Evan Yang, along with Lynn Lin and the others, hid together with the crowd in the secret tunnel. Above them, the roaring waves and sounds of battle could be heard. Curious as ever, Evan couldn't possibly miss a battle between Gods, so he said to Lynn and the others, "You all wait here, I'll go take a look."
"Be careful," Lynn Lin said. She knew Evan could take care of himself, but the rest of them couldn't. Not wanting to cause him extra trouble, they stayed below while Evan slipped through the crowd, heading toward the tunnel entrance, where he saw a few guards posted—probably to prevent anyone from leaving.
Evan disappeared in a flash, and when he reappeared, he was already outside somewhere. But right now, he was inside the Strange Spiral Shell, to avoid being discovered.
At this moment, the surging waters had already covered most of the island, and not far away, a gigantic sea beast was locked in combat with six people.
These six people attacked in strange ways, as if a single thought could defeat their opponent.
They all stood around the perimeter, and every so often, new wounds would appear on the sea beast's body—no one could tell who had actually struck it.
"Are they actually moving at all?" Evan kept feeling that these people had moved, but he just couldn't figure out how.
In fact, all these Gods had moved—just so fast that Evan hadn't even reacted before they returned to their distant positions. As for the sea beast, it had moved countless times as well, desperately resisting the Gods.
The sea beast's wounds kept multiplying, and it cursed loudly, "You despicable humans! This thing was mine to begin with—why must you keep pestering me?"
"That thing should belong to humans. Even if you found it first, it can't stay in your hands. But you're stubborn—today you'll fall here, and that's that," one of them replied.
"Damn you, you despicable humans! Even if I die, I won't let you off!" the sea beast roared.
"Do you really think you alone can stand against all of us? Ridiculous," one of them sneered.
"Is that so? Then today I'll show you—even if I die, I'll drag you down with me!" the sea beast shouted in rage.
With that, a massive aura erupted from the sea beast, boiling the entire surrounding sea in an instant. The six were shocked, and the leader cried, "No! Seal his power, quickly!"
The six immediately conjured a hexagram and pressed it onto the sea beast.
But the sea beast struggled, blood pouring from its body as an even greater power burst forth. The six were terrified and hurriedly retreated. In the next moment, the sea beast vanished.
By the time the six Gods realized what had happened, the sea beast was nowhere to be seen. Watching from the Strange Spiral Shell, Evan muttered, "It just disappeared?"
Just as Evan wondered where the sea beast had gone, he spotted a small, blood-soaked creature lying in a recess not far ahead. From within the Strange Spiral Shell, he could see clearly that this little thing was a miniature version of the giant sea beast from earlier.
Without hesitation, Evan pulled the shrunken sea beast into his inner space. As the beast was about to curse Evan, pain overwhelmed it and it fainted.
Evan waited inside the Strange Spiral Shell, helping to patch up some of the beast's minor wounds. When the sea beast finally woke up, it glared at Evan and growled, "Hateful human, don't even think about getting close to me."
"Senior, you've misunderstood—I'm not after your treasure," Evan said.
"You're not after my treasure?" The sea beast transformed into a middle-aged man, eyeing Evan suspiciously.
"I just wanted to see your battle with those Gods, that's all. When I saw your body after your final move, I pulled you in here," Evan explained.
"So you're saying they don't know?" the sea beast asked, still skeptical.
"Right, they won't know," Evan replied.
Still half-convinced, the sea beast took out a stone and placed it on the ground. He said to Evan, "Here's a stone. Put your hand on it, and I'll ask you some questions."
Evan didn't understand what the stone was, but curiously placed his hand on it. The sea beast asked, "You really have nothing to do with those six?"
"Nothing at all," Evan replied. Instantly, the stone glowed white.
"And you truly have no ill intentions toward me?" the sea beast asked.
"None," Evan answered.
Again, the stone glowed white.
Seeing both answers triggered the white glow, the sea beast finally put away the stone and said, "Then, thank you."
After speaking, the sea beast was about to leave, but realized he was inside a special space. He frowned and asked, "Is this your space?"
"It's a magic treasure of mine, but I'd advise you not to go out yet—those Gods are still searching for you everywhere," Evan said.
"That is troublesome, but it's fine. My cultivation is already half-crippled and will take a long time to recover. Once I change into a human form, they won't be able to find me," the sea beast replied.
"But your aura—" Evan said.
"Don't worry. My Heaven-Battle Beast clan can freely change our aura," the sea beast said.
Heaven-Battle Beast? Evan had never heard of such a race, and his main worry was that the sea beast might get exposed.
Seeing Evan worrying about him, the sea beast was a bit surprised. He thought to himself, maybe there are good humans after all. Then he said, "Alright, I'll change my appearance."
With that, the sea beast changed his appearance.
When Evan saw that the sea beast had truly changed his aura, he said, "Alright then."
The two appeared outside together. By now, the floodwaters had receded and the island had resurfaced, though many buildings had collapsed. To avoid drawing attention, the sea beast stayed with Evan for a while, following him to the spot where Evan had left earlier.
The two arrived at the tunnel entrance, just as everyone else was coming out.
Seeing Evan return safely, Lynn Lin smiled and said, "Glad you're alright."
Melody Wood also smiled, while the sea beast and Evan exchanged a glance. The sea beast then smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to have such a magical person at your side."
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"You can sense her?" Evan asked.
"Of course, and I imagine she can sense me too," the sea beast replied with a smile.
"Who is this?" Lynn Lin asked curiously.
"I'm King Haiten," the sea beast said with a smile. Evan hadn't asked his name yet, so hearing it now surprised him.