Chapter 146

146

The immense vortex did nothing to halt the ferry's progress.

The ship sailed straight into the depths, a momentary sensation of weightlessness, like falling from a great height.

Dark seawater swallowed the vessel, yet the passengers defied gravity, failing to float. Aside from being submerged, everything on the ship remained exactly as it had been on the surface.

The water here was unexpectedly hot. Several passengers whose original forms were shrimp began to turn the red of cooked high-protein flesh on their surfaces, unable to tolerate the temperature.

Tang Xun'an narrowed his eyes slightly. Thanks to Lu Yan's training, his underwater endurance had improved considerably.

Still, as seawater flooded his nasal passages, a burning, distending pain bloomed in his lungs.

Despite being unconscious, the gill slits on Lu Yan's cheeks parted, diligently beginning their work.

All passengers had been herded onto the deck, including the still-living 'meat fish' that had been kept in the hold.

The meat fish were more heavily mutated now, their arms reduced to slender fins, relying on jumping force to skid across the deck.

Underwater, the Octopus Captain's body had swollen to twice its size, like a water-inflated giant.

He glanced at Tang Xun'an, casually scooped up a meat fish from the deck, and clenched his fist.

The fish's eyeballs and internal organs were violently squeezed out, a cloud of pink blood diffusing in the water.

From its fish-like lips, it spat out a swollen swim bladder.

The captain tossed the bladder at Tang Xun'an's feet. "Eat it. Living humans are such a hassle."

The swim bladder of a meat fish could temporarily grant land-dwelling species the ability to breathe underwater, lasting anywhere from twenty-four to twenty-eight hours.

Tang Xun'an did not refuse.

Even in this scalding water, Lu Yan's hands and feet remained ice-cold.

To avoid drawing the attention of other pollutants, Lu Yan was bundled tightly in a black cloak. The fish scales on his face had completely covered it now, like a shimmering golden cocoon.

Though no one could say what, exactly, would emerge when that cocoon finally split.

Through turbulent currents, the rust-streaked ferry finally docked.

The structure here was bizarre. Above them was dark seawater, below was a deep, emerald green. Between the two layers of water existed a silent vacuum.

The captain snorted a jet of fresh seawater from his nostrils. "Crew! Get to work."

Dozens of squid-people moved with wooden steps, using their briny tentacles to scoop up the meat fish from the deck.

The captain planted a foot on the bow, letting out a low chuckle. "Home, friends. Let us return to the embrace of the Abyss."

As his words faded, one living fish after another actively leaped into the emerald-green water. A group of meat fish knelt by the ship's side as if in worship, murmuring incantations, their eyes filled with fanaticism.

The seemingly clear water churned like quicksand, bubbling with murky froth.

The Octopus Captain's gaze drifted lightly toward Tang Xun'an—more specifically, toward the bundle in his arms.

For some reason, the Prophet looked terribly weak...

The captain couldn't help but fantasize about possessing the power of 'Foresight' himself. Those eyes that could see the future were coveted by many.

Sensing this ill-intentioned stare, Tang Xun'an slowly lifted his gaze.

His eyes revealed no discernible emotion, yet a madness seethed just beneath the surface.

The Octopus Captain had traversed this route for years. As the sole master of the only passage to R'lyeh, he faced even pollutants far more powerful than himself with utter confidence.

This sunken city was both the city of origin and the city of evolution. The captain knew well that pollutants dared not kill him, lest they incur the wrath of other high-level entities.

But in that instant, a premonition brushed the captain's mind.

If he laid a hand on the 'Prophet,' this fragrant offering, the man would fight to the death... or rather, would kill him.

The captain snorted in disdain and looked away.

The finest ingredients were reserved for the highest Lords. No offering would leave this place alive.

…

…

The sacrifice before them continued.

On the ship, hundreds of living fish vanished, halved in the blink of an eye.

Beneath the calm surface, through the clear water, one could see the meat fish being relentlessly crushed by water pressure into pulp, then drawn toward a central, fleshy sphere.

The sphere grew larger and larger. A layer of fat and debris floated on the water beneath the ship.

Finally, the water's buoyancy could no longer support the sphere's weight. The massive ball of flesh plunged straight down into the Abyss.

A long moment later, the entire sea began to shake violently.

Passengers on the ship were tossed about. Tang Xun'an spread the wings on his back and, holding Lu Yan, rose into the air.

He looked into the Abyss.

Enormous stone pillars surged upward, carved with dizzying reliefs. It was impossible to tell if the ground was rising or the sea sinking. On the green moss, sinister eyes opened one after another, soon swirling and flowing like spilled paint.

The pillars did not stop growing until they pressed against the dark sea surface overhead. Countless such columns now pierced the boundless water.

Having ceased their growth, the surfaces of the pillars began to mold over, sprouting layer upon layer of green fungal filaments. The emerald threads tangled together, staining the entire fortress a dull, oppressive black.

A headache throbbed in Tang Xun'an's skull. He gasped slightly, as if struggling to breathe. A cold sensation spread from his chest.

He looked down and saw the Glory Medal in Lu Yan's pocket.

The medal floated upward, a visible crack splintering across the black diamond. And the crack continued to widen.

Tang Xun'an could feel his own Pollution Value, which had been improving, skyrocketing once more.

A hot, briny sea wind swept through. The pollutants on the ship sighed in comfort, as if bathing in a hot spring.

A crab that had been boiled red began to molt. It appeared to be female, a bulging sac on its back, its abdomen crawling with tiny crab offspring.

The shed shell was devoured by the young, which then swelled in size before crawling back into her brood pouch.

Secondary evolution, an excruciatingly difficult process in the outside world, here required only a wisp of sea breeze.

The captain inhaled the hot wind deeply, his expression intoxicated. "Our destination has been reached. Dear passengers, I will not escort you inside. Remember, we have only one week. When the time comes, whether you can return or not, I will depart."

The tentacles he kept in the ship's drainage ports writhed, pushing the ferry forward another few yards until its bow just breached the emerald fungal filaments.

Not every evolution succeeded.

For its own safety, the Octopus Captain never ventured deeper.

The tourists disembarked in orderly fashion, vanishing one by one into the mass of darkness.

Tang Xun'an pressed a hand to Lu Yan's forehead. No fever—instead, it was frighteningly cold, like ice.

He bent close, whispering into Lu Yan's ear, "Yanyan. We're home."

A furrow appeared between Lu Yan's brows. Meaningless babble spilled from his lips.

Tang Xun'an listened for a moment but discerned nothing.

Unconscious, Lu Yan was unconsciously using his talent, Delirium.

His Pollution Value had already climbed to a perilous threshold.

High enough that, if delivered to a Research Institute, he might be taken for euthanasia.

A Pollution Value exceeding 100 didn't guarantee becoming a pollutant. It could also mean simply dying.

The Lu Yan in Tang Xun'an's memory was always calm to the point of coldness, self-possessed to the point of pride. Never had he seemed so fragile it hurt to look at him.

He did not hesitate for long.

Holding Lu Yan tight, Tang Xun'an plunged headfirst into the Abyss.

*

What, truly, lay within the Abyss?

Shen Qingyang had once wondered the same, until he devoured Lu Cheng and glimpsed the Abyss through that eye.

What the Abyss left him was death and terror.

He didn't know how long he'd slept. So long that this massive body no longer felt like his own.

Shen Qingyang heard the familiar babble. Slowly, the eyes on his tentacles opened, finally fixing on the entrance.

He couldn't move.

Shen Qingyang's body was already enormous, but viewed from above, he resembled a sucker, plastered against a fleshy, gelatinous mass. This mass sprouted vine-like fleshy roots from its crown, its body studded with mucus-coated eyeballs and worm-like mouths.

The denizens of R'lyeh called this monster 'Mother.' Once human, she too had been a mother to a child, though they shared no blood. Perhaps she had loved him, briefly.

The monster pondered for a long while, remembering she had once been called Jiang Yue. Her child was named Lu Yan.

Because of the Delirium, the slumbering little monsters within R'lyeh began to awaken one after another, slipping into a strange, fanatical state.

On Shen Qingyang's form, a single crimson eye shrieked, "Jiang Yue! You hear it—the Vessel is here! He's come! I didn't lie!"

As mother to her children, she had nurtured two Vessels.

One was a vessel of spirit. The other, a vessel of flesh.

The former was Lu Yan. The latter, Shen Qingyang.

Shen Qingyang's tentacles adhered to her colossal form. Jiang Yue had been feeding him in reverse, channeling her own substance ceaselessly into Shen Qingyang's body.

Shen Qingyang felt like a force-fed duck crammed into a tiny crate. A feeding tube ran from his mouth straight into his stomach, pumping his body full of nutrient slurry against his will.

"Once the two vessels merge," Lu Cheng said, "we will welcome the god's return and a brand new world! You can leave this place too."

His tone held an urgency he himself didn't notice.

A jet of seawater shot out, splattering across Lu Cheng's single remaining eye.

Jiang Yue couldn't speak, but her assent was clear.

She opened her mouth.

Shen Qingyang fell to the ground.

His tentacles curled in agony, then retracted like shriveling vines.

Using his mimicry ability, he forced his body back into a human shape.

It was an unstable form. Black tentacles writhed beneath his skin, probing at every possible exit before slithering just beneath the surface.

A swollen, blood-red eye bulged from Shen Qingyang's palm. Out of human habit, he dressed himself and began to walk away.

The red eye whispered urgently, "Hurry! Find Lu Yan before he wakes. This is our only chance!"

Shen Qingyang drove his fist into the eye in his palm.

Lu Cheng's fury erupted. "I'm trying to help you—and you hit me?! Everything I just told her was a lie! She's a mindless S-Class pollutant now. Her only purpose is to birth that god. If I hadn't said that, would she have let you go?"

"We're one now, Teacher is on your side."

Shen Qingyang looked down, a mocking smile twisting his features beyond his control.

"Is that so?" he asked softly. "Teacher?"

He raised the index and middle fingers of his other hand, curling them slightly, and reached toward the eye in his palm.

Panic edged Lu Cheng's voice. "What are you doing?! Shen Qingyang! If I die, the foresight dies too! Think clearly! Don't you want to save Lu Yan?!"

Shen Qingyang didn't hesitate. His fingers pried the eyelids open. The red eye let out a sharp, agonized shriek.

"I've learned everything I needed to know, Teacher," Shen Qingyang replied with a smile.

Lu Cheng had become his eye. Did he really think Shen Qingyang wouldn't see?

He'd kept Lu Cheng alive for one reason only: to convince Jiang Yue.

Shen Qingyang dug the eyeball out, clutching it in his fist. A clump of tender red polyp tissue hung from its back, along with umbrella-like vascular roots.

Once removed from its nutrient medium, the eye began to dehydrate and shrivel. Feeling death approach, Lu Cheng spat out a stream of feeble curses.

"It's been so long since I've seen the doctor," Shen Qingyang said. "I wanted to bring him a gift. You understand, don't you, Teacher?"