Chapter 22: Evacuation

The laboratory was damp and permeated with the smell of fish.

An ancient being, whose lifespan had to be calculated with an "Old-Time Calendar", suddenly felt a sense of being watched from behind.

#Hmm? Was something interesting brought in?#

He stopped the pen he had been moving with his tentacle-like fingers.

He turned his head,

the fish gills on his neck slightly open, as if through the gill slits he could see a sea world filled with bizarre fish.

Just as he turned a face that could neither be resolved by the naked eye nor described in words,

Pop~

a fish-eye, small as a grain of rice located behind him in a test tank, burst.

The sense of being watched vanished too.

However,

like this tiny fish-eye, there were thousands more in that single tank.

He didn't consider it important and continued his work on important data recording.

...

[Perspective Shift]

Listening to the epic music from the ocean,

watching a terrifying figure beyond comprehension,

Yi Chen almost instantly lost control over his consciousness and couldn't even move his field of vision… like a fish waiting to be slaughtered.

Within his field of vision,

the unknown being who was recording data seemed to notice his watching,

slowly turning its head

Such an ordinary action evoked an unprecedented sense of fear in Yi Chen's heart.

This most ancient, primal emotion seemed like a pair of large hands, tightly squeezing the soul, possibly tearing it apart at any moment.

The act of turning felt like a countdown to death.

At the critical moment,

a familiar jumble of noises came through in his mind,

"William, wake up!"

The voice, coupled with a strong pulling sensation,

Buzz!

At that moment, Yi Chen's consciousness broke free from its bonds and fled the fish-scaled, foul-smelling abyss, traversing the cracks of time and space, and returned to Green Lake.

When he opened his eyes again,

he was back in his familiar physical body.

Lying in the dark depths of the lake,

the Observer Giant Eye, designated as "Watcher", had been completely drained, resembling an empty balloon laying lifelessly at the bottom of the lake.

The fully fed Grape had returned and hid under the skin in a peculiar state of fertility, leaving behind only one sentence.

"I need a long rest now… unless it's a life-threatening emergency, don't wake me."

As the voice ended,

the connection in the mind weakened to 1/10, only allowing him to feel the orb located in his abdominal cavity, subtly nurturing and growing.

However,

the crisis in Green Lake Town was not over.

The Giant Eye was just one "Watcher",

its death had only unshackled the townspeople, making them freer... The townspeople infected with "Fish Scale Disease" were as active as ever, possibly even more insane.

At the same time,

mermaids roaming around Green Lake each glanced towards the unfamiliar figure at the bottom of the lake, focusing on this uninfected newcomer… instinctively swarming towards him rapidly.

The numbers were so great, there was no escape!

In that critical moment,

a white shadow burst into the lake, moving so fast no creature could see clearly.

A streak of white light flashed past the fish.

Two strong, sharp claws directly gripped into Yi Chen's shoulders, piercing the flesh and sinking into the bones~

Before he could even feel the pain,

an unimaginable pulling force came, pulling him straight out of the lake, shredding any mermaids trying to block the way with some hidden Wind Blade, unstoppable.

Splash!

A huge splash arose on the lake surface,

Yi Chen was pulled out entirely, flying near the ground,

and eventually thrown at the back door of Green Shadows Inn.

Thump! His hands supported against the wall, barely landing.

Yi Chen quickly looked up,

only to see that his rescuer was a White Feathered Owl.

Before he could even thank it, the creature had already flown away.

At that moment,

the boss opened the back door and pulled Yi Chen into the inn.

The dim pupils on the boss's face became clearer at that moment.

"You… really did it! Cathy, quickly take Mr. William to the basement to recover."

"Got it!"

The slim sister in a white dress effortlessly carried Yi Chen on her shoulder,

reaching the basement along the secret path,

She brought some dry towels, carefully wiping Yi Chen's body.

Surprisingly,

despite having been soaked in the lake for such a long time,

his clothes were not wet, just needing a wipe off the surface water stains to look as good as new.

The only thing that needed special attention was the shoulder pierced by the owl, with a little lake water seeping into the wound...

Cathy first wiped it with a towel,

suddenly pressed her cold lips against it,

and sucked hard~

All the blood and the mixed-in lake water were drawn out, blocking the infection.

"It should be fine now – I'll go get something tasty, so just wait here, okay?"

After his sister left,

Yi Chen sat alone on a chair in the basement.

Though this underwater adventure at the lake had not caused any substantial injuries,

his mental state was not very good,

with constant ringing in his ears,

a slightly swollen cranial cavity,

and intermittent flashes of the Abyss Laboratory crossing his mind.

Unconsciously,

a stream of nosebleed flowed out accompanied by a strong dizzy sensation, nearly making Yi Chen fall off the chair.

"Could this be a side effect of mental intrusion?

Even when I didn't open my eyes, I was still affected... It was entirely reliant on Mili to finally kill the Observer Giant Eye.

And such a giant eye spreading fish scale disease, and controlling Green Lake Town, was just a small product of the laboratory.

I am too weak now,

there must be a way to grow and become stronger in this world, and perhaps the organization has such methods."

Having experienced life and death at the bottom of the lake,

Yi Chen was not frightened,

rather, it stirred his desire to explore the world, eager to become stronger and learn more.

At that moment,

Cathy came to the basement, carrying a bowl of special fish soup.

Thick,

bubbling,

black,

with various mutated fish heads crammed into the soup bowl,

the taste was like a dead fish in a washbasin, undiscovered for a week.

"This is what your brother specially prepared, saying that if you survived and came back, this fish head soup would be of great help."

"All right...okay."

He took the big bowl, which seemed enough for several people,

tentatively touched the viscous surface of the soup with a finger,

ensured there was no rejection from the plant inside his body,

pinched his nose with one hand,

held the soup bowl with the other, and gulped it down fiercely,

As the turmoil in his stomach ensued, the ever-present ringing in his ears began to diminish, and the swelling in his cranial cavity gradually subsided.

"Good stuff!"

Just as Yi Chen marveled at the miraculous properties of this exotic dish,

a powerful and clear voice came from above, seeping through the building's floors of Green Shadows Inn, clearly reaching Yi Chen's ears... and the whole town could hear this voice as well.

"All Assessors, please note.

Hurry to the town's eastern exit at maximum speed, where the organization's carriage will be waiting for you, with a limit of one second.

Exceeding the time will be considered a failure in the assessment."

"Has the assessment ended early?"

Hearing this, Yi Chen immediately perked up,

and returned to the inn.

Green Shadows Inn was located at the southern exit of the town, quite far from the gathering point at the eastern exit... Crossing an entirely uncontrollable, rioting town posed a great risk.

Not to mention, Mili was in a special state, unable to provide visual assistance.

"Mr. William, if you want to go to the eastern exit, you'll either have to go through the town center or circle around the lake.

The journey is dangerous, let us accompany you."

"Won't it be too dangerous? If there are organization members at the eastern exit, they might attack you."

"As long as we don't get too close, we should be fine."

Yi Chen did not refuse; he indeed needed the siblings' assistance.

Adopting a similar method,

disguised as 'corpses', they lay flat on a wooden cart, pushed by the siblings towards the eastern entrance.

With high-level diseased patients shedding their scales completely in the town center, they chose to go around the lake... Throughout the journey, there were no obstacles; no townsfolk would suspect the existence of such high beings as the siblings.

When they could barely make out the silhouette of the carriage, the siblings also stopped.

On the eve of parting,

considering the path of 'curing disease' he was about to embark on,

if they met again in the future, their positions might be entirely different.

They simply gave each other a hug, without saying words like 'goodbye'.

However,

while hugging the boss, the person gently patted Yi Chen's back and whispered in his ear:

"Leave here quickly, Mr. William… You are the strangest human I have ever seen, completely different from others; maybe you really have a chance to cure this incurable world.

If there is a chance to meet again,

please don't hesitate, just kill us."

Yi Chen did not respond,

but locked eyes with the boss for one second, then immediately turned and ran towards the assembly point.