The moment the Checkpoint Turtle died, all its blood that had mixed into the ocean mystically converged around Gehen, seeping into his body as he screamed in pain. Even though the healing effect from the Water Essence was still active in his body, the pain made him feel like he would be unable to hold on.

His body seemed like it would no longer be able to hold on. The sounds of bones crunching resounded as they seemed to be broken and rejoined repeatedly. Gehen could not help but bawl from the pain, unable to tolerate it any longer when a warm feeling permeated through his body.

All the blood in the surroundings vanished as the body of the Checkpoint Turtle floated before him, its eyes glaring at him. This startled him for a moment before he realized it was dead. For a moment, Gehen felt like there was unbelievable power in him before it seemed like that wasn't the case.

It was a confusing situation as he noticed the body of the Checkpoint Turtle began to dissolve into the water. Gehen stared at it for a couple of hours until it finished dissolving completely. He then looked around, noticing the numerous seas of blood surrounding him as he sighed, thinking to himself, 'Just what happened?'

He then returned to his ship, noticing that he was the only one alive in it. There were a couple dozen Motor Fishes that had been kept in reserve. They were also alive. As for the Motor Fishes that worked in pushing the pirate ship, they had died from overexertion.

"I have to make them breed and increase their population number. It would take me a year before I have enough Motor Fishes to even move this ship to a reasonable level." He sighed, clenching his hand into a fist as he felt his body to be in perfect condition.

But, just when he thought he could rest, he noticed a group of people arrive on boats. They seemed part of the group that had fled at the start upon seeing the pirates. It seemed that some of them had detection abilities that were able to sense the loss of life in the place.

Upon discovering that there was just one survivor, they arrived as a group, lusting for all the treasures the pirates had hoarded.

"I'll test it on them." Gehen smiled, realizing that he wasn't the least scared, despite there being around forty people that had arrived. He exited the ship, swam through the water, and landed on its surface.

It almost seemed like he was on land now as the ship had barely surfaced. Upon seeing him, the group of people didn't display any pleasantries, treating the pirate like they would treat a monster.

They jumped on the surface of the pirate ship and brandished their weapons, heading towards him, intending to hack him to death. Gehen planned to evade their attacks when an unnerving level of confidence emanated from deep within him, causing him to feel the weapons weren't threatening to him.

He then raised his arm, watching the sword of a man land on him. The force did send him skidding back, but Gehen noticed that his arm wasn't even scratched by the attack. Even though he felt the force, he didn't feel any pain. It was a strange feeling, considering the amount of pain he always felt corresponded to the force behind the attack.

Now, he felt the attack but felt no pain. He felt strange. But, upon realizing that he had obtained what he had hoped to gain, Gehen laughed, kicking the ground as he jumped towards the attacker, slamming a punch into his stomach.

His opponent felt like a rock had hit him as the air in his lungs escaped. He fell backward as Gehen stomped on his head, silencing him.

Gehen gazed at his hand, noticing that the skin was covered with a faint texture. It was akin to the Checkpoint Turtle's shell. He noticed how the shell was only at the place the man's sword had landed. 'So, this layer of armor will be auto-generated when I receive an attack?'

Intending to verify it, he jumped into the fray and attacked a couple more people, taking more attacks in response. Even though he felt the impact of the attacks, he didn't feel any pain. Soon, he noticed how the places he was attacked were now covered by a faint layer of the shell. But it soon disappeared after not being attacked anymore for a certain duration.

Gehen continued to hit them, slowly experimenting with his abilities. After some time passed, all the attackers were lying down, exhausted, beaten and battered. As for Gehen, he was completely fine. As the effect of the Water Essence was still in him, he wasn't even tired.

He then looked at the group before him, saying, "Since you dared to steal from me, that makes you pirates as well."

They were too tired to even refute him. Seeing their response, Gehen smiled as he said, "I was just intending to search for subordinates. You came at the right time. Follow me, and I can promise you wealthy lives. I'll also nurture you to become stronger than you are."

After a while, all of them submitted. Gehen then spent the day showing them the ropes, drilling into them everything they needed to take care of. Their battle was enough for the group to know that they couldn't do anything to Gehen.

But, none of them showed any expression of regret. Rather, they were happy. Without having to be adrift on the ocean on their small boats, afraid about being capsized by a large fish at any moment, or encountering strong opponents that tried to rob their belongings.

Now, they had become the robbing party. Moreover, their leader, Gehen had mysterious powers and was tremendously powerful. So, as long as they worked hard, they would lead wealthy lives, just as he had said.

So, they wholeheartedly followed him. Once they settled within the pirate ship and had begun to take care of the various tasks at the place, Gehen arrived at the top, watching the scene of the two oceans before him, muttering, "It is unfortunate I lost Heuk, Frontiff, and the other two. They had powerful abilities that proved helpful all this time. On top of that, unlike Gajor, they were significantly talented. It's such a pity..."

He then sighed as he muttered, "It would take me ages to find such useful subordinates like those ones."

He then closed his eyes, having figured out his power, shooting his eyes open as he was almost exhausted in a second. Followed by a flicker, a silhouette of the Checkpoint Turtle's shell materialized around him like a protecting cover.

All the veins on his body bulged as he gradually became more and more exhausted. The shell slowly gained form, growing out four limbs, a tail, and even a head. It was the Checkpoint Turtle. At present, it was just three meters in size. That was all the muscular energy in his body could afford to summon.

Gehen touched it once, noticing that even if it seemed like an entity of energy, it felt real to the touch, just like a real Checkpoint Turtle. He then concentrated further, almost becoming exhausted enough to fall unconscious.

The energy was streamed into the Checkpoint Turtle projection that began to suck in air from its tail and collected it in its stomach. It then channeled the air towards the throat, pressuring it with a chamber created to facilitate it.

Aiming at the ocean above, the Checkpoint Turtle projection unleashed the ball of wind. Gehen watched the ball of air land on the ocean above, causing a meter-wide crater that had a depth of almost three meters before expanding within the water, causing a mild shockwave.

Upon seeing the extent of the damage, Gehen laughed aloud. "As long as I improve my stamina, I would be able to condense it even bigger and deal even greater damage. Just this alone was worth all the sacrifice!"

He then double-tapped his glabella, summoning his tablet to see the words displayed on it.

[Killed Supreme Monster [Checkpoint Turtle]: Obtained 10 Godly Points]

[Obtained Active: Checkpoint Turtle]

"My own active ability. I love how it's named the Checkpoint Turtle. So, does that mean it possesses all the abilities of a Checkpoint Turtle?" Gehen laughed when he noticed another row of words appear.

But this time, it seemed it wasn't transmitted to him alone. It was transmitted to everyone on Layer 3.

[Birth of the First King: Gehen]

[Killing a Checkpoint Turtle will no longer reward an Active Ability]

"Hahahaha!" Gehen broke out into a burst of laughter. "That's right, this is for the best. Now, no one will be able to mimic my strategy against a Checkpoint Turtle. Good luck obtaining an active ability by killing a Supreme Monster in the Tertiary Landmass, a place it rules over, with only the help of nine people."

His laughter was carefree and was filled with a sense of pride. After all, he would probably be the only one in Layer 3 that would ever obtain an active ability by barely suffering any wound.

Chuckling, he turned around, looking at all forty people that had become his subordinates. Upon meeting his gaze, they thought of his mysterious ability and the announcement a while ago, linking one to two as they kneeled on the ground instantly. Chuckling, Gehen spoke, "That's right, I'm Gehen, this world's first King."