Emerald Depths
The sea off Ocean City sparkled like a jewel set in perfect clarity. I gazed out over the waters famed for their emerald beaches and let out a quiet breath of wonder at the translucent blue-green waves.
So this is what an unpolluted ocean looks like…
It was the first time in my life I had ever seen a truly clean sea. I had caught glimpses in internet videos or virtual-reality simulations, but those had never felt real.
On Earth, the ocean had long been synonymous with humanity’s garbage dump. Every nation and corporation dumped contaminated wastewater, plastic refuse, and radioactive waste without hesitation—an open landfill for the entire species.
There was a reason the seas had become that way. Technology capable of purifying polluted water had been invented.
Back home, you only ever saw water this clean on private beaches.
Once purification was as simple as pressing a button, neither corporations nor governments saw any reason to stop polluting. The prevailing attitude was that any mess could be cleaned up afterward, so why worry? As a result, Earth’s oceans remained perpetually tainted, with the few pristine stretches reserved exclusively for the wealthy—places a graduate student’s salary and status could never hope to approach.
Of course, even this place isn’t perfectly unpolluted…
Right on cue, the analysis results from the pad arrived. It was the data the wristwatch detector had collected when Galrm knocked me into the water earlier.
The seawater contained water, sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, various plankton, ammonia, vitamins… and more.
Someone’s been pissing in the ocean.
Whether on Earth or here, humans seemed equally fond of relieving themselves where no one could see.
Additional compounds also showed up: neochromium trioxide, cyclovectorin dihydride, hexafluoro xenonite, and others. At first I tilted my head at the unfamiliar structures, but it quickly became clear these were substances unique to this world.
And I understood what they did.
They make the sea look a little more beautiful, a little cleaner…
Naturally, that didn’t mean they were harmless to the human body. Like microplastics, their side effects were subtle enough to go unnoticed at a glance.
Galrm hadn’t been imagining the strange taste in the water. Actual foreign chemicals were present.
“Hmm…”
Realizing that some corporation or city office was deliberately releasing substances harmful to humans into the sea for “management” purposes, I let out a low hum and considered my options. Should I spread the word, or simply let it pass?
One thing was certain: this wasn’t a problem I should wrestle with alone. The moment the thought occurred to me, I decided to toss the matter straight to my boss.
I turned my head. Regalia, who had already finished her work and was enjoying a sunbath, immediately reacted.
“What is it? Don’t tell me you’ve caused another incident…”
“…Should I tell you later?”
“No, speak now. Don’t save it to give me a headache later.”
Regalia sat up as she spoke. Fatigue was etched deeply across the young girl’s face. When we had first met, she hadn’t seemed this busy; somewhere along the way she had transformed into a weary corporate drone.
After all, ever since I joined the villain organization, Evils Enterprise had grown two- or threefold—yet the number of new personnel hadn’t kept pace. That meant Regalia had been handling everything herself. It was no wonder traces of an overworked adult showed on her childish features.
“It’s just… I found something in the water here.”
I explained the anomaly as calmly as possible, careful not to alarm her, hoping she would treat it as a minor issue.
Whether my tone worked or not, Regalia answered as though it were nothing important.
“Chemicals meant to keep the sea looking clean… In that case, the city’s leading corporation or the municipal office probably already knows. Let it go.”
“Are you sure?”
“You said yourself there’s no immediate harm, didn’t you? Then we can simply return to headquarters and you can develop an antidote. We’ll keep this data for when we need leverage over O City later.”
Regalia asked me not to make a big deal of it, saying she would handle everything. I nodded, still concerned, set the pad down, and looked back out at the beach.
The unpolluted sea—once the exclusive privilege of the rich back on Earth—shimmered beneath the sunlight.
Gururururuk—! Far below the surface, the giant squid that ruled these waters spewed bubbles in outrage. The noise created by humans in the distance was the cause.
—Gurururur.
They said interlayer noise could drive people to murder; apparently the same held true for the sea. The giant squid wanted nothing more than to charge over and tear the humans apart.
Yet it had not done so until now for one simple reason: far stronger predators had already decided to attack the humans, only to end up as their meals instead. That was how this relatively weak giant squid had risen to the top of the local hierarchy.
In the end, its survival instinct manifested as fleeing whenever the noisy humans approached.
—Gururuk—!
Still, running and hiding did nothing to ease its anger. The rage only piled higher. If it had its way, it would tear every last human to pieces right now…!
Just then, motorboats from a corporation sped across the water. Along with the roar of their engines, toxic chemicals sprayed from their hulls. The giant squid directly beneath them was caught in the propeller wash and struck full-on by the chemicals.
The substances released to preserve the sea’s beauty began seeping through the squid’s skin and into its body. Scientists had claimed the chemicals posed little danger to humans, but that did not mean they were harmless to other creatures.
Having absorbed a massive dose of the toxins, the giant squid began to die. Was this how the ruler of the emerald waters would meet its end?
—Gururuk……!
Yet the squid’s fury triggered an awakening. Its survival instinct pushed to the absolute limit, it manifested a physical-enhancement ability. Digesting the poisons filling its body, the squid began to grow—larger and larger, beyond even the colossal squid of myth. Maintaining such an enormous form required enormous energy; the result was a creature far too massive to have arisen through normal evolution.
Now burdened with the need to sustain its gigantic body, the squid turned its gaze toward the beach. Energy abounded there, and the humans had given it every justification to attack.
They had tried to kill it. As lord of these waters, it had a rightful duty to exact vengeance.
Thus the mythical giant squid of legend charged toward the shore—only to lose its life in an instant, its majestic appearance notwithstanding.
“—Oh?”
While swimming diligently, Levitan felt something approaching from afar and turned her head. Galrm, farther back, seemed to sense the same thing and grinned.
Levitan scrambled onto the sand and held out her hand toward Galrm. Understanding her intent, Galrm extended his own.
“Rock-paper-scissors!”
A moment later, winner and loser were decided.
“Damn it.”
“Then I get to do it, right?”
“You’re not even going to offer?”
“If it looks like I can’t handle it, I’ll yield.”
Levitan said this while biting down hard on her genetic modulator. Galrm sighed in resignation, realizing she had no intention of giving up the fight.
While the tiger beastman exhaled in disappointment, a colossal squid rose from the sea.
—Gurururur—!
As it spewed enormous bubbles from its maw, people on the beach began screaming and running at the sudden appearance of the monster.
“Kyaaaaah—!”
“I-it’s an awakened beast!”
“Call the heroes!”
At the word “heroes,” several people on the beach flinched. Levitan, who had been bouncing in place and preparing to charge, shot across the water in an instant.
She lifted one foot before it sank, then the other before that one sank, repeating the motion until she was running across the surface. Reaching the squid monster at incredible speed, she drove a kick straight into its face.
—Paaang—!
A sound like a giant balloon bursting echoed belatedly. A massive hole appeared in the squid’s face. With a hole through its head, the creature toppled backward into the sea. Levitan landed safely atop the falling monster, using it as a stepping stone.
“What—? Total weakling.”
Levitan let out a dry laugh, apparently surprised the creature had gone down in a single kick, then waved lightly at Galrm, who wore a disappointed expression in the distance.
From her sunbed, the boss watched the entire scene, removed her sunglasses, and let out a soft sigh.
“……Levitan?”
The woman with rabbit ears stared at the mosaic-covered figure on the television, her eyes flashing. She looked utterly shocked, as though she could not understand why Levitan was there.