I had intended to spend the next two days in silent meditation but that was quickly proven impossible. Between selecting the people for the expedition, training people on how to use the ship, and getting the ship to the water. I was working the entire time. Moving the boat was surprisingly easy. Its array allowed it to shrink and reduce its weight substantially. Once that was done Xerxes and I did the actual heavy lifting. The only hick-up came when we learned we couldn't teleport with it. Not only did the System's teleporter not work but neither did Apportation.

  Despite the setback, we were able to take it to the beach where the Heaven's Pearl was found. Once there we set up a base camp and got to work. The day of the expedition Xerxes and I were active as soon as the sun was up. "Are you sure we should bring the others? We can't be sure they will be reliable."

  "I know but between you and me we should be fine. Trey and Aaliyah aren't bad either so I think it will be fine. Besides everyone invited knows what they are getting themselves into. What about you? How do you like being an evolved being?" I chuckled and spread my soul sense into the surroundings. I watched people, my citizens get to work. Most of which were just guarding the area.

  "It is good. I can regain levels but we will need to improve the skill soon."

  I cracked my neck and nodded my agreement. "I am guessing we will find some fun things to deal with. Ideally we will find some underwater cave or something so we can leave the ship behind."

  I gestured for Xerxes to follow me as we entered the massive ship. I triggered most of the arrays and felt the ship kick into gear. "Feel free to take the main cultivation chamber. I don't think you can help me drive this thing."

  "No, I can not interact with the arrays. I can keep an eye on the humans for you."

  I nodded as we entered the command room. I took my seat in the captain's chair and couldn't help laughing. This whole thing had long ago felt like a movie but this was just a whole new level. "We have to get a ship to explore space with later." I glanced up at the ceiling as if I could see the vastness of the cosmos. "I want to see what fun things we find."

  After that Xerxes and I discussed a few more things as people started filing in. Each of them looked equal parts excited and afraid which only made me want to say something. Once the command room had filled enough I stood up and put a small amount of spiritual energy into my voice. "Hello, everyone. I would like to take the time to welcome you and give you one last chance to back out. For those of you who haven't had the chance to meet with me, I am Amari the king of this country."

  The declaration caused a few murmurs to pass over the crowd though I was pleased to see that they weren't upset. If anything they seemed happier about it than I expected. "I am going to lead this expedition and I will do everything I can to keep you safe. That being said it will ultimately be up to you. I can't and won't promise that I will be able to deal with every situation or defeat every enemy. There is always the chance we come across something stronger than me. For those of you that decide the risk is too great you may leave anytime before we enter the water."

  I paused a moment to let the gravity of my words settle on everyone. I wasn't trying to scare anyone though my words weren't there to inspire confidence. I trailed my gaze across the crowd and was beyond pleased to see that no one moved. "For those who choose to stay, I offer you adventure and a chance to find treasure that will boost your strength to a new level. No doubt many of you have reached a point of stagnation in your cultivation. A point where the hours and hours of grinding have provided fewer and fewer benefits. I am here to tell you that this will be a chance to reforge yourself and emerge as future pillars of Amara." I released a small portion of my aura. Just enough to punctuate the point without killing anyone. The effect might have been more potent than I realized.

  "For Amara!"

  "Long Live Amara!"

  The command center fell into cheers and loud conversation. I briefly considered stopping them so we could start moving sooner but I decided against it. What I had said was true. There was no guarantee that any of these people would return so if they wanted a bit of fun why not give it to them. It wasn't like we were on a time crunch anyway. I let them enjoy themselves for around thirty minutes before I called for calm. Everyone took their seats and I connected to the ship. Energy flowed into my mind as I took a moment to get used to it. The ship let me connect to each of its systems if I wanted. Things like life support were better off ignored unless something went wrong. The visual data though was much more interesting.

  I wasn't sure how it worked exactly since there were no cameras on the vessel. Despite that it let me see everything. I checked in on Romulus who sat in his room cultivating and then on Trey, Aaliyah, and Xerxes. I got tired of doing my big brother impression and turned my attention back to the ship. I connected myself to the propulsion system and kicked it into gear? I wasn't sure if this thing had "gears" but either way we set off.

  It didn't take long for us to encounter weird shit. I wasn't sure which ocean we were in and if I didn't know better I wouldn't be sure we were one Earth anymore. Planets twisted in and out of the soil like the gnarled roots of trees. Fish that would have been right at home in an eldritch horror story swam about. The whole thing was eerie. I decided to stay close to the surface to give everyone a chance to adjust. Dealing with the information the ship fed me was strange. I imagined it was what being constantly connected to the internet was like. As we moved it updated everything from temperature to the ambient energy in the water.

  The energy was much denser down here. Obviously, the most dominant Taos were related to water but there were plenty connected to darkness. Though I didn't sense the pull of treasure in any particular direction. We had traveled for about half an hour before the first beast got curious. A creature that looked like an electric eel only instead of electricity it was darkness shot for us. I activated the defensive arrays and the ship unleashed a blast of spiritual energy. The beam went wide by nearly two feet.

  The eel slammed into the right side of the ship and a blast of shadows nearly forced its way through the outer array. The ship lurched to the left knocking over two people. "Fuck me. Shift and assist with aiming!" I quickly reset the array and tried to alter my aim but the eel was incredibly fast. I missed two more shots before I decided on a new course of action. I expanded my soul sense until it was just outside the barrier. Next, I closed my eyes and ignored the display.

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  The next shot hit the eel center mass. The eel was almost vaporized. What little of it that remained fell about twenty feet before a school of fish shot forward and tore into it. Like a pack of frenzied piranha. The scene was equal parts concerning and impressive. I activated the ship's repair function to deal with the damage. Damage wasn't all that bad. It wasn't enough to threaten the integrity of the ship but it was better to fix it now than be sorry later.

  Once the ship was ready we set out again. Finally venturing further away from the surface. It was another hour before we came across our first treasure. The treasure was located inside a trio of massive clams. At first, I thought we had found another set of Heaven's Pearls but that wasn't the case. These were definitely pearls but they were associated with the Tao of water. They were collected and left in the sealed storage area. I also decided to kill and take the clams. Their shells were incredibly hard which made me wonder if they would be good for crafting.

  We repeated the process a few more times killing nearly a dozen creatures that ranged from a piranha-like fish to a huge version of the fish with the light on its head. Each time we got a bit better at aiming to the point I didn't need to rely on my soul sense. It wasn't all positive though. The water pressure and atmosphere were having a strange effect on some people. Some just got sick kind of like sea sickness others got a bit weird. They just went catatonic. I was forced to use my Tao field and the Tao of Lucidity to wake them up. Something wasn't too big a problem right now but could be if it got worse.

  Our battles also confirmed that we couldn't use the ship for leveling. Based on what we experienced and what Korum's data added the only way killing someone with an array would award energy was if you created the array or if the array played a supportive role in the death. Since I wasn't even attacking nor did I create the ship's array it didn't count. Which meant we would need to find somewhere to get out and fight.

  No one was in a rush to battle. The environment in the shop was pretty good. It was a bit better than what we had in the Tower which for most people was enough. The only question was when would Xerxes and I set out. I would lie if I said a part of me didn't want to face these monsters in a fight. It was hard for me to gauge their energy levels but I was pretty sure they were at least level 30. With the big piranha around level 35 or 36.

  "Let's take a moment to rest," I called out as we entered an energy-dense region. The rest of you can go and rest for an hour. I will maintain things until then. Once you all get back we will switch. I waited for people to start filtering out before I got to my feet and rolled my neck.

  "I must admit being this deep under the ocean isn't comfortable," Aaliyah said as she stepped up next to me. "It makes the world feel smaller. Like we are trapped in a prison."

  "Well in a way we are. I am not sure how water pressure works for us but my guess is that its not good. Even if we could survive the pressure most people couldn't and then we would be at the mercy of the ocean."

  "That isn't helping." She grumbled. "Are we looking for something? Or are we just wandering the deep blue? Waiting for a shark to take us out?"

  I shook my head. "There is a faint sense of treasure I guess in the ocean but I don't know where."

  "Well, we've already found a lot so not much to complain about. Though I can't imagine you are having fun."

  I shrugged. "The ship is fun but it makes me wonder about what's up there." I gestured to the ceiling. "The monsters, the people the everything. Don't get me wrong the new earth is fascinating but it's still earth I guess."

  "I don't get it. Where does this wanderlust come from? Surely you had someone you cared about?"

  I shook my head and sighed. "Not really. That isn't to say I wasn't popular anything but I grew out of the foster care system when I was eighteen. Most of the people there I could remember either passed away, retired, or just left to do other things. That was nine years ago. I've had small flings in university but I always convinced myself that the time for that would be after. After I got my degree, after I got my law degree, after I was wealthy blah blah. The System's arrival made it a bit pointless. Though in a way it was a benefit. I was free to do what I wanted. There was no voice in the back of my head warning me about dying and leaving someone behind. I could risk my life as I wanted."

  I reached up and wiped the solitary tear that had formed in my third eye. The familiar uncomfortable silence fell on us and I sighed. "Either way it doesn't matter. I should have well over 400 years to do what I want. I know have you guys to worry about and I get to explore the stars like some Sci-fi hero. All while having superpowers that would make Superman jealous."

  "Amari..." The softness and the pity in her voice caused a fresh wave of irritation to rise in my stomach. I tugged away from her and made my way toward the captain's chair. "It's fine. You should go and rest we will need to cover more ground soon."

  I watched her pause and then disappear down one of the side halls. She had only been gone a few minutes when I started to feel guilty about what I said. She wasn't trying to offend me or anything and I knew that but... Well, it doesn't really matter. I would apologize later. For now, it was better to focus on leaving. I wasn't too tired so it wouldn't be a big deal to skip a break or two. I reactivated the systems I could control without everyone else as people started filtering back in.

  "How are thing's?" I asked Xerxes through our bond.

  "Quite, there is not much to do. Neither the cub nor the shiny warrior has done anything to be concerned about."

  "Good, keep an eye out for anything interesting. I am going to want to try out the smaller vessels. I want to fight something."

  Xerxes didn't offer a verbal response to that but the hunger that surged across our bond made it clear he was in agreement. I grinned and leaned back in my chair. "Alright, everyone keep the scanners searching for pockets of air. I want to find caves or underwater structures."

  We continued our journey and came across a few other beasts. Most of them were strange fish but there was one that drew my attention. Not because it was strong or anything like that but because it was a weird crab. The crab was dark blue and black with four claws and six legs. It didn't have eyes or a mouth instead it had gill-like marks on its sides and released spiritual energy every so often. It honestly reminded me a bit of a crab and a bat combined.

  "I wonder what that thing tastes like?" I murmured to myself as I aimed the weapons at it. The ugly thing must've sensed either the weapons or its imminent danger because it tried to run. Unfortunately for it, my aim had improved by leaps and bounds. It only took one shot to kill it something that was made more annoying by the lack of kill energy. Once I was sure it was dead we collected and we set out again. After that, the beasts started to give us a wide berth.

  I could still see them hiding in the shadows but they weren't interested in fighting nor did I sense any treasures. After an hour of this, I decided to shift our focus to speed. Since we weren't worried about treasures or even getting into a fight it required less effort from me. I wouldn't say that the ship could drive itself. At least not like old-world modern cars but it could compensate. As long as I paid enough attention to avoid crashing into a wall there was nothing to be worried about. The more we traveled the more my excitement started to build. My mind was filled with ideas about what might be found. It was time to see what secrets the oceans held for me.