Chapter 366: The Amalgam of Genius and Stupidity [Part 2]
Lung changed the subject to distract himself. “Mr. chief, if you don’t mind me asking, you and your people look quite different from how you were described in my ancestors’ records.”
“Oh that? It’s because we evolved, of course. The environment of Sea Paradise greatly accelerated one’s evolution speed, which is why almost every generation undergoes some changes.” The Moor chief raised his webbed hand and wriggled his fingers for a moment. The longer he wriggled, the smaller the webbings became. Eventually, his hands almost looked like a standard human’s.
When the Moor first came to Sea Paradise, they did not have any webbing on their hands. However, a thousand years was enough time for many things to change. The webbings weren’t the only thing the Moor had grown to have. Their unnaturally thick hair, body shape, bone structure and more had all undergone a certain degree of changes as well.
“In a way, you can say we’re better than our ancestors now,” the Moor chief said with a pleased expression. Pascado and the others bowed their heads so he wouldn’t notice their distorted expressions, however.
Better, how?? Your ancestors at least fought a war that decided the fate of their race! You guys just sat here for a thousand years doing nothing at all!
“It wasn’t all good news though.” The Moor chief suddenly let out a sigh. “Our birth rate has become much lower than it used to be. A millennium has pa.s.sed, but our population has only grown to four hundred and seventy six.”
A short silence later, Lung gave the bottle a shake and asked a question, “Is this the only G.o.d’s Tear you have?”
“Yes, yes. We only have enough for exactly one person,” the chief answered.
This was the second time the Moor chief had said the words “yes, yes”. It could just be a coincidence, but Cillin suspected that it was his way to doubly confirm something.
Lung thought it was a shame that there was only one G.o.d’s Tear, but the Moor chief continued, “However, the transformation caused by G.o.d’s Tear is a hereditary mutation, meaning that it can be pa.s.sed down to your descendants. It’s not a sure thing though. a.s.suming that your evolution ends in success, some of your descendants may inherit the traits you gained from G.o.d’s Tear, and some may not.”
Oh, that’s much better. I guess that makes sense. If this was just a one-time consumable that benefits me and no one else, then it really doesn’t deserve to be known as one of the Aurelios.
“One last question, please. What are the odds that consuming G.o.d’s Tear will end in success?”
The Moor chief thought for a second before answering, “As far as I know, it is a 100% chance on record.”
Lung’s subordinates breathed out a sigh of relief when they heard that, or at least they tried to before the Moor chief gave his webbings a scratch and continued, “The only other person who drank G.o.d’s Tear was the Xi Family member from a thousand years ago. Since he succeeded, it is definitely a 100% success rate alright.”
Everyone: “...” I want to strangle him, they thought to themselves.
“Oh, one more thing. There is only one way to exit this place, and it is the same method the Xi Family used to leave this place back then.”
“What way?” Many backs were straightened at the sudden but important revelation.
The Moor chief fiddled with a strand of finger-sized white hair before answering, “I’ll tell you guys if he evolves successfully.”
Everyone: “...” I really want to strangle him to death. Now I understand why so many wanted the Moor dead back then.
“When the Xi Family first researched the ‘common frequency’, they quickly discovered that their machines are unable to achieve the same effect even when they share the same wave band. That is why I say that there is only one way you guys can return to the surface. Anyway, I’ve spoken enough for the day. Our entire race prays for your success, young man!”
Big Rock’s expression crumbled for the nth time since the start of the day. He still had so many questions he wanted to ask, but the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d had shut it all down just like that.
Ten minutes later, Lung finished his mental preparation, popped open G.o.d’s Tear and drank it in one gulp. Right after that, he collapsed on the ground.
Before they could erupt into righteous panic, the Moor chief declared that this was normal and whipped out a thousand-year-old “manual” that he absolutely should have shown them first but did not for whatever reason. They did not ask because they were afraid they would not be able to control themselves after hearing the answer. After Big Rock read the manual though, he almost wished that the old man hadn’t shown them the manual. It was because it showed what the consumer would gain should the evolution end successfully based on the one successful case, and what the consumer would lose in a million and one other possible failure scenarios.
To say that they were gruesome would be an understatement. There wasn’t a single failure scenario that left the consumer with an intact body. Big Rock’s hands were literally shaking when he reached the end of the manual. He could not even imagine what the Andrea Family would do should Lung prove incapable of subsuming G.o.d’s Tear.
Lung was laid down on a bed in the chief’s house. His body temperature had experienced a nose dive, and his expression and body language suggested that he was in great pain. On the other hand, his vitals were surprisingly strong, so Cillin took it as a good sign and waited patiently for him to recover.
His body temperature finally stabilized an hour later, but he was still unconscious. According to the “manual”, it was because he was undergoing dominance variance. It was a unique occurrence that was only observed in the successful case, meaning that Lung was definitely not going to die anytime soon. It was only then everyone finally relaxed.
Well, almost everyone. At first, everyone was watching over Lung in the chief’s house, but Wheeze eventually got bored and demanded to be let out to play. Cillin could not trust the cat to stay out of trouble, so he asked Czedow to stay behind before stepping outside with it.
Cillin pa.s.sed Wheeze a bag of fish biscuits as they explored the underwater city. It was a simple city where simply people lived. He would believe it if a Moor told him that the blood-drenched, dark blue waters of Sea Paradise were pure. That was just how they were.
A Moor’s life was simple yet unswerving. They were able to protect a bottle for a thousand years because they were very simple-minded beings, but that didn’t mean they were fully immune to the desire to see the world beyond the sea waters. That desire had reached its peak since their group entered the underwater city, but their resolve to keep their promise remained unchanged. If Lung had failed to subsume G.o.d’s Tear, Cillin had no doubt that they would wait another one thousand years for the destined person to appear.
The Moor was undoubtedly geniuses at taming sea beasts. Considering that their talents outstripped even Lung’s, they might even be the greatest sea beast tamers in the entire world. However, that talent was offset by their inability to integrate into human society despite being human themselves. A thousand years ago, the amount of conflicts had acc.u.mulated to the point where their enemies had hated them enough to commit genocide. Greatest tamers in the galaxy they might be, their advantages were completely nullified after they had been lured into s.p.a.ce. They were unable to contact a sea creature or make use of their environment. Their technology and martial prowess were fairly behind their opponent’s as well. They would not have survived if the Xi Family had not rescued them back then.
The Moor needed a protector back then, and Cillin had a feeling that they were going to need another one after today. Since Lung was the inheritor of G.o.d’s Tear, it would be logical to a.s.sume that the Andrea Family would a.s.sume the mantle next. However, there was a huge problem with this arrangement: the Andrea Family was a merchant’s family. Their very nature clashed against the Moor’s; demanded them to exploit the Moor’s simple-mindedness. Even if Lung sincerely wanted to protect the Moor, could he really hold back his family’s greed alone?
Cillin raised his head to look at the barrier that kept the sea water from flooding into the city. The light and shadows that were cast over the underwater city seemed both poetic and ancient.
Suddenly, Wheeze tapped Cillin’s cheek with a paw before pointing in a certain direction. “Hey look! That’s Cycy, isn’t it?”
Cyrea was currently scrubbing a Predator’s tongue with a huge brush that was bigger than a mop. The Predator was lying on the ground and closing its eyes in comfort.
Do all sea beasts like having their tongues scrubbed? Cillin thought this because he remembered Blueskin having the same habit.
When Cyrea caught sight of Cillin, he leaped up in excitement and accidentally poked the roof of the Predator’s mouth. Displeased, the creature immediately wrapped its tongue around the brush before hitting Cyrea’s head repeatedly with the b.u.t.t end.
It was a scene straight out of a comedy, but Cillin could tell they were really close to one another.
Wheeze grabbed a couple of fish biscuits and tossed it into the Predator’s mouth to appease it. Then, it tossed a couple more into Cyrea’s hands and declared generously, “This is my treat.”
Cillin wasn’t sure if the ma.s.sive Predator could even taste the fish biscuits, but Cyrea certainly looked like he enjoyed it. It was to the point where Cillin did not have the heart to tell the young man that it was pet food.
“You two look really close. It’s rare for a human to interact so well with a sea beast,” said Cillin. Even tamers only used sea beasts as a weapon. Of course, not all tamers treated their sea beasts like tools, but the language barrier was too big to forge such a deep connection.
Cyrea replied while crunching and swallowing the fish biscuits, “That’s because we see ourselves as a member of the sea beasts. Everyone here’s a friend, you know?”
He then looked at Wheeze hoping that the cat would toss him more fish biscuits.