To the strong, Gegeduol and his son showed great warmth, while Leilin Farell simply smiled and responded politely.
"Attention! Attention! You have entered Iyas Port! This port is under the protection of the great Void Sovereign, Wing of Fluctuations, the supreme ruler of the Asak Continent—the great Filth Bird! We hope you will abide by the port's rules, or you will surely face the wrath of the port guardians and the judgment of the Supreme!"
A mechanical voice carried across the ship, tinged with a hint of threat, but Gegeduol showed no reaction whatsoever—he was clearly used to it.
Besides, when a sovereign-class entity issued a threat, one could only obediently accept it.
"Filth Bird? The supreme ruler of the Asak Continent?!" Leilin Farell's eyes flickered slightly as he gazed at the colossal bird statue atop the enormous mountain overlooking the port, momentarily lost in thought.
"Aren't we close to the Hell Continent? Why would a supreme ruler from another continent extend their influence all the way here? Could it be..."
Numerous thoughts churned in Leilin Farell's mind, but on the surface, he calmly followed Gegeduol off the sailing vessel and onto the dock.
The moment his feet touched solid ground, the massive flow of people and the clamorous atmosphere made the very air seem to boil.
The briny smell of sea goods, the body odor of livestock, and other miscellaneous scents blended into a nauseating stench that made Leilin Farell furrow his brow slightly.
Clang! Clang!
Enormous mechanical arms roared without cease, grabbing cargo from the hold and deck and hauling it down. At the end of the ceaselessly running conveyor belts stood hulking humanoid races with bulging muscles, shouting as they hoisted crates of crude cargo onto their shoulders and carried them away. Occasionally, the hurried shouts and curses of tallymen could be heard.
Although using supernatural power could certainly speed things up considerably, leaving aside the cost-benefit ratio, those lofty supernatural beings would never stoop to doing such menial work.
"Sir! Your vessel has been confirmed as an Ancient Type III! Accompanied by a large-scale biological entity, physical standard fifth tier! The required payment is..."
At that moment, a massive octopus approached Gegeduol, two of its tentacles deftly clutching a notebook and a fountain pen along with other tools.
"I know! I know!"
Gegeduol waved his hand and tossed a small black pouch to the octopus. Leilin Farell even noticed that a pink pearl had been slipped under one of the octopus's suckers—possibly planted there by one of Gegeduol's own tentacles—and in the blink of an eye, it vanished. He couldn't help but feel exasperated.
It seemed that no matter the era, some things were simply unavoidable.
"Very well then! Mr. Gegeduol, and Mr. Geger! I'll take my leave here!"
After following them through the procedures, Leilin Farell smiled and bid farewell, then his figure vanished into the bustling crowd.
Gegeduol and Geger watched the direction in which Leilin Farell had departed, falling silent for a moment. Faint waves of spiritual power still passed between them.
"Mr. Lei just left like that?" Geger still seemed somewhat unwilling to let go.
"Accept it, my child!" Gegeduol's spiritual waves transmitted across: "With his strength, even without our assistance, he could have reached the continent on his own given a bit more time. And as a return, he has already yielded all the benefits from the Thornback Iron Whale to us. We shouldn't ask for more! Fair trade, abiding by contracts and rules—these are what the great sovereign, the Eye of Judgment, has taught us, and we must follow them without fail!"
"Yes, Father!" Geger's vertical eye drooped, and even the tentacles beneath it listlessly sagged. "But... I still feel it's a pity..."
"Actually, his departure benefits us as well!"
A hint of gravity surfaced in Gegeduol's enormous vertical eye.
"What do you mean?" Geger was clearly confused, not catching on.
"That Mr. Lei! The secrets he carries are surely extraordinary! Although we haven't interacted deeply, I've already begun to touch the bottleneck of the Extreme Old period. Through the unique spiritual sight of our Evil Eye race, I can see that Mr. Lei is still shrouded in a layer of mist, but the aura he occasionally radiates is enough to make my heart tremble with dread. Even the Grand Elder and the others can't give me that kind of oppressive, terrifying feeling..."
Gegeduol still felt a lingering sense of fear. "A person of that caliber—if he were to truly turn hostile, it would be a catastrophe for us, for the entire fleet, and even for the Yidong Trading Company! And now, he has left of his own accord. We've preserved the friendship, which benefits both sides!"
"So... that's how it is! Mr. Lei is that powerful?"
Geger looked at his father, suddenly realizing there was still so much he needed to learn.
...
"Chip! How is the information and data collection progressing?"
Leilin Farell strolled casually along the streets while secretly communicating with the Chip.
[Ding! External information and data collection in progress! 79 new species identified! Of these, confirmed information found in the database for 34! Vague identifications for 25! Completely unknown organisms for 20!]
The Chip responded rapidly while projecting a massive amount of information and data onto Leilin Farell's field of vision.
In the ancient era, the
[Black Fog Race? Semi-elemental lifeforms that prefer environments rich in dark elements. Suspected to be natives of the Shadow World who migrated to other worlds during the ancient era. 12 known subspecies discovered to date!]
Leilin Farell casually pulled up an image, and a mass of dense black smoke with no fixed form materialized on the screen.
This was one of the alien races he had just seen on the dock. And among the large number of pedestrians on the street, nobody gave this floating mass of black fog a second glance—they were clearly accustomed to it.
Beyond the Black Fog Race, Leilin Farell also discovered many ancient species recorded in old texts, as well as entirely unknown beings.
All of these beings lived together in Iyas Port, creating an atmosphere that was bustling and even harmonious.
Although there were undoubtedly conflicts and friction between different races due to differences in lifestyle and other factors—especially in a place like the dock, where dark beings congregated—Leilin Farell didn't observe any violent confrontations or fights. It was clear that powerful suppression kept order.
"In terms of biological diversity and uniqueness, the Infernal World may well surpass the Wizard World..."
Leilin Farell's expression grew solemn.
The Infernal World had at least seven sovereign-level rule existences on the surface alone, more than enough to crush the Wizard World's surface layers.
If not for the existence of the Wizard World's willpower, which suppressed foreign rule-level powerhouses to a terrifying degree, numerous otherworldly rule-level beings would likely have descended and conquered it long ago.
"No! World willpower alone probably isn't enough to deter the Mother of Myriad Serpens and the like!"
Leilin Farell stroked his chin. "No matter how suppressed, those rule-level beings could still easily deal with sixth-level Solar Throne cultivators. Only existences of the same tier could truly make them wary... Could it be that there are ancient rule-level Wizards still surviving within the Wizard World?"
"Perhaps they're sequestered somewhere in hidden locations, serving as a formidable deterrent against the outside world! No—if they were on the surface, no matter how low-key they tried to be, some rumors would inevitably leak out. Unless... they're underground!!!"
Leinlin Farell's eyes blazed with sudden insight.
Beyond the surface, the Wizard World also contained a far more vast and profound underground world. Even the ancient Wizards at the height of their power had only explored and discovered seven layers of the subterranean world.
The worlds below that were beyond even the ancients' capabilities. And even within those seven layers, beings like the Mother of the Underdark had emerged—entities powerful enough to rival the strongest rule-level Wizards, preventing the ancients from fully controlling even the subterranean depths they had already discovered.
If the seven layers were already like that, then what lay in the even deeper underground?
Leilin Farell suddenly felt a measure of gratitude. The depths of the Wizard World were indeed treacherous waters, concealing who knew what terrifying existences and earth-shaking secrets within.
His decision not to rashly cooperate with the Lias family in developing the underground had been wise after all.
Otherwise, once certain powerful beings took notice—not even rule-level Wizards, but simply a powerhouse from the Solar Throne tier—neither he nor Ime would come out of it unscathed. Their entire faction might even be seized by others, leaving them to work for nothing.
That was an outcome he could never accept.
"The probability of rule-level existences appearing on the first underground layer is low, but Solar-tier Wizards are almost certainly present! At the very least, that King Arthur who founded the Arthur Empire was definitely a Solar-tier Wizard—and a formidable one among the sixth rank!"
The light in Leilin Farell's eyes flickered ceaselessly. "Before I also reach the sixth rank, rashly developing the underground—even just the first layer—would clearly be an irrational move!"
With that thought, Leilin Farell couldn't help but recall the Grand Elder of the Thousand-Thorn Thunderbird sorcerer family—Ime Lias.
The other party was probably making preparations right now, waiting for Leilin Farell's return.
But Leilin Farell had no intention of going back anytime soon. The pact from last time was merely an agreement of intent. Most crucially, Leilin Farell had never set a specific timeline for the development with the other party! So it didn't even count as a breach of contract.
"Ime! I'll have to trouble you to wait a little longer! Once I advance to the Solar tier, I will definitely come to fulfill our pact!"
A smile crept onto Leilin Farell's lips.