"Gululu~"
As the submarine drew closer, a twenty-meter-long, streamlined Great White Shark came into view, belly up, blowing bubbles.
"Still alive?" Xuan Ziwen looked skeptical.
"Both pectoral fins and its belly have deep, bone-deep wounds. For a Great White Shark—a top predator in these seas—to be like this, it must've met a strong enemy."
"Over eighty thousand years old…"
Hearing Ju Zi's analysis, Su Wen narrowed his eyes.
So what was the shark doing? Playing dead?
"Gululu~"
The shark, belly up, kept blowing bubbles, sneaking a peek at the terrifying "whale" ahead, full of fear.
Why aren't they leaving…
In her mother's bedtime stories, didn't the sea snake successfully fool the squid by playing dead?
Why couldn't she?
Bai Xiuxiu was getting more and more anxious.
Just now, she'd sneaked away from Sea God Island and was immediately targeted by her nemesis, the Deep Sea Demon Whales. Chased like a cat after a mouse, she was badly wounded by a hundred-thousand-year-old whale—no match at all.
But then, for some reason, the demon whales suddenly stopped chasing and fled, as if their home was being robbed...
She didn't care why. She'd swum in the opposite direction, exhausted, hungry, and wounded, and now just wanted a break—only to run into a near-hundred-meter "blue whale."
The giant whale circled her, churning the waves, while she shivered like a tiny boat.
Suddenly, the "whale" spoke.
Several tiny humans appeared on its head, staring at her.
"Gululu~"
Bai Xiuxiu kept pretending to be dead.
Su Wen studied her with interest.
To force an eighty-thousand-year-old Devil Soul Great White Shark into such a sorry state, only a Deep Sea Demon Whale could do that.
Ju Zi was right—these sharks were top soul beasts, rarely provoked, even if this one was a little slow...
"What's she doing?" Ju Zi asked, confused.
"Blowing bubbles!" Ke Ke replied.
"I mean, why blow bubbles when she sees us?"
"Could she be playing dead?"
"No way, Great White Sharks aren't stupid. At this level, they can probably talk. Pretending to be dead by blowing bubbles—that's something only ordinary sea beasts do before they gain intelligence."
Bai Xiuxiu: "..."
"Huh, why isn't she blowing bubbles now?" Ke Ke squatted, poking her soft white belly.
"Could we have guessed right?"
Bai Xiuxiu: "..."
"Huh, she's blowing them again—it's real!" Ke Ke jumped up, pointing at Bai Xiuxiu.
"It is real…"
Whap!
Whap!
"Ow!" Ke Ke and Ju Zi rubbed their heads, glaring at Su Wen.
"What are you doing?" Su Wen said flatly.
"Teasing a dummy…" Ke Ke pouted.
"She's already a bit slow, and you're still teasing her?" Su Wen flicked Ke Ke's forehead. Clearly, Ke Ke and Ju Zi had noticed the shark was a little slow and couldn't resist teasing her, relying on Su Wen's protection.
If they'd faced the shark alone, they'd have run long ago—after all, even a slow-witted eighty-thousand-year-old soul beast is still a sea tyrant...
"Ugh…" Ke Ke shrank back.
Her feelings toward Su Wen had changed from admiration to friendship, and after seeing his real strength, to a bit of awe.
"Yeah! Scold them!"
Bai Xiuxiu nodded vigorously, delighted, her tail flapping and sending ripples across the water—everyone noticed, except the oblivious Bai Xiuxiu, who thought her plan was flawless.
"Hey."
Su Wen crouched down, staring at Bai Xiuxiu.
"If you don't get up, I'll roast you and eat your meat."
"Ahhh!!!"
Bai Xiuxiu flipped upright, slipped back into the water, and trembled. "Don't eat me! I'm a soul beast from Sea God Island! My parents are the leaders of the Devil Soul Great White Sharks! If you let me go, I'll bring you a reward myself!"
"What's your name?" Su Wen smiled gently.
Such a gentle, handsome human…
Bai Xiuxiu was dazed for a few seconds, then quickly replied, "Bai Xiuxiu!"
"Phew…"
Su Wen let out a long breath.
He hadn't expected this.
He'd run into Bai Xiuxiu, the future female lead for Tang San's grandson Lan Xuanyu, two thousand years from now. She'd hit a hundred thousand years and taken human form to meet Lan Xuanyu...
No wonder the Tang Family ruled the continent for so long.
Su Wen secretly complained.
It's rough being the Sea God's follower.
Back in Poseidon's day, they were bullied by the Evil Demon Orca clan. After Tang San took over, they got beaten up by the Deep Sea Demon Whale. By Bai Xiuxiu's time, the whole clan was wiped out, and the sole survivor got sacrificed to Lan Xuanyu.
Used up and tossed aside...
Su Wen shook his head.
How could someone be so heartless to their own followers?
Maybe: After forty thousand years, time for a new one?
"Do you worship the Sea God?" Su Wen asked suddenly.
"Are there any ocean clans that don't worship the Sea God…" Bai Xiuxiu said weakly.
"I heard the Deep Sea Demon Whales don't," Su Wen said with interest.
"They're outcasts!!" Bai Xiuxiu said angrily.
"Oh... What if I told you I am the Sea God?" Su Wen said, baffling Xuan Ziwen and the others.
"What are the Sea God's features?" Su Wen asked, smiling.
"Isn't he evolved from a human?"
"...Yes." Bai Xiuxiu nodded dully.
"Is he handsome?"
"I think so." She nodded faster.
"And he's a man." Su Wen said seriously.
"That's right!"
"But you're missing a trident!" Bai Xiuxiu finally caught on and pointed out Su Wen's flaw.
"Yeah... missing a trident." Su Wen grinned.
He suddenly had an idea.
If he had a trident, could he control the seas?
Command the oceans?
With Deep Sea Demon Whales as rivals, but with the Devil Soul Great White Sharks, Sea Princesses, and billions of sea creatures as resources—if he could mobilize them, it'd be far more valuable than the far north...
The sea was the greatest untapped resource for humanity.
As for where to get the Sea God Trident?
He hadn't explored the ancient copy from ten thousand years ago yet…
…