The Leroy Lair.

The lair was far more magnificent than Sebastian ever guessed or imagined. It was the perfect embodiment of fantasy beauty, making him find a reason to love this world for the first time since he transmigrated here.

The numerous beautiful corals that filled this underground expanse of the cave were put to good use here.

Glowing corals that were perfectly carved into various intricate shapes illuminated the cave lair in a beautiful constant rainbow color effect.

Sebastian saw oceanic plants for the first time, and it was a glorious sight.

Moss, ferns, liverworts, and a lot of other plants that he could not recognize filled the entrance of the lair, others growing all the way to the depths to form a long line of natural magnificence.

He remembered that moss and liverworts normally grew mainly in moist environments but not necessarily water, but he also remembered Leroy's teaching that this world was powered by magic.

With such knowledge at the back of his mind, he knew better than to measure Oceania standards with what he previously knew from earth.

Yellow flowers that were bigger than Sebastian, towering up to the ceiling of the cave like skyscrapers filled the entrance.

Red connected plants with leaves like potato plant leaves filled the passage that led deeper into the lair, intertwining together to form something like clusters of dome-shaped buildings.

There were no magical gates of the sort blocking the entrance as he expected, no Asgardian level technological marvel, no Heimdall at the entrance, but just a pure beauty forged from nature.

Plants alone could not form the perfect picture depiction of nature; other living organisms were needed and this lair was not lacking in them.

Fishes, lots of fishes, the type that could tingle your skin, and sea creatures also, lots of them filled the lair, down from the entrance to the lair deep inside the depths that was still visible to Sebastian due to the illumination of the corals.

"Welcome to my lair". Leroy emphasized again, feeling satisfied on seeing the astonished and awed expression on Sebastian's face.

He had to admit, getting to awe newcomers with what he created never failed to bring a proud feeling to his heart. It was nice to create beautiful things, but it was even nicer to display that work of beauty to others.

Still stunned by the beauty, Sebastian finally turned to face Leroy. "Thanks, thanks for bringing me here, I really appreciate it".

"The pleasure's all mine".

"Hehe". The big Grouper fish laughed from the side, spreading bubbles on the water and making Sebastian turn to face it.

"What's so funny?"

"Hehe".

"…"

After the entrance came the inside of the lair, Leroy took Sebastian on a tour with his sidekick, Big Group, following behind diligently.

"Good morning, clan head". A Bluefin Tuna greeted Leroy with a wide fishy smile on its face, Sebastian easily noticed that it was far smaller and lower-leveled than the one he killed back in the expanse surface.

"Good morning, clan head". Another fish greeted; Sebastian recognized it as an Atlantic cod.

"Good morning, clan head". This time, it was an Atlantic wolffish.

"Good morning clan head". This time, Sebastian didn't recognize it.

"Good morning…"

"Good morning…"

Leroy just waved its foremost pair of hands at the fishes as they greeted, a proud clan heady smile on his turtle face.

Sebastian had to admit, this was his most memorable tour in the history of his life in both worlds. As a crazy anatomist back on earth, going on tours was not exactly his thing, now he knew what he had been missing.

Leroy took him to other places in the lair as the tour continued, 2 of the most memorable locations being the lair's kitchen and the weaponry forge.

In the kitchen, the sight that greeted Sebastian almost made him choke to death from shock. The chefs of the clan were actually all tortoises, not turtle but tortoise which made him marvel at the magic of this world again.

He didn't know where they got the knowledge from, but all the tortoises in the kitchen were dressed in makeshift aprons that were made from broad leaves of sea plants.

It was crude, but this still made Sebastian amazed.

At the side of the forge, it was dominated by crabs only. Seeing crabs with various forging materials, walking in and out of the forge actively to craft weapons for the clan left him astonished.

He didn't know why but seeing this, he felt like taking a scene like this to form a movie back in his previous world would surely make a hit.

He didn't even make a fuss about how a forge could be operated in an ocean; this world was powered by magic. Whenever he saw something inconceivable, that was what he told himself. This world is powered by magic.

After taking him around on the satisfying tour, Leroy finally led him to his own clan head throne.

Unlike what he expected, the shameless turtle did not build for himself a luxurious throne. It was just a big chair made from glowing corals.

At the side was something like a stool made from the same corals, this was undoubtedly for his sidekick, Big Group.

As soon as he sat down, Leroy turned to face his newest clan member. "Don't be anxious, kid. I won't beat around the bush; I will tell you the reason why I didn't kill you immediately now".

Sebastian grew tense hearing that. Trying to make his expression as neutral as possible, he hovered on the water and listened to another long Leroy lecture.

According to Leroy, the main reason why he took him in was for his upcoming decisive battle with his main rival in this expanse, Sting Tail. Sebastian already expected to hear that, but Leroy added other reasons and details.

According to the turtle, the level of a sea creature was directly proportional to his/her strength but bloodline played a huge role too.

For the current him, he was level 18 already but despite this, he could not win a battle against a level 10 great white shark if he met one. This was the difference in bloodline which cannot be breached by just levels.

According to him, your bloodline determined the speed of your leveling through killing prey, and sea creatures with petty bloodlines had a cap on how far they could level up.

Almost all the sea creatures in this expanse were among the category of those with petty bloodlines, Sebastian was the only anomaly that should not be here. That is why he took him in without hesitation.

After explaining all this, he proposed a clan before the shark with a solemn look on his face. "Sebastian, I'm ready to power level you, but you have to promise me that you won't turn against me".

"And, the other promise is that you'll help me defeat my rival. After that, you and I can call a close to our business, and you'll go to the expanse outside the cave where you truly belong".

If manner fell from heaven on his lap, who was Sebastian to reject?

"I accept your proposal".