Chapter Fourteen: The Giant Octopus!

If the Haishan was sunk, it would be an immense blow for Yang Haishan. It might seem like just a ship, but its cost was staggering—over a hundred billion martial coins. The majority of Yang Haishan's wealth was invested in it. To purchase this vessel, Yang Haishan had liquidated all the assets left by his brother, Yang Haitai, and borrowed a considerable sum from the bank. He had only recently finished repaying that debt. Should he lose the Haishan, Yang Haishan would have no means to build another unless he advanced to the Stellar Realm. Without the Haishan, he would be unable to support the many cultivators under his command; in this world where the strong devour the weak, the Yang family would soon be carved up by other clans.

Yang Ye remembered his father saying that much of a businessman’s income was spent on supporting people. By ‘people,’ he meant those powerful cultivators. In the current era, anyone who reached the Meteor Realm would never lack for employment. As for someone like Yang Ye, who had attained the mid-Planetary Realm at such a young age, if he chose to work for others, his annual salary would be at least a billion martial coins.

While Long Xiaoqing searched the vast sea for the Haishan, Yang Ye found himself unable to sleep. He lay atop a boulder near the campfire, gazing at the sky, his mind whirling with thoughts. The mind of youth leaps from one idea to another—revenge, money, then the secret domains left behind by extraterrestrial martial artists.

“The secret domains open only once every three years. The next opening will be in May next year… But with Long Xiaoqing, it makes little difference whether I go to those domains or not. The ocean itself is the richest secret domain of all…”

Time passed unnoticed. As dawn crept in, Long Xiaoqing returned, her body glistening with mist, landing on Yang Ye’s shoulder. “Husband, I found it! It’s southwest from here. It’ll take me two hours to fly there.”

Yang Ye took out his phone, opened a picture from his files, and pointed to a colossal ship, asking, “Is it this one?”

The image showed a white vessel, shaped like an aircraft carrier, with the characters ‘Haishan’ painted boldly at the prow—the ship Yang Haishan had named after himself.

Long Xiaoqing studied the picture and nodded. “That’s it! The characters on the ship match exactly!”

“You’re incredible, Xiaoqing!” Yang Ye set his phone aside, embraced Long Xiaoqing, and kissed her cheek.

“Husband~” Long Xiaoqing called out, her voice sweet and coy, as if imbued with magic, sending a shiver through his bones.

“Xiaoqing, call me like that again,” Yang Ye laughed.

“Husband~”
“Husband~”
…

Yang Ye prepared another round of roasted meat. After both he and Long Xiaoqing had eaten their fill, they swam toward the location of the Haishan.

Half a day later, a colossal ship over five hundred meters long emerged into Yang Ye’s view. He retrieved a pre-prepared telescope from his storage ring and examined the vessel. The words ‘Haishan’ stood out prominently on the side of the bow. “No mistake—this is the Haishan,” Yang Ye murmured.

Long Xiaoqing had already scouted the ship—over two hundred people aboard, most of them cultivators, including three at the Planetary Realm. Not only was the ship valuable, Yang Haishan’s greatest expenses were concentrated here. The annual crew salaries alone exceeded fifty billion martial coins. Of course, the ship brought in far more than fifty billion each year.

Along with its many cultivators, the ship was equipped with powerful weaponry, not only for marine beasts but also against attacks from cultivators. Even a Stellar-level cultivator would struggle to breach such a fortress in the ocean.

Yang Ye was not arrogant enough to charge aboard and battle the cultivators directly. To destroy the ship, he needed another plan—one he had already devised.

…

The next afternoon, Yang Haishan’s second son, Yang Xiao, finally ordered the Haishan to return. Tomorrow was Yang Haishan’s grand birthday, and as his son, Yang Xiao naturally had to attend in person.

As for the birthday gift… Yang Xiao had been fortunate recently, retrieving three marine shells at the Planetary Realm, and acquired two mid-Planetary and one late-Planetary beast cores. He instructed the crew to keep it secret, planning to surprise his father.

These three beast cores were worth over ten billion martial coins—more than the total income for the first half of the year.

With more hunting vessels added, obtaining Planetary-level beast cores had become increasingly difficult. Bringing these three back as birthday offerings, his father would surely be delighted.

On the wide deck of the Haishan, a small supersonic jet was already prepared. Yang Xiao, arm in arm with two beautiful women, was about to board when the ship’s sirens began to blare.

Yang Xiao looked up, and even without a telescope, he could see a sea beast the size of a mountain rapidly approaching from the southern waters.

In the control room, the captain immediately ordered full power and a hard turn to port. The massive ship performed a dramatic one-hundred-eighty-degree drift across the sea, its hull groaning under the strain. Unprepared crew members were thrown overboard, while the jet, unfixed on deck, was hurled into the sea, nearly crashing into Yang Xiao as it slid past.

Had he not dodged in time, he would have been dragged into the sea by the plane.

“Damn it! That bastard Old Liu nearly killed me with his steering!” Yang Xiao shouted furiously toward the bow after climbing back onto the deck, ignoring the two trembling women.

The middle-aged man who had previously advised Yang Xiao to return early appeared before him, frowning. “Second Young Master, look south!”

Yang Xiao turned to the south, and what he saw stunned him—a gigantic oval head, larger than the Haishan itself. A colossal octopus!

Yang Xiao gaped in shock. The creature was so immense that the shallow water here could not contain its body, forcing its head above the surface.

What terrified Yang Xiao even more was that the giant octopus was charging straight at the Haishan, its huge eyes blazing with fury.

This was a Stellar-class star beast, usually dwelling in the deep sea. How could it appear in such shallow waters?

Yang Xiao’s mind was flooded with questions.

“Quick… run!” After a moment’s stunned silence, Yang Xiao shouted.

Against a creature this size, even seventeen or eighteen Haishans would stand no chance. A single tentacle from this beast could overturn the Haishan!