fairly—although he mentioned Ibira as the first Sea King, this title, akin to Sequence Number 1, was just a symbol of power, while the skill Deep Sea Order was the fundamental for being a Sea King.

The terror of this skill was clear to Wen Yu at a glance—every clan member could bring hundreds of bodyguards; although the Sea King Tribe seemed sparse in numbers, during actual war, these guys would bring forth overwhelming power!

Upon slight comparison, the reproductive capability of Sea Demon Sea King paired with this skill could indeed have a significant impact.

No wonder Sea King chose to abandon Ibira.

"Compulsory Offering (Species-specific Esoteric Level, Active Skills) (Group Will Exclusive): Sealing type skill. Suppresses, locks, and extracts the power of the sealed creature, transforming it into an amplification for the entire clan!"

This skill was the fundamental reason Sea King left Ibira alive.

"This is my... fourth skill... I turned Ibira into a gigantic battery, using his power to bring substantial amplification for our Sea King Tribe. If Ibira Sea King’s power average value was 10, then after augmentation, Sea Demon Sea King’s power average value could reach 9."

Upon hearing this, Wen Yu merely raised his brows, smiling without speaking.

Up to now, Wen Yu has understood from Sea King’s narration about Ibira’s past and present. Although spoken in such a way, there was clearly some exaggeration or falsehood...

For example, the choice between Ibira Sea King and Sea Demon Sea King, or the love-hate relationship between him and Ibira.

He said Ibira struck first, but judging from the Compulsory Offering skill, who could say Sea King didn’t have his own ulterior motives?

That’s a skill born at Level 4... even his claim that he never realized Ibira was uncontrollable is likely false...

At this moment, looking at Sea King, Wen Yu thought he resembled Lin Haifeng more and more... Not that such people are wrong, quite the opposite, many of their actions were correct, but their methods and certain calculations are indeed off-putting.

However, these aren’t important.

Sea King continued.

"Regarding the past conflicts between our clan and you, I apologize here. Of course, a mere apology isn’t nearly enough to offset the sins our clan committed. However, you also have a species innate talent as a soul pet, naturally understanding the group will’s orders cannot be disobeyed by the individuals within the clan, but they are also lives, also independent individuals."

"So?"

Wen Yu calmly spoke, yet he had already understood the "cost" Sea King intended to present.

"Allegiance to Earth’s will was solely my decision alone. My existence deprived my clan of a second choice. This matter was wrong of me, and also some of my clan, but not all."

"So I intend to use my life in exchange for a path for my clan, a path of impartial treatment free from discrimination, hoping you would permit."

Wen Yu fell silent.

...

By now, Wen Yu finally fully grasped the purpose of Sea King’s conversation with him.

Introducing Ibira’s past and present isn’t crucial. What’s important is he clarified the Sea King Tribe’s existence style, reproductive habits, and a small portion of his skills.

It’s no exaggeration to say Sea King’s existence is what made the so-called ’Sea King Tribe.’ Once Sea King perishes, Ibira will be relieved and emerge, though the impact wouldn’t be vast—how could a creature sealed at Level 5 cause upheaval at Level 8?

But the Sea King Tribe’s overall decline in species innate talent is undeniable, coupled with losing the Deep Sea Order augmented skills, given the Sea King Tribe’s numbers and reproduction ability, they will inevitably merge into the crowd, unable to create ripples again.