Taking a whole morning, Fu Zhu roughly skimmed through books on Amphoreus's history, culture, and geography, but found nothing out of the ordinary.
If one had to point out something abnormal, it would only be the historical record of the Twelve Titans creating the heavens and earth, shaping the ten thousand things of the world. Beyond that, he couldn't find proof of any other more powerful existence.
Fu Zhu had never fought a Titan, so he couldn't be sure what level their strength actually reached. The minimap also didn't indicate whether they were at the level of an Emanator.
Fu Zhu sighed lightly and casually returned the crystal ball in his hand to its original place.
Hysilens and Triya, who had been accompanying him as he read, saw Fu Zhu put the crystal ball back and stood up to come over.
"How is it? Do you still want to read any other books?"
"No need."
Fu Zhu shook his head. He had pretty much learned everything he wanted to learn, unless he delved into some of the unofficial histories of Amphoreus.
He turned his head to look at Hysilens and asked.
"Next, can you let me meet the [Sea] Titan Phagousa?"
"Of course." Hysilens nodded, turning to lead the way for Fu Zhu and Triya. "The Queen instructed me to take you to see the Titan after you finished reading these books."
Hearing Hysilens say this, Triya raised her head and stared at her with some curiosity. "Does that mean the Queen has agreed to assist the Journey of Chasing Fire?"
"This..."
Hysilens hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.
"I don't know. The Queen didn't say anything about that. I'm sorry, Messenger."
The spark of hope that had just ignited in Triya's eyes was instantly extinguished, but she still shook her head with a smile.
"It's okay. I'm willing to keep waiting, until you all agree."
Hysilens could only force a smile. To make the Siren race kill the Titan they believed in for an illusory prophecy... how could it be that simple?
Hysilens led the two of them through many twists and turns within the royal palace, arriving at a trench behind the palace guarded by numerous Siren warriors. She went forward to present the token the Queen had given her, and only then did the crowd of Siren warriors open a path.
Hysilens took a Luminous Pearl from her pocket, held it up in her hand, and turned her head to call out to Fu Zhu and Triya.
"Follow me. It's quite dark ahead, so be careful."
The two of them followed behind Hysilens, swimming into the gloomy trench. Although Hysilens was holding a Luminous Pearl, it could only illuminate a range of a few meters. Fortunately, Fu Zhu had night vision, so even in greater darkness, it didn't affect him at all.
Looking around, the only thing in his field of view was a structure that resembled an altar. Besides that, there was nothing else, let alone a Titan.
Hysilens led the two all the way to the altar and stopped. She took out a prepared fine brew, poured it slowly into a stone cup on the altar, then held both hands above her head.
Hysilens's lips parted slightly, and a peculiar song was swiftly carried to the distance by the undercurrent.
After a few seconds, Fu Zhu immediately noticed a neutral yellow marker on the minimap rapidly moving in their direction.
[Sea Titan · Phagousa]
By the time the marker approached, Fu Zhu immediately looked forward. There was nothing in his field of view, but he noticed a strange current.
Within that strange current, a figure was faintly visible. Judging by its size, it was at least several meters long. He could vaguely make out that it resembled the Sirens, with a human body and a fish tail.
Just as Hysilens was about to invite Phagousa to drink the honey-wine she offered, Fu Zhu suddenly rushed over, pulling her behind him and holding a shield with his left hand to block in front of them.
The next second, with a thud, a three-meter-long trident appeared on the shield.
Hysilens stood behind Fu Zhu and saw the trident. She recognized it at a glance as the weapon used by Phagousa. Feeling both confused and puzzled, she looked toward the Phagousa hidden in the current.
"Lady Phagousa, what are you doing? Both Fu Zhu and her are good people who helped the Siren race, not enemies!"
Phagousa did not speak. She just gestured toward the trident stuck in the shield, intending to recall it. But Fu Zhu moved a step faster, grabbing the trident and stuffing it directly into his backpack.
"If you don't know how to play with a trident, don't play. I'm confiscating it."
"Fu Zhu?!"
Hysilens was even more confused. Why did Fu Zhu have to provoke Phagousa?
Fu Zhu didn't have time to explain to her, simply stating, "The Phagousa before you is no longer the Sea Titan your Siren race is familiar with. She is now an enemy."
Fu Zhu had noticed that just now, as Phagousa approached the three of them, the marker on the minimap had instantly turned red, changing from neutral to hostile.
Even the name had been refreshed.
[Sea Titan · Phagousa (Corrupted)]
........
In the Phagousa Kingdom's library, a virtual screen was projected in front of Lygus. The screen was showing the scene of Fu Zhu and the others confronting Phagousa.
"Heh heh, Sea Titan, let me borrow your hand to test the strength of this outworlder. While we're at it, let this kingdom become a legend..."
........
"Impossible. Lady Phagousa was fine just before, how could she be an enemy?"
Hysilens was unwilling to believe Fu Zhu's words. She leaned out from behind him, looked up into Phagousa's eyes, and was about to say something when she felt a bone-chilling coldness. That was the hostility Phagousa released toward her!
"Lady Phagousa?"
Hysilens murmured in disbelief, then was pushed back by Fu Zhu to Triya's side with a single palm.
"Triya, pull her away."
Triya nodded, grabbing Hysilens's arms with both hands and dragging her backward with all her might.
Fu Zhu, meanwhile, put away his shield and summoned [Yamato] to face Phagousa.
Having lost her trident, Phagousa was somewhat angry. She pointed a finger at Fu Zhu, and several terrifying ocean currents rushed toward him. Yet Fu Zhu stood his ground, letting the currents wash over him.
Fu Zhu stood on the spot, motionless. He glanced at his armor durability; it hadn't dropped at all.
"Trying to deal with Steve using water? Sorry, I'm not falling for that."
Just as Fu Zhu raised the [Yamato] in his hand, Phagousa seemed to sense some danger and swiftly blended into the current, moving rapidly around Fu Zhu.
Fu Zhu frowned as he watched the fast-moving Phagousa. This made it a bit difficult for him, but of course, only a bit difficult.
Phagousa wasn't the only one familiar with the ocean and capable of using its existence.
For Steve, the ocean was just another kind of playground.
To deal with Phagousa, he had no less than a hundred methods!
"But... let's use a method that saves a bit of effort and experience."
Fu Zhu immediately used the power of the [Harmony] Envoy, consuming several levels of experience to input a string of commands, then raised his hand and pointed at the seabed directly on Phagousa's path.
"Replace."
In the next second, the sand on the original seabed was instantly replaced with Magma Blocks. Orange-red light illuminated that area, and countless small bubbles rose from the magma.
Phagousa glanced at the area of Magma Blocks with confusion. She was the Sea Titan; not only could she move rapidly in the current, but her own constitution was also extremely strong.
Could it be that Fu Zhu intended to scald her to death with that pathetic temperature from the Magma Blocks?
Phagousa sneered. Then, right in front of Fu Zhu, she plunged headfirst into the Magma Block area. However, in the next second, an incomparably strong suction force pulled her directly onto the Magma Blocks, and a burning sensation spread throughout her body.
"Ah!!!"
Phagousa wailed in pain on the Magma Blocks, desperately trying to break free of the suction force they generated.
Fu Zhu walked up to her, looking down from above. Phagousa also struggled to raise her head to meet Fu Zhu's gaze.
"Don't be nervous. The magma won't kill you. I don't plan to act for now. But... let me take a good look at you!"
Fu Zhu raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Countless blocks of Obsidian surrounded him and Phagousa, and the surrounding water was instantly cleared away.
Phagousa felt her body lighten. Although she didn't understand why the surrounding seawater suddenly disappeared, this was her chance to leave the Magma Blocks!
Just as Phagousa was about to get up and leave, she heard Fu Zhu softly chant a sentence.
"Slowness 100, Weakness 100."
In an instant, Phagousa felt like a salted fish again, lying limply on the Magma Blocks, feeling the burning sensation they brought.
"Now, can you let me take a good look at you?"
Fu Zhu moved closer and looked at Phagousa's status bar. Besides the two negative statuses he had given her, there was also a negative status called [Black Tide Corruption], and the duration was infinite.
"Dispel."
Fu Zhu softly chanted a sentence. The negative status of [Black Tide Corruption] immediately disappeared from Phagousa's body, and Phagousa's scarlet eyes instantly became clear. However, this state didn't last long; the [Black Tide Corruption] status appeared on her body again.
"Hmm?"
Fu Zhu raised his eyebrows in surprise. Something was wrong!
He had seen situations where negative statuses couldn't be dispelled several times. Firefly and March 7th had both experienced it. But they were all due to physical reasons, especially Firefly. Because of her congenital genetic deficiency, Entropic Dissolution Syndrome would immediately reappear after being dispelled, until he used the method of curing Zombie Villagers to completely cure her.
But Firefly's situation was different from Phagousa's. The [Black Tide Corruption] on Phagousa's body didn't reappear immediately after being dispelled, but after a delay of two or three seconds.
This feeling was as if Fu Zhu was in a server, trading buffs and debuffs with another player, but needed a little bit of time in between to input the commands.
"Let's see if it's what I think. I'll test it out."
Fu Zhu took a Golden Apple from his pocket and stuffed it directly into Phagousa's mouth. Since Phagousa already had the Weakness buff from him, there was no need to throw another Potion of Weakness.
After a short while, Phagousa's whole body began to tremble, just like a Zombie Villager being cured.
Fu Zhu stood by silently, waiting for the result.
Five minutes later, Phagousa stopped trembling, and the [Black Tide Corruption] on her body also disappeared. But not long after, the [Black Tide Corruption] status appeared on her body once again.
Sure enough.
Phagousa's re-corruption was within Fu Zhu's expectations.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who can use permissions in this world..."
Of course, he didn't think it was another Steve who was constantly applying the negative status to Phagousa. He had long suspected that this world, like the Simulated Universe, was a data world. What happened to Phagousa now was just proof of his guess.
Fu Zhu immediately opened the system's control console and began to input a command.
/deop....
When a player inputs a command that requires specifying a certain unit, pressing the spacebar will often bring up several selectable targets.
And when Fu Zhu was inputting the command to revoke administrator permissions, a name suddenly popped up behind.
[Lygus (Zandar)]
"Yo!"
Seeing this name, Fu Zhu couldn't help but grin.
So it's you!
What level are you to be playing with commands with me?
"/deop Lygus."
Just as Fu Zhu was about to execute the command, a system prompt jumped out.
[Required Experience Level to Execute Command is 1000]
Tsk!
This prompt made Fu Zhu a little unhappy, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt it was reasonable.
After all, this was a world built by someone else. For him to be able to use a command to revoke their permissions was already quite absurd; requiring more experience was also normal.
Fu Zhu scratched his head with some helplessness and sighed.
"Alright, you're lucky this time, Lygus. But you won't be so lucky next time."
Since his experience level wasn't enough, Fu Zhu could only switch to another command. Letting the guy who tripped him up get away was impossible!
Steve never held a grudge overnight; he took revenge on the spot!
"/kick Lygus."
In the next second, Fu Zhu's experience level immediately decreased by 20 levels, just barely dropping to 149, breaking the minimum experience level required for the two Envoy blessings.
But he wasn't panicking. Anyway, he was just short one level. With so many Black Tide monsters, he could just casually farm them for a while and get it back.
........
At the same time, on the other side.
Lygus, who was hiding in the library secretly observing Fu Zhu, felt a chill in his heart upon hearing that string of monologue from Fu Zhu.
He actually discovered me?! He actually knows Amphoreus is a data world, and even discovered that I am the administrator of Amphoreus?!
How is this possible?! How did he do it?
Before Lygus could figure it out, in the next moment, his figure suddenly disappeared from the library.
Lygus's main body, which was outside the myth, also moved at this moment. He looked down at his own hands in some astonishment.
"I was actually kicked out of Amphoreus? As the creator of the Imperial Authority Scepter, I was actually kicked out of the world I created by someone else?!!!"
In the next second, the dazed and astonished Lygus received a private message.
[Fu Zhu: Lygus, is it? You better not let me catch you, or you won't have a good time!]
Lygus laughed in anger upon seeing this private message.
This is the world I created! Do you think this is your home?!!!