Evolution: Start AS A Raft

As for the submission of the three powerhouses, Raine was not opposed, but he presented conditions accordingly.

"Joining my bounty group is fine. However, all of you, whether you were a group leader or deputy, here, you must start from the very basis of crew membership," Raine declared, his voice indifferent. "Of your crews, I'll retain only a minor portion. I have little preference for using unfamiliar people, and these will be dispersed amongst various fleets. Any of you who violate fleet regulations, I will treat without partiality."

Raine's requirements for crew members always prioritized integrity over strength. After all, following Raine, with Tik's training and the heaven-defying enhancements, one's strength could slowly be elevated.

Now, Raine was no longer a bare commander. He had nearly ten thousand crew members under him, increasingly resembling a true group leader.

"Leader, these matters are secondary. We merely wish to venture into the sky-class sea within our lifetimes," stated Bodhid.

"We know we have done much wrong in the past, and there's little to justify," Irene added, "We are willing to atone for our mistakes, using the time ahead to reorganize the dragon-class sea area. As for starting from crew membership again, we have no objections. Status is meaningless to us now; we wish to witness a broader world, stronger powerhouses!"

Given that these individuals had no objections, Raine said nothing further.

This time, in welcoming new members, Raine allocated few positions among the three fleets—a total of 3000, a thousand for each fleet.

Even if an individual's personal strength was not extraordinary, the ability to traverse the dragon-class sea area suggested exceptional maritime skills.

As long as they passed Raine's scrutiny, proving their integrity, their addition would inevitably strengthen the power of the bounty group.

...

That evening, Raine arrived alone in Avril's room.

Perhaps Avril was deep in sleep; she didn't wake even when Raine entered.

Gazing at the sleeping Avril, Raine gently brushed aside her long hair, a hint of tenderness flickering in his eyes.

"Foolish girl, rushing in when I couldn't even control myself!"

After a glance at Avril, Raine stood up, leaving a note on the table for her to rest well before exiting the room.

The members of the three major fleets had already embarked on their mission, which included hunting down the remaining dragon clans, abolishing the division of safe areas, and linking all the islands.

Despite their thorough knowledge of the entire dragon-class sea area, this was an undoubtedly massive project, prompting Raine to dispatch Trajan to assist.

During this time, Onebear and his crew were kept extremely busy, retrieving treasure chests from the enemy warships.

Out of 3000 warships, they had managed to salvage 2100 chests, sparing no effort to retrieve anything that could be found.

Though the leaders of the three major fleets had surrendered to Raine, he unabashedly claimed their wealth.

"Leader, the total is 43.7 million pearls."

Upon hearing this figure, Raine barely reacted.

"So much wealth but my heart doesn't flutter," Raine remarked, shaking his head. "I have lost interest in making money..."

Observing Raine's theatrics, Olivia couldn't help but interject, "With the whole dragon-class sea area under your control, it's only natural you'd lose interest in money."

Just then, Arsan emerged from the seabed. Seeing Raine, he called out, "Leader, you're awake! If you're free, come with us to see the Dragon King God's corpse. It's buried in the silt, tough to get it out!"

Raine had split the seabed several hundred meters with a single sword strike, and when the seawater receded, it inevitably filled up this temporary ravine.

The Dragon King God might have swallowed the Metal Heaven Crystal. Naturally, Raine wouldn't miss the opportunity to examine its corpse.

"I'm coming!" With that, Raine jumped into the sea, diving in alongside Arsan.

The Dragon King God's body, stretching 2500 meters, was largely buried in the silt, with only the head and tail visible above the seabed.

Numerous crew members, having transformed into their underwater forms to salvage treasure chests, were now helping to dig.

After a quick inspection, Raine realized this haphazard excavation could take forever.

He called over more crew members, instructing each to prepare a segment of metal chain. They would bind the sturdy body of the Dragon King God crosswise, with a person stationed at regular intervals.

"Once we're at the seafloor, everyone pays attention to my light. When the light points upward, everyone pulls together!"

"Aye, Leader!"

After everything was prepared, everyone held onto a knot, with Raine positioned at the head of the dragon.

With Raine turning on the underwater flashlight and shifting the light from horizontal to vertical, over a thousand people exerted their strength at once.

After three attempts, the immense suction force of the silt finally gave way, and the corpse of the Dragon King God was hoisted out.

Blacky and the others were salivating over the corpse of the Dragon King God, but Raine halted them, "Wait a moment, you gluttons. I'll first look for the Heaven Crystal."

On this winding 2500-meter corpse, Raine activated his system radar to search. As soon as he turned on the system, an alarm rang in Raine's mind.

[Ding, Metal Heaven Crystal detected.]

"Wow, it's really inside its body?" Raine was overjoyed. Following the radar's guidance, he arrived at the location of the Dragon King God's left front paw.

The heart of a snake is located at the seventh inch, but the dragon was no snake; its heart's location was more or less the same as a human's, in the left chest.

Without any hesitation, Raine broke open the chest of the Dragon King God. In the location of its heart, there was a golden organ, which, according to the system prompt, was the Metal Heaven Crystal.

"Can't be, the Metal Heaven Crystal has merged with the heart of the Dragon King God?" Raine didn't have time to ponder. He removed the massive heart and carried it back to the battleship.

After placing the golden heart in a secure chamber, Raine initiated the program.

[Metal Heaven Crystal energy stabilizing...]

[Impurities detected within Metal Heaven Crystal, purging impurities, please wait...]

The golden heart, under the system's purification, gradually regained its flesh color.

"It seems that the Dragon God was just a regular dragon deity before. It became so powerful because it merged with the Metal Heaven Crystal." Raine waited patiently.

Before long, the Metal Heaven Crystal was separated from the Dragon God's heart.

Raine took down the heart of the Dragon God, divided it into four parts, and distributed it to the four beasts to eat.

By the time he returned to the secret chamber, the energy extraction function of the Metal Heaven Crystal had stabilized, and the system was developing skills for the Metal Heaven Crystal.

[Ship Fusion (Level 1): Research progress 3%.]

[The Metal Heaven Crystal can fuse with the ship's metal, strengthening the ship's defense. Level 1 can increase the ship's defense by 100,000 points. Duration: As long as the host holds the Metal Heaven Crystal, the enhancement can be maintained indefinitely.]

Seeing this skill, Raine was greatly shocked, "Damn, although this Metal Heaven Crystal doesn't have a shield, it's stronger than a shield! Permanent enhancement of the ship's defense?"

This was just the first level. If the higher levels of research come out later, how powerful would it be!?

Raine could not wait to continue checking.