It’s no wonder that President Cole is timid. It’s really the first time for their Chamber of Commerce to raise monsters, so they don’t have much experience!

"President! President!" The thin manager shook him anxiously.

"What's wrong?" Cole suddenly came back to his senses.

"Hurry... hurry back to the Chamber of Commerce!" The manager's voice was hoarse and rapid, with a hint of dying anxiety. "Something happened over at 'Blue Shell'! It's a big thing!"

…

In the west district of Anchor Bay City, deep inside the secret “Blue Shell” warehouse.

The air was filled with a strong smell of the sea and a strange scent similar to rotting old seaweed mixed with sweet musk.

In the huge reinforced glass tank, the young "sea mirage" that looks like a cross between a giant clam and an octopus is restlessly moving its translucent tentacles.

Several precious pieces of "monster tissue" emitting a faint blue glow and a small bottle of "Mirage Tears" sparkling with pearly luster that had been collected and stored around it... disappeared!

There were only faint spatial fluctuations remaining at the bottom of the tank.

The two Chamber of Commerce soldiers who were guarding the warehouse lay dead in the corner. There was no sign of injury on their bodies, and their faces were frozen with an expression similar to happy dementia.

The scene was clean and tidy, with no unnecessary traces. Even the detectives from the Sheriff's Department couldn't find any trace of a 'human' during their investigation.

"Who?! Who did this?!"

Cole, who rushed over, looked at the empty water tank and the dead guard, his eyes bloodshot and let out a beast-like growl.

Mark's warning at the banquet was still ringing in his ears, but the core sacrifice was stolen at this critical moment!

This is no coincidence!

Is he from the Holy Knights?

Or... other forces that covet the power of the mirage?

Fear and rage wrapped around his heart like poison ivy.

"The Blue Whale... The Blue Whale can't wait any longer!" He turned around abruptly and shouted anxiously to his trusted steward, his voice trembling with extreme nervousness.

"Let the whaling team act immediately! Take the little guy and follow the backup plan! Dive into the underground waterway first! This time, release some of the stockpile to calm those bastards! Before the next 'breath', there must be no more trouble! Quick! Move!"

It is the chamber of commerce with the deepest background and the greatest influence in Anchor Bay City.

As the Haichao Chamber of Commerce issued one order after another, their pre-set alternative plans were indeed carried out steadily and without any danger.

It seems that the guy who stole the tissue and tears of the larval mirage did not know the true function of those things.

What the Haichao Chamber of Commerce was worried about did not happen immediately.

Deep in the dark and damp, maze-like underground sewers of Anchor Bay City.

A well-equipped team wearing sharkskin water suits is sneaking quietly.

They are none other than the "whaling team" secretly raised by the Haichao Chamber of Commerce.

These guys are all agile and have cold eyes, and the weakest one is a fifth-level professional.

Although they are called the Whaling Team, their mission since its establishment has always been only one, which is to escort young sea mirages to avoid being tracked by monsters or church organizations.

In the center of the team, four strong men were struggling to carry a specially made heavy sealed water tank that was constantly oozing out cold, salty vapor.

Inside the tank, the tentacles of the young sea mirage were slapping the reinforced glass impatiently, emitting more secretions that were colorless and odorless, but contained powerful mental suggestive power.

It does this every month at this time.

Doing so often attracts the attention of more powerful monsters in the sea, or some mentally powerful professionals.

Researchers from the Haichao Chamber of Commerce say this is its natural frenzy phase after it sheds its skin and produces medicine.

As long as it is not discovered by the sea monsters, there will be no problem.

In the past, the Haichao Chamber of Commerce would openly transfer goods from the road through various key areas of Anchor Bay City to the Blue Whale.

This is a special situation, and the whaling team has no choice but to take the underground sewer.

Of course, when these mirage secretions blend into the dirty water and humid air like living things.

It spread silently upward along the intricate pipeline network, penetrating into various key nodes in Anchor Bay City.

The Executive Office, the Guard Station, the residences of the core members of the major chambers of commerce...

These are not any problems at all for the Haichao Chamber of Commerce.

By utilizing the slight changes in the physiological cycles of young mirages, the invisible network that has long been woven to control the will of the upper echelons of Anchor Bay City is maintained.

That's a good thing, isn't it?

While the whaling team was quietly moving through the underground sewers of Anchor Bay City.

Several leaders of medium-sized chambers of commerce in Anchor Bay City, who have suffered from the oppression of the Tide Chamber of Commerce and have long been aware of its strange behavior, are secretly gathering in a dim warehouse.

Spread out on the table was a simple but accurately marked map of the Haichao Chamber of Commerce's dock warehouse and the berthing location of the "Blue Whale".

“…We can’t wait any longer!”

An old, weather-beaten fisherman representative, also the president of Anchor Bay City's small fishing guild, slammed his hand on the table and growled, "Those Haichao vampires! They're using that damned spice as a bundled sales method! They're making it impossible for us to survive! Everyone in Anchor Bay City has been blinded by the poison of this foreign guild!"

"Those brothers on the dock who are still refusing to be controlled are almost unable to hold on any longer! We have already thoroughly investigated our people!"

"Every month when the tide recedes, the Blue Whale sneaks in a shipment of supplies, directly to the Blue Shell! That place is incredibly heavily guarded! It must contain the source of the poison they use to control people!"

"That's right! Those noble lords... were like being bewitched by a siren when they saw the people from the Tide Chamber of Commerce! Once we control the source of their poison... Haha!"

Another Chamber of Commerce leader echoed, with a look of deep worry and faint expectation on his face.

"There's less than a week left until this month's low tide! My men have long since ventured out to eye the blue shells, and the 'Blue Whale' has arrived! This is our last chance!

"Take advantage of the chaos while they're unloading the cargo, send someone in and find evidence! Expose their tricks! Let the whole city see what the Haichao Chamber of Commerce is up to!"

"It's too risky! 'Blue Shell' is so important, the Haichao Chamber of Commerce will not let us attack it!" Someone questioned.

"What if I don't take the risk? Wait to die?"

The eyes of the old fisherman representative burned with a desperate fire. "They're controlling more and more people. Once the entire Anchor Bay City becomes their puppet, we'll really be dead! Let's go all out! We'll act on the night of low tide! The skilled men we've gathered together will definitely be able to..."

The meeting ended in a depressing and resolute atmosphere.

These people who were forced into a desperate situation did not know that the "Blue Whale" they planned to sneak into was not going to be loaded with poison at all.

Instead, it was a young monster that had already completed the pre-dissemination mission of addictive drugs.

Even if they could occupy this young sea mirage on behalf of the Haichao Chamber of Commerce, none of them possessed enough knowledge to control and utilize this monster!