Ch.136Legacy (1)

In the game, Sea Demons are approximately 20m to 30m in size. That’s about the same as my body length.

You might think that’s small for a mini-boss creature, but here’s the catch.

Sea Demons can adjust their size and form as they wish.

A Sea Demon in normal mode is only about 20m, but when entering combat, it can expand its body up to 100m. Its threatening weapons, the saw tentacles, also grow proportionally, and the range of the Sea Demon’s unique characteristic, “Deep Sea Terror,” expands accordingly.

As you can see with No. 26, Sea Demons generally possess high intelligence. This means they actively and effectively use their abilities during combat.

So tank players have an overwhelming number of factors to calculate.

‘Even considering all that, this one is incredibly large.’

Perhaps it’s because it lived so long. The creature’s corpse was clearly more than twice the size of a normal Sea Demon. It was so large that it even exceeded the 50m Pale Mask.

Moreover, various scars across its pinkish outer skin clearly showed that this was no ordinary creature.

‘If not for the spacecraft collision, it wouldn’t have died so easily.’

As evidence, there was a wound on its torso longer than my body. Even this powerful monster couldn’t recover from injuries sustained during the spacecraft collision.

While I was looking down at the Sea Demon’s corpse from a short distance away, No. 26 approached it. Dozens of tentacles emerged from its body and attached to the corpse.

‘What is it doing?’

I wondered if it was mourning, but judging by the atmosphere, that didn’t seem to be the case. After attaching all its tentacles to the corpse, it remained still.

A moment later, purple light began to ripple across the surface of the massive corpse. It was such tremendous energy that even I, wearing psychic reflection armor, felt a tingling sensation deep inside my body.

The purple energy moved along the surface of the corpse. The flow of this immense psychic power was directed toward the tentacles No. 26 had attached.

No. 26, using its tentacles like straws to absorb the energy, began to emit a purple glow. The intensity of the light was similar to when it expressed emotions, but my auxiliary organs disagreed.

They detected massive psychic power swirling within its body. The amount of energy it absorbed was enough to overwhelm my psychic breath.

Then its body began to crack like an egg hatching. I flinched momentarily at the sight.

Fortunately, No. 26 showed no signs of pain; otherwise, I would have intervened.

‘This might be important.’

I quietly observed its transformation.

The cracked outer skin soon broke, and No. 26, now concentrated with psychic power, expanded greatly. Its body, which had shrunk to 3m while confined in the research facility, rapidly grew to about 10m.

The psychic power was so intense that even my auxiliary organs couldn’t properly perceive its form, but from what I could see, it resembled the dead Sea Demon.

‘I see. So that’s how it works.’

Many players in the game had speculated about the relationship between Sea Demons and Bubble Amoebas, suggesting they were genetically closely related.

Some players even thought Bubble Amoebas grew into Sea Demons. This theory—that the weakest marine creature grows into the strongest—had some basis.

Most wild NPCs in the Space Survival world have a mechanism of growing from juveniles to adults. So Sea Demons should also have a juvenile stage.

Countless players thoroughly searched ocean planets, but no one ever found a juvenile Sea Demon. This led to speculation that the similarly shaped Bubble Amoeba might actually become a Sea Demon.

‘Of course, hardly anyone took it seriously.’

Many players kept Bubble Amoebas as pets. Everyone knew that Bubble Amoebas didn’t change much as they grew.

‘But now…’

Seeing what was happening before my eyes, it’s hard to say the growth theory was completely wrong.

No. 26, the Sea Demon offspring, looks almost identical to a Bubble Amoeba. It can hide its tentacles and fins inside its body, making them invisible, and it’s also small.

The fragile juvenile Sea Demon lives among Bubble Amoeba groups, protecting them. In this process, it gradually grows by hunting predators that threaten the group. Then, when the time comes to inherit a Sea Demon’s power, it transforms into an adult.

‘No wonder nobody knew.’

Bubble Amoebas are pets, not combat support creatures. Even if someone was lucky enough to get a juvenile Sea Demon, they wouldn’t use it in fights, so it couldn’t grow.

Taking it into battle against that powerful marine monster, the Sea Demon?

They would think a Bubble Amoeba with zero combat ability would die 100 times out of 100. Unless someone enjoys killing their pets, they naturally wouldn’t bring it along.

To rescue a Sea Demon offspring that looks exactly like a Bubble Amoeba and bring it to a dead Sea Demon’s corpse—these conditions are practically impossible to verify.

While I was lost in thought, No. 26 continued to absorb the Sea Demon’s legacy.

However, at some point, the absorption rate began to slow down. Despite plenty of energy remaining, the speed kept decreasing.

Eventually, No. 26 stopped absorbing energy. The 10m purple luminous body attached to the corpse slowly detached.

The psychic power remaining in the Sea Demon’s corpse gradually faded and then disappeared.

‘What a waste.’

I felt slightly disappointed watching the pure essence of psychic power disappear before my eyes. I scratched my head with my combat arm that had broken and recovered.

No. 26 continued to glow even after the energies disappeared. The light it emitted gradually diminished.

No, not just the light—its body itself was shrinking.

From 10m to 5m, then to 1m. When it seemed like it would keep shrinking indefinitely, it stopped at about 50cm.

‘Huh?’

It was exactly the right size to sit on top of my head. Its appearance also returned to a slime form, except for the fins that emerged for swimming.

‘It has patterns now.’

The most noticeable change was the patterns that had formed on No. 26’s body. Soft, light purple spiral waves undulated on its dark pink outer skin.

Since we’re at the bottom of an ocean trench, no light reaches here, but I imagine it would shine like a pink sapphire if it caught sunlight.

Having completed its transformation, it approached me, wiggling its fins.

[Zzzzz (Are you done?)]

“Yes!”

No. 26 responded with the same energetic wavelength as usual.

“Since my friend died, a new friend will come to protect the family.”

[Zz Zzz (New friend?)]

“Yes. I can’t do it because I have another family. I only ate a little so I could give it to another friend.”

From what it said, it seems the energy that dispersed earlier mixes with the water and is transferred to other Sea Demon juveniles.

I almost asked why it didn’t just eat everything, but there was no need to say it.

Thanks to the Sea Demon and No. 26’s consideration, a new monster will be born somewhere in these deep waters.

“My friend’s job is done, so the big baby can eat now.”

[Zzzzz Zz (Is that okay?)]

No. 26 glowed its body to express affirmation.

This aspect clearly shows how No. 26 differs from humans. A human would try to recover a friend’s body.

‘Is mourning the death of one’s kind separate from dealing with the corpse?’

No. 26’s behavior was closer to that of a highly intelligent wild animal with social tendencies than a human.

I gently stroked it with my combat arm. Happy to be petted after a long time, it made its body sparkle.

After stroking it once, I looked at the Sea Demon’s corpse.

‘I could use Hunter’s Emblem, but…’

The “Horizon of Nightmares” effect extended Hunter’s Emblem duration to 20 minutes. That’s enough time to eat the head of a Sea Demon approaching 50m, but there’s a problem.

‘I need to go up and eat the Pale Mask too.’

It took almost an hour to descend this far. Even with the extreme physical enhancement from Hunter’s Emblem, the time would be too tight to reach the surface.

‘Besides, I didn’t kill this Sea Demon.’

It collided with a spacecraft, couldn’t heal its wounds, and slowly wasted away until death. And it’s been dead for quite some time.

‘If I just eat it, the chance of gaining a trait is very low.’

Of course, due to the deep-sea environment’s low temperature, the corpse hasn’t decayed much, but since I didn’t kill it myself, the probability of triggering Predation is extremely low.

Even if I use Hunter’s Emblem, consuming a creature I didn’t personally kill is treated the same as a genetic sample. And eating a sample while under Hunter’s Emblem only grants a 0.5 trait instead of a full one.

‘The Pale Mask, on the other hand, is different.’

That one is a trophy I hunted with my companions. If I use the Emblem, I can acquire its trait with nearly 100% certainty, just like before.

‘Let’s postpone using the Emblem.’

After brief consideration, I decided to eat the Sea Demon’s corpse as is.

Using Hunter’s Emblem would result in more losses than gains. Even if I got a 0.5 trait from eating the Sea Demon here, if I couldn’t reach the surface in time and missed the Pale Mask, that would be truly unfortunate.

‘Hunter’s Emblem has a one-week cooldown, so eating them separately isn’t possible either.’

The archipelago region we’re in has a near-subtropical climate. The Pale Mask’s genetic essence would be completely damaged not in a week, but in just two days.

‘Disappointing, but let’s consider this as nutritional supplementation.’

I approached the Sea Demon’s corpse and swung my combat arm. My sharp claws pierced through the water and embedded in the Sea Demon’s outer skin.

‘It’s quite tough indeed.’

Despite its soft appearance, the Sea Demon’s outer skin was quite thick and sturdy. Its durability exceeds that of a Pale Mask, so simply biting it would only get my teeth stuck. Until I acquire jaw or teeth-related traits, I need to use my arms to tear off meat for consumption.

‘Corrosive tentacles are good for swallowing but lack cutting power.’

Now is the time for primitive methods. I used my sharp claws like knives to cut into the Sea Demon’s corpse.

I was concerned No. 26 might feel uncomfortable, but it didn’t care at all what happened to its kind’s corpse. It just playfully tapped the spines at the end of my tail with its fins.

Focusing away from No. 26, I tore off chunks of the Sea Demon’s flesh. No blood flowed out—it had already coagulated long ago after death.

‘Let’s try this.’

I put a piece of flesh in my mouth.

‘Hmm.’

The meat of this terrifyingly powerful marine monster had a taste as extraordinary as its strength.

I expected the texture to be like jellyfish, similar to yangjiapi or jellyfish salad, given its appearance, but it wasn’t. The flesh was closer to salmon sashimi. It was like regular salmon sashimi but slightly oilier. Plus, there was a fragrant lime-like aroma.

‘Overall, it has a sophisticated taste.’

The slightly disappointing aspect was that it had less character than I expected.

Perhaps it’s because this Sea Demon wasn’t freshly caught. Apart from the impressive tangy lime flavor, it seemed like just a generally tasty food.

With that thought, I tore off more pieces and put them in my mouth.

‘Hmm?’

As I ate that part, I had to admit I had been extremely hasty in my judgment.

‘This part tastes different?’

Surprisingly, the Sea Demon had vastly different flavors depending on the body part. The flesh I just ate tasted exactly like escargot soup. It was the taste I remembered from visiting buffets as a child.

The common factor was that this part also had a lime flavor.

‘This is quite fascinating.’

I continued eating the Sea Demon’s meat with admiration.

The deeper I went from the outer skin, the more profound the taste became.

It’s a shame that the blood had coagulated due to the time since death, and the overall low temperature prevented the full flavor from being properly experienced.

After a series of surprises, I managed to eat all of the Sea Demon’s head and brain parts, except for the fins.

‘Tsk. It didn’t trigger after all.’

With the Essence Harvester’s Jaw effect, eating just the head is equivalent to consuming the entire body for triggering the Predation effect. I ate the entire head, but the Predation effect didn’t appear.

I had expected it wouldn’t trigger given the poor conditions, but it was still hard to completely shake off the disappointment.

[Zzzz Zzzz (Let’s go now)]

“Aren’t you going to eat more?”

[Zzzzz (It’s okay)]

I left some parts of the body and fins uneaten.

The meat I had already consumed far exceeded my body size. Any more nutrients would be unnecessary.

So No. 26 and I left the Sea Demon’s remains and headed back up.

Behind us as we departed, Bubble Amoebas emitted light to see us off. No. 26 said goodbye to them and then swam alongside me.

“I like being with the big baby.”

[Zzzz Zzzz (Me too)]

No. 26’s size is much larger than when we first met, but proportionally, it feels similar to when it used to ride on my head.

Perhaps because I was reminiscing, I didn’t feel particularly bored retracing our path.

After swimming for an hour, we were able to resurface onto the island.

As soon as we emerged, we were greeted by the Pale Mask’s corpse, about one-fifth of which had disappeared. Next to it was the Sky Mother, lying down and grooming her fur.

“It took longer than I expected.”

The Sky Mother greeted me with her eyes. I turned my head to look around.

[Zzzzzzzz (Where’s Adhigh?)]

“He was lying down until just now, but suddenly ran over there.”

In the direction she nodded was a large rock. I could sense Adhigh hiding behind it.

Through my auxiliary organ under my jaw, I could feel his heartbeat. Judging by how rapidly it was beating, he was currently in a state of fear.

‘Why is he suddenly acting like this?’

While I was trying to find the cause, since there were no apparent danger factors, Adhigh’s thought waves touched my tentacles.

“Adult” “Danger” “Escape” “Impossible” “Danger” “Danger” “Danger”

[Zzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzz Zzzz Zzzzz (There’s nothing dangerous here. What’s wrong?)]

“Kin” “Here” “Coming” “Me” “Adult” “Death” “Death” “Death”

His thought waves trembled anxiously. After thinking for a moment, I realized why Adhigh was afraid.

‘Could it be because of No. 26?’

No. 26 looks cute, but it has absorbed massive psychic power. Although it hasn’t fully matured yet, it has enough strength to fight one-on-one with most psychic creatures, even a White Gallergorn.

Adhigh is very sensitive to psychic power. It’s not unreasonable for him to mistake No. 26 for a White Gallergorn, or even the next stage, a Black Gallergorn.

Perhaps thinking similarly to me, No. 26, who was on my head, called out to Adhigh.

“Little baby! It’s me.”

“Little adult?”

“I ate a lot and got stronger! So don’t worry!”

Hearing those words, Adhigh peeked out from behind the rock.

“Little adult” “Really?”

“Yes.”

After a few more minutes of conversation, Adhigh was reassured and came out from behind the rock.

“I” “Remember” “Little adult” “Big” “Now” “Small” “Not understand”

“Now I can get bigger or smaller. Cool, right?”

“I” “Amazing” “Amazing”

“Look. If I do this, I grow big?”

“I” “Surprised!”

While the two were chattering with thought waves and wavelengths, the Sky Mother called to me.

“I left the head.”

[Zzzz Zzzzz Zzzz Zzzzzzzz (There are many other parts left)]

“…Do you know how big that thing is? It would take days to eat it all.”

[Zzzzz (I see)]

“By the way, it can transform? Does that mean it’s become an adult Sea Demon?”

[Zzzzzzzz Zzzzz Zz (Not perfectly, but yes)]

“…Hah. It’s really become a monster.”

The Sky Mother shook her head with what might have been admiration or shock.

‘A monster, she says.’

She doesn’t know. She’s about to see an even greater monster, so it’s too early to be surprised.

[Zzzzz Zz Zzzzz (Now she’ll be even more surprised)]

“What?”

Instead of answering, I activated the Hunter’s Emblem trait.

“Wh…what?”

The Sky Mother, who had been lying down watching me, widened her eyes to the size of saucers.

This was the first time I’d used Hunter’s Emblem since becoming a subadult.

True to its name, my body began to transform into a form optimized for hunting and predation.