It was a silver-haired man standing on a giant stingray.
The "Great Fish Sorcerer" Sliu.
Angel had been in close contact with this Song of the Deep Sea wizard, an encounter that left an indelible impression, extremely unpleasant.
At that time, Angel was still an apprentice, returning to the Old Earth Continent from the Barbarian Cave to save Jon. During the return voyage, he acquired the "Logbook of Lucas," and later step by step found the mysterious space on Silver Palm Island.
Though Angel had close contact with the mysterious object in that abandoned space, his eyesight was poor at the time, and he didn’t recognize the genuine article, missing it.
However, Angel had entered that space, and along with the few traces left behind, it naturally raised suspicion; moreover, Angel happened to receive the Dream Conch from Frode, and the mysterious fluctuations were discovered, causing Jiebo to suspect Angel.
Sliu heard from Jiebo that Angel might be related to the disappeared mysterious person from Silver Palm Island, suspecting that Angel took the mysterious object from there, and without hesitation, he locked onto Angel’s location and descended.
Even though Sliu ultimately abandoned his pursuit of Angel upon seeing the Dream Conch, given the deterrent of Sanders’ blood, that experience left Angel feeling angry and repressed.
Therefore, Angel harbored a poor impression of the Song of the Deep Sea wizard.
The previous time was like this, and this time is no different. Whenever a mysterious object appeared, he wouldn’t miss it.
But this time is different from the last; the birth of a chaotic object, no one knows what consequences might arise. Will his luck be as good as last time, allowing him to leave calmly?
Angel glanced at Sliu and then withdrew his gaze, no longer paying attention.
To these people coming due to rumors, all he could do was silently say in his heart: Best of luck.
Even beside the Observer, he couldn’t guarantee safety, let alone these greedy visitors.
Besides, up until now, Angel didn’t know anyone familiar among the arrivals, whether they stayed forever here or not, it had nothing to do with him.
On the other side, after Angel moved his gaze away from Sliu, Sliu seemed to vaguely sense something, looking forward.
However, besides the surging blood waves in front of him, he saw nothing.
"Biji, is it just my imagination, or is it just my imagination?" Sliu muttered to himself.
But "Biji," the giant stingray under him, didn’t offer a response.
Sliu looked down at Biji in confusion, noticing something strange about Biji, its whole body trembling.
Sliu could sense that Biji was not trembling from fear, but excitement. As if something ahead was stirring its desires, drawing it forward.
Sliu felt an attraction as soon as he entered the Mist Belt. As he went deeper, the attraction grew stronger; even if he were dull, he understood the attraction was abnormal.
Thus, Sliu stopped far away.
He personally thought his current location wasn’t far from the core, the attraction still within manageable range, presumably a good position.
However, he overlooked one issue.
The attraction for humans and sea beasts was entirely different.
Sliu could resist because the mysterious fruit exerted little force on humans... After all, humans nearby were relatively few, while sea beasts were numerous. Humans couldn’t fill the mysterious fruit’s maturity gap, but sea beasts could.
Therefore, sea beasts bore far more attraction than humans.
Biji, despite being Sliu’s mount, was undeniably a sea beast. Moreover, it was an extremely powerful one.
The stronger it was, the deeper the attraction it faced.
At this moment, Sliu, even as Biji’s master, could scarcely control Biji.
In this situation, Sliu naturally forgot the previous feeling of being watched, which might indeed have been an illusion.
...
As time passed, more and more wizards appeared around the Mist Belt.
Even though tide mist obscured the view, when Angel turned around, he could vaguely see many dark silhouettes. These silhouettes each represented pillars of the Southern Domain Wizard World.
Angel didn’t know if he recognized any friends among them.
If not, that would be best. Even if there were, Angel had no way to offer assistance now, unless he turned back to leave, but having come this far, that was clearly unrealistic.
So, as before, hope for the best.
It’s worth mentioning the wizards arriving nearby mostly stood far back, visible only as tiny dark spots to the naked eye.
It’s not that they didn’t want to get closer but rather couldn’t. First, the attraction intensified toward the center, overwhelming them; secondly, wizards weren’t foolish—given the uncertain situation, rashly approaching could prove more dangerous. The safest approach was to observe from a manageable range, and then decide on other actions.
However, while some exhibited cautious behavior, others were more aggressive.
Maguston was one of the aggressive ones.
Though not necessarily the strongest, Maguston remained closest to Angel.
As Angel turned around, he could even see Maguston’s excited and crimson eyes.
Angel sensed greed for the mysterious object from Maguston too, but unlike others, his greed was more towards the pursuit of mystery itself.
Angel recalled during the witness meeting, Nail Granny had mockingly said Maguston had no potential, having lingered for thousands of years without progress. At that time, the statement was more to ensure Angel became a member of the Research and Development Institute, yet Angel later learned Nail Granny’s words weren’t entirely wrong.
Maguston had also been marked by the Thief of Time; after being marked, he quickly rose in Alchemy One, once a top genius. But time passed, and in this era, Maguston, although holding a high position in the Alchemy Circle, relied on past achievements, having made no progress in Alchemy for years.
Trapped in this predicament, Maguston sought breakthrough but couldn’t find a way.
The birth of this mysterious object was the only opportunity in years.
"Maguston being marked by the Thief of Time may allow him to sense ’fate choice’ and understand the unusual nature of this mysterious object’s birth." Observing Maguston tirelessly moving forward, Angel mused.