The Astral Express was far from the only crew turning heads in the waters.
There was also the corporate expedition fleet commanded by Topaz, as well as two massive fleets organized around Robin and her fan club. Beyond those, dozens of squads had formed representing different branches of the Xianzhou Alliance, corporate departments, and groups of close friends.
Watching the monitors, Julian even spotted Jing Yuan in disguise. The General had changed his digital avatar and dragged Yanqing along for the ride.
Yanqing looked a little flustered. Even though he wore a disguised avatar just like his mentor, the boy clearly wanted to dive into the fun while dreading the thought of running into acquaintances.
Jing Yuan, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. Free from the heavy duties of the seat of divine foresight, he had no official burdens weighing him down. He could simply jump straight into the fray and play.
The event had originally been planned as a two-round tournament: an open qualifier across regional servers, followed by a final showdown among ten thousand top scavengers.
Yet nobody had anticipated just how wildly popular the casual mode would become. Even after the opening cull, more than eight hundred thousand players remained qualified, forcing the organizers to add a sudden intermediate round. From that massive pool, only the top fifty thousand players, ranked by total treasure value, earned tickets to the grand finals.
Having learned their lessons from the chaotic opening round, everyone understood that a lean, coordinated squad was far more effective than an unwieldy army.
Because of this, both Topaz and Robin broke up their massive fan flotillas, choosing to operate in smaller, independent units. Managing thousands of enthusiastic followers had given both of them a massive headache.
What had started as a breezy holiday had turned into leading a giant tour group, which sucked all the fun out of it.
Without thousands of players trailing behind them, the two were finally able to let loose and enjoy the genuine thrill of hunting for loot.
Even when Robin was eventually caught in an ambush and knocked out near the end of the round, she didn't mind in the slightest. Cai Xing quickly invited her to step into the broadcast booth to co-host the grand finals alongside Owlbert.
Several standout teams with sharp combat skills or famous faces, such as Jing Yuan's squad, Topaz's crew, and the Astral Express, drew the lion's share of public attention.
Viewers flooded the chat with theories, while the finalists in the lobby finalized their tactical plans for the decisive map.
In the commentary booth, Owlbert leaned toward his microphone with theatrical flair.
"The final hunt for the title of Treasure King is upon us! And in this final arena, the organizers have placed an ultimate secret relic: the Heart of the Ocean! It is said that whichever crew unearths this jewel and holds it until the final buzzer will secure unconditional victory!"
"The clues revealing its resting place are hidden inside only a tiny handful of lesser treasures, and finding the true coordinates requires piecing together every scrap of the puzzle."
"In other words, by the time the final bell rings, it is entirely possible that not a single player will have solved the mystery."
"Furthermore, the moment someone lifts the Heart of the Ocean from its pedestal, the gem will release a continuous pulse across the map, pinging its exact coordinates to every player in the water. At the same time, the bearer of the gem will gain the ability to sense the location of every rival in the ocean."
"It seems the organizers are determined to turn up the heat for our finalists!"
A legendary treasure of the deep had to rest in the darkest trenches.
The match rules explicitly banned mythical titans of the sea like Lugia and Kyogre, meaning players had to rely on standard aquatic partners with limited dive times. Nobody could afford to spot the prize and leave it behind; you could only catch your breath for a second before a rival fleet swept in to take it. The only safe place for the jewel was locked in your own hands.
"What a gorgeous jewel," Robin commented with a bright smile. "Without keeping everyone waiting, let us see how our finalists begin their search."
At her request, the broadcast director switched the primary feed to the open sea.
"At the start, most squads are playing it safe, securing their first confirmed caches along the shallow reefs."
"Wait, what is happening with the Astral Express team? Have they already split up?"
Robin's eyes naturally gravitated toward the teams she knew best: Topaz's corporate squad, the Xianzhou unit led by a mysterious swordsman named Luo Shi, the Penacony contingent, and the Trailblazers.
While other squads moved in tight formations, the Astral Express scattered in different directions the moment their boots touched the sand.
Even if the early minutes carried little danger for careful scavengers, breaking formation so early was an audacious gamble. Losing even one member meant a severe drop in combat strength for an elite crew.
"Perhaps they have a unique plan in mind," Owlbert noted, checking the live comments for fan theories.
Viewers assumed it was simply another bold tactic from the Trailblazers.
Yet as the match unfolded, while rival alliances gathered around high-tier vaults to brawl over gold chests, the Express crew remained perpetually on the run. They gathered only for brief handoffs, and their accumulated treasure score lagged far behind the top ten leaderboards.
"Wait! I see it now!" Owlbert exclaimed. "They aren't hunting for normal points at all. They are searching for the Heart of the Ocean!"
The live chat began firing off rapid replies:
"Wait, didn't the rules say the odds of finding the clues and solving the riddle were microscopic? Are they really betting everything on that?"
"Come on, look who they are! They have tournament finalists and seasoned adventurers on that roster. They have all the money and fame they could ever want. They came here to have fun, so of course they are going for the wildest prize on the board!"
"Since when did the Grand Celebration have an Elite Four title? Did I miss an update?"
"It is just an honorary title fans came up with for the top performers, don't worry about it!"
Owlbert and Robin brought up the theory on air, prompting the broadcast director to keep a dedicated picture-in-picture window tracking the Express crew alongside the chaotic vault battles.
The viewers had guessed correctly.
To make the run truly memorable, the crew had resolved from the start to dig up the Heart of the Ocean.
With Welt and Himeko on the team, deciphering cryptic historical riddles was second nature. So long as the puzzle did not demand the intellect of the Genius Society, the Trailblazers had absolute confidence in cracking the code. And a festival game would never include puzzles that unreasonable.
By the time the mid-game clock ticked down, the crew had gathered a handful of parchment scraps from obscure underwater grottos.
"These look like navigational coordinates," Welt murmured, adjusting his glasses as he studied the overlapping runes beside Himeko. "There are several reference points, but the set is incomplete. We are missing two key vectors, and they are almost certainly tucked inside those high-tier chests the major fleets are fighting over."
"That means we need a strike team to hit the rival squads and take those missing fragments," Himeko deduced smoothly.
"Meanwhile, the rest of us can continue sweeping secondary ruins to confirm the remaining markers."
The moment the words left Welt's mouth, Stelle stepped forward, her eyes gleaming with mischief.
"Leave the ambush to me!"
She had grown thoroughly tired of swimming in circles looking for small boxes. The moment there was a chance to kick down some doors and pick a fight, she jumped right to the front.
"Then I leave the vanguard to you three young ones," Himeko said with a fond smile. She had no desire to sprint through a battlefield herself, and letting the younger trio run wild was the easiest solution.
"One more detail," Himeko added, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Keep your guard up around that Xianzhou squad. If my instincts serve me right, their swordsman leader is General Jing Yuan in disguise."
"Wait, what?! General Jing Yuan?!"
March dropped her jaw, staring at Himeko with wide, round eyes.
30+ chapters are available now and daily updates!
@patreon.com/AgentTwilight