Just as humanity was making its final push for the General Assembly, undercurrents targeting humanity began to surge in the deep sea.

About three thousand miles from the island lies a deep trench, the territory of the "Blacktip Reef Shark Clan".

Huge shark skeletons were scattered throughout the trench, exuding an eerie atmosphere.

These are rare deep-sea sharks. They are more intelligent and have higher mental strength than ordinary sharks. They are born as S-class, but can only reach SS-class at most.

The previously mentioned SSS-class Berserker Shark was a variant of the Blacktip Reef Shark.

The Blacktip Reef Shark was naturally very dissatisfied that the Frenzied Shark was wiped out by the combined forces of the Deep Sea Clan and the sea monsters, especially since they were advocating for a new race.

At this moment, inside a simple palace constructed of black basalt, the Blackfin Shark Clan stared with scarlet eyes at several deep-sea creatures of various shapes and sizes in front of them.

"That old octopus actually agreed to let those land reptiles participate in the United Conference! It's an absolute disgrace!"

The one speaking is a deep-sea iron-clawed creature. They look like crabs, but their claws are really big. They can make a piercing "clanging" sound by simply striking their two giant claws together.

"Hmph, the deep-sea humans? They're nothing but bait we used to hunt at will. Now they dare to dream of being on equal footing with us? How laughable!"

The one who spoke this time was a "Spiky Eel," a creature with a slender, serpentine body but a ring of sharp bony spikes around its head. Among the deep-sea creatures that are hostile to humans, they are second only to humans. Humans are merely a link in their food chain.

The blacktip reef shark slowly opened its mouth, its voice low and hoarse, carrying a strong smell of blood.

“That old octopus had its reasons. They always like to play it safe. And I’ve heard that humans have mastered a lot of technology, and can even repel some not-so-weak deep-sea beasts. Especially that Gu Xi, she seems to have received some ancient inheritance.”

"Inheritance? What heritage can compare to the long history of our various deep-sea races?" the Iron Claw Crab scoffed. "I think the old octopus has been misled by human sweet talk!"

“That’s right!” the spiky eel chimed in. “Once they develop, who knows if they’ll bring even more deep-sea creatures to live on land? At that point, we might not have a place to stay!”

A "phantom jellyfish" that had been silent all along, with a semi-transparent body and floating like a ghost, spoke up.

"Gentlemen, since the old octopus has already made his decision, our public opposition will likely only provoke the octopus race's discontent. But we can create some 'surprises' for those humans at the conference."

A cruel glint flashed in the blacktip reef shark's eyes. "Oh? What do you intend to do?"

The jellyfish chuckled, "Don't humans want to show off their value? Then let them 'show off' properly."

"Wouldn't it be better to propose some impossible conditions? For example, give up core technologies, or mine in the deep sea. Whether they agree or not, they will be in a dilemma."

"If they don't agree, we can expel them and then strangle them; that way, we'll have a good reason. If they do agree, well, the Abyss Sea is a dangerous place even for SSS-class enemies; it'll be perfect for using someone else to do our dirty work." The Iron Claw Crab let out a deep laugh.

“Not only that,” the spiky eel added, “their very existence is questionable. We can imply that they are a mysterious, unknown race and incite hostility from other neutral races toward them.”

The blacktip reef shark nodded in satisfaction.

“Very good. If the open approach doesn’t work, we’ll try the covert one. Let those foolish deep-sea creatures see what a stupid decision it was to accept humans.”

"Jellyfish, you'll take the lead on this matter. Contact other deep-sea creatures who are dissatisfied with humanity, and make sure they are completely humiliated at the joint conference and forced to back down!"