Gehen gazed at the octopus that was standing before him, staring at the other party and said, "So, you're still alive."
It was the octopus that had been within the Checkpoint Turtle he had killed. Now that it showed itself before him, Gehen was curious about the reason. Even though he assumed it wouldn't be as strong as the Checkpoint Turtle, a Supreme Monster, he didn't dare be careless.
"No need to worry. I'm not an opponent you will have to face here." The octopus let out humane laughter as it responded, "The reason I am here is to hand out your punishment for killing a Checkpoint Turtle. No matter your reason, a Checkpoint Turtle has been established to help the humans struggling on this layer."
"What…kind of punishment?" Gehen frowned, becoming alert.
"For the crime of killing a Checkpoint Turtle, you are banned from anything related to the products sold in the Checkpoint Turtle. And that includes the items in the possession of others," the octopus replied, noticing Gehen heave a sigh in relief. It then expressed a frown as it asked, "You don't feel like it's a punishment? The products sold in a Checkpoint Turtle have tremendous value, you know."
"Yes, but I already have everything I need." Gehen smiled. "And, I have no plan of leaving my base behind to head into a Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary Landmass. I have already reaped all the benefits that can be obtained."
"There's also the entry ticket to Layer 2. It can only be bought in a Checkpoint Turtle," the octopus said.
"I have no plans for that," Gehen said, noticing the octopus laugh in response.
"Interesting, indeed!" It laughed.
Gehen pointed at it and spoke, "You mentioned before that you aren't an opponent I must face. Then, when and where will you be my opponent?"
"In layer 2." The octopus laughed. "But, since you won't go there, you don't have to concern yourself with it."
It then said a word of caution. "Also, unlike passive abilities, you can pass your active ability to your kids. They would become what is called an active ability bearer. When you die, the most suitable one among them obtains your active ability. So, if you wish to form a kingdom, don't leave your seeds in every sow you encounter."
"Alright, I'll keep that in mind." Gehen nodded.
The octopus then pointed at his forehead, saying, "Now that you have an active ability and have been recognized as a King, your Tablet has gained an extra feature. Every year, you can look at the world map for exactly an hour. It would show all the various kingdoms in Layer 3."
The octopus cackled as it disappeared. "I wonder if you'll still be happy staying on Layer 3 once you see that."
Gehen returned to his room and sat in one corner. He didn't have anything like a pen and paper to take notes. It would take him a long time before he managed to install all the necessities in his ship. So at present, he just wished to look at the feature.
Thinking as such, he double-tapped his glabella, summoning his tablet to see that it was now bordered by waves on all sides, making it look fancier. He then messed with it until the map of the Layer 3 was displayed.
Immediately, the tablet changed. It displayed things related to an ocean on either side. Gehen looked through it, noticing that most of the place was just water. On top of that, there seemed to be minuscule dots scattered across it.
He swiped with two fingers, noticing that he was able to zoom in a little bit. Once he zoomed in to the limit, one of the scattered dots became as big as his finger. That seemed to be the limit of the function.
Soon, he noticed that the dot he had been looking at was a Landmass. Judging by its relative size with respect to the other dots, he determined that it was actually a Tertiary Landmass.
"What the heck?" He quickly zoomed in and out of the map, noticing that the Tertiary Landmass alone was in the four digits. Using it as a reference, he made a general estimate of the scale of the map, sweating buckets immediately as he muttered, "Approximately a million kilometers?"
He then noticed that there were various colors displayed on every island. After surfing through it for a while, Gehen noticed that humans were displayed as black. Not only that, but he noticed that most of the humans were concentrated in just one part of the map.
When he zoomed in further, he noticed that the distance between one edge of a human area to another was around two to three thousand kilometers. So, most of them had only been scattered in and around one part of the map.
The only reason they hadn't come across too many people was because their population was still too small, considering the area they were scattered across.
Gehen then looked past the area humanity was scattered, noticing some rocks situated closer. Judging by their size, they seemed to be some Primary Landmass. But then, Gehen noticed how the colors of a couple of Primary Landmass seemed to be the same. Judging by that, it seemed that one of the colors seemed to be invading the others.
As he hovered on it, a word was displayed, outlining the race that was invading. "Monster Gecko…?"
"It seems that are invading other Primary Landmasses. Once they cross that, they would start attacking humans." He frowned after realizing that, sighing as he said to himself, "Well, it's not something I have to care about for the time being."
He then located his position on the map and looked for the nearest place with the highest density of people, intending to recruit them. He planned to have around 2000 pirates with him, a number he felt would be optimal to man within his pirate ship. If he expanded even further, he planned to make more follow in individual boats, like a fleet.
After looking at the map until its time was up, Gehen laughed. "There are allies to recruit, enemies to face, and a massive world to explore. I won't ever regret staying behind."
…
There was a massive fish currently floating on the ocean water. And, seated on its back were twenty people while standing at the front was a woman, possessing features similar to Cultivator.
She was the one that had birthed him, the Third Princess of the Zamuria Royalty, hailing from the Zamuria Continent, and currently, the top-ranked person in Layer 3.
She had been looking at a certain name on her tablet ever since she was in Layer 3, focusing on it for a long time. It was Cultivator. Since she planned to rectify her mistake, she had been keeping an eye on his development all along.
Cultivator had become her prime focus. Everything else was secondary. But, as she continued to stare at his name, the display on the tablet changed as two rows of words were displayed. It showed the announcement of Gehen becoming the First King and the fact that no more Checkpoint Turtles could be hunted.
"So, the Checkpoint Turtle was indeed a Supreme Monster. Sucks that someone beat me to it," she muttered, but didn't seem disappointed.
Princess Zamuria!
She gazed to her back, looking at the ground with twenty people on it, asking, "How is it?"
"We have lured another one, Princess!" one of them spoke, heaving a sigh of relief as she let out an exhausted grunt.
"Good." Princess Zamuria nodded as her body shone with a gentle radiance. She noticed the display on the tablet change back to the rankings. She then tapped it once, pulling up her information, looking at her Passive Abilities.
[Neon Radiance]
[Neon Radiance]
[Neon Radiance]
[Neon Radiance]
[Neon Radiance]
She then nodded, thinking, 'It's for the best to develop with this unless I find a better ability. But for that, I have to wait a decade for the Second Wave. Only the passive ability given by the creature in a Wave has such potential.'
She then watched a shadow loom in the water above as a massive fish jump out, opening its mouth as it intended to gobble up the twenty people behind her.
The moment it jumped out, all the twenty people simultaneously jumped into the water, acting like they were used to the situation, timely escaping as the fish landed into the water.
Princess Zamuria smiled as she walked forth. The Neon Radiance she unleashed condensed into a blade of light as she leaped into the air, making a slash as the blade expanded accordingly, creating a long gash on the massive fish.
It seemed like Neon Radiance couldn't emit such a phenomenon. But, it was only possible because it was in her hands. Even now, the light blade had five flickers that combined to give it solidity. Even then, it seemed like she hadn't perfected the technique yet as a lot of light was simply radiated out, a waste considering her purpose of use.
Though, all she needed was only training. Smiling, Princess Zamuria attacked the massive fish in a flurry, preventing it from even nearing her before it bled to death. She easily farmed for a Godly Point, wiping her sweat as she sat on the fish carcass.
The twenty people soon went aboard it, beginning to lure in another massive fish that might award a Godly Point. Upon seeing their zealous work, Princess Zamuria waved her hand, telling them to rest for the time being as she frowned, deep in thought, 'Once I master this ability, I should head straight into a Tertiary Landmass. But before that, I have to purchase a lot of Water Essence to heal and replenish my stamina as I train myself. This will increase my stamina reserves the fastest.'