Boom!
In that instant, Chen Qi felt his consciousness blur as if time around him had frozen. All sounds vanished, leaving only the roar of the spiritual power fist wind beside his ears.
And in his eyes, there was only the sight of the one above on the ship, high and dominant, under the stained white hair, those hunting, icy blue pupils.
Boom!
Boom!
Chen Qi, on the sea, was like a skimming stone, setting off ten terrifying waves on the dark grey sea surface.
Even though he was hitting the sea surface, each impact felt like crashing on solid concrete, a bone-crushing agony.
It looked so painful... Melanie couldn't help but smack her lips as memories flooded in like a tide.
Her junior sister, though usually sincere and polite toward others, turned into a merciless madwoman once the battle began.
In the academy competition, as the senior sister, she was struck in the chest by the same ruthless move.
Melanie, who possessed the strength to make it to the top eight, was humiliatingly defeated in the preliminary round—
And unlike the typical combat madwoman, Ann became a cold, merciless, unfeeling, battle machine executing orders when she fought.
A throbbing pain came from Melanie's chest; she frowned and murmured to herself,
"Ann, this girl, she's even stronger than before. It seems possible that she will advance to become a legend, then an edge hunter, or even an existence above a Saint..."
The glasses hunter Alor adjusted his glasses:
"Is this guy really a mage? Luckily, this suddenness is enough for Snake Father..."
"Snake Father..."
Wait!
At this moment, everyone realized the oversight!
The person being pummeled into a stone on the sea wasn't Snake Father but their rescue target, Lamp Keeper!
They were hitting an ally!
An ally!
And most crucially—
Without any defense, the target hadn't fallen.
Walking on the sea—
Chen Qi gasped for air, suddenly spitting out a mixture of blood and seawater, propping up his body as he emerged from the sea and stood up.
In the fight against Snake Father, he had taken a Cup Release, and his body was already in a dire state.
His insides were burning. Yet, that burning sensation was gradually fading, the pain dissipating—
Chen Qi tried hard to keep "Walking on the Sea" active and looked up toward the distant figure above the Snake Father, the cold battle machine, Ann.
At the edge of his vision, Ann's blood-stained white short hair gently fluttered with the wind, like a machine that tested his fate.
Chen Qi vaguely remembered the first time he saw Ann. At that time, he was just a talented ordinary person while Ann stood in front of him like a towering white tiger.
But after all this time, the feeling of being weak had not diminished in the slightest when they met again.
Such quick reflexes, most mages were frail and seldom attacked first, but Ann was one of the rare melee mages who dared to strike first.
"Ann..."
Chen Qi bit down on his bloodied teeth, taking a step forward. But once again, spike-like pain shot through him, making his consciousness blur even more— Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire
Blur—
Snap!
Chen Qi collapsed into the sea with a loud splash, vaguely feeling two round water elves cut through the currents and rush to his side—
And on the Snake Father, Ann, clad in a navy white hunter's uniform, blinked her eyes, ears echoing with Chen Qi's last word to her:
"Ann..."
Why? Why does he know her name?
Ann blinked, confusion flashing in her cold eyes, detaching bit by bit from the battle mindset.
Could it be—the person from before was—
Ann's expression momentarily turned blank, her hand trembling.
Her talented student, who had taken the wrong path and chosen to become a chef, Qi!
Her relentless search at sea was twofold: to hone herself and to find Qi.
However, the wildly popular Water Elf Restaurant had suddenly vanished above the sea.
In the Witch Sea, to disappear often meant demise.
Along the way, Ann traveled through Moonstone City, crossed Crack Sea, coming to the vicinity of Sea of Calamity at Seal No.3 Mobile Dock, asking the little pharmacist—
She asked about the Water Elf Restaurant everywhere she went but every inquiry led nowhere.
Ann never imagined the Third Rank Transcendent she had just attacked was Chen Qi.
And the moment we met again, I almost killed him... Ann suddenly felt a pang in her heart.
They met again! She almost killed her own student!
As expected, Chen Qi had just advanced to a Third Rank Transcendent, and her sudden punch just now could very likely maim him for life or even kill him—
"No!"
Ann's pupils trembled violently, she immediately leapt from the Snake Father, jumped into the sea, solidifying the surface into ice, and sped towards Chen Qi's position—
...
...
"Huff, huff, huff..."
Chen Qi gasped for air, having had a nightmare. He dreamed that he was defeated by the deep-sea hunter in a stormy sea, and the deep sea hunter's face gradually morphed into Ann's—
A crushing defeat, an utterly exposed rout.
"Ann..."
Chen Qi murmured, then woke up and slowly opened his bloodstained eyes.
Just as his eyes opened, through the hazy view, he saw six white-clad figures.
Among them, one held a surgical knife in hand.