Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

"Okay, I get it. There's a cult that's performing rituals, turning people into monsters as test subjects. They want to curry favor with the monster leader and become monsters themselves, and they even think it's an honor to be one. But you guys are sworn enemies with those monsters, so you're going to wipe them all out?"

Under duress and coercion, coupled with the inability to move, Goredia finally revealed the whole story.

"Although it sounds like a shallow thing to you, it's not far off. I've destroyed several Deep Sea Church laboratories, but they were just indulging in all sorts of messy experiments and had little connection with 'Sea Heir.' But the Deep Sea Church organization I've discovered in Saltwind City has a clear connection with Sea Heir."

Thomas's overly blunt summary earned him a glare from Gretia, who then went on to emphasize that this was an important development for her.

But Skadi's face fell after Greta finished speaking.

He revealed an even colder expression than usual, staring intently at the other person.

"But that high-level Haisi hasn't shown up yet, so you pretended to join him, and even wanted to use 'her' as a tool to gain his trust and lure out the Haisi?"

“I know you’re angry, but please remember, I’m her captain. I will never let my hunters get hurt. But I also know you won’t agree to this easily, so I infiltrated here, took her away, and even tried to leave clues for you to lead you to Saltwind City so you can see for yourself what I’m doing.”

She explained her purpose, but those who knew the truth were now even more dissatisfied than before they knew the answer.

Even though Gladys swore that she wouldn't let the person Skadi cared about get hurt, it's normal for her to feel dissatisfied and even angry that someone who had seemingly disappeared from the world and whom she thought was dead had suddenly re-entered her life without saying a word and wanted to do such a thing to a companion she knew.

"Although I don't know what kind of seafood that Hai Si is, judging from what you said, it must be very good at escaping. Otherwise, with your strength, you should be more than capable of dealing with it."

It wasn't judged directly from combat power or the strength of aura, but rather from speculation based on Gretia's words.

Although she did not appear to be infected with Oripathy, and her aura indicated that she was powerful enough, more importantly, she never mentioned asking for help.

And judging from her previous statement that she had destroyed several laboratories, destroying the church should not be a big problem; the focus is still on that creature called "Hai Si".

"You've done this to me, and then you say I'm pretty good? Are you mocking me?!"

Skadi inexplicably felt a strong sense of déjà vu about this kind of mockery.

It seems like Tomat said something similar to her before?

But she has forgotten exactly what happened back then.

"But you're right. The Sea Si are cunning. Unlike those dirty bishops who rush in to defend their faith or even actively seek them out, the intelligent individuals in the Sea Si know how to hide. Even now that they are leaderless, they will instinctively refrain from engaging in battles that risk death."

Its contemptuous words and expressions revealed its disgust for the creature, but the contrast between this behavior and its immobile state lying on the bed made it seem somewhat comical.

"They are not afraid of death, but they also understand that to avoid death and continue their lineage, they must be lured out and uprooted to prevent future troubles. Otherwise, they will continue to bewitch creatures on the earth to strengthen their own lineage."

She went on to explain just how disgusted she was by this creature called Haisi, while Skadi listened thoughtfully to her.

"Hiss—this sounds familiar."

Goredia's description reminded Tomat of some potentially unrelated entities as well.

"Just a quick question: can they regenerate even after being chopped up? Do they have strong vitality and can they evolve in response to external stimuli, even imitating or learning from things they've come into contact with in a short period of time?"

"...That's right? You also met Hai Si?"

The characteristics that Grétia had never mentioned were spoken of by Tomat, and as he said, Haisi possessed these characteristics.

His tentative question piqued Greta's interest. Although this place was deep inland, Hai Si might have actually been here before.

After all, they are always by the side of the deep-sea hunters, and any river or lake is connected to the sea. Hidden waterways become the gateways through which those evil creatures extend their tentacles.

"That's not necessarily true. Anyway, these kinds of things have been appearing more frequently lately. They either come out on their own or are man-made. Apart from being disgusting in appearance, they are all similar in other aspects, such as regeneration and evolution."

"There are other things too?"

But Tomat's explanation surprised Goredia.

If what he described was indeed appearing in large numbers throughout Terra as he said, then there was no reason why she wouldn't obtain relevant information. After all, she had ample intelligence channels to track down these creatures that were suspected to be Sea-Children.

But recently she hasn't noticed any increase in related information or even rumors.

"How did you know that?"

With some skepticism, Gretia pressed Thomas for answers.

The latter also frankly stated:

"Because I or my colleagues sometimes run into them."

"...Then what?"

"And then? What else can we do? Be friends with them? They don't seem like things you can communicate with. Some of them even spread poison and cause pollution everywhere. So, we should kill the ones that are unusable and bring back the ones that are usable, either to eat or to study. Right now, the Rhodes Island cafeteria is even supplying them with their meat. Want to try some?"

Thomas's words struck Grétia like a blow to the head.

Regardless of whether those things are from the sea or not.

It's not surprising that the man before them has the power to eliminate something similar.

But he actually said that any similar creatures encountered by their organization were all eliminated—but besides Agor, is there any other force that can ensure that every squad has such a high level of combat capability?

Although she had learned about Rhodes Island through various channels and communicated with some people beforehand, she was unaware that Rhodes Island would be like this.

Could it be that our intelligence is too outdated?

The news of the monsters failed to spread simply because they were eliminated before they could become active and cause trouble.

"Wait...you ate their flesh? Didn't your bodies change at all?!"

While she was filled with self-doubt, she suddenly realized that Tomat seemed to have mentioned something terrible. Gloria forced herself to sit up and loudly questioned Tomat and Skadi.

"Calm down. I've seen the original forms of those meat when they were still alive. They were very similar to Hai Si, but not the same species. Eating them won't cause any harm—in fact, they are quite delicious."

Without needing Tomat's explanation, Skadi answered the overreacting Gretia.

"I really don't understand. What's going on with this ship? Why is there such a big discrepancy between the information I have and the actual situation?"

Gladys accepted that her decision to come to Rhodes Island was reckless, and even harbored some resentment towards the person who had told her she could come to Rhodes Island.

Either that person lacked information, or she was playing a trick on him, hoping he wouldn't return.

While she fell into anxious silence, Tomat and Skadi looked at each other, and then Tomat took the initiative to ask:

"Want to understand? Just come and take a look at our training room."

[Event] Beneath the Tide, Seafood abounds: Chapter Four: Rhodes' Wonderful House

"Recently, due to various matters, there have been many dispatched operators, even the Doctor and others have gone to other countries for activities, making the Rhodes Island main ship a bit deserted. Many operators who stayed on the main ship are also feeling restless. They all want to test how much they have improved, so many of them have gathered in the training room to practice."

The corridor was empty except for the sound of three people's footsteps on the cold floor. Thomas introduced the place to the Rhodes Island training room as he led the two of them.

The only thing accompanying them was the occasional spherical drone that did not have a propeller installed.

"...What is that?"

During her previous infiltration, because she was discovered from the very beginning, Gladys did not notice that Rhodes Island was actually filled with drones of this type that she had never seen before.

"A drone? Never seen one before?"

Tomat answered matter-of-factly, and Skadi, who occasionally stayed on Rhodes Island for a few days, showed no surprise whatsoever.

"This isn't the seabed, and we can't see any nozzles or propellers... What technology did you use?"

"A miniaturized circuit of gravity-based Originium Arts, with some reference to other energy engines. Although it's not yet manned, its almost silent flight mode and sufficiently powerful armor can help perform various tasks, such as searching for intruders. In addition, this thing has been equipped with a self-destruct system, which will increase the gravity within the blast radius several times, and it will take a considerable amount of time to dissipate."

Thomas skillfully introduced the situation to Greta, while the latter increasingly revealed her inner turmoil through her feigned composure and serious expression.

Although her strength has gradually returned, when she walks slowly inside Rhodes Island without having to move quickly to find cover, she feels that she doesn't have the strength to take more than a few steps.

—That's quite interesting.

The new drone she just saw gave her the idea to disassemble it and study it.

Are you the designer of this drone?

"No, the reason I can remember its function is because the technician who built this thing always thought I must understand the principles of the aircraft that was used as a reference. He talked to me about it for ages, until my ears were calloused."

"Speaking of which, you're a technical officer too, right?"

Skadi brought up Goredia's identity when she was still in Agor, as if she had sensed that Goredia, as a technician, had developed an instinctive interest in new technologies.

Gladys nodded, thinking that Skadi brought this up probably to introduce her to the real technical staff on Rhodes Island.

While her expression remained largely unchanged, and her heart was filled with anticipation, Gladys heard Skadi ask in a resentful tone:

Do you still remember how to flush a toilet?

"what?"

Goredia forced a puzzled look, and was about to ask Skadi what she meant when Tomat suddenly said:

"Let's take the elevator, we're almost at the training room."

Rhodes Island has undergone numerous revisions over this period, some simply due to the whims of decision-makers, and others due to unforeseen circumstances.

However, the part that has undergone the most extensive renovation should be the operator training room, which was put into use directly after some of the technologies were developed.

"By the way, you still haven't said why you want to go there. Do you want me to watch your training?"

What kind of training do people on land receive?

Forming lines? Long-distance running? Carrying weights? Shooting?

Ordinary.

What effects can training achieve?

Improve physical fitness, refine skills, and cultivate awareness.

It's commonplace.

Moreover, even with special training, given the physical limitations of most races, it would be impossible to create any powerful warriors or teams.

Ultimately, it is only through individuals with overwhelming power, and clusters of such individuals, that important situations can be controlled.

Alternatively, they may undergo complex modifications that strip them of their human identity, thereby gaining superhuman strength, and then continue to form clusters of their own kind.

It's cruel, but it's also true; after all, Terra is just like that.

The inherent power disparity between races.

The talent gap in Originium Arts.

This is also influenced by the differences between infected and non-infected individuals.

Certain idealized scenarios remain difficult to achieve given these barriers.

The Agor people loathe this land and live deep at the bottom of the ocean.

But ultimately, the same things also bred within them: exclusion and discrimination divided the Agorians once again, and their former arrogance was inflicted on exiles who were originally their own people.