Chapter 772 - 470: The Mermaid King’s Treasure [2]

The Mermaid King’s treasure is about to appear.

"Round Bell asked me to inform you. They’d like to invite you to go with them."

Dick’s gaze lingered for a moment on the longsword in Hu Qi’s hand.

He then quickly lowered his head.

As time went on,

the sense of oppression he felt from Hu Qi grew stronger by the day.

Now, the moment he saw Hu Qi,

he was struck by a terrifying intuition.

The man could kill him on the spot with a single strike.

’No, this is no mere illusion.’

The Shadow Walker path he followed also provided a certain bonus to his perception.

Combined with Hu Qi’s unconcealed aura,

everything indicated that Hu Qi’s power had increased yet again.

Such a pace was simply astonishing.

But even so,

he wouldn’t dare have any ideas of his own.

Because during this time, Hu Qi had placed several more measures on him.

Any one of them could easily take his life.

And to remove them would be nearly impossible unless one of the High Tier Professionals was willing to intervene.

’The ebbing tide...’

Hu Qi’s eyes flickered.

Over the past few days,

aside from operating in secret as the "Silver-faced Demon,"

he had also publicly used his Disguise to pose as an ordinary Sequence Nine "Arsonist" and infiltrated the Professional circle known as Round Bell.

After all, to brazenly purchase a manor under this identity, he needed a suitable background.

And being an official Professional was undoubtedly the perfect solution.

These circles didn’t have a strong hold over their members.

They were more like open platforms for communication.

In the process,

he had also learned something.

At some unknown point,

a rumor had begun to circulate among the Professional circles.

Somewhere in the seas near Night Crow Harbor, the "Mermaid King’s Treasure" was hidden.

This Mermaid King wasn’t a type of Extraordinary Creature, but a Professional Sequence.

And a high-level one at that—a Sequence Five path.

Reaching Sequence Six meant you had effectively shed the rank of Low Tier Professional and entered the division of High Tier Professionals.

A Sequence Five, a Lord Level Professional.

Their power went without saying.

Even across all the Professional circles in the entire Celestial Dragon Federation, the number of Professionals who had reached this stage could be counted on one hand.

They were considered the absolute top echelon, no matter where they went.

Under normal circumstances,

Professionals of this level would only appear within the Federation or the Seven Gods Church.

The Extraordinary Paths most ordinary Professionals walked were incomplete, with advancement routes capping out around Sequence Seven.

The shocking effect of this news was self-evident.

Logically, this kind of information should have been suppressed, but someone had leaked it.

But regardless,

for the treasure of a suspected Sequence Five Lord,

no Professional could refuse.

"Just tell them I’m preparing for my advancement and don’t have time,"

Hu Qi said lightly.

"Yes, Master!"

Dick bowed and accepted the order.

Afterward, Hu Qi gave a few more instructions.

Dick’s figure then melted silently into the thick shadows behind him, like a drop of ink on snow.

All that remained on the white snow was a string of fading footprints, which were quickly erased by the howling cold wind.

...

Three days wasn’t a long time.

In Night Crow Harbor, everything was as usual.

But in the shadows, an undercurrent was surging.

A large number of Professionals entered Night Crow Harbor from all directions.

These people had only one goal.

The Tier Five Mermaid King’s treasure.

After all,

it was the treasure of a Tier Five, Lord Level Professional.

Even if they couldn’t obtain the complete Sequence, just getting one or two Extraordinary Items from it would be of immense benefit to them.

Besides.

’What if? What if I obtain the Extraordinary Path leading to Sequence Five? I could ascend to the heavens in a single step.’

This was a temptation...

that no Professional could resist.

Soon.

As evening approached,

a cold wind howled, and the lead-gray clouds hung so low they seemed within reach.

The ground was covered in a thick blanket of snow; rooftops, streets, and the masts of ships were all draped in a pale, velvety layer.

A thin layer of ice had formed on the harbor’s wooden docks.

Suddenly, the moored ships tilted to one side, eventually running aground in the mud. Their mooring lines strained, groaning as if under an unbearable weight.

Looking down,

the vast expanse of seawater had bizarrely receded, exposing the seabed below.

There was wet sand, jagged reefs, scattered shells, and the decaying wreckage of sunken ships.

In the sky, seagulls circled restlessly, letting out sharp cries.

Gazing into the distance, as far as the eye could see, the sea level was dropping rapidly, as if being devoured by an invisible, giant mouth.

This shocking scene...

naturally caught the attention of certain interested parties at once.

...

「Night Crow Harbor.」

This was the domain of Tizoros, the Master of the Sea God, one of the Seven Gods.

The Sea God Church here stood at the highest point of the port city. Its gray-white stone walls, weathered by the sea wind and salt spray, bore mottled patterns of Erosion, resembling the scales of an ancient sea beast from the ocean’s depths.

Its steeple did not point to the sky, but leaned slightly forward.

Two enormous stone statues of sea beasts stood on either side of the main entrance, along with strong guards.

At this moment,

in the deepest part of the main hall,

an elder clad in a deep blue robe and holding a Wooden Staff stood with their head bowed.

They were praying, muttering in the obscure Ancient Burrim Language.

"Great Master of the Sea, you are the ’Lord of Storms,’ the ’Shepherd of Sharks’...

We call your name with hearts full of awe.

We praise your boundless power and mercy!

The tides are your breath, the abyss your hall.

Storms are your clarion call, and calm your benediction.

..."

Before them stood a massive statue.

Its head had no distinct features, only a face formed from swirling patterns.

Gazing at it for too long induced a suffocating sensation, as if one were drowning.

Its torso was covered in deep blue scales, but beneath each scale, one could faintly make out bas-reliefs of various struggling humanoid figures, as if they were eternally imprisoned within.

It had six arms.

The uppermost pair held a black Trident.

The middle two arms were crossed over its chest, cradling a limestone-colored pearl.

The final pair sank into the ground at its base, seemingly pulling on some unseen chains.

Just then,

as this Priest continued to pray,

the statue, which had been like an inanimate object, began to change.

The color on the gray pearl cradled by the middle arms started to flake away,

revealing a deep blue pearl underneath.

Then,

a beam of light shot out and landed between the elder Priest’s brows.

A moment later,

the elder opened their eyes.

A fanatical look spread across their face.

They looked at the statue again.

It was unchanged.

It still held the gray stone pearl in its hands.

It was as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.

Just then,

they seemed to sense something.

They turned around, revealing a pair of azure eyes.

This was an old woman.

But on closer inspection, one would find she wasn’t that old; she looked more like a young matron.

This contradiction was unsettling.

She raised her head and looked toward a certain place.

A glint of coldness flashed in her eyes.

"Mermaid King, Tide Church, you damned God Desecrators... This time, I’ll wipe you all out in one fell swoop..."

Before her words faded, she lifted her Wooden Staff, tapped it lightly on the ground, and her figure abruptly burst into a spray of seawater.

She vanished on the spot.

...

「Night Crow Harbor, inside the Governor’s Mansion.」

The cold light filtering through the window split the gloom of the room.

A man sat as still as a mountain, his breathing slow and steady like the tide. His knuckles rested lightly on the hilt of his sword, and he seemed to have merged with the shadows.

CRACK!

Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

His gaze shot toward the seashore.

"So... it’s finally appeared?"

The Giant Sword resting on his knees hummed as he grabbed it with one hand.

He rose and took a single step forward.

BANG!

The floor cracked, and his figure was gone.

The man had vanished from the room. Only the fierce wind, which had blown the window open, remained, causing the curtains to dance wildly.

It was as if some great beast had just swept through.

...

At the same time, all across Night Crow Harbor, Professionals dropped whatever they were doing and rushed toward the sea.

They wanted to find the Mermaid King’s treasure.

Because the ebbing of the tide was limited.

It would only last for six hours.

If they couldn’t find it within that time,

the search would undoubtedly become much more difficult.

In this world, the open sea was an extremely dangerous place.

This wasn’t just true for ordinary people.

It was the same for Professionals.

Normally,

even High Tier Professionals dared not venture rashly into the deep sea.

This was why they had to wait for the "ebbing tide."

But at this moment,

what no one noticed was that,

under the dimming sky, a hidden shadow was heading in the direction of the Sea God Church.