It turned out that the skill tree hadn't disappeared; it was just being prepared for a revamp.
However, the new skill tree didn't differ much from the original in terms of skill quantity.
At most, the icon colors had changed, and the two skill lines, Deep Sea Fighter and Ocean Mage, had been merged to some extent.
Deep Sea Magic Runes, which originally belonged to the Fighter system, and the Mage's Shape system, became part of the same line.
The two systems were indistinguishable; the icons for the prerequisite Deep Sea Fighter and Ocean Mage all disappeared, replaced by a different icon.
And skills Kevin hadn't lit up, like Deep Sea Swordsmanship, were all merged into new skills.
That is, the new skills of the Ocean Lord.
After changing professions, the Ocean Lord has three large basic skills.
The first is what Kevin just mentioned, a passive skill that encompasses all combat techniques, Lord's Martial Arts.
It sounds a bit unlike a Western fantasy style, but that's not important; what's important is the actual ability of this skill.
From the description, Kevin could tell that this passive skill was very powerful.
This skill gave Kevin two combat-related abilities: one was that upon lighting up this skill, Kevin could acquire all types of combat techniques, including both cold and hot weapons.
The other was that when this ability was activated, upon acquiring a famous weapon and touching it, there was a certain probability of acquiring all of the weapon owner's combat techniques.
The former integrated Kevin's combat techniques, giving Kevin extremely high potential in combat.
The latter allowed Kevin to learn other schools of combat arts without a teacher, and this ability was not limited to cold weapons.
Some famous firearms could also grant Kevin combat skills.
For example… gun-fu that makes bullets curve.
The second skill after becoming an Ocean Lord is called Lord's Magic Reasoning, which sounds a bit difficult to understand from the name.
But it's easy to understand if you break down the words 'magic reasoning'.
Magic, and understanding.
In short, it is an understanding of magic.
Mastering this skill, Kevin can begin to create his own magic, and at the same time, through understanding the various forms of water, he can construct more realistic objects with Shape magic.
For example, when Kevin used to sculpt extremely complex things like pistols or vehicles out of water, at most he would only sculpt an outer Shape; the internal structure was actually driven by Kevin's magic power.
But now that he has mastered Lord's Magic Reasoning, as long as Kevin understands the internal structure of an object, he can use Shape magic to precisely sculpt every part of an item.
It felt like it wasn't very useful, but it greatly increased the breadth of Kevin's skills.
For creations with more intricate internal structures, Kevin wouldn't need to expend too much energy to maintain the object's operation; as long as he provided a little magic power, it could exist indefinitely.
This indirectly improved Kevin's endurance.
Moreover, this skill incorporates some magic runes; once this skill's level is raised to a certain degree, Kevin can combine magic runes to create more magic runes.
It's not just limited to basic magic runes like 'Power' or 'Defense'; there are also many more magic runes that can be imbued with abilities.
Perhaps in the future, he can create true magic arrays through various combinations of magic runes!
Although Kevin needs to research and create the magic runes himself, it is clear that... the future is promising!
These two skills are advanced extensions of the Deep Sea Fighter and Ocean Mage professions, directly encompassing all skills, allowing Kevin's previous skills to be thoroughly integrated.
And besides these two, the remaining skill is slightly related to space.
King's Treasury.
That is the name of this basic ability.
Through the ability description, Kevin could determine that this was a special skill capable of storing items.
After having the skill tree for so long, he finally obtained something that the male protagonists in ordinary novels would get: a storage space!
If he had a storage space before, the things he brought wouldn't have been crushed by the seawater...
Kevin was a bit excited to get the storage space, but he quickly realized he was happy a little too soon.
Because this ability has a serious limitation: it only accepts treasures.
Items that can be thrown into Kevin's Treasury must be rare items of the world, such as the Infinity Stones from the Marvel World, or Thor's Mjolnir, Captain America's shield, or Iron Man's Mark series armor.
Alternatively, Adamantium creations from the X-Men world, or Magneto's helmet that can block psychic abilities, can also barely be considered rare treasures.
And in the DC Universe, the only thing that can be stored in the Treasury is the trident...
"Wait a minute… you're not actually taking it, are you?!"
Kevin had just thought of the trident when he realized that the trident, which should have been in his hand, had disappeared.
It lay quietly inside Kevin's King's Treasury, emitting a faint glow.
Kevin was quite speechless at the sight.
This was a treasure of Atlantis, and Kevin had never intended to actually take it away, as it didn't significantly boost Kevin's combat power, and besides looking good, it seemed to have no other use.
Moreover, it would throw this Flashpoint Universe's ocean world into chaos.
Kevin had planned that after touching the trident and changing professions, he would let Mera hold the trident, allowing her to become the queen who ruled the underwater world.
He himself would go to the surface to deal with Supergirl and the future Zod, to gain some skill points so he could light up his newly acquired skills.
Kevin had no intention of being the King of the Seas in the DC Universe; if he really took the trident, when Kevin returned to the DC Universe later, he would surely be bothered to death by the people of the Atlantean Kingdom.
But the result was...
After the Treasury took the trident, it didn't want to spit it out.
It was as if Kevin absolutely had to take this item; he couldn't not take it.
"You never had this problem before. You didn't even glance at the power stone or the Phoenix Force. Why are you clinging to this trident now…?"
Kevin was helpless but could do nothing about the skill tree.
Well, it was clear to see, the skill tree's newly opened Treasury didn't want him to discard the trident, and it had nothing to do with Kevin himself.
Finding an excuse for himself, Kevin quickly put the matter out of his mind.
He took out the trident again, waved it slightly, and then his body suddenly froze as scenes flowed from the trident into his mind.
Those were scenes of the Atlantean King practicing with the trident.
Lord's Martial Arts, this skill that Kevin had just leveled to one, took effect. The Atlantean King's methods of using the trident and combat techniques were injected into Kevin's mind through a special method.
Although these combat experiences were somewhat fragmented due to the low skill level, they made Kevin more Apprentice at using the trident.
Originally, Kevin wasn't particularly good at using the trident; he always created tridents in various ways to fight others, also because it better fit the title of 'Aquaman'.
Even the title of 'Sea God'.
Didn't the Sea God Poseidon use a trident?
But in reality, Kevin was completely clueless about trident combat techniques; his most proficient fighting style was to swing it, and then... stab it through.
Just like the boy in the fields looking for badgers.
But now, with the Atlantean King's insights into using the trident, Kevin wouldn't instantly become a trident master, but at least he knew how to use it.
This legendary trident wouldn't be disgraced in Kevin's hands.
As Kevin played with the trident, suddenly, an incredulous shout came from afar:
"This… impossible! Why… why can you gain the trident's recognition?!"
It was Karathen, who had just passed out from the pain.
He had now woken up, sensed the trident in Kevin's hand, and let out an unacceptable sound.
So many challengers with Atlantean blood over the generations had tried to pick up the trident, but none had ultimately gained its recognition, turning into Karathen's food.
Logically, Kevin, who had no Atlantean blood at all, should be even less likely to gain the trident's recognition.
But the fact that Kevin had already taken the trident was right before his eyes.
This made Karathen's big head a bit slow to process.
Didn't they say that only descendants recognized by Atlantis could pick up the trident...?
Then what was all his desperate fighting just now for?
Karathen was quite confused.
Kevin turned around, facing Karathen directly.
He held the trident forward, and ripples emanated from its tip, heading straight for the distant sea monster Karathen.
"Kneel, and surrender!"
Kevin didn't waste words, using the trident's ability to control sea creatures to control the sea monster Karathen before him.
Under the power of the trident, and the command of the new King of the Sea, Karathen, who had lost his pincers, bent his six mountain-like legs and knelt before Kevin.
"Greetings… New King—!"
The unruly Karathen had now become Kevin's subordinate, and willingly so.
He couldn't be unwilling.
He couldn't win the fight, and now the trident was in the other's hand; what else could he do but obey?
To actually be beaten to death and made into a crab meat feast would be too much of a loss.
"I actually still liked your unruly appearance just now. Go back to that."
Facing Karathen's submission, Kevin chuckled and teased.
Karathen, however, found nothing funny. His massive body knelt before Kevin, not daring to speak.
The joke he threw out received no response, and Kevin felt rather bored.
But seeing Karathen's body, Kevin suddenly thought of something again and opened the skill tree to look at the 'Aquatic Creature Summon' skill.
Speaking of which… this giant sea monster in front of him could also be considered an aquatic creature, right?
...
Mera hid behind a pillar, staring nervously at the distant waterfall.
Just now, the ground suddenly shook, and the rocks and sparkling crystals above fell due to the tremor.
This forced Mera to quickly hide to avoid being hit by the falling debris.
But at the same time, she also became worried about Kevin.
Clearly, the unusual tremor just now was very likely related to Kevin; perhaps Kevin had encountered some trouble underwater.
Mera didn't know what was happening below. Unaware of what Kevin was going through, she dared not go down to check the situation casually. She could only stay outside, anxiously watching the direction of the waterfall, hoping Kevin would return.
But she also prepared herself for Kevin not being able to return.
"Kevin…"
Muttering Kevin's name, Mera's gaze at the waterfall became a little lost in thought.
And suddenly, her eyes lit up. The gloomy aura on her body, caused by worrying about Kevin, vanished, and her expression became bright again.
Because she saw the figure within the waterfall.
The figure holding the trident, walking out of the waterfall.
That was Kevin.
He successfully found the trident, gained its recognition, and became the new King of the Sea!
Mera didn't know how she felt at that moment.
There was excitement, unwillingness, and a hint of inexplicable joy and relief. She looked at Kevin, who was holding the trident, and her eyes began to hold something with an unclear meaning.
Kevin's appearance in her eyes gained a dreamlike filter.
Until…
Kevin walked up to her and personally 'shattered' that filter.
"Yo, looking at me like that, are you falling for me? Don't, I'm a man with a fiancée."
"…"
Alright, once Kevin spoke, Mera realized that all those filters just now were indeed fake.
Kevin was still that scoundrel who liked to tease her.