After massacring over 10,000 imperial soldiers, Jacob managed to complete his other arm by sculpting the longevity schema on it, and not only that, but he also completed both of his shoulders, bringing the percentage of the Cursed Bone Marrow Amalgamation up to 20.31%!
This provided a huge overall power boost to his strength, and he mused that he was now as powerful as a Perfect Stage Beyond Unique Rank, not to mention his blood manipulation refined even further.
Jacob discovered that he was making progress with blood manipulation even more now that he was absorbing blood and making progress in Cursed Bone Marrow Amalgamation. This naturally made him joyous, and he proceeded towards his other target, the Blue Whale Duke's dukedom!
However, when he reached one of the three main cities of the Blue Whale Dukedom, he found it completely empty, making him frown.
'Don't tell me those guys evaluate the city because of me? Did they finally notice why I'm doing all this? Well, I've left quite clues, and they're not complete idiots.
'They had many methods to monitor the situation, and according to Autarch, the army was also being monitored by the Army Strategist Alfonso with the Transmitter Fish, which can record and then play anything it sees, like a video recorder. They also didn't use Star Network but another method similar to Star Network, which is only good for communications.
'Although it doesn't matter anymore, even if they found out about my goal, they sure moved fast, and this will hinder my plans. But I shouldn't push too hard and corner them since they still have many hidden trump cards that could restrain me.
'Should I go to the Battle Shark Empire now? They're far more arrogant and battle-hungry than the Whales, and their blood should be equally potent. I can complete my legs there before leaving the ocean for good.
'If I'm not wrong and each of my limbs is worth 10% of Cursed Bone Marrow Amalgamation, then I'll be able to complete up to 40% after completing both my legs, and I should be able to break into the Inception Legend Rank.
'It's quite strange, though. I'm confident that I'm a Beyond Unique Rank, but my mana is still the same and hasn't converted into aura or spirit. So, I'm positive that the three steps of legend ranks are also different for me than the others. I'm improving physically.
'I should pay another visit to the Dead Faction Territory once again once I leave the ocean and evolve the damn hex core up to unique rank and see what happened. It's quite strange there are no traces of Dark Beings in the Deep Ocean…'
Jacob was deep in thought when suddenly he sensed someone or something approaching. He looked in front, and his vision zoomed; a flash of surprise passed through his eyes when he saw a golden fish around two meters coming in his direction, and on top of this fish was a cubic metal container.
With his eyes, he could 'see' that there wasn't anything dangerous about that fish or the container, so he didn't do anything and let the fish approach me with a hint of amusement in his eyes. He wanted to know what the empire was planning now.
Soon, the fish appeared before Jacob, and a voice suddenly rang from the cubic container, "Please forgive my lack of presence, but for obvious reasons, I can't show myself in front of you unless I'm certain you won't turn me into your 'meal.'
"But if possible, I want to have a peaceful dialog with you as the representative of the Mighty Whale Empire and resolve this misunderstanding peacefully before it reaches the point of no return. I'm Prime Minister Alfonso. How should I address your esteem self?"
'Now, this is unexpected but not out of my expectation…'
Jacob's head was covered in a dark hood while his face was covered in a mask, so even if someone saw this, they wouldn't be able to make up his appearance. He impassively looked at the fish and spoke, "I don't have any name. You may address me as Nobody if you like."
"Very well, Your Excellency, may I ask if you have any enmity with the Mighty Whale Empire?" Alfonso inquired politely.
Jacob replied in a neutral tone, "Not that I could think of."
"Then I'll be easy if you don't have any enmity with us. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but Your Excellency is killing our people to absorb their blood, right?" Alfonso asked again.
"Maybe," Jacob replied with a hint of sharpness in his eyes.
"You've already killed more than enough of our people, and despite that, His Majesty, the Whale Empire is willing to look past it. All we want is for you to leave our territory now before it reaches the point of no return.
"I can assure you that the army you killed the other day was not even 10% of the empire's might. I can assume that you were doing all this on your predatory instincts, but you are not completely a bloodthirsty monster; I can tell that.
"So, all the people you've killed, consider them the goodwill of his majesty and leave our territory. We're willing to point you in the direction where you can find far more 'food' than this place, and I can assure you those beings will never stop coming." Alfonso stated his condition in a slightly cold tone. He was clearly threatening Jacob, but he also didn't want to make him angry.
When Jacob heard this, a flash of interest passed through his eyes, and he didn't mind the threat since he knew the other party was in the right. Besides, he was quite astounded to find out that the Empire was not furious, and instead of sending powerful men to hunt him, they were here negotiating with him.
However, he wasn't going to believe that they were doing this out of goodwill, he was sure that they were doing it after seeing his power to 'control' others and knowingly that the more people they sent against him the more powerful he'll become.
So, their only option was to point him in another direction, and this could even benefit them more.
'Heh, they want to release this 'monster' into their enemy's territory. Not only this will rid of them the monster, they will also cause trouble for their enemy and throw the responsibility of killing the monster to them as well. No matter what the result of this clash would be, it will only bring them benefits…'
Jacob's lips curled up as he coldly stated, "Alright, I'm willing to leave, but before that, I've heard the Mighty Whale Empire has a war prison where you all keep your enemies and criminals. Hand them over, and I'll leave in the direction you point me in or…"
Jacob's voice turned bloodthirsty as darkness suddenly enveloped the entire fish, "Or we can all find out what would happen when you threatened me with your empty travesty!"