God of Black Water and the Understated Finale

The Water Lizard's heart had sunk completely to the bottom.

The battle with the Giant Octopus had lasted six sunrises and six sunsets, but throughout those six sunrises and six sunsets, it was still being crushed under the Giant Octopus's assault.

Still, if there was one saving grace, it was that although the Giant Serpent was unreliable, the Children of the Abyss it had killed these past days were already numerous enough. As long as it could keep this Giant Octopus tied up and prevent it from ravaging its own Near Sea and those Water's Children, then the losses so far were still acceptable.

But now, the Water Lizard had been completely marked by the Giant Octopus. Slipping away right under its nose was absolutely impossible.

The Giant Moth flying in the sky was something the Giant Octopus couldn't handle, and the Giant Serpent staying away from it was also fine, but the Water Lizard had fully drawn its aggro.

That was because, over these days, it had been the one engaging in close-quarters combat with the Giant Octopus.

Although the Giant Octopus was barely injured and had the Water Lizard on the defensive, somehow, the Giant Octopus always felt a strange, inexplicable anger in its heart.

This anger came entirely from the Water Lizard being far too slippery.

Its entire body was coated in a viscous fluid, and the suckers on the octopus's tentacles simply couldn't latch onto the Water Lizard's body.

And with the Giant Moth harassing it from above, even if it occasionally caught the Water Lizard, it still managed to escape every time.

That stifling frustration was something the Giant Octopus had never experienced in its life.

So anger was born, and the fact that it couldn't be vented made it easy to imagine how maddening it was for the Giant Octopus.

Though this Giant Octopus was strong and its body terrifyingly massive, its mind was clearly not very sharp. Aside from constantly roaring and chasing the Water Lizard into battle, it had no other recourse.

But while it couldn't catch the Water Lizard in the short term, the Water Lizard couldn't break free either.

Thus, the Water Lizard could only fight while retreating, and it deliberately or unintentionally lured the Giant Octopus farther away from its own territory.

Then, today, the battle of the four beasts nearly reached the territory of another Giant Beast.

This Giant Beast was a marine creature with a shell.

Under its abdomen were sixteen pairs of legs, no hands—essentially an oversized Trilobite.

Originally, this Trilobite had been quietly buried in the seabed's silt, sleeping soundly, but it was awakened by the shockwaves of the battle between the Water Lizard and the Giant Octopus.

Its subjects were a group of shell-backed humanoid creatures. Their shells were divided into three segments, giving off a metallic sheen. They had six legs and two arms, and overall, they gave the impression of centipedes draped in humanoid skin.

They called themselves the subjects of the God of Black Water.

From ancient times to the present, the giant Trilobite and its subjects had always been peaceful.

They merely guarded their own patch of territory, never moving, never attacking other sea regions.

Of course, occasional skirmishes with the Children of the Deep Sea did occur, but those were entirely wars initiated unilaterally by the Children of the Deep Sea.

Going by past experience, the Black Water Populace still had a long time before their next battle with the Children of the Deep Sea.

But for some reason, under the Black Water Populace's reconnaissance, the Children of the Deep Sea had all swarmed out a few days ago and attacked the territory of the Children of the Near Sea.

At first, the Children of Black Water were excited, thinking that after the Children of the Deep Sea's full-scale war with the Children of the Near Sea, their own tribe might enjoy a long period of peace.

But the result was somewhat unexpected.

That was because, in the camp of the Children of the Near Sea, three massive gods had suddenly appeared.

And those three gods were now locked in battle with the god of the Children of the Deep Sea.

If this shocked the Children of Black Water, then when the battlefield of the Four Gods kept shifting into the territory of the Children of Black Water, that shock turned into terror and anger.

Terror came from the God War being utterly beyond mortal imagination—just watching it made one tremble uncontrollably.

And anger stemmed from the fact that the Lord of the Near Sea seemed to be deliberately dragging the battlefield with the Lord of the Deep Sea into the territory of the Children of Black Water.

Just as the Children of Black Water had yet to devise a countermeasure or consider awakening their own god, their god awakened on its own.

The giant Trilobite emerged from the silt and rock.

Its beady little eyes looked upon its subjects, but it quickly averted its gaze from them.

It raised its head, staring at the waters above the sea surface.

It sensed the surging undercurrents rushing toward it and heard the roars unique to Giant Beasts.

Was some Giant Beast planning to attack its domain? And even challenging it?

Thinking this, with the dignity inherent in a Giant Beast's instincts, it suddenly spread the soft, fringed gill membranes along the edges under its shell.

Relying on the undulations of these gill membranes, its body soon lifted from the seabed and shot rapidly toward the surface.

The dignity of a Giant Beast would not be provoked!

To answer a Giant Beast's battle was the proper stance of a Giant Beast.

Before it even neared the surface, the seawater around this Trilobite had already gathered around its body.

This seawater coiled, converged, and compressed as if given life, until it seemed dyed a pure black.

This black water wrapped around the Trilobite's body, and in the moment it burst above the sea surface, a sea giant nearly six hundred meters tall appeared on the waves.

Of course, this so-called sea giant wasn't human; it looked more like a water elemental from a fantasy tale.

It had no arms, its chest and abdomen connected to the sea surface, and atop its head was a flat, broad skull.

When the Trilobite Giant Beast had prepared for battle and transformed into this sea giant, it turned its gaze toward the distant horizon.

But then, as it made out the scene far away, it was somewhat stunned.

Because in the distance, there were actually four Giant Beasts present.

One flew in the sky, three swam in the water, and the Giant Beast being ganged up on was as massive as a small island.

For a moment, the Trilobite's Giant Beast wanted to turn around and head straight back to the seabed.

But just then, suddenly, amidst the battlefield of the four beasts, a Flame Monster burst forth from the deep sea in a dive!

Rolling waves of heat radiated from that Giant Beast's body.

The heat swept across the entire sea surface, causing the ocean to churn with billowing white steam from evaporation.

Yet this white steam was quickly cleared away as the Giant Beast's body temperature surged once more.

The Flame Monster, its whole body ablaze, broke the surface and in an instant charged at the Giant Beast with eight tentacles.

Though startled by the sudden appearance of the Flame Monster, the tentacled beast reacted swiftly, lashing out all eight tentacles at once and binding the Flame Monster tightly.

But the binding didn't last long, because even the Trilobite's Giant Beast, from such a distance, could smell a fragrant aroma of grilled meat wafting through the air.

"ROAR!!!"

The eight-tentacled Giant Beast wailed in agony, and then the Trilobite's Giant Beast saw the Flame Monster break free from the tentacles' grip and directly spew a massive White-Hot Ray at the tentacled beast.

In that moment, the entire sea erupted in a colossal explosion, and the whole sea surface was swept by this sudden surge of energy ripples.

Waves over five hundred meters high began spreading outward in all directions.

"Finally made it in time! That blast should be enough to teach this Giant Octopus a lesson, right?"

Watching the octopus, struck by the White-Hot Ray's light, sink into the deep sea, Kangqiao breathed a slight sigh of relief and muttered uncertainly in his thoughts.

And just as Kangqiao imagined, after being hit by the massive White-Hot Ray, the Giant Octopus's main body had its head charred black like burnt charcoal, with a large sunken area.

Yet this octopus was astonishingly tenacious; despite suffering such a terrifying impact, it was still alive.

What's more, after sinking to the seabed, it didn't hesitate to use its few remaining tentacles, badly grilled, to stir up a massive cloud of dust on the ocean floor.

It was digging a hole into the seabed, trying to escape!

Seeing this, Kangqiao wanted to give chase, but then he noticed the massive water-element-like aggregation of the Trilobite standing upright on the sea surface not far away.

Frowning slightly, Kangqiao looked uncertainly at the still-dazed Water Lizard and pointed toward the Trilobite's location.

The Water Lizard snapped back to reality, its expression complex and awestruck.

That Giant Octopus, which had been dominating it, was taken out in one move like this?

This Lava Flame guy was way too strong, wasn't he? And it hadn't been that long—why had this Lava Flame monster grown so much bigger than before?

Its own body was barely two-thirds the size?

The Water Lizard's mind was in turmoil, and a strange, unfamiliar twinge of jealousy rose within it.

But there was no time for the Water Lizard to dwell on that.

Seeing Kangqiao point behind it, it turned and looked at the Trilobite's water-giant aggregation. After a brief moment, it shook its head at Kangqiao.

"Not an enemy? So that's the Giant Beast of this sea area? Drawn here by the fight?"

"Heh, this water aggregation looks pretty interesting!"

Kangqiao thought to himself, then turned his gaze back to the seabed.

But by now, the seabed was already a murky mess.

Though Kangqiao considered pursuing, he ultimately held back after a moment's thought.

Just like when he dealt with the Giant Serpent before, this lesson should keep the Giant Octopus from causing trouble again.

Besides, Kangqiao still didn't fully understand the whole situation, so he didn't want to act too harshly on his own judgment.

By nature, Kangqiao wasn't the type to kill indiscriminately, and besides, these Giant Beasts all had intelligence.

It was hard to say whether they'd be friends or foes in the future—what if he could win them over?

As for the casualties in the battle between the Four Races and the Frog-Fish People?

That was just a war between their own civilizations, utterly insignificant to Kangqiao's own existence.

Dying of old age or dying in war—as long as the race wasn't wiped out, that was the greatest care Kangqiao could offer the Dinosaur People.

Besides, the Frog-Fish People's losses this time were surely far worse than the Four Races'. Whether the Four Races would annihilate the Frog-Fish People entirely was none of Kangqiao's concern—bullying the weak was just boring.

That said, the three Grilled Octopus Legs floating on the sea surface did whet Kangqiao's appetite.

And not just Kangqiao—the Giant Moth, which had landed on the water, and the Giant Serpent, which was slithering its head over with low, fawning hisses, were also eyeing the grilled legs.

Seeing the Giant Serpent's complete shift in attitude, the Water Lizard felt deeply frustrated, but since the battle was over, so be it.

Still, the Water Lizard's gaze at the Giant Serpent was clearly off—no doubt, there would be a fight between the Water Lizard and the Giant Serpent once they got back.

Thanks to reader Kelakesi for the 500 Qidian coin tip. That's all.