Listening to the continuous system prompts in his mind, Yang Lin’s expression gradually shifted from surprise to numbness.
It was obvious that keeping those endangered marine populations away from Japan’s territorial waters was the best form of protection for them.
After an unknown amount of time, the system prompts finally ceased.
The talent points displayed on the system panel had now increased to 144.
Looking at this massive number, Yang Lin was speechless for a moment.
Since he took over the system, he had only gained fewer than a hundred talent points in total.
This single mission had rewarded him with a staggering one hundred and twenty points.
It was truly like striking it rich overnight.
However, just as he thought it was over, the system prompt sounded again.
"Due to the host's outstanding performance this time, the skill Ocean Heart will be permanently solidified."
Upon hearing this system prompt, Yang Lin was completely stunned.
He had originally expected the system to reclaim the divine skill Ocean Heart after the mission ended, but he never thought the system would generously bestow it upon him.
It was no exaggeration to say that Ocean Heart was, by far, the strongest skill he possessed.
"It seems my low-budget Poseidon can continue his reign."
Just as he sighed with emotion, the system, which had just quieted down, delivered another piece of news that excited him.
"System upgrade mission is being generated. To upgrade to a level 3 system, the following conditions must be met."
"Condition 1: Awakened biological talents must reach 1000, including 100 golden talent biologicals and 10 legendary talent biologicals."
"Condition 2: All of the host's skills must be upgraded to intermediate level."
"Condition 3: Discover or cultivate no less than 100 new species."
Looking at the upgrade conditions refreshed on the system interface, the trace of excitement that had just risen in Yang Lin's heart instantly vanished.
It was no exaggeration to say that each of these three conditions was more difficult than the last.
The first condition, while appearing to require a large number of awakened animals, could potentially be met within two years at the current rate of talent point acquisition from missions.
If that wasn't enough, there were also achievement points and in-app purchases as alternative routes.
The second condition depended entirely on luck. If he were fortunate enough to encounter a system reward item that upgraded skill levels, it could be achieved.
In comparison, the third condition was slightly more troublesome.
He would have to search the entire globe, in how many nooks and crannies, to find 100 new species. As for cultivating them himself, that was even more far-fetched; if he had that kind of technology, why would he be running a zoo?
"Forget it, forget it. It's not urgent anyway. I should be able to complete it before I kick the bucket."
While comforting himself, Yang Lin brought his thoughts back to the real world.
At the same time, he couldn't help but recall the random talent treasure chest he had recently acquired.
"It's time for the exciting treasure chest opening segment. I wonder what kind of treasure chest I'll get this time."
"Hopefully, I can get a legendary for free."
While praying, Yang Lin opened the treasure chest in the system interface.
The next second, a piece of information appeared in his mind.
"Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Golden Talent [Gender Transformation]."
"Uh, this..."
Looking at the talent information in his mind, Yang Lin was dumbfounded for a moment.
It took him more than ten seconds to react.
"Damn, what kind of weird talent is this? Gender Transformation, isn't that sex change? What use do I have for this thing?"
"Why does this talent seem so perverted?"
Of course, he knew that this talent wasn't rare in nature.
Some fish possessed the talent for gender transformation, the most famous being clownfish, which would switch genders as needed.
However, for the current Yang Lin, he really couldn't think of which animal he would apply this talent to.
"Forget it, forget it, I'll keep it for now. Maybe it'll be useful in the future."
Temporarily setting aside this somewhat peculiar talent, Yang Lin then walked out of the cabin.
More than ten hours had passed since their return voyage began.
According to the plan of the Ocean Bureau, they were not returning directly but would escort Yang Lin and Baby Kun to Dolphin Island, and also track the migrating dolphin pods.
When Yang Lin arrived on the deck, Baby Kun, who was playing with a school of fish in the nearby sea, immediately sensed him. It swam over to the research vessel and raised its head high.
"Mama, Mama."
Hearing Baby Kun's calls, Yang Lin couldn't help but show a wry smile.
Although he had corrected it many times, the little fellow had clearly decided on the title of "Mama" and refused to change it.
"Alright, alright, stop calling. We'll be home in a while, and you'll have some new friends."
"New friends?" Hearing the word, Baby Kun's eyes immediately lit up.
"Are they delicious too?"
Although it occasionally played with small fish and shrimp on the way, those small fish and shrimp were too tiny. It had accidentally swallowed them, causing the smaller marine creatures to be too afraid to approach it afterwards.
"Uh... they probably aren't very delicious."
Just as Yang Lin said this with a speechless expression, Baby Kun suddenly dived back into the sea.
Before he could figure out what was happening, Baby Kun, which had just submerged, resurfaced.
"Mama, I found a strange fish below. It's black and silly."
"I greeted it, and it didn't even respond."
Hearing Baby Kun's words, Yang Lin was immediately taken aback.
"Strange fish? Black and silly?"
"Damn, could it be a torpedo?"
Thinking of this, Yang Lin's scalp tingled.
Although this was already in Chinese territorial waters, it was not impossible for submarines from other countries to sneak in.
With this thought, Yang Lin immediately had Baby Kun dive down again, while he himself activated his shared vision.
Not long after Baby Kun submerged, a black silhouette, over twenty meters long, appeared in his field of vision.
From a distance, it resembled a whale that had settled on the seabed.
However, judging by its all-black coating and the propulsion device at its tail, it was definitely not a marine creature but a high-tech creation of human civilization.
The word "submarine" instantly popped into Yang Lin's mind.
"Why is there a submarine here? And there are no Chinese markings on it. Could it be a foreign submarine?"
"It seems to have lost power."
In an instant, countless speculations arose in Yang Lin's mind.
To clarify these questions, Yang Lin immediately controlled the marine creatures to flip the submarine over.
The moment the submarine was flipped, he finally confirmed that it seemed to have temporarily lost power.
A hint of joy appeared on his face.
"Heh heh, if no one wants it, I'll take it."