2037 Spiky Turtle Han Sen did not want to remember how he got out of the monster’s stomach. After sloshing his way out of the water, he flopped onto the shore, gasping for breath. Then he raised his head and looked around. A dozen people were standing in a huddled group, simply staring. They looked like humans, but they all had dragon horns. There were men and women, young and old. It took Han Sen three seconds to realize he was naked. So, he quickly summoned his Spell armor and pretended nothing had happened. “The weather is good today. Are you guys here for a bath, as well?” he asked casually. The first thing Han Sen learned was that two days had passed. Han Sen was curious about the Dragon God. It was a xenogeneic creature that could travel from the Ancient God space to the Return Ruin Sea as it pleased. That was a powerful ability for it to possess. Han Sen was glad that he had been able to survive getting swallowed by a creature such as that. He was quite lucky, The Dragon were talkative enough, and Han Sen soon came to understand their situation. Return Ruin Sea was similar to Planet Eclipse. It was a place inhabited mainly by xenogeneics. It was larger than Planet Eclipse, though, and there were many of the Dragon there. The Dragon weren’t able to breed between themselves all that much, and pure Dragons were quite rare. So, many of the Dragon sought to reproduce with members of other races. It was difficult to determine if any particular set of mixed genes would be a good thing, so the mixes were usually sent to places such as Return Ruin Sea, where they could grow. When they grew strong, they would be taken back to the other places occupied by the Dragon. There, they could officially be considered part of the Dragon society. There was a family on that island whose blood was neither pure nor strong. The strongest member of the family was the granddad, who had managed to become a Marquise. Because Han Sen was not a xenogeneic, they had no reason to be hostile to him. Killing him would be pointless. Plus, Han Sen had come from the Dragon God pool. They did not know who he was, and they did not know if he was strong. When they asked Han Sen for his name, he did not give his real one. Han Sen didn’t know how much time had passed while he was in the creature’s stomach, and he didn’t know if they had heard about Dragon Thirteen’s death. The last thing he wanted to do was risk exposing himself, so he gave them the name San Mu. He was a crystallizer, and the Dragon God had delivered him there, somehow. Han Sen left out the part about being swallowed, of course. He said his fate was tied to the Dragon God, and that he was, for all intents and purposes, a chosen one. He had been getting chased by xenogeneics in a distant place, and the Dragon God had chosen to save him. The Dragon God allowed him to ride on its back until it brought him to Return Ruin Sea. Since he was lying so much already, he went a few miles further. He claimed that the Dragon God obeyed him. When the family heard this, they were frozen. They did not know whether or not they should believe him. After all, Han Sen appeared right when the Dragon God had emerged from the pool. He must have had some connection to the Dragon God, since the creature had not eaten him. The family treated Han Sen well, and he was able to learn a good deal of information from them. What disappointed Han Sen the most, though, was the fact that there were no high-tech items. And the Dragon had established a rule there, saying that they had to reach the level of Duke before leaving Return Ruin Sea. There was one other way to leave, however. If they had enough talent, they could go to the planet’s Dragon headquarters. If they were given approval, they could be allowed to leave, even at a low level. Then they would be transported to one of the Dragon homeworlds. “The Dragon are strange, and so very cruel to their own.” Han Sen was deep in thought. Since he had no way of contacting Sky Palace or the Rebate, he didn’t want to go through the right channels and risk exposing himself. He couldn’t figure out a way in which he could leave there. Still, Han Sen was not very worried. He could still go back to the sanctuaries, and the xenogeneics in Return Ruin Sea were better than those that could be found on Planet Eclipse. It was a good place for him to be. “I need to find a way to leave. If the Dragon find out that I’m here, that could turn out poorly.” Han Sen sat on the shore, trying to think of a way in which he could leave Return Ruin Sea. He was there for half a month, but still, he could not figure out a way off the planet. “San Mu... San Mu...” As Han Sen was thinking, a little red Dragon boy came running towards him. “Little Rock, what’s wrong?” Han Sen asked the little boy. The little boy was called Long Yan. He was the youngest of the Dragon there. “Spiky Turtles... so many Spiky Turtles...” Long Yan was gasping. “What’s a Spiky Turtle?” Han Sen asked. “You will know if you follow.” Long Yan tugged at Han Sen, directing him to the other side of the island. Long Yan’s family was standing next to the shore. They looked out to sea in worry. Han Sen followed the direction of their gazes and saw something dark approaching the island. With Han Sen’s vision being what it was, he could tell that it was a swarm of black sea turtles. They were each the size of a stone mortar, and their numbers were countless. “Old Mountain, what are these sea turtles?” Han Sen asked the oldest person there, whose name was Long Shan. Long Shan’s face looked grim. “They are the xenogeneics known as Spiky Turtles. Ordinary turtles of their variety are Viscount, but in a group like, there is bound to be Earls, Marquises, or perhaps even some Dukes. They live in the sea, and during mating season, they come to the shorelines. The Spiky Turtles usually head to the north to mate, so we don’t encounter them. This time, however, they did not go to that Turtle Island. They came here.” “Will they attack us?” Han Sen asked. “Of course they will! They are so cruel. Especially when they want to breed. Our island is too small. If this many Spiky Turtles come, we will have nowhere to hide,” a Dragon lady named Long Shenzhu said worriedly. “Old Mountain, what are you going to do?” Han Sen asked Long Shan. “If these were just ordinary Spiky Turtles, we could likely deal with them. In fact, such a thing would be good for us. But I fear there are many higher level Spiky Turtles in their midst. If we are to escape, the nearest place to get to would be Turtle Island. Perhaps there are more Spiky Turtles there, though,” Long Shan murmured. While they were talking, many Spiky Turtles were arriving on the shore. They crawled up the sand with their spiky black shells. They looked scary, like a number of moving castles.