National destiny: Starting with a coffin, building an aircraft carrier is broadcast live globally.

A shark-like mermaid that would even try to bite into a door frame is disgusting enough to make you vomit.

With a flick of its tail, it curiously swam into the doorway.

The first thing you smelled was fermented seaweed, and then you saw a huge pit containing a giant object over three meters in diameter...

Crucible?

There was no fire at the bottom of the pot, but the seawater was boiling, probably due to geothermal heat from some volcano.

"That's quite environmentally friendly..."

Nathan muttered.

Ivan lost his appetite and loudly protested:

"It was full of grass inside, and it smelled moldy! There were also white bugs... and their shells hadn't been removed!"

For a shark-mermaid controlled by its appetite, eagerly rushing towards the food bowl only to be disgusted by the fact that it's all vegetarian food...

Thank you!

This time he wasn't hungry at all!

Carlos swam around the crucible, his face full of sympathy.

"Is this the standard ration for the Deep Blue Guard?"

"...No wonder they get so angry every time they patrol. If I ate this every day, I'd stab anyone I could get my hands on."

Standardized feeding reduces costs.

If you see a pile of "bricks" in a corner, just stick out a finger and put it on top of it:

Portable seaweed compressed energy block

[Review: A specialty of the Deep Blue Kingdom. Denser than osmium, harder than carbide... Just kidding, but don't even think about it, it's not something mortals like you can handle. PS: It's recommended to boil it in a volcano, then take it out and smash it with a sledgehammer until it's pulverized, then swallow it with water.]

From the current perspective...

Either the treasury of this Deep Blue Kingdom is extremely tight, or the budget is not being spent on these guards.

So where does the budget go?

"Let's go find something valuable."

The guard battalion occupies a fairly large area.

Based on his hazy memory, Carlos led them to a standalone, towering building.

It was completely different from the dilapidated dormitory rooms and the drafty canteen.

The building is constructed of more solid, translucent white rock. The main entrance consists of two heavy, bluish-gray stone doors, each weighing a thousand pounds, and is carved with the totem of the deep-sea royal family—whirlpools and swirling siren tails, with exquisite yet unrestrained lines.

"It should be... an armory."

Carlos pointed at the door and swallowed hard.

"The building is imbued with incantations; if it's destroyed, the sacrificial tower—hey, what are you doing?!"

He was startled by Renyi.

Renyi swam to the door and directly reached out and grabbed the large, dark blue lock, about the size of a laptop.

The building has incantations, but these things can't be considered part of the building, right?

"break down."

[Decomposition successful]

[Received: Deep Sea Steel Block *5]

"squeak--"

The stone door, having lost its locking mechanism, slid open a crack inwards under the impact of the water flow.

Carlos swallowed the rest of the nonsense.

Ivan stepped forward and gave him a hard push.

"Creak—"

Behind the door was a completely different world, which could only be described as "magnificent and resplendent" in comparison.

Rows of weapon racks made of some kind of luminous bone were arranged much more neatly than the hammocks in the dormitory, and huge pearls were embedded in the walls, illuminating every detail of the place.

The water seemed to be filled with the cold, metallic scent of the deep sea.

Ivan, who was still feeling nauseous, widened his eyes instantly when he saw the room full of weapons.

"Good heavens, these poor bastards have thrown all their money away here?"

Although the weapons room was luxurious, it felt somewhat empty.

More than half of the weapon racks were empty.

Klaus used his tentacles to pick up a trident, the same one that Kiwi had been holding when they met on the sea earlier, and examined it for a moment.

【The Cleaner (Standard Trident)】

[Review: Deep-sea steel, paired with a cheap fluorescent powder coating... perfectly exemplifies the saying "good steel used for the blade." PS: Save where you can, spend where you can.]

The person in charge of logistics in this Deep Blue Kingdom is a genius at cutting costs.

Dislike it.

If I gave him this material...

Carlos was still nervously looking around. "This place is usually the most heavily guarded, why isn't there a single guard on duty today?"

"Can't figure it out?"

Nathan spread his tail fin and floated in front of a luminous pearl.

"There are thousands of criminals outside on exercise time. If you were the commander, would you let your men stay in the camp and have tea?"

They were definitely all taken away to arrest fugitives and maintain order.

You'd be a fool not to take this kind of freebie that's practically handed to you!

With a single, decisive gesture:

[Decomposition successful]

[Received: Deep Sea Steel Block *2, Inferior Fluorescent Powder *1]

He couldn't stop at all; he moved steadily along the aisle between the weapon racks, his fingers gliding like piano notes, and wherever he passed, a burst of blue light shone.

[Decomposition successful]

......

[Decomposition successful]

......

After the entire row was cleared out, he thought for a moment, then reached out and touched the bare, glowing frame again:

[Decomposition successful]

You have obtained: 6 Mutant Fire-Body Swarm Crystals

Carlos watched helplessly as everything he swam over vanished like snowmen under the sun.

They didn't even spare the airs!

Before Renyi could dig three feet into the ground, Klaus and Ivan were already racing against time to pick out whatever caught their eye.

Aurora shook her head and said to Carlos, trying to be as gentle as possible:

"Thanks, boss. It's good enough that you weren't broken down into a bunch of fish bones."

Carlos: d(ŐдŐ๑)

Ren Yi had no time to pay attention to his companions' reactions; his attention was completely drawn to the shelf he had just casually disassembled.

He stretched out his hand.

A hollow "tube" appeared out of thin air.

It is about two meters long and about twenty centimeters in diameter. Inside, it seems to have countless points of light burning, emitting a white halo and heat.

[Mutant Fire-Body Insect Swarm Crystallization]

[Comment: They were once a group of hot-tempered neighbors, constantly fighting over territory, mates, and even "who takes out the trash today." Ultimately, they split and reborn in a collective brawl, only to perish together. PS: A fossil of involutionary culture.]

...It's a really sad story.

I casually opened the system panel to see if there were any changes, and to my surprise, the option to evolve actually popped up.

However, it's not a specific module, but rather—

[Compatible material detected: Mutant Firebody Insect Swarm Crystallization]

[Can be used to fully activate the mutation: Flesh and Blood Symbiosis]

[Do you want to consume materials to complete and activate?]

He paused unconsciously.

[Mutation: Flesh and blood symbiosis. Passive ability, please explore on your own.]

It's been so long, and he always thought it was a two-way repair skill. Now you're telling me it's because it still needs to be improved and activated?

"..."

The passive skill of flesh and blood symbiosis is already very useful. As long as it's not a fatal injury, it's basically: as long as the ship is there, the person is there, and the endurance is insane.

What would happen if we improved it further?

After carefully checking, it was found that in addition to consuming the materials they had just picked up, even evolution points were waived.

...I have a bad feeling about this!

"yes!"

The moment I agreed, an unprecedented chill ran from the tip of my tail to the top of my head.

"Hiss, wait, the sea—"

But there was no time to regret it.

The crystal in his hand did not disappear directly like it did when the sound-mimicry module was upgraded remotely last time; instead, it instantly melted into a viscous liquid!

They did not flow elsewhere...

Instead, it's like thousands of tiny insects, carrying scorching heat, burrowing directly into any part of the skin from the palm of your hand!