Treasure Hunting System： The Ocean Conquerer

Chapter 615: Chapter 288: Reason/Betrayal

Lucilia turned to look.

It was Chadite, her face stained with tears, unable to stem her sorrow in this sea of sorrow, tears streaming down.

”Together.”

”Yeah!”

The two women tightly grasped Alka’s arm, the one reaching desperately towards life, and pulled upwards with all their might.

With Chadite’s help, Alka finally slowed his relentless descent.

Their combined strength against Alka’s downward momentum reached a stalemate.

But this state wouldn’t last long.

Chadite and Lucilia’s resistance was limited; the tides of sorrow were too overwhelming.

”BELLOW!”

Outside, the Illusion clung tightly to Alka. Chadite leaned against its other side, her hand gripping one of its antlers.

Through a deeper connection, using the Illusion as a conduit, they entered Alka’s Soul World.

A high-pitched deer call echoed. The gold and silver from the Soul Crystal almost completely gushed out.

The deer’s head lifted, observing this scene.

The Illusion lacked the authority for this.

This surge came from Alka, from his most primal survival instinct.

Their pulling had momentarily restored a shred of his sanity.

Intertwining Gold and Silver Energy crashed down like a colossal pillar of light,

enveloping and engulfing everything around Alka.

It resembled a pillar of gold and silver light soaring into the sky.

Alka, completely engulfed by the tides of sorrow, felt one hand being held.

His body swayed within the tides of sorrow.

The Gold and Silver Energy poured in,

illuminating the sorrowful tides where they all were, though the essence of the tides remained unchanged.

This Gold and Silver Energy was unlikely to have much effect in such a Soul World.

But the energy seemed to awaken something; a massive concentration of it finally stirred something.

”Pain... suffering... death... dying... so painful...”

Heavy wails of pain and death echoed through the tides of sorrow.

It was the soul’s most fundamental cry, requiring no language. The sound alone conveyed its meaning with perfect clarity to everyone.

But at the same time, the immense sorrow and grief that had deeply affected everyone, filling the entire Ocean, suddenly vanished.

Everything happened too abruptly, but there was no time for deliberation.

Seizing the opportunity, Lucilia and Chadite forcefully dragged Alka out of the water.

Pulled free, Alka awakened instantly, his eyes snapping open as he gasped for air, like a drowning man suddenly able to breathe again.

He immediately understood his surroundings. Seeing the two of them, he wrapped an arm around each and dashed out fiercely, escaping the tide’s reach.

He looked back at the place in the sorrowful tides, now illuminated by the pillar formed from the Gold and Silver Energy.

On the dark, silent surface of the Ocean, only that spot showed faint rays of light, seeming to connect to deeper realms.

The lamenting soul’s voice still emitted low, painful murmurs there, a sound so deeply resonant.

Though it clearly had no connection to them, hearing it instilled profound empathy, as if it belonged to their closest kin.

Lucilia could barely stand it anymore and turned her head away.

If she continued to look and listen, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from going over to it.

”I will... I will bring you death... or save you. I promise.”

As his words faded, Alka controlled himself and severed the connection.

In the Dream Bubbles, the deer head mask on Alka’s face, buried under the snow, fell off.

The moment the mask dropped, the sorrowful tides within Alka’s soul rapidly dissipated and vanished.

Alka’s Soul World returned to its original state.

The instant it reverted, the connection was severed.

Lucilia and Chadite, who had been in Alka’s soul, vanished from that space and returned to the outside world.

In the Dream World, Alka opened his eyes.

He shot upright and climbed out of the snowdrift.

Lucilia emerged from his body.

Nearby, Chadite, who had been leaning against the deer, also woke up.

After emerging, Lucilia looked at Alka.

Chadite also stood up.

Alka looked at the two of them and smiled. ”Thank you... um...”

Before he could finish, Chadite stepped forward and landed a powerful punch on Alka’s stomach.

The sudden Strong Strike made Alka grunt and double over.

Chadite then caught Alka, supporting him in an embrace.

”Uh...” Lucilia, watching from the side, winced. Seeing Alka’s expression, she knew how painful that punch must have been.

It was a hard hit, but Lucilia thought he deserved it; he probably should have gotten another one.

”Do you know how worried we were about you? What exactly were you doing in your dream?” Chadite asked sternly, still holding Alka.

”Mm... sorry. I didn’t expect this to happen. I’m truly sorry,” Alka said, clutching his stomach, his eyes narrowed as he fought back the pain.

”So, what on earth happened? That ocean full of sorrow in your soul—what was that all about?” Lucilia asked from the side. What puzzled her most was that, from beginning to end, she still hadn’t figured out what had caused Alka to end up like that.

The culprit was the sea of accumulated grief and sorrow in his Soul Space.

But even when they finally dragged Alka out of the water, she still hadn’t discovered the root cause.