Chapter 455: Deity
The changes unfolding before him failed to stir him in the slightest. Bai Mo’s manifestation, the radiant giant that blotted out the sky, remained unmoving, standing silently in place, observing the transformations below.
"Is he merely underestimating me, believing that no matter how I struggle, I cannot achieve victory?" Seres hadn't anticipated such a scene. Bai Mo actually hadn't intervened to interrupt the process, and couldn't help but entertain this thought.
Though activating the resonance only took three seconds, after deducting the two seconds the protective shield could last, it would only require enduring for one second.
Yet, that single second, which an ordinary person might miss in a blink or a daze, was enough for superhumans of their caliber to exchange dozens, even hundreds, of blows.
Thus, it had long since prepared to engage the enemy while simultaneously completing the network resonance. Based on the intelligence it possessed, Seres had never for a moment imagined the enemy would politely wait for it to finish activating.
"Indeed, this little boost still isn't enough to impress him." Nevertheless, Seres ultimately attributed the situation to the opponent's disdain.
The boost from the multi-year, worldwide Zerg swarm network deployment instantly increased its power by over tenfold.
Compared to a super monster that could conjure storms with a casual breath and unleash tsunamis with a single movement, it still seemed to be on an entirely different magnitude.
"Spirit of Nature, descend upon me!" After the first layer of resonance was complete, Seres immediately began the second phase of its transformation, transmitting its mental fluctuations as far as possible.
Against this terrifying foe, no amount of preparation was too much.
Among the vast numbers of low-level Sea Race creatures surrounding them, over half had been knocked unconscious by the turbulent ocean currents due to the ocean's drastic changes.
They wouldn't drown, of course, but the countless vortices created by the currents had tossed those with slightly weaker resistance into a dizzying disarray.
The remaining conscious minority of the Sea Race, most of them had lived in the dark abyssal depths for years, never encountering sunlight.
The sunlight spilling onto them from the ocean's fissure, while not causing any substantive harm, still made these creatures, accustomed to living in darkness, instinctively feel an abnormal discomfort.
"Pop!"
"Pop!"
...
Crisp popping sounds rose and fell in succession.
Deep-sea creatures, to withstand the immense pressure at the ocean floor, maintained internal air pressure significantly higher than that of land creatures. Abruptly exposed to the open air, they suffered agony almost identical to that of an ordinary person directly exposed to the vacuum of space.
The conscious ones fared better; they could temporarily endure the discomfort of their bodies feeling like they might explode, and quickly bounced and leaped back into the water barriers on either side of the fissure.
But the unconscious Sea Race members weren't so fortunate.
Gases originally dissolved in their blood escaped in large quantities due to the sudden drop in air pressure, forming dense air sacs around their muscles. Their formerly streamlined, slender fish bodies swelled up, resembling plump pufferfish.
Of course, the Sea Race had no concept of trypophobia, and in Seres's Zerg-like sense of contrasting aesthetics, dense bubbles might even pass for a kind of beauty.
Some with poor tolerance were literally "blown up" on the spot; their internal organs burst from the unbearable pressure difference, scattering blood everywhere.
...
As Seres summoned the Spirit of Nature, it also naturally and gently swept the low-tier Sea Race creatures, unconscious in the air and nearing death, back into the water with its psychic power.
Deeply aware of its true identity, it ordinarily wouldn't have been moved by the deaths of these minuscule beings, or dedicated even one extra second of attention. But as it continuously devoured the Spirit of Nature, its will was inevitably affected.
Originally, the Spirit of Nature, this fictional conceptual god that Seres had led the Sea Race to worship years ago, was intended to one day merge with it, allowing itself to transform into a deity and completely shed the influence of its original Zerg swarm master.
If it were to remain in its brain-worm form, it would undoubtedly face severe limitations when confronting its former ruler in the future. It still harbored the ambition of one day becoming the supreme master of the entire stellar Zerg swarm, and absolutely couldn't fail due to being suppressed.
The fusion proceeded quite smoothly, because under the control of it, the High Priest, the Spirit of Nature worshipped by the Sea Race wouldn't develop a true self-personality. It would only remain like a blank sheet of paper, until that paper was finally filled with Seres's name.
However, the deity's instinct to protect its believers unconsciously became a part of its will.
"A worm trying to become a god, interesting." Bai Mo still merely stood in the middle of the ocean fissure, enjoying the spectacle below, with no intention of interrupting.
More precisely, it wasn't that he stood in the middle of the ocean fissure; rather, wherever he stood, a massive wound that tore through the ocean would open up, centered around him.
His unconsciously manifested super-psychic field directly forced the seawater to yield a path to the seabed.
The Faith Power of thousands upon thousands of Sea Race creatures, their numbers even surpassing the sum total of humanity, became Seres's second and stronger layer of amplification, following the swarm network resonance power.
Under psychic vision, high-tier Faith Power of red, yellow, orange, and even purple hues surged in like a tide, far surpassing the grand apotheosis ceremony held by the Hua-Ya Federation many times over, both in quality and quantity.
The Hua-Ya Federation was, after all, a country where atheism was prevalent. The source of Faith Power used in its apotheosis ceremony was, in reality, nothing more than pseudo-believers bought with money.
In terms of piety alone, they were far inferior even to Maysuo, which had already dissolved into scattered factions, let alone these creatures from the deep sea, which had accepted Seres's guidance since the dawn of their intelligence.
Aside from a small number of high-ranking Sea Race members who, after becoming powerful enough, would begin to ponder the High Priest's true nature, the low-level Sea Race were, almost without exception, true believers from the start, staunchly convinced of the Spirit of Nature's existence.
The surging Faith Power began to converge around Seres's altar, constructing a resplendent divine body, comparable in size to the radiant giant, shimmering with myriad colors.
The infusion of Faith Power caused the entire divine body to solidify from its ethereal state, forming a tangible oppressive aura. When the shimmering divine light shone upon the injured Sea Race creatures, it also soothed all their wounds like a panacea.
The dying "pufferfish" were able to slim down again, regaining their streamlined figures. Their internal organs, shattered by the excessive pressure difference, were mended. And for the very few unfortunate ones who had died on the spot, their souls were guided by the divine light into the divine body...
PS1: Recommending a book, "Infinite Frenzied Python Evolution," a mutated beast flow novel... For those interested in a non-human protagonist, feel free to check it out.
PS2: Starting tomorrow, this book will resume daily updates....
Comments