Chapter 13: Whale-person |
''Just as I expected!''
''The Watchman has been secretly harboring a patient in the late stages of Whale Transformation Sickness here.''
''His prolonged exposure to the patient finally breached his natural resistance, causing him to contract the sickness himself!''
''That makes the reason he summoned a demon quite easy to guess.''
''This patient is on the verge of transforming into a true whale!''
When Whale Transformation Sickness reached its final stage, the patient would undergo a true transformation, turning into an actual whale.
This kind of whale would bring about a certain type of disaster, but simultaneously, it would become a living treasure trove.
''Once a patient transforms, they release a genuine whale song, misleading the Floating Whale into thinking a new calf has been born. This triggers a series of chain reactions, including earthquakes!''
''Furthermore, because the patient isn''t a true Floating Whale, the leviathan won''t be able to accurately sense the calf''s presence, which will only drive it into an even greater frenzy!'' Nemus''s gaze seemed capable of piercing through the cave walls to observe the patient inside.
For instance, Nemus had once seen a Whale Bone Flute, an instrument crafted from a patient''s windpipe and bones.
That Whale Bone Flute could produce a whale song, allowing for a certain degree of communication with a Floating Whale.
It was a precious artifact of the Precept Church, kept sealed within their vaults and only brought out for use during special occasions.
Beyond that, Whale Oil would be produced within the patient''s internal organs, boasting effects remarkably close to the genuine Whale Oil of a Floating Whale.
The latter was a strictly controlled resource; authentic Floating Whale oil was only permitted to be extracted in small quantities upon the death of a Floating Whale.
Its purpose was to assist Iron Rank individuals in increasing their Number, possessing the miraculous ability to help them sublimate into the Golden Rank.
While the Whale Oil harvested from a transformed patient was inferior to that of a true Floating Whale, it could still reliably allow a Black Iron Rank to evolve into the Iron Rank, as well as aid Iron Rank cultivators in their cultivation.
Because of this immense value, there were certain places that had even resorted to farming patients suffering from Whale Transformation Sickness.
However, that practice ultimately led to multiple patients existing simultaneously. The illusion of having several calves that could never actually be found drove the host Floating Whale into a state of absolute, destructive fury.
The leviathan went completely mad, its flight no longer stable, causing more than half of the millions of people living on its back to perish in the ensuing catastrophe.
This horrific event ultimately incited public outrage, prompting major factions to unite and massacre all those involved in the farming operation.
To this day, the corpses of those cultivators still hung from that Floating Whale''s dorsal fin.
''During the transformation process, the patient''s entire body will emit a unique aura. This scent is incredibly easy to detect if one simply searches for it.''
''Therefore, another scent is required to run interference.''
''Coupled with the fact that the patient''s craving for human organs increases drastically during this process...''
''Summoning a demon at this exact moment to confuse the public and misdirect attention was an extremely wise choice!'' Nemus quickly deduced the Watchman''s plan.
Demons made for the perfect scapegoats. Any anomalies occurring during the whale-ification process could easily and directly be blamed on a demonic entity.
It was just that the Watchman could never have anticipated Nemus exterminating the demon with such ruthless efficiency, nor could he have expected the man to track him down the very same night to set up an ambush.
"Good girl, everything is going to be alright!"
"Hurry and eat something. Once you eat, you''ll be able to calm down!"
Deep within the cave, the Watchman endured the agonizing pain wracking his body as he hurriedly pulled a cloth sack from his robes. Inside were several bizarre, foul-looking strips of dried meat, which he frantically fed to the nearly three-meter-tall "monster" standing before him—a pitch-black creature that resembled a humanoid wild beast.
Watching his daughter madly devour the dried meat, the physical pain in the Watchman''s body seemed to diminish significantly, leaving behind nothing but an overwhelming heartache.
He had originally been a member of Opper''s merchant caravan. During a transport mission, he had used an external crisis as cover to secretly stash away some of Opper''s goods, intending to find an opportunity to sell them for his own profit.
Unfortunately, his scheme was eventually exposed, resulting in the ruin of his family. He himself was stripped of his name and reduced to a Probationary Watchman.
He had been waiting in despair for death, only to unexpectedly discover that his daughter hadn''t truly died; instead, she had accidentally contracted Whale Transformation Sickness.
From that moment on, the Watchman found a renewed will to live.
He murdered a fellow Probationary Watchman from his cohort, harvesting the man''s internal organs. He also began secretly exhuming corpses, stealing their viscera.
Everything he did was to provide his daughter with enough food to survive the grueling evolutionary phase of the Whale Transformation Sickness.
He had kept this up right until now, the absolute most critical juncture.
"As long as we get through this phase, my sweet girl, you''ll regain your sanity and be able to live a normal life!" the Watchman comforted his grotesque daughter, repeating the conclusions of his personal research over and over again.
Unlike the vastly knowledgeable Nemus, the Watchman—despite knowing some information about Whale Transformation Sickness—was ultimately trapped in the ignorance of this small, isolated village.
His understanding of the disease''s late stages was murky at best. It was solely to protect his daughter that he had embarked on his own amateur research.
Having consumed Deep Well Water to build up a certain level of resistance, the Watchman had used his own body as a test subject. Believing he had gained a relatively deep understanding of the affliction, he arrived at this hopeful conclusion.
"I''m afraid you are going to be disappointed!" Nemus''s cold voice instantly provoked a violent reaction from the Watchman.
"After a patient transforms into a whale, the very structure of their brain undergoes an aberration. They will never regain their sanity; they will only experience even greater agony."
The Watchman paid no heed to Nemus''s words. He glared at the intruder with a mixture of terror and furious rage, as if Nemus had just defiled his final, sacred Pure Land.
The dark spots that had previously faded from his skin rapidly resurfaced. As he launched himself forward at breakneck speed, his glowing green eyes trailed two vibrant streaks of emerald light through the darkness of the cave.
Vicious claws slashed toward Nemus, yet at this moment, the man couldn''t even muster the inclination to raise his sword to block.
"Grace of Absolution!"
Any power with an Attribute Value falling short of ten would be entirely nullified.
Powers associated with the divine were just that irrational.
The Watchman felt as though he wasn''t attacking a human of flesh and blood, but had instead slammed headfirst into a solid mountain wall... No, even if he had struck a mountain wall, his razor-sharp claws would have still been able to carve through the stone and shatter the rock.
But right now, he couldn''t inflict even the slightest scratch upon the man standing before him.
"Run, my sweet girl!! Run away!" the Watchman shrieked, clawing frantically at Nemus. His heart swelled with a tragic, self-righteous sense of emotion—the belief that he was heroically sacrificing himself to grant salvation to his daughter.
The cave didn''t just have one entrance. On the far side of the cavern lay another passage, one that was usually kept sealed shut.
The Watchman had meticulously instructed his daughter—back when she still retained a shred of sanity—to escape through that very tunnel in times of extreme peril.
However, at this crucial moment, several mysterious ropes materialized out of thin air.
Simultaneously, two dark silhouettes darted right past the two struggling men.
It was none other than Downs and the Shadow Hound.
And to the Watchman''s horror, his daughter didn''t even attempt to flee. Instead, she unleashed an earsplitting, beastly roar.
Her previously hunched body stood fully erect. Her pitch-black skin was covered in deep, scarred ridges, making her look exactly like a colossal whale standing on two legs.
Having shed the vast majority of her human traits, her physical form was now predominantly that of a leviathan. At this stage, she could only be called a Whale-person.