Shrouded Seascape

A crisp sound echoed as the diamond was placed under the microscope.

The store manager squinted one eye and leaned in to examine it carefully.

Li Long's heart pounded wildly against his chest at the sight.

That's just glass! It's fake! This woman is a lunatic! Hurry up and call the police! He screamed frantically in his mind.

A few minutes later, the store manager placed the diamond that Anna had given to him on a tray and handed it solemnly to her with both hands.

"Can you two tell me where you bought this one-carat diamond? Its quality is really high, but the diamond cutting technique used on this diamond is really weird. Truly a waste of nature's creation," the store manager said.

"W-w-what?!" Li Long's pupils quivered. "That's actually real?!"

Li Long had exclaimed with such force that his voice sounded a bit hoarse. He knew where the one-carat diamond had come from. Last night, he saw Anna wearing a diamond ring inset with a massive black diamond.

The diamond was just too large for it to be real, so Li Long didn't pay attention to it at the time. In fact, a normal person would never think that such a massive black diamond was real.

If the one-carat diamond was real, then the center stone—a black diamond the size of a quail egg—had to be real, wouldn't it? Li Long's mind buzzed at the thought of it alone.

The woman next to him couldn't possibly be a lunatic. No lunatic would carry such a valuable item on them.

"Hmm? You weren't the one who bought the ring where this diamond came from?" the store manager asked, casting a doubtful look at Li Long.

"I bought this diamond from the source itself—from Africa," Anna hurriedly said, "Are you going to buy it or not? If not, I'll go check out some other places."

Anna pulled Li Long and turned around to leave.

"I'll buy it! Of course, I'll buy it. But Miss, you have to understand that diamonds can depreciate quickly upon purchase. Plus, I need to cut it again, so the amount that I can offer you is…" the store manager said, trailing off.

"Just tell me how much money you're going to offer for it. I have urgent matters to attend to at home," Anna said, pretending to appear impatient.

"All right, since you're being so straightforward, I won't beat around the bush, then. I'll give you the highest price that I can offer for this. A hundred eighty thousand yuan. What do you think of it?" the store manager said, quoting a price.

"Deal, but I want it in cash. Hurry up."

Anna's request for cash put the store manager in a difficult position. The majority of people these days used bank transfers for such large transactions.

However, he wasted no time and tried his best to gather the amount. A diamond of such quality was rare, and he'd profit a lot by obtaining it for only a hundred eighty thousand yuan.

Of course, the store manager took advantage of the downtime to appraise the diamond several more times, ensuring that he wouldn't get fooled by a great imitation.

"Manager, we've got to be careful of them," the security guard standing at the door whispered, "They're weird, and that woman is particularly strange. The way she looks at people is creepy."

However, the store manager didn't seem too worried about it. "Don't worry. I'm sure they didn't acquire that diamond by robbing someone or stealing it from somewhere.

"Our domestic jewelry industry doesn't really use such a bizarre cutting technique, and even if they want to steal diamonds, there's no way they can get away with it. I'm sure this diamond is truly from overseas."

In no time, the cash was gathered. Anna placed the eighteen stacks of red bills into a gift bag and left the jewelry store with Li Long.

Li Long had yet to recover even upon returning home. He felt like he was dreaming. The diamond in the hands of the woman whom he regarded as a lunatic was actually real. Just who exactly was she?

A dull thud echoed as five stacks of bills were thrown onto the table. Li Long recovered instantly, and his eyes lit up at the sight. "I-is this for me?"

Anna sized up Li Long and said, "That's not even a lot of money, and you're already happy? I had no idea that you're so easily satisfied."

Li Long shoved his face into the bills amounting to fifty thousand yuan and took a deep breath, taking in the smell of money. He was a battery thief, and a battery could only be sold for two hundred yuan.

How many car batteries would he have to steal to get this much money?

"Just start working for me, and you'll have as much money as you want in the future."

"Yes! From now on, you're my boss! I'll do whatever you tell me to do!" Li Long exclaimed, instantly looking up from the bills in his hands. Anna's generosity had made Li Long gaze at her in a brand-new light. She's not a lunatic; she's my benefactor!

What about the fact that Anna had stabbed him last night and her mysterious background? Li Long had long thrown it to the back of his mind; he couldn't care less about those details as long as there was money for him to earn!

Money was everything in today's society. Many people were working themselves to death, allowing themselves to be exploited by their bosses to earn just a measly three thousand yuan a month.

However, he managed to earn fifty thousand by just walking around.

It was the easiest money of Li Long's life.

If he could keep earning such a large amount of money, he'd even eat his own feces, not to mention let himself get stabbed!

Anna inwardly sneered at Li Long's obsequious demeanor. Sometimes, there wasn't much difference between dogs and human beings, and with the right technique, Anna could still take control of them even without her special abilities.

The man before him was a piece of trash, but Anna wasn't exactly that strong at the moment. Fortunately, she had found a way to ensure that he wouldn't bite her back. Moreover, his legal identity was immensely helpful to her.

"Get up, and clean this damned place of yours. A dung beetle's home is cleaner than this place."

"Yes, yes, yes! I'll clean up right away!" Li Long exclaimed. He ignored his wounds, which were bleeding once again, and hugged his fifty thousand in delight. He rushed to the corner of the room and picked up the broom.

A hundred eighty thousand yuan was a massive sum in Li Long's eyes, but it was far from enough for Anna's plan. In the next few days, they visited the nearby cities and sold more than ten diamonds.

By the time Anna's savings reached two million, the array of pristine white diamonds around the center stone of the wedding ring that Charles had given to her was already missing a huge chunk.

The first thing that Anna purchased was a legal identity, and Li Long came in handy. He was useless, but he hadn't lied when he said that he knew quite a few people from many different walks of life.

It turned out that even thieves had their own circle of friends.

However, even Qin Hui had three friends, so it wasn't really strange that Li Long had some friends.

Half a month later, they moved to a new residence.

It was night, and Anna wearing slippers inside a high-end apartment was sitting in front of a computer. The mouse in her hand moved nonstop as she was busy searching for something on the Internet.

There are no traces of relics and the Foundation online, but I can't say that I'm safe. I can't let my guard down. If they truly exist, then they are most likely hiding from everyone's eyes.

They definitely exist. They were in the Subterranean Sea, so they're definitely here as well. I have to be on guard. They'll become a threat to me eventually, so I must accumulate enough power before that happens.

What I have to do next is to confirm whether there is something preventing the gods of the Subterranean Sea from exerting any influence on the surface world. If my assumption is correct, then I'll have to find another way.

Fortunately, this isn't a fool's errand. Charles has taken away my power, but he couldn't take away my memories. My mind contains a huge variety of the Subterranean Sea's taboo rituals.

I can just try them one by one until something sticks.

Just as Anna was getting engrossed in her thoughts, the anti-theft lock on the door was unlocked, and Li Long—finally dressed like a human being—walked in with a smile and a box in his hand.

"Boss, your package has arrived. I was passing by, so I brought it up for you. Did you buy this from Daobao?"