Tang Yuan narrowed his eyes—or at least, he thought he narrowed his eyes—trying to see more clearly.
Because he wasn't sure whether this body still had eyelids... He moved his hands, only to realize that what had moved were the two tentacles at the top of his body.
His body was soft and light, and communication didn't require much language. The feeling was completely different from being human. In short, it was like becoming a snail; he could only experience the taste of it himself.
There were many Great Race Is here, but quite a few were creatures from other races who had been swapped in.
Let me emphasize again: the Great Race Is and the Is Race were not the same.
The Great Race was a species that had unraveled the mysteries of time. Their minds were almost eternal and indestructible, and they could preserve their race from extinction by constantly occupying the bodies of other species. In the distant past, they had occupied the bodies of the Is Race and become the Great Race Is.
The Is Race, meanwhile, was a native species that had lived on ancient Earth. There was nothing particularly miraculous about them. BIqupai.c0m
Tang Yuan looked around, using his ECHO Eye to scan the Is that were clearly different from the Great Race Is.
Lawrence was easy to find. These replaced species came from across the universe, representing all kinds of civilizations. They were imprisoned here and made to write about their civilizations in their own languages. All Tang Yuan had to do was find someone using an Earth language.
Lawrence probably used English.
[Target discovered: Lawrence.] [Lawrence's mental state is poor. He is in a state of extreme tension and panic.] [Lawrence's Sanity Value is declining.] [Choice 1: Go say hello first and stabilize Lawrence's mood, but risk having your identity questioned by the Great Race Is beside you.] [Choice 2: Take no action and find a way to lure away the Great Race Is beside you.]
After analyzing the situation, the ECHO Eye offered two courses of action. Tang Yuan decided to play it safe and lure away the Is Race member beside him first.
"I'm hungry. Could you please bring me some food?"
"Sure. You keep watching them."
There was practically no infighting within the Is Race, so the Is didn't suspect a thing and readily went to find Tang Yuan some food.
Once the Is had disappeared from the archive room, Tang Yuan swiftly darted over to Lawrence.
Lawrence was startled, and the tentacles on his body trembled slightly.
Tang Yuan picked up paper and a pen and began writing.
"Lawrence?"
When Lawrence saw familiar English appear on the paper, the pen dropped from his tentacle in fright. Then he fell into violent trembling—it was excitement.
"Yes, that's me!"
"Stay calm. I'm here to rescue you," Tang Yuan continued writing.
"Thank you. But we have to hurry. The Flying Hydra is about to break through the containment." After learning that a human had actually come, Lawrence found it unbelievable, but he quickly calmed himself down.
Tang Yuan exchanged a few words with Lawrence and learned about his situation.
He had indeed wanted to use this opportunity to learn the secret that allowed the Great Race to overcome time. Perhaps humanity could achieve eternal life that way too. He just hadn't expected to arrive at such an inopportune time.
The Is Race would soon be unable to continue containing the Flying Hydra underground. They had already been considering a mass transfer to another species long ago. Now, most of the Great Race had already transferred into the bodies of the next species they had selected, while a small portion remained behind to stand guard and tie up loose ends.
These remaining Is were mainly waiting for the Is who had gone "out to exchange minds" to return.
If those Is hadn't returned before the Flying Hydra completely broke through the containment, they would stop waiting. Every member of the Is Race would have to transfer.
Some of the Great Race thought studying the outside world was fascinating and didn't want to transfer so soon. They wanted to spend more time studying in the human world, then, once they had had their fill, directly transfer into the bodies of the next species they had prepared.
These Is had planned everything perfectly. They could live through the human era.
But the humans they had replaced were abandoned inside the bodies of the Is Race, where they now awaited the Flying Hydra's vengeance.
Lawrence was one of those unfortunate humans.
He wanted to leave, but there was absolutely nothing he could do. His grandfather had once stayed here for five years and had even learned the Is Race's method of communication. Lawrence couldn't. He had only been here for half a month and hadn't adapted to anything yet, much less found a way to escape.
"To get out, we need to find the machine the Is Race uses for exchanging minds. I'll find a way to locate it."
Tang Yuan reassured Lawrence. Just then, the Is who had gone out for food returned.
"Here."
He handed Tang Yuan a large bag with something resembling a straw attached to it.
[Special Liquid: Food of the Is Race.] [Note: It seems to be sweet. It should be possible to record it in the Ingredient Codex.]
Tang Yuan tried sucking down a large mouthful. It tasted just like water, though it really did have a sweetness to it.
[Stamina +10.]
There was also a fishy tang mixed into the sweetness.
In all his past experience, Tang Yuan had never tasted a liquid like this. Of course, he didn't want to know what it actually was.
But if it let him taste sweetness, then it was good food.
[Is Liquid: A transparent liquid that emits a golden glow under sunlight. It has a refreshing, water-like texture and a sweet taste. It seems capable of serving as a sweetener.] [Note: Feeding it to "living humans" is prohibited.] ["Is Liquid" has been added to the "Ingredient Codex."]
So, after the fermented-rice-ball slime, had he found a second seasoning?
Tang Yuan took another sip.
[Stamina +10.]
Not bad.
Tang Yuan couldn't bear to drink any more, so he stored the liquid in his backpack.
"I haven't had enough. Where's the rest?"
"Why has your appetite gotten so huge?" The Is beside him sounded surprised.
"I burn through it rather quickly. Is there more?"
"There are still some stored in that room."
Tang Yuan followed the direction he indicated into a small room nearby.
There was a row of devices resembling refrigerators. Somewhat excited, he opened one and swept all the special liquid inside into his backpack. After counting, there were roughly twenty packets.
He didn't put them in the "refrigerator" opened by the ECHO Eye, because he wanted to use that refrigerator to store larger, harder-to-carry things.
Tang Yuan returned to the central archive room. Now all that remained was figuring out how to get back.
He wasn't familiar with the terrain here, and he needed a little more time to adapt.
[Detecting... This Is has no wariness toward you. You can ask directly.] [This liquid's flavor is extremely stimulating to living humans. Because you drank it without any difficulty, the Is has completely let down its guard around you.]
All right... So he had his status as a dead man to thank after all.
"May I ask..."
Tang Yuan had just begun to speak when a massive earthquake interrupted him.
The earth shook and the mountains swayed, sending Tang Yuan staggering wildly from side to side. Fortunately, the suction cups beneath his feet held firmly to the ground and kept him from being shaken away.
"This is bad! How did the Flying Hydra break through our defenses so quickly?!" The Is Race member's face was grave.
Tang Yuan spread his tentacles. He didn't know how he could tell that this cone-shaped body had a grave expression either.
"Evacuate, quickly!" After saying that, the Is hurried away, and Tang Yuan followed close behind.
Following him, Tang Yuan should be able to find the machine for exchanging minds!
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