Extraordinary Voyage-Chapter 801 - 687: Thorny

When Aiven used the ritual [Eye of All-Seeing] held by Milan to search the world for the fourth and fifth volumes of "Flesh Sacrifice," there was no feedback from them.

It turned out that the fourth volume was indeed sealed in the [Clock Tower] and had already been retrieved, but the fifth volume had not been sealed. Instead, it had fundamentally transformed into a powerful Ocean Treasure!

The essence of an [Ocean Treasure] is a type of treasure that naturally forms when certain unique items are influenced by the mysterious factors of this world under special nurturing conditions.

The reasons for their formation are bizarre, and their shapes are diverse. It can be said that anything in the real world has the potential to transform into an Ocean Treasure with unique functions.

Moreover, before the beginning of the Age of Navigation, such treasures already existed in great numbers.

However, they were useless on land, and their inherent hidden nature kept the "Ocean Treasures" from garnering human attention for a long time.

The [Mist Silver Lamp], [Ghost Cloak], [Cannon Commander’s Saber], [Ocean Current Horn], [Hermit Crab Shell], [Ancient Scroll], [Language Universal Mask]... all belong to the category of Ocean Treasures that Aiven has owned or encountered.

Yet, the lost fifth volume of "Flesh Sacrifice" called [Creator’s Blood] encountered a similarly miraculous fate for unknown reasons.

And just like the [Shipwreck Elegy] that once harbored an Evil Spirit, it too has gained its own independent consciousness and is equally... malevolent.

One thing it’s luckier than the [Shipwreck Elegy] is that...

The fifth volume of "Flesh Sacrifice" transformed into [Beast King’s Nest] has a special ability: it can influence, modify, and control both organic and inorganic matter, animals and plants, flesh and elemental creatures through the [Creator’s Blood].

Thus, this consciousness not only gained the ability to act freely but also reversed the control of this Ocean Treasure and leveraged its power to establish a vast crime syndicate.

"So, this guy has... gained sapience?"

In an instant, combining what he saw and learned, Aiven had roughly pieced together the sequence of events, his face displaying a myriad of expressions.

Upon hearing Aiven call out his real name, the eyes of the "Big Boss," whose human head was almost obscured by other biological limbs, glimmered with immense joy:

"I thought an old enemy had come, but it turns out you’re here for ’Creator’s Blood’? Are you the Upper-Rank Wizard of the ’Life Tree School’? Ahaha.. Haha.."

Ultimately, despite this apparently majestic, visibly villainous figure resembling a grand antagonist, at its core, it wasn’t a wizard but merely an artifact.

Though powerful and capable of using strong magic corresponding to the Upper-Rank Wizard level from [Creator’s Blood], it lacked the foundational knowledge system built over time.

In fact, its understanding of the "Life Tree School" was quite limited, only gleaning bits and pieces from some gathered wizards in the Syracuse City-State until hearing Aiven’s words confirmed his identity.

Since gaining consciousness and the concept of self, this was the first living "Life Tree School" wizard he had seen. Following his Spiritual instincts, his first reaction was—to consume him!

"Decades of foundations can be rebuilt, but if I devour your body, perhaps I won’t need to continuously consume lower-level demons to balance the ’Ocean Treasure’s’ power and maintain my consciousness anymore.

Perhaps even become a complete living entity! And further ascend to sit upon the throne of Tier 4 Extraordinary! Quickly! Come on! I can’t wait any longer! Hahaha..."

Rumble—

The violent blood-red glow of magic erupted from the "Big Boss," instantly painting the sky above and the sea below in a crimson hue.

His already giant-like body expanded once more, inflating rapidly like a balloon, turning into a grotesque mass of blood-red flesh adorned with hundreds of heads and limbs of demonized fish, seabirds, turtles, sea snakes, jellyfish, squids... with intertwined veins on the surface.

It looked like the whimsical creation one might expect if the Creator made a drunken jest, boasting, terrifying yet exceedingly eerie!

Nestled in the sky, it resembled a peculiar blood-red moon.

Roar!!!

Then, amidst the blinding red light filling the sky, hundreds of grotesque demonized creatures and lower-level demons suddenly opened pairs of crimson eyes, bursting forth from the blood-red flesh mass that "imprisoned" them.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!...

The largest among them was a double-bodied fish with two snake-like bodies sharing a single massive, toothy head, nearly reaching the size of a Small Species Sea Monster, yet its overwhelming aura was already clearly at the Tier 3 Extraordinary level.

Resembling a red-cloud-like giant jellyfish, numerous venomous tentacles danced around it, piercing the air with screeching hisses.

Though called "Blue Elf" in taxonomy, the flying squid’s body had turned from blue to blood-red, with tentacles trailing behind, utilizing its fins like wings to maintain balance in midair.

Closing in rapidly, it spewed blue flames towards Aiven and Nymph...

Behind them, a legion of bizarre and unnamed demonized creatures thoroughly blockaded the blood-red sky. Commanded by the same consciousness, they surged like tides to engulf Aiven and Nymph completely.

With a mighty roar.

Aiven had transformed into a Flame Prison Dragon with golden-red scales all over, reaching a length of twenty meters.

Nymph, who had just landed between his pair of horns, was gripping high heels, and the Flame Prison Dragon, with its whole body emanating streams of flames, unleashed a furious scorching beam towards the blood-red mass.

A stunning red arc, enveloping a blazing white spear, pierced through the mass of overlapping monster armies, reducing them to blazing charcoal, then crashed into the "Big Boss" body that seemed unchanged in size.

[Magic-like Technique: Flame Prison Dragon Spear!]

However, unsurprisingly.

This strike, which once shot down the sun in the [Two-dimensional World], only blasted the blood-red mass far away, with its actual destructive power being hard to describe.

Yet, before the overwhelming masses of demons could close the encirclement, the two Great Wizards had already broken through the siege together, heading into the depths of Treasure Sea.

"Stop struggling. Don’t you want the knowledge of [Creator’s Blood]? Just merge with me, and you’ll have everything."

Relying on the "Ocean Treasure" with its Unbreakable attribute, the unscathed "Big Boss" drove a massive flesh ball and chased once again, simultaneously launching a ranged attack on the two.

Like a turret, auras and rays flew everywhere chaotically.

[Fear Aura] within its influence range, constantly demanded fear checks, showing one’s deepest fears, severely interfering with spellcasting.

[Evil Spiritual Light] carried inherent negative statuses: confusion, corrosion, poisoning, accelerated blood loss...

[Malicious Transformation] could, if unlucky, transform one into a powerless slug.

The Giant Dragon sped along the cloud bottoms, dodging swiftly, while the Nymph was in charge of counterattacks, though she could only clip the opponent’s wings.

After devouring countless lower-level demons over the years, and collecting a vast amount of "Talent Magics" from demons, "Big Boss" in this state was comparable to an Upper-Rank Wizard that had undergone [True Name Awakening].

A combination of siege, support, and ranged capabilities, he was a terrifying demon legion all by himself!

"Mei, suppress with firepower!"

"As you command, Captain!"

On the bridge of the [Crown of Miracles], Mei, sharply dressed in uniform, had been ready, her black eyes reflecting data streams.

"Authorization confirmed, weapons system at full power, [Twin Secondary Gun Turret] loaded! [Red-haired Witch] activated!"

Two twin secondary gun turrets on the rear deck, with a caliber of 76mm and a barrel length of 5.3 meters, quickly calibrated.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!...

Crimson fire lines poured from the turrets, the two-kilometer distance posing no delay. A total firing rate of forty rounds per minute was enough to obliterate any existence.

Simultaneously.

The scorching beams of [Red-haired Witch] sliced through the sky like a dissecting knife, flickering continuously among the clouds. Even without Olivia serving as a humanoid auxiliary unit, Mei’s algorithms continually optimized, gradually achieving the greatest effect with the least energy.

The [Crown of Miracles]’s unleashing of firepower was akin to a magnificent fireworks display.

Under this barrage of suppressive fire, one by one, demonized creatures swimming in the red light fell from the sky like dumplings.

In just two minutes, in the chase and escape, the three had circled around the archipelago once.

The large group of demonized creatures released by "Big Boss" had been nearly wiped out. However, the foundation, the main body, remained unharmed due to the special rules protecting the "Ocean Treasure."

Yet another [Magic-like Technique: Decree: Intimidation] was dodged by Aiven, after which the flesh ball halted in mid-air, its numerous heads speaking in unison:

"It’s useless! No matter the losses, as long as the main body, being the Ocean Treasure, remains, it can replenish. As long as one demonized creature remains, I am immortal. My existence form is the most perfect!"

In reality, the initial [Ocean Treasure: Beast King’s Nest] wasn’t all that powerful.

It was primarily a support-type Ocean Treasure, capable of creating various ocean creatures through the biological templates recorded in [Creator’s Blood]. Only a few Tier 3 creatures were decoded, with most being ordinary.

The user could switch between different demonized creatures to tackle varying sea conditions, for wave breaking, navigating, detecting, combat support... essentially a uniquely capable Sea Monster. But these demonized creatures were at most twenty meters long, far from meeting the dominance standards of a Sea Monster.

Thereafter.

The conscious entity, "Big Boss," born within it, purposefully devoured various ocean creatures to grow, gradually replacing the biological templates in [Creator’s Blood] with Tier 3 ones.

But during this growth, he was horrified to realize he was actually a collective consciousness of all ocean creatures within the [Beast King’s Nest], his individuality fading as the power of the Ocean Treasure grew.

He had no choice but to devour powerful lower-level demons to balance the increasingly enriched biological templates in [Creator’s Blood], maintaining clarity of self-awareness.

However, demons were not acknowledged by the "Ocean Treasure" rooted in the sea, unable to be re-produced via biological templates, hence necessitated constant external replenishment as consumables.

Therefore, the success or failure of "Ocean Treasure" was also a result of "Ocean Treasure."

Unless "Big Boss" could become an entire organism, his power could only laterally increase at Tier 3, never achieving a further qualitative transformation.

Constantly seeking sacrifices to sustain his daily consumption was also the founding purpose of the "Blood Hand Gang."

Today.

Brought him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, perhaps letting him break through his shackles and complete himself! No one could stop his most primal impulse!

No longer attempting to fully release the demonized creatures, becoming a sitting duck for the legendary battleship, he transformed into a terrifying form covered in bumps, with a hundred heads and a hundred mouths, and tentacles abound.

In "Spiritual Vision," the immense life energy field he embodied was comparable to [Sea God’s Son].

Hundreds of gruesome mouths moved simultaneously, one single word endlessly echoing between sea and sky:

"Eat! Eat! Eat!"

Aiven, who was initially preparing to gradually weaken the enemy’s demonized creatures in combat, saw the plan fall through. Raising his gold-red eyes, he exchanged a glance with the Nymph standing on his head, both finding it troublesome:

"How the hell do we fight this?"