Is that a Wisp?

Neon Radiance. It's a rare ability only a select few among the first batch possessed. Those that possessed this passive ability were all strong. After all, it meant that not only did they survive through the First Wave, they also killed the Neon Radiance King to obtain the ability.

Those with the ability were ranked in the top hundred of Layer 2. Considering the fact that around ten million people were brought into the place every month, it meant that competition was getting tougher with each passing day.

With tougher competition arose figures that stood above the rest, making up the Top 100. Every person in this ranking was tremendously powerful, despite only being mortals. It was because of the passive abilities they had obtained, as well as their fighting methods.

Normally, the passive ability one possessed was random since the two oceans were vast. Nevertheless, the only widely known passive ability was Neon Radiance. It was because this ability could only be obtained during the Waves.

Once the First Wave ended, all the Neon Radiance Fishes vanished. Hence, it was impossible to obtain that ability again. And since everyone with that ability was among those in the top 100, it was widely known.

Even the group of people that were trying to head towards Krune's boat stopped after trying for a couple of seconds, realizing the ability they were facing. Even if they were unwilling, they no longer had the guts to approach his boat.

Then again, despite that, they didn't wish to let go of any chances, slowly floating on the ocean waters as they drifted a fair distance away from his boat, following him. After seeing their intentions, Krune didn't mind their actions.

Instead, he felt that it would be fun since he would no longer be bored. Krune took out the rope he had and tied it on one end on one of the four pillars forming his boat. He then threw the rope towards the group of people, saying, "Hold it so that you won't drown. I won't allow anyone to board my boat. With that said, I hope you don't annoy me too much."

The moment he threw the rope, the group of people scrambled to grab hold of it as sounds of relief resounded amongst them. Even though their conditions weren't great as they had to remain on the water, at least the rope would prevent them from drowning.

Strinker and his group watched Krune's actions, unable to guess the thoughts that ran in his mind. If they judged based on appearance alone, Krune looked like a monster thanks to his skin armor. As the Monster Gecko skin armor covered his entire body, face included, it made him look like a bloodthirsty individual.

s

This was the reason Strinker hadn't made a move on Krune yet. He was deterred by Krune's appearance and stature. If it was the old kind-looking Krune, he would have definitely tried to take control of his boat.

'Just who is this guy?' Strinker thought as he double-tapped his glabella, summoning his tablet to pull up a certain page. It was the list of those who were in the top 100. From the first rank to the hundredth, Strinker looked through it completely, failing to find anyone by the name of Krune.

Eventually, he was unable to rein in his curiosity, facing Krune as he asked, "Sir, what is your rank?"

"Rank? What's that?" Krune frowned as he asked in response, unaware. Seeing his reply, Strinker was caught off guard. He wondered if Krune was actually from the first batch, as he had said. Within a couple of seconds, numerous scenarios flashed through his mind as he noticed how Krune had never displayed any bloodthirst.

His cruel appearance was the only thing going for him. Beyond that, he hadn't shown any offensive nature. Even for the group of people that tried to take his boat, he lent them a helping hand, even if it was just throwing them a rope to remain afloat.

It made Strinker assume that Krune was actually weak and was just putting up a front. He didn't have it in him to fight against others and was just making up an excuse to save himself. Thinking as such, he displayed the contents of his tablet to Krune, saying, "This is the ranking."

Krune unleashed some light as he brightened up the area, allowing him to stare at the tablet better. He then frowned as he asked, "Since when was such a list introduced? Anyways, how did you pull up that list?"

"When I tap five times on the tablet, this information pops up. The information displayed on the tablet changes according to the number of taps." Strinker replied, wondering how Krune managed to survive without even knowing about something so basic.

'Strange.' Krune frowned, wondering if he had attempted that in the past when he was experimenting with the tablet. Soon, he realized that he wasn't clear about what he had experimented with. All he knew was that he didn't get anything from the tablet.

Thinking as such, he summoned his tablet and tapped on it five times, immediately watching a stream of data be displayed.

[Double Ocean: Godly Point Rankings]

[Rank 1: Princess Zamuria (142 Godly Points)]

[Rank 2: Hrook (127 Godly Points)]

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[Rank 27: Cultivator (87 Godly Points)]

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[Rank 100: Daelleur (64 Godly Points)]

[Rank 798: Krune (34 Godly Points)]

Only the top hundred ranks were displayed. Beyond that was his rank. Upon seeing that he was way below his expectations, Krune was disappointed for a moment. Then, he smiled a moment later as he muttered inwardly, 'It's only interesting this way. With my advantages, I'll soon catch up to them.'

"Well, it seems I'm pretty far behind," Krune muttered. Upon hearing his casual tone, Strinker was unable to judge the emotion Krune was actually feeling. He hoped Krune was just putting up a strong front and wasn't actually unfazed by everything.

After forming his thoughts, he asked, "May I know your rank?"

"Sure." Krune nodded casually as he replied, "It's rank 798."

'Not overly high, but still high enough.' Strinker controlled his urges, intending to take it slow and make a move only when the situation looked right for him. A cultivator had as many Godly Points as his strength dictated.

The stronger they were, the more they hunted and accumulated Godly Points. So, their ranks were a clear indication of their strength. Besides, Strinker had observed a certain trend among those from the first batch. A lot of them had staggeringly high Godly Points.

But over the months, the number hadn't increased as fast as he had thought, considering their high initial numbers. So, he wondered how they accumulated that many Godly Points in the first place.

After all, even after being in the place for seven months, he only managed to accumulate three Godly Points. Even that proved to be tremendously hard. If not for the fact two massive fishes fought each other and had sustained enough life-threatening injuries, he wouldn't have been able to land the final blow on them and reap the Godly Points.

And only through that did he accumulate three passive abilities. Among his group, he was already the strongest. After all, only two others in his group had two passive abilities, while the rest only had one passive ability.

Surprisingly, they were already considered an elite group because of this. As for the group holding the rope that Krune had thrown, none of them had any passive abilities. If they had been capable of killing a powerful fish, they would have at least used its carcass to build themselves a boat.

Or, they hadn't been lucky until now to chance upon an injured fish that gave them a passive ability upon death, like Strinker.

Krune had zero intentions of hunting fishes to give them passive abilities. He wasn't a saint. On top of that, it wasn't easy to hunt a fish that was able to give a Godly Point. Every hunt was life-threatening.

Only if they had certain elements of luck, coincidence, the proper placing, and perseverance will they be able to destroy one, just like what Krune had done to the Sonic Radar. Thus, he only planned to think about himself.

And just when he thought about it, a woman slowly paddled towards his boat. Just when he thought of using the Neon Radiance to prevent her approach, he paused, noticing that the woman barely retained her consciousness. She wasn't part of the group that held his rope.

She seemed to have been severely injured as a couple of bones the shape of knives had been pierced through her back, having injured her lungs. In other words, she wasn't even able to breathe. Moreover, the stretch of the ocean behind her had a long line of red due to the blood she had lost.

She had lost her left arm while her legs seemed to have been riddled with holes. Held on her right arm, secured in her embrace, was a baby, barely a few months old. The baby was currently silent, its body covered with blood that bled from her.

It was currently still as its body was turning cold, a sign that it wasn't far from death. As darkness had set, the woman had been lost. And it was then she noticed a bright light far away, one that seemed capable of sending away the night at the owner's discretion.

Using the last vestiges of her strength, she paddled towards the light source, noticing a figure that seemed even more vicious than the most vicious of monsters. But for some reason, she felt he was her final hope.

"Please…my child…save him…" she uttered using the last of her breath, barely lifting her son's body as she lost all vitality. Her extended hand slowly fell into the ocean as her corpse floated on its surface.

s

Krune frowned, immediately understanding that trouble had knocked at his doorsteps. As someone who had attracted trouble throughout his life, Krune had a sharp radar towards such situations. Seeing the extent of injuries riddled on the woman's body, he knew that she had offended someone too much that they acted so viciously against her.

Then again, he didn't wish to involve himself with her, so he hadn't taken any action. The woman died before she reached him. Plus, the fact that she died despite being in the ocean with its healing properties meant that her injuries were life-threatening. In short, even he wouldn't have been able to save her.

"…Guah!" Suddenly, the baby cried, stifling him as Krune scowled immediately, no longer able to remain a cold onlooker. He leaned over the edge of the boat and extended his hand, grabbing hold of the baby that had begun to drown in the water, lifting it up.

He quickly inspected its condition, frowning for a moment as he placed his palm over its body. He then unleashed a blue radiance as he began to heal it. Coincidentally, at this moment, he noticed another bright spot moving in his direction at breakneck speeds.

"Ah shit, here we go again."