Ch.128Beings of the Deep Sea (2)

After finishing his meal, Adhigh and I departed for the archipelago where the research facility was located.

My injuries hadn’t fully healed, but we had no time to waste.

It had been 4 days since he escaped from the research facility. That’s not a short time, and I had no idea what hardships No. 26 might have endured during that period.

‘Since he’s moving with the Fishrians, they probably can’t threaten No. 26’s life.’

But just because there are no visible external injuries doesn’t mean everything is fine. The researchers might inject painful substances into No. 26 for their experiments.

‘He already has bad memories of laboratories.’

The longer he stays confined, the worse it will be for No. 26. I need to rescue him as quickly as possible.

‘From what Adhigh said, the research facility seems to be underwater.’

Though not entirely clear, it appears Adhigh escaped using something like an underwater elevator.

Being a Green Gallergorn with high intelligence, he probably couldn’t have operated the elevator alone—No. 26 must have helped him.

‘I’ll know the rest when we arrive.’

Currently, I’m swimming with the Sky Mother and Adhigh riding on my back.

Despite my considerable weight, I can float on the water’s surface while carrying these two creatures thanks to my gliding membrane. The membrane, normally folded between my six combat arms, spreads wide, preventing my body from fully submerging.

The webbing between my fingers and claws attached throughout my body act as oars, while my long, thick tail functions as a screw propeller.

I couldn’t hang the trophy backpack I brought on my tail, so Adhigh carried it around his chest instead.

Previously in the swamp, I had acquired both webbed feet and fin characteristics.

That’s why fins now protrude from both sides of my tail, like gliding membranes. They remain hidden when crawling on land or digging underground, but become useful when entering water like now.

Thanks to these adaptations, I could swim at a speed exceeding that of most boats, though slower than when tunneling underground.

Of course, my swimming skills weren’t perfect, and my body occasionally submerged during our journey, but since both Adhigh and the Sky Mother could fly, it wasn’t a major problem.

While swimming diligently, I asked Adhigh:

[How much further do we need to go?]

“Me” “darkness” “one time” “adult” “speed” “similar”

Adhigh told me he had been hiding on one of the many islands scattered throughout the archipelago after his escape.

Then he detected the psychic breath I had fired and flew for a full day to reach me.

‘Based on what Adhigh said, we should arrive by tonight at the earliest, or by tomorrow dawn at the latest.’

After swimming all night, the sun now hangs in the middle of the sky.

While I was trying to gauge how much further we had to go, Adhigh called out to me.

“Me” “adult” “question”

[What is it?]

Adhigh hesitated, as if finding it difficult to speak despite being the one who called me first.

[You don’t need to apologize. It wasn’t your fault.]

Seemingly satisfied with my response, he didn’t say anything more.

To comfort Adhigh, I caught some fish with my assimilation tentacles and gave them to him. Knowing he needed to recover quickly, he accepted them without protest and ate them eagerly.

I also offered fish to the Sky Mother, our other passenger.

Before departing, I had explained the general plan to the Sky Mother. While I descended to the deep-sea research facility, she would look after the Fishrian village.

‘She needs to conserve her strength for that.’

“……”

Despite understanding the plan, she seemed uncomfortable with me feeding her. Nevertheless, she awkwardly began eating the fish I gave her.

After traveling for quite some time, we arrived just as the sun had disappeared below the horizon.

Among the numerous islands, artificial lights were visible on one isolated island. Stilt houses extended from the beach to the nearshore waters—a village where Fishrians lived.

Next to the stilt houses floated an alloy submarine. Its exterior resembled the escape vessels deployed on Megacorp spaceships.

Beside the submarine stood Fishrians with fish heads and lionfish spines, along with some humans. The humans conversed with the Fishrians, then received what appeared to be fruits, which they loaded onto the submarine.

“I can’t believe they’re actually trading. Hard to believe.”

[Indeed.]

After completing their trade, the humans boarded the submarine and departed from the stilt houses, heading somewhere else.

[We should part ways here.]

While the Sky Mother might manage, Adhigh is nearly incapable of underwater combat. It’s best to entrust the Fishrian village to both of them.

“Right. I’ll take care of that village with this Green Galler… um, Adhigh.”

“Adult” “small adult” “help”

[Yes.]

Adhigh, who had been on my back, spread his wings wide. Though he winced slightly from the pain of his not-fully-healed injuries, he soon began flapping his wings vigorously.

The Sky Mother prepared to take flight to follow Adhigh. Before she left, I called out to her briefly.

[Please take care of Adhigh, his body is still not well.]

“…Alright.”

She nodded once, then manipulated the air to fly over the sea, following Adhigh.

After sending them off, I dove in the direction the submarine had headed. Being nighttime, visibility was poor, but I had auxiliary organs to help.

The four auxiliary organs extending from beneath my jaw began detecting vibrations in the water, tracking where the submarine had gone.

‘This way.’

Guided by my auxiliary organs—which were beyond mere sensory organs and could be called transcendent—I swam through the darkness.

As I swam, I noticed a dim light in the distance. At first, I thought it was from the submarine’s lights, but it wasn’t. The lights, neatly aligned from bottom to top, came from an underwater elevator.

I approached the elevator. Extending from the deep sea, it reached to about 100 meters below the water’s surface.

After confirming the submarine entering the elevator, I dove deeper. I wanted to examine the size and defensive facilities of the research base.

Following the long, thin cylindrical underwater elevator downward, I saw a deep-sea canyon extending into even deeper waters. The research facility was positioned outside the canyon, not within it.

The research facility formed a thin ring shape, approximately 2km in length. In the center of the ring were passages connected to the elevator.

‘I don’t detect any external defense systems.’

It’s unlikely that those researching Sea Demons would build a facility here without any defensive measures. I moved closer to the facility.

And soon I understood why.

‘Damn. This is all Black Silver.’

Surprisingly, this massive advanced structure was made of Black Silver alloy.

Black Silver isn’t the most expensive or rare metal, but it’s certainly not cheap either. Building a structure of this scale would require an astronomical investment.

‘So that’s how they’ve avoided being affected by Sea Demons.’

Sea Demons are powerful psychic creatures.

A structure covered in Black Silver, which suppresses psychic effects, could avoid their threat. The interior likely also contains various equipment to suppress or defend against psychic powers.

‘Now I understand why No. 26 and Adhigh lost.’

Both primarily use psychic powers. They would be helpless against enemies thoroughly prepared for such abilities. It’s actually impressive that No. 26 managed to help Adhigh escape from such a place.

I swam around the research facility. While trying to grasp its general structure, I sensed a faint vibration from somewhere.

‘What’s this?’

The vibration was so weak I almost missed it, thinking it was just a change in water current.

But I couldn’t ignore it because this vibration was very familiar to me.

‘No. 26!’

“Big guy…”

I quickly moved toward the source of the vibration.

Approaching a section of the ring, I pressed my head against the outer wall.

[No. 26?]

“Big… guy?”

[Yes. I’m■ here.]

“Big guy!”

Whether due to deep-sea pressure or the Black Silver, the waves sent by my monster tentacles were intermittently cut off.

However, just as I immediately recognized him, No. 26 recognized me and sent back vibrations.

“It’s been a while!”

[I’ll get you out■ soon. Are you■ uncomfortable■?]

When I sent the broken vibrations, he immediately replied.

“I’m hungry.”

Hearing that answer, I couldn’t help but laugh. He must have endured many hardships, yet he deliberately answered that way.

I promised No. 26:

[I’ll■ rescue■ you soon.]

“Okay!”

After removing my head from the outer wall, I backed away considerably. Having created some distance from the facility, I swung my tail and combat arms widely.

My body lunged forward rapidly. The black wall of the research facility and my head grew closer and closer.

And then the 2km-long ring-shaped research facility shook violently.

–

Zhao family researcher Chen Hai woke up in his bed.

He had felt a vibration strong enough to wake him from his sleep.

‘An earthquake?’

There’s a deep-sea canyon near the facility. Many fearsome predators, including Sea Demons, live below it, occasionally causing earthquakes like this.

This research facility was built to withstand even the harshest environments, so it wouldn’t be affected by ordinary impacts—unless marine predators collectively went mad and rammed into the facility.

‘But this one feels stronger than usual?’

He tilted his head and left his room. In the corridor, he saw that he wasn’t the only one who had felt the vibration—several fellow researchers had also come out.

From outside the facility came a thunderous roar, as if monsters were engaged in a fierce battle.

“Hey, Hao. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know either.”

“If it’s an earthquake, the warning lights should be on.”

No sooner had those words been spoken than the warning lights in the corridor began blaring loudly. The ferocious alarm, as if saying there was no time to waste, made everyone in the corridor frown.

“Let’s evacuate first.”

“Alright. I’ll wake up the people in Corridor G.”

“I’ll go to Sector F.”

After his colleagues left, Chen Hai walked down the corridor. While heading to Sector F, the warning lights suddenly stopped.

“What? Is it over?”

If so, there should be an announcement, but there was no response from the speakers mounted on the corridor ceiling.

Still, just to be safe, Chen Hai continued walking.

On his way to Sector F, he felt the corridor temperature drop dramatically.

“Is the temperature regulator malfunctioning?”

Their research facility was equipped with systems to regulate the internal environment, allowing research to continue unhindered even in extreme environments like the deep sea, outer space, or volcanoes.

But now the corridor was far from comfortable—it was as cold as a freezer.

Seeing his breath visible in the air, Chen Hai considered returning to his room. Suddenly, all the electricity in the corridor went out at once.

Shortly after, the emergency power came on, bathing the entire corridor in red light.

‘What’s with all this chaos?’

Given the situation, he needed to find out what was happening.

He decided to go to Sector B, where the control room was located, rather than Sector F.

Just past this corridor and around that corner was the corridor leading to Sector B. He walked with his arms wrapped around himself in the bitter cold.

The sound of his indoor shoes hitting the solid alloy made a splashing noise, like water.

‘Huh? Water sounds?’

Only then did Chen Hai sense something wrong and looked down at the floor.

The corridor floor had become a sea of water. He hadn’t noticed earlier because of the dim red light.

“What is this…?”

Now he realized this situation was extremely dangerous.

The thunderous roar he thought he had heard from outside earlier—it wasn’t the sound of monsters fighting.

‘The facility is flooding!’

It was the sound of water leaking into the facility.

But his realization came too late. Water poured in from around the corner leading to the control room corridor.

“Aaaaargh!”

He quickly turned to run, but couldn’t outpace the seawater rushing in at tremendous speed.

Water colder than ice engulfed Chen Hai’s body.

“Aaaaargh!”

While being swept away by the water, Chen Hai grabbed a door handle in the corridor. The water, which had been pouring in violently, rose to his shoulder level before temporarily subsiding.

The central computer of the research facility must have automatically sealed off the flooded sections.

‘Damn it! What kind of disaster is this?!’

Soaked like a drowned rat, Chen Hai moved toward the control room.

“Do I look like I’m going to give up?! Prime Capital is right in front of me—you think I’ll give up because of this shit?!”

He picked up a bundle of documents and a laptop that had floated by. These were all materials that could cause a sensation in academic circles, so he absolutely couldn’t lose them.

Chen Hai pushed forward, enduring the cold temperature of the deep-sea water through sheer determination.

After walking for some time, the letters on the corridor wall changed to B. Thinking he didn’t have far to go, he picked up his pace.

As he walked, he saw the upper body of a person ahead. Due to the red light, he couldn’t see clearly, but the person was wearing a bluish work uniform instead of a white coat.

Assuming the person was from the facility management team, Chen Hai called out:

“Hey! What’s going on!”

Despite his loud call, there was no response. Since there was no sound other than water, the person must have heard him.

“Hey, you Middle Capital bastard! I asked what’s happening!”

“……”

Chen Hai shouted again as he approached the person.

Only when he got closer could he properly see the condition of the facility management team member.

“Why are you ignoring my—huh?”

Upon seeing the person’s appearance, Chen Hai felt his blood run cold.

The facility management team member had no head. What he thought was a blue work uniform was actually clothes soaked red with blood.

And behind that team member…

Under the red light, a massive beast was swallowing a human head.

“Uh, uhhh…”

Seeing this sight, Chen Hai felt his spine freeze and couldn’t control his trembling body.

After swallowing the head completely, the monster turned to look at Chen Hai. Even in the darkness, its two eyes shone clearly.

“There·are·about·hundreds·of·humans·inside.”

“Hiiieek!”

A deep male voice flowed from its mouth. Chen Hai screamed and threw down the laptop and documents he was holding.

“It” extended a snake-like tentacle and caught Chen Hai as he tried to escape.

“This·should·be·enough·to·fill·his·stomach·too.”

“It” muttered leisurely while looking at Chen Hai, who was trembling in terror.