Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Sea Demon's Legacy
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In the game, Sea Demons measured roughly 20 to 30 meters in size. That put them about on par with my own body length.
One might think that's small for a quasi-boss creature, but there's a catch.
Sea Demons can adjust their size and form at will.
In their standard mode, they're only around 20 meters tall, but once combat begins, they can swell up to 100 meters. Their threatening buzzsaw tentacles grow accordingly, and the range of their unique trait, Terror of the Deep Sea, expands right along with them.
As seen with No. 26, Sea Demons generally possess high intelligence. They make excellent use of their abilities even mid-battle.
That alone multiplies the variables tanking players have to account for exponentially.
'Even factoring that in, this one's enormous.'
Maybe it was just old age. Its corpse was easily more than double the size of a standard Sea Demon at a glance. It was so massive it dwarfed even the 50-meter Pale Mask.
Moreover, scars large and small dotted its pink exoskeleton, a clear testament to its battle-hardened life.
'If not for the spaceship collision, it wouldn't have gone down so easily.'
Evidence of that was the gash on its torso, longer than my own body. Even this mighty beast hadn't fully recovered from the injuries sustained in the crash.
As I gazed down at the Sea Demon's corpse from a short distance away, No. 26 approached. Dozens of tentacles extended from its body, latching onto the corpse.
'What are you doing?'
I briefly wondered if it was mourning, but the vibe didn't suggest that. It attached all its extended tentacles to the body and went still.
Moments later, a purple glow rippled across the massive corpse's surface. Even I, clad in psionic-reflective armor, felt a tingling deep inside from the sheer energy.
The violet energy coursed along the corpse's surface. The immense flow of psychic power headed straight for the tentacles No. 26 had attached.
No. 26, sucking it up like a straw, began to emit a purple radiance. The glow's intensity matched its usual emotional displays, but my auxiliary organs told a different story.
Vast psychic power was swirling within it. The amount it absorbed dwarfed my own psychic breath.
Then cracks began spiderwebbing across its body, like an egg hatching. The sight startled me for a moment.
Good thing it showed no signs of pain, or I might have intervened.
'This must be important.'
I quietly observed its transformation.
The cracked exoskeleton shattered soon after, and with the psychic power concentrated, its body ballooned dramatically. Having shrunk to 3 meters while confined in the research base, it rapidly grew back to around 10 meters.
The psychic power was so intense that even my auxiliary organs struggled to make out its form clearly, but at a glance, it resembled the dead Sea Demon.
'I see. So that's how it works.'
Many players in the game had speculated about the connection between Sea Demons and Bubble Amoebas, suggesting a close genetic link.
Some even theorized that Bubble Amoebas evolved into Sea Demons—the weakest ocean creatures growing into the strongest. There was some basis for it.
Most wild NPCs in the Space Survival universe followed a mechanic of maturing from juveniles to adults. Sea Demons surely had a juvenile stage too.
Countless players scoured ocean planets without finding any juvenile Sea Demons. That led to speculation that Bubble Amoebas, visually similar, were their young form.
'Of course, hardly anyone took it seriously.'
Lots of players kept Bubble Amoebas as pets. Everyone knew they didn't change much even as they grew.
'And yet here we are.'
Watching the scene unfold before me, it was hard to dismiss the growth theory outright.
No. 26—the Sea Demon hatchling—looked almost identical to a Bubble Amoeba. With its tentacles and fins retracted, and its small size, it blended right in.
The fragile juvenile Sea Demons live mixed in with Bubble Amoeba groups, protecting them while hunting threats in reverse to grow bit by bit. When the time comes to inherit a Sea Demon's power, they mutate into adults.
'No wonder no one knew.'
Bubble Amoebas are pets, not combat aides. Even if someone lucked into a Sea Demon juvenile, they wouldn't pit it in fights, so it never grew.
Taking one into battle against a colossal ocean monster like a Sea Demon?
With zero combat ability, players would assume it'd die every time. Unless they got off on killing their pet, no one would risk it.
To verify, you'd need to rescue a Sea Demon hatchling that looks just like a Bubble Amoeba and bring it to a dead Sea Demon's corpse. Practically impossible.
While I pondered, No. 26 kept devouring the Sea Demon's legacy.
But eventually, the absorption rate slowed. Despite plenty of energy left, it kept dropping.
Finally, it stopped. The 10-meter purple glowing mass detached slowly from the corpse.
The remaining psychic power in the Sea Demon's body faded away and vanished.
'What a waste.'
Letting pure psychic power essence slip away right in front of me left a twinge of regret. I scratched my head with my repaired combat arm.
Even after the energies dissipated, No. 26 continued glowing. But the light gradually dimmed.
No, it wasn't just the light—its body was shrinking too.
From 10 meters to 5, then 1. It seemed like it would keep going, but stopped at about 50 cm.
'Huh?'
Precisely the size to ride on my head. Aside from the fins extended for swimming, it had reverted to slime form.
'It's got patterns now.'
The biggest change from before was the patterns on No. 26's body. Gentle spirals of pale purple swirled over its deep pink exoskeleton.
Down here at the ocean trench's bottom, no light penetrated, but under sunlight, it'd probably shimmer like pink sapphire.
Transformation complete, it wiggled its fins and approached me.
[Zuzuzu (All done?)]
｢Yeah!｣
No. 26 replied with its usual cheerful waves.
｢A friend died, so now a new friend will be born to protect the family.｣
[Zu zuuzu (New friend?)]
｢Yeah. I have another family, so I can't. I only took a little to leave some for another friend.｣
From its words, the dispersed energy seemed to spread through the water to other Sea Demon juveniles.
I almost suggested it should just eat it all, but the thought didn't make it past my tentacles.
Thanks to the Sea Demon and No. 26's consideration, a new monster would soon stir somewhere in these depths.
｢Friend's duty is done, so Big Baby can eat now.｣
[Zuzuzu zu (You sure?)]
It glowed affirmatively.
This side of it really set No. 26 apart from humans. A human would've tried to preserve their friend's body.
'Grieving kin differs from the corpse, I guess.'
No. 26's behavior resembled a highly intelligent wild animal with social instincts more than a human.
I gently petted it with my combat arm. Delighted by the long-overdue affection, it sparkled brightly.
After one pat, I turned to the Sea Demon's corpse.
'I could use Hunter's Emblem, but...'
Thanks to Horizon of Nightmares, Hunter's Emblem now lasted 20 minutes—plenty for devouring a near-50-meter head. But there was a problem.
'Gotta go up and eat the Pale Mask too.'
It took nearly an hour to descend here. Even with Hunter's Emblem boosting my physical prowess, ascending in time would be tight.
'Plus, I didn't kill the Sea Demon.'
It died slowly from unhealed crash wounds, and quite some time had passed since.
'Eating it as-is gives almost no chance for traits.'
The deep sea's low temperature prevented much decay, but since I didn't kill it, predation effects were unlikely to trigger.
Even using Hunter's Emblem, non-kills count as gene samples. Consuming them in that state yields only 0.5-level traits, not full ones.
'Pale Mask is different.'
That was prey I'd hunted with allies. With the emblem, I'd get traits at near-100% as always.
'Save the emblem.'
After some thought, I decided to eat the Sea Demon corpse as-is.
Using Hunter's Emblem offered little gain and big risks. A 0.5 trait from it wasn't worth missing the Pale Mask by not surfacing in time.
'Emblem cooldown is a week—no waiting it out.'
Our archipelago was subtropical. Forget a week—even two days would ruin the Pale Mask's gene essence.
'Regrettable, but treat this as nutrition.'
I approached the corpse and swung my combat arm. Parting the water, my sharp claws sank into its exoskeleton.
'Tough as expected.'
Unlike its squishy appearance, the exoskeleton was thick and sturdy—more durable than Pale Mask's. Biting it raw wouldn't even dent my teeth without jaw or fang traits. I'd have to tear chunks with my arms for now.
'Corrosive tentacles are great for swallowing but lack cutting power.'
Primitive methods it was. I sliced into the corpse with my claws like knives.
I worried No. 26 might find it gross, but it didn't care what happened to the body. It just playfully tapped the stinger at my tail's tip with its fins.
Ignoring it, I tore off chunks of Sea Demon flesh. No blood flowed—it had long clotted.
'Here goes.'
I popped a piece into my mouth.
'Hmm.'
This fearsome ocean monster's meat had a surprisingly exotic taste matching its power.
Its jellyfish-like look suggested yangjangpi or cold jellyfish salad, but no. It felt closer to salmon sashimi—slightly oily compared to the usual. Plus a fragrant lime note.
'Overall, quite gourmet.'
The only letdown: less distinctive than hoped.
Maybe because it wasn't freshly killed. Impressive lime zing aside, it was just tasty food.
So I thought as I tore off more pieces.
'Huh?'
The instant I ate that section, I had to admit my judgment was rash.
'This part's totally different?'
Incredibly, each part of the Sea Demon tasted unique. This chunk was exactly escargot soup flavor—the kind from my childhood buffet.
Common thread: lime aroma throughout.
'This is wild.'
Amazed, I dug in.
Deeper inside, past the exoskeleton, flavors grew richer.
Time since death had clotted the blood, and the chill dulled the full taste—such a shame.
Amid the nonstop surprises, I devoured the head and brain, fins aside.
'Tch. No predation effect.'
With Quintessence Harvester's jaw effect, eating the head equaled consuming the whole body for predation. But nothing triggered.
I'd expected as much given the conditions, but regret lingered.
[Zuzu zuzuzu (Let's go)]
｢Not eating more?｣
[Zuzuzu (I'm good)]
I left the body parts and fins.
The meat I'd eaten already exceeded my body weight by far. No need for more nutrition.
With that, No. 26 and I left the remains and headed upward.
Bubble Amoebas trailed us, glowing farewell. No. 26 waved goodbye, then stuck by my side as we swam.
｢I like being with Big Baby.｣
[Zuzu zuuzu (Me too)]
No. 26 was much bigger than when we met, but proportionally, it felt the same as riding on my head.
Maybe reminiscing made the return swim less boring despite retracing our path.
An hour later, we surfaced onto the island.
Greeting us: the Pale Mask corpse, a fifth of its body gone. Beside it sprawled Mother of the Sky, grooming her fur.
｢Took longer than expected.｣
She eyed me hello. I scanned around.
[Zuuuuuuz (Where's Adhai?)]
｢Was lounging till just now, then bolted behind that rock.｣
A massive boulder in the direction she nodded. Adhai hid there—its heartbeat throbbed via my chin auxiliaries. Pounding hard: pure fear.
'Why the sudden freakout?'
No dangers around. As I searched for causes, Adhai's thought waves brushed my tentacles.
｢Adult｣ ｢Danger｣ ｢Run｣ ｢Can't｣ ｢Danger｣ ｢Danger｣ ｢Danger｣
[Zuzu zuzuzuzu zuzu zuzuzu (No danger here. What's wrong?)]
｢Kin｣ ｢Here｣ ｢Came｣ ｢Me｣ ｢Adult｣ ｢Death｣ ｢Death｣ ｢Death｣
Trembling thought waves. I paused, then realized: the Sea Demon.
'No way—because of No. 26?'
No. 26 looked cute, but packed absorbed psychic power. Not fully adult yet, but strong enough to solo a White Galleron or similar psyker.
Adhai, hypersensitive to psychic energy, could easily mistake it for a White or even Black Galleron.
Thinking similarly, No. 26 called out from my head.
｢Little Baby! It's me!｣
｢Little Adult?｣
｢I ate lots and got strong! No worries!｣
Adhai peeked from the rock.
｢Little Adult｣ ｢Really?｣
｢Yeah.｣
After minutes more of chatter, Adhai relaxed and emerged.
｢Me｣ ｢Remember｣ ｢Little Adult｣ ｢Big｣ ｢Now｣ ｢Small｣ ｢Can't Understand｣
｢I can grow or shrink now. Cool, right?｣
｢Me｣ ｢Cool｣ ｢Cool｣
｢Watch—grows like this?｣
｢Me｣ ｢Surprised!｣
As they chattered via thoughts and waves, Mother of the Sky called me.
｢Left the head.｣
[Zuzu zuzuzu zuzu zuzuzuzu (Lots of other parts left)]
｢...How big do you think it is? Days' worth.｣
[Zuzuzu (Really?)]
｢Anyway, shapeshifting? So it's a full Sea Demon now?｣
[Zuzuzu zuzu zuzuzu (Not fully, but yeah)]
｢...Ha. A real monster now.｣
She shook her head with a sigh of awe or alarm.
'Monster, huh.'
She had no idea. The real monster show was just starting—she was in for more shocks.
[Zuzuzu zu zuzuzu (Now for real surprise)]
｢What?｣
Instead of answering, I activated Hunter's Emblem.
｢Wha...wha?｣
Mother of the Sky's eyes widened like saucers as she stared from her prone position.
First time using Hunter's Emblem since becoming a near-adult.
True to its name, my body began shifting into the form optimized for hunting and predation.