Chapter 607: A Disaster-Grade Farm

The members of Team Zenith had already guessed the answer, but they couldn't help but be shocked when Zhang Lie confirmed it regardless.

Just what had Zhang Lie done while he was gone?

"All I wanted to do was start a farm, but it became larger and larger just like that..." he murmured in exasperation.

The members of Team Zenith didn't know what to say. His small farm had grown to encapsulate the entire ocean—who else but Zhang Lie could say such a thing, and just what was his exasperated expression supposed to mean? Didn't he know how many people wanted to do the same but never succeeded?

It was as though Zhang Lie had been searching for a guard dog, only to bring back the wolf of legends Fenrir.

Zhang Lie turned his head to Zhu. "Have we really formed a kingdom of the sea?"

Zhang Lie wasn't sure whether his farm had met the criteria to form a kingdom of the sea; he had delegated all that work to Zhu.

Zhu shook her head.

The members of Team Zenith sighed in relief; Zhang Lie hadn't accomplished as impossible a feat as they expected. A kingdom of the sea couldn't be constructed out of nowhere; their skills would still be of use.

That was why they were so shaken by Zhu's subsequent remarks. "We could easily found such a kingdom, of course, but since our goal is to take over the entire ocean, there's no need to settle for something so trivial."

"Indeed."

Team Zenith's eyes bulged. Just how ambitious was Zhang Lie?! Was he really trying to rule over the entire ocean as well? His ambition was far too large to be contained within the second realm. And what did he mean by the fact that founding a kingdom of the sea was meaningless—in that case, why had they worked so hard on the kingdom of Limit?

They had dedicated all their effort over the last few years to construct the kingdom, to free humanity from the oppression of the sura, to topple the sura for good, and to become the premier force of the realm—and to Zhang Lie, this was almost meaningless.

Zhang Lie asked Zhu, "How's the progress?"

"We're doing quite well."

Zhang Lie had handed Zhu control of several post-peak-grade lifeforms and tasked her with conquering the south. She absorbed all defeated forces into her own and formed a truly magnificent army, one that caused the alien races of sea and shore to submit to her.

With those alien races, she launched attacks on the strongest races of the sea. Zhu's forces and authority began to snowball; only when she couldn't handle things on her own did she ask Zhang Lie to step in.

Out of nowhere, Zhu had earned a title of her own—the queen of the seven seas. Only Zhu herself knew that all her power came from Zhang Lie, and all she was doing was helping him grow his farm.

Li Feng asked, "Captain, are you going to expand to the sky as well?"

Zhang Lie shook his head. "No, there's no point. I formed a naval force in order to get easy access to peak and disaster gene fragments."

There was simply no reason to form an aerial kingdom as well, even if he could. Once he ascended to the third realm, all this would be for naught, anyway. What he did want to do was lay the groundwork for humanity to be able to succeed on its own merits.

Being monarch over the entirety of the second realm was easily within his power, but there really was no point.

Zhang Lie always set his sights higher and farther, never satisfied with what he had achieved. The second realm had once been challenging for him, but now, all he wanted to do was to cement humanity's role in the second realm.

"I built my farm for myself, but I'm passing it down to all of you."

The members of Team Zenith and Zhang Hanxiang were stunned.

"There are plenty of post-peak-grade lifeforms in the farm, and if you make use of them properly, you can give birth to disaster-grade lifeforms."

Disaster-grade lifeforms!

Hong Tianqi hadn't yet announced the existence of these lifeforms to the world. He was planning to do so in order to establish himself as the presiding authority of the world federation once he took on that role.

He had intended on setting up specialized hunting teams for such lifeforms, but they didn't exist in the first realm.

Zhang Lie's encounter was an accident, nothing more.

There were a rare few natural disaster-grade lifeforms in the second realm, but the second realm all but belonged to Zhang Lie by now. Setting up a hunting team would require his approval.

If he were to do so forcefully, appealing to his position as the presiding authority of the world federation and his own reputation, he would be overstepping his limits, even if Zhang Lie didn't mind.

Zhang Lie explained what he knew of disaster-grade lifeforms to everyone present. The members of Team Zenith knew a little because of their previous interactions with Zhang Lie, but this was the first time that Zhang Hanxiang and Hong Xi were hearing of the affair.

"So that's the next level of strength beyond peak-grade! Was a disaster-grade lifeform what destroyed the Blacksteel settlement?"

"In that case, do disaster gene fragments exist?"

"If they're genetic lifeforms, then surely they have gene fragments!"

Zhang Lie listened to their conversation quietly without interrupting them.

Finally, Li Feng couldn't satiate his curiosity any longer. "Captain, just how large is the difference in strength between peak- and disaster-grade?"

Yang Ze scoffed. "Do you need to ask? It's proportional to the difference between mutated- and peak-grade, of course!"

Zhagn Lie shook his head. "More accurately, it's proportional to the difference between regular- and peak-grade."

Everyone's eyes bulged—disaster-grade lifeforms were far stronger than they had expected.

Zhang Lie continued, "Disaster-grade lifeforms are particularly troublesome to deal with, but not because of their raw strength. That said, even all of you working together might not be able to take one down—you're all lacking in strength as well."

The members of Team Zenith nodded. They understood that they were lacking; perhaps they seemed exceptionally strong to the average hunter, but they were nothing compared to Zhang Lie.

Zhang Lie continued, "The reason that disaster-grade lifeforms are hard to kill is because their bodies have crystallized. Unless you damage their core, physical attacks are all but useless. They also have immense regenerative abilities."

The members of Team Zenith nodded.

"Worst, though, is their rarity. I estimate there are a thousand post-peak-grade lifeforms for every disaster-grade one, and you certainly won't be able to find a thousand post-peak-grade lifeforms grouped together. Trying to find a disaster-grade lifeform without any information is akin to trying to find a needle in a haystack, and you could very well traipse through the entire second realm without finding one."

Zhang Hanxiang understood at once. "That's why you wanted to make your farm, Brother!"

"Exactly right. In the future, you won't have to go hunting down these lifeforms like me—just make sure to feed the fish in this farm. Of course, before that, you'll have to overcome my training first. With your current strength, it's almost impossible for you to take down a disaster-grade lifeform. You might not need to fight one in the wild, but I have my reputation to consider."

"Yes, Captain!" the members of Team Zenith shouted.

So all that Zhang Lie had done was for them! Paying him back with dedicated training was the least they could do.