As he spoke, Lin En raised the hand holding his sword behind his back and flashed a silent "three" with his fingers—clearly visible to Aikefei.
This time, the captain had no intention of indulging in guessing games. He immediately ordered his men to rush forward and seize Lin En, only then sneering in reply:
"Rather than guessing, I'd rather wait until you're pinned down and begging to tell me—"
Before he could finish, the "three" behind Lin En's back had already become a "one."
Then the final finger folded down.
"They're here."
Lin En smiled mysteriously.
The moment his words fell, the two men at the front reached him—
And in that instant, a violent tremor erupted beneath their feet and from all directions, shattering the momentum of the unprepared.
Boom—crash!
A thunderous roar followed.
"What's going on?!"
The captain panicked.
Years at sea had trained his instincts. He knew immediately—
Something was wrong with the ship.
But what kind of problem?
How serious?
Where had it come from?
That, he couldn't tell.
More importantly—
Was this Lin En's doing?
"Was this your trick?!"
Snapping back to attention, he was about to order his men to investigate when he noticed—
The two men who had charged first were already lying at Lin En's feet.
The sword that had just been sheathed now gleamed once more, droplets of blood sliding down its edge.
The situation was obvious.
The sudden upheaval hadn't shaken Lin En in the slightest. The captain and his men, caught off guard and unsteady from the tremors, had faltered.
The closest two paid with their throats.
For the briefest moment, the captain felt regret.
Picking a fight with Lin En… might have been a mistake.
"Who knows?" Lin En smiled faintly. "At this point, I can only tell you—everything I've said has been true."
Then, without warning, he shifted topics and casually introduced his weapon:
"Flute of Eruption—gifted by a friend of the Masters of the Smoldering Smoke in Natlan. I won't boast, but it's sharp enough. It also carries a secret incantation that accelerates the loss of vitality."
"Don't worry. Your two men died quickly. Hardly felt a thing."
The gentle, conversational tone paired with fresh blood on the blade was deeply unsettling.
The charging smugglers, already hesitating due to the sudden chaos, instinctively took a synchronized step back.
The captain ignored them. He had no time to scold, no time to trade words.
The ship mattered most.
If the ship was lost, what use was anything else?
Swim back to shore?
Fortunately, he wasn't a novice. Key positions had guards stationed.
The report came quickly:
"Captain! Sea beast! A giant sea beast!"
"What?!"
The captain shot Lin En a venomous glare before turning decisively.
"You two—if you don't want us all fed to a sea beast, don't cause trouble."
"Leave five men here. Watch them closely! The rest, with me! To your stations—prepare the ballistae!"
With that, he rushed off with most of his crew.
Lin En watched the doorway now guarded by only a handful of lackeys.
The disgust and mockery in his eyes faded into a soft click of his tongue.
"I told the truth from start to finish. Why won't you believe me?"
He sighed lightly.
"Ah well. Even if you did believe me, you wouldn't survive."
"These few are yours, Aikefei. I need some time. Keep watch for me."
With that, he sat cross-legged on the spot, closed his eyes, calmed his breath—
And focused.
Aikefei asked no questions.
She nodded, summoned a spear, and in the stunned gazes of the five remaining smugglers, unleashed a burst of frost-laden mist.
What the hell?!
She has a Vision?!
You could've just shown it earlier! The captain might never have targeted you!
You were baiting us?!
Those were their final thoughts.
The biting cold froze their movements and dulled their reactions, the spear flashing through the mist—
Five strikes. Instant kills.
Aikefei withdrew her spear, smoothing the Cryo energy back into calm.
On her own, she might have simply unleashed the full buildup of frozen power in a sweeping blast—meant for clearing encirclements.
But recently, through Lin En's introductions to friends in Natlan, she had learned various refined techniques.
Now she needed only a fraction of her stored elemental power to achieve the same result—saving the rest for later.
Assuming the enemy would get a chance to return.
Meanwhile, Lin En turned his awareness inward.
"Finally… almost there."
From a perspective invisible to ordinary eyes, wisps of blue-violet mist drifted out from the surrounding crates, flowing into his body.
Their destination—
A "seed."
It resided deep within his Sea of Consciousness, at the core of his soul—yet simultaneously seemed suspended at an unreachable height beyond all perception.
Only he could sense it.
As a transmigrator, this was Lin En's cheat—
A World Seed.
Once it sprouted, it would give birth to a Complete World—
A world that would serve as his incarnation.
What did "Complete World" mean?
Not a planetary world like Teyvat.
But a higher-tier existence—comparable in rank to the very universe that housed Teyvat.
It would require growth.
At first, its scale might not even rival a small subspace within Teyvat.
But its rank—its potential—was genuine.
And growth would not be difficult.
After all, ordinary worlds possessed only diffuse, macro-level will.
Lin En's world would possess clear consciousness—his consciousness—capable of planning and directing its own evolution.
More interesting still—
As a transmigrator, his world inherited certain traits.
Once past its infancy, it could consume Origin, trace the path of his transmigration, locate similar worlds—
And open Gates of Traversal.
The cheat was undeniably immense.
But until the seed sprouted—
Until the world was born—
None of it counted.