Chapter 36: The Argo Cruise Ship

After a brief meal with them, Luo Ke couldn't wait to return to his room.

"Open the gift package!"

"Ding! The host has been rewarded with a [Portable Warehouse] measuring 5x5x5 meters. Its capacity can increase as the host evolves. Living creatures cannot be stored inside."

"Note: When traveling across the heavens, you may carry standard items via the portable warehouse, but certain special items cannot be brought back to the main world."

Is this... a soul-bound spatial ring?

Luo Ke was stunned. A thought flickered through his mind: if that were the case, couldn't he bring back basic supplies from other worlds to meet daily needs and facilitate the continuous development of Spark City?

But those were thoughts for later. Luo Ke silently whispered "Warehouse" in his mind, and an alien space suddenly manifested within his consciousness.

Five meters in length, width, and height—at first glance, it didn't sound like much, but when combined, it was actually quite spacious and could hold a great deal.

He looked at a cup on his desk, touched it with his right hand, and with a mere thought, the cup vanished into thin air!

Inside the portable warehouse, the cup appeared, the small pink rabbit pattern on it confirming it was indeed the same one.

With another thought, he retrieved the cup.

Luo Ke played like this for ten minutes, sending various items from the room into the void and pulling them back out, satisfied only after repeating the process for quite a while.

He grabbed a cockroach that happened to be passing by his feet, confirmed that living creatures indeed could not enter the warehouse, then squashed it, flushed it down the toilet, and dusted off his hands as he left the room.

"Good afternoon, Lord Luo Ke!"

"Lord Luo Ke!"

Everyone he passed greeted him with genuine, heartfelt respect. In their eyes, Luo Ke was not distant or aloof like Morgan or Charles; he was approachable, much like Mark.

"Jessica, how is the progress on the lighthouse's mechanical conversion?" Luo Ke asked upon seeing the red-haired woman leading an engineering team.

"Everything is going smoothly so far, thanks to the parts and equipment you brought back from the outside," Jessica replied earnestly.

Suddenly, she looked Luo Ke up and down with a flirtatious gaze, swallowed hard, and bit her lip. "Lord Luo Ke, the Morning Light Hall has been abolished, but the propagation of humanity must go on. I heard that old society advocated for free love, and I also heard that many young girls are interested in you! But what do little girls know that a mature woman doesn't?"

Under her sultry, lingering gaze, Luo Ke remembered what she had said earlier during the duel between Mark and Aaron:

"The strongest man on the Lighthouse—I really want to go to the Morning Light Hall with him."

When Jeff asked, "Which one are you talking about?"

Jessica had replied seductively, "Both are quite good~"

"Luo Ke!" Xia Dou waved from not far away.

Luo Ke shrugged and smiled, "Carry on with your work."

Jessica pouted and muttered to herself, "So that's the type he likes, huh?"

Underground.

Bai Yuekui looked down at the thousands of people from a vantage point. "Progress is not bad. I’m glad they aren’t hopelessly stupid."

She turned to Luo Ke. "Morgan returned the Abyss Walker to me. Was that your doing?"

"It’s a hot potato. I didn't feel safe leaving it in Spark City, and the experiments Jiali based on it were too radical; ordinary people simply cannot withstand the energy the armor requires," Luo Ke replied calmly. "Are there any other ASH new humans in the world?"

Bai Yuekui lowered her eyes. "There should be. After all, quite a bit of Angel Reagent leaked out."

What she had shared with him about the Angel Reagent and the past was only superficial, but Luo Ke had managed to piece together a rough theory. Of course, these were his own deductions, and their veracity remained to be verified.

Many years ago, massive vines sprouted from the earth, tearing the world apart, while the spores they released grew into Mana flora upon entering living organisms.

Several scientists founded the Nirvana Biology Corporation—the ruins of which were where the Calamity Beast was previously located—to study Mana flora with goals like "immortality" and "evolution."

They created Mark, their most successful product, and cloned him extensively, selling "Little Marks" at fixed prices. The wealthy used them to cure terminal illnesses or extend their lives.

This explained why Mark was so unique; his constitution had a neutralizing, merging effect, allowing him to become a噬极兽 (Hollow-Extreme Beast) with human intelligence, thus serving as a bridge between humanity and the Mana ecology.

Meanwhile, the Nirvana Corporation used the Mana flora to develop various reagents, the strongest of which was the Angel Reagent. From this, the new humans known as ASH were born, possessing superior physiques, extended lifespans, and miraculous abilities.

But as the vines expanded, countless giant monsters emerged from the depths. The Mana ecology began to consume the Earth, assimilating the environment. Control over the ASH project began to slip, conflicts erupted, and the global elite fled the planet on spaceships.

The remaining commoners, lacking money and power, could only struggle to survive on the broken Earth.

The Lighthouse, being an aerial prison, happened to be spared, but Morgan chose a path of ideology different from Bai Yuekui's. He believed that humans who actively adapted to the Mana ecology were no longer human and refused to change.

However, Luo Ke knew nothing of the Klotho System or Bai Yuekui's origins; after all, when he transmigrated, the "Legend of Yuekui" had only just released its cover art.

In short, the past was incredibly complex, and Luo Ke dared not be certain his deductions were entirely correct.

"How is Mark progressing?" Luo Ke asked.

"It won't be long before he can switch forms just like you," Bai Yuekui replied.

These past few days, Ran Bing had been accompanying Mark whenever she had free time; even though Mark's current appearance was hard to look at, Ran Bing remained all smiles.

Confirmed—Mark-beast = Ran Bing's happy-beast!

"There's something I need to tell you," Luo Ke said. "I'll be away for two days."

"Hmm?" Bai Yuekui hummed, then said calmly, "Alright."

Luo Ke left, informed Ran Bing, Xia Dou, and the others, and then returned to his room.

"System, initiate travel across the heavens!" He could not suppress his excitement and curiosity.

He wondered where the first official world would be, what kind of monsters it would hold, what abilities he could obtain, and what supplies he could bring back.

To be fair, he was very satisfied with the setting that no matter how much time he spent in other worlds, it would only equal two days in the main world. After all, he didn't want to return from a journey only to find the grass on Xia Dou's grave three feet high.

"Analyzing host's status via big data. Gate of the Heavens is opening."

Whoosh—

A twisted, swirling black tunnel suddenly manifested in the room, pitch black inside.

World: *Deep Rising*
Main Mission: Devour and Evolve
Side Missions: None

Luo Ke stepped in, and his vision went black.

...

South Pacific.

Under the deep night sky, a luxurious cruise ship moved slowly, brightly lit and filled with song and dance.

In the grand hall, people of all backgrounds, dressed in suits, raised their glasses in celebration. The entire decor was filled with ancient Chinese style, with a multi-story pavilion standing in the center.

This was a cruise ship built through a Sino-American joint venture.

Ding! Ding!

Simon, the owner of the cruise ship, wore a white suit, glasses, and a slicked-back hairstyle. He tapped his wine glass, signaling everyone to listen.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Please allow me to say a few words. On behalf of myself, Captain Atherton, and his crew, I warmly welcome you to the maiden voyage of the *Argonaut*!" He raised his glass high.

The crowd cheered loudly, and the atmosphere reached a fever pitch.

In a corner, Luo Ke, who had inexplicably changed into a suit, slowly opened his eyes.