The Pacific roiled beneath the Black Behemoth as the colossal fortress-truck descended. It didn't fall—no, it glided, sinking with an unnatural grace. The Spirit-Fusion Drive thrummed beneath the floors, its reverse-gravity field folding the pressure of the ocean around the ship instead of against it. A shimmering blue kinetic bubble parted the water like a curtain.
Inside, the living room darkened with every meter. The cheerful blue of sunlight faded into navy… then bruise-colored midnight… and then into pitch so absolute it made the reinforced windows look like void gates.
"Depth: eight thousand meters…" Lin Xiya whispered. Her fingers were locked around the sensor console, knuckles pale. "Pressure levels are—calculating—terrifying. If the shield collapses, we're going to compress into a dice-sized cube."
"The shield won't collapse." Saya didn't even look up, but the strain in her voice betrayed her. "Reactor output is stable. Actually—300% efficiency thanks to the Titan Spine. So stop panicking."
Su Chen reclined on his throne, the Trident of the Abyssal Sovereign resting across his lap. The weapon was vibrating—like a living thing recognizing its territory. Or returning home.
"Deeper," he said.
Esdeath stepped closer to the window, her eyes narrowing as the dark thickened around them. "Master… there are things out there."
And there were.
Shapes moved in the black—slow, enormous, graceful in a way that made the human mind instinctively recoil.
Pale eels longer than buses. Squid with vaguely human expressions, their faces twisted in agony. Schools of skeletal fish drifting like underwater ghosts.
This was the Abyssal Zone.
A world that sunlight had abandoned millions of years ago.
Lin Xiya swallowed. "Depth: fifteen thousand meters. We've hit bottom."
The floodlights engaged.
Every waifu in the room fell silent at the same time.
It should've been a barren trench.
It wasn't.
A city sprawled across the ocean floor—a metropolis forged from impossible architecture. Golden coral spiraled up like drill towers. Crystal domes held back the ocean with decaying magic. Monumental statues, shaped like forgotten gods, loomed in half-ruined poses.
But the beauty was dead.
Corrupted.
Black veins pulsed through the golden coral. Purple miasma seeped from cracked crystal domes. The stone gods wept oily sludge that coiled upward like smoke.
A notification floated in front of Su Chen's sight.
> [Location: The Fallen Kingdom of Atlantis — Abyss Layer]
[Status: Corrupted / Sealed]
[Danger Level: Extreme]
"It looks dead," Natasha muttered, grip tightening around her weapon.
"It's not dead," Su Chen said, rising from his throne. "It's undead."
He walked toward the airlock.
Shizuka nearly choked. "You're going out?! At this depth your body will—"
Su Chen tapped his golden chest.
"I am Gold. Gold doesn't squash."
---
The Descent
The airlock opened with a hiss. Water surged in like a beast eager to swallow prey.
Su Chen stepped forward.
The ocean crushed down on him instantly.
Fifteen thousand meters of pressure—more than enough to burst submarines—slammed into his body like a collapsing mountain.
His golden skin flared with light.
> [Indestructible Diamond Body — Gold Stage]
The pressure stopped.
Then broke.
Then bent around him like a bowing servant.
His acquired gills flared, pulling oxygen from the freezing abyss. His Titan-enhanced lungs adapted seamlessly.
Su Chen lifted the Trident.
Golden light pierced the darkness.
That's when he saw the eyes.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Blinking open in the ruins.
The corrupted Atlantean Guards emerged—upper bodies humanoid, lower halves twisted into tentacled void-flesh. Gray rotting scales clung to their skin. Their jaws hung loose like puppets possessed.
> [Target: Corrupted Atlantean Guard • Level 25 (Elite)]
[Affiliation: Void Cult]
"Intru… der…" one rasped, bubbles trailing from its jaw. "Fresh… blood…"
They rushed him—fast enough to shatter sound underwater.
Su Chen didn't step aside.
He swung the Trident.
"Ocean Authority: Repulsion."
The water turned into a battering ram.
BOOOOM.
The shockwave crushed fifty elite guards instantly—bones imploding, bodies folding inward as hydrostatic force tore them apart.
"Weak," Su Chen said, voice echoing calmly through the abyss.
He approached the massive central gate.
And something huge stepped in front of him.
---
The Jailor of Atlantis
A titan of a creature—six meters tall, plated in armor made from shark skulls. He wielded a rusted anchor larger than a car.
> [Boss: The Jailor of Atlantis]
[Level: 40 — Lord]
[Strength: 90]
[Ability: Tsunami Strike]
"You dare claim the King's Fork… human?" the Jailor roared. "Thief!"
He swung the anchor.
The ocean parted around the strike—cavitation bubble forming like an underwater explosion.
Su Chen watched it with bored eyes.
"Ninety Strength? Alright."
His own Strength: 100+ (and rising).
He released the Trident.
He caught the anchor.
With his bare hands.
CLANG.
The shockwave blasted silt upward in a kilometer-wide cloud.
The Jailor froze, stunned. "You… stopped it?!"
"I told you. I'm stronger."
> [Flesh Manipulation: Muscle Explosion]
Su Chen pulled.
The Jailor stumbled forward helplessly.
Su Chen's fist met his chest in the same moment.
"Gold Body: Impact."
CRACK.
Armor shattered. Flesh ruptured. The Jailor's torso imploded from front to back.
He died instantly.
> [EXP +3500]
[Copy: Shark Skin Armor]
[Corpse Stored]
Su Chen retrieved the Trident and approached the sealed gate.
The vortex lock recognized him.
CLICK.
The doors opened.
---
The Princess in the Amber
The palace interior was dry—protected by ancient magic that still clung to life.
Treasures glittered everywhere.
Weapons. Pearls. Enchanted armor.
Su Chen ignored all of it.
His attention went to the center of the room.
A woman floated in a sphere of amber energy—her body suspended as if time had stopped around her.
Crimson hair drifting like flames underwater.
Pearl-white skin adorned with green scales.
A shimmering rainbow fishtail.
A crown of shells resting atop her head.
Princess Mera.
She was awake.
"You…" Her telepathic voice trembled. "You killed the Jailor?"
"He was in my way."
> [Target: Mera — Last Royal of Atlantis]
[Potential: SSS — Ocean Goddess]
[Status: Mana Drained / Sealed]
"Are you here to kill me?" she whispered. "Or hand me to the Void?"
"I'm here to collect," Su Chen said. "And you clearly need new management."
"The Trident chose you?" Mera's eyes widened. "Impossible… only the Blood of the Sea can—"
"I have many bloods."
He placed his hand on the amber sphere.
> [Amber Seal: Titan Grade]
[Analysis: Time-Space Lock]
"System," Su Chen said. "Break."
Blue light rippled across his hand.
Not smashing—unlocking.
The amber melted.
Mera fell.
Su Chen caught her.
Her body was cold, slick like ocean silk. Her eyes shimmered with fear and awe.
"The water outside is corrupted," she whispered. "If I leave… I'll become like them."
"Not on my watch."
He offered a vial.
"Drink."
She did.
Purple veins vanished. Color returned to her tail.
"You saved me…" Her fingers pressed against his chest. "Why?"
"Because Atlantis belongs to me now. And a kingdom needs a queen."
He lifted her in a princess carry.
"Hold tight. Let's get you to clean water."
---
The Looting
Before leaving—
"System," Su Chen said. "Area Loot."
Everything vanished.
Weapons. Statues. Pearls. Artifacts.
All gone in a second.
Mera stared, horrified. "That was… my family's—"
"I'm storing it responsibly."
He exited the palace and sealed the gates behind him.
Atlantis would remain asleep—until he decided otherwise.
---
Back in the Behemoth
He walked into the living room—dripping wet, carrying a mermaid princess.
Saeko pinched the bridge of her nose. "Another one? And this one is… aquatic?"
"She's royalty," Su Chen corrected. "Mera, meet the squad. Squad, meet our new Hydro-Guide."
Saya leaned in immediately. "I require a DNA sample—"
"Not now," Su Chen said. "She needs water."
He pointed. "Esdeath, pool."
Esdeath dragged Mera away with a suspiciously predatory interest.
Su Chen sat on his throne.
The Trident pulsed.
> [Quest Complete: Conquest of the Abyss]
[Level Up: 10 → 11]
[Unlocked: World Fusion]
"World Fusion?" he muttered.
> [Fuse a Pocket Dimension into the Real World]
His brows lifted.
"So I can take entire worlds… and stitch them into my territory."
That was new.
That was dangerous.
That was fun.
He rose.
"Jiang Rou. Surface."
"Where to next, Boss?"
Su Chen looked skyward.
"We've taken the sea. We've taken the land. We've taken the air."
He smirked.
"Now? I want space."
His next target gleamed in his mind:
The Swallowed Star world.
Spacecraft. Technology. Cosmic evolution.
"A truck isn't enough anymore," Su Chen said.
"I want a real ship."