It was no exaggeration to say that Shawell's relationship with the Bloodline Alliance as an organization was held together entirely through Wu Yan alone.
In fact, Shawell himself was not even a member of the Bloodline Alliance. He was thoroughly confused about the organization's structure, its goals, and its guiding principles.
The only thing he hoped for was to leverage their strength to help rescue his younger sister.
But now Wu Yan was planning to leave outright?
How could he then ask the other members of the Bloodline Alliance to help search for intelligence, let alone mount an armed rescue of Jia'er?
"Why? Jia'er is your—"
Shawell asked through gritted teeth.
"There are more important matters I have no choice but to attend to!"
Wu Yan's face held an air of determination. "Rest assured, I've already entrusted Jia'er's affairs to Boti, and you should do the same — listen to Auntie Boti from now on…"
……
"You're really just going to leave?"
On the launch plaza, Boti looked at Wu Yan, who was now fully armed and equipped. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her face carrying a trace of loneliness and unease.
"There's no other way… This is a crisis of life and death for all of humankind! You know this… The entire world has been dragged into it… There's no escaping it…"
Wu Yan looked at Boti, his lips moving, before he finally let out a single word: "Sorry…"
"I knew it… I knew it… You're just like the rest of them…" Boti wiped the corner of her eye, where something glistening had briefly闪现ed.
"Haha… Don't worry! I'm a high-rank bloodkin who's lived past five hundred! Something like this can't possibly trip me up!"
As if unwilling to part on such a sorrowful note, Wu Yan thumped his chest hard and struck a peculiar, comical pose.
"Once I get back from the Eastern Sea, you'll accept my proposal, right?"
"Get lost! You're hundreds of years older than me — don't even think about robbing the cradle…"
As the airship lifted off, Wu Yan cast one final glance at Boti. Her silhouette stood there like a flawless, perfect sculpture.
"Tch… And here I thought Boti was actually going to accept your proposal and raise the Flag of
Beside him, a muscular man wearing a skull-patterned headscarf sighed with apparent boredom.
"Scram! Are you cursing me to die already?" Wu Yan looked at the elite fighters packed inside the cabin and couldn't help but laugh and curse in return.
Then his expression turned solemn. "Comrades! This time concerns not only our Bloodline Alliance, but the survival of the entire world! Thank you! Even if future generations never learn of the contribution we make today, our spirit shall stand tall through the ages…"
"Who cares about all that… *yawn*…"
A young girl as delicate as a porcelain doll let out a yawn, revealing a pair of adorable little fangs at the corners of her mouth, their sharp tips still flecked with what looked like traces of fresh blood.
"But if it's something the Empire wants to succeed, then we absolutely must sabotage it! Isn't that what we've always done?"
When the little girl said this, many around her nodded in agreement.
"In that case…"
Wu Yan cleared his throat. "Allow me to first introduce to you the Empire's secret operation in the Eastern Sea — codename: X!!!"
"I'll say it one last time. This situation is extremely serious! So serious that our Bloodline Alliance alone cannot possibly handle it. That is why we have sent requests for reinforcements to the Coven, the Round Table Knights, and the Martial Dao Palace!"
Wu Yan's opening words plunged the room into heavy silence.
The Bloodline Alliance represented the last vestiges of bloodline power in the Shadow World; the Coven was the final remnant of magical force; the Knights and the Martial Dao represented two entirely different schools of martial tradition!
Put together, these forces constituted the full might of the Shadow World's underground powers!
What earth-shattering event could possibly require all four forces to be unified?
The cabin fell silent in an instant as everyone listened to Wu Yan's briefing. As he progressed further, their faces grew increasingly somber, darkening with heavy shadows of concern…
……
The seabed of the Eastern Sea.
Tens of thousands of meters below the surface, the colossal body of a titanic creature drifted casually through the water.
In this deathly abyss where the crushing pressure was enough to annihilate most living things, there existed overlord-class beings that feared none of it!
"Woooo…"
Powerful infrasound waves radiated from the area behind this creature's eyes, instantly producing a cascade of feedback. Schools of fish, plankton, and every other living thing on the ocean surface perished instantly — becoming morsels in the overlord's gaze.
Whoosh…
A massive tsunami, forming a whirlpool powerful enough to shatter large islands, appeared at the maw of this sea beast.
Under the tremendous force, vast quantities of fish, shellfish, and even moss and seaweed were drawn ceaselessly into the monster's terrifying jaws. Vast amounts of water were expelled, leaving behind only a feast of food.
Having eaten its fill, the creature turned with an air of dissatisfaction, swimming toward even deeper waters.
Its enormous body needed only a casual flick of its tail to generate a towering tsunami on the surface above.
This was the Iron-back Humpback Whale! King of the Eastern Sea! A being that had reigned supreme since ancient times! Had it not been burdened and constrained by its colossal size, it might have long since ascended to the realm of laws and become a formidable Seventh-rank
Of course, under the rule of the Night Goddess, its inability to draw her attention was actually a blessing in disguise — it had not been purged.
And in every city across the Empire's Eastern Sea, terrifying legends about the "Sea Demon King" still circulated to this day.
But now, when this biological overlord faced the pinnacle of technological achievement, it instantly revealed a devastatingly fatal weakness.
BOOM! BOOM!
A psionic submarine even larger than the Iron-back Humpback Whale rose from the deep sea, extending vast psionic nets from both sides. Laced with devastating voltage, the luminous nets unfurled in an instant, ensnaring the ancient overlord.
Then, a barrage of spells, cannon fire, and superalloy drills loaded with toxins and anesthetics bloomed across the whale's body like brilliant fireworks.
"WOOO!!!"
The Iron-back Humpback Whale unleashed a furious roar, its massive body thrashing wildly. Its thick skin deflected most of the attacks, and it began pulling against the psionic submarine through the net.
The crystallization of the Empire's highest technology against an ancient titan — a contest of raw power slowly unfolded!
The shockwaves alone from their clash set the Eastern Sea into a constant roar, triggering tsunami warnings in nearly every coastal city.
The ocean trenches were thrown into utter chaos.
Inside the psionic submarine, which resembled an interstellar warship, a single young woman stood alone atop the high command platform. Her bearing was ethereal, like an orchid blooming beyond the world, and a trace of melancholy lingered in her eyes.
"Your Highness! The analysis of the target's force field is complete! The psionic submarine's reserves are at eighty-two percent! Give us just five more minutes and we can fully decode it — then we can activate the counter-force field!"
Several elderly men with silver-streaked hair, dressed in Royal Navy uniforms, reported respectfully before the massive image of the humpback whale displayed on the screen.
If outsiders knew this young woman's true identity, they would be even more astonished!
A member of the Imperial Family — one with virtually no public presence, almost never seen at any official event — was here! And she was commanding the navy's forces in a hunt against an ancient leviathan!
"Do as you see fit," the princess commanded, her voice as sweet as a lark's song.
Moments later, as the Iron-back Humpback Whale's force field was finally breached, great plumes of blood erupted from its body. Dozens of members from the Empire's Special Operations Division struck in concert — each one capable of unleashing legendary spells through [Swift Shadow]! They targeted the whale's vitals with devastating precision.
"'Dawn' is ready to fire!"
A general reported with a voice trembling with excitement.
"Fire!"
The princess waved her hand.
HMMMM! In an instant, every strand of the Shadow
Everyone in the affected region was horrified to discover that [Swift Shadow] had been rendered completely non-functional! Even if only for a few short minutes, it was more than enough to cause catastrophic fallout.
And what kind of destructive power could result when an entire region's worth of Shadow Weave energy was channeled into a single point, combined with the submarine's own reserves?
A pillar of light — as if splitting the world open — pierced through the Iron-back Humpback Whale's body at speeds exceeding light itself, then blasted through the ocean surface and into outer space.
Virtually every person across the Empire could see that streak of white light, drawing the rapt attention of countless amateur astronomers.
"Praise the Empire!"
"Long live the Empire!"
Watching on screen as the Iron-back Humpback Whale's colossal body, stripped of all life and soul energy, began its slow descent into the deep ocean, the assembled naval officers and crew erupted in jubilant cheers.
"This is… the Empire's greatest power, is it? I wonder if it could possibly…"
The princess murmured to herself, then issued her command: "Prepare for salvage and deep-sea diving operations. All psions — deploy and locate it!!!"
The order was carried out with meticulous precision. Clearly, the Empire's Imperial Family was far from the powerless figurehead the outside world imagined. The shadows they cast, hidden behind the scenes, stretched across a vast, vast expanse…
The interior of the Iron-back Humpback Whale was nearly a world unto itself, complete with its own unique ecosystem teeming with all manner of life — an entire biome thriving within.
However, under the Empire's sweeping search, every creature inside was about to have an exceptionally terrible day — or rather, the moment the Iron-back Humpback Whale was slain, their fate had already been sealed.
"Found it!"
Before long, a transmission came through and the screen immediately focused on a single image.
Inside the whale's body, rising above an acidic ocean, floated a massive island. And upon that island stood a black stone tablet, its surface etched with characters worn by time and bearing the unmistakable marks of ancient history!