The black sun hangs high

Chapter 325 Undercurrent
With the explanation of the scholars of Leger, these strange creatures, removed from the dwarves, gradually revealed their true nature to the people present.

Although they mutated from the skin of terrestrial creatures, under the influence of certain forces, they already possessed the ability to survive in the ocean from the moment of their birth. However, unlike the giant crayfish that evolved from the female dwarf Yena, these "skin worms" do not seem to possess that exaggerated intelligence.

Their every move seems to lean more towards primal instincts.

After the scholar Leger finished his explanation, Hugh approached the "skin worm" that had been used as a sample. Then, he took out an alchemical container from his pocket, which was wrapped and bound by layers of magic.

Inside the container, the strange creature, mutated from blue-green shrimp, was slowly suspending in the solution.

Hugh wanted to see what kind of effect this power from the deformed crayfish would have on the "skin bugs".

After everyone retreated to a relatively safe position, Hugh began to slowly remove the magic that had been applied to the container. As this action progressed, the "skin bugs" that had been moving freely in the tank quickly reacted.

It seemed to sense something and began to become restless, but due to the interference of the protective magic attached to the water tank, it was unable to identify the specific target.

Therefore, Hugh took the initiative to remove the barrier magic from the sink.

This had an immediate and noticeable effect.

The moment the isolation disappeared, the strange creature suddenly stopped moving. It turned around, its paper-thin body curled up slightly, and two small dots on its back that seemed to be eyes looked in Hugh's direction.

The next second, as if receiving some kind of command, the "skin bug" began to attack the wall of the sink in front of it.

"Crack! Crack!"

This strange insect was not fully grown, and the power it unleashed was extremely limited. It had no way to damage the water tank that was covered with solidification magic, so it could only rely on its own strength to keep hitting and crashing against the transparent barrier.

But during this process, everyone successfully sensed its strong aggressive desire.

In an attempt to successfully destroy the obstacles in its path, it even tried to twist its black tentacles together to form a "drill," but such an action was ultimately futile.

Seeing this, Hugh's expression gradually darkened. He turned his head and instructed the mage beside him to bring over the other collected crayfish blood. Soon, a small cup of iridescent blood mixed with some broken pieces was brought to Hugh.

This time, the "skin bugs" reacted even more strongly.

Before Hugh could completely remove the magic sealing the blood container, the "skin worms" in the tank had already entered a state of extreme frenzy under the influence of the blood, and their physical forms even began to undergo specific changes.

In order to maximize its combat power, it actually began to abandon its original physical form. In front of everyone, half of the strange insect's body began to wither and collapse rapidly, while the remaining half of its body swelled up quickly, and its originally hair-soft tentacles began to fuse together.

After the initial entanglement, these tentacles finally transformed into limbs, and at the ends of these limbs, Hugh even saw familiar claw structures. As he swung these limbs, a piercing sound immediately came from the magically imbued water tank.

Having witnessed this change, Hugh immediately used magic to seal the blood, and the "skin worm" inside the tank immediately became much calmer. However, it seemed to have identified its specific target, so it continued to relentlessly attack the tank in front of it, only with slightly less force than before.

At that moment, a multitude of messages related to the "color of life" and these strange blood collided violently in Hugh's mind. Hugh recalled the actions of the deformed crayfish that clearly possessed intelligence before it died, and then looked at the "newborn" in the container in his hand that had been regenerated by the blue algae shrimp, but which immediately wanted to commit suicide. His face quickly darkened.

Based on the "skin worm's" reaction to this blood and the power within it, a somewhat terrifying conclusion quickly formed in Hugh's mind.

"No wonder it actively seeks death..."

Hugh's words were squeezed out between his teeth as he turned to the group of mages and scholars, including Virin, and said, "That crayfish, that monster born from the female dwarf Yena... its very existence may be synonymous with death, and its death is a terrible signal to some things in the ocean."

One of the monks didn't understand, so he shook his head and asked, "Signal? What does that mean?"

"It's like a magical signal released by a spy or agent who has infiltrated enemy territory on the battlefield."

Hughes said in a low voice, “I mean… the kind of signal used to notify one’s fellow countrymen and comrades, telling them where to shell and where to launch a concentrated attack.”

"You mean... that shrimp, that monster, was using its own death to send a message to its kin?"

"It can be said like this."

Hughes nodded: "These blood contain a power that we do not yet understand. Like the monsters in the city of Seren, it comes from that lost and ancient era... If I am not mistaken, this power can be neutral, or it can be endowed with will, or it can evolve in ways that we cannot understand under the manipulation of a specific will."

"And the ultimate result of evolution is the formation of a large 'ethnic group' or 'community'."

“I think I understand, Mr. Hugh… You mean that the strange shrimp, and these bizarre insects, although completely different in form and species, are linked together by a similar force, just like those ants and bees?”

The scholar Leger reacted very quickly; although what Hughes said sounded very illogical, he still understood its meaning in a timely manner.

The scholar, whose research focused on marine magical creatures, raised his fist and slammed it into his palm: "So that means, when that monster exploded into a pile of minced meat in the cabin, it had already used its blood and that power to mark our Windless?"

Hughes nodded: "And it's a very, very conspicuous mark."

The Dharma Committee monk in charge of the Windless Mission gritted his teeth: "But we sealed off the site immediately and set up protective rituals. Perhaps this so-called signal was not successfully sent out?" "That power is not the magic we are familiar with."

Hughes ruthlessly shattered the mage's wishful thinking: "The isolation and protection we have built based on magic may not be able to completely block the transmission of this signal. Any leak of information could allow potential trackers and hunters to lock onto us."

"But so what?"

The invited elven scholar shook his head and said, "Although the Windless One we are on is not an armored ship, it is sturdy and safe enough. Moreover, we have other ships escorting us, and the weapons on board have all been tested in previous wars."

The elven scholar looked at Hugh and said earnestly, "Mr. Hugh, I understand the immense pressure you faced fighting those monsters in Seren, but we are now operating as a well-equipped team."

"You should know that since the advent of large ships like armored ships, there have been very few reports of magical creatures in the ocean or so-called 'sea monsters' attacking ships in Vaan."

At this point, the elven scholar shrugged dismissively: "Even if there were some dangerous creature, could it withstand the bombardment of those high-powered crystal cannons or ship-borne bombs?"

“What you say makes a lot of sense, but do you really know what’s going on inside Seren?”

Hugh's gaze fell on the face of the elven scholar. In that instant, the plains elf, who had just been quite confident, inexplicably felt an immense, invisible pressure. He instinctively wanted to avoid the other's gaze, but his dignity as a social elite made him persevere.

Then he heard Hugh say, “Ha, Seren City… I really want to ask, why did it become a scorched city when we had so many powerful weapons? Those who died there were not only the refugees trapped in the city, but also the soldiers with their excellent equipment and the pilots of those airships.”

After refuting the elven scholar's point of view, Hugh turned to the head of the Legal Committee: "Report the situation here, and as before, keep it as confidential as possible... Notify our escort ships to strengthen their observation of the surrounding sea."

"All the detection devices on the ships can now be put into use."

Virin added from the side, "Although they consume a lot of magic crystals, we have now adjusted our course, and even if there are no problems, we will be able to reach the shore before the magic crystals are completely used up."

……

As night fell, the Windless and all its escort ships went on high alert. All passengers on the Windless were instructed not to leave their cabins, and fully armed sailors began patrolling the ship's interior.

All the windows in the cabins have now been specially treated; in addition to drawing the curtains, they have also been subjected to a magical ritual that blocks out the light from the interior.

The cabin, which had previously been stained with the blood of the deformed crayfish, has been thoroughly "disinfected," and all the items inside have been isolated by layers of magical rituals.

Every fifteen minutes or so, a faint magical hum would emanate from the center of the moving fleet, a vibration created by a cryptic instrument used for wide-area detection.

In this way, the mage responsible for operating the ritual can amplify their magical perception to an extremely exaggerated degree and promptly confirm any anomalies appearing near the fleet.

In the thick of night, the fleet continued to cut through the wind and waves, heading towards its predetermined destination.

At 8 p.m., Mayer and his colleagues, who were handling affairs at the Dawn Division's headquarters, suddenly received an urgent notification from the laboratory.

The deformed parrotfish, which Hugh and Vera caught near the dock and named "Sample One," suddenly awoke from its previous dormant state. It became extremely agitated and exhibited some new changes.

When Mayer and the others arrived at the laboratory, all the researchers and mages involved in the matter were already there.

People saw that the parrotfish imprisoned in the huge alchemical tank seemed to have entered a completely new stage—the fleshy tentacles and tissues that had grown from its body now seemed to have completely lost their vitality.

Meyer and the others saw those bizarre structures peeling off the body of the giant parrotfish. A thick layer of nauseating scales and bits of flesh quickly formed at the bottom of the tank. As the parrotfish trembled involuntarily, more flesh peeled off its body and sank to the bottom.

"What's wrong with it? Is it going to die?"

Meyer frowned as he carefully examined the parrotfish's body. He then noticed that the new wounds on the giant fish did not seem to be healing.

Mayer knew that over the past period of time, the researchers of the Dawn Society had removed tissues of varying sizes from this giant fish countless times, but none of these actions had caused it fatal damage. Those wounds of varying sizes would often heal in a very short time, and even grow new structures and chunks of flesh.

But now, this amazing vitality seems to have disappeared from it.

Darth Vader's gaze lingered on the scum and debris piled up at the bottom of the sink. He stared at the bizarre, disgusting pieces, his brow furrowing.

He saw that among these fragments, some strange liquid seemed to be slowly floating out. It was neither blood nor murky pus, but an unusual, peculiar color.

It looks like a flowing rainbow.

Others noticed this unusual situation, but before these surprised researchers could take any further action, the colors flowing from the minced meat began to rapidly converge inside the tank.

Soon, a colorful shadow that kept changing shape took shape completely in the water tank. It floated slowly, as if it were a whole made up of countless tiny points of light.

As for the giant, monstrous fish that had once been its vessel, it completely lost all its vitality in the process. Its body, which had once bred countless deformed structures, eventually became mottled and slowly sank to the bottom of the tank, lying together with the broken pieces.

(End of this chapter)