Aqua
Yeah, this is pretty much what I expected.
[HER ARM IS REGROWING ON ITS OWN! HER ARM IS REGROWING ON ITS OWN! HER ARM IS REGROWING ON ITS OWN!]
[How does an arm just regrow like that?! She seriously didn’t somehow sneak in some sort of magical cure all plant from Oceana that regrows arms, right?!]
[That’s literally impossible. Any regrowth agent will have side effects. But she doesn’t seem to have any side effects. And it has the symptoms of a healing wound with the scabbing and everything.]
[That moment you regrow an arm like it’s nothin’]
[Was this why she said she didn’t need an elixir or a prosthetic during that interview? This is why, right?]
[Interview?]
[What interview?]
[AQUA DID HER FIRST INTERVIEEEEEEEW!!!]
Everyone’s going wild. And it’s not just the public, but from what Rhett says in a message he just sent, the head researcher of the Bloodline Research Center looks like he might be losing it. That he might cross over the line, breaking the Bloodliners’ First Act. All because the guy has such immense pride that he stubbornly refuses to admit he can’t figure it out.
And I kind of get it in a way though. Why the public is acting this way, I mean. Not the researcher’s loss of sanity.
That I don’t get.
Anyway, Pioneers are in a special place in society. They are very popular and have immense influence, but it’s like they’re only half a person until they finally make it to the top of their new world and claim it as their own. So until then, people don’t care all that much about toxic haters or even abusive companies targeting them.
But at the same time, Bloodliners are also in a special place in society. They hold even more influence and are practically untouchable unless it’s through moral and legal means. And even then, there’s a good chance other Bloodliner families will step in to help them.
So people walk on eggshells around Bloodliners when it comes to things that can get them in trouble.
Like asking about the Bloodliner’s secrets when they’re clearly hiding them.
My Bloodline for instance.
It won’t generally cause any issues if someone asks one on one in a direct message, but if they look like they’re trying to pressure me to answer in any way, they can be arrested on the spot. All because of the Bloodliners’ First Act.
And if they actually go deep into trying to pressure or even try to blackmail me into revealing my secret?
They’re most likely going to be arrested and executed.
It’s all so the Alliance can keep using the power of the Bloodliners. Which is practically one of the foundations of the entire Alliance’s structure, with the other biggest foundation being the Grand Chancellor’s administrator status over the System.
Of course, there are plenty of other parts of its foundation, but those two are by far the greatest and most important parts.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
I purse my lips as I continue swimming through the tunnel for a while before eventually just shrugging.
Whatever. That research center has been prying into my business for a while now, so their problems aren’t mine.
And that idiot researcher head will be arrested or killed before he can do anything harmful to me.
I continue swimming for several more minutes before quietly making some preparations despite that. Specifically, using some of the money I’ve earned so far to hire bodyguards for all the people I know back on Equeter.
Because a person can never be too careful.
Plus I’m not using that money myself, so it doesn’t really matter.
It’s just gonna sit and gather dust until I can get off Oceana after all.
Although since I’m stuck here I end up asking Rhett to make those preparations for me. So it’s not really me doing it.
I wouldn’t know the first thing about hiring bodyguards anyways.
On another note, after swimming for quite a few hours, I manage to make it back to where the mini starfish inside the massive starfish was. Or rather, still is, considering their corpses floating along in the center of the room.
So I proceed to ignore said corpses as I move on through the room towards the tunnel to the next location.
Right now there are still three unexplored locations in these caves.
This next tunnel here, the tunnel full of snakes and eels, and the other direction of the tunnel that I haven’t actually gone yet. Where the tunnel branches into two directions from my artificially made tunnel.
Since I’m already used to this place, and the other tunnel of the three places likely has a large predator, this is the better choice for now. Especially when I’m still injured.
So I swim. And swim. And continue swimming.
Without finding any monsters in the tunnel.
Eventually I find myself frowning as I swim with the chat straight up wondering how long this damned tunnel is. And where the monsters are.
But then I get my answer when I find an exit. One leading to the larger ocean beyond.
And I immediately perform an about face and head back into the tunnel. Feeling rather strongly that I’ve wasted my time here.
But within seconds of turning around and heading back into the tunnel, I hear a loud call echoing out through the water. Almost like a fog horn.
I know I probably shouldn’t, but I turn around anyway.
Only to immediately feel a sharp stabbing pain in my head when I see a bright and beautifully glowing light in the water.
I let out a scream of pain while clutching at my head with my one hand. But my eyes refuse to close, and my head refuses to turn.
Damnit, this is a mental attack!
The chat in the corner of my vision is rapidly scrolling by, but my vision is too blurry to see. And the stabbing pain in my head is just growing worse as the light grows brighter.
Then I finally manage to pull my fist back and slam it straight into my head, knocking my head backwards and breaking my gaze away from whatever it is creating the light.
This time when I turn around I don’t stop. I just keep swimming back deep into the caves.
Fucking abyss, I wasn’t expecting to see a monster with a mental attack just from the entrance of the caves…
And now my head hurts from both the aftermath of that mental attack and my own fist hitting me.
That aside though, I noticed something while looking at it.
Its identify result showed up when I tried identifying it during that.
And it makes me realize something.
[Beluviac Arelius – Level 201]
That thing was far higher level than the last monsters I saw outside of the caves.
Which means… this tunnel I’ve been going through?
It’s been going downwards at an angle, leading me even deeper into the ocean.
And I didn’t even know.
On top of that, it felt like I was slowly swimming towards the light. Meaning it wasn’t just trying to break my mind or something.
It was trying to bait me over to it while keeping me from thinking or stopping myself.
If that thing were trying to go all out to break my mind, I’m pretty sure it would’ve killed me in an instant.
And that realization sends a chill down my spine.
Still. I continue to swim through the tunnel all the way until I reach the starfish area again. Then I continue swimming even further beyond that before eventually arriving at my artificial tunnel, entering it, and going back to my little home away from home.
All while still feeling the alure of that beautiful light even from here. Even long after I’m no longer seeing it.
That’s why light in the deepsea is dangerous.
I shiver again as the broadcast cuts off and I take off my armor before collapsing down onto my backpack. Not taking off my hoodie or shirt this time since my stomach wounds are healed.
Please tell me the Abyssal Kraken has a defense against mental attacks that I’ll get later on… maybe a skill or a trait… preferably a trait…
I really hope so.
Otherwise there’s no way I can survive in the deep if I run into something like that again outside of the caves.
With that thought in my mind, I curl up into a ball while hugging my legs before going to sleep.