Today was another good harvest, *simida*.
Hahaha, yes, there have been more big catches lately. My income has tripled compared to last month, but the storms are getting worse too. Let's head back after we finish this net.
Right, right. Be careful not to cross into Dragon Country's waters. Last time, Seon-jae and the others went fishing there, and their boat was sunk. All they did was catch a few fish with an electric net and dump some trash. Dragon Country people are so stingy, they have no grace of a great nation, *simida*.
Exactly!
At sea, amidst surging waves, a fishing boat of about thirty tons was adrift.
Onboard, several weathered fishermen, buoyed by their bountiful catch, were chatting happily.
Suddenly, a massive wave struck, nearly capsizing the fishing boat.
What happened, *simida*? An old fisherman with single eyelids frowned, puzzled by the sudden, powerful wave.
"Ow!" Another fisherman, who had accidentally hit the ship's railing, clutched his head as he stood up. Then, he felt a shadow fall over him.
As if sensing something, he looked up, his pupils constricting violently.
Ahead of the fishing boat, a colossal sea beast's head emerged from the water. Its dark golden irises remained unmoving, fixedly staring at the people on the boat.
The others also looked up, freezing in place as if struck by electricity.
The sea beast's head, which had emerged from the water, was the size of a house. It resembled a hippopotamus, but with a much smaller mouth and four long tusks crossing each other. Its head was covered in red scales, giving it a particularly ferocious appearance.
The shadow cast by its head covered half the fishing boat.
This horrifying sight caused everyone to scream in terror.
"Ahhh! A monster!"
"Run! Get to the control room, turn the boat around!"
"Escape!" In their overwhelming fear, several people blindly jumped into the sea.
"Am I going to die?" A disheveled young man sat on the deck, staring blankly at the sea beast looming before him, muttering to himself. He had just reached his placement matches.
Suddenly, his body erupted in flames, awakening in this dire situation.
But the outcome was already sealed; his awakening would not change it in the slightest.
The sea beast's massive mouth opened, and with a roar, a terrifying wave of sound instantly turned everyone on the boat into bloody mist. The thirty-ton fishing boat was also completely shattered.
Then, an invisible force spread, and the sea beast inhaled all the blood mist in the air into its mouth.
After doing so, it glanced towards Dragon Country's coast. Sensing a presence no less powerful than its own, it shifted its gaze towards the coast of the Universe Country.
"Roar!"
A world-shattering roar echoed, and in the next moment, it began to swim rapidly across the sea. Its immense body, carrying terrifying tidal waves and overwhelming might, charged towards the coast of the Universe Country.
At the Ningcheng Military Region, in the West Camp Plaza, dozens of figures stood dimly.
Commander Yang, looking at the awakened individuals lined up before him, introduced them to Yu Zhibo.
"Including the 10 awakened individuals registered today, there are 34 awakened individuals registered by Chen Li over the past few years. Three of them have already died during missions, and the remaining 31 are all gathered here. Among them are 2 D-class, 19 E-class, and today's 10 newly promoted F-class awakened individuals. The other 7 awakened individuals who were not registered today are over there. See if they have been tampered with."
At this moment, in addition to the awakened individuals Commander Yang mentioned, the team leaders of these awakened individuals were also present to oversee the entire detection process.
Among them were: Ling Xiaotian, the leader of Group Two of the Operations Department, who had one of the two D-class awakened individuals as his team member; then there was the leader of Group Three of the Information Department, a middle-aged man wearing glasses, and the leader of Group Four, the leader of Group Six of the Operations Department, the green-haired leader of the Investigation Department, and so on, over a dozen people.
Most of them had rushed back, interrupting their missions, after hearing that their subordinates might be infiltrators.
After Commander Yang finished his introduction, all eyes turned to Yu Zhibo.
Initially, a few team leaders who were unaware of the situation were unconvinced by Yu Zhibo. However, upon hearing of his record of identifying 126 awakened individuals, they all rushed over without delay. Besides checking the examination results of their subordinates, they also came with the intention of building a connection.
Yu Zhibo nodded, activating his crimson Sharingan. With an extremely oppressive gaze, he swept across everyone present.
Many felt a chill run down their spines under his stare.
"It must be said that the concealment of the Dark Bloodline is truly profound, and it can silently influence the minds of those implanted. It allows awakened individuals to be gradually influenced and drawn into darkness after passing the initial mental tests. However, unfortunately, it ultimately contains violent dark energy. Even a trace of it is invisible to Yu Zhibo's Three Tomoe Sharingan."
"How many?" Commander Yang asked impatiently, his expression somewhat tense. The other team leaders also closely watched Yu Zhibo's expression.
Yu Zhibo sighed leisurely and said, "Except for the seven who were not registered today, all of them have been implanted with the Dark Bloodline. This is troublesome."
As soon as he spoke, everyone present, including the more than thirty awakened seeds being examined, changed their expressions drastically.
The thought that such dark seeds existed behind them, ready to stab them in the back at any moment, sent shivers down the spines of several team leaders.
"I-I don't know! I haven't done anything to harm the organization!" One of the two D-class ability users, wearing a black leather jacket, said with a look of panic.
"Is that so?" Yu Zhibo's expression was impassive. A red light flashed in his eyes, and the Three Tomoe in his pupils slowly began to spin. "Look into my eyes."
Upon hearing this, the "leather jacket guy" subconsciously looked up at Yu Zhibo's eyes. The next moment, he was completely hypnotized, his gaze becoming vacant.
Yu Zhibo asked, "What is your name?"
"Wu Qian."
"When did you discover you had the Dark Bloodline?"
"When I advanced from E-class to D-class. I could freely absorb dark spiritual energy," Wu Qian said blankly.
"How did you pass the D-class mental test?"
"At the time, I didn't intend to harm anyone. The absorption of dark energy caused my strength to grow rapidly. I didn't want to report it. It was those dark organizations that found me. They controlled me to kill an intern member, threatening me!" Wu Qian's expression turned ferocious, showing signs of breaking free from the hypnosis.
Yu Zhibo's pupils spun rapidly, reinforcing the hypnotic effect. He asked in a gentle tone, "When did they find you?"
"Three months ago!"
"In the past three months, you have injected the Dark Bloodline into several awakened individuals. What are their names?" Yu Zhibo continued to ask.
"Two. Both are intern members of our group. One is named Wang Chengyou, and the other is Li Xuecheng."
Hearing this, the leader of Wu Qian's group, Group Three of the Operations Department, gritted his teeth, his gaze fixed on Wu Qian.
"What do the dark organization members you contacted look like? What are their names? When is your next meeting?" Yu Zhibo, as if seeing nothing, continued to ask.
"I don't know. They wear masks and black hoodies. They arranged to meet me at the Tiangong Bar on the 16th."
Yu Zhibo turned to Wu Qian's team leader and asked, "Do you have anything else to ask? Do we need to keep him alive as bait?"
The leader of Group Three shook his head and closed his eyes. "The information provided is sufficient. Kill him. I don't want to see him again."
The others also sighed.
Yu Zhibo nodded, and lightning erupted from his hand. The Chidori Sharp Spear instantly pierced Wu Qian's chest.
"Gurgle..." The intense pain, which even the lightning could not numb, jolted Wu Qian out of his hypnosis. He looked in shock at the lightning spear piercing his heart, his life force slowly fading.
Finally, his body collapsed onto the ground, his gaze becoming unfocused.
[Killed a weak D-class demon, gained 200 energy points. Current energy points: 2560.]
"Next, it's your turn!" Yu Zhibo retracted the Chidori Sharp Spear and turned his gaze to the other D-class ability user, his expression cold.
The D-class ability user's face immediately turned pale, but his gaze quickly became firm.
"Are you really okay? Or do you still have confidence to resist my hypnosis?" Yu Zhibo sneered, and the Three Tomoe in his eyes spun again.
"Holy crap! So cool!" Behind everyone, Chen Bo watched Yu Zhibo steal the spotlight, unable to contain his excitement.