Witch, I'm really not the Deep Sea Ancient God!

The sea breeze kept coming.

"They're from the Bei Country Meteorological Bureau..."

Chen Qi's icy gaze formed a straight line with the gun barrel.

Click! Click!

The sound of bullets being loaded was incessant.

Unlike the Navy that excels in combat, the Meteorological Bureau places more emphasis on concealment and surveillance.

Their goal is not to win but to gather information and send it back to their research base.

Concealment, investigation, survival, homecoming!

These brief words permeated the philosophy of the Bei Country Meteorological Bureau.

All ten people on the ship had mastered the skill of concealing their presence, and the ship itself had undergone special modifications.

For this reason, he had not sensed any presence until the ship's lights came on.

Chen Qi rested his hand on his chin, lost in thought.

The people from the Meteorological Bureau he saw on the island were completely different.

Nine second-order Transcendents, plus a third-order Transcendent team captain.

The third-tier Transcendent captain's name was Jige, whose profession—as a gun master—possessed powerful firepower.

In the Crack Sea, this setup could be called luxurious.

Each of them wore long-range firearms, steam-powered heat cutting blades, sedatives, headlamps, and self-destruct potions.

In the Witch Sea branch of the Bei Country Meteorological Bureau, the research department's investigation teams can be divided into five levels: S, A, B, C, and D.

The D level consists of cannon fodder, and the higher the level, the more dangerous missions they have completed.

Equipped with such luxurious gear, they are at least an A-ranked investigation team.

Where did you guys pop out from?

Chen Qi's heart pounded rapidly; the tentacles of Residual Fire's Touch also twisted slightly, forming a defensive stance.

If a direct confrontation were to occur, his chances of winning were not high.

He had never imagined that on this night, an A-ranked investigation team would daringly travel on an investigation ship into the depths of this area!

Even if he were captured with his abilities, it would not be easy for him to be killed.

But he would definitely be handed over to the containment control department of Shell Country, where he would be subjected to severe torture.

With the style of the Shell Country Research Institute, for the rest of his life, he would probably always be used as a tool for communicating with sea beasts, with no hope of turning things around!

This is a tough one, Chen Qi thought as he looked down into the deep sea.

The tentacular behemoth showed no reaction to the arrival of the investigation ship.

This titan was unexpectedly docile!

However, although the investigation ship's gun barrels pointed at him, they hesitated to shoot.

The gentle breeze caressed by like tiny blades, continually awakening people's fears.

The crew aboard the investigation ship kept as calm as possible.

"What on earth is this..."

A crew member whispered.

The creature before them wore a tattered Hunter's coat that floated in the water as if it had a life of its own, gently swaying with the waves.

In that moment, they remembered the notorious creature from the Witch Sea—the Deep Sea Merchant!

The Deep Sea Merchant feared the light.

A crew member increased the brightness of the ship's lights.

However, as if mocking the light, the creature before them completely ignored the ship's lights.

A female gunner, with eyes wide and palms starting to sweat, said:

"Captain Jige, what do we do now? Shall we use tranquilizer darts? I can circle behind him and land a shot in the back of the neck of this creature!"

As an A-ranked investigation team, not only were they adept at concealment, but they also commanded powerful tactical coordination and intense firepower!

They had experience in killing a variety of deep-sea monsters, and had even cooperated in repelling the juveniles of a nearshore overlord!

Moreover, their base was located in this sea!

The determined Captain Jige remained silent.

Although the aura exuded by the other party was only second-tier, clearly, this was not a monster they could easily confront.

By appearance, this seemed to be the creature from the intelligence reports—the one that hijacked the Devil Fish!

"Trouble..."

Chen Qi calmed his emotions, squatting down to touch the tentacle hair of a small green algae.

In any case, this was his territory.

The gunner, unable to suppress her hunger for battle any longer, whispered:

"Captain, there's a Bounty Order out for him."

The man before them was the tentacled monster from the Devil Fish!

The Navy had just released a bounty on him.

Chen Qi cleaned his ears.

Was the efficiency of the Navy so high these days?

At this moment, upon learning of Chen Qi's identity, the female gunner could no longer contain her desire to fight.

A mere second-order Transcendent, daring to be so arrogant, putting on airs in this place!

The reckless gunner pulled out her sniper rifle and aimed at Chen Qi:

"This person's bounty is only ten million, seems not very strong, Captain Jige, I request permission to shoot, then sedate!"

"..."

Captain Jige was indecisive, exceptionally conflicted.

He didn't know how to deal with the monster before him.

But perhaps as the gunman said, the person before them was just a criminal with a ten million bounty.

His strength, not even comparable to the Black-eyed Captain.

In a subdued voice, Jige uttered a single word:

"But..."

However, before he could finish, the gunman, with a smile on his lips in the tension, suddenly pulled the trigger, and the blue light from the barrel instantly illuminated the sea area.

Facing the monster, fear only leads to death!

The best way to overcome fear is to confront it!

Bang!

The burning demon bullet, designed to hunt giant creatures, erupted from the barrel, vowing to burn the monster before them to ashes!

Shoot directly?

Chen Qi had intended to defend.

However, what happened next was beyond his expectations.

The bullet did not fire.

To be exact, the moment it fired, it was forcibly stopped by a calloused hand.

The hand of Captain Jige, who was in charge of the operation, had shattered into blood tofu, bleeding profusely!

With his own left hand, he forcibly stopped the bullet.

"Who the hell gave you permission to shoot!"

Ignorant of the intense pain in his left hand, Captain Jige cursed angrily.

Because you detected a Second-order aura, did you really think the other party was just Second-tier? Utterly stupid!

Have you ever seen a Second-order Transcendent taking a walk at sea alone at night?

The instant the gunshot sounded, Captain Jige felt a tremor in his brain.

He thought of his obedient daughter, his cherished wife, and tomorrow's breakfast.

It was like the legendary flashbacks before death.

He looked at his hand, which was bleeding non-stop.

In fact, he himself was puzzled, why would an A-level investigation team fear a Second-order Transcendent? Someone with a bounty of ten million?

But his instincts were telling him that they had just brushed shoulders with death.

If that bullet had truly hit Chen Qi, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Life and death were but a moment apart.

After the gunshot, the tentacles at the bottom of the sea stirred slightly, creating a huge noise.

"Interesting..."

Chen Qi got up.

He hadn't expected that someone would actually intercept that shot.

They were fearful of him.

In such a situation, there was no need to show any intent to flee.

After all, if they knew his true strength, the consequences would be unimaginable.

If the Bei Country Meteorological Bureau knew there was someone with a Deep Sea Affinity talent on the high seas, at the very least a thousand people would be dispatched to capture him.

Chen Qi casually clapped his hands and sat on the withered tree, asking the crowd:

"Meteorological Bureau's investigators, what are you here for?"

Captain Jige's hand trembled slightly, the other party's words were incredibly calm, and they immediately pinpointed their identities.

This also meant that the being before them was not a corpse parasitized by a Sea Beast.

Moreover, he was not afraid of the light, making him no madman from the Sea God Pirate Group!

In his view, the level of danger of the being before him even exceeded that of the infamous Deep Sea Merchant.

Even after so many years of research at sea, he had never encountered such a rare existence.

"Captain Jige, on the Navy's Bounty Order, there's his name..."

The gunman spoke again softly, biting his teeth.

His bounty isn't high, is it?

He didn't understand why their captain would fear a monster with a ten million bounty.

This guy might be strong, but they were, after all, an A-level investigation squad!

Bear in mind, if they could take this monster in, each of them would get a million Shell Coins!

"Shut up!"

Jige cursed again, put away his shotgun, and remained vigilant:

"We've come to collect some deep-sea water samples and attempt to take the fruits from the center of the area."

Captain Jige struggled to maintain their dignity as an investigation team:

"Monster, what do you want to do? What do you need to leave this place?"

Want me to leave this place? Chen Qi leisurely sat atop the withered tree at sea, touching the tentacled head of the little green algae:

"If you can offer something that satisfies me, I may consider giving you a little reward."