Cricket let out a sigh and then said in a defeated tone of voice. "Fine... I will join your Ness Kingdom or whatever you call it. You must promise to include me on the sea floor scavenging and exploration teams."
Monera flashed a wide smile in response. "Of course! We have all kinds of useful things to assist you and others who are not too good in the water so that you will be able to perform everything safely. You will not regret it!"
Cricket stretched his body a little before sighing. "Then I guess that the Sarayuma Alliance has become a part of the White Storm. Does your boss agree to this and what about this Ness Kingdom? I have never heard about it?"
Monera laughed in response. "She agreed with me and thinks that you will be great additions to the kingdom. With someone like you helping out, she said that uncovering new treasures and lost civilizations will be made much easier."
Cricket smiled upon hearing those words. "I guess that you were after my experience huh?"
Monera shrugged. "Although we have many advantages, I cannot ignore the dedication you have put into this all your life and there are things that even my people could learn from you and your people. One moment..."
Just as she spoke, there seemed to be a much larger movement from below as something very large was coming up.
A large shadow showed up in that area before something came out of the sea not too far away.
The sea became quite restless as the waves picked up by a lot which caused the ships to be swept up in them.
A large head emerged from the sea which made Cricket fearful. "It is a Sea King! Prepare for combat!"
Monera put her arms up waving them from side to side. "No need! That is one of mine... or should I say, this is the place I was talking about. This is Ness!"
The long neck of Ness emerged followed by a large humpback that started to show up too along with the long tail.
On the humpback was a large bubble shield that looked like some form of barrier.
Inside the seethrough bubble barrier was what looked like a large tree closer to the middle while there was an arrangement of different areas that made it look like a well-developed small-sized island already.
It was split into several sections where there was a forest area, housing areas, market areas and even places where there was a lot of water present.
Mixed into it was a blend of various types of architecture and technological advances that had some similarities to Fishman Island and some parts that were a few centuries behind Egghead Island.
It was a mix of natural elements and various other advancements that had been made by Alyssia and the White Storm which had been put together to create the present result.
If there was one thing that had some similarities to it then perhaps the underwater city of Atlantis would have been the most fitting way to explain how a lot of it looked but without the appearance of many ruins being present it looked quite new and shiny.
The only ruins that did exist among everything was a single castle wall that surrounded an old castle that seemed to have been modified a little.
That location was where the land from Rica Kingdom had been taken from and that included the Sunken Castle that was brought along with the shipyard and docks too.
Despite looking like it was underwater from how it appeared from the outside, the bubble barrier did not contain any water and was instead made of water.
The moment that it emerged from underneath the ground, the bubble slowly started to shrink down before lowering down toward the ground surface since it no longer was needed to protect the island once it was no longer underwater.
Cricket's eyes widened as he watched everything play out. "Hahaha! So this is your Ness Kingdom?! The Saruyama Alliance will be joining the Ness Kingdom then! I cannot wait to unearth some lost relics and much more! Hahahaha!"
Monera began to get closer to the edge of the ship to jump back into the sea. "You can dock your ships on the island and begin to get more familiar with everything. During our next expeditions... nobody is allowed to contact the outside world.
You all have one opportunity to contact others and to bring things or family members and friends before the given time. This is your only chance to do so but if there are people who wish to suddenly back out then you will not get another chance once left behind."
Cricket's gaze became serious. "So you will only wait for so long, alright! That makes sense since such a large thing like that stands out quite a lot."
After giving everyone a set amount of time to get their affairs in order, the next journey underwater began as Ness started to submerge under the water again and the bubble barrier raised over the city to protect it all once again.
Meanwhile in a part of the Ness Kingdom, one of the many facilities that existed held all kinds of secrets that belonged to Alyssia and others from the White Storm.
There were several strange pods positioned all over and they were locked holding many other forms inside as they floated in some jelly-like substance.
Unlike the many other pods, one among them had been unsealed and a figure was in the middle of one of the areas that had many tables and chairs positioned to the side.
It was the form of a young girl who looked no older than twelve years old but she had several unique characteristics about her.
A seasnail was by her on the table which had a voice coming from it belonging to Alyssia. "Suigiri, how is your studying going?"