Witch, I'm really not the Deep Sea Ancient God!

The old lady answered with a hint of teasing,

"Who knows? Maybe it's some kind of huge natural disaster; after all, this sea area hasn't been explored for too long..."

"..."

There was no answer... The flesh mage couldn't help but shiver.

With the appearance of the Black Whale Group's old lady and the group's repeated victories, he momentarily forgot that the destination they were about to head to was a lost place that had been unexplored for twenty years, a place where even the Ice Demon Pirate Group had not ventured into deeply.

Old lady Carol slowly leaned in, blowing smoke in his face:

"Don't worry, no matter what we encounter, as the fourth captain of the exploration team, when you return, the Black Whale Group will reward you. The value of this reward will not be less than the Meat Cutting Bone Breaking in the hands of the Black Hunter."

In the thick smoke, the flesh mage's blood slowly rolled back under his skin:

"Don't worry, Captain, I will complete the task, and bring back the witch and that Black Hunter, all locked in a cage!"

"Hahaha! Don't disappoint me, my little darling!"

Carol laughed, sipping on the sea breeze, pouring herself a glass of the strongest liquor.

...

...

Blood Blade Pirate Group's base, Red Maple Island docks, shipyard, night.

At this moment, a crowd of people stood anxiously at the shipyard, watching the shipwright's performance.

Fenrir, the Wild Wolf, paced back and forth in the shipyard, saying to the red-haired female shipwright on the Dagger,

"Amy, how much longer? When will the Dagger be repaired? We are running out of time, we need to finish immediately!"

"Nagging! Nagging! Nagging! Can't you see I'm already using all four mechanical arms? I should have installed an extra mechanical arm so I could take a moment to punch your damn heads in!

Also, stop calling me little Amy, I'm twenty-five years old!"

Fenrir was sprayed with a mouthful of water.

"Such a hot temper, this little Amy..."

Chen Qi sat on a chair, looking at the short statured Third-tier Mechanic on the Dagger.

But it wasn't her fault.

Due to a large number of damaged ships, this young red-haired female shipwright had been working for a full five days and nights, and had only slept for five hours during that period.

Fen sat next to Chen Qi, feeling anxious and occasionally shivering.

An exploration action... Chen Qi had a vague sense of bad memories.

This mission, while initiated by the Blood Blade Pirate Group, was actually more akin to a Shell Country Meteorological Bureau investigation.

Currently, very little intelligence was available on the entire Lost Naval Base.

Even the details about what dangers they might face in the sea area they were about to traverse were a huge question mark.

Beyond that, in comparison to normal Meteorological Bureau tasks, they also had to contend with attacks from the Black Whale Group.

An ultra-difficult mission... Chen Qi couldn't help but think.

Bang!

A loud noise interrupted his thoughts!

"Do it well for me!"

Accompanied by the volatile punch of shipwright Amy, the lights of the Dagger boat shone anew.

"Finally, it's done! Can we set sail now? Any problems, Amy?"

Fenrir asked anxiously.

The red-haired shipwright, Amy, with four mechanical arms, gave Fenrir the finger:

"Are you doubting my skills? Among pirates of the Third Rank, my shipbuilding skills are only slightly inferior to that of the Ice Demon Pirate Group's Bree."

There should be no problems... Fenrir clenched his fists with a nervous expression, then looked back at the Flower Witch and Chen Qi.

Fenrir threw an equipment box onto the Dagger:

"Both of you, time is pressing. We will set off now, dividing into five exploration ships, each ship with fifty people. Both of you will follow me, and later, I will explain some precautions for entering the Mutated Sea..."

Chen Qi looked toward the ship he was about to board.

The body of the Dagger was designed to be simple yet powerful, every plank meticulously selected and polished, the lines of the ship smooth.

Of course, though it was an exploration ship, it was far larger than Chen Qi's Ghost Ship in size, with enough room to accommodate a hundred people.

Although not as fast as the Ghost Ship, it had an exceptionally strong Transcendent defensive barrier!

This was the best defense barrier of the Blood Blade Pirate Group to date.

In the mutated sea area they were about to enter, this would be an extremely important feature.

Chen Qi pondered the upcoming actions.

This mission, Lady of Blood and old lady Carol would not directly participate.

Fourth Rank Legends are rare after all, Blood Lady and old veteran Gail of the Blood Blade Pirate Group would not head to the unknown before determining old lady's movements.

That meant, ultimately, this mission would be a contest of Third-tier Transcendents, and their odds of victory were not small!

With him there, the threat of sea beasts on the high seas wasn't significant, and with Fen there, most Third-tier Transcendents would be unable to resist Fen's release.

"Alright, let's set sail."

Chen Qi thought for a while, patted Fen's shoulder, and followed the Wild Wolf, along with more than forty other crew members, aboard the Dagger.

"Fair winds!"

Within the shipyard, shouts from the Blood Blade Pirate Group rang out.

Slowly sailing out of the shipyard, the Dagger headed into the misty Mutated Sea under the gaze of expectant onlookers.

Sailing away!

...

... Experience tales at empire

Unknowingly, night fell, and the fog grew denser.

"Indeed, only the departure is exciting."

Chen Qi walked out of the rocking kitchen of the Dagger, got a cup of fruit pudding, and handed it to Fen on deck:

"Fen, have something to eat. This voyage isn't easy; may rest a bit."