Chapter Summaries

Lin Taichu used his seawater shield and trident to injure Reno and gain the upper hand in the losers' bracket final, but Reno revealed a hidden dual-dagger style and forced him onto the defensive. Lin Taichu began circulating his inner energy to strengthen his trident as Reno's close-range assault continued.

• Lin Taichu spent two days practicing how to block with seawater and counterattack with his trident before the losers' bracket final against Reno.
• Reno attacked with his heavy broadsword, but Lin Taichu formed a seawater shield and countered with a thrust beneath Reno's armor.
• Lin Taichu exploited Reno's fatigue to strike behind his knee, making Reno drop his broadsword and fall to one knee.
• Reno counterattacked, hurled his broadsword at Lin Taichu, and drew two daggers to attack at close range.
• Lin Taichu struggled to defend against Reno's fast dagger strikes and began circulating inner energy to strengthen his trident.

Lin Taichu awakened the trident’s full power, defeated Reno, and advanced to the beast arena’s top four. After recovering at Aron's residence, he focused on the upcoming final while Ollie plotted to stop him.

• Lin Taichu focused on the trident as Reno wounded his shoulder, and the trident recognized him as its master.
• Lin Taichu unleashed a barrage of water arrows, shattered Reno’s dagger, and cornered him until Reno surrendered.
• The host declared Lin Taichu the winner of the losers' bracket final and announced his advance to the top four.
• Alicia and Aron urged Lin Taichu to have his shoulder treated, while Ollie resolved to prevent him from winning the tournament.
• A doctor treated Lin Taichu at Aron's residence, and Alicia brought him fish soup as he thanked her and Aron for their help.

Lin Taichu trained with Poseidon’s Trident and learned that his finals opponent was a terrifying, ink-like creature with devouring powers. The finals began as the black creature appeared in the arena, leaving Lin Taichu facing it alone.

• Lin Taichu practiced channeling energy through Poseidon’s Trident, controlling seawater, and strengthening his attacks, speed, and defenses.
• Aron failed to find information about Lin Taichu’s mysterious finals opponent, but a former contestant described it as a shapeless black beast that released blinding ink and swallowed objects.
• Lin Taichu went to meet the creature the day before the finals, and Aron warned him to prioritize his safety.
• At the crowded finals, Ollie watched smugly as Lin Taichu entered an apparently empty arena and the gates shut.
• Black fog gathered into a towering, shapeless lump, and Lin Taichu sensed its strange devouring power as he faced it with the trident.

Lin Taichu struggled against a beast that filled the arena with corrosive ink, draining his energy and leaving him badly injured. As the beast prepared to kill him, his trident awakened and attacked on its own, beginning to disperse the creature.

• The beast flooded the arena with ink and attacked Lin Taichu, who discovered that water could briefly reveal and restrain it.
• Lin Taichu used water arrows and his trident to fight back, but the beast evaded him and sprayed corrosive liquid.
• The beast overwhelmed Lin Taichu, drained his energy, and slammed him into the arena wall as Alicia and Aron watched in alarm.
• The beast raised a black claw over the helpless Lin Taichu, but his trident glowed, rose by itself, and pierced the creature.
• Blue light spread through the beast as it began to dissipate, and Lin Taichu sensed the trident's power protecting him.

Lin Taichu’s trident defeated the beast’s black-mist form, but it transformed into a deep-sea creature that wielded electricity and pressed him to the brink. As the beast charged to swallow him, Lin Taichu was running out of strength and the match remained underway.

• Lin Taichu’s trident struck the beast repeatedly, absorbed its remaining black mist, and returned to him as the crowd cheered.
• The mist condensed into a huge, eyeless deep-sea beast, and Aron ordered guards to investigate its origin.
• Lin Taichu recognized that the altered beast came from the deep-sea domain and realized Ollie had been behind it.
• The beast attacked with electrical sparks, and Lin Taichu used the trident to block them but struggled to keep up.
• The beast spread lightning across the arena, wounded Lin Taichu, and forced him to retreat as his attempt to summon golden light failed.
• Alicia begged Aron to stop the match, but Aron refused, and the beast charged at Lin Taichu with its mouth open.

Lin Taichu confronted the red-robed man about Ollie’s death and the ferocious beast, then fought to escape with the mermaid girl. The red-robed man wounded Lin Taichu, who spotted a nearby window and began looking for a way out.

• Lin Taichu entered the room with the mermaid girl and was accused by the red-robed man of gathering information for the King or Aron.
• The red-robed man admitted that his group had killed Ollie and raised the ferocious beast, then ordered his guards to capture Lin Taichu and the mermaid girl.
• Lin Taichu fought the armored guards with his trident and seawater control, killing one and injuring another.
• The red-robed man summoned more fighters, and Lin Taichu grabbed the mermaid girl and tried to rush for the door.
• The red-robed man attacked Lin Taichu with a short blade, wounding his wrist as Lin Taichu noticed a window and considered escaping through it.

Lin Taichu rescued Lina from the black market and brought her to Aron's residence, where she revealed that the mysterious “my lord” controlled the black market and modified ferocious beasts. Lina named three heavily guarded black market strongholds, but did not know where their mastermind was.

• Lin Taichu escaped the black market with the mermaid girl and evaded pursuit by fleeing to Atlantis City.
• The mermaid girl told Lin Taichu she had lost her family and asked to follow him, and he agreed to help her find a place to stay.
• Lin Taichu returned to Aron's residence with the girl, and she introduced herself as Lina and described how Black-clothed Men had killed her parents and sold her.
• Lina revealed that the black market's mysterious master controlled ferocious beasts, including the Ink Electric Beast and the beast that killed Ollie, and modified beasts to make them stronger.
• Lina told Lin Taichu, Aron, and Alicia that she knew of three guarded black market strongholds: an abandoned shipyard in the east, an abandoned warehouse in the north, and an underwater cave in the west.

Lina told Lin Taichu and Aron that the black market planned to sell modified ferocious beasts at an undersea cave, and that Deep Sea Crystal could weaken them. Lin Taichu and Aron prepared an ambush with elite guards and reached the cave entrance, where they began putting their plan into action.

• Lina revealed the planned sale, the location and timing, the master's powerful Guards, and the ferocious beasts' weakness to Deep Sea Crystal.
• Lin Taichu and Aron agreed to obtain Deep Sea Crystal and ambush the transaction, while Lin Taichu suspected the red-robed fighter might be one of the master's Guards.
• Aron obtained five Deep Sea Crystals and the King's approval to deploy fifty elite guards, while Lin Taichu had his wounds treated.
• On the night of the deal, Lin Taichu distributed Crystal Shards to the guards and kept two Deep Sea Crystals for himself and his trident.
• Aron led Lin Taichu and the guards to the western undersea cave, then sent twenty guards to hide by the entrance and block anyone trying to escape.

Lin Taichu and Aron attacked the red-robed man’s underground transaction, where the enemy released caged beasts into the fight. After the Deep Sea Crystals weakened the beasts and Guards, the red-robed man fled into a narrow passage, where Lin Taichu caught up with him.

• Lin Taichu and Aron entered the cave and found the red-robed man conducting a transaction alongside Black-clothed Men and four Guards.
• Aron ordered the guards to attack, and a Black-clothed Man unlocked several cages, releasing ferocious beasts into the melee.
• Lin Taichu discovered that Deep Sea Crystal light weakened the beasts and alerted the guards, who used their Crystal Shards to suppress them.
• The red-robed man ordered the four Guards to kill Lin Taichu, but Aron and nearby guards intervened and helped drive them back.
• The red-robed man tried to escape, but an ambush blocked the entrance, so he fled down a narrow passage with Lin Taichu pursuing.
• The red-robed man turned and stabbed at Lin Taichu with a Short Blade, and Lin Taichu blocked the strike while raising the Deep Sea Crystal toward his face.

Lin Taichu and Aron destroyed the black market stronghold and brought its prisoners and captive beasts back to Atlantis, where the prisoners revealed the Dark Sea Organization was behind the operation. The King ordered a search for the group’s relocated strongholds, and Lin Taichu joined Aron’s expedition into the deep sea.

• Lin Taichu failed to catch the red-robed man, then helped Aron and the soldiers defeat the remaining guards and capture the black-clothed men and ferocious beasts.
• Lin Taichu used his trident to collapse the stronghold, and the group returned to Atlantis with the prisoners and beasts.
• The King praised Lin Taichu and Aron, and Lin Taichu asked for help finding a way home instead of a reward.
• Interrogations revealed that the Dark Sea Organization captured, modified, and sold deep-sea creatures, and that its other two strongholds had already relocated.
• The King ordered Atlantis to search for the organization and alert other sea regions, while Aron led an expedition with Lin Taichu aboard a deep-sea warship.

Lin Taichu and Aron found the Dark Sea Organization’s northern warehouse abandoned, with its beasts already moved and suspicious footprints left as bait. They returned to Atlantis and agreed with the King to investigate the organization’s origins instead of pursuing the trail blindly.

• Lin Taichu and Aron searched the northern warehouse and found empty cages, fresh signs of departure, and scraps linked to the Dark Sea Organization.
• A guard discovered footprints leading east, but Lin Taichu recognized them as a deliberate lure and stopped Aron from following them.
• Lin Taichu proposed investigating the Dark Sea Organization’s origins and connections across other seas instead of chasing its abandoned bases.
• On the warship, Lin Taichu and Aron discussed the red-robed man’s escape tools and decided that questioning more captives might reveal information about the organization.
• Lin Taichu and Aron reported their findings to the King in Atlantis, who agreed to investigate the Dark Sea Organization’s origins.

Lin Taichu and Aron questioned the captured members of the Dark Sea Organization and found a possible connection to a wizard named Karen in the Ink Shadow Sea. Lin Taichu then asked Lina about the organization, and she recalled hearing guards call the captives its property.

• Lin Taichu and Aron learned from the captives about leaders called Black Face, Snake Woman, Iron Hand, and the mysterious My Lord, as well as the organization’s use of flying fish and black command plaques.
• Lin Taichu and Aron searched the Royal Palace library and found a record of Karen, a wizard in the Ink Shadow Sea who modified deep-sea creatures decades earlier.
• Lin Taichu and Aron decided to contact the King of the Ink Shadow Sea before sending anyone to investigate, and Aron suggested asking Lina what she knew.
• Lin Taichu asked Lina whether she had heard of the Dark Sea Organization, and she recalled guards saying that the captives belonged to it.

Lin Taichu learned little from Lina and, after the investigation stalled, arranged to make the Dark Sea Organization believe Atlantis had stopped searching. He discovered two members returning to the abandoned shipyard to find and repair a hidden Black Magic Array, and the chapter ended as they uncovered it.

• Lina told Lin Taichu about a masked man with a silver skull emblem and shared what she knew of the Ink Shadow Sea, but she had never heard of Karen.
• Lin Taichu and Aron waited for a response from the Ink Shadow Sea, interrogated prisoners, and searched around Atlantis without finding further clues.
• Aron and Lin Taichu agreed to announce that the investigation was suspended so the Dark Sea Organization might lower its guard and return to Atlantis.
• Three days later, Lin Taichu secretly watched the abandoned shipyard and saw two Dark Sea Organization members enter with a Black Token.
• Lin Taichu followed them into the underground black market and heard that they had returned to inspect a Black Magic Array meant to destroy the space during the group's retreat.
• One of the men found the hidden array beneath a glowing talisman, and the pair began preparing to inspect it.

Lin Taichu followed two Dark Sea Organization members from the repaired Black Magic Array to their new hideout inside an ancient tree. He then tracked one of them into Atlantis, where the man visited a general store and a gray-clad person left carrying a matching package.

• The second man repaired the Black Magic Array and explained that the organization would activate it only if Atlantis continued its investigation.
• Lin Taichu chose to follow the two men rather than capture them, and discovered their hideout in a remote forest.
• Lin Taichu waited near the ancient tree overnight, then followed the second man into Atlantis the next morning.
• The second man entered an inconspicuous general store while Lin Taichu watched from a teahouse across the street.
• A gray-clad person left the store through its back door with a package matching the second man's, while the second man returned toward the outskirts.

Lin Taichu tracked the Dark Sea Organization’s courier to a grocery-store contact point and helped Aron capture its workers. Their interrogation revealed how the organization communicated and provided clues about its hidden stronghold, though its exact location remained unknown.

• Lin Taichu followed the man in gray between the inn and the grocery store, confirming that the store served as a contact point for messages and package transfers.
• Lin Taichu told Aron and Alicia what he had discovered, and he and Aron decided to raid the grocery store before investigating the hidden stronghold.
• Lin Taichu and Aron led twenty elite guards to the grocery store, captured its workers, and seized letters, packages, and Black Tokens.
• At the Dungeon, Lin Taichu and Aron interrogated a clerk who said the contact point handled Atlantis-related messages, energy stones, weapons, and potions for altering ferocious beasts.
• The clerk said the stronghold lay somewhere in the ancient-tree forest outside the city, held twenty or thirty people and altered beasts, and communicated through flying fish; he identified Gray Rat as the liaison who collected packages.

Lin Taichu and Aron captured Gray Rat, who revealed that Snake Woman was the Dark Sea Organization’s sole leader under three disguises and was conducting sea beast experiments on Rocky Isle. After the King sent them with fifty guards and three warships, Lin Taichu and Aron approached the island in a small boat to scout it.

• Lin Taichu and Aron captured Gray Rat outside the general store and interrogated him at a nearby courtyard.
• Gray Rat revealed that Snake Woman was Black Face and Iron Hand as well, and described her experiments, forces, sea beasts, traps, and base on Rocky Isle.
• Lin Taichu reported Gray Rat’s information to the King, who assigned fifty elite guards and three warships to investigate and plan an attack.
• Lin Taichu and Aron sailed toward Rocky Isle and stopped the warships several miles away to avoid detection.
• Lin Taichu, Aron, and two guards boarded a small boat and rowed toward Rocky Isle to scout it.

Lin Taichu and Aron scouted Snake Woman’s island, discovered its traps and modified sea beasts, and planned to cut off its supplies by seizing the dock. After guards cleared the traps there, Lin Taichu led an attack force toward the dock while Aron circled around to ambush the guards.

• Lin Taichu, Aron, and two guards secretly explored the island and saw Snake Woman feed a potion to a gigantic octopus in an iron enclosure.
• Lin Taichu and Aron found about fifty guards, more than a dozen modified sea beasts, and traps protecting the island, then returned to the warship to plan an attack.
• Aron proposed seizing the dock to cut off the island’s supplies, and Lin Taichu agreed that the lightly guarded dock was the best target.
• Four guards cleared and marked the five traps around the dock, then signaled that the route was safe.
• Lin Taichu led twenty guards in three small boats toward the dock while Aron took the remaining men around a reef to ambush the patrols.

Lin Taichu’s group seized the island dock and tried to force Snake Woman to surrender by cutting off her supplies. Snake Woman retreated after threatening them, and Lin Taichu discovered the modified sea beasts had vanished, leaving his forces to hold the dock and watch the island.

• Lin Taichu’s guards subdued the five patrol soldiers at the dock, extinguished its lamps, and secured the entrance while the warships waited nearby.
• At daybreak, Lin Taichu’s group called on Snake Woman to surrender and hand over the antidote, warning that her sea beasts would run out of food without supplies.
• Snake Woman argued that she had supplies and could use her sea beasts against them, but Lin Taichu challenged her and revealed that he knew she had played three roles.
• Snake Woman threatened Lin Taichu’s group and returned to the houses with her guards, while Lin Taichu’s forces held back because the path was trapped.
• Lin Taichu discovered the sea-beast pens were empty and suspected Snake Woman had used their meeting to buy time to hide the beasts.
• Lin Taichu assigned guards to watch the dock and the houses, deciding to keep Snake Woman trapped on the island until she or the sea beasts emerged.

Lin Taichu discovered that Snake Woman was feeding people to sea beasts and using medicine to make them more ferocious. After he returned to the dock, a huge crab-like sea beast emerged from the cave, leaving the guards facing an immediate threat.

• Lin Taichu and Aron decided to hold the dock while they searched for Snake Woman and the sea beasts.
• Lin Taichu slipped onto the island and followed fresh bloodstains to a concealed cave.
• Lin Taichu found corpses, sea-beast claw marks, and empty medicine bottles, realizing Snake Woman was feeding people to the beasts and continuing to modify them.
• Lin Taichu returned to the dock and told Aron and the guards what he had found; he refused to let them rush into the cave without a plan.
• A tremendous boom sounded, black smoke rose near the cave, and a gigantic crab-like sea beast crawled out.

Lin Taichu and the guards killed the modified Giant Pincer Beast at the dock using his Black Magic Array incantation. They entered the cave to pursue Snake Woman, who taunted them from ahead and warned that more dangers awaited.

• Lin Taichu and Aron led the guards in fighting the Giant Pincer Beast, and Lin Taichu blinded it with a trident while several guards were injured or killed.
• Lin Taichu used the Black Magic Array incantation to bind the beast, allowing the guards to stab its mouth until it died.
• Lin Taichu warned Aron that Snake Woman might have more modified sea beasts in the cave, and the guards prepared to pursue her.
• Lin Taichu led the guards into the maze-like cave and chose the middle passage at a three-way split.
• Snake Woman mocked Lin Taichu for killing her Giant Pincer Beast and warned that her starving creatures awaited them ahead.