Chapter 1356: Fish

Chapter 1357: Octopus

By Sannin Sound DomainWord Count: 1227

The air once again fell into a dead silence.

Although Chen Ling had known about Lu Xun's prophecy of the Red Star's return since he was in the human realm, at the time, he had no idea what the Red Star truly signified or the extent of Y012's destructive power. Now, it appeared far more serious than he had ever imagined!

The previous Candlelight World, which Y012 had directly penetrated, had already become the Ash Realm beneath their feet. Given the inherent similarity between the two worlds, Chen Ling doubted that the human realm possessed the capability to withstand the next assault from this entity. After all, the next time would not be a mere close encounter; it would be a direct collision.

The current state of the Ash Realm was the grim future awaiting the human realm.

"Is there any way to stop it?"

The moment the question left his lips, Chen Ling fell silent. He opened his mouth, then added, "…Never mind, pretend I didn't ask."

The "human self" ingrained in Chen Ling's mind instinctively began to adopt the perspective of the human realm. However, he immediately realized that he was no longer human… He was a Calamity Mockery within the Ash Realm. Even if the Red Star were to destroy the Candlelight World where the human realm resided, what concern was it of his?

The youth seemed not to have heard the latter part of Chen Ling's question, as he continued:

"That, I don't know… However, so far, there have been no recorded instances of a Candlelight World surviving the impact of a J-series meteor."

"If the current state of the Ash Realm is a result of the Red Star's collision, then where did the Calamities originate?"

Chen Ling voiced the question that concerned him most.

"A good question."

As they spoke, the two had already ventured into the depths of the Ashes of Civilization.

The already chaotic and disordered urban ruins grew even more fantastical as they delved deeper. Some matter even floated directly in the air, like specimens embedded within fissures of the world. Miniature civilization collapses continuously formed and dissipated around them. Fortunately, with the youth leading the way, they were always able to bypass the collapsing areas ahead of time, avoiding entanglement.

If Wu Yi had truly come here, given the density of the collapses, he would likely have been torn into three pieces on the spot.

"Regarding the origin of these Calamities, I have some theories, but I haven't delved into them… After all, they don't interest me." The youth calmly stated, pointing to something above his head.

"If you wish to know, you can search for yourself… This is the deepest part of the Ashes of Civilization, where a great deal of information about this world's final moments is buried. Perhaps you will find what you are looking for here."

Chen Ling followed the youth's gaze, observing a massive nuclear submarine silently suspended in the air. Around it floated numerous missile fragments, as well as the wreckage of airplanes and even satellites.

"Is it safe there?"

"As long as I am here, it is safe," the youth replied indifferently.

Chen Ling raised an eyebrow, stealing another glance at him from the corner of his eye. For some reason, amidst the youth's mysterious aura, there was always a faint, almost imperceptible hint of pride… Unlike Ji Xuan's chuunibyou tendencies, this youth, how to put it… spoke with a certain swagger.

Chen Ling nodded, then, stepping with a cloud-like gait, he flew directly toward the colossal nuclear submarine.

The nuclear submarine was immense; its shadow alone spanned several streets on the ground. Unintelligible characters were etched onto its surface. After circling the vessel, Chen Ling used "Reshape" to open a door and stepped inside.

The moment he stepped inside, a faint, fishy odor assailed him. Chen Ling found this smell somewhat familiar but, for the moment, couldn't recall where he had encountered it before.

He searched within the submarine for a long time but found no human remains. All he saw were specialized uniforms, scattered everywhere…

However, inside the submarine, he discovered numerous paper documents.

These documents formed a thick stack. In addition to a large amount of data and text that Chen Ling could not understand, there were also numerous images, making it difficult to discern what they depicted.

"If only I could understand the writing on these," Chen Ling sighed.

He suddenly realized that when the youth had indifferently stated, "I'm not interested in these," it was possible that, like himself, the youth was simply illiterate.

Probably not… While he didn't know the youth's background, the youth's knowledge clearly exceeded that of both the human realm and the Integration Faction. Perhaps he was a well-read genius, fluent in many languages?

Just as Chen Ling hesitated, wondering whether to take these documents to the youth for translation, an idea suddenly surged into his mind.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his grand red opera robe had been re-dyed black.

Chen Ling, with his second personality activated, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. The next second, an invisible storm swept out, centered around him!

Thought Storm!

As the Thought Storm enveloped the papers, the text that Chen Ling had previously been unable to decipher suddenly transformed into meanings he could understand, pouring into his mind!

"It works?"

Thought Storm was an ability originally acquired from the Thought Calamity, and the original script of the Ash Realm was also a part of the Thought Calamity's "thoughts."

Upon realizing he could now comprehend the Ash Realm script, Chen Ling immediately began to pore over the documents in his hands, one after another.

"July 11, 1996: The first deep-sea gene chain modification experiment was announced as successful."

"Scientists from the nation of Xitan, '???,' successfully rewrote the genetic code of an anglerfish into a whale's body. Observations showed that the experimental subject completed self-cannibalism and self-evolution within 30 days and survived in good health. This experiment caused a global sensation, and the research team named the subject '?????'…"

"In 1992, with the dissolution of the nation of Xitan, the subject '?????' was circulated among six nations as a valuable experimental sample. After a total of over three hundred experiments, the subject was confirmed to suffer from high-pressure syndrome and heavy metal poisoning, entering a state of senescence. Following advocacy by the World Nature Conservation Association, the final decision was made to release '?????' back into the ocean."

"In 2009, while conducting an underwater exploration mission, Deep Sea Explorer 7 allegedly sighted traces of an ultra-large creature in the deep sea. To ensure the absolute safety of our national waters, following an internal resolution by the Fran Nation, our vessel was dispatched to hunt and eliminate it."

Chen Ling flipped to this point, and the printed documents essentially ended. The thick stacks of files consisted solely of various experiment reports and photographs concerning this mysterious experimental subject.

He pulled out one of the most recent experimental photographs and scrutinized the enormous dark silhouette in the pool for a long time, his brow furrowing slightly…

Above the enormous silhouette in the pool, two gigantic, lantern-like eyes, resembling basketballs, were unmistakably clear.

Chen Ling suddenly found this deep-sea anglerfish somewhat familiar.

"Could it be that…"

As if realizing something significant, Chen Ling immediately pushed the documents aside and took out the last handwritten piece of information, reading it carefully.