Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 246 Hatching the Multi-Legged Monster: The Chase Around the Tranquil Sea
On the lunar surface, where the atmosphere is thin and there is a lack of visible water, there is no weathering or water erosion. Most of the rocks are angular and retain their original sharpness.

At best, it will be transformed into a slightly smoother, multifaceted stone by the erosion of space dust.

For this reason, when the bald eagle team first discovered this round object, they judged from its shape that it was unlikely to be naturally formed and was probably an artificial creation.

Thus, this urgent and targeted lunar surface sampling was carried out.

To everyone's surprise, this thing was actually alive and even hatched inside the return capsule.

For the bald eagle expert team, this was a huge surprise, both astonishing and delightful!

However, the surprise quickly turned into utter terror.

Regarding this little thing, the White Eagle Empire currently has three exclusive top-secret videos. The first video is a glimpse inside the sampling capsule before the camera was destroyed; the second video is from a camera on the return capsule, capturing the moment it cuts the parachute lines; and the third video is a long-distance shot from the on-site navy, which vaguely shows that just as the return capsule was about to hit the sea, it crawled back into the capsule.

Imperial experts studied these images repeatedly and meticulously, analyzing them almost frame by frame, and put forward the following conjecture.

First, in terms of morphology, the basic structure of this emerging organism bears a striking resemblance to the skeletal creature that appeared rapidly on the lunar surface and then mysteriously disappeared—a multi-segmented body structure with strange characteristics that resemble a mixture of insects and crustaceans.

The difference is that this newborn individual has "skin"!
It was a body covering that looked moist, dark, and clearly possessed biological keratin characteristics.

After considering the opinions of the entire expert group, Connie Roberts, the Empire's biological expert, proposed a hypothesis that, from the current perspective, best fits the current situation.

"If we assume that the previous 'ossified octopus' and this 'hatched multi-legged monster' are the same type of creature, then many issues can be linked together!"

"We believe that the ossified octopus is some kind of alien creature from outside the moon that, under some special circumstances, landed on the moon with a meteorite, a spaceship, or something else."

"Judging from its skeletal features and behavior, it should have originally been a carbon-based organism. However, due to the lunar environment, such as the thin atmosphere, the temperature difference between day and night, and cosmic radiation, it was unable to maintain the existence of body tissues. Thus, a mechanism that we cannot understand completed the 'ossification' of its entire body."

"It was seeing this little guy that gave me a bold idea."

Robert then placed the two images of the monster side by side for a close comparison, circling the similar physiological features one by one before making his final conclusion.

"I believe that this skeletal octopus is not purely skeletal, but rather that during its self-evolution, it has degenerated its skin and may have housed its soft internal organs and other vital tissues inside its skeleton, thus maintaining its survival."

"At the same time, it may have laid this egg shortly after landing on the moon. Because the lunar environment is not suitable for survival, the egg never hatched and remained in a dormant state on the moon for a long time."

In Robert's account, the organism's self-regulation mechanism plays a significant role. While patrolling its territory, the "ossified octopus" follows some residual instinct, periodically digging up the egg to allow it to briefly come into contact with the outside world... perhaps sunlight? Perhaps cosmic rays?

This "baby-showing off" behavior was captured by the bald eagle's detector and collected.

Then, inside the return capsule, due to changes in the environment—perhaps the temperature stabilized, perhaps the presence of protective inert gas, or perhaps a leak in the Imperial spacecraft's not-so-good sealing rings that allowed gas to enter—the conditions for the egg to hatch were triggered.

The creature quickly emerged from its shell and, upon discovering it was trapped, launched a frenzied attack on the return capsule.

After analyzing the source, the next step is to face a series of practical problems.

For example, how can such a tiny newborn thing open the sampling chamber from the inside and then open the return capsule?

This is not something anyone can do with their hands. To ensure the integrity and safety of the sampling, opening the return capsule from the outside requires special tools and specific procedures, and opening it from the inside is simply unimaginable.

For example, is it capable of surviving in seawater?

According to the theories of Earth's biology, this possibility is almost zero, but since the child's elders were able to survive in the lunar environment, the possibility that this little thing could survive in the ocean cannot be ruled out.

The bald eagle now hopes it lives, so as to maximize the "miraculous harvest" under the leadership of the president!
But we don't want it to be too alive. After all, searching for a tiny creature that's only a few dozen centimeters in size in the vast ocean is like finding a needle in a haystack. And if it's still alive, the chances of finding it are extremely slim.

The Grand Commander, seated in the gray-white house, received both good news and bad news.

The good news is that the return capsule was quickly salvaged.

The bad news is that the creature that hatched from the egg is gone, leaving not even the eggshell behind.

Of course, the main problem now is not finding that damn eggshell, but finding the guy who came out of the egg!

The return capsule was quickly sent back to the Empire's homeland, and more details were discovered through the analysis of the expert team.

This little guy is incredibly strong. He managed to tear open the steel wall of the return capsule from the inside and crawl out. According to the expert team's analysis, "No known life form on Earth possesses this ability!"
Not to mention that this creature only spent a dozen hours from hatching to escaping, making it a true larva.

But the most amazing thing is yet to come.

In a corner of the sampling chamber, technicians found a small fragment of eggshell. The fragment was small, and in addition to normal crack marks, its edges showed very regular, fine serrated marks, as if it had been carefully gnawed by something.

This most likely means that the "hatching multi-legged monster" gnawed off the eggshell itself.

This small piece of eggshell was sent to the Bald Eagle's Di Ying Biochemical Laboratory. After intensive compositional analysis, it was found that the eggshell fragment contained a highly active biomass. This substance exhibited powerful life repair properties and super tolerance to extreme environments, and its effects overturned the understanding of Bald Eagle biologists.

The intelligence department immediately linked this mysterious substance to Laboratory No. 9 of the Dongxia Drug Research Institute.

"Dongxia must have obtained remnants of these organisms from the moon, which is why they were able to create the extremely rare X drug!"

"My God, we're just one step away from a living super-creature!" "Find it! We must find it!"

Under such repeated stimulation, the entire empire was on the verge of madness. The discovery of the super-active substance further stimulated the capitalists behind the scenes of the empire, thus the empire began a deeper mobilization.

Under the command of General Wilson at the front, the Navy and research institutes began a carpet search of the sea. All kinds of manned submersibles, unmanned underwater vehicles, towed sonar arrays, and underwater robots were densely deployed in this sea area, repeatedly combing every inch of the seabed like a comb.

"Report: The 'Poseidon-III' ROV detected unusual biological disturbances at the edge of the trench in the northeastern region, but no target was found."

"The sonar array captured the signal of a small, high-speed moving target that had previously been unidentified by acoustic signature. The signal lasted for three seconds before disappearing into the complex reef area."

"Underwater listening station reports receiving high-frequency sound waves from a new species of marine life; the source cannot be located..."

As information gathered, it was repeatedly proven to be irrelevant to the target. As time passed, anxiety spread like a plague among the search team.

Another problem is how long this lockdown can last.

The day after the bald eagle lunar sample return capsule mishap, the foreign affairs department of Dongxia issued a statement announcing that it would send a friendly visit fleet, including a comprehensive supply ship and a research vessel, to southern Latin Liga for a routine visit and marine scientific cooperation.

Although the statement was vague, claiming to "explore the mysteries of the ocean with scientists from all countries," the intelligence department of the White Eagle quickly ascertained that the fleet was not only escorted by a 10,000-ton destroyer, but also equipped with a multi-functional electronic reconnaissance ship, carrying a variety of advanced unmanned underwater vehicles, and its route was right next to the area where the White Eagle's return capsule fell into the sea.

The goal is quite obvious.

That wasn't all. The massive Twin-Headed Iron Eagle Empire was not to be outdone. One of its naval fleets announced that it would be crossing the Tranquil Sea for its "annual long-range training," with its route passing right by the waters near the Sandwich Islands.

Even the major and minor powers on Earth, allies of the Bald Eagle, which are thousands of miles away, have dispatched warships and civilian ships to the Sandwich Islands in a grand procession.

Suddenly, this sea area became the focus of attention from all sides.

"These greedy vultures, these damned flies, these shameless hyenas!"

The minister in charge of the search was furious at an emergency meeting at the Pentagon: "Stop them! We must stop them!"

Not being able to find the target is just an internal problem, but if someone else finds it, it will be a huge mess.

Left with no other choice, the Bald Eagle Pacific Fleet Command had to issue a notice: In view of the recent abnormal underwater activities, in order to ensure navigation safety, a temporary no-navigation zone will be designated off the coast of Sandwich Island for a "closed-loop military exercise".

He drew a huge circle, clearly telling everyone that this road is blocked and to stay away from him!

The announcement caused an uproar in various countries, with protests erupting everywhere. However, the White Eagle's naval battle group was already in position, with carrier-based aircraft frequently taking off and landing, and destroyers patrolling the perimeter, forcefully blocking outside observers with force.

As time went by, the bald eagle, having found nothing, was on the verge of madness. Just when the searchers were wondering if the mysterious creature had been swallowed by a large fish, a phone call from the main island of the Sandwich Islands broke the deadlock.

Local police reported that a resident's livestock on the island was attacked by a monster!
Because this islander was just an ordinary civilian, the police department initially didn't take it seriously at all. The officials were too busy to care about the life or death of a chicken.

However, the creature persisted in demanding an explanation, leaving the police with no choice but to retrieve available surveillance footage from the surrounding area. Only then did the bald eagle search team belatedly discover that the "hatched multi-legged monster" had already traveled more than 100 nautical miles and landed on the main island of Sandwich Island.

In this short, slightly blurry surveillance video, lasting only a dozen seconds, a dark shadow, roughly the size of a medium-sized dog, suddenly leaps out from the shadows of the fence, illuminated by the dim light of a streetlamp! Several barely visible hind legs waddle across the ground, while its distinctive, unforgettable sickle-shaped forelegs flash across the screen, precisely piercing the poor rooster's neck!

The camera clearly captured its noticeably swollen body covered in dark-spotted keratinized skin, as well as its eyes that shimmered slightly in the dark, like a cat's eyes.

They still have two pairs of eyes!

Based on the reference points at the scene, the expert team quickly made a judgment: this guy's size has doubled, which is an unbelievable growth rate!

Looking at the time on the surveillance video again, it was already three nights ago.

In this critical moment, every second counted, but because of the police's delay, this guy was allowed to wander around for three whole days. The enraged Commander Wilson almost drew his gun and mowed down all those incompetent police officers on Sandwich Island.

The military immediately organized forces to blockade the island, first surrounding the entire island completely, and then soldiers, police, military dogs, police dogs, and various detectors shuttled back and forth, digging three feet into the ground.

In just one week, the soldiers turned the tropical island upside down, searching every bush, every cave, and every possible hiding place.

The result was nothing!
Just as the search area was expanding and several surrounding islands were being included in the search, a bolt from the blue struck.

More than 6,000 kilometers away in the land of the four-clawed sea serpent, a cargo ship arriving at the shore witnessed a chilling scene as it docked. Hundreds of eyes on the pier and on board witnessed this.

A dark-colored creature, over 1.5 meters long, with a stout body and short, thick limbs, rushed from the cargo hold onto the deck. After a burst of speed, it leaped into the air and plunged into the murky harbor waters with a "plop"!
Upon seeing the video, General Wilson nearly fainted in the command center.

The commander recognized it at a glance as the "Hatching Multilegged Monster" he had been searching for.

It has grown bigger again!
Subsequent investigations revealed that the cargo ship had briefly docked at another island pier in the Sandwich Islands, more than 90 kilometers from the main island where the "multi-legged monster" was discovered, and this occurred before the large-scale control measures were implemented. Therefore, it was not included in the inspection list.

It's impossible to stop and search every passing ship!
As a result of this oversight, the other party crossed the ocean and arrived in this four-island region.

The elite bald eagle force and expert team had to immediately pack up their equipment and rush eastward to continue the chase across the tranquil sea.

The nightmarish "Encirclement of Tranquil Sea" storyline has only just begun.

(End of this chapter)