The gem emitted a gentle white color, frigid to the touch. The moment Krune grabbed hold of it, he could feel his hand turn slightly numb. This was considering he already possessed Monster Gecko Blood, being immune to even freezing conditions.

"Success!" Krune bellowed in joy and pocketed it. He swiftly ran through all the other caves and collected the Blood Essence Crystals that had been produced. After that, he sprinted back to his cave, calculating all his gains.

Everything of value, he placed in the boat. Then, he arrived at the pool and plunged into it, taking in a deep breath as he swallowed the white gem. In an instant, his body turned numb as even his exhales began to frost over, turning into small ice spikes on his nose. He could feel something in his body block the process. After all, his limit was only five passive abilities.

Krune hurriedly summoned his tablet and noticed a prompt asking if he wished to replace the new passive ability with one of the five in his possession.

He hurriedly selected Monster Gecko Blood as the ability to be replaced with the new one, watching something from his body be expelled immediately.

Krune then plopped into the pool completely as the water began to slowly turn into ice. Nothing unexpected happened after that, as a couple of minutes later, the warm temperature caused the ice to melt.

Another minute later, Krune got up, breaking all the ice lodged on his body. He then noticed that he no longer felt cold. Though, he could sense that his blood had turned colder now, a weapon on its own.

Using a needle that he had created, Krune pricked his index finger, watching a droplet of blood fall on the pool, the water turning into ice immediately. "That's incredible. The freezing effect has become even more potent now."

He then thought, gently unleashing his Neon Radiance through the palm on his right, hitting the beam on the cave walls where water was seeping through at an incredibly slow pace. He then closed his eyes and focused on his blood, causing it to connect with the Neon Radiance on the skin.

Unfortunately, nothing happened. Then, remembering something, Krune activated his Ocean Heart, noticing the image of five rings flash in his mind. The fifth ring hadn't fully recovered yet but had around half the maximum energy.

His heart began to pump the energy through his blood, slightly amplifying his physical prowess. On top of that, since the energy was carried through his blood, as he concentrated, the energy began to interact with the coldness in his blood, eventually taking up that property.

Krune then supplied the energy to his Neon Radiance, watching the light turn white. The moment it happened, he could see a faint layer of ice form on the cave walls. In any case, it was a slow process, not instantaneous as when he had dropped a droplet of blood.

Nevertheless, the moment he saw it, Krune was overjoyed. "That's an incredibly strong passive ability."

He then began to practice with it, eventually muttering in the end, "The reason I can combine two passive abilities into one is thanks to the Ocean Heart that pumps energy into my blood. Since the blood interacts with everything in my mortal body, it allows me to do this. Without the Ocean Heart, I wouldn't have been able to create this effect."

He began to laugh in joy after that. "As long as I develop myself in this manner, I'll eventually be able to head towards the Tertiary Landmass and face against the Supreme Monster."

Krune then double-tapped his glabella, summoning his tablet as he gazed into it, reading the latest line. "Obtained Passive: Frozen Blood."

"As direct as always." He then punched the tablet, noticing a different message be displayed. "So, I have 7 Godly Points now. I spent seven Godly Points to visit here and have earned the same. If I consider in that regard, I have wasted a year. But in actuality..."

He smiled as he continued muttering to himself, "I got the Ocean Heart. Just that alone makes this trip worth it." He then stepped into the boat, looking at the pile of Blood Essence Stones he had accumulated. "On top of that, these are bonuses that would help me in my future hunts."

Adrift on the ocean, he wasn't able to prepare himself. But after being on land for a year, he was able to create everything that he would be needed in the future, allowing him to be ready for whatever he faced next.

For the next couple of days, Krune didn't leave the boat, afraid that he would be teleported out when he wasn't with the boat. He then gazed at the parchment that would send him back when ripped, smiling at his silliness.

Instead of waiting for the next few days in worry that he would be teleported at the wrong time, he might as well leave on his initiative. After all, there was no chance for him to affect the other three villages or reap any Godly Points.

Besides, the thicket of trees caused by the war between the first two villages would eventually produce a ton of massive fruits. After all, all the bone trees had grown by absorbing blood from Monster Geckos that were alive. So, if Krune thought about it, at least 600 massive fruits would be produced.

If even only one in a hundred survived eating that, around six Mutants would be birthed. Besides, two bone trees were growing from the blood of Mutants. So, they would produce the colossal fruits that, when a Mutant consumed it, would cause it to become a King.

On top of that, there was a bone tree that grew by absorbing the blood of a King. As for what it would produce, even Krune was unaware. Besides, when he was trying to birth Mutants, he only used whatever Monster Gecko he could get his hands on.

As for the three Monster Gecko Kings that remained on the Primary Landmass, they would precisely be able to calculate what to do with the massive fruits and allocate them to whichever Monster Gecko had the greatest success rate of becoming a Mutant. So, their success rate would be many times higher than him.

Krune looked around, noticing that he had placed everything of value in his boat, sighing as he looked at the cave he spent a year in. "Alright, I should leave now."

He then bit a part of the boat while using a couple of ropes trailing from it to tie himself up, making it seem as if it was something he had worn over his body. He still wasn't completely sure if it would work. After all, he had only been teleported once. So, he had to work with the limited info.

As such, prepared with everything, he tore the parchment, noticing his vision blur before he had to squint his eyes at the bright surroundings. Krune immediately looked at the ground to see that he was still in his boat, screaming with joy, "It worked!"

…

The moment he left the place, a group of Monster Geckos entered his cave, looking around as he observed the status of the cave. They then reported everything to the King that stood at the entrance in thought.

Similarly, another King stood at the entrance to a certain cave, kneeling automatically when it sensed the suffocating presence that had permeated in the area.

The final King stood before the thicket of bone trees, smiling as it saw the numerous massive fruits that grew, focusing on the two colossal fruits in the center, finally gazing at the special fruit that caused a desire in it. It seemed that the three Kings had allied themselves to make sense of the situation in their lands.

…

Krune sensed something amiss, turning around to see a group of people gazing at him in shock, suspicion, fear, and greed. The myriad of gazes slammed into him, someone who had been devoid of human contact for more than a year.

For a moment, Krune forgot how to even react when seeing others. Though, after noticing that his boat was above the Checkpoint Turtle, he sighed in relief, remembering that he had returned exactly after a year had passed.

That meant that it was time for the Checkpoint Turtle to appear once again. And with a casual glance, Krune noticed almost one hundred people on the Checkpoint Turtle.

Surprisingly, there seemed to be a queue that had formed to enter inside. It seemed only one would be permitted to enter at a time. Krune also noticed a couple of squids go around while instructing the people.

They didn't seem capable of speech but seemed intelligent enough to convey their intentions to the people. Upon noticing his arrival, a squid arrived before his boat, gently pushing it from the Checkpoint Turtle until it landed on the ocean water.

As the upper half of the boat was in contact with the ocean above, it was easy to push it. Once it was done pushing, the squid looked at Krune and pointed at the queue, prompting him to join it if he wished to buy something.

Krune nodded, deciding to wait and see first. He didn't wish for someone to steal his hard work while he waited in the queue. After all, he couldn't see the raft he was relying on a year ago. So, someone had definitely taken it in the meantime.

Plus, judging by what the Octopus had said before, it seemed the Checkpoint Turtle would only remain for two days before vanishing. The moment he had this thought, Krune shuddered, beginning to sweat immediately as he muttered inwardly, 'My calculations were wrong. It seemed I snapped the parchment when my time was almost up. Thankfully, I did it. Otherwise…'

He dared not imagine being unable to bring the boat with him after putting all his efforts into its creation. He would have probably gone mad if that had been the case.

So, he thanked his luck that he took action right when he did. At the same time, he noticed a man exit the interior and approach the end and rip out a parchment. Immediately, a boat materialized before him.

It was wide enough for him to sleep and had a small compartment to store some tools. Moreover, it had a fair degree of comfort and had a sleek, efficient design that allowed one to row better. It was worth two Godly Points that Krune had been disinclined to buy before.

And now that he looked at it, even though the bone boat was incredibly efficient, allowing one to row it easily through a variety of means, it didn't have a lot of space. In comparison to that, his Paddle was many times better since it had a larger floor space and numerous compartments for a variety of uses.

Still, it seemed the man was happy as he jumped into it and rowed away from the place, intending to go wherever he pleased.

But just as Krune was contemplating what to do next, a group of people approached his boat, eyeing it greedily. They were a group of ten, and judging by their healing scars, they seemed to have been in considerable battles recently.

Among them was a man with a large build, sporting a considerable presence as he looked at Krune, asking, "Hello friend, may I know how you obtained this large boat?"