Under thick, rolling dark clouds, heavy rain pierced through the thin yet surging sea surface and crashed down onto a gigantic blue palace.
The towering palace was entirely built from pale blue cold steel, stretching for hundreds of miles through the deep sea.
Across its glowing blue surface, countless transparent, sparkling gems were embedded.
They looked like deep blue sapphires nourished by rain, like eyes from the depths of the ocean, flowing with a mysterious yet clear light.
At the far end of the grand palace, blue gems shone like stars in the night sky, stretching endlessly, like a bright rift carved through the deep sea.
The entire palace stood quietly beneath the ocean, allowing violent waves to scrape across its tough cold steel.
Burly guards stood in a row holding long spears, submerged beneath the sea.
Their eyes were firm, and the thin streams of water on their arms gradually merged with the flowing light along the spear shafts.
The patterns on their bodies appeared especially mysterious under the faint blue ocean light, as if they had come alive, constantly flowing.
And inside the palace.
Blue crystals seemed to light up everything around them.
Even in the deep sea, every room of the palace was as bright as daytime.
Above the shining hall, it was as if a huge opening had been cut open, with sandy glass separating the ocean outside.
A ring of blue crystals was embedded around the ceiling, their clear glow casting light across the entire palace floor.
The spacious room was likewise immersed in a blue ocean of light.
Above the enormous bed, bubbles occasionally rose up.
Pop~ Pop~ Pop~
Oddly amusing.
A sea-folk guard walked in and knelt on one knee beside the bed.
"City Lord, someone is looking for you."
The bubbles rising from the bed suddenly stopped, as if a delicate sleep had been disturbed.
A small fish lay on the huge bed. It opened its eyes, still a bit dazed.
In this underwater kingdom filled with sea-folk, the appearance of such a small fish-like creature was truly surprising.
The little fish was still groggily blowing bubbles, rubbing its eyes with its fins.
"What happened?"
The guard raised the badge and respectfully extended it forward.
The fish blinked, looking at the badge in front of it. Its throat moved, blowing a bubble that wrapped around the small badge.
It flicked its fin, letting the bubble slowly float toward itself.
Seeing the item, it blinked again.
It felt strangely familiar.
So the little fish spoke.
"When that person came, did he say anything?"
The guard hurriedly replied.
"He said he is Councilor Clavenna."
"He asked you to go out and receive him immediately."
The small fish suddenly cried out, eyes wide open, staring at the badge in disbelief.
"What? A councilor!?"
It began swimming around the entire room in excitement. In just a few seconds, the little fish had already circled the room several times.
"When did that person arrive?"
Seeing the city lord's anxious expression, the guard became even more respectful.
"Last night."
It was over.
The small fish froze there, its tiny head spinning wildly.
Then, as if it realized something, it hurriedly shouted at the guard.
"Quick! Take me to see him!"
———
Above the sea, waves of heat rushed forward.
Flames broke free from the restraints of moisture, dancing joyfully on the sea surface like a crazed reveler.
Raging fire mixed with thick white mist rolled and surged, swallowing all living things on the sea surface.
Boundless, terrifying flames caused the sea-folk present to flee in panic. Under the double torment of ghostly fire and hot mist, some unlucky ones still fell into a hell of flames.
Viktor stood at the center of the fire, like a war god controlling fire demons.
With his hands in his pockets, he walked forward while manipulating the molten giant hands behind him, scattering wave after wave of fiery punishment through the air.
Henny followed closely behind Viktor.
Around her, a road of flames spread out.
This was something Viktor deliberately created to protect her.
At this moment, Henny had long gone numb.
Viktor had led her on a night-long slaughter of sea-folk.
But what was strange was that these sea-folk were just like before.
No matter how many times they were killed, after some time, they would revive again.
This made Henny realize that these sea-folk definitely had problems.
The five crime stars that symbolized criminal status were burning nonstop on Viktor's chest, flickering with light within the flames.
Over the course of the entire night, Viktor had taken control of five regions.
They were A1 through A5.
At this moment, the city's alarm was still ringing without pause.
"[Five-star criminal detected in A6 region.]"
In Sea City, a player's crime star level increases from one star to six stars.
Each increase requires controlling a corresponding region.
The higher the crime star level, the stronger the guard forces encountered.
Once all six stars are obtained, it means the player has taken control of all upper-city regions.
At that point, no more enemies will appear.
So Viktor, now holding five crime stars, had already reached the highest difficulty.
Standing before Viktor was a massive water monster.
Its entire body was wrapped in flowing water, like a ferocious water bear.
Facing Viktor, it let out an extremely violent roar.
Roar!!!
Viktor remained expressionless, simply fixing his gaze on the massive bear.
[Lv46]
The same level as Viktor.
Its body was a bloated blue sphere, with equally massive limbs.
Between the spherical masses, enormous energy seemed to flow continuously.
The huge giant kept swinging its fists at Viktor. Viktor lightly shifted his body, easily dodging the heavy attacks.
In the blink of an eye, Henny realized she had been placed far from the battlefield.
She could see Professor Viktor locked in combat with the towering water giant.
The giant bear punched and kicked wildly across the sea surface, its heavy blows smashing into buildings and the sea, stirring up waves tens of meters high.
Viktor remained calm as he watched the raging water bear.
Its thick limbs were firmly planted in the sea.
Standing on the water surface, it was like an unmovable water fortress.
Violent waves surged, transforming into a ferocious giant-toothed hunting shark, lunging straight at Viktor.
Viktor raised his palm as several crimson magic arrays quickly floated around him.
Countless lines converged into a single point, and an inverted six-pointed star appeared behind him.
The molten giant hand clenched into a fist, and then a blazing fire greatsword grew out from its palm, as if piercing through heavy clouds.
The towering red flames slashed down with the giant hand, cutting apart the already sparse clouds as they collided head-on with the water bear.
[Fourth-tier Magic: Blazing Giant Blade]
The next second, white steaming air exploded outward, swallowing the entire world.
As the rising mist gradually faded, the sea surface returned to a deathly silence.
The clouds split by the giant blade began to twist.
The originally sparse clouds seemed guided by something, gathering across the sky above Sea City.
The next moment…
Drip!
When the first raindrop struck the sea surface, the downpour quickly grew heavier.
Raindrops pounded into the sea with loud splashing sounds, echoing throughout the city.
Yet the silence did not lessen at all. Instead, it grew deeper.
The original ocean giant bear had vanished.
In its place was a star-shaped badge.
It lay quietly on the sea surface, drifting with the current until it reached Viktor.
Viktor bent down, picked it up, and pinned it to his chest.
At this moment, six stars were already hanging on Viktor's body.
All sea-folk in the A6 region disappeared, and a city announcement followed.
"[A6 region has been occupied.]"
Viktor looked down at the police stars on his chest.
He was now a six-star good citizen.
The alarm continued to echo, but this time, no one came.
Viktor had taken over all six surface-city regions, so sea-folk would no longer appear on the sea surface.
In his mind, fragments of maps from six regions surged forth, fully piecing together.
The Sea City, enclosed within bubbles, formed a circular city, with the six regions occupying six different directions.
The central area was still a gray, fog-covered circle, impossible to peer into no matter what.
At this moment, the flames around Viktor gradually dissipated.
The Sea City before them had almost turned into ruins, the entire city completely destroyed by fire.
Henny let the rain soak her hair as she looked around.
Feeling the desolation around her, she could not help but feel a sense of melancholy.
At first, this city built upon the sea had deeply shocked her.
But now.
In just one night, the entire Sea City looked like it had gone through a massive war.
It was unrecognizable.
Henny finally seemed to understand how Professor Viktor had obtained his councilor title.
At that moment, Viktor reached out, removed all the stars, and handed them to Henny.
"It's your turn to wear them."
Henny froze for a moment, then obediently reached out and took the six stars.
When the six police stars were pinned to her chest, she immediately felt a sense of control rising from within.
As if, with a single thought, she could restore everything here.
So Henny tried to do just that.
She clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and tried to draw out the power.
Transparent water streams gathered rapidly, splashes bursting forth.
The sea surged, raising massive waves like collapsing mountains.
Along with the waves, countless sea-folk reformed their bodies from the water.
As if awakened, their forms gradually recovered.
Transparent like water, shimmering with faint light, crystal-clear like gemstones.
Standing beside a water pillar, Henny witnessed this spectacle.
She could feel the power flowing through her body, power born from the ocean.
At the same time, water currents surged.
One enormous water pillar after another rose like giant dragons, shooting into the sky.
The pillars began to take shape, as if adorned with countless blue droplets, occasionally flashing with colorful light.
Finally, they formed skyscrapers of flowing water, and water-made buildings reshaped themselves, standing once again upon the sea surface.
Streets were repaired, and pedestrians began moving about once more.
Seeing this scene, Henny felt utterly amazed.
At that moment, Viktor's calm voice sounded.
"Now, you are the city lord of this upper city."
Henny blinked.
'Huh?'