Chapter 39: I Became a Whale

With white clouds flying all the way, Dachun approached the Sea of Silver.

What was bound to happen finally arrived—System Prompt: Congratulations! Your advanced module combination skill has reached Level 10...

Very good, they are all at Level 10 now. Could Expert level be far behind?

Reaching this point meant being close to some commercial shipping lanes. Small boats could not be seen by passing merchant vessels, so he decisively let go of the fishing rod and cast it away. He believed that all the surrounding sea monsters had entered the battlefield, and even drifting aimlessly would be safe.

The tidal force began to slow down, and the horizon where sea and sky met faintly erupted with the roaring sound of thunder.

Dachun was shocked. This was magic cannon fire! With this kind of lineup, could it be the regular navy of the City of Silver?

Getting closer and closer, the silhouettes of sails could already be seen in the distance—holy shit, there were five or six of them! Moreover, the one in the middle was larger than expected. This was simply not something a whale could flip over. The difficulty was higher than imagined by just a tiny, tiny bit! What should he do?

However, the sea ahead was completely blood-red, with various things floating on it!

Dachun temporarily set aside other concerns: "Look, food! Let's eat our fill first!"

The whale was even more excited: "The taste of tuna! I thought it would be impossible to catch up with it forever, and that I would never have the chance to eat it!"

Holy shit, it actually managed to blast a never-stopping tuna to death! The characteristic of sea monsters was not how strong their numerical stats were, but that they were exceptionally good at escaping and extremely difficult to kill. If it hadn't been for falling under the hypnotic summons of this mermaid, would it have recklessly thrown itself into the mouths of the cannons?

Well, that was fine too. The fiercer the enemy's firepower, the more sea monsters blown to death, and the more food there would be—the key was that this was not ordinary food; these were Boss-level sea monsters! A Boss eating a Boss—surely that meant soaring up to transform into a mythical Kun! Once it could advance and evolve, there would be opportunities.

Swimming closer, ahead of them was a large chunk of fresh meat radiating rainbow light and floating on the water.

Dachun was astonished: "What is this?"

Eileen was very knowledgeable: "Good heavens, it is actually a tribute ingredient from the Emperor of the Empire, a rainbow dish possessing seven flavors: sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, salty, savory, and umami! As a Duke, the City Lord wouldn't even be qualified to eat it; otherwise, if the Emperor found out, it would be a crime of lese-majesty!"

Dachun asked in surprise: "You mentioned five flavors just now, right?"

"There are two more that are flavorless! One kind of flavorless is like plain water without scent, truly lacking any taste. The other kind transcends the perceptual limits of human taste buds to the extent that the flavor cannot be judged—"

Before she finished speaking, the whale lunged forward and swallowed it in one gulp!

Uh... perhaps the meaning of flavorless also included swallowing it whole?

Yet the next moment, Dachun's vision seemed to enter the whale's soul space once again. The sky became filled with glorious morning clouds, and an arc of a rainbow spanned between the sea and the sky...

Was this the feeling of happiness? More than that, the rosy clouds pierced through the clouds like ten-thousand-foot golden swords, and the golden sea looked as though it had been plated with a layer of golden armor—this was the feeling of power! Dachun could visibly see the surrounding wounds beginning to heal!

Dachun was wild with joy: "We don't eat ordinary meat, we only eat tribute food. We can promote, advance, and grow stronger!"

The whale shot a geyser of water straight up into the sky in excitement: "I smell the crab roe fragrance of the Sea Emperor Crab! And the liver oil fragrance of the Megashark, and the electro-scorched fragrance of the Giant Electric Ray..."

Dachun was sincerely happy: "Hurry, hurry!"

This was way too much higher-end than a bat eating all sorts of messy things in the sewers! Let us spare a moment of pity for Eileen.

...

At this time, Sariel was completely dumbfounded as he stared at the magic crystal screen: "It's not coming over to fight; it's stealing my precious materials!!"

The butler was entirely certain: "Ordinary sea monsters do not possess this level of intelligence; it must be a design by the Shinto Corporation. The mermaid's abnormality is definitely related to the design of this whale!"

Sariel was furious: "Put me through to the Shinto team on the communicator, and find out the attributes of this whale clearly!"

"Understood."

...

At this moment, the Young Master was extremely anxious regarding the extremely intense battle over the crystal bats in the water dungeon. Waves after wave of people died, and stone after stone was chipped away, but he still hadn't found anything resembling a magic stone. Could it be that they had to clear out the entire collapsed passage?

Just then, the communicator rang. It was Sariel of the Second Family!

The Young Master sprang to his feet in shock and called out to his team: "Everyone quiet, not a single sound is allowed!"

Compared to Michael of the First Family, whose calmness was like ice, this Sariel was capricious and moody, torturing people without needing any reason.

The Young Master composed his emotions and answered respectfully: "Lord Sariel!"

A gentle voice came from the other end of the communicator: "It's the butler. My Lord is currently throwing a tantrum, so I shall speak on his behalf. Receive the image first."

The Young Master breathed a sigh of relief. Then the image came through, and he couldn't help but be shocked: "What is this?"

The butler asked: "Is this the whale belonging to your corporation that went missing?"

The Young Master was stunned in bewilderment: "It is! But it had a layer of barnacle armor, and the barnacles are gone! How did it get injured to this extent?"

"That is not the point. The point is that it was summoned by my Lord's mermaid to the Sea of Silver in an attempt to rescue the mermaid. You understand, we call this kind of existence an intervention NPC! You must immediately provide its attribute parameters..."

How could this happen?!

The Young Master trembled all over: "To make it easier for us to obtain this package, the whale's design template is old age and illness, so its actual attack, health, and defense stats are only at the A-rank level. However, to prevent it from being killed first by powerful NPCs, the personality we set was cautious, demon-alert, and possessed extremely high spell resistance—"

The butler's tone changed: "Foolish! Reducing attack, health, and defense to A-rank means that some other attribute will compensate to become super S-rank! The old-age template combined with demon alert makes it highly likely to evolve a divine attribute opposed to demons. Right now, it is interacting with the mermaid and consuming the corpses of other sea monsters in an attempt to advance. This intelligence far exceeds other sea monsters! Its high magic resistance will also reduce the effectiveness of the magic cannons. Once it disrupts my Lord's operation, do you know how to atone for your sins?"

The Young Master's legs went weak and he trembled all over: "Lord Butler, its physical defense is low! The previous design concept was to use barnacles as armor, but now the barnacles are gone... I believe Lord Sariel will definitely be able to capture it!"

The butler gave a cold snort and hung up the communicator: "Wait for notification!"

Terrified, the Young Master collapsed back into his chair, and the entire team command headquarters fell into dead silence.

...

At this time, Sariel's think-tank team rapidly analyzed the whale's various attributes roughly, deduced three conclusions, and formulated a tactical plan:

1. The whale's several giant blood-stained gouges were clearly traces of a recent battle with a giant octopus, and only the powerful suction cups of a giant octopus could forcefully tear away the barnacle armor that covered the whale's entire body. This process caused massive damage, and the whale's current state was actually closer to the survival instinct of a dying creature, which was why it prioritized foraging over fighting.

Under these circumstances, the whale's high magic resistance was an advantage. It could withstand the might of the magic cannons without dying, allowing the magic cannons to be loaded with the "Mana Web Binding" spell to directly shackle and capture it alive.

2. The whale had successively consumed two rare ingredients, so its goal was actually very simple—namely, the third and fourth pieces. The current preparation time allowed all the fleet's magic cannons to aim at the floating position of the fourth piece, making it actually much easier to hit the whale than any sea monster.

3. Trawlers would encircle and take their positions. As long as the whale was bound by the restraining chains, it could be assisted in being captured alive...

Sariel was very satisfied with the team's analysis: "Very good! Very detailed!"

Immediately afterward, his expression changed and he furiously smashed things at the reporting personnel: "So much nonsense! The third piece is about to be eaten up by it!"

...

At this time, the whale had eaten three rare ingredients in a row, and its entire soul space was filled with rainbow radiance!

Dachun seemed to see several transparent shadows moving about in the sea: "What is this?"

The whale was very happy: "The soul of the tuna! The soul of the megashark! And the soul of the Sea Emperor Crab."

Holy shit! What was this?

Eileen said in a deep voice: "It should be the same as my situation."

He understood. Eileen had been eaten by the Piranha King, hence her soul was imprisoned. The souls of these three sea monsters were the same, imprisoned by the whale as well. Did that also mean the souls of these three sea monsters could be released later, similar to Eileen?

Without time to dwell on it, the whale set its sights on the fourth piece: "The Giant Electric Ray!"

However, that place had already reached the center of the battlefield. Dachun decisively took action: "I'll handle this!"

The whale was very trusting: "I'm full, too tired, and want to sleep. I leave it to you!"

The next moment, the setting sun fell and stars filled the sky within the whale's soul space.

—System Prompt: You and Eileen have fully possessed the whale's physical body and can control the whale's actions. You have acquired the whale's passive skill: Sonar.

Sonar: Capable of ultra-long-distance positioning, navigation, and calling, as well as echo monitoring to judge target locations.

...

I've turned into a whale!

At this moment, Dachun's game operation interface completely transformed into the whale's first-person perspective, with the addition of a world minimap, a miniature terrain map, a current area perception map, and a more special demon alert map.

Dachun was bewildered! Were these the maps related to sonar? There were four of them in total. Was this complex operation supposed to make him a submariner? Looking at it made him dizzy!

So, what was the difference between sonar and the bat's radar?

Dachun hurriedly asked Eileen: "Can we activate the sonic radar?"

Eileen also appeared impatient: "Activate it!"

In that instant, the perspective of perspective and clairvoyance directly covered the entire sea area, and even hundreds of meters deep into the seabed!

Eileen exclaimed in admiration: "Using the whale's body to unleash skills is so many times stronger than you alone!"

Dachun was completely unable to adapt to the operations of the two systems: "You're right. Can you be responsible for operating the radar and sonar?"

Eileen gave a hum: "Leave it to me. Perhaps the capabilities of this whale will provide tremendous inspirational value for my bat abilities."

Dachun was deeply gratified. Having an NPC assistant was truly wonderful.

—Demon Alert Sonar Prompt: Magic fluctuations detected in the upper atmosphere. Threat level: Negligible.

Dachun was suddenly startled: "What is this?"

Eileen checked: "There is something flying in the high sky 1,000 meters above our heads. It seems we have been under high-altitude surveillance all along."

High technology indeed! That meant they had long set their sights on him and formulated a combat plan—huh?

Dachun's radar clairvoyance saw a player using a telescope to observe him from the window of a warship—a player? Sariel!

Holy shit, the number two person in the world! The game was developed by their family, and he was a top-tier tycoon with privileges, which was why he could mobilize such a high-end NPC fleet!

Dachun felt his scalp go numb and wanted to turn around and run away immediately!

Dachun stared at the radar: "Where is my small boat?"

Eileen pointed at the world minimap: "This is the whale, and that is your small boat, 60 nautical miles apart."

Facing reconnaissance from a thousand meters high in the air, the distance was still not far enough! There was simply no room to back down; otherwise, if the opponent casually tracked and searched, they would definitely discover his small boat, and he would be exposed!

Fight to the death!

His current greatest advantage was that the opponent did not know he was a player and he could pose as an NPC sea monster. The opponent's biggest problem happened to be that they were players, and they would definitely use the routines meant for dealing with NPC sea monsters. This actually left him with a chance! Otherwise, facing this high-end magical dreadnought head-on, there would be absolutely no way out.