Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
âBest part? What best part? Did you mean⦠You could swim even faster? No⦠Thatâs impossible⦠Iâd rather believe that birds can swim than believe thatâ¦â Octopus man shook his head, focusing his energy on his swimming, making use of every ounce of energy in his body.
âThe seawaterâs effects on merpeople are small, but theyâre not completely unaffected.â Chen Xiaobei said, maintaining speed while matching his pace alongside octopus man.
âWhat⦠do you mean?â Octopus man asked.
âYou will know soon!â Chen Xiaobei smiled to himself.
They were both very fast. Soon, they were already swimming beyond 1,000 meters. The water pressure and the water-resistance gradually increased by the meter.
As Chen Xiaobei had said earlier, seawaterâs effects on merpeople may be small, but they were not completely immune to its effects either.
Based on that premise, Octopus man began to slow down a little.
Whereas, Chen Xiaobeiâs speed was completely unaffected, and remained constant.
Slowly but surely, Chen Xiaobei began to surpass Octopus man.
âMy god⦠Am I dreaming⦠Are you not affected by the water pressure and resistance⦠That doesnât make senseâ¦â Octopus manâs eyes widened in astonishment.
âI already told you that Iâm good when it comes to water!â Chen Xiaobei said with a quiet smile.
âIs this a matter of skill⦠Youâre not human! You are not human!â Octopus man shouted in shock.
âDonât be so surprised!â Chen Xiaobei said. âThis is not my fastest speed yet!â
âWhat? You can be faster still?â Octopus manâs eyes were as round as saucers.
Both of them had already pased the 2,000-meter mark. The pressure and the resistance greatly intensified, inflicting a crushing force that was many times greater than the surface.
Octopus man was also gradually slowing down.
Chen Xiaobei said to him, âYouâre too slow. I canât keep waiting for you anymore. Iâll be going first.â
Whoosh!
Chen Xiaobei increased his speed, leaving Octopus man in his dust.
âTha⦠Thatâ¦â Octopus man broke down, and cried, âOh god⦠Oh heaven⦠Am I really part fish?â
Before the race, he even said that humans could never beat a fish, and had even told Chen Xiaobei in the face that he was being ostentatious.
But now that the truth was set before him, Octopus man found himself proven wrong.
He even began to compare himself to Chen Xiaobei, thinking that Chen Xiaobei was more of a merperson than he was and that he himself was a fake fish!
3,000 meters underwater.
âHow⦠Is this possible?â Ao Liancheng spotted Chen Xiaobeiâs silhouette but there was no sign of Octopus man, which meant that Chen Xiaobei was way faster than Octopus man.
Even Ao Liancheng, a God-Ascension level elite who was born in a high-ranking starfield and had seen all sorts of wonders was completely floored by what he was witnessing.
âChilde Liancheng, I won this round! You wonât backtrack on your promise, will you?â Chen Xiaobei swam towards Ao Liangcheng, a smile on his face.
âNo⦠Why would I do that⦠I just think that your speed is incredibleâ¦â Ao Liancheng exclaimed. âThis is 3,000 meters underwater⦠A normal human being wouldâve died under such tremendous pressure⦠Even human elites would have trouble with their movement⦠but youâ¦â
âLike I mentioned, Iâm really good in the water!â Chen Xiaobei grinned.
âNo⦠Thatâs not it! There must be another reason why youâre able to swim this fast!â Ao Liancheng said with conviction.
âChilde Liancheng is really sharp-witted!â Chen Xiaobei beamed. âBut this is my secret â I cannot reveal it to you!â
His secret was the Hydrophobe Orb, of course!
In the water, Chen Xiaobei could control the seawaterâs resistant force.
Under normal conditions, Chen Xiaobei could cause the resistance of the surrounding waters to increase so that he could float.
But for the race, he dropped its resistance all the way down to zero.
On top of that, Chen Xiaobeiâs cultivation was much higher than the Octopus manâs.
For those very reasons, Chen Xiaobeiâs speed of diving was much faster.
Chen Xioabei would never tell anyone about his Hydophobe Orb, of course.
Ao Liancheng frowned. âChilde Chen! You really do know how to keep people in suspense! You piqued my curiosity and then refused to reveal the answer⦠This need to know is killing meâ¦â
Chen Xiaobei just shrugged in response, shooting him an apologetic smile.
âMy prince⦠I⦠I lostâ¦â Octopus man was in tears when he arrived, having to admit his defeat.
âYou donât need to tell me! Iâve already seen it!â Ao Liancheng said. âChilde Chen is not a common man. Go back and tell everyone that they are not allowed to offend Childe Chen!â
âYes, your highnessâ¦â Octopus nodded. His eyes wandered to Chen Xiaobei, and they were filled with respect and awe.
âLetâs go! Letâs continue downwards!â Ao Liancheng said. âThis planet is in the periphery of Neptune. The ocean is ten thousand meters deep. Thereâs a portal at the bottom that connects to the Neptune Capital Planet! The holy emperor resides there!ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
The three of them went deeper at a reasonably slow pace so that Octopus man could keep up.
Ao Liancheng said, âI lost the bet just now. If Childe Chen would like to make a request, please do not hesitate to ask. As long as it is within my ability to fulfill it, I will not refuse it!â
âI would like you to help me find someone!â Chen Xiaobei answered almost immediately. âHe is the emperor of Greenhill Starfield. He came here a few months ago!â
âNo problem!â Ao Liancheng agreed instantly. He turned to Octopus man and said, âOnce we return, you are to instruct the intelligence division to look into this matter!â
âYes, sir!â Octopus man nodded. âChilde Chen, do you have any other information that may be useful for our search?â
âNoâ¦â Chen Xiaobei shook his head.
âWith so little information⦠Iâm afraid itâs going to be really difficultâ¦â Octopus man said. âThere are hundreds of planets in Neptune. Itâs going to be like finding a needle in a haystackâ¦â
âWhat nonsense!â Ao Liancheng scolded. âIf it was easy, would Childe Chen have asked us to help? Upon our return, take my token and inform all the Elders of the planets to arrange for a search!â
âYes⦠I understand!â Octopus man swallowed. He rarely saw this side of Ao Liancheng.
He could tell that Ao Liancheng really favored Chen Xiaobei.
At the bottom of the ocean.
For the first time in his life, Chen Xiaobei saw with his own two eyes, an underwater world crowded with so many half-human, half-fish aquatic citizens similar to that of Donghai Dragon Palace in âJourney to the Westâ.
This was just the starting point.
After they had gone through the portal, Chen Xiaobei would see the core of Neptune Starfield, before catching a glimpse of the real Crystal Palace!