Chapter 253: Cillin’s Supporters [Part 1]
“Where?” Cillin asked.
“This way!”
The gray cat jumped off Cillin and ran towards a certain direction. Cillin wasn’t afraid of losing track because he could sense Wheeze within a certain range.
Although this area was a post war zone, there were still a lot of sea beasts lingering around the area. When the creatures saw Cillin and the gray cat, they charged towards them in an attempt to kill them. They came to an abrupt halt just when they were a dozen or so meters away from the gray cat, however. The sea beasts weren’t stupid, and Wheeze gave off an extremely dangerous feeling that made them worry. They only hesitated for a moment because they had numbers over the duo, but before they could pounce again, the gray cat let out a roar that completely killed off the intent. It was because the gray cat’s roar made them feel like they were facing a sea king.
Cillin was staying very close to the gray cat, so the sea beasts couldn’t find an opportunity to attack him. The sea beasts would attack him without hesitation if he moved slightly away from the gray cat though.
The gray cat circled around a ruin once before pointing at the plot. “This is it!”
“Is it underground?” Even Cillin could smell something at this point. Although his sense of smell was incomparable to the gray cat’s, it was still a lot more acute than your average human. Plus, the smell was slightly similar to the smell of the egg spat out by the gray cat.
The gray cat dug a hole after it chose a spot. When it went fully underground, it mechanized its foreclaws and extended them to dig a hole that Cillin could fit in.
Cillin followed behind the gray cat after he placed a round-shaped disc at the cave entrance. The device grew bigger and covered up the cave entrance before taking on the same appearance as the surrounding ruins. It was to prevent anyone or anything from discovering that a hole had been dug here from outside.
Cillin put on a breathing mask before he chased after the gray cat. It was apparently getting better and better at digging holes because its digging speed was even faster than an excavator.
The hole dug by the gray cat was very deep, and Cillin could sense the presence of sea kings around this cave. It was difficult for Cillin to imagine how the sea kings had delivered the eggs so deep into the underground.
“Ah, there they are!” The gray cat cried out excitedly.
Cillin and the gray cat found a batch of eggs after they had travelled a thousand meters or so underground. Just like last time, the eggs didn’t all belong to one type of species. Cillin put a hand on one of the eggs and discovered that the life inside it was still unformed. This meant that he would only find a pool of egg white and yolk if he cracked it right now. However, all these eggs would eventually hatch into various sea beasts.
Cillin understood the sea kings’ plans now. Where were they at? They were at the frontier right now! This ruined zone was in fact the third defense line facing towards the shores. The first two defense lines were just as ruined as this one, and a war was breaking out at the fourth defense line right now.
No one dug deep into the underground near the shores, and these differently sized eggs were covered by a layer of tough substance just like the eggs spat out by the gray cat. This meant that the eggs were scan resistant, and that no scanner could detect them unless they were within fifty meters of range at least.
Cillin compared the metallic composition of the skin samples provided by the gray cat to the compositions on the eggs and found them to be slightly inferior. It meant that the deep blue keratin-like attachment that covered the eggs had a better composition than the skin samples. However, the attachment on these eggs lacked the ability to exchange ions, which probably meant that both qualities couldn’t exist on the same substance. That was why the composition ratio he found on the sea kings was inferior to the eggs’.
The gray cat was devouring an egg when Cillin turned around.
“... I thought you were full already?”
“A bit yes, but it’s been a while so I can fit these in just fine. Also, these eggs aren’t as difficult to digest as the previous ones.” The gray cat replied while devouring the eggs.
“Was that egg that difficult to digest?” Cillin recalled the egg spat out by the gray cat and thought that it looked almost the same as the eggs here. However, he also remembered that the eggs had very different-looking shells even though they were covered inside the same protective attachment. He counted very few eggs that were the same type as the egg spat out by the gray cat. There couldn’t be more than ten of them inside this cave.
“Half of the genetic materials of those difficult-to-digest eggs are the same as the sea kings’. I don’t know about the other half though,” The gray cat said while devouring the eggs.
Cillin nodded and stored all the eggs inside his leaf-patterned ring; they could be used for research and as food for the gray cat. There was nothing he could do if these eggs happened to hatch inside the subspace though. Eggs were fine, but a sea beast would cause a subspace to lose its stability and collapse.
“I nearly forget you have that, hehe.” The gray cat smiled happily when it saw Cillin storing the eggs inside his ring. This meant that it didn’t need to force itself to devour them and feel bloated all day.
Once everything was done, Cillin said, “Come on, let’s head to the next location.”
“Are there more?” The gray cat’s eyes gleamed. These were all food, so the more the better!
“There should.”
If the sea kings had hidden eggs beneath the third defense line, they probably had done the same at the first and second defense line too.
Cillin and the gray cat travelled to the second defense line after they exited the cave.
As predicted by the hunter, the second defense line was flattened and destroyed just like the third defense line. It would appear that the purpose of the destruction was to cover up the eggs that were hidden underground.
Neither Cillin nor the gray cat smelled any eggs in the area, but the duo dug underground all the same using the eggs’ location at the third defense line as reference. It took them a while, but they ultimately found the eggs that were hidden in the area.
Strangely, none of the eggs hidden in this place were the same as the egg spat out by the gray cat.
Cillin inspected some of the eggs and deduced that they were hidden in this place during the man-beast war that happened tens of years ago. However, the sea beasts inside these eggs were starting to take form already. They were still a ways away from maturing fully, but there was a high likelihood that they would emerge from the earth and fight alongside the invading sea beasts when the next war arrives in the future.
After all, the second defense line would be rebuilt after this attack had passed. These eggs were hidden right beneath the second defense line, and they would all hatch by the time the next attack occurs. They would be able to work together with the invading sea beasts to crush the humans.
But why were there no sea king youngling?
Logically speaking, these newly hatched sea beasts would be joining the next invasion. But why had no one found any sea king younglings for so many years? Maybe most of them were protected under the deep sea, but some of them should’ve participated in the wars. They couldn’t have completely avoided all human sightings, could they?
Cillin and the gray cat discovered the answer by the time they arrived at the first defense line.
The first defense line had been breached by the sea beasts not long after the war began. In fact, the speed at which they broke through was practically unbelievable. Of course, the newly hatched sea beasts that were hiding underground were the main reason behind their success.
This time the duo found the egg’s hiding spot quickly because the gray cat had caught the scent of freshly hatched eggs. There were even some sea beasts crawling out of the ground and vanishing into the sea instead of advancing towards the continent.
“Ah, there are some that haven’t hatched out of their eggs yet!” The gray cat strolled leisurely around the eggs before devouring a little thing that had hatched out of its egg, but hadn’t crawled out yet. The creature apparently tasted terrible because the gray cat had spat a few times and complained after eating it.
An egg suddenly cracked right after the gray cat was done speaking.
Cillin experienced a very strange feeling when he stared at the newly hatched sea beast.
The youngling put on a fierce appearance the moment it crawled out of its shell. The small, sharp thorns behind its back were completely erect, and it had sharp claws on its webbed feet too. It was protected by a layer of tough skin, and its gaping mouth were full of sharp teeth. The youngling didn’t charge Cillin and the gray cat immediately after it saw them. Instead, it opened its mouth and cried out.
This voice…
It’s a sea king?!
The voice was young, but it was undoubtedly a sonar type cry just like the sea kings.
A young sea king almost looked nothing like a grown sea king! Moreover, it was easily missed when mixed among other sea beasts. It was no wonder that the natives never found a young sea king.
Suddenly, the eggs that were silent earlier hatched all at once. Cillin recognized the large-mouthed sea beasts and a few other types of sea beasts among the younglings. They all charged towards Cillin and the gray cat and attacked them.
Unfortunately for these younglings, most of the other younglings had departed for the sea earlier. They were also too young to do any real damage to the duo. They quickly dispatched the remaining sea beasts, while the little sea king was devoured by the gray cat.
The gray cat sat there and looked thoughtful after it had devoured the little sea king.
“What’s wrong?” Cillin asked.
The gray cat’s tail swayed. “This little fellow is a pure sea king. It’s different from the egg I spat out earlier, but for some reason I feel like that egg is harder to digest than this sea king.”
Cillin looked thoughtful, but now was neither the time nor the place for deep thoughts. “Come on, we’ll discuss this later. The mist is about to dissipate completely, and I’d stay away from the sea beasts’ path when they return to the sea.”
And so the duo avoided the returning sea beasts and arrived safely at the RAS’ accommodation. By the time they arrived, the martial law of that area had been lifted already. The people had relaxed, and the windows were no longer sealed tight.
Meanwhile, the RAS members were discussing negotiation tactics with the minor noble. They were wondering if they should take a more forceful approach, although they were aware that it would damage their reputation. They would prefer not to use this unless it was the absolute last choice because the RAS’ public reputation was pretty good thus far.
Cillin didn’t communicate with anyone after he returned. Instead, he went straight into his room and declared that he was taking a rest.