Pov: Vik
After making sure Noah was settled in one of the submarine's private guest cabins to rest and process the mountain of grief and humiliation he was carrying, I turned my attention to the other guest on board.
I dragged Luther down the sleek, metallic hallway toward the lowest deck of the Great White, where Lina and system had designed a small, high-security containment block. I unceremoniously tossed the bound blonde noble into one of the prison-like cells. The heavy reinforced door slid shut with a sharp, pneumatic hiss, sealing him behind thick, anti-magic transparent walls.
Luther scrambled to his knees, clawing at the barrier, his gagged mouth muffling frantic screams of terror. I didn't even bother looking back at him. As far as I was concerned, he was just cargo waiting to be delivered to his final destination on the Western Continent.
Walking back up to the primary control deck, I found Lina, Lu Xiaoran, and Roman standing around the main glass viewport, looking out into the pitch-black abyssal waters. Pushpa trotted quietly behind me, hopping up onto my shoulder with her usual lazy grace, resting her head against my neck.
"Alright, everyone," I said, leaning against the central command console. "Now that our little rescue operation is wrapped up, it's time for you three to get back to work. We have a long journey ahead of us."
Lu Xiaoran turned around, crossing his arms with an eager grin. "Master, are we starting our group training sessions on the sub?"
"No," I replied, gesturing toward the back section of the submarine where the spatial gate room was located. "The cultivation chamber on this sub is good, but it can't compare to the spiritual energy density back at Anonymous Hall in the Great Fire Forest. You three need to head back through the teleportation gate and focus on your seclusion practice."
Lina blinked, her eyes showing a hint of disappointment. "Master... you're staying here on the sub alone?"
"I'm not alone," I chuckled, tapping my collarbone where Pushpa was currently letting out a faint, rhythmic purr. "I have Pushpa, and I still need to pilot this ship, monitor our course, and oversee Noah's recovery. Besides, teleporting back and forth through the gate takes less than a second. If anything happens, I'll summon you immediately."
Roman nodded firmly, his stoic face filled with absolute respect. "Understood, Master. We will not slack off in our cultivation."
"Good," I said, giving them an encouraging nod. "Xiaoran, make sure you check in on your parents and Sherry back at the hall. Guide Sherry through her minor realm breakthrough if she needs help."
"Got it, Master!" Lu Xiaoran gave a sharp salute.
Within a few minutes, I accompanied my three disciples to the empty gate room. I activated the submarine's scaled-down Nuclear Spiritual Energy Reactor, powering up the massive archway. A swirling, brilliant blue spatial portal expanded within the gate frame, establishing a direct, stable connection to the main hall of Anonymous Hall back in the Great Fire Forest.
One by one, Roman, Lina, and Lu Xiaoran stepped through the blue light, waving goodbye before disappearing into the spatial current.
The portal closed with a soft hum, leaving the quiet, ambient thrum of the marine turbine engines as the only sound in the room.
I walked back to the primary control room and sank deeply into the plush leather captain's chair. Through the wide glass viewport ahead, the dark, mysterious undersea world floated past—massive glowing deep-sea flora, strange luminescent fish, and distant shadows of aquatic beasts drifting through the abyss.
I rested my elbows on the armrests, interlacing my fingers beneath my chin. Pushpa hopped off my shoulder, landing softly in my lap, curling into a neat black circle as I absentmindedly stroked her soft fur.
Suddenly, a familiar, teasing voice echoed inside my mind.
System: "Host, now that the noise has cleared, I have a very important official recommendation for you."
Vik: "Let me guess. You're going to say something ridiculous."
System: "Not at all! I strongly advise you to officially accept Noah Bloodborn as your fourth personal disciple. Think about it, Host! He has a tragic backstory, an ancient family bloodline curse, lost his family's legacy to a female transmigrator, and carries a burning desire for vengeance. He is the prime candidate for a tragic villain of destiny!"
I let out a long, heavy sigh, rubbing my forehead as a slight headache began to form behind my eyes.
Vik: "System, don't think about accepting any more villains as disciples. I am already in much trouble because of you. When you first bound with me, you said you would give me a reward for accepting disciples, and you even gave me reward. Due to those rewards, I had no choice but to accept Lu Xiaoran and Roman as disciples, then Lina; her case is a bit special as she was too pitiful to be left on those streets, but still up until now every disciple I accepted had been some kind of tragic villain, in the story of those chosen ones. At this rate, I am sure whatever heaven or anything like that already put in its must-kill list."
System: "Host, you care too much about non-relevant things. Believe me, do you not know what is happening here in this world? Those chosen ones are appearing in groups, one after another, and due to this there is a hidden war between them, not to mention those mysterious powers that have ways to kill chosen ones without attracting heaven's wrath. You already see that through Lin Yang's eyes, that person is a copy of you made to take your place cause you already deviate from your original path; now no one can determine your fate. So before those guys come to us why don't we make an army of villains and destroy every chosen one and plan of heaven?"
Vik: "System... do you think I'm running a charity for broken destinies here? Have you looked at my current roster of disciples?"
System: "Of course! Lu Xiaoran, Roman, and Lina! A star-studded lineup!"
Vik: "Exactly. A lineup of absolute trouble magnets! Lu Xiaoran the classic arrogant young master who had already killed his chosen one Lin Chen, now his fate is as chaotic as you, even if I leave but world will not the disappearance of Jessica is prime example of this I am sure that girl will become next catalyst for his confrontation with another chosen one, Roman is a walking fortress of heavy fate, and mysterious back story, which I am sure must be related to some chosen one, and Lina is a tech-maniac, who had an enemy that can practical pop out monsters from no where, heck I don't know anything about that guy. Every single time I step outside with them, some heaven-defying 'protagonist' or ancient dragon drops from the sky to fight us!"
I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the leather headrest as memories of our past encounters flashed through my mind.
Vik: "Remember Lin Chen? Remember Gullnor?! A whole fucking true dragon from the immortal world—a creature that eats worlds for breakfast—showed up in our backyard! If Chakor hadn't already beaten the living daylights out of that dragon beforehand, and if I hadn't literally used Chakor's remaining power as a final resort, we would have been turned into ocean dust!"
System: "But Host, you survived! And you absorbed Gullnor's luck! You see? Turning villains into your disciples is a high-risk, high-reward investment model!"
Vik: "You know, system, if you don't become a chatbot without any features other than talking and sharing information, then I wouldn't have to think about rewards. Other chosen ones have systems or treasures that give them rewards as the story progresses; here, my system becomes worthless just in the beginning of the story."
System: "Host, this is your fault. You were the one who summoned Pushpa out of nothingness; I swear every system out there would self-destruct itself once in contact with your cat, cause Puspha is an outer god-level entity."
Vik: "System, don't blame my cat for your worthlessness; she is a perfectly fine cat."
Vik: "Anyway, I don't want high-risk investments, System! I want peace! I am currently stuck at the Nascent Soul realm not because I lack resources, but because this strange Prana energy inside me has created a massive bottleneck. Until I fully comprehend how Prana flows through living beings, my Qi cultivation, magic circles, and body refining are all locked in place."
I opened my eyes, staring at my open palm as a faint, translucent golden-green light flickered over my skin—Prana energy. It was the fundamental energy of life itself, completely distinct from Qi or Mana. It was the very reason I could effortlessly reconstruct Noah's shattered Dantian without needing legendary S-rank pills. But it was also a mystery I hadn't fully unraveled.
Vik: "I took this submarine trip to relax, observe deep-sea life forms, study how Prana energy circulates in marine creatures, and maybe enjoy a nice sea voyage with my students. I did not build the 'Great White' to turn it into an orphanage for disgraced young masters who got dumped by transmigrated heroines!"
System: "Host, you are overthinking again. Look at Noah! The poor kid got beaten up so badly he was coughing blood in an engine room. You already healed him, you brought him on your ship, and you're currently driving him straight to his ex-fiancee's front door. You've already stepped onto his plot line!"
Vik: "I healed him because I answered an SOS signal and I hate seeing corrupt enforcers abuse their power. There is a huge difference between being a good Samaritan and becoming his Master!"
System: "Is there, Host? Is there really? Because from where I'm sitting, you gave him a soul-soothing token, offered him shelter, and promised to take him to the Western Continent. If that's not 'Master' behavior, I don't know what is."
Vik: "System, shut up."
System: "Host is denying his true destiny as a grandmaster of villains."
I ignored the System's relentless bantering, letting out a breath as I focused my gaze back on the glass viewport. Pushpa let out a small, comforting purr in my lap, her warm weight grounding my chaotic thoughts.
Despite my verbal protest to the System, I knew inside that I couldn't simply throw Noah overboard. His story was genuinely infuriating. Being born into a family that bled for humanity for centuries, only to have his lineage's loyalty stolen by a girl who used high-tier cheats and looked at everyone like 'lower realm trash'... it rubbed me the wrong way.
'A female reincarnator or transmigrator,' I pondered, narrowing my yellow eyes. 'Someone who treats an entire world like a game, stepping on people just to reach her 'apex.''
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees as I stroked Pushpa's soft fur.
I kept thinking about Noah, this kind heart of mine, who would someday become the reason for my death. So, not being able to let a guy become hopeless, I need to show him the way to greatness, and that practically makes me his teacher.
System: "Aha! Host is rationalizing his desire to accept a fourth disciple using your human emotions! Classic Vik move!"
Vik: "I said, shut up, System."
I shook my head with a faint, dry smirk. I stood up from the captain's chair, gently lifting Pushpa and placing her back onto my shoulder. I walked over to the main control panel, tapping a few holographic buttons to set the submarine's central automated navigation.
"System, recalibrate our transit parameters," I commanded aloud. "Keep us in full stealth mode at Mach 12 through the deep trenches. How long until we reach the territorial waters of the Western Continent?"
System: "Recalculating, Host. Accounting for the massive scale of the Endless Sea and safe navigation around deep-sea trench zones, total transit time will be approximately 25 days."
"Twenty-five days..." I murmured, looking out into the vast blue void.
Twenty-five days was a long time. It was enough time for my three disciples to make significant progress in seclusion at Anonymous Hall. It was enough time for me to continue my research on Prana energy and ocean life. And... it was enough time to see if Noah Bloodborn actually possessed the spine required to rebuild his life from absolute rock bottom.
I turned away from the glass viewport, heading back toward the quiet corridors of the Great White, ready to begin another long night of deep-sea cultivation, or maybe I should get some sleep with Pushpa.
System: "You know, host, you never had any seclusion or nonstop cultivation throughout day and night. You always find a reason to sleep at night; you are considered to be in the group of the laziest cultivators."
Vik: "System, could you stop antagonizing me? I sleep cause Pushpa needs to sleep at night, and Pushpa doesn't sleep without me; you don't know the hardship of a pet parent."