Witch, I'm really not the Deep Sea Ancient God!

"I'm still extracting, so please keep quiet. Analyzing the concentration of black whale blood is a task that requires extreme patience and specialization,"

"Understood, understood."

"No worries, take your time, our best ship's doctor. We have all the time in the world since we have to wait here for our prey to take the bait,"

Chen Qi pricked up his ears, trying his utmost to analyze the voices.

Two men and one woman.

The woman's voice was somewhat dispirited, the men's voices were one older and raspy, and the other had a magnetic baritone quality.

These two voices took him back to a ship being battered by pouring rain.

The Black Whale Group's Sawshark's little raven, and the Black-eyed Captain.

Why were they here? What were they doing here?

A multitude of questions sprang up in Chen Qi's mind.

Both were third-tier Transcendents.

At this stage, Transcendents were also respectfully referred to as Masters.

Third-tier Transcendents not only had mastered Body Forging Skill and breathing techniques, but the powerful abilities granted by their Transcendent professions also enabled them to establish high-order combat schools.

Their strength was sufficient to defeat an army of a thousand constructed by mere mortals.

In short, they were not opponents he could contend with at present.

If discovered, I'd be like a weak little sparrow, completely at their mercy.

Chen Qi carefully backed away, slowly as if he were a stone sculpture.

However, behind him, voices of people conversing arose.

This place wasn't home to just one group of pirates.

"Trouble, it seems like I'm trapped here," Chen Qi muttered to himself.

If not for these black whiskers that were twice as tall as a man and could shield spiritual power perception, at such a close distance, he would have been discovered already.

And at that moment, something unexpected happened.

As his movements slowed, the black whiskers beneath his feet began to stir.

Slowly, the whiskers wove through his trouser legs, under his clothes, and gently caressed his skin.

These whiskers took advantage of his inability to make any significant movements to ambush him!

Though this was merely their way of showing affection, and quite comfortably so.

But they're too loud!

Keep it down, now is the worst time to be discovered.

Oddly enough, Chen Qi now felt like a naked man hiding in someone else's wife's wardrobe.

The little raven looked over and mumbled, "These black whiskers might be cute, but the sound of their wriggling is really noisy."

Chen Qi held his breath in that instant.

As a sea breeze blew by, the whiskers swayed.

And then, through a tiny gap in the whiskers, Chen Qi saw in an instant.

Ships upon the sea, heavy salvage machinery, the little raven with a microscope, and a man wearing a pure black mask.

And...

The Black-eyed Captain's eyes, dark as the abyss, flickered towards him.

The Black-eyed Captain said with irritation, "Indeed, the noise from those black whiskers is truly annoying."

Following that, his gaze shifted away from the whiskers.

Phew… Chen Qi breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

He wasn't discovered.

Lucky for me, the Black-eyed Captain has poor perceptive abilities.

Moreover, the whiskers clinging to his body and clothes had formed a natural black ghillie suit.

Now, he had perfectly blended in with the black whiskers.

Just wait a bit longer, acting rashly would only expose himself.

Chen Qi slowly squatted down, enduring the strange sensation brought by the whiskers, and maintained a posture he could hold for a long time.

Afterward, he focused his attention on the trio beyond the whiskers.

They seemed to be discussing something very important now.

This was a good spot for eavesdropping.

...

...

Opposite Blackbeard, on a small boat on the pitch-black sea.

It was a research vessel, equipped with a small instrument table, and beneath the boat, a large number of tools were placed.

Little Raven stared at Blackbeard for a while, then withdrew her gaze and continued fiddling with the microscope on the table:

"The concentration of Black Whale Blood extracted from this mutated black-blood fish has reached 70%, which is a considerably high concentration of Black Whale Blood, Black Glove."

Underneath Little Raven's hands, there was a black object the size of a human head.

Rather than blood, it was more like a squirming lump of black flesh.

A mechanical voice sounded once again.

"How much? A 70% concentration, Raven, you truly are the finest ship doctor in the Black Whale Group, this concentration is enough to make those from the Ocean Deity Cult kneel down and kowtow a hundred times," said the one called Black Glove.

The person speaking was named Black Glove, wearing a black mask and dressed in all black, wrapped in a black scarf, topped by a slick black top hat, with thick, black felt boots and black gloves.

A person wrapped up tight in his own covering.

Black Glove... In the shadows, Chen Qi let a drop of cold sweat fall.

On the gaming forums, he was a notoriously tough BOSS.

Although he was also a Third-order Transcendent, he had completed the construction of his own style, 'Shadow Stream', making his strength far surpass Black-eyed Captain and Little Raven.

Flower Witch seemed to have fought against him too, and the result was a draw.

But what was Black Whale Blood again? Chen Qi reflected for a moment.

It seemed to be something extracted from mutated monster fish.

Chen Qi remembered that the Deep Sea Merchants had asked for something similar.

Black Glove, delighted with the high concentration of Black Whale Blood, exclaimed: "Raven, I knew that in these dull times, I wasn't wrong to wait for you guys.

Little Raven, you have talent, a fishing captain who has failed, a broken-down Sawshark, this isn't the place for you."

The air was suddenly thick with tension.

The irritable Black-eyed Captain gripped the new sword he bought for a hundred thousand Shell Coins:

"Shut your mouth, Black Glove, even though I haven't achieved much recently, you are not much better.

Your Wild Dog Gang and Black Rabbit Gang in Moonstone City were all captured in one fell swoop, weren't they?

Even, you're not even willing to go there and retrieve your subordinates' corpses!"

Black Glove spoke sharply:

"You lack ability, while I only encountered a natural disaster.

Who asked those little rabbits to run into the Black Ship Sea Dragon and the monsters of the Ocean Deity Cult?"

Grinding his teeth, Black-eyed Captain was upset, but his recent achievements did not give him the right to talk back to Black Glove.

Moreover, strictly speaking, Black Glove was already his superior.

Black Glove gently stroked the lump of Black Whale Blood:

"Black-eyed Captain, you were once part of the Hunter operation, the organization gave you a chance, but you brought back nothing but casualties to the organization."

"Go to hell, you maggot lurking in the shadows," retorted the Black-eyed Captain furiously but helplessly.

"Ah~ Keep the insults coming!"

Black Glove, who seemed to have the upper hand in the argument, let out a sound of satisfaction, then pulled out a special glass tube and handed it to Little Raven:

"Little Raven, pack this thing properly. Oh, and I've called you here not just to help me with the Black Whale Blood, but also to share some vital news with you all."

"What is it?"

"Recently, all our operations in Moonstone City have been uncovered, and a lot of key intelligence has fallen into the hands of the press and the navy.

Because of the leak, one of the magnificent Whale Father's children, a cadre who had served the Black Whale Group loyally for twenty years, met an unfortunate death."

Black Glove leaned in close to Little Raven, his words carrying a hint of threat.

Something was wrong... Little Raven's palms began to sweat:

"An intelligence leak, that really is unfortunate. We've recruited too many people in the Black Whale Group, and there are always some bastards who would betray us for money."

Black Glove didn't speak, but fumbled in his pockets.

Little Raven's heart rate spiked suddenly.

Had her cover, after so many years, finally been blown?