Chapter 188 - The Sea Demons' Excavation Plan
As to what exactly the “big squid” was, the sea demons actually couldn’t explain it either.
About the forced-landing in ancient times, many sea demons’ memories of it were already fuzzy. Although they were ageless and immortal elemental creatures, they couldn’t remember incidents that were too old that clearly. However, the only thing the sea demons could be sure of was that the “big squid” at the bottom of the sea had already existed since the time they were forced to land in this world that had landmasses.
This was the remains of a lifeform far more ancient than the ancient times. Its remaining cirrus meandered along the seabed like a mountain range. The gargantuan size of the bulk of its body was unimaginable. The sea demons were shocked by the size of these remains at the very beginning and feared this world for a very long period of time —— they worried that this unfamiliar world had such enormous frightening lifeforms everywhere, but soon, they realized that their worries seemed to be unnecessary.
Everything in the deep sea was full of native creatures that were weaker and smaller than them; the “big squid” seemed to be the only exception, and this powerful exception was already dead.
“Big squid” had been killed by some external force; this could be perceived from the broken corpse as well as the remaining metal debris on the seabed. However, the people who killed “big squid” were a mystery. Throughout the ages, the sea demons were never able to find clues about that powerful race or civilization. Despite having scouted the various continents, there were only some barbaric and backward aboriginal civilizations. These civilizations did not even have the ability for ocean voyages; naturally, they couldn’t be the powerhouses that killed “big squid”.
And after learning that the “Dark Wave” that periodically destroyed ecosystems existed in this world, the sea demons gave up the operation to search for that civilization even more completely and, in turn, settled into peacefully leading their lives in this ocean.
Excavating “big squid” was one of their most important jobs. This work was a link to restarting the core engine. —— Although the day of success was indefinite, sea demons were a lifeform that were very insensitive to the passing of time. Just like many elemental creatures, they also had ample patience and a lousy concept of time. Such characteristics allowed them to successfully complete the transformation of their civilization in the extremely distant past, and today, it made them content and happy as they immersed themselves in their work.
The excavation party arrived at the scheduled work site. A huge piece of remnant flesh that had fallen from the cirrus laid quietly in a deep pit on the seabed. After months of a “growing cycle”, this piece of flesh had regrown back to its size at the very start. This meant that it could be dug again.
The sea demons dispersed around the flesh tissue and drove dozens of forcefield enclosing generators into the seabed; a faint blue energy field screen sealed up the entire area so as to prevent the powers emitted by “big squid” from polluting the waters. Then, in groups of three, they carried various types of equipment and began dissecting this lump of extremely strong flesh tissue.
The excavation team leader roamed at the periphery, checking whether the forcefield enclosing generators were working properly. This was because these devices were only barely able to operate these days. All sorts of strange and bizarre breakdowns were common occurrences; things would easily go wrong if they didn’t watch them carefully.
But this was already much better than many years ago. At the least, more and more equipment had resumed operations —— though the restart of the core engine still seemed indefinite..
The sea-demon team leader went around to the back of the flesh tissue. This was the objective of the next step of excavation. She moved close to the rough exterior that looked like tree bark with fungi piled on it and started examining the regrowth condition of this part of the tissue.
However, just then, that body of flesh tissue suddenly squirmed like it had come alive!
Dark red blood surged out from its wound; muscles and skin followed and grew in a twist. They swiftly bonded to form a small cirrus with strange patterns and glossy edges.
The decorative patterns on the surface of the cirrus shimmered, continuously presenting all kinds of weird forms with its writhing and squirming. Any ordinary mind would sink into madness before these patterns: even the most tenacious valiant mortal wouldn’t be able to escape unscathed after facing them——
The sea-demon team leader watched this cirrus dazedly. After bold assumptions and calm analysis, she decided to greet it too.
Thus, her body instantly disintegrated and reassembled, changes to her form taking place in the blink of an eye. She became a cirrus exactly like the other and also swiftly squirmed and curled on the seabed.
An indescribable tentacle and a tentacle mimicked by a sea demon carried out an ecstatic dance with each other that lasted 10 minutes. Both parties did not reach any common ground, and the three sea demons who had completed their excavation tasks at the side were already swimming over.
One of the sea demons carrying the shock cutting machine used the point of her tail and poked the mimicked tentacle stuck in the seabed. “Captain, you said earlier not to play too much with big squid..”
The imitated tentacle turned back into a sea demon instantly and appeared to be slightly embarrassed. “I thought it was saying hello to me..”
Another sea demon swung her tail curiously. “Speaking of which, there are often tentacles on the big squid squirming here and there.. What exactly do they mean?”
“Who would know? The deepwater scholars always believed that this is some sort of communication signal. In the end, there’s no outcome after so many years of decoding it. I suspect they’re just wriggling here and there like seaweed.”
“No, this is definitely communication. Just that, we are unable to understand it.” The sea demon carrying the cutting machine said with a serious look. “If not, why do those people on land appear to be so agitated once they see these cirri? And they would even shout at the top of their voice at these cirri.. This shows that there is communication!”
The sea demon team leader thought for a moment; with a flap of her snake tail, she decided, “Who cares? Cut this one down and take it with us —— since it actively jumped out.”
The sea demon carrying the cutting machine switched on the equipment in her hands, but before taking action, she asked rather expectantly, “Then.. can we eat a little?”
“Ermmmm.. We should have collected enough of the reactor fuel.. Alright, you can eat some, but only a little!”
“Yeah~~”
The remaining sea demons cheered and charged towards their “lunch”.
....historical
Meanwhile, in the Cecil feudal lord residence, Gawain and Pittman’s discussion about sea demons had also finally ended.
Pittman stroked his beard. “Overall, the sea demons are almost a kind of ‘legendary lifeforms’. There are extremely few witness reports, and the records each time cannot be weighed. Their history is older than humankind. Living in the east of the endless ocean, they might come ashore occasionally but would not leave the deep sea most of the time. Neither would they interact with terrestrial races such as humankind. Sea demons in the ocean are dangerous. They will closely protect their territory. Any navigation that goes through their territory will incur their attack. ——But all the deep ocean routes have been canceled, so there’s no need to worry about that.”
Gawain frowned. Looking at the Knight biography in his hand, he let out a light sigh. “Legendary species is it..? If only we could find a sea demon and interact with her. Alright, enough about this. Have you checked those biological tissues that I brought back from the Kant territory? Any progress?”
Gawain took a lot of samples with him when he left the Kant territory, including the flesh of those strange biological tissues connected to the human brains in the underground hall. There were also those soft, fungus-sheath-like dark substances on the rectangular platforms around the stone pillars. Of course, the runes that the heretic of the Eternal Sleepers carved on the stone pillars had also been copied down by him. ——Although Sir Philip had destroyed all the ruins, there were still many stone pillars left; copying down the runes in various spots then putting them together would eventually give them a complete draft.
However, those magic runes were too dangerous, and their mechanisms were unclear, so Gawain did not begin the study on them. On the other hand, those dead flesh tissues still hadn’t decomposed after they’d returned to Cecil territory, so they were handed to Pittman to be researched.
“About those biological tissues, I did a series of tests.” Pittman nodded. “I’ve confirmed that they contain traces of being reformed using magic, and Druid spells played a part. The Oblivion Association clearly has a hand in it —— just like what you were worried about, the Oblivion Association and Eternal Sleepers have collaborated in the field of this ‘technology’. If they have the same kind of collaboration with the Sons of the Storm, then the level of threat that these heretic cult believers pose.. would probably exceed many people’s imagination.”
“I’ve already written to Francis II. I hope the warning that I personally raised could make that King take things more seriously.” Gawain rubbed his temples. “I’m now most worried that the Eternal Sleepers have already taken control of a large number of aristocrats. Their powers are even stranger and scarier than the Oblivion Association. Once they’ve completed their infiltration, it would be difficult for outsiders to sense their existence again. If it wasn’t because I happened to devour the consciousness of a heretic from the Eternal Sleepers, I’m afraid even I wouldn’t have realized anything unusual about the Kant territory.”
“That’s something the King has to worry about.” Pittman nodded. “Also, I found some clues when I tested those flesh pieces —— although they all contain traces of being reformed using magic, such reformation was acquired. This means that a natural prototype exists in them.”
“Natural prototype?” Gawain instantly realized what Pittman meant. “You’re saying that those strange biological tissues were reformed using some species that already exist in nature? Are there such strange species in the world?”
“Yes, soul-absorbing octopuses in the western shores of the Dwarf Kingdom, spirit-engulfing demons near the Ancestral Peak, demonic beings with the power of the undead. Similar developed nerve organs that can connect and control the brain tissues of victims exist in all of them. And in those tissue samples that you brought back, I also found original structures similar to those of the demonic beings mentioned, they were clearly a part of the ‘raw materials’. However, the abilities of these monsters are not powerful enough to the extent of being able to connect so many humans together to create a ‘true dream realm’. Moreover, the differences between the respective races are huge. The conventional life-cultivating spell is completely insufficient to blend them together. So, I suspect that the heretic cult believers of the Oblivion Association might have gained a breakthrough in the aspect of life fusion, such that they were able to forcefully ‘piece’ so many demonic beings together, and created a functional product that could be mass-produced.”
“..Such a feeling that the heretic cult believers have grasped core technology, while civilized society has made no progress really doesn’t feel good.” Gawain sighed. “Do you not have any better news for me?”
Pittman looked a little troubled. “I do, but you might not be too happy about it either.”
“What is it?”
“Those pieces of flesh taste pretty good after being braised..”
“Bleuurp——”