Working: Start by earning the boss a hundred million!

Chapter 121 Undersea Exploration
After breakfast, Jian and Cheng Mai from the business went out, this time without Mr. Smith.

Instead of going to the place where killer whales were suppressed, Shang Xingjian took Cheng Mai to the bottomless seabed. There were many kinds of sea creatures, but most of them were ugly.

Cheng Mai, using the light, saw the sea creatures scurrying around and looked at Shang Xingjian, "Is this what it means to grow as much as you want when no one is watching?"

“The deep sea is perpetually shrouded in darkness, and even they themselves don’t know what they look like.” Shang Xingjian paid no attention to the small creatures scurrying around, and continued walking forward with Cheng Mai until they reached an underwater palace before stopping.

Cheng Mai looked up and exclaimed, "Dragon Palace?"

"Not really, just a killer whale's den." Shang Xingjian used the word "den" and brushed aside the seaweed as he walked in to make it easier for Cheng Mai to enter.

Cheng Mai followed closely behind Shang Xingjian, also taking in the dilapidated palace. "This nest looks a bit like the Dragon Palace in TV dramas."

"I'll take you to see the real Ryugu sometime in the future, but it's definitely not like this. Orcas have just never seen the real Ryugu, so they can only learn from human imagination."

Some small creatures in the main hall were frightened and hid, watching Shang Xingjian and Cheng Mai warily.

These are basically biological instincts, and there is no possibility that they have developed sentience, so Shang Xingjian did not pay attention to them.

As long as they don't try to get attention in front of them, Shangxingjian won't care.

Cheng Mai also saw it, but sensing no danger, he withdrew his gaze.

There were many fish bones in the corners of the hall, and even the seats were carved from a huge biological bone.

Even though orcas don't have the same power as dragon kings, they are still clearly the dominant species in this deep sea.

"If that's the case, why would he risk going to the shallows? Wouldn't it be better to be the king of the sea?"
Merchant Jian raised an eyebrow slightly. "You're asking me?"

"Otherwise what?" Cheng Mai retorted.

Shang Xingjian clicked his tongue and placed his hands on Cheng Mai's shoulders, gesturing for her to look around. Cheng Mai looked, but couldn't see anything wrong.

The merchant paused briefly, then went into the fish bones, seemingly searching for something.

Cheng Mai: "...I feel like you were just looking down on me."

"Your sense of it is quite accurate." Shang Xingjian said without any concealment, finding what he wanted among the fish bones and raising his hand to get it.

Cheng Mai was about to argue when he saw something in the man's hand and walked over. "What's this?"

After examining it briefly, the merchant gave it to Cheng Mai. Cheng Mai took it; it was a very modern item, like a button, but thicker than a button, made of metal.

Cheng Mai turned it over and looked at it. "What is this?"

"Whatever it is, it's a technological product and shouldn't belong here." Shang Xingjian was still looking around, seemingly trying to find more evidence.

Cheng Mai kept looking at the button in his hand, "It looks like some kind of signal transmitter."

After Cheng Mai finished speaking, he seemed to have thought of something and looked up at Shang Xingjian, "Human research has discovered killer whales and is trying to capture them?"

“That possibility cannot be ruled out. For an orca to become a ferocious creature, it must have a lifespan of at least tens of thousands of years. Even after death, its body remains incorrupt, allowing it to continue dominating this dark realm as a zombie fish. It's definitely worth studying.” “But this is a ghost fish! Where did they get such audacity?” Cheng Mai exclaimed in shock.

"Do you remember something Smith once said?" Shang Xingjian turned to look at the shocked Cheng Mai, not finding the matter particularly shocking.

Cheng Mai paused for a moment, "Does everything in this world have a price?"

“That’s right. For businessmen, everything in the world has a price. The more exotic something is, the higher its value. Did Smith really come here for exploration more than 20 years ago? If it was just for exploration, why build such a base?”

Shang Xingjian walked behind the throne, looked through it, and was somewhat puzzled. "This shouldn't be the case."

"What's wrong?" Cheng Mai couldn't understand why Smith did this, but after hearing Shang Xingjian's words, he went over and said, "What do you mean by 'shouldn't'?"

“As a ferocious predator in the ocean, an orca wouldn’t leave this place unless absolutely necessary. How did Smith manage to make it leave?” Shang Xingjian couldn’t figure it out for the time being. “And how did Smith know there was such a large, ferocious predator here?”

Cheng Mai listened to Shang Xingjian's words and said, "You mean, someone told Smith, and Smith, as a businessman, smelled a business opportunity in it, so he took the risk to try to capture the orca. He just didn't expect the orca to be stronger than he expected, and Si Lan happened to save him?"

This inference seems reasonable, with almost no flaws.

“It makes sense, but it doesn’t make sense.” Shang Xingjian circled the chair twice. “If that were really the case, Smith wouldn’t have such complicated emotions about whether Si Lan woke up or not. Smith discovered the orca, and Si Lan suppressed it, but who discovered Si Lan?”

Cheng Mai pieced together all the recent events. Cheng Ming must have entered the Avici Hell after the massacre of the city. He regained his consciousness while converting evil spirits, so he must have planned the subsequent events to some extent.

However, Si Lan remained undiscovered, presumably in seclusion within the iceberg, until Smith's arrival forcibly interrupted his cultivation. In order to suppress the orca, Si Lan forcibly separated the already fused divine consciousness again, forming the array's core to suppress the orca.

So the orca was specifically targeting Si Lan; someone didn't want Si Lan to wake up, didn't want Si Lan's divine status to be restored.

"Is it the same person behind her?" Cheng Mai asked, because that person had also been trying to extract the divine spark of the God of Wisdom from her body; in fact, their goals were the same.

The business found nothing after a brief inspection, but did not refute Cheng Mai's words.

"If that's the case, wouldn't the other deities be in even greater danger?" Cheng Mai asked nervously.

All of Shang Xingjian's previous actions were aimed at finding the other eleven true gods. Now that the divine status of each true god has finally shown signs of movement, such a big problem has arisen.

No, actually, the person behind her had already started making moves from the moment she started.

Cheng Ming was probably the first one they made a move on. He was turned by them, which is why he has survived to this day.

Cheng Mai was the second, but this time Cheng Mai was found by Shang Xingjian first, otherwise there would only be two outcomes for her: one is to work for that person like Cheng Ming, and the other is to die.

"Who exactly is that person behind the scenes?" Cheng Mai asked again. This wasn't the first time she'd asked this question, but she needed to know the answer.

Shang Xingjian looked at Cheng Mai, seemingly unconcerned.

"Perhaps it's the sky, perhaps it's the earth, or perhaps it's the invisible air." Shang Xingjian's fingertips landed on the fishbone chair, tapping lightly one tap at a time.

Cheng Mai: "...You're not even putting in this much effort to appease me?"

(End of this chapter)