The ship under Isadora’s control was now suspended in midair, lifted effortlessly by a Loose Immortal who hovered above it. His robes rippled despite the windless sky of Nox Pass, and his gaze was cold and calculating as he inspected the vessel.

"I’m certain this ship carried an Orion Cube fragment," he muttered. "Yet there isn’t a single trace of the holder."

He tightened his grip. The entire ship creaked as if caught in an invisible vice. The Immortal frowned, sensing something amiss, but the crew in the ship are all sleeping peacefully with blissful smile. He eventually clicked his tongue, growing impatient.

"Some sort of Hypnosis. Waste of Time. I will just look around."

Before he could finish, a faint ripple in the air signaled that something far interesting happening, he looked at direction and saw many Loose Immortals are flying.

"Looks like others also have same Idea..." He muttered.

---

Far above the turbulent ocean, three figures soared through the purple mist of Nox Pass: Lily, Isadora, and Masha, each leaving a subtle trail of energy behind them as they kept pace with the drifting currents.

"Hey, we’re actually moving in the right direction." Lily pointed ahead with a bright smile. "According to my captain, the Orion Tesseract is about to appear soon."

Isadora rolled her eyes while lazily waving a cube fragment in her hand. "That’s impossible. The Tesseract won’t reveal itself unless all twenty-two fragments gather at the same point. Your captain’s guesswork won’t hurry it."

Lily gave her a look that suggested she pitied her intelligence. "You don’t understand my captain at all. Especially how rich he is."

Isadora raised an eyebrow. "What does being rich have to do with the Orion Tesseract?"

"It has everything to do with it," Lily said calmly. "He’ll probably bribe the unnatural anomalies themselves. That’s how rich he is."

Isadora blinked. "You mean... bribing a dimensional phenomenon?"

"Yes."

"...Is your head Normal?"

"Perfectly normal, You don’t understand Captain Phantom" Lily replied without hesitation. Then she glanced ahead. "Anyway, you’re sure Arkansas is where the Tesseract will show up?"

"Yeah, yeah," Isadora waved dismissively. "I already told you. You warned your crew too, right? I’m actually curious to see what your captain will do." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Masha flew beside them in silence. Whether she was ignoring them or simply didn’t care, no one could tell.

┉┈ ◈ ◉ ◈ ┈┉

Meanwhile, within the moving shadow beneath the ocean, Tyler hovered above the Shadow Pearl in holographic form.

The cube fragment in Texa’s hand emitted a gentle pulsing glow, reacting to invisible coordinates shifting in the depths of Nox Pass. They are actually pointing at the other Cube fragments nearby.

"Each Orion fragment can take only two individuals into the Tesseract," Tyler said thoughtfully. "Which means there are only forty-four seats available."

Nearby, the group of five Loose Immortals—Texa, Alabapa, Old York, Highwa, and their self-appointed leader, Washing Gram Marvel—listened intently.

Washing Gram cleared his throat. "Yes, indeed. And since we only have two fragments among our group, we were hoping you could take one of us with you. It would mean a great deal to all of us."

"I don’t mind," Tyler said casually from within the shadow realm.

Washing Gram immediately bowed so deeply he nearly folded in half. "Thank you. Truly. Thank you!"

Tyler raised a brow. "So, who’s coming with me?"

"Of course, it will be me," Washing Gram said proudly. "As the leader, I—"

Tyler paused. "Hold on. You’re the one who doesn’t even have a fragment. How are you the leader when you’re the only one with a problem? You orange-faced buffoon."

The Loose Immortals all looked away in silent agreement.

Washing Gram coughed awkwardly. "Allow me to make it up to you. Perhaps an offering would suffice? I can give you Immortal Stones."

Tyler stared at him in disbelief. "Immortal Stones? Those were all confiscated by the Federation and the Bank of Atlantis long ago. They’re supposed to be extinct."

Washing Gram puffed his chest and produced a scroll. "Not to worry. I have this. A Sovereign Immortal Stone Bond. It’s a contract promising excellent returns in four hundred years."

The other four Immortals stared at the sky, pretending to admire the nonexistent scenery.

Tyler exhaled. "...It’s alright. You can keep it."

Washing Gram trembled, nearly tearing up. "Why do you sound like you’re pitying me? Stop looking at me like that!"

Before anyone could continue, the sea up ahead began to tremble violently. A massive wave surged toward them like a living entity, except it wasn’t water. It was a swarm of razor-toothed pirana-like beasts moving together like a tsunami.

Washing Gram didn’t even turn his head. Still wiping his eyes, he casually flicked his hand toward the incoming wall of death.

In an instant, the entire swarm exploded into a mist of blood.

Tyler forced his expression to remain neutral, but internally he was screaming. These men were on a different level entirely.

"These guys... they’re definitely stronger than the Red Dragon Master. They could wipe out the entire ship with a single gesture."

Only now did Tyler understand why they had moved through Nox Pass without facing a fraction of the danger the region was known for. These five Immortals had unintentionally acted as their walking, talking shields.

"We’re approaching Arkansas," Old York said, pointing ahead.

The ocean began swirling in a violent rotation. A massive whirlpool consumed the surrounding sea, dragging even mountain-sized Sea Titans into its vortex. One by one, they vanished beneath the spiraling waters.

At the center of the whirlpool, something enormous lay sleeping. At first glance, it looked like a round island. Those weren’t cliffs, they were teeth. Giant, tightly-closed teeth forming a massive circular maw.

The creature inhaled, sucking in seawater. Then it exhaled, blowing it back out in torrents.

Texa nodded grimly. "That is Arkansas’ Mouth. And thankfully... it’s still asleep."

Tyler stared with shock he couldn’t hide. A single mouth, large enough to swallow an island whole. Even the sea and air trembled around it.

"Alright then, we’ll wait for my crewmates," Tyler said calmly. "Once everyone arrives, we go in together. Remember, you five need to protect them. Without that, I can’t activate the Tesseract."

Highwa scratched his chin. "Do you really think he has a method to make the Tesseract appear?"

Alabapa shrugged. "I trust him more than our self-appointed leader."

The remaining Immortals nodded in agreement.

"I can hear all of you," Washing Gram Marvel snapped, glaring at them.

Tyler’s hologram faded away, leaving the Immortals hovering above the sea in silence as they waited.

Tyler entered his private room, activated every concealment array he had built, and only after confirming privacy did he take out the Orion Cube fragment. The soft glow reflected in his eyes.

"So, I need twenty-two fragments to form the full cube... and each fragment can only bring two people," Tyler muttered while tapping the cube thoughtfully.

Mana materialized beside him without warning. "What are you planning?"

Tyler smirked and pulled out his copper pot. "Guess."

Mana’s eyes narrowed. "No... you aren’t seriously—"

Tyler dropped the cube fragment into the pot, and a moment later took out a second fragment. "Now I have two."

Mana stared in disbelief. "Your plan is to duplicate Orion Fragments with that pot?"

"Yeah, that’s the plan. It’s like printing unlimited tickets to Concert," Tyler said proudly. "I’m taking all my main crew inside. I want every one of them to become Beginner Immortals."

Mana’s eyes widened further. The idea was insane... but somehow typical of him.

Tyler patted her head. "After that, you can even take care of your half-brother. The one who is also your ex. You can handle it yourself."

Mana instantly blushed. "Stop reminding me of that."

"Mana fell in love with her Oni-chan. Mana is such a bro-con," Tyler teased.

Mana jumped and wrapped her arms around his head, biting him in embarrassment. "Shut up!"

"Ouch it’s hard" Mana held her mouth and bite again

"That’s what every girls says..." Tyler yelped, laughing while prying her off. Meanwhile the Fragments fell on the floor and reacting to each other.

---

Meanwhile, Lily, Masha, and Isadora were fleeing across the chaotic skies of Nox Pass.

A colossal Sea Titan with a shell-covered upper body was barreling toward them, smashing through entire waves as if they were nothing.

"Just fly! If we stay in one spot and fight it, we’ll attract more Titans!" Lily shouted.

Masha gritted her teeth. Every instinct in her body wanted to charge forward, but she forced herself to retreat alongside them.

The Titan roared and lunged again, only for its entire upper body to explode into red mist before it could reach them.

A Loose Immortal appeared in the air, emerging from the swirling purple haze like a phantom. He hovered in front of the three women with casual confidence.

His gaze locked onto Lily.

"So... you are Temptress," he said.

Immediately, all three tensed. Even breathing felt dangerous under the pressure of a Loose Immortal.

Things had just become complicated.