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

To survive, the investigative team took out their valuable possessions, even including their weapons.

Especially Reena, who, aside from her clothes, took out everything on her person.

Chen Qi rested his hand on these items, tallying them like a merchant weighing souls and money.

The most valuable among them was the giant sniper rifle in Reena's hands— the Magic Bullet Sniper Rifle: Giant Killer!

It came with the skill "Armor-Piercing." Bullets fired from this gun were at least ten times more powerful than those from normal firearms!

It could also be loaded with many powerful beast-hunting bullets.

To buy this gun through official channels would cost at least eight million.

If purchased from the black market, it would cost at least ten million.

The other items included some potions, their equipment, two backpack cards, and two million Shell Coins.

All together, these were worth a huge fortune of ten million!

For a temporary investigative ship, managing to gather ten million Shell Coins was already quite difficult.

With this money, whether upgrading their small flier or simply switching to a new ship altogether was not an issue!

Am I really so terrifying? Chen Qi gently rubbed the hair-like tentacles of the small green algae.

The investigative team was not an ordinary vessel, they truly dared to risk their lives for a piece of intelligence!

Even if they encountered the overlord of the coastal waters, they would dare to open fire and fight.

In their eyes, he seemed more terrifying than an ugly Deep Sea Merchant.

Captain Jige asked,

"Monster, are you satisfied now?"

He knew well that the monsters of the deep sea were incredibly greedy, like the Deep Sea Merchants, who, after making a trade, would want to claim their souls and lives.

"It's barely equivalent to your souls,"

Chen Qi said with a smile, accepting the items.

Even if he killed them all, he wouldn't be able to get anything valuable anymore.

Moreover, he himself had no intention to strike, and might not necessarily be able to defeat the investigative team.

Chen Qi sneered,

"Very well, I'll give you some reward."

Chen Qi emphasized the word "reward."

At the mention of "reward," the ten members of the small team shuddered, all looking toward the tentacles of the Residual Fire Touch with eyes full of fear.

Reward!

A monster's reward is never a good thing!

Normally, such a "reward" could either taint their souls or their flesh!

Of course, Chen Qi was a decent person and had none of these excessive thoughts, deciding to give them something good.

He didn't want to become a sea monster that everyone feared and everyone attacked, like the Deep Sea Merchant.

If he were just a monster who knows only how to rob, he would be no different from the savage sea beasts like the Armor Shark and the giant sea snake.

On the other hand, it was also about shaping his reputation.

The fury of the navy, not even a Second-tier Transcendent like him could withstand it.

He needed a longer-term view.

If he could give away some things, more people would be willing to venture into dangerous territories to seek his whereabouts.

He could engage in some pleasant trades with adventurers.

However, why did these people look at me so strangely after hearing about the reward?

Chen Qi puzzled, took out one-tenth of the Black Whale Blood from his backpack card.

This was the Black Whale Blood he had snatched from the Black Gloves.

Black Whale Blood was very expensive, but as the Crack Tide continued to intensify, the Black Whale Blood would become more abundant and cheaper.

By the time Black Whale Blood became famous, such a small amount of Black Whale Blood would be worth about five hundred thousand.

Black Whale Blood was of no use to Chen Qi; he would not use this dangerous item.

Now, the only buyers of Black Whale Blood were the Black Whale Group, Shell Country Research Institute, and the Sea God Pirate Group where the Deep Sea Merchant belonged.

Selling Black Whale Blood was extremely difficult.

One-tenth of the Black Whale Blood, just to build his good reputation then!

Chen Qi formed a small, wriggling ball of Black Whale Blood and tossed it to them,

"Here's your reward."

Now, Black Whale Blood had not yet become widespread in the ocean.

Jige's body shook as he caught the Black Whale Blood,

"A reward isn't tentacles? Or eating us? Or implanting seeds in us to turn us into monsters?"

The Bei Country Meteorological Bureau was fully studying the Black Whale Blood, which was an extremely valuable item for them.

Holding the Black Whale Blood, Jige was shocked.

This Black Whale Blood was processed!

He had never expected that the monster before them would actually give them a reward, rather than a lash of tentacles!

Wait, if they could bring more money and weapons, is it possible to exchange for more Black Whale Blood!

Didn't bring cash today... Jige was full of regret.

Legend had it that to obtain Black Whale Blood, one must defeat the sea beasts infected by it, which required at least Third Rank strength.

Beyond that, they need to master a powerful blood extraction technique!

That is to say, the person before them was definitely not just a Second-tier.

In her imagination, Reena felt more and more that the person before her was unfathomable.

In her heart, she had begun to pray, hoping that the monster before them would not seed humans like parasitic sea beasts do.

It was about time to leave.

Staying too long might attract the attention of others.

Chen Qi gave a slight smile, collected the items, and walked on water,

"Until we meet again."

The group stared blankly at Chen Qi's retreating figure, stunned in their spots, unable to calm themselves for a long time.

This time, they successfully redeemed their souls.

The breeze carried the sea waves, brushing their faces.

"We survived..."

Captain Jige lit a cigarette, wiped off his sweat, and felt lucky to have lived another day.

After he left, the people stared at Reena, their faces displeased.

If not for the monster's generosity, perhaps, today, they would have become nourishment for this place.

Unable to hold back, Captain Jige wanted to scold her:

"Reena, you today..."

"Captain, I know I was wrong. All your losses are mine to compensate, and I'll treat you all to a big meal," she said.

With one sentence, their mouths were all sealed.

Reena hung her head. Silently, she pulled out a freshly issued bounty order from the ship.

It was the bounty for the Flower Witch and Chen Qi!

The bounty for the Flower Witch remained the same, twenty-two million.

But the monster's bounty was only ten million!

No name, no title, no additional information.

On the bounty order, only one thing was written: this monster was a Second-order Transcendent.

"False advertising!"

Reena clenched the paper, her hands turning bright red.

This mission, although she was also reckless,

the key reason for her confidence was this bounty order!

On the Witch Sea, the bounty order was an important measure of one's strength.

Many people also chose their fights based on the amount of the bounty.

Reena clenched her teeth and said,

"Why is the monster's bounty lower than the witch's?"

Why?

Jige exhaled a long ring of smoke,

"Who knows? Perhaps, in the navy's eyes, the witch is more important?"

After tonight, they felt that the discrepancy between the two bounties was too great.

Reena exclaimed angrily,

"Nonsense, this tentacle hunter can manipulate tides, it can absolutely defeat that Third-order Witch easily!"

"Why should the witch even be compared with the tentacle hunter? I feel, if the witch and that monster fought a hundred times, the monster would undoubtedly defeat the witch all hundred times!"

The others conducting the investigation agreed.

Even the witch couldn't leisurely stroll through the territory of the Deep Sea Titan with a sea demon.

Moreover, that monster had also provided them with the rare Black Whale blood!

The crowd unanimously agreed that this bounty order was deceiving adventurers!

Allowing this bounty to spread further would only harm more people!

It must be stopped before more people were deceived!

Reena asked,

"Which brainless idiot set the bounty on this order? I'll go and settle accounts with him!"

"Admiral Bai Ou..."

"........"

Everyone fell silent.

Jige shook his head, smiling bitterly,

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. When we get back, we'll report to our superiors and demand his bounty be raised."

Reena nodded seriously,

"We must report today's events to the navy accurately."

...

...

Morning, Sea Demon Island, hotel.

Daylight sprinkled down in the morning.

"..."

The Flower Witch rose from her soft bed and combed her smooth long hair, ensuring it was perfectly hidden under her hood.

Then she got dressed and prepared to leave!

She had gone to bed directly after returning to the hotel last night because she was exhausted.

Up to now, she still felt very tired; her body ached from the side effects of the blood flower disease.

She was in no mood to apply any potion.

Because she discovered that Chen Qi was gone!

Next door in the hotel, he wasn't there.

Chen Qi might have met with trouble, he might even have been captured... The Flower Witch shook her head, put on her hood, and picked up her magic wand.

If Chen Qi had been captured, the consequences were unimaginable!

Bang! Bang!

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Guest, today's newspaper."

Outside, the hotel's newsboy spoke softly.

"Okay."

The Flower Witch carefully peered out the door and took the newspaper into the room.

The headline of the newspaper was 'Witch and Monster'!

There, shockingly, were photos of her and Chen Qi.

It covered the story of the two of them hijacking the Devil Fish vessel and escaping.

Although neither of them had shown their true strength, because the battleground was a sea demon lair, their actions were wildly sensationalized by the paper!

Appearing in the newspaper did not please the Flower Witch.

As she knew, the more famous one became, the easier it was to attract death.

The Flower Witch continued reading.

#Blood Blade Pirate Group announces, due to the captain's illness, all affairs to be managed by Mrs. Blood#

#Naval VICTORY! Black Whale Group in continuous retreat!#

#Sea God Pirate Group conducts a large-scale sacrificial ceremony, pouring ten tons of milk and a hundred live chickens into the sea!#

Then, she suddenly noticed that, in the bounty column at the bottom of the newspaper, Chen Qi's bounty was even higher than hers!

And, the bounty order for Chen Qi had some peculiar remarks written.

'Be careful of being seeded,' 'Be careful of being sacrificed,' 'Man-eating monster,' 'Deep sea devotee'...

"???"

The Flower Witch's mouth slightly opened.

Last night, what had Chen Qi gotten himself into?