The sudden appearance of the Sea King Serpent on the ocean surface left every member of the Free Alliance dumbfounded.
"What's going on?"
"Didn't we already kill it?"
"How did it get even stronger?"
"This has to be against the rules!"
…
Everyone stared at the two-headed Sea King Serpent, their hearts drowning in despair.
In order to deal with the Sea King Serpent, they had already lost more than half their forces. They had even burned through their Tier 3 Summoning Scrolls before finally managing to kill the beast. By that point, they were physically and mentally exhausted. And now, not only had it revived with full health, but the aura it radiated was clearly more than a notch above the previous Sea King Serpent.
How were they supposed to fight it now?
Shi Feng, watching from a distance, was not the least bit surprised.
This was the true terror of a King-rank sea beast — or rather, this was its true form. The earlier battle had been nothing but child's play, a warm-up at best. The real fight was only just beginning.
In his previous life, he had lost count of how many fleets had challenged King-rank sea beasts. In every case, the result was total annihilation. The biggest reason was insufficient preparation. If even the first phase was an exhausting struggle, then by the time the second phase arrived, it was essentially over.
Before anyone had recovered their composure, the two-headed Sea King Serpent opened its massive jaws. One head spat fire while the other spat bolts of purple lightning, sweeping across more than half the battlefield in an instant. Every speedboat caught in the combined onslaught of fire and lightning was utterly destroyed, reduced to ash on the spot.
With just a single attack, the Free Alliance lost sixteen more speedboats, and over a dozen more had their durability drop below half…
"Is this really how it ends?" Jun Wuchang stared at the Sea King Serpent, his gaze filled with helplessness.
He suddenly felt that challenging a King-rank sea beast had been a terrible mistake. The surrounding waters were now enclosed by waterspouts — their speedboats couldn't break through even if they tried. If they had Iron-rank speedboats, there might still have been a sliver of hope.
Thinking about the fleet he had painstakingly assembled, now destroyed under his watch, all he felt was self-blame, piled on top of more self-blame.
Four Bronze-rank speedboats!
Those four Bronze-rank speedboats had cost them an enormous amount of effort to acquire. Who knew how long it would take to obtain another four.
At that moment, Jun Wuchang received another message from Shi Feng.
"Ready to cooperate on taking down the Sea King Serpent yet?"
The words made Jun Wuchang's eyes widen in disbelief.
"There's still hope?"
The Tier 3 summoned beast had less than a third of its health remaining. Their speedboat count had dropped below forty. Even with Iron-rank speedboat support, how could they possibly fight the current Sea King Serpent?
Yet Jun Wuchang recalled how Shi Feng had deliberately pulled back right before the Sea King Serpent was about to die — he had most likely known this would happen.
Without hesitation, Jun Wuchang sent Shi Feng a friend invite. It would make communication much easier.
"If we team up, is there really a chance to kill the Sea King Serpent?" Jun Wuchang asked urgently.
"Before, our odds of winning together were around fifty percent. Now it's only about thirty," Shi Feng estimated.
"Fifty percent? That high?" Hearing this, Jun Wuchang was struck with deep regret.
If he had known, he should have teamed up with Shi Feng from the start. Now it was only thirty percent — far too low a success rate.
But after thinking it over, he had no other choice. He could only gamble everything.
"Fine, I agree. As long as we kill the Sea King Serpent, the drops will be split fifty-fifty," Jun Wuchang said.
Shi Feng shook his head.
"Those were the terms before. Now, all drops go to me — that's the only way," Shi Feng said bluntly.
He had no prior connection with the Free Alliance in his previous life. He felt neither goodwill nor hostility toward them. Being willing to lend a hand was already generous enough.
Hearing Shi Feng's demand, Jun Wuchang's expression turned unspeakably grim.
But he had to admit, the balance of power between them had shifted dramatically. They were now the party at an overwhelming disadvantage, while Shi Feng could simply sail away on his Xunlong-class speedboat whenever he pleased.
Jun Wuchang gritted his teeth. "Fine! I agree!"
At that moment, Jun Wuchang nearly wanted to cry. He was, after all, a renowned naval expert across the Endless Sea Region — someone everyone knew. And now he was completely at Shi Feng's mercy. If anyone heard about this, they probably wouldn't believe it.
The two then signed a system contract: all drops after the Sea King Serpent's death would belong to Shi Feng.
After signing the contract, Jun Wuchang immediately invited Shi Feng to join his team, but Shi Feng flatly refused.
"You don't want to join the team?" Jun Wuchang asked, staring at Shi Feng on his screen in bewilderment.
Normally, naval combat required strict control over speedboat positioning, with constant coordination from the raid leader. Since Shi Feng claimed to have a method to kill the Sea King Serpent, joining the team to direct operations would be the logical move. But now he refused to join — how could he possibly coordinate?
"No need. There's only one thing you need to do — maintain a maximum distance of five hundred yards and keep attacking the Sea King Serpent. Leave everything else to me," Shi Feng explained.