Mu Xingran closed her eyes, trying to sense the hidden information in the sea. "The rotational suction of these sea columns is very strong. We can't get any closer. Leave the rest to me. I'll investigate. You hold the raft steady, and the rest of you stay alert."

Master Yang's forehead was constantly covered in sweat. Shen Jue couldn't bear to see this, so he took out a towel and handed it to Balsa.

Balsa immediately took the towel Shen Jue handed her, and looked at Shen Jue gratefully. Then she moved a small stool and sat down next to Yang to wipe his sweat.

After spending so many days together, Shen Jue realized that there was something going on in the relationship between Balsa and Yang.

For example, when eating, if there's fish, meat, or shrimp, Yang will pick out the fish bones and peel the shrimp for Balsa. He does it very skillfully.

They seemed like a young couple in their first love, and when Balsa was in love, he was so gentle, like a completely different person. Shen Jue initially got used to this side of him, but it took him a long time to accept it.

Controlling the raft's course and surveying the sea area are both quite energy-consuming tasks.

Even someone as powerful as Mu Xinran had beads of sweat appearing on her forehead this time.

However, the exploration must be carried out with full effort and concentration, without any distraction, otherwise all efforts will be in vain.

Among them, Mu Xingran is a good friend of Balsa, but not so familiar with Yang and Kleedo.

Now that Balsa is taking care of Yang, it's no problem for Shen Jue to take out a small towel to wipe her third sister's sweat.

Mu Xingran dislikes physical contact with people. But Shen Jue is her adopted younger sister.

Even as she was investigating, she could feel Shen Jue wiping her sweat.

Mu Xingran appeared calm on the surface, but inside she was in a panic, and her ears were turning red.

While wiping Mu Xingran's sweat, Shen Jue didn't forget to catch up on the players' chat.

While exploring the Black Sea with her older siblings, she only had a spare moment to glance at the players' chat. Side quests were one thing, and player chat was another.

She can't slack off on gathering information from the outside world just because she's exploring the Black Sea.

Over the past two weeks, Shen Jue has learned from player chat that the visits from neutral NPCs at sea have not ended, and players are still suffering from the torment inflicted by Master Lulum's friends and his apprentice. In addition, some players have developed exploration dungeons.

The Dream Forest dungeon has reopened, now refreshing every ten days. There's also a leaderboard for exploring the Dream Forest dungeon; the rankings reset after ten days.

Mentioning the Dream Forest instance, she suddenly remembered something.

It seems she didn't lift the curse on that divine deer.

Once she leaves the Black Sea, she'll go to the Forest of Dreams to lift the curse on that divine deer.

Shen Jue always keeps her word. She was in such a hurry to leave the instance that she didn't have time to undo the debunking, which was her fault.

The investigation lasted another half hour, during which Shen Jue wiped Mu Xingran's sweat for half an hour.

Shen Jue estimated that Mu Xingran should have finished investigating.

The next second, Mu Xingran opened her eyes, stopped Shen Jue from wiping her sweat, and took the towel from her to wipe herself.

"I have thoroughly investigated the area, and the blue sea ahead is not an illusion. As long as we pass through this rotating sea column, we can leave the Black Sea completely."

However, I need to be careful, as there are some creatures I've never seen before that appear beneath those rotating sea pillars.

It looked like a mermaid, but I wasn't sure, so I examined it more closely later.

I think those creatures are the ones my elders told me about before; they're called Black Phosphorus Merfolk. If the rotating sea pillars weren't not tightly packed, with gaps between them, allowing them to leap between them, I probably wouldn't have been able to detect them at all.”

Mu Xingran said so much in one breath.

Black mermaid.

[The Black Sea's Ultimate Secret – Guardian Boss, Black Phosphorus Merman, Quest Progress 80%.]

It seems that triggering the side quest requires fulfilling many conditions. She already knew about the Black Sea boss through hints, but didn't know what type of monster it was.

Now that I know the answer from my third sister, the side quest progress has been triggered. The remaining 20% ​​should be successfully defeating this boss and leaving the Black Sea.

The difficulties are now out in the open.

Shen Jue: "Now that we know the danger we're facing is this Black-Scaled Merman, does anyone know what its weaknesses are? We can use its weaknesses to find a breakthrough and ensure our safe passage."

"No, I've never heard of it before."

"I don't have any either."

"Don't look at me like that. If you don't know, then I, who only knows how to make gold coins, know even less."

Shen Jue: "It seems that only our great navigator knows the clues."

Several people looked at Yang, who had extensive experience in surviving at sea.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. Although I've been at sea for a long time and have experienced a lot, I've never been to the Black Sea. I certainly don't know what's in the Black Sea. But you mentioned merfolk, I have seen merfolk, but they weren't black. Is there some difference between blue-scaled, red-scaled, and black-scaled merfolk?"

Mu Xingran: "The Black Phosphorus Merfolk are probably stronger than the Red Phosphorus and Blue Phosphorus Merfolk we know. And the Black Phosphorus Merfolk I've discovered isn't just one, it's a group."

Shen Jue recalled the group of mutated sea creatures she had encountered in the ocean. Their appearance was exceptionally beautiful, unlike the ordinary red-scaled blue-scaled creatures.

Shen Jue had a deep impression of that night; the scales on those merfolk were not entirely black, but rather almost jet black.

At that time, she was not strong enough, and she had no way to fight back against those merfolk. In the end, she was able to escape by using a stun blast.

At the time, she was unsure whether the merfolk possessed the ability to control minds.

It can only be said that the group of black-scaled merfolk they are about to face will be even stronger than the monsters she encountered before.

"The most important thing is that we have to level those sea pillars, otherwise it will be disadvantageous for us."

Shen Jue: "Krido, can your Sea-Gathering Pearl work here? Can it absorb those rotating sea pillars?"

Kleedo: "Your idea is quite unique. I've never thought of it before. Perhaps it's feasible. Why don't we give it a try?"

"Since we're going to use the Sea Gathering Pearl, Yang, move the raft back a bit so it doesn't get caught in its blast."

Upon hearing Balsa's words, Yang maneuvered the raft backward.

They retreated a few miles, and then, from a distance, they noticed that the sea pillar seemed to have inexplicably become a little shorter.

Could it be that the sea pillar will slowly descend as long as they don't leave the Black Sea on their own?

If that's the case, wouldn't they be able to exploit a bug?

I've figured that out.

Shen Jue shared some of her thoughts with Kleedo.

Crito was shocked after hearing this and thought the idea was very feasible.

Then, he conjured up his large gold coin, took out his Sea-Gathering Pearl, and took out his protective weapon, slowly flying towards the location of the towering sea pillar.

"Xiao Jue, you don't mean to let Brother Ke take his Sea Gathering Pearl and throw it directly towards the sea pillar, do you?"

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Watching Kleedo's departing figure, Mu Xingran offered her blessings, "May you be safe and sound and return safely."

Shen Jue wasn't too worried because before Brother Ke left, Shen Jue gave him a blessing card to ensure he would be alright.

Now we just need to wait for the good results that Brother Ke will bring.