Ch.4444. The Trials of Dolphin Man

The East Sea, located to the east of the Korean Peninsula where the Republic of Korea is situated.

While certainly more expansive than land—though its size is somewhat ambiguous to simply call it “vast”—this sea is home to numerous life forms (monsters) and is largely dominated by four major factions.

First are the most common monsters… though calling them a “faction” would be incorrect. These are ordinary animal-type monsters.

While they occupy a large territory collectively, they aren’t a unified force but rather neutral, minor groups.

Schools of sardine-like Grade 10 monsters numbering in the billions, wild giant seahorse herds, aquatic sub-dragon species, and various other groups.

These are merely creatures that would normally be categorized as “miscellaneous,” included as if they were factions, but they have no real influence on the power struggle in the East Sea.

Therefore, there are effectively three factions in the East Sea, and among them, the one considered to have the most powerful individual strength is the group of Giant Psychic Whales.

These true dragons of the sea, which can grow into high-grade monsters with consistent nutrition, travel in groups of several dozen.

That’s not to say that these group-dwelling Giant Psychic Whales are weaker than solitary monsters.

They possess overwhelming physical power from their massive bodies, psychic abilities that seem almost unfair considering their physical strength—at a level specialized for psychic monsters—and cooperation between their kind that’s rare among other monsters.

Not only do they rank among the upper echelons of high-grade sea monsters in pure strength, but they can also amplify their psychic powers through resonance with each other, making their combat ability truly supreme.

Surprisingly, these whales are actually closer to fish than true whales, despite their name.

Like some fish species, these monsters lay hundreds of billions of eggs, leaving survival to chance, but if any grow to sub-adult (mid-grade) or higher, they instinctively seek out and join a group, making them effectively a single collective.

Perhaps as a trade-off for these characteristics, the Giant Psychic Whales in the East Sea currently number only about 70, including sub-adults, and occupy the smallest territory among the major factions.

Then there’s a faction quite different from the other monster groups: humans.

The Republic of Korea maintains shipping routes by eliminating nearby monsters along the coastline, coastal waters, and various affiliated islands like Jeju. For islands like Ulleungdo and Dokdo, they’ve abandoned sea routes in favor of air transportation, hunting only the monsters near these islands.

Additionally, South Korea and Japan cooperate to secure the waters around Tsushima, Hokkaido, and the Maritime Province for trade—blocking both the exterior and interior of the East Sea while leisurely “cleaning” it for safety.

Of course, since this blockade consumes a significant portion of their military resources, the cleaning is essentially limited to maintaining the status quo. For humans, expansion of territory comes with tremendous losses, despite their strength.

Contrasting with the Giant Psychic Whales, who rely on high quality but small numbers, are the Dolphinmen.

These amphibious humanoid monsters, resembling bipedal dolphins with arms and legs, have established a vast kingdom in the mutated underwater environment and developed a primitive civilization.

Being an underwater civilization, they cannot use fire—a significant disadvantage—but they excel at utilizing sea monsters compared to other monster civilizations.

Low-grade giant seahorses have become as common as chickens, while mid-grade monsters are treated like medieval horses or cattle—somewhat valuable livestock.

Thanks to their domestication techniques, monster byproducts are abundant, allowing even ordinary low-rank warriors (Grade 8-9 Dolphinmen) to possess at least one weapon made from monster bones.

Elite low-rank warriors (Grade 7) can equip armor made from low-grade monster skin or scales, while mid-rank warriors (Grade 6) or generals (high-rank warriors/Grade 4-5) are fully equipped with gear made from mid-grade monster byproducts.

Their equipment, being of excellent material quality, is only slightly less durable and effective than that of hunters of equivalent grade—another notable characteristic.

They’ve even managed to domesticate thousands of juvenile Giant Psychic Whales and successfully raised two of them to adulthood—Grade 3.

As a result, they have three high-grade monsters in their forces, including their monarch, the Dolphinman Emperor (Grade 3), commanding approximately 10,000 mid to high-rank warriors (Grade 4-6).

Add to this several million low-rank warriors (Grade 7-9), roughly 10 million reserve Dolphinmen (non-warriors), and tens of thousands of domesticated monster livestock—an impressive military force, but…

Keee, eeeeeeeee—

Swoosh!

Squeeeeeee! Bwaaaah!

Boom! Uuuugh—gack!

At least right now, in the Fourth City of the Dolphinmen—Green Land—currently under invasion by the Hive Mind’s legion, none of this information seemed relevant.

※ ※ ※

Green Land, a city named after plants that resulted from bizarre mutations of seaweed due to monster influence, is characterized by buildings constructed using the seaweed that originally grew where the city now stands.

The rectangular buildings use thick, tall seaweed as pillars, giving the impression of apartment-like structures stacked together, reminiscent of a modern city.

The surrounding area has a very flat floor without complex and rugged terrain like underwater mountain ranges, and the vast plains(?) nearby grow enormous amounts of seaweed that the Dolphinmen use in various ways.

Thick seaweed that grows like trees is used as building material, while seaweed that bears fruit(?) is cultivated in vast specialized farms.

Tough seaweed is made into various everyday tools, while soft seaweed is used for food or as feed for domesticated monsters.

With high food production and abundant seaweed making livestock raising easy, the Fourth City was undisputedly the Dolphinmen’s greatest food production center—which is perhaps why this magnificent city became the Hive Mind’s first target.

It all began when a Dolphinman reconnaissance team accidentally discovered monsters infiltrating through underground passages.

This monster group included several hundred mid to high-rank warrior-level monsters and thousands of low-rank warrior-level monsters.

While their numbers were less than 1% of the Dolphinmen’s forces, the problem was that if they advanced just a few dozen kilometers in their current direction, they would reach the Dolphinmen’s Second City.

The Second City, a military fortress city built to guard against surface threats, was constructed with bricks carved from rock, giving it high defensive capabilities—but if its underground foundation collapsed, the city would crumble.

It also served as a storage facility for military supplies and preserved food, as well as blocking the path to the First City, the capital, making it strategically vital. The Dolphinmen responded with perhaps excessive force, defeating those monsters.

Though the monsters were quite strong, they couldn’t withstand the Dolphinmen who brought a Grade 3 Giant Psychic Whale, so the Dolphinmen thought the incident was over, but…

The real problem occurred afterward.

Shamans (psychic users) detected that remnants of those monsters had settled in a bay near the Fourth City and started something, so the Dolphinmen naturally sent soldiers to eliminate them—resulting in total annihilation.

According to the final message from a dying shaman, the soldiers were wiped out by a single monster, suggesting that the monster there must be at least Grade 3 to make sense of such devastation.

Therefore, they called for high-grade forces while hastily sending soldiers to buy time, but… it was obviously futile.

The monster group, which had somehow amassed tens of thousands of troops, easily crushed the disorganized time-buying soldiers and advanced rapidly, grinding every visible life form to dust.

As a result, the Fourth City grew terrified as communications with reconnaissance and delaying forces were cut off one by one, and they began to strengthen their defenses, but…

Before high-grade reinforcements could arrive, the Fourth City was already under attack by the monsters.