Chapter 474: The Fishman Youngster and Cang Xu Converge

White Hair Trench.

Deep beneath the ocean.

A colossal magic formation had activated, emitting a faint hum.

Countless magic runes and divine inscriptions intertwined, illuminating the seabed like a brightly lit city.

The radiance fell upon every face of the Charming Blue believers, highlighting expressions ranging from devout reverence to fanatical fervor, even bordering on grotesque.

The necromancers stood out starkly from the crowd.

Their expressions were uniformly grave and somber, tinged with an unmistakable layer of fear.

Similar sentiments were shared by pirates like Ba Qi, Lady Sea Snake, and Ruan Tang Ren.

Qing Xin stood beside the pirates yet maintained a certain distance.

Her face was deathly pale.

Though captured alongside the necromancers, upon imprisonment she had been assigned to the human pirates' section.

Zhou Zhang employed the same strategy with these human pirates as she had with the necromancers.

Under the leadership of Jian Gui, the necromancers adopted a relatively fair policy, ultimately selecting Cang Xu as their first offering.

Among the human pirates, however, no such arrangement existed.

Qing Xin had no ties to these men. Unquestionably, she became the first to be selected.

Her only solace was that Zhou Zhang had designated Cang Xu alone for this special blood sacrifice, allowing the other captives to observe.

“After Xu Jia, the next captive to participate in the teleportation blood sacrifice will be me.” This thought weighed heavily on Qing Xin's heart, filling her with utter despair.

Truthfully, her recent experiences had been truly miserable.

Originally, Zi Di had summoned Qing Xin back to her side with genuine intentions to aid her and unite their forces.

However, the identity Zi Di revealed to Qing Xin had little connection to the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, in fact, relations were rather strained.

Zi Di feared the survivors' secrets might be exposed, making it inconvenient to disclose her affiliation with the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps to Qing Xin just yet.

Until Qing Xin proved trustworthy, she could only delay.

This delay stretched until Qing Xin and Cang Xu joined Jian Gui.

It stretched until the battle at the Underworld River.

It stretched until the clash with Ba Qi Pirates, culminating in her capture by Zhou Zhang.

Now, Qing Xin sat imprisoned, converting being her only chance of escape.

It should be noted that Qing Xin was not merely a transcendent, but also a silver level magician. In a place like Flower Skirt Island, she could have carved out her own domain and led a minor faction.

But here, under Zhou Zhang's watchful eye, she could only struggle on the brink of life and death, utterly stripped of freedom and hope.

The blood sacrifice was underway.

Countless sea beasts vanished into nothingness upon the golden altar.

Carefully selected believers knelt in a large circle around the golden altar. Some trembled slightly, praying aloud. Others wore expressions of sheer tension—after all, this was a matter of life and death. Yet a few remained calm and composed.

Cang Xu was among them.

He was so distinct that countless eyes were fixed upon him.

“Looks like this utterly wretched necromancer is the first one they've discarded.”

“He's as good as dead!”

“Don't underestimate him. Perhaps he'll convert successfully.”

“Even if he does convert, I wouldn't want a necromancer as one of our faithful.”

The Charming Blue believers whispered among themselves.

“Xu Jia...” Xiao Wang Zi murmured, watching Cang Xu's retreating figure with deep remorse.

Standing beside him was Ku Feng. The necromancer warrior felt no guilt whatsoever, yet he admired Cang Xu's composure immensely.

Cang Xu's expression remained impassive, his composed demeanor radiating outward so distinctly it seemed he'd never participated in the blood sacrifice ritual at all.

He even had the leisure to glance around.

When his gaze fell upon Qing Xin, it lingered momentarily.

Her face was grim, exposing the despair filling the young magician's heart.

Cang Xu desperately wanted to comfort Qing Xin but ultimately refrained. Offering consolation without cause would expose a flaw, raising suspicions among Jian Gui, Zhou Zhang, and the others.

Likewise, without revealing a big secret, Qing Xin would never believe his words of comfort. If Qing Xin didn't believe him, any consolation would be utterly futile.

Cang Xu would never waste his time on futile endeavors.

Zhou Zhang stood atop the golden altar, surveying the scene below.

Her attention did not linger on Cang Xu.

She had meticulously arranged for the necromancers, yet remained remarkably composed, harboring no illusions that these people would truly convert.

After all, even if their conversion failed, they would still become sacrifices.

Zhou Zhang's true concern lay buried deep within her heart: “This blood sacrifice demands far more offerings than the last, yet the frequency of its transmission has slowed.”

"Could my Lord's injuries have worsened? Does she require greater divine power to stabilize her condition?"

The true reason was not Zhou Zhang's wild conjecture.

Rather, it lay with the divine artifact, Mermaid Fairy Tale, aboard the Deep Sea Monster Fish, which had been continuously siphoning divine power from the Ocean Mother Nest.

By now, the shell-like Mermaid Fairy Tale could no longer contain all the Pearl Bubbles.

Much of it had overflowed from the shell, scattering across the surrounding tabletops.

Zhou Zhang could never have imagined that the grand thief stealing divine power lurked right under her nose, concealed within the Ocean Mother Nest. Even with a saint level Snow Pear Octopus guarding it, the theft went undetected.

When the spatial fluctuations peaked, Cang Xu and the other Charming Blue believers were teleported away, vanishing from their positions.

“They're here!” The dragonman youngster aboard the Deep Sea Monster Fish had long been on high alert, prepared for this moment.

The moment the Charming Blue believers teleported into the Ocean Mother Nest, he pinpointed Cang Xu's exact location.

Several Rubber Swallower-type alchemy puppets sprang into action.

These puppets had been lying in ambush nearby for quite some time.

Each was imbued with the Deceptive Disguise spell and Anti-investigation and Prophecy spell.

One Rubber Swallower opened its maw, spewing forth a torrent of magic potion. The potion spread like blood mist, instantly shrouding a vast area, preventing the believers from detecting any nearby anomalies.

Then, another Rubber Swallower expelled an alchemy puppet. This puppet bore the exact likeness of Cang Xu.

The real Cang Xu, meanwhile, was swallowed whole by a third Rubber Swallower.

The Charming Blue believers, teleported to the scene, hadn't even registered their surroundings before being engulfed by the blood mist.

The mist quickly dissipated. The group frantically scanned their surroundings, utterly unprepared for the fact that the nearby Cang Xu had been replaced. Their gazes were swiftly drawn to the saint level sea beast, eliciting gasps of astonishment from many.

The Rubber Swallower that had devoured Cang Xu submerged into the sea, swimming downstream until it entered the Deep Sea Monster Fish vessel.

Shortly after, Cang Xu emerged from the landing pod and encountered the dragonman youngster.

“Commander!” Cang Xu bowed deeply to the dragonman youngster, his expression filled with excitement.

The dragonman youngster laughed heartily at Cang Xu, a flash of crimson light erupting from his body as he shifted from dragonman form to fishman form.

The youngster introduced himself proactively, "This is my newest form. My previous dragonman form was simply too disadvantageous for naval combat. Time is extremely limited. Let's talk as we walk."

Cang Xu knew of the Bloodcore. During previous communications with the youngster, he had also learned of the latter's fishman form.

Cang Xu followed closely behind the dragonman youngster into the metallic passageway.

Along the way, they reached the chamber housing the divine artifact, the Mermaid Fairy Tale.

He witnessed it firsthand: the shell overflowing with Pearl Bubbles, much of it scattered across the tabletop.

The old magician exclaimed sincerely, "I've never seen such an abundance of Pearl Bubbles! This single discovery alone makes our journey worthwhile!"

The fishman youngster remained composed: “None of that matters until we're safely out of here.”

For now, they'd confirmed the Deceptive Disguise spell still worked against Zhou Zhang.

But it wasn't foolproof.

They'd deceived Zhou Zhang in her normal state.

If she sensed something amiss and used investigative divine magic, she could still break through the Deceptive Disguise spell.

During their covert communication, the fishman youngster and Cang Xu reached a consensus.

Take this Ocean Mother Nest, for instance.

It was an exceptional source for replenishing Pearl Bubbles!

In fact, it was the only source the survivors had unexpectedly discovered as of now.

If the fishman youngster destroyed the nest outright to secure their escape, it would not only be risky but also a tremendous waste.

Cang Xu believed: the Ocean Mother Nest should be preserved as much as possible. The survivors' heavy reliance on the Deceptive Disguise spell meant that the Pearl Bubbles, the god level material, was an absolute necessity!

The survivors still didn't know how long the plan to atone to the Empire's higher-ups would take, or if it would ultimately succeed.

Therefore, more Pearl Bubbles were always better.

This meant that preserving the Ocean Mother Nest was highly advantageous for the survivors.

Under these circumstances, the fishman youngster did not rashly destroy the Ocean Mother Nest. Instead, he patiently waited for Cang Xu, placing his greatest hope for escape on the latter.

The two made their way forward until they reached a compartment.

The metal hatch slid open to the side, and they entered the chamber.

This was the place where the fishman youngster had long prepared for Cang Xu.

The memory fabrication device lay within, awaiting Cang Xu's operation.

"I have already tested this alchemy apparatus. Using the inheritance content you passed on, I can fabricate memories with this device. The fabricated memories we've designed are now complete." Though merely a fighter, the fishman youngster could efficiently forge memories with this apparatus.

Indeed, this was precisely the purpose of alchemy devices.

Like spell scrolls or enchanted weapons, these devices allowed fighters to wield methods typically reserved for magicians.

The memory fabrication device, invented by You Shen, proved immensely helpful in fabricating memories. Even a gold level magician like Jian Gui couldn't stop thinking about it, once sighing: “If only I could use such a device, why would I need to collaborate with others to forge memories!”