Is That A Wisp?

"What?" Krune was left at a loss for words when he looked at the details displayed on the baby's tablet. There were four rows of words on it, with each line as shocking as the other. 

[Sub-Realm's Firstborn]

[Obtained: 100 Credits]

[Obtained Passive: Ocean Affinity]

[Obtained Passive: Solar Breathing]

"Just…what are these? I have not seen them before..." The Seamstress went closer to him and looked at the words displayed on the baby's tablet. "These abilities, they were gifted by the Sub-Realm itself? Also, his tablet looks a bit different from ours as far as I can see, don't you think?"

Naturally, Krune also noticed a tiny difference in the baby's tablet. On its top were a couple of waves, making the tablet look grander than theirs. Upon seeing the rewards displayed on it, Krune realized the reason they were after the baby in the first place. 

Just as Krune had done, they could easily use the baby's finger to summon his tablet. Even if he wasn't able to use it now, once he waited until the baby was three to four years old, Gajor would be able to manipulate the baby to purchase everything he needed through the Checkpoint Turtle. 

After all, 100 Godly Points was a large sum. If one solely relied on their ability to hunt, it might take decades to obtain such a sum in Layer 3. And this was in the case they were able to fight and already possessed helpful passive abilities. 

Otherwise, a typical cultivator in Layer 3 might never even touch the double digits in his lifetime. So, the allure of 100 Godly Points was already significant enough to make a move. 

Nevertheless, there were also the two passive abilities the baby had been awarded. They weren't obtained but were rewarded by the Sub-Realm itself. In short, they were powerful abilities. Gajor could very well raise the baby like his son and obtain a powerful ally in the future. 

Considering the sheer impact of the names, the two passive abilities should definitely be insanely powerful. After all, Krune's most powerful passive ability was named Ocean Heart. On the other hand, the baby had a passive ability titled Ocean Affinity. 

Whether it was related to wielding the powers in the water, living in the water, manipulating the water and so on, Krune wasn't sure. In any case, what he was sure about was the fact that no matter what, Ocean Affinity would be an ability on par with his Ocean Heart.

Not to mention the baby's second passive ability, Solar Breathing. Krune wasn't able to guess as to what this ability entailed. No matter what, he decided to consider them as abilities on par with his Ocean Heart, if not superior. 

Having seen the way they were named, the Seamstress frowned, muttering, "If we consider them to be on par with your Ocean Heart, their two abilities will make him overpowered in this layer once he grows up into an adult."

"That is very well a possibility. But it's not guaranteed," Krune replied, "Remember that there's something in the Tertiary Landmass. The one who possesses that is the one who would dominate this place."

"The active ability!" The Seamstress nodded in realization as she frowned. "No matter what, this baby should never fall in the hands of Gajor."

"You don't need to say it twice." Krune nodded as he spoke after some thought, "We have to grow stronger first. Say, is there any way you can track more of these Motor Fishes? We'll need greater mobility than them if we wish to target them. Otherwise, it's impossible if we were to have a water bottle."

He gazed at the Seamstress as he continued, "At present, your mobility in water is no different to any average pirate. You're better skilled, but you can also be overwhelmed. After all, you're just a mortal. You have your limits."

"What you said makes sense." The Seamstress nodded before asking, "But, are you really able to enhance a passive ability to its peak?"

"Yes." Krune nodded as he replied, "Though, the process might take anywhere from a month to three months. Also, I need at least four Motor Fishes and two Water Essence to make it happen. After that, we would still need two more Motor Fishes for our boat."

"Hmm..." After thinking it through, the Seamstress nodded. "Leave it to me. I can ambush their individual boats and bring in enough Motor Fishes. There should be some prowling all the time in search of more people to plunder from."

She then pointed at Krune as she told him, "The healing extract you made for the baby, create a container full for me so that I won't end up dead by exhaustion mid-journey."

"You're planning to tackle it alone?" Krune frowned, just about to retort when she motioned towards her dress, or rather the thin layer that had appeared on it by now.

Smiling, she spoke, "While keeping my Coral Wave active, when I drift through the water, I will seem no different from a piece of coral. I'll move through the dark layers, so they won't even know I hit them. As long as I have enough energy to sustain myself, I can handle this easily."

"Alright." Krune nodded and headed to one of his compartments before slicing out a piece of meat bigger than his head. He had saved up enough for him to consume for three months, so this hardly put a dent in his storage. 

He then activated the healing effect in his Ocean Heart, condensing it into a beam using his Neon Radiance before emitting it through his palms, focusing it entirely on the piece of meat. It took him a couple of hours, having expended an entire ring's worth of energy. 

When he filled the piece of meat to the brim with the healing effect, he used a couple of tools to squeeze it completely, pouring the juice into a filter. He then collected the concentrated solution into a bottle that he had created using the shaft of the Monster Gecko's fishing rod. 

He then gave it to the Seamstress, who took a sip to test its effectiveness first before nodding in response. "This is enough for the entire journey. I'll be back."

Saying her piece, she grabbed hold of her coral sword before jumping into the ocean, speeding forth underwater. She then headed into the darkness within, positioned beyond a depth of ten meters from the surface and disappeared. 

Using his Sonic Radar, Krune was able to keep track of her motion until she moved beyond his range. He then looked around, deciding to get to work immediately. Upon noticing that there were many fishes near his boat, he smiled, picking up his fishing net before casting it over the place. 

As for the piece of meat that was left over after he had extracted the essence from it, Krune diced it up into two pieces and before throwing each piece to a Motor Fish. He also opened one of the four compartments attached to the pillars of his boat, looking within to see that there were around eight fruits within instead of the usual two. 

Thanks to the sheer volume of blood that flowed into the ocean water thanks to the bandits, the number of fruits had increased. He took out two of the fruits before throwing one each to the Motor Fishes. They gobbled the fruits immediately, recovering significant vitality.

Krune then noticed that they were still hungry, smiling as he threw in a second batch of fruits. "Eat more and grow faster. I know this isn't your limit."

He then opened up a secret cupboard that had the tightest defense in the entire boat. From within, he took out a tiny container, opening its lid to reveal tiny shards within. He carefully picked out two of them, closed the container and placed it back in the cupboard. 

Krune tied the bone boats sideways to the boat as he carefully planted a shard in the center of each. He then pulled up his net, capturing a lot of fishes that he dumped in equal halves over each boat, using a knife to stab them in quick sessions. 

Within a few seconds, a tiny sapling sprouted amidst them before beginning to grow, soon reaching his height. All the blood of the fishes had disappeared while their bodies had been devoured by the growing bone tree. 

Krune then caught a lot of fish and killed them, using their blood to water the bone trees. While doing so, Krune noticed something strange. Unlike on the Primary Landmass where the bone tree reached a height of three meters, the one before him stopped growing at the height of 1.5 meters, resembling a bonsai.

It seemed as if it couldn't cross the line beyond which the gravity reversed. Instead, the size of its trunk widened accordingly. Upon seeing it, Krune chuckled as he could not help but say, "Well, this saves me a lot of trouble."

He then continued to water them until they reached complete growth. A couple of days passed in such a fashion as they no longer showed any signs of growth. Soon after, a wheezing Seamstress arrived, pulling with her exactly four Motor Fishes. It seemed to have taken a toll on her to rely on the passive ability, Moving Water for so long as she appeared thinner, weaker. 

Krune pulled her up as he smiled. "Rest and recover your strength. We won't be moving from this point for at least another month or two."