"The entire Red Dragon Boat... is your Domain, right?"

The words hit like a blade.

The Red Dragon Master’s eyes widened and smiled.

"Even if you find out, so what?" the Red Dragon Master said, unfazed. His crimson robes fluttered as the dragon-carved pillars around them pulsed with faint light. "Every Dragon Boat is crafted from Cedar blood dyed in ancient dragon blood. If I integrate my domain fully into the vessel and absorb all the dormant blood within... I may break through to Beginner Immortal." He exhaled slowly, the weight of centuries pressing into his tone. "But the process is unimaginably slow. It should take at least one hundred thousand years."

Tyler tilted his head. "Nice ambition. But have you ever considered the Orion Cube? You could become an Immortal in an instant."

The Red Dragon Master stiffened. His expression darkened. "...My divination said it’s not possible."

He didn’t elaborate. The Orion Cube wasn’t merely useless to him. It was dangerous.

According to his divination, the Cube could lead directly to his demise. That single prophecy was enough to keep even a Loose Immortal far away.

Tyler shrugged. "Suit yourself. I’m just offering shortcuts."

Though Tyler didn’t really mean it.

The Red Dragon Master waved his hand dismissively. "Enough. I am more curious about something else. How do you plan to break my boat? My domain is already merged with it—completely fused. Even though my domain is weakened because of the spread, the connection strengthens its defense a hundredfold. No matter what you do... you can’t even scratch—"

He stopped mid-sentence.

A long crack ran across the floor. That was after effects of his attacks against Tyler.

But before he could point it out, the cracks healed instantly with a soft shhh, the cedar wood knitting back together like living flesh.

"...you see?" he finished stubbornly.

Tyler grinned behind the Phantom Mask, shadows crawling across his expression.

"Hehe... I wouldn’t worry about the healing cracks."

"Why not?"

"Because it already started."

The Red Dragon Master frowned. "Started? What—"

A sudden, otherworldly hum filled the room.

The air warped.

Then—

A giant chessboard materialized beneath them, composed of interlocking squares that shifted colors. Red and blue tiles flickered randomly, glowing like divine runes.

The Celestial Chess Domain.

Tyler glanced around, mildly confused. "Huh? Last time it was Red and white. Before that, Black and white. Now it’s red and blue... seriously, how do I control this thing?"

The Red Dragon Master’s eyes widened. "A Celestial Domain...! I can feel Immortal Qi in it."

Tyler ignored him, examining the flashing patterns. "Whatever. Red lowers physical defense. Blue lowers mental defense." He pointed casually. "And look—the blue tile is under you."

The tile beneath the Red Dragon Master lit up with a fierce azure glow.

Before he could summon any defense, something pierced into his consciousness—

A razor-sharp mental attack.

His body stiffened. His eyes glazed.

He collapsed instantly.

---

Inside His Mind

The Red Dragon Master found himself standing in a dark void. A faint blue glow illuminated a girl with black hair— Mana—floating with her legs crossed casually.

"Hello, brother," Mana said sweetly.

He growled. "A Grandmaster spirit invading my consciousness... impressive, but still too weak to—"

He froze.

Another divine sense surged toward him.

Colder. Sharper. Loose Immortal level.

Thousands of razor-sharp icicles erupted in the void, raining down on his weakened mental form.

"What—?!" he gasped.

Tyler was attacking him from the outside—

Having exploited the weakened mental defenses caused by the blue tile.

The icicles pierced through his spiritual body, ripping apart the stability of his consciousness.

---

Back in the Real World

Tyler stood over the sleeping Red Dragon Master, twirling his Abyssal Trident. "Perfect nap time. Now..."

He stabbed downward with full force.

The Abyssal Trident struck the Red Dragon Master’s chest—

And shattered.

Fragments scattered across the floor.

"Tsk." Tyler clicked his tongue. "Should’ve expected that. His body is basically a mountain and all my weapons are just toothpicks."

He looked around the enormous chamber— of the Dragon Boat. He felt like Hundreds of veins of dragon blood pulsed through the cedar walls like glowing roots.

"Alright then," Tyler muttered, cracking his knuckles. "If that man can’t die, the boat can."

He reeled his fist back.

Aura swirled— Wind coiled— Power gathered—

And he punched the ground with full force.

BOOM.

The entire chamber shook. Wood shattered. A crater formed under his fist.

Then—

The cedar fibers writhed. Regrew. Healed instantly.

Tyler exhaled sharply.

"Annoying boat."

But his eyes burned behind the mask.

He wasn’t done yet.

---

Soon, every Phantom Pirate heard the command echo sharply within their minds.

"I’ve decided to break the Dragon Boat. Attack with full power on my cue—only from far away." Tyler’s voice transmission carried an eerie calmness, one that made even Lily straighten.

Mathilda stopped along with Lady Reaper . Lily immediately stored the defeated dragon. Astrid and Every Phantom Pirates looked baffled.

Yet, No one questioned him.

Tyler never spoke with that tone unless he was about to do something... catastrophic.

---

Meanwhile, deep within the giant vessel, Tyler pulled out a sealed glass tube filled with swirling green chemical liquid. The moment the light hit it, the mixture shimmered like venomous jade.

This wasn’t an ordinary explosive.

This was the most powerful pre-Immortal explosive ever created— held in check by complex seals. One vial could vaporize a Master-level Immortal. Grandmasters and above could survive only by using their Domains to escape the blast radius. The substance was banned in multiple countries.

Tyler rarely used it.

---

Inside the Red Dragon Master’s consciousness

The dreamscape rippled like boiling oil as the Red Dragon Master seized Mana by the neck. She kicked, but his strength here was overwhelming.

"You have turned into interesting spirit," he growled, examining her with his single hateful eye. "I smell the scent of the World Tree on you. That means your master is growing a World Tree inside his consciousness."

Mana smirked despite his grip tightening.

"That is dangerous. If he cannot feed it resources, the tree will consume his mind—turning him into fertilizer." He leaned closer. "Your master is a lunatic."

Mana rolled her eyes. "The very last problem he’ll ever have is resources. He’s rich. Like... obscenely rich."

The Red Dragon Master narrowed his eye. "Rich or not, he cannot stop me."

---

Back in the physical world

Tyler hummed to himself, completely unaffected by the chaos raging inside Red Dragon Master mind. He placed the green tubes into a copper pot the lifted a copper ladle.

He looked like a chef preparing soup.

A soup that could take out Islands.

He dipped the ladle into the pot and casually poured the glowing chemicals over the ship interior. One tube clinked to the ground. Then another. Then a dozen.

Soon, the entire chamber floor was covered.

Tyler inhaled thoughtfully.

"...Hmm."

He walked out and proceeded to every single floor— ground, second, living quarters, stores— methodically pouring more tubes everywhere like a housewife sprinkling detergent.

By the time he was done, he stood at the deck, looking around at the dragon boat filled with explosives.

"Ahem," he muttered, rubbing his neck. "I think... I overdid something."

He transmitted instantly:

"Everyone, cancel the attack. Retreat. Use the Shadow Pearl. Get as far away as possible."

Nobody questioned him again.

Because when Tyler sounded nervous, it meant the world was about to explode.

Within seconds, the entire crew vanished into the submerged shadows.

Tyler stepped back, melted into shadow, and disappeared with them.

---

Inside the Red Dragon Master’s consciousness

He crushed her neck.

Mana’s body shattered into motes of shimmering light that dissolved into the darkness.

She was dead.

Temporarily.

The Red Dragon Master grunted, brushing phantom light from his hand. "I will deal with you permanently after I kill him. I will also take that world tree sapling."

His consciousness surged—

The Red Dragon Master felt a crack —like a shift in reality— and he opened his eyes.

His breath froze.

Everywhere around him—every wall, every floor, every inch of the chamber—was filled with green explosive tubes.

Hundreds. Thousands. Even more than that?Enough to blast the entire boat into dust floating across the whole sea.

His face drained of color.

"What... did he... DO?!"

For the first time in years—centuries—fear slithered down his spine.

He quickly activated his domain trying to eject all the Tubes outside.

---

Inside the Shadow Pearl

Tyler and the Phantom Pirates raced through the submerged shadows, the ship moving at its fastest speed. The distorted world outside flickered as the shadow currents hummed.

Inside Tyler’s consciousness, Mana reformed instantly. When she was killed by the Feng Immortal, it had taken months for her to reconstruct herself— but now, she returned in a single heartbeat.

It was proof of just how much she had grown.

"Since everyone’s here..." Tyler said with a calm smile, "let the fireworks begin."

Tyler raised a finger dramatically.

He whispered one soft word:

"Boom."

Far behind them, deep inside the massive Dragon Boat, the tubes activated at once.

A faint glow—

A crack—

A flash of impossible green light—

And then—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The sea split. The sky brightened. Reality shook.