The northernmost territory of the Federation, adjoining the "Polar" regions, extends even further north into a world of unspeakable silence and bone-chilling cold.

On an icy ocean strewn with jagged ice and shattered icebergs, a sophisticated, eerie wooden ship floats on the water; the oars laid aside at will, the ship lamp casting a dim, ghostly glow, soothing the four figures onboard who are "stargazing."

Tang Qi, and three little guys.

In their minds, they still retained the impactful vision they had witnessed earlier.

That indescribable "Horror Pollution" had yet to be fully eradicated.

Fortunately, the stunningly dreamlike, beautiful scene before them was swiftly dispersing that pollution. Accompanied by the occasional breeze, which carried a rich, icy freshness, Tang Qi felt the world expand immensely.

Unlike the endless vastness of the "Mysterious Side," the immense solitude of the Polar regions brought a tranquil stillness to the mind.

Of course, it was not truly silent here.

The occasional sound of icebergs collapsing!

The fierce squeals of Wisdom Whale Beasts hunting in packs!

The cries of cold-resistant birds crossing the icy sea!

And…

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The sudden succession of noises penetrated Tang Qi's ears. Following that, a surge of icy sea water approached from the distance, raising some of the isolated ice floes and his Fool's Ship by several dozen centimeters.

Tang Qi immediately turned his head, looking towards the distance.

There lay a sea surface nearly sealed by ice, where hard ice ridges formed a "Frost Cold Giant Blanket." Along with the medium and small-sized icebergs atop, it rendered the area desolate, save for some cold-resistant sea beasts.

No other biological entities or devices could land there.

But now, there was an exception.

A battleship, akin to a "giant beast," sailed forth from the dark, deep blue sea.

The scene that unfolded:

The beautiful, serene icy world was intruded upon by a prehistoric mechanical giant beast: It had a hull hundreds of meters long, nearly a hundred meters wide, adorned in red and black with multiple layers of gun decks, and its prow was a fearsome Sea Monster, as if sprung from nonexistence.

"Frost Dragon!"

Standing on the deck of the Fool's Ship, Tang Qi watched that "monster" as it began to crush the icy sea, slowly uttering its name.

"Rose's authority is indeed higher than nearly all the Federation's polymaths. The existence of this tremendous ship, perhaps even Rafael back at the Ancient Castle Bureau had no access to such information."

"The Frost Dragon, a prehistoric behemoth excavated by the Divine Eagle Federation from within the 'Absolute Freeze Ice Belt' of the northern icy seas. Upon verification, it should be a mechanical sea beast left by invaders from an Exotic Realm planet during the Middle Stage of the Dark Era."

"It has been covertly restored by the Federation and activated for use by the Federation's secret naval department."

As he recalled the information, the sounds of shattering ice continued to resonate.

The "Frost Cold Giant Blanket" that covered that part of the sea was being torn apart. Each medium and small-sized iceberg, which could have spelled doom for nearly any ship, crumbled effortlessly upon contact with the immensely hard prow of the sea-beast-shaped ship.

The frozen continent was forcibly opened into a channel.

Tang Qi promptly packed up his Fool's Ship but did not head towards the Frost Dragon.

Although he was curious to visit the alien warship, the information from Rose Madeline made it clear that the Frost Dragon was equipped with an extremely sensitive radar detection system. Any Transcendent below Demigod Level would struggle to bypass its barrier.

Fortunately for him, his purpose this time was merely to verify his fourth target test subject.

All other matters could wait.

With a movement of his body, he transformed into a streak of light, maintaining the most appropriate distance from the "Frost Dragon," almost on a parallel journey forward.

In his mind, the mission of the Frost Dragon naturally emerged.

Even for Tang Qi, it was a thrilling and abnormal mission.

"A Federation scientific survey ship, while performing a scientific survey mission in the Polar No. 3 Glacier Belt, encountered an accident with the Mysterious Side... The Seeking Knowledge scientific survey ship was entwined by a gigantic octopus-shaped sea monster half a day ago... And with the appearance of this sea monster, a series of abnormal phenomena occurred in the icy ocean."

"Abnormalities include but are not limited to, intensification of cold air, irregular extension of the ice belt, and magnetic field disorder... Strangely, after entwining the 'Seeking Knowledge', the sea monster did not launch any attacks, but instead repeatedly tried to transmit information to the scientists aboard."

"Due to the language barrier and the absence of other means of communication so far, the scientists are unable to decipher the message."

"To prevent any accidents, the naval higher-ups specially signed an order to deploy the 'Frost Dragon' for a rescue mission, and if necessary, to kill the sea monster and bring its body back..."

"Hmm?"

Just as Tang Qi was about to criticize the aforementioned mission information, which had not been corrected by Rose and other Mystical Side consultants, at that very moment.

The Frost Dragon, which was continuously crushing the ice-bound continent, its red and black hull coated with frost, suddenly slowed down. Atop its multi-tiered turrets, searchlights emitting a strong cold light flicked on. A beam of light in the midst of darkness tore through the gloom.

At the end of the light beam, a scientific survey ship that was much smaller than the "Frost Dragon" and with a more normal design was revealed.

The letters on the hull showed that it was the Seeking Knowledge.

It was frozen on the surface of the sea, and a scene that inevitably made one's eyes widen and face freeze in shock was also illuminated by the light beam.

A huge octopus, entirely a ghostly blue with spots, was using a multitudes of suction-cupped tentacles to entangle the "Seeking Knowledge." Its body had irregularly arranged colossal eyes, each resembling a lantern.

Each eye was emitting a faint light.

They blinked, spreading incomprehensible sound waves throughout the area.

Although before coming here, Tang Qi had already obtained sufficiently detailed information from Rose, as well as details that the Federation official circles didn't know.

Yet at this moment, looking at the scene before him, he still felt it profoundly abnormal.

Terrifying?

Ridiculous?

If he also couldn't interpret the information released by the Big Octopus, perhaps he might lean towards the former.

But as a matter of fact, Rose knew.

Knowing that, Tang Qi naturally understood as well.

"Extraordinary Creature: Monarch Octopus, They are an exceptionally special Species within the 'Mysterious,' each individual is distinctive, and They are all Divine Beings, possessing different Divine Powers... They spend their whole lives searching for the legendary 'Mysterious Monarch.'"

"When They encounter any communicable intelligent Species, They will conduct a 'routine inquiry'. After years of research by Mystical Side Scholars, They finally interpreted several questions that They commonly use."

"Hello, may I ask if you are free, I'd like to inquire about the whereabouts of our Monarch."

"Excuse me, do you have a moment? I'd like to introduce you to our Monarch."

"Friend, please wait a moment, have you heard of the 'Mysterious Monarch'?"

"Dear friend, please don't leave, let's talk about the greatest and all-knowing Monarch from the 'Mysterious'."

...

"Most of the time, as long as those who are entangled persist in not responding and withstand the Pollution emanating from their bodies, they can be safe. They will leave on their own if they don't get a response."

"In other cases, horrifying incidents will occur."

"In any case, there is only one prerequisite for survival."

Amidst these swirling thoughts, Tang Qi remembered the data given to him by Rose Madeline, where, on an entire page, written with the only item of warning: one may attempt to capture, but must never answer Their question.

At the end, there was an exclamation mark, in a vivid red color.

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