With Han Sen leading, Long Shan’s family arrived safely upon the western beach. Many Spiky Turtles covered the beach, but there were no giant ones among them.
Han Sen’s assumption was correct; when they put
some distance between themselves and the giant
Spiky Turtle, the creature no longer targeted them. It was now headed straight for the Dragon Pool.
As the goliath crawled forward, the entire island shook with every step it took.
However, much to the horror of Long Shan’s family,
more and more giant Spiky Turtles were on their way.
About a dozen Spiky Turtles were headed towards the island from various directions. Wave upon wave of Marquise and Earl class turtles also swarmed up the
beaches, and they swiftly overran the island.
Han Sen guided Long Shan’s family to avoid every Duke class turtle they could see, but there were too many. In the end, they came face-to-face with one.
The cannon-like spikes on the turtle were gleaming, and they spewed black smoke into the air.
The turtle gave a rumbling grunt, and the spikes shot
out a strange black light. It was like a cannon firing at
Han Sen.
Han Sen jumped up and punched the giant turtle’s
back. It was too big to avoid the blow. Han Sen’s attack
drew its attention, and the giant turtle’s spikes continued to fire at him.
Han Sen continued to harass the turtle, but his power was insufficient to strike back and break its shell. Instead, he drew the monster away in order to
save Long Shan’s family.
But judging from how the situation was unfolding, if more giant turtles showed up, there would be little
Han Sen could do to help them.
More and more waves were crossing the sea as more giant Spiky Turtles revealed themselves. But the
next giant turtle they saw was different. Sitting on its
head was another turtle the size of a dinner plate.
That Spiky Turtle was the smallest of all, but it also
looked different. Normally, the spikes of a Spiky Turtle
looked like the spikes of a hedgehog. But that
plate-sized turtle’s spikes were diamond-shaped. The
entire shell looked like it was made out of a shining
black diamond. Wherever it went, all the lesser turtles
avoided its path; even the Duke Spiky Turtles moved
away.
“There is a King class Spiky Turtle in Return Ruin Sea?” Dragon Fifteen’s lady shouted.
Dragon Fifteen and Xius were in shock. They knew there were king class xenogeneics about, but they did not expect this. It was extremely rare for low-tier xenogeneics to have a King class in their ranks, as it
was usually too difficult for them to nurture one.
It was like a cat evolving into a tiger. Such an evolution was so difficult that it was practically
impossible.
The Spiky Turtles kept heading for the Dragon
Pool. The Dragon Pool itself was not too big, and it would only take one giant turtle to fill up the entire thing. Even so, many of the giant turtles were now entering, and the water in the pool was not rising. It
seemed as if the pool was bottomless.
The black diamond turtle screamed, spurring the other turtles to hurry into the pool at an even faster pace. The giant turtle fighting Han Sen abandoned the fight and went for the pool.
Long Shan lost his opponent, too. The black diamond turtle’s scream drove them all into a frenzied rush for the pool. Even if Long Shan crossed the turtle’s path again, the beast would ignore him.
“Are those turtles feeding themselves to the Dragon God?” Long Yan asked curiously as he watched
the turtles.
Long Shan did not speak because he could not
answer.
They knew the Dragon God sometimes appeared in the Dragon Pool, but they did not know where the creature actually came from. Neither did they know what was at the bottom of the pool.
“Little Boy, can you tell big sis about the Dragon
God you mentioned?” asked a woman with a soft voice.
Long Shan looked over, and he saw a pretty woman
with an attractive human upper body. The lower body
was a snake’s tail. The Gana woman stood next to Long
Yan, and she smiled as she stroked his head.
Long Shan was a Marquise, and yet he hadn’t
noticed when she arrived.
Long Shan started to say something, but he
noticed another man and woman who were also
standing there. They had horns and dragon wings,
meaning they were pure Dragons.
Long Shan and the others had never met Dragon Fifteen before, but they recognized pure members of their race. They all bowed quickly.
Dragon Fifteen signaled them to rise. “What was the Dragon God he just mentioned?”
Long Shan told them the story of the Dragon God. Dragon Fifteen frowned, then he asked, “Did the Dragon
God drop any dragon scales?”
“Sir, we did not offer it enough of a sacrifice this time, so it did not provide us with any. And furthermore,
we refined the last ones it gave us.” Long Shan spoke
with fear in his voice. He was worried that Dragon Fifteen might pin the blame on him.
Dragon Fifteen frowned. He looked at Long Shan, but he did not say anything. He then looked at Han Sen
and asked, “Who are you? And why are you here?”
“I was brought here by the Dragon God.” Han Sen told him the story he had fabricated for Long Shan
already.
Dragon Fifteen did not believe him, though. He looked at Long Shan, and Long Shan quickly said, “San Mu did emerge from the Dragon Pool as soon as the
Dragon God appeared.”
“If you came from the Dragon Pool, then you must know about it. Please, take us there.” Dragon Fifteen
looked at the Dragon Pool. Almost all of the turtles
were inside it by now.
The pool was not too large, but it had consumed all
those Spiky Turtles easily. As the last of them passed through, the pool became very quiet.
The Dragon God brought me here. When I came
out, I was up on the surface. I don’t actually know
anything about the Dragon Pool itself,” Han Sen said.
“Since you are now in Return Ruin Sea, you will have to do as I bid if you wish to leave.” Dragon Fifteen sounded calm, but his words were foreboding.
“If I take you guys down, will you let me leave this place?” Han Sen asked Dragon Fifteen.
“That depends on your performance,” Dragon Fifteen said unhelpfully.
Han Sen thought about it for a bit before agreeing. “Okay.”
“Xius, are you entering the pool?” Dragon Fifteen
asked Xius.
“This is a rare occurrence. If you do not object to my coming, I would indeed like to see more of the
pool.” Xius looked happy.
Dragon Fifteen did not say anything. He allowed Han Sen to lead them down into the pool.
