Clone Ascension

Evan wasn’t sure whether the thin, dark‑skinned Rovan soldier hiding behind the coral was Chrysalis‑tier or Butterfly‑tier.

If he was Chrysalis‑tier, Evan could beat him easily.

If he was Butterfly‑tier… Evan would still beat him, just with more caution.

Either way, charging straight in was a bad idea.

The man continued projecting silent sonic waves upward, completely ignoring Evan’s presence.

Either he didn’t care… or he was baiting him.

Evan picked up a large crab from the seabed and hurled it at the man.

The man casually raised a hand to block—

and the crab exploded into mush against his palm.

He winced.

Evan smirked.

A real Butterfly‑tier wouldn’t flinch from that.

So he’s Chrysalis‑tier after all.

But before he could close in, a “rock” beside the man suddenly moved.

A second Rovan soldier—this one Butterfly‑tier—burst from his camouflage, lunging at Evan with terrifying speed.

Great. A hidden elite. A real old snake.

Evan twisted away at the last second, Oceanwing Glide letting him maneuver like a slippery eel.

The Butterfly‑tier soldier shot past him like a torpedo, then looped back, claws extended.

Evan didn’t run in a straight line—he zig‑zagged, looped, spun, using the water’s resistance to his advantage.

He couldn’t outrun a Butterfly‑tier in open water, but he could stall him.

Poisonous spikes shot from the man’s fingers like bullets.

Evan narrowly dodged, only for the man to spit a cloud of pitch‑black ink.

Darkness swallowed everything.

A sharp pain stabbed into Evan’s shoulder—he’d been hit.

He needed to break out.

He planted his feet on the seabed and unleashed Raging Tide Burst.

A shockwave erupted in all directions, boiling the surrounding water.

The blast revealed the Butterfly‑tier’s position—

and stunned him for a moment.

Evan didn’t waste time attacking.

He used the opening to escape the ink cloud, bursting into clear water.

The Butterfly‑tier recovered instantly and charged again.

But Evan had already spotted his real target.

The sonic‑ability soldier was less than a hundred meters away.

Evan flicked his wrist—

and a chain of shimmering golden light shot forward.

Gravitic Chain.

The chain wrapped around the sonic soldier and yanked him off his feet, dragging him helplessly toward Evan.

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His sonic attack cut off instantly.

Before the man could react, Evan twisted both his arms behind his back—

crack.

Both shoulders dislocated.

Evan hoisted him like a dead animal and faced the Butterfly‑tier.

“Don’t come closer,” Evan warned.

“One step, and he dies.”

The Butterfly‑tier froze.

He actually cared about this man—

probably because sonic manipulation was rare and extremely valuable for naval warfare.

Evan began retreating toward Dongli waters, dragging the captive with him.

The Butterfly‑tier followed closely, unwilling to attack but refusing to back off.

With the sonic interference gone, the marine beasts stopped diverting toward Dongli—

and instead surged toward Rovan’s coastline.

At the border, Marcus Grant and the Rovan officer had stopped fighting.

Marcus looked composed; the Rovan officer was battered and bleeding.

Both noticed Evan at the same time.

Marcus shot forward to support him.

The Rovan officer moved to block their escape.

“Put him down,” the Rovan officer growled.

“You leave, and this ends here.”

Marcus replied coldly,

“We’ll release him once we’re back on land.”

Marcus could escape alone from two Butterfly‑tiers—

but not while protecting Evan.

Evan, however, had already calculated his odds.

With Marcus covering him, he could escape easily.

He tightened his grip on the captive, ready to snap his neck and run—

But the ocean floor suddenly shook.

A deep, thunderous vibration rolled through the water.

Then—

A massive tide of marine beasts surged toward the shore.

Not dozens.

Not hundreds.

Thousands.

Fish‑type beasts, eel‑type beasts, crustaceans—

all fleeing in blind terror.

They streamed past Evan and Marcus, brushing their bodies,

but none attacked.

They were running for their lives.

“Move!” Evan shouted.

He snapped the sonic soldier’s neck and tossed the corpse aside.

Marcus grabbed Evan and dove into the fleeing beast tide, letting the swarm hide their escape.

The two Rovan elites tried to pursue,

but the sheer number of beasts blocked their vision.

They couldn’t risk attacking blindly—

hitting the wrong beast could trigger a deadly swarm retaliation.

Evan and Marcus slipped away.

⭐ Back on the Shore

The Dongli soldiers were barely holding the line.

The new wave of beasts was overwhelming—

far beyond anything they had faced earlier.

If the sonic manipulator hadn’t been eliminated,

this entire tide would have been forced into Dongli territory.

The defense would have collapsed instantly.

Evan and Marcus joined the frontline, fighting with everything they had.

But the beasts kept coming.

Everyone shared the same grim thought:

We can’t hold this…

The ground trembled again.

Harder.

Longer.

“Look! Out at sea!”

A soldier pointed.

Something enormous was rising from beneath the waves—

growing taller, larger, wider.

“It’s the island!”

“The one that appeared before!”

The mysterious island was surfacing again—

and this time, it was moving.

Growing.

Chasing.

“It’s going after someone!”

“Who is it chasing?!”

A soldier squinted.

“I think…

I think that’s General Storm!”