After receiving Kraken's shared experience, Ye Bai's work as a Sea God caretaker suddenly became much more promising, and naturally, she threw herself into it with even greater enthusiasm.
At this stage, Kraken was still in the phase of being fed by Ye Bai, with a relatively low food acquisition efficiency. However, once she could hunt on her own, the situation would be entirely different.
Unlike Ye Bai, who could get stuck at certain levels and require a class change, Kraken faced no bottlenecks in her growth—she only needed to be fed enough.
Once Kraken leveled up and could freely hunt underwater, it would be Ye Bai's turn to leech experience from her pet.
Though Ye Bai was deeply curious about the history of the divine realm and very interested in the main quests issued by the "paper people," her primary reason for coming to this realm was to pioneer this high-level map inaccessible to other players, allowing her to "overtake on the curve" in terms of personal leveling.
The current arrangement—where simply fishing and feeding her pet yielded massive amounts of experience—was the kind of cheat-like advantage that would make other players rage if they found out. Compared to Ye Bai running around hunting bosses and grinding mobs for levels, this method was exponentially faster.
Maintaining this effect in the long run was a blessing, not a curse. The only downside was the extra food consumption, but given Ye Bai's financial resources, feeding herself was no issue. Plus, every bite of food she consumed wasn’t wasted—it all converted into experience points.
The higher the level, the more experience was needed to progress. If Ye Bai had leveled up the conventional way, the time required to accumulate enough experience to reach her current level of 51 would have been unimaginably longer.
Ye Bai tested further and discovered that as long as Kraken's level exceeded her own, every feeding session granted her a proportional share of experience.
Combined with the effects of the "Fishing Stool," Ye Bai's stamina consumption was more than manageable. From now on, the majority of the fish she caught would be prioritized for feeding Kraken.
Unfortunately, the Fishing Stool's effect couldn’t be applied to Kraken, as its function was tied to "stamina" consumption, which had no bearing on Kraken's hunger. From a player’s perspective, stamina, food, and sleep were interchangeable, but for NPCs, hunger and sleep were entirely separate matters.
Moreover, Kraken didn’t seem like the type to patiently wait for fish to bite. Even now, Ye Bai didn’t dare let her out of the fish basket, fearing she might lose control and start indiscriminately devouring things in her ravenous state.
Another four in-game days passed, during which Ye Bai’s routine was strictly threefold: fishing, cooking fish soup, and feeding her pet.
The fish materials in her backpack piled up—most of the meat was used for cooking, while the higher-tier byproducts from the fish were collected, stacking into multiple sets.
Kraken’s level skyrocketed daily, climbing from 50, 51… all the way to 59.
Estimating that Kraken would hit the level 60 milestone—equivalent to a third class change—after this meal, Ye Bai couldn’t resist her curiosity and lifted Kraken halfway out of the fish basket to check for any physical changes.
To her surprise… there were none. Kraken hadn’t grown taller or fatter in the slightest.
Confused by the sudden handling, Kraken simply nibbled on her fingers and tilted her head at Ye Bai. "Hungry?"
"She hasn’t gotten any bigger…" Ye Bai muttered.
In the Ten Thousand Realms, every 20 levels marked a major threshold. Level 60 was the third class change for players, the stage where the profession system fully matured—commonly referred to as "graduation." This corresponded to the "Awakening" stage of Divine Bloodline bearers and was the highest level cap in the unlaunched version of the game.
Levels beyond—80 (Demi-God) and 100 (True God)—were planned for future expansions tied to the "Shattered Pantheon" DLC.
Even among the high-level NPCs and monsters of the divine realm, level 60 was considered the backbone of its power structure.
Kraken, unhindered by class changes, had been leveling up smoothly. Ye Bai had assumed that level 60 would likely be a major growth milestone for her, expecting that even if her physical development was slow, she’d at least reach a stage where she could hunt independently. Yet here she was at level 59, still showing no signs of change.
"Hungry…" Hearing Ye Bai’s muttering, Kraken covered her face in shame with all four limbs.
Yes, Kraken’s body was bizarrely flexible—this "covering face" maneuver involved all her limbs, completely obscuring her features.
Ignoring the size issue, Ye Bai had noticed Kraken’s mental growth over these past few days. She’d clearly progressed from an infant to a toddler level, capable of understanding and expressing more complex ideas.
Now, realizing Ye Bai was puzzled by her lack of growth, Kraken even knew to feel embarrassed.
But this shame didn’t last long. As the aroma of fish soup wafted from the nearby clamshell pot, Kraken’s attention snapped toward the food.
Releasing her limbs, she locked onto the source of the scent with blazing intensity, instinctively crawling toward it.
"Hungry hungry hungry!"
In a moment of distraction, Ye Bai lost her grip on Kraken’s slippery, flexible body, and the little creature dove straight into the pot.
"Ah!"
Ye Bai gasped instinctively.
By the time the sound left her lips, Kraken was already sitting in the now-empty clamshell pot. The ten servings of fish meat that had filled it were gone—vanished without a trace, not even a drop of broth remaining. Ye Bai hadn’t even seen her open her mouth.
A jolt of alarm shot through Ye Bai. Fearing Kraken might spiral out of control, she instinctively frowned.
"Hey! Hey!" Autofis, who’d been waiting for his share, barked at Kraken in clear disapproval.
Finally snapping out of her feeding frenzy, Kraken realized she’d just devoured both Ye Bai’s and Autofis’ meals. Her gaze flicked to Autofis, then landed on Ye Bai’s furrowed brow—and her expression froze.
While Ye Bai was still figuring out how to stuff a potentially rogue Kraken back into the fish basket, the now-"fullest" Kraken recognized her mistake.
Suddenly, Kraken leaned back and sprawled inside the clamshell.
Then she looked at Ye Bai, pointed at herself "stewing" in the pot, and signaled—
"Eat!"
"……"
This left not just Ye Bai but even Autofis utterly dumbfounded.
Apparently, in Kraken’s logic: if she was hungry, she could eat her owner—and by extension, her owner could eat her too.
Of course, if Ye Bai actually went through with cooking and eating Kraken, she might as well have Alisis tattoo her face on his back as a trophy.
"...No need to be so generous."
The tension drained from Ye Bai, replaced by sheer amusement. She stepped forward and plucked Kraken out of the pot.
Ye Bai's hands had barely touched Kraken when the little one wrapped her limbs around him, clinging quietly without moving.
When not extremely hungry, Kraken was quite obedient and adorable.
"Splash..."
As Ye Bai carried Kraken to the fish basket, she automatically released her grip and slid into it like a fish, disappearing inside.
A moment later, a small red head popped back out, looking at Ye Bai expectantly. "Hungry!"
"Right away."
Ye Bai shook his head and started cooking a second pot of fish soup.
This was already routine by now. Ye Bai cooked the fish one at a time—a single large fish could make four to five pots of soup. He and Autofis usually ate three or four portions, and the rest went to Kraken.
Soon, the new batch of fish soup was ready.
After setting aside portions for Autofis and himself, Ye Bai handed the rest to Kraken.
This time, however, Kraken seemed unusually focused while eating. Her small face was serious, and for once, she wasn’t muttering "hungry" between bites.
Curious, Ye Bai leaned in slightly and caught the words she was murmuring.
"Big... grow big..."
Ye Bai paused, then couldn’t help but smile fondly.
Well, it was good that his little girl had some ambition.
But no sooner had this thought crossed his mind than Kraken’s murmurs grew louder, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.
"Big... grow bigger..."
Ye Bai watched as Kraken strained with determination, her small hands gripping the fish basket tightly, her face turning red with effort.
This wasn’t normal behavior...
His expression shifted, and he stood up, casting an [Insight] on Kraken.
[Kraken]
Identity: Ye Bai’s Pet
Level: 60
Status: Hungry
Having just eaten two pots of fish soup, Kraken had reached Level 60. Was this the sign of an impending transformation?
Just as Ye Bai hesitated over whether to take the seemingly growing Kraken out of the fish basket and release her into the sea—
Click.
A faint sound made his eyes sharpen.
The noise came from the edge of the fish basket where Kraken was gripping it. Ye Bai noticed that the woven wooden basket, supposedly indestructible, had slightly warped under the pressure of her small, pale hands.
"BIG!!!"
Suddenly, Kraken’s tightly shut eyes flew open, revealing a pair of glowing green pupils, as if she had broken free from some invisible restraint.
She released the slightly misshapen basket and giggled happily. "Grew big!"
Huh? She looked the same size as before...
But before Ye Bai could dwell on the thought, the entire island beneath his feet trembled violently.
Splash—BOOM!
Amid the deafening sound of something massive emerging from the water, Ye Bai’s gaze snapped back to the little girl in the fish basket, who was now flexing her fingers curiously.
And beyond the island—stretching across the endless sea in every direction—were colossal red tentacles, towering like skyscrapers, blotting out the sky. Each one swayed with enough force to churn the ocean into towering waves.
This... was the true form of the Sea God, Kraken.
