I Don't Agree to the Terms

"Well, what to do is self-explanatory."

"Okay, I'll go first." Fang Jin claimed the initiative first; after all, it wasn't her first time offering tributes to the Divine.

"Oh, right, there's something I need to remind you of." Wang Qi said as he saw the other party getting ready to start, "Because there was a little issue when I made my offering, the feedback given to you by the Heavenly Emperor might be a bit different from other Evil Gods' feedback."

"Is there a risk to life?" Fang Chen asked sharply, as he certainly didn't want his mother to be in danger.

"Not exactly, it's just that the feedback will be food, and consuming it will enhance your physique, spiritual power, or grant you Transcendent abilities. It's just that these foods, well, their color, aroma, and taste might be a tiny bit off-putting." Wang Qi had consulted with Gu Shanhai, and these two had also been blacklisted after coming into contact with his aura, so their feedback also manifested as dark cuisine.

"A tiny bit off-putting? You mean they taste and smell bad? That's not a big problem." At this moment, Fang Jin was ignoring the existence of fermented tofu and eggs, so she was still full of confidence.

"Good that you're confident." Wang Qi didn't try to dissuade her, after all, he'd been just as confident before but had since understood that the dark cuisine created by the Divine was something beyond the reach of mere mortals like them.

Gu Shanhai also let out a cold laugh, as if to say how dare they underestimate him.

The offering soon came to an end, and then, an odor that made one feel like they were in a toilet emerged.

Wang Qi's face also changed as he promptly backed away several steps, covering his mouth and nose.

And Fang Jin's face immediately turned green; the smell hit her so directly, she almost got numb.

Fang Chen was a bit better, but still retching.

"Lucky you, it's fermented shark meat. Only the small portion of flesh from the shark's belly is suitable for this kind of pickling. In some regions, it's an extremely rare delicacy, but outside of those areas, basically, no one can stand the taste. The meat is quite chewy, but the more you chew, the stronger the flavor gets," Wang Qi stated the explanation given to him by Gu Shanhai.

"This thing can really be eaten?" Fang Jin exclaimed with both disgust and shock.

"Yes, it can grant Transcendent abilities upon consumption. Of course, you don't have to eat it; I'll eat it if that's the case." Wang Qi despised the smell, but he didn't refuse the offer, considering it a way to get stronger. He had already eaten Living Maggot Cheese and black century egg lean meat porridge and been through the near-death experience of seeing his life flash before his eyes, so fermented shark meat was far from the worst.

Hearing what Wang Qi said, Fang Jin gritted her teeth and spoke up, "I'll eat it."

She felt that this may well be a part of proving her commitment, so she picked up a piece of fermented shark meat and stuffed it in her mouth to chew.

The taste made her feel violently nauseous, but she clenched her teeth and refused to spit it out.

"Uh, if you chew for too long, you're likely to vomit, so just swallow it quickly," Wang Qi said, feeling that it would be better not to savor such a disgusting thing.

Fang Jin struggled to swallow, and then she looked utterly despondent.

"Are you okay?" Wang Qi felt like she was on the verge of collapsing.

"I'm okay. I got a Transcendent ability called 'Shark Senses.' As long as I'm in the ocean, my five senses will be greatly enhanced, and I can even make my intuition sharper," Fang Jin said, forcibly keeping down her stomach contents; the roiling sensation was not something she could expel.

At this moment, Wang Qi finally understood why Fang Jin looked so despondent—as her sense of smell had become stronger, the odor in the cabin became even more unbearable to her.

Fang Chen also came to this conclusion and gradually turned pale.

"It's my turn now, isn't it?" Fang Chen approached, his steps shaky.

Fang Jin did not stop him. Aside from their off-putting appearance and smell, the powers granted by these foods were very real. She couldn't understand what kind of weird tastes the Heavenly Emperor had, to provide such feedback.

"Let's wait for the smell to dissipate before continuing. If it adds up a second time, I'm afraid your mother will faint," Wang Qi said, still haunted by the experience as he went to open a window for some fresh air.

He doubted he could withstand a dark cuisine with two problematic scents.

Fang Chen hurriedly nodded and then brought up his mother's situation.

In fact, it was just that Fang Jin had just obtained the Transcendent ability and could not use it freely; once she further mastered it, she would be able to control it and even seal off her five senses with this power.

However, she shouldn't expect to avoid the assault of scent and taste from dark cuisine by sealing off her senses.

After a series of ordeals, it was Fang Chen's turn; he had it a bit easier, just a piece of cheese with blue veins.

"Blue-veined cheese, you're in luck. It's not as disgusting as fermented shark meat, but with this, the chance of gaining a Transcendent ability is much smaller," Wang Qi also let out a sigh of relief; he didn't want to experience another horrifying ordeal.

Seeing this, Fang Chen also nonchalantly popped it in his mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed.

"I didn't gain Transcendent abilities, just a slight enhancement to my spiritual power," Fang Chen suppressed the odd taste in his mouth and the sensation of nausea creeping up.

"This is also a kind of gain from the efforts," Wang Qi couldn't help but self-deprecate.

Subsequently, the two quickly dealt with the scene before leaving.

Outside, Fang Jin's complexion had improved a lot, though she still seemed a bit unsettled.

"I think we lack many things, especially manpower. Just the three of us, even under the protection of the Heavenly Emperor, are not enough to confront the Godslayer Alliance," Fang Jin spoke up first, as they now truly considered each other as insiders.

"I don't plan to build a large force, but rather focus on an elite team, then take down the upper echelons of the Godslayer Alliance one by one. According to the information I've gathered, most people in the Godslayer Alliance are kept in the dark; only the top leaders are the true masterminds," Wang Qi shared his plan.

"That makes it even tougher, we're likely being hunted now, and no one will join us," Fang Chen knew well how vast the Godslayer Alliance's power was and understood the difficulty in recruiting people.

"I have a friend who is an excellent helmsman. If we can get him on our team, with his leadership skills and mine, we could develop faster," Fang Jin immediately put her friend on the market, adding, "It's just that it's unlikely he will join us, some methods may be necessary."

"You're thinking of using the Godslayer Alliance," Wang Qi immediately grasped Fang Jin's idea. It didn't matter if he was unwilling to join; when his family is ruined and he is driven to desperation, they wouldn't even need to invite him; he would come on his own.

But doing so wasn't very moral.

It definitely wasn't right for them to do such things, but it was quite suitable to let the Godslayer Alliance do it.

"The idea is good but not realistic. The Godslayer Alliance has no reason to go after a retired sea-dweller for no reason," Fang Chen shook his head. As for bribery, the premise was that the other party had something of value to offer.

Being retired, what could he have? If it's saving up for retirement, he surely had a sum, but that little money was nothing to the Godslayer Alliance, not worth the hassle.

"So we need to let him find a treasure first. Good thing I have a Transcendent item on hand that I can give to him," Wang Qi was straightforward. If the guy would become one of them, he would definitely help. It wouldn't be a problem to give him a Transcendent item. If not, he could wait to be persecuted by the Godslayer Alliance.

Whether he dies or loses his property, Wang Qi didn't care; it was just an unrelated person after all.

At this point, Wang Qi had become tough enough; perhaps such actions involved the innocent, but he didn't care.

Once, he was just an innocent underground citizen himself, forced into his current situation; he wouldn't have such an experience otherwise.

Fang Jin cared even less. Friends, how long had it been since they'd seen each other? As long as they were useful, that's all that mattered. If it weren't for Wang Qi's help, she and her son wouldn't have been able to reunite, she might not have survived.