Woran the Infiltrator

"They aren't ready, sir." Yanka's words caused Felix to wish he could facepalm. It wasn't the words themselves that caused this but the vigour with which she announced it, as if they had completed its testing and had already manufactured enough to refit the entire army.

"What's their current status?" Felix asked.

"They last 17 hours within a 100 metres depth and 3 hours in deeper waters of Yalore Sea," Yanka said in a flurry.

"Hmm, that's not enough." Rhizen sighed in worry, "Within the corruption-filled water, only our Celestial Armours with three horns and above can last long enough without being destroyed. But, our numbers are pitiful in comparison to the great waters. We wouldn't even make a dent on the corruption that would recover over time."

This was the problem with the corruption.

If left alone, it would gradually spread around like a plague, infecting the entire world. So, the only way to eradicate it was to destroy it at a rate faster than its growth.

On the surface, they were capable of this thanks to the safe zones and various other powers they wielded. But in the water, this wasn't feasible, especially since most of their abilities weren't efficient underwater.

Consider Rhizen's powers for example. His Homing Feathers would travel too slow in the waters and expend most of their Nacre through travel itself. Moreover, the radius of their explosion would be more contained.

His Death Stinger was close-ranged and was somewhat useful, but his Spike Frenzy fell under the same limitation as Homing Feathers, unable to travel quickly through the water.

His Static Force was useless there with too many variables that could trigger its retaliation prematurely. So, this only left the Dust Wave and the All-Devouring Whale among his offensive abilities.

And this was in his case, one that had the most number of abilities.

For the Horned Humans, barely any could fight properly in the ocean waters. The PADS didn't have enough members to deploy in this world. After all, they had to monitor two other worlds while also searching for other worlds to rescue.

Moreover, they also had to ensure these worlds were cut off and hidden from other Systems, especially Apocalypse which had been angered by their actions.

So, a lot of personnel had to be deployed for that.

Therefore, the only way to truly save this world is to ensure the natives—the Horned Humans—have the means to take care of things on their own.

"I guess the only direction forward is to create something resembling an External Item." Rhizen muttered, "Something like a ship that is fuelled by Nacre."

"If the Artillery Canon can be modified to be used underwater, we'll have the means to fight." Felix proposed, "Or, setting up a safe zone at the ocean bed that would gradually consume the corruption there. We can also move in and out of there to launch attacks, even if they aren't efficient."

"But, mobility is a problem." Rhizen said, "The moment we create a safe zone at the seabed, the various Aberrants would surround us and cut us off from all supplies. They'll gradually wear us down before killing us all. Or, they could also use this chance to invade the land once again."

"Our enemy is a schemer too." He sighed in the end, "So, we should never proceed with a plan that has an obvious flaw."

Rhizen looked at Yanka, "Work on creating a mobile vehicle underwater that can attack the Aberrants using Nacre. Work on it simultaneously to the armours, alright?"

"Yes, Sir!" Yanka saluted in response before Rhizen adjourned the meeting.

Five minutes later, she heaved a sigh in relief, relaxing in the canteen where she sipped some coffee, eyes lighting up in praise, "The quality of coffee is better than before."

"Thanks to the Vitality Bowl." A colleague smiled, taking a seat opposite her, relaxing as he too enjoyed the coffee, "Nacre has a revitalising property. And since the raw materials are produced through the Vitality Bowl, things are of superior quality."

"Indeed, they are. This is probably the only solace in these times." Yanka sighed, sipping the coffee.

The External Item of Vitality Bowl was one of the most basic and famous among External Items. Its entire body was composed of grass, sporting a texture similar to pearl. Its original form is of a cylinder spanning a height of ten centimetres.

When planted into the ground, its roots would burrow underground and suck up the nutrients rapidly.

But unlike a tree, these roots secreted a potent substance capable of breaking down minerals to their empirical forms, capable of then rearranging them into the necessary molecules and compounds.

So, as long as the wielder of the Vitality Bowl had thought, for example, of a craving to drink coke, then the Vitality Bowl would work on producing it by absorbing all the necessary minerals from the ground.

And if such minerals didn't exist, it would break down the other minerals to the atomic level before combining them to form the elemental bonds, creating the necessary substances. After that, it would gradually condense coke within it.

Depending on the lack of availability of the necessary minerals, the time taken to produce the respective food item was higher. But no matter what, it would create the necessary food.

And as it selectively prepared them like a tree did to its fruits, but with greater control, the products were superior, akin to being grown in the most bountiful of lands possible.

That was why, even in the apocalyptic scenario, the people didn't have a lack of food, water, and medicine. This allowed them to focus on survival alone, having a more stabler mindset.

Otherwise, if there was a lack of basic resources, then things would get ugly at the very minimum as humans would display their vicious nature.

As Rhizen's entire goal in diving into these apocalyptic worlds was to prevent that, he ensured the environment within the safe zones was as optimistic as possible while working hard on destroying their problems.

"Did they specify any deadline for the Ocean Raid?" The man asked, having finished his cup of coffee.

"Not yet," Yanka sighed, "We hope to be ready by two months. But it's harder than I had thought."

"That's only natural." The man nodded, "If the problem in the ocean was solved, then the other worlds would have gotten rid of their corruption by now, right? After all, they're facing it for more than twenty years."

"Also…" He suddenly looked around before whispering, "I heard that the PADS members never age. Is that right?"

"It's not like that." Yanka massaged her forehead, sighing as she said, "They do age, alright. But, their home world loops once every twenty years. And when this happens, their age regresses, turning them younger."

"I'm not sure as to how this is possible. But even when their world loops, I heard that only their age follows it. Their accumulations aren't lost." She continued, "And, Sir Rhizen is more than a thousand years old."

"He is…?" The man raised an eyebrow in shock before smiling wryly, "That feels…terrifying. So, everyone from PADS is an immortal?"

"They aren't immortal, but undying to a certain extent," Yanka said.

"So, it is true." The man nodded, "Those from my department have been discussing how the PADS members would revive when their world loops. So, even if they die, it's only temporary."

"That's not entirely true." Yanka said, "I don't know the specifics, but it seems they aren't entirely unkillable. Some have indeed died, never to return. But I don't know the details regarding that."

Yanka was relaxed at the moment, calmly chatting as she continued to drink her coffee.

"So, the forecast is to invade the ocean in two months. But, what exactly is Rhizen planning in regards to that?" The man asked, his eyes glinting in response.

Yanka felt odd all of a sudden, feeling appalled that the man before her dared address Rhizen without any honorifics. But before she reacted, she noticed her mouth moving in response as a string of words leaked out, "He's building a fleet of ships and submarines that are effective against the Aberrants. He'll personally take the lead during the raid."

"What about Felix? Will he be there too?" The man asked, smiling as he noticed Yanka's aghast expression.

"Yes," Yanka nodded as cold sweat drenched her back; her eyes darted to the coffee cup, noticing swirling green smoke emitting from it.

She tried to raise her hand, intending to alert the others when she realised that she was unable to move, for the corruption had invaded her Origin Space, sealing her abilities while constricting her movements.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Yanka." The man got up slowly and performed a standard salute, turning around to leave.

'No! He's no longer the Woran that I know. Something's off about him. I cannot allow him to escape!' Yanka screamed mentally, watching the man, Woran walk away as she hurriedly thought of something, forcing herself to stop breathing, causing her face to turn blue in response.

"Eh? Are you feeling alright, Marine Commander?" A passer-by asked in confusion before noticing that her expression was strange, frowning when he noticed a faint wisp of corruption steadily spreading through her horn.

He then observed the direction her eyes were facing, noticing Woran walking away, shouting in alarm, "Danger!"

Bang!

Immediately upon hearing the shout, Woran dropped all formalities as he bolted out of the building, slamming into the walls as he broke through it, rapidly transforming into an Aberrant that took off to the skies, intending to leave as soon as possible.

It was a Keras with wings, containing a powerful corruption in its body. And somehow, it had managed to infiltrate the safe zone while wearing the skin of an employee, even managing to gather intelligence out of Yanka.

But despite possessing the power to slaughter the people, it didn't do that, only having the motive to escape into the ocean and convey the intelligence to their forces there.

Immediately after, a string of abilities trailed after it, targeting it as the Keras, once the man named Woran continued to evade the attacks, soon reaching the barrier, slamming forth with a punch that cracked open a hole, allowing it to rush out.