"Oh my, it's you seven! I thought you had all left already. Why did you come back?" Bei Bei deliberately tilted his head, wearing an expression of confusion. Aichi and the other six mid-stage Gods felt somewhat embarrassed.
In that situation, their decision to look out for themselves was perfectly understandable. If they had truly left and never come back, that would have been that.
But coming back now — that was awkward.
However, the Starfog Sea was teeming with bandits. With their mid-stage God strength, how could they possibly reach Blood Peak Continent safely? They could only rely on Lin Lei, Beitz, and the others for protection. Though relying on Lin Lei's group for help was embarrassing, when weighed against their lives, it was nothing at all.
Aichi forced a laugh and said, "Bei Bei, we..."
"Oh, I get it now." Bei Bei struck a look of sudden realization. "Aichi, you borrowed Beitz's metallic lifeform back then, didn't you? Beitz's metallic lifeform was destroyed by Ganmonting. So you're here now to compensate him for the metallic lifeform?"
"A metallic lifeform?" Aichi was taken aback.
Beitz's eyes lit up. He had just remembered his metallic lifeform and immediately laughed: "That's right! I let everyone ride in my metallic lifeform because you asked, and it got destroyed. Aichi, you'll have to compensate me! My metallic lifeform was a high-grade one, worth eighteen million inkstones!"
"Eighteen million?!" Aichi's eyes went wide.
"What, you won't pay?" The bearded Beitz immediately turned hostile, looking as if he were about to attack Aichi.
Aichi quickly said, "Lord Beitz, don't worry, I'll compensate you, I definitely will, all right?"
"That's more like it." The bearded Beitz smiled smugly. His metallic lifeform was actually only worth eight million inkstones, but now that it was destroyed, he had just turned a ten-million profit.
Aichi sighed helplessly inside. Who had he managed to offend? He kept running into disaster on his journey through the Starfog Sea.
"If this happens a few more times, this entire trade run will have been for nothing." Aichi sighed. In truth, the value of the goods Aichi was transporting was quite high. If he could deliver them to Blood Peak Continent, he would indeed make a hefty profit.
Unfortunately, metallic lifeforms were expensive as well.
"You want to travel with us?" a voice spoke up.
Aichi and the other six mid-stage Gods turned to look. It was Lin Lei who had spoken. The bearded Beitz chuckled: "Aichi, if you want to travel with us now, you'll need to see whether Lin Lei agrees. Our opinions don't matter — it's Lin Lei's call."
All seven of them understood. The strongest person in this group was Lin Lei!
"Lord Lin Lei, we..." Aichi began with a smile.
"You want to travel with us? No problem," Lin Lei said with a faint smile. At these words, Aichi and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing their reaction, Lin Lei continued with a smile, "But I must warn you — although I killed Ganmonting, he still has another divine clone. Most importantly... there is a terrifying figure behind him. That peerless powerhouse will very likely come after us."
"A peerless powerhouse?" Aichi and the six others exchanged glances.
Bei Bei, standing beside Lin Lei, deliberately tried to scare them: "Ganmonting was merely that powerhouse's subordinate. Just think about it and you should be able to guess the strength of the one behind him... Based on our estimates, that powerhouse should be on the level of a Shura!"
"A Shura!" Aichi, Taimu, Welbourne, and the others all felt a chill run through their hearts. For mid-stage Gods, a Shura was an invincible existence high above them.
The green-haired giant Taimu said earnestly, "Lord Lin Lei is so powerful, he should be able to handle that powerhouse, right?" The others immediately looked at Lin Lei.
"I have absolutely no confidence," Lin Lei said flatly. "Make your choice, all of you."
Aichi and the six others looked at one another.
"We'll go with Lord Lin Lei." The seven ultimately made their decision. With just the seven of them, there was no way they could safely cross the Starfog Sea to reach Blood Peak Continent. But following Lin Lei, they would be far safer.
Lin Lei smiled when he heard this.
"I'll protect you if I can. If even I can't handle it, then you'll have to rely on yourselves," Lin Lei said with a calm smile. "All right, let's move out!" With a wave of his hand, a metallic lifeform appeared on the surface of the Starfog Sea.
Lin Lei was well aware that Aichi no longer had a metallic lifeform.
Having learned that Ganmonting had a commander behind him, Lin Lei and the others naturally did everything they could to avoid being found. First, Lin Lei destroyed the space ring and discarded the divine artifact. Then they took a detour toward Blood Peak Continent.
The Starfog Sea was vast and boundless. Even the most powerful person would have great difficulty locating someone within it.
At first, Lin Lei and the others still worried, but after a full year of travel without encountering any danger, everyone gradually relaxed.
The Starfog Sea stretched on without end. During the peaceful journey, twenty years passed swiftly since the battle with Ganmonting.
"Whoosh, whoosh~~~" The seawater rippled and swayed.
The metallic lifeform cut through the waves, while Lin Lei sat at the bow on the ship's exterior, gazing out at the rolling spray.
"Twenty years!" Lin Lei held a wine bottle and took a couple of casual swigs. "Time really does fly in the Abyss. Even crossing the Starfog Sea takes decades. So far, we've only covered about half the distance."
During these first twenty years, Lin Lei had initially worried about encountering that commander...