Lord: Sequence Master

In the underwater harbor of Spiral Port, the surrounding seawater had been almost completely pushed back by a barrier.

The area around the extraordinary sea beast breeding farm was eerily quiet. At the moment, no human extraordinary sequences were sneaking around the area.

When the Sequence 7 superhumans joined forces to hunt the Gray Rat Ancestor, all the lower-ranked extraordinary humans had already moved to the surface to fight the Pirate Alliance. No one dared venture deeper into Spiral Port.

Later, when the Sequence 7s fled, there was even less chance of anyone returning to the underwater harbor.

Only one Sequence 9 elite Gray Rat remained, desperately guarding the breeding farm and prepared to poison the beasts at any moment.

Even if it meant destroying the farm, he wasn't going to let these extraordinary sea beast cubs fall into the hands of humans.

As Rosen approached, the elite Gray Rat saw him as just another fellow Gray Rat.

Not all Gray Rats were like their Ancestor, capable of seeing through the illusionary powers of the realm and distinguishing between humans and Gray Rats.

Thus, Rosen easily approached the elite Gray Rat, and just as he neared, he pulled his gun and fired.

The elite Gray Rat, already anxious and filled with hope at seeing a companion, was completely caught off guard.

Instead of the good news he expected, he was met with a fatal ambush.

In his last moments, the despair and hatred within him caused his spiritual energy to surge to unprecedented levels, leaving behind two glowing orbs before his body vanished.

Killing a Sequence 8 frequently triggered Rosen's hunting ability, but this was the first time it had triggered from killing a Sequence 9.

Rosen crushed the first orb and received a poison fused with extraordinary essence, capable of dealing lethal damage to most Sequence 9 extraordinary creatures and seriously harming Sequence 8 ones.

From the second orb, he received a potion that could accelerate the growth of extraordinary beast cubs.

This made Rosen realize that appearances could be deceiving. Though the elite Gray Rat had been weak in battle, offering no resistance, his talent in alchemy must have been remarkable. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dropped such valuable extraordinary potions upon his death.

Rosen pocketed the potions and entered the breeding farm, which housed two types of extraordinary sea beasts:

One was the Sea Rat, whose cubs were at Sequence 9 but could grow to Sequence 8 as adults. The other was the Bladefin Mouse Shark, with cubs at Sequence 9 that could grow to Sequence 7 as adults.

Both were hideous, and Rosen's last trace of sympathy for these extraordinary cubs vanished instantly.

Cuteness was king—no matter how powerful these creatures were, if they weren't cute, they were just tools.

Rosen summoned his Divine Domain, and while his domain couldn't fully manifest in its current state, projecting the Divine Beast Pen into the breeding farm was still possible, allowing the shadow of the Divine Domain to influence the surroundings.

As the projection of the Divine Beast Pen descended upon the farm, both the Sea Rats and the Bladefin Mouse Sharks were captured by the pen.

Rosen kept only the strongest Bladefin Mouse Shark cub, placing his hand on its head and imprinting it with a Divine Beast Seal.

Since these cubs were raised by the Gray Rats specifically to be tamed and enslaved, the Bladefin Mouse Shark cub offered no resistance, readily accepting the seal and becoming Rosen's hunter pet.

Rosen then poured the growth-accelerating potion into the Bladefin Mouse Shark. Already at the peak of Sequence 9, the shark's bloodline boiled, and in less than 15 minutes, it evolved into Sequence 8.

Now measuring ten meters long, the Bladefin Mouse Shark bit down on an underwater pressure pod and swam to shore, wagging its tail at Rosen.

Though it had been ugly as a cub, the fully grown Bladefin Mouse Shark was surprisingly impressive in appearance.

Rosen approached and opened the pressure pod, stepping inside to sit in the seat and close the hatch.

The pressure pod itself was an extraordinary item. When a Gray Rat sat inside, they could control the Bladefin Mouse Shark through a mental link. While Rosen didn't have such a link, his Divine Beast Seal gave him even greater control over the shark than the Gray Rats had.

The Bladefin Mouse Shark closed its mouth and, following Rosen's command, swam out of the farm, diving to a depth of 500 meters into the open sea.

For hunters, pets were crucial since they allowed the hunter to share some of the extraordinary creature's abilities.

The Bladefin Mouse Shark was extremely fast underwater and could manipulate water, while the mechanical fins on its back acted like razor-sharp blades, capable of detaching for remote attacks. Although Rosen couldn't share this specific ability, he could share its basic water manipulation skills.

On the other hand, Rosen could share many of his own abilities with the Bladefin Mouse Shark.

The blade fins on its back could not only carry the power of his Death Strike, but also be infused with spiritual energy. The Bladefin Mouse Shark could even use the extraordinary skills Rosen granted it, including Shadow Walk and Enhanced Perception, vastly increasing its combat power.

Rosen steered the shark as it used Shadow Walk to sneak closer to a Pirate Alliance ship near Spiral Port.

However, before they could get too close, the ship's radar lookouts had already spotted the Bladefin Mouse Shark.

Without powerful detection abilities, the Pirate Alliance wouldn't have been able to dominate the seas and eventually found the Blazing Shadow Duchy.

Under normal circumstances, it would take ten Bladefin Mouse Sharks to match a human pirate ship of the same rank.

Though the Bladefin Mouse Shark shared Rosen's extraordinary powers, it would still take six or seven of them to challenge a Sequence 8 pirate ship. Rosen had never intended to sink the ship; his goal was to lure them into a trap.

Several underwater torpedoes were launched, blocking the shark's escape routes.

However, using the instantaneous teleportation ability from Shadow Walk, the shark teleported several meters away, escaping unscathed. As it fled, a small amount of divine power from the Divine Beast Pen clung to its body, causing the pirate ship to immediately accelerate in pursuit.

At any given moment, divine power was incredibly enticing to any extraordinary being below Sequence 3.

Even if the pirates suspected a trap, the lure of such immense rewards was impossible to resist.

It was like ordinary people buying lottery tickets. Everyone knew the odds were terrible, but millions still participated. And unlike a lottery ticket, this divine aura was undeniably real.

In the bridge of the pirate ship, the captain, Rugter, excitedly shut off the Alliance's warning broadcasts.

He knew full well that the fleeing Bladefin Mouse Shark might be leading him into a trap.

But no matter what, the divine power acting as bait was authentic. Rugter had confidence that his ship, The Wavebreaker, could take the bait and make it out alive.

The spiritual realm had boundaries, and every creature within instinctively avoided those borders.

Thus, Rosen couldn't control the Bladefin Mouse Shark too far from Spiral Port, but he could lure the pirate ship toward the underwater harbor.

With one chasing and the other fleeing, they soon neared Spiral Port.

When Rugter could no longer locate the Bladefin Mouse Shark, he immediately realized it had returned to the underwater harbor.

The harbor could be teeming with Sequence 7 Gray Rat leaders, waiting to ambush him.

Though divine power was tempting, survival was more important.

Since he hadn't caught the Bladefin Mouse Shark before it escaped, Rugter reluctantly decided to withdraw.

But just as he did, a massive vortex formed on the surface of the sea.

Despite pushing The Wavebreaker to full speed and activating all its extraordinary abilities, the ship couldn't escape the vortex's pull.

Out of options, Rugter was forced to engage the ship's diving abilities and allow The Wavebreaker to be sucked underwater.

(End of Chapter)