National destiny: Starting with a coffin, building an aircraft carrier is broadcast live globally.

The sky was so overcast it looked like it was about to collapse, with thick, dark clouds overhead.

"Splash—!"

Ivan's head popped out of the water, he shook his head, and without getting on the boat, he clung to the gunwale and swam alongside it.

"It doesn't reach the bottom, but it gets noticeably shallower down there, about two thousand meters."

"There might be an underwater mountain range ahead!"

"Then you'd better hurry up and come up," Renyi's voice came from above his head, "otherwise I'll catch a big one later, and you'll be the fresh bait."

Ivan chuckled, completely unconcerned.

Instead, it rolled over and lay on its back paddling, like a human-shaped external motor hanging from the side of a boat.

He was just about to boast about his swimming skills when he saw Ren Yi raise his fishing rod.

Something light and shiny brushed past my head.

birdcage?!

The birdcage, made entirely of silver-white metal, has a very classic design. The railings are carved with exquisite intertwined floral patterns, and there is a swaying bird cage and a blue crystal that looks like a wind chime, making a soft and melodious tinkling sound as it shakes.

But look at the spacing between its railings...

Even a small dog could probably squeeze in and out.

It's more like a decoration than something actually meant to be locked up.

[Obtained: The Cage of the Mind]

[Review: A work of art. It tells us that the real prison is never material, but spiritual. PS: Maybe you can use it to fill your brain, since it's empty anyway.]

This system... no, it's the Hydra now.

It seems that being banned for so long makes one want to criticize everything.

He casually removed the birdcage from the fishing hook.

Xiao Jiu, who was disguised as a brooch hanging on Renyi's chest, curiously hooked her tentacles onto the railing and darted inside.

It quickly discovered a birdcage that it could use as a swing.

He hung his limp body on it and swung leisurely on the swing.

Several tentacles fiddled with the blue crystals, making a series of sounds.

He casually tossed the birdcage and Xiao Jiu aside, then took out a large piece of sea dragon meat. "Can you do me a favor?"

"We need [Deep-Sea Crystals], how about you lend a hand?"

Little Jiu's dark, beady eyes darted around.

It stretched out one tentacle to snatch the sea dragon's flesh, while another tentacle drooped down to the ship's side, got some seawater on it, and started swishing it across the deck.

Xiao Jiu was completely absorbed in her drawing.

Soon, the abstract "masterpiece" composed of water stains was completed—

In the middle is an irregular circle, with 'thorns' of varying lengths stuck on one side.

Klaus studied it for a long time, then opened his mouth uncertainly:

"This is... a crippled sea urchin?"

Xiao Jiu turned herself from light blue to purple, and angrily poked her head.

—This is a drawing of me!

Klaus expressed no remorse whatsoever.

"You only have nine tentacles, but you drew ten spikes."

"You mean," Ren Yi asked tentatively, a sudden thought flashing through his mind, "that you originally had ten hands, but now you only have nine, so you can't be of any help?"

"Chirp!" Xiao Jiu nodded vigorously.

Ivan lay on the ship's side, his large face peering over the railing towards the birdcage.

"Turns out our mascot is missing a leg! Since it's useless, how about we try some grilled octopus?"

"Snap!" A tentacle landed precisely on Ivan's nose, then pulled away, "Pop pop pop—"

A trail of purplish-red marks was left behind.

Little Jiu absorbed the entire piece of meat, then proudly raised its little head.

The next second, right in front of everyone.

Its round body began to glow, not with a single color change, but like a flowing gradient, eventually settling on a deep...

black.

"Hahahaha!" Ivan burst into laughter, mercilessly mocking him.

"Octopus brother, is your only ability to change color...?"

However, before he could finish speaking, his laughter seemed to be caught in his throat.

Because everyone felt it.

Within seconds, the air became viscous, and the already thick clouds overhead seemed to be pressed down by a giant hand, about to fall onto their heads.

Just moments ago, Xiao Jiu was strutting around with its head held high, but now it has completely shrunk into the birdcage, even slamming the cage door shut with its claws.

"Ivan."

A slightly indifferent tone broke the silence.

"Hurry up and get up here."

Ivan didn't need to ask a second time.

Although he wished he had muscles in his head, he wasn't stupid at all; he simply grabbed the railing and climbed onto the boat.

The once calm, dark seawater soon began to churn.

About fifty meters ahead, the sea stretched out to both sides, as if some enormous creature was rising, and the huge waves it created caused the ghost bone boat to tilt backward.

Thankfully, its new cushioning layer is quite effective, like a gummy candy, absorbing most of the impact.

That mysterious behemoth, carrying millions of tons of seawater, seemed to have been squeezed out of the abyss...

A ship.

Specifically, it is the wreckage of a ship.

Its main body looks about the size of a small to medium-sized cruise ship, is as tall as four or five stories, and is over a hundred meters long... Compared to it, the ghost bone boat is like a little baby!

Seawater cascaded down the tattered hull like a waterfall.

The original color was long gone, leaving only a pitch-black hull covered in barnacles and various unidentified algae.

Like patches of festering 'skin'

The broken porthole was like a dark eye socket, staring straight at these tiny living people.

Because the distance is too close,

They couldn't see the ship in its entirety, but they could feel an indescribable sense of oppression and smell the stench of decay and fish.

"Lord, I surrender myself entirely into Your hands..."

It wasn't just the physical impact; immediately after the ship fully surfaced, everyone seemed to experience a moment of disorientation.

Aurora prayed, her face pale, "Please be my... refuge, our strength..."

"Give us the courage and wisdom to get through this difficult time..."

She emanated a soft, faint light, which scattered in all directions, creating a counterforce against the cold whispers around them.

Mental pollution!

Aurora's halo barely enveloped the deck, but the light trembled precariously.

With her current strength, facing such massive pollution is like trying to drench a volcano with a child's water gun.

voluntarily stepping out of the protection zone

The whispering started again, and he frowned slightly; the sound only brought him more annoyance.

It's like someone is drilling and doing renovations upstairs in your house on a beautiful weekend morning.

Klaus covered his mouth and nose, his face ashen.

For him, the combined impact of sight and smell was far more damaging than mental pollution.

"Bacteria...it's all bacteria, it's so dirty..."

"It must be destroyed immediately."

"really."

Nodding freely indicates agreement.

However, his starting point was different from Klaus's.

Klaus was thinking about cremation for sterilization.

In Renyi's eyes, this was not a ghost ship pollution source at all, but clearly a floating mountain of gold and silver!

Just looking at the exposed, rusted dragon bones, Ren Yi was already mentally calculating his next move.

If this were dismantled, let alone building a fleet...

...Perhaps I could just build a villa over the sea and enjoy my retirement?!

He took a step forward and stretched out a finger, touching the slippery hull of the boat.

"break down!"

no response.

Is it stuck?

He tried again.

This time, I poked it hard and even managed to pry off a piece of semi-soft, black grime.

"System, Hydra, disassemble!"

The screen flickered, seemingly annoyed by the arbitrarily insistent behavior.

A line of text appeared lazily, laced with sarcasm:

[Unable to be decomposed: Target unknown/too large/existing high-level mental barrier.]

[Comment: You want to swallow an elephant whole? Good appetite! But I don't recommend it unless you want to choke. PS: You try it if you dare.]