Chapter 193: Chapter 191: The Sea Is Full of Fish, So the Sea God Is Also a Fish

Southern Border City.

Hilia’s arrival did not cause any stir.

This city is the largest city in the Ista Empire closest to the Star Spirit Tree, and also a very important border city.

As Hilia walked into the city, she saw not only humans, but also people from the Elf Race and the Beastman nations.

Last time she transferred here, she didn’t look carefully, hastily returning. Now that she had calmed down, she noticed the differences between this place and Huijin City.

With the Star Spirit Tree as the boundary, the Ista Empire is at the center of Starfall Continent stretching to the northeast, bordering the Land of the Far North to the north, with a coastline to the east, and southeast close to the Star Spirit Tree. Near the Star Spirit Tree, it borders the Elf Race and the Beastman nation, making Southern Border City the hub for communication between Ista Empire and the two non-human nations.

"This city is also one of the few cities with city walls." Hilia gazed at Southern Border City, sighing in awe.

She queued up with the crowd to enter the city.

Outside the city walls, the City Lord had set up checkpoints to verify people’s identities. For those who were not local, a pass was required to enter, and the pass cost money to obtain.

Although Hilia was in disguise, her Divine Magic Academy badge meant her identity did not need to be checked—only the badge itself was inspected for authenticity; then she could enter directly.

Incredibly convenient.

As the top magic school in the whole Empire, Divine Magic Academy was very confident, unafraid of counterfeits. Likewise, they didn’t worry about lost badges being picked up and used for criminal acts.

Because this badge was bound to the student’s Magic Power, using a binding method similar to Magic Puppets. If lost, the badge’s Magic Power supply would be cut off and it couldn’t be activated.

So Hilia entered the city smoothly, her disguise undiscovered.

This let her breathe a small sigh of relief.

"If I got exposed, it’d be hard to stay hidden now."

Thank goodness.

Silently sneaking in... Oh no, not sneaking in—entering Southern Border City, Hilia curiously watched the long-eared elves and the beast-eared beastmen girls, and suddenly popped a soul-searching question:

"Some beastman races look almost like elves, only differing in ears and fur, maybe with an extra tail. So, why aren’t elves considered part of the Beastman Race?"

"Because the Elf Race has their own God. Beastmen only have the Beast God," Rose explained.

"Oh, so that’s why. No wonder."

Hilia suddenly understood.

For now, Hilia had no connections with the Elf Race or the Beastman Empire. After a few curious glances, she stopped paying attention and wandered the streets of Southern Border City.

"First, find an inn, then go to the mage market or Mage Guild to buy a few hundred blank scrolls..."

After comparing several inns, Hilia finally picked one close to the Divine Hall of Southern Border City. This one was pricier, but both the environment and service were pretty good, so she liked it.

Of course, she had another purpose in mind.

"I refuse to believe I’ll end up destroying the Divine Hall of Southern Border City this time too!"

The girl was desperate to prove herself.

Rose said nothing.

Once she’d booked her room, he had her summon the Magic Puppet, took over its body, and dug the Sea God Divine Fragment out of Hilia’s pack.

"When you go buy scrolls, pick up some other materials for me, too. I need them."

Hilia curiously watched Rose fiddling with the Heart of the Magic Puppet. Not suspecting anything, she memorized the materials Rose requested and then left the room.

After she left, Rose placed the Sea God Divine Fragment on his fingertip and sent his Spiritual Power into it.

The Divine Fragment spun at his fingertip, and a faint trace of Spiritual Power, imitating Hilia’s mental fluctuactions, slowly began to resonate with the Divine Fragment.

"Given the Sea God’s caution, if anything happens to this Divine Fragment, the other party will probably just abandon it. Then, it’ll be hard to track them down."

"So I need to set out enough bait. For example... let him sense a body that’s a perfect match—so tempting he’ll send someone to collect intelligence."

...

Star Spirit Forbidden Land, in the depths.

Inside an ordinary section of stone wall, there was another world.

Countless Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association heretics were shivering as they held their prayer ritual in the Great Hall of Prayer.

On the high platform before them stood a person in a blue robe embroidered with ocean waves, trembling even harder than the believers below.

A thick fear permeated the air.

"God... Lord God, please calm your anger..."

"This... was purely accidental..."

"...We... have already sent people to recover the loss..."

"...the God-given Spiritual Object..."

"...we will definitely recover the God-given Spiritual Object for you, Lord God!"

"..."

"..."

"What?! The one who stole the God-given Spiritual Object—was a perfect deep-sea offering?"

"Understood! Divine Envoy, please petition the God for us. We are willing to retrieve the offering for Lord God!"

"...We can’t go? Why not..."

"...Let him go?"

"But since he received the God’s grace, he’s been driven mad by the power, acting all crazy. Are you sure about this?"

"...Our sins are unforgivable. We shouldn’t question the God’s orders. Divine Envoy, please forgive us. Whale forever serves Lord Roster faithfully!"

"...Understood."

The headquarters of Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association remained hidden within the Star Spirit Forbidden Land. Now, with a series of divine oracles passing from the ’Divine Envoy’, they began to act.

And thousands of miles away, out at sea, on a certain island, a hidden statue deep within the island was emitting faint waves of Divine Power.

"Is this bait, or just a coincidence?"

"Zeus, Zeus, we gave you everything. You can’t really want to stop us from being reborn, can you?"

"A perfectly compatible offering... No matter what, I have to go check it out. Even Zeus wouldn’t suspect I’m hiding inside a tiny human’s Magic Puppet."

...

In Southern Border City, Rose stopped the resonance of his Spiritual Power.

Everything that needed to be conveyed had already been sent.

If the other side still didn’t act, he’d have to use another plan.

"But that method is a bit too aggressive. If I push, the other party might just cut the fragment off, let it become an independent Divine Format, and still refuse to show up."

Rose’s backup plan was to directly drain the Divine Power from the Divine Fragment, damaging the Sea God’s essence.

This method is extremely aggressive, would destroy the integrity of the Divine Format, and could even cause the whole Divine Format to collapse.

In that case, any aggressive God would definitely come after it.

But since the Sea God is the type to rather lose part of his Divine Format than expose himself...

Rose figured the other side might ruthlessly sever the connection, not caring if the Divine Format was incomplete, as long as he wasn’t exposed.

"It’s a last resort. Divine Fragments really are precious—don’t use it unless there’s no alternative."

Just then, Hilia returned from outside.

She saw Rose fiddling with the faintly glowing Divine Fragment and was a little envious.

"Lord Rose, you said you’d use this Heart of the Magic Puppet to upgrade my current Magic Puppet’s heart—is that true?"

"Mm. The materials I asked you to buy are for assisting with the upgrade," Rose nodded.

"What do you need me to do?"

"You don’t need to do anything. Just obediently watch in your Spiritual Space."

"Okay!"

Having grown used to Rose taking over her body, Hilia immediately struck a ’do as you please’ pose and looked at Rose with anticipation.

Rose: "..."