The salt air was cold, and the ocean was a deep, dark blue. Ye Chen stood on the deck of a high-tech research ship, miles away from any land. Behind him, the skyscrapers of the city were just tiny needles on the horizon. He was no longer looking at the mountains. He was looking at the abyss.
In his hand, he held a small, glowing compass. This wasn't a normal compass. It was a gift from the Elder in the Hidden Valley. It didn't point North; it pointed toward "Weight." And right now, it was pointing straight down, into the deepest part of the Pacific Trench.
---
"Ye Chen, the sonar is picking up something impossible," Su Mei said, her voice tight with nerves. She was staring at a screen filled with green lines. "There is a structure down there. It's huge. It's the size of a city, but it's sitting five miles under the water. The pressure down there would crush a normal submarine like a soda can."
Ye Chen didn't look worried. He looked at the Architect's Map on his phone. He understood the logic of the deep. The Mu family hadn't just been ship owners. For a hundred years, they had been the "Divers." They had found a place where the earth's crust was thin, a place where the "Ancient Pulse" of the world was strongest.
[Ding! Coordinate Reached: The Pacific Trench - Sector 7.]
[Sign-In Requirement: Descend to the seabed in the 'Silver Ray' Submersible.]
[Reward: Master-Level Oceanic Engineering & The 'Poseidon' Override.]
Ye Chen walked toward the center of the deck. A small, sleek submarine made of white titanium was hanging from a crane. This was the Silver Ray. It didn't have a propeller. It moved using electromagnetic buoyancy, the same technology Ye Chen had used to fix the mountain dam.
"I'm going down alone," Ye Chen said.
"No! It's too dangerous!" Su Mei grabbed his arm. "If the engine fails, no one can save you."
"The engine won't fail," Ye Chen said, his Ancient Eye glowing slightly. "The water isn't my enemy, Su Mei. It's just another floor that needs cleaning."
He climbed into the tiny cockpit. The door sealed with a heavy hiss. As the crane lowered him into the water, the world turned from bright blue to dark green, and then to total black.
---
The descent took an hour. The pressure outside the hull was millions of pounds, but inside, Ye Chen was calm. He watched the depth gauge: 2,000 meters... 4,000 meters... 8,000 meters.
Suddenly, the lights of the Silver Ray hit something. It wasn't a rock. It was a wall of smooth, black metal. It was a massive dome, covered in glowing sea plants. This was the Sunken Vault.
[Ding! Sign-In Successful!]
[Reward: Master-Level Oceanic Engineering.]
[Status: You can now breathe and move in high-pressure environments.]
Ye Chen didn't stay in the sub. He put on a thin, high-tech suit that looked like a second skin. Using the Poseidon Override, he opened the hatch. A normal man would have been flattened instantly, but the "Sign-In" reward created a small bubble of balanced pressure around him. He swam toward a giant circular door in the dome.
He placed his hand on the door. It wasn't locked with a key. It was locked with a "Weight Sensor." It needed the weight of a Ye Family member's heartbeat.
Thump-thump.
The door slid open. Inside, there was no water. The vault was filled with breathable air, kept fresh by ancient machines. Ye Chen stepped inside and gasped.
Before him was a fleet of ships. But they weren't modern ships. They were massive, wooden vessels covered in a layer of gold and jade. They were the Ghost Fleet of the Morning Star. These ships had been hidden here for centuries, waiting for a time when the world's transport systems failed.
"So this is what the Mu family was protecting," Ye Chen whispered. "The original trade fleet of the Ye Family."
--
Suddenly, a series of red lights began to flash inside the vault. A screen turned on, and the face of Mu Tian's Father, the fallen General, appeared. He was in a prison cell, but he was smiling.
"You found it, didn't you, Ye Chen?" the General's voice crackled through the speakers. "You thought you broke the Mu Family. But you only broke our banks. The 'Deep Fleet' was our final insurance. I've already sent the signal to the Underground Court. If I can't have these ships, no one can."
"What did you do?" Ye Chen asked, his eyes scanning the room.
"I've activated the self-destruct," the General laughed. "The dome is going to collapse. You'll be buried under five miles of water, along with the history of your family. The world will stay in the dark, and I'll die knowing I took the Architect with me!"
The floor began to shake. Huge cracks appeared in the glass ceiling of the dome. Water began to spray in like needles of ice.
[System Warning: Structural Integrity at 10%.]
[Requirement: Use 'Oceanic Engineering' to reinforce the pressure seals.]
Ye Chen didn't run for the submarine. He ran toward the center of the fleet. He saw a giant golden anchor connected to a series of chains that ran into the floor. This was the "Weight" of the vault.
"You think you can destroy the truth with a bit of water?" Ye Chen shouted.
He grabbed the golden anchor. His King's Presence flared up, turning the air around him into a golden shield. He didn't try to stop the cracks. He did something much more logical. He used the Poseidon Override to turn the water into a tool.
Instead of letting the water crush the dome, he allowed it to enter in a controlled way. He opened the side vents, letting the water fill the lower chambers of the ships. This balanced the pressure. The cracking stopped. The dome stabilized.
But he wasn't done. He needed to get these ships to the surface.
---
Back on the research ship, Su Mei was screaming into the radio. "Ye Chen! Respond! The ocean floor is moving! There's a massive heat signature!"
Suddenly, the water around the ship began to boil. A giant bubble of air broke the surface. And then, one by one, the golden ships of the Morning Star Fleet began to rise. They didn't have engines, but they were being pushed up by the very pressure of the deep sea.
In the center of the fleet, the Silver Ray popped up like a cork. The hatch opened, and Ye Chen stepped out onto the golden deck of the lead ship. He was wet, and he was tired, but his eyes were like cold steel.
"The Mu Family's insurance just expired," Ye Chen said into his radio.
"Ye Chen! You're alive!" Su Mei cried. "And... are those ships made of gold?"
"They're made of something better," Ye Chen said. "They're made of a metal that never rusts and never sinks. With this fleet, we don't need the Global Clearing House's shipping lanes. We can move goods to any part of the world, for free."
---
But the victory was short-lived. On the horizon, three massive black warships appeared. They didn't have flags. They were the Tax Collectors' Fleet. They had been waiting for the ships to rise.
A voice boomed across the water, amplified by a thousand speakers. "Ye Chen! You have reclaimed the 'Deep Assets.' But the 'Sea Tax' is now due. Surrender the golden fleet, or we will sink everything you've built."
Ye Chen looked at his new fleet. Each ship was equipped with ancient "Sun Mirrors" the same technology as the lighthouse.
"Su Mei," Ye Chen said. "Tell the crews to prepare the mirrors. The Tax Collectors think they own the sea. It's time to show them that the sun belongs to the Ye Family."
[Ding! Arc Accomplished: The Deep Audit.]
[Reward: The 'Admiral's Voice' - Command over all maritime vessels.]
[Next Coordinate: The Island of Trials - The Tax Collectors' Base.]
Ye Chen stood on the golden deck, his hand on the railing. He was no longer just a man on a mountain or a man in a hotel. He was the Admiral of the Ghost Fleet. He had 377 steps left to the peak, and he was about to sail right into the heart of the enemy's territory.
"Fire the mirrors," Ye Chen commanded.
A beam of light, brighter than ten suns, shot out from the golden ship. The black warships of the Tax Collectors didn't just stop; they began to smoke. Their high-tech sensors melted. Their engines died.
Ye Chen didn't wait to watch them sink. He pointed his finger toward the south. "Full speed ahead. We're going to the island."
---