Ocean Master

Yawn!

"Doctor, it\'s 3:00 am in the night already". Doctor Mariana could not help but remind again as she directed a worried glance at her superior.

"We\'re not mages nor strength path practitioners, you could break down".

Hearing this reminder for the umpteenth time, Doctor Statham could not help but direct a hateful but tired glare at his female assistant. For the first time, the lady didn\'t flinch despite his glare, defiantly glaring back at him. 

Seeing this, he sighed, yawning loudly again.

Yes, he was tired, he was freakishly tired but his excitement would not let him rest. This excitement started 2 days ago after his main test subject, the Megalodon showed a rarely seen beastly intelligence.

This Megalodon actually learned to speak Atlantian!

Inconceivable! Incomprehensible! Unbelievable! Intensive Research Worthable! Extreme Dissection Worthable! Brain Dissection Worthable!

This was exactly how Doctor Statham felt immediately after fulfilling the shark\'s desire to eat live food. As soon as he went back to his research cave, he plunged into relentless experimentation.

After so many days, he felt that he was now very close, super close to getting that formula where he could exploit the Megalodon\'s brain juice to create the most effective miracle brain drug ever.

His results may seem outrageous and unbelievable but would be more understandable when this test subject was a Megalodon. It was not every day that a doctor gets to work on a Megalodon.

The only problem now was his worried assistant, Doctor Mariana. He sighed again when he thought of her, even more, when she was right as lack of sleep could affect his cognitive speed and clarity.

In the whole laboratory, they were the only ones still around and working. The only others that were in the lab were the 5 guards assigned to the test subject chamber, but those guys were probably already sleeping in duty.

"If-if you won\'t sleep, then I won\'t let you work". 

Doctor Mariana suddenly blurted out as she bit her lips and stared without fear at her superior, the worry and resolution on her face could not be masked.

Doctor Statham was dumbfounded, when did this lady become so ferocious and eloquent? He wanted to talk but he was tongue-tied.

With a sigh accompanied by another yawn, he stood up. "Ok, let\'s go sleep".

As soon as they stood up, his female assistant stumbled and he had to support her. It turned out that she was feeling even more tired than he was.

Unlike mages and strength practitioners, they could not manipulate the origin magic essence to enable free water floating, they needed external help.

While staggering, they supported each other as the strange belt in their waists lit up with a bright blue glow, allowing them to slowly start floating away. This was when Doctor Statham suddenly stopped.

"Ow, I forgot my keys".

Clink!

With one fast move, he floated back, took hold of his keys before putting them in his pocket. Then he turned to float back with his assistant.

For some reason, the Doctor felt that something touched his hand when he placed the key inside his pocket but he was feeling too sleepy to care about it. He supported his assistant as they soon disappeared from the lab.

Bam!

The door slammed shut behind them with a bam as the lights finally switched off, bringing darkness to the laboratory. 

…

10 minutes after the 2 Doctors left…

Whoosh!

In Doctor Statham\'s personal research chamber, from the ceiling, what seemed like a rope suddenly whooped down. With a gentle touch, this rope tied the bundle of keys that was lying on the ground before pulling up.

It took no time before the rope disappeared back into the ceiling with the bundle of keys. All these happened in seconds, in such a timed manner that by the time the security cameras turned back, it was gone.

The darkness in the laboratory suddenly seemed spookier after this.

…

In the test subject chamber, loud snoring sounds could be heard as the 5 guards slept heavily like logs of wood. 2 of them slept on a bench, another slept on his mechanical chair, and the last 2 slept while standing.

Creak!

A slight creaking sound suddenly reverberated; it was not enough to wake up the guards but the other 3 test subjects woke up with a jolt.

As predators, one of the things that enabled them to survive the perils of the outside world for years was their experience and careful alertness. They slept with one eye open and all ears open.

They didn\'t make a sound though they saw what was going on at a glance. Under the aura of a purple tier predator, they were as tame as an obedient dog.

With a serious but dangerous expression on his face, the old toad, Tonado\'s mouth was wide open as his tongue extended infinitely into the distance like a snake, disappearing through the makeshift ceiling that hid the rock walls.

The escape plan was already in motion, and the first step was a grand success.

The first step of Sebastian\'s plan was getting the master key, or better still Doctor Statham\'s bundle of keys. 

To make this a success, the old toad had been secretly drilling a hole through the ceiling with his tongue adaptation for the past few days.

After numerous tries from the old toad, the sturdiness of their cages was no longer in question. To escape, they needed the bundle of keys.

Due to the experimentation sessions with the Doctor, Sebastian already observed him enough to know him from head to toe. He knew his schedule, he knew his best clothes, his most casual clothes, even his toilet visit time.

To others, it was tell me your friends and I will tell you who you are. But to Sebastian, it was show me your occupation, and I will tell you who you are.

His decision to ask for food was not just to get the experience, as an anatomist, he already understood the Doctor\'s train of thought. His second objective for asking for food was to make the Doctor start working late.

Clearly, his plan worked. 

Now that the key was gotten, the plan could begin rolling according to the drafted script. Sebastian\'s slumbering eyes finally snapped open.

His eyes immediately clashed with the old toads on opening, without exchanging words, they understood each other.

Jingle!

With one smooth throw, the old toad released the bundle of keys.

[You have activated unique skill: Water Transmutation.]

[You have created a magic manifestation: Human Hands.]

A pair of fair human hands suddenly materialized in the water, revealing a skin that could leave any girl tsking in envy. This pair of hands moved with astonishing precision as they grabbed the flying bundle of keys.

Having been secretly practicing with this, Sebastian\'s control of the hands at this moment could be called perfect.

As soon as the hand grabbed the bundle of keys, it flicked them up and down in search of the right key as Sebastian watched with rapt attention. 

The hands stopped the next moment, the fated key has been found. 

Without hesitation, under Sebastian\'s control, the pair of hands turned, bringing the key to the keyhole. Thankfully, opening the door was fully mechanical.

The key entered before turning.

Click!

Sebastian\'s cage door opened.