Is that a Wisp?

Somewhere along the vast ocean was an elongated ship, a construct with a spherical front and a pointed end. Its sheer scale was enormous, being 400 meters long and 150 meters wide. 

Its body was equally submerged in both oceans, keeping it perfectly balanced. Though at times, it moved into its ocean of choice. At present, it was wholly inside one of the oceans, with a small portion of it exposed to the air layer to keep it circulated in its interior.

Wherever it went, intense water current accompanied it, carrying it forth naturally. When seen in its interior, there were hundreds of Motor Fishes propelling it. Moreover, forming the center of the ship was a piece of land, one that had once been the breeding grounds of the Motor Fishes. 

And now, the cove had become the central structure around which the ship had been built. Quite a few rooms had been constructed within it where workers ran to and fro, busying about various tasks. 

The entire place seemed to have been created using a material similar to bone, resembling a shell or a rock. But despite that, it was sturdy. Moreover, the walls were tremendously thick and seemed to be slowly getting reinforced further and further as time passed. 

The Cove!

It was the name of the pirate ship, named after the cove where the Motor Fishes lived, the symbolic existence that allowed their pirate organization to grow from the initial hundred to the current two thousand strong.

Seated in one of the rooms, acting as the leader of the forces, was Gajor, smirking as he spoke, "Who would have thought the shell of a Checkpoint Turtle would have such miraculous properties? It was our sheer luck to have discovered one, that too of such an ancient one that's even bigger than the Checkpoint Turtles we see."

Seated beside him, his twin brother, Gehen laughed as he said, "It's worth all the risk I went through to bring it up. And now, even if we do nothing, this would condense 10 Water Essence every year. Just that alone would give us tremendous authority to control everyone else, not to mention the Motor Fishes we control."

"Still, I'm thankful that you have abilities related to maintaining and managing the Motor Fishes and being the eyes of The Cove." Gajor smiled as he patted the shoulder of his brother, speaking before he exited the room, "I'll complete the remaining preparations. It should be done about now. I'll signal when the plan's about to commence." 

"Alright." Gehen nodded, maintaining his cordial smile as he watched Gajor exit the room. But at the moment he left the place, Gehen's expression morphed into one of anger, cursing inwardly, "That useless coward."

He stomped on the ground, muttering with a hint of rage, "It was me who went into the darkness under the ocean and braved through all the frightening sea monsters to discover this Checkpoint Turtle shell. It was also my passive ability that discovered it in the first place. I am the one who can control all these Motor Fishes. And, it's my ability that we relied on to obtain more Godly Points."

He scowled. "It was also me who discovered the firstborn of this Sub-Realm. But not only did Gajor screw it up and allow the baby to land in the hands of two powerhouses, he even plans to take credit for all my effort?"

He then let out a deep breath, sighing as he continued to mutter, "You have always been a hindrance in my life, Gajor. Despite your inferior talent, Mother loved you the most. And it's only because of my promise to her that I have been supporting you all these years. I can take it no longer."

"The world has always been the survival of the fittest. And, someone without talent, wit, and ability like you will only be left behind." He muttered, closing his eyes as he sensed the location of the baby, Solare, "It seems they have been chasing after us all this time."

He then thought, muttering, "Judging by how the distance between us is increasing, it seems they have plans to give up. After all, despite her nature, the Seamstress only focuses on her immediate surroundings. Even she knows she cannot put an end to all the atrocities that happen in the world."

"As for that guy named Krune." He smiled as he said, "As long as I don't involve myself with him, he will never bother me. Plus, he doesn't seem the type to be content with staying here."

"Right, who would like to live as a mortal for all their life?" He laughed out loud. "Even if you were to have a lot of strength, you would soon die. So, no sane cultivator would try to remain here for long unless it was their plan…just like me."

"I'm fed up with the God Realm. No matter how strong I become, there's always someone stronger. But here, as long as I put in enough effort, I can reach the top and secure a stable life for myself. This Sub-Realm is just too vast. So, even the God that created it wouldn't ever set it aside." He then grinned, clenching his hand into a fist. "With my special passive ability, I can live for many centuries."

"This is the best!" He laughed, closing his eyes as he kept watch on the ship's progress. 

In the meantime, Gajor arrived at one of the rooms closer to the ship's walls, looking at the groups of pirates that streamed in. They then saluted and placed a bunch of whistles on the table. "Sir Heuk has been significantly injured and fell unconscious. It seems controlling too many fishes took too great of a toll on him. But thanks to him, all of us have accumulated enough Godly Points over the past few months."

The pirate continued, placing a total of fifty whistles on the table, "This is what we obtained by pooling the resources of all the pirates. To obtain this number, we had to visit numerous Checkpoint Turtles."

"Impressive." Gajor nodded, laughing out loud as he looked at the fifty whistles on the table before him, "Adding onto what we have collected before, we have one hundred Helper Whistles in total now."

'If Gehen hadn't figured out the method of pooling our Godly Points in the Checkpoint Turtle, this wouldn't have been possible. As always, he's impressive.' He then mentally snorted, 'Once this plan is successful, I have to keep him in check. At present, it seems most of the pirates admire him more than me.'

'Though, once this is successful, no one would be able to go against me, hahaha!' He mentally smirked as he grabbed all the Helper Whistles, speaking, "Alright, take up positions. If we succeed, our lives would be significantly easier in the future. We would become the dominant force on these waters, haha."

Yes, Boss!" All the pirates saluted and left. While adrift on the ocean, almost everyone was helpless. Among those, Gajor recruited those he thought would become useful subordinates. Those without value, he dismissed, giving them dangerous missions until they died. 

As for those that proved their worth, he nurtured them. And, immediately after surviving the First Wave, Gehen found him and they concocted their scheme, creating a pirate organization. 

'It was Gehen that found me, discovered the cove where the Motor Fishes mated, and so on. One way or another, once this plan is successful, I must wring out the details of his passive ability. He must have falsified the information on his abilities. Since he hasn't left The Cove for more than a year now, I haven't been able to see him use any passive abilities.' Gajor was deep in thought as he arrived in the room where Gehen was sitting, speaking, "We have one hundred Helper Whistles now."

"All preparations are complete." Gajor looked at Gehen and asked, "Which Checkpoint Turtle are you planning to target?"

"We are heading towards it right now. I feel like this Checkpoint Turtle is the youngest of the lot. So, targeting it is the easiest," Gehen said as he thought, 'I have been leading the Seamstress and Krune accordingly so that they would use the services of this weakest Checkpoint Turtle.'

'They're probably planning to head into a Secondary Landmass to harvest more Godly Points. They must have figured out the baby's secret by now, so they wouldn't leave him behind. So, that gives an assured possibility that they would head into a Secondary Landmass. Even though they wouldn't obtain any extra Godly Points than the cost of their tickets, a year on land would be more than enough for them to grow even stronger. With their strength, they should be fine.' 

He mentally laughed as he continued, 'And, if the Checkpoint Turtle they bought their tickets from dies, they wouldn't be able to return here. So, I can rest assured that I wouldn't see them again. Even if I do, I would have tremendously outclassed them by then.'

He then closed his eyes and shared sight with a fish that was seated on The Cove's front, looking forward to seeing a massive Checkpoint Turtle come in sight.