Pressure

If it was strange enough that an Aberration would visit without launching a surprise attack, then it was downright earth-shattering, like a bolt from the blue, when the Aberration opened its mouth and spoke human language.

Although it spoke Black Tide Language, and its pronunciation was strange, making it difficult for Rosaline, who only knew simple Black Tide Language, to understand, the impact was no less. She stammered, "You... you... how can you talk?"

Ivette thought of something and asked, "Did you recover your memories from your human period?"

"After the third... evolution... I can see some... residual information fragments in my brain..." the Twin-Blade Demon said, its tone gradually becoming smoother as if it had found the feeling of speaking human language.

Then, seeing Rosaline's nervous, hesitant look, the Twin-Blade Demon felt like laughing again. But upon seeing the expressionless Ivette beside her, it suppressed the impulse and said, "I've known about your... living areas for a long time... The Mother Nest faction... also knows... so they... won't come close... I was just testing your... level yesterday..."

Testing, it must have been referring to the surprise attack on Rosaline yesterday... The Mother Nest faction? It should be the warring parties in the Grayport War... But why did it sound like it was distancing itself?

Ivette pondered this, while Rosaline, hiding behind her teacher, used her oral skills learned in dreams to ask, "Are you still human? Also, what is this 'Lord' you speak of?"

"I can only see... a little memory and knowledge... I am different from those other three-stage evolved... stupid dogs... I have more wisdom than them... and a stronger body than humans... I am a higher-level, limitless... perfect being."

The Twin-Blade Demon finally couldn't help itself this time, revealing that smile that Rosaline found frightening again. However, this time, Ivette didn't suddenly attack it.

It was clear that this guy had very clearly separated itself from the Aberrations... calling itself a perfect being and other third-stage Aberrations "stupid dogs"... Considering its knowledge came from memories of its human period, did this mean that humanoid Aberrations were more likely to gain knowledge and wisdom upon reaching the third stage... Ivette thought.

After a pause, the Twin-Blade Demon continued, "A Lord... is the fourth stage of evolution... Once it is born... it will be the Sovereign of the island... At that time, the best outcome for me would be... losing my freedom... The worst outcome would be becoming nourishment... And your existence... is too much of a threat, you will definitely be eliminated..."

"Why are you the only one looking for us to cooperate? What about the other third-stage Aberrations?" Ivette asked.

"They are all stupid dogs, unable to communicate, knowing nothing... Those who know the truth are all slaves of the Mother Nest, relying on the Mother Nest to complete their evolution... My evolution relied only on myself." As the Twin-Blade Demon said this, its previously awkward tone had become much more fluent, and a strong sense of superiority could be clearly felt in its voice.

The Mother Nest could help Aberrations evolve, but the price was being controlled by the Mother Nest... The Twin-Blade Demon, having reached the third stage through its own strength, thus became a lone wolf among the Mother Nest factions...

Ivette understood the hidden meaning in its words but was still puzzled: "Then after the Leader is born, will the one controlling you be the Leader, or the Mother Nest? Or are they one and the same?"

"When the Mother Nest was first born, it was very weak, and it would choose a... collaborator, as the Nest Lord... There can only be one Nest Lord... If it does not die, it cannot be changed, and it is not controlled by the Mother Nest... Only the Nest Lord can evolve into a Leader." the Twin-Blade Demon said.

So that's how it is. It should mean that the early Mother Nest lacked ability and needed external investment to grow. This is the "Nest Lord," who can form a kind of contract with the Mother Nest and become a symbiotic relationship... And when the Mother Nest grew, it would reciprocate by helping the Nest Lord evolve into the fourth-stage "Leader" and establish Aberration forces... Ivette asked, "How was the Mother Nest born?"

"I don't know." This time, the Twin-Blade Demon answered unexpectedly decisively, then added, "...Luck."

"Do you know where the first Aberrations came from when the doomsday arrived?" Ivette asked again.

This time, the Twin-Blade Demon didn't even bother to answer. It shook its head and then quietly looked at her. Although there was no such thing as "eyes" in its huge white compound eyes, through the humanized facial contours, one could still feel that it seemed to be silently questioning – How should I know that?

Seeing that they had stopped asking questions, the Twin-Blade Demon once again curved its lips and said, "This information... is my sincerity... The corrupted forest between the mountain ranges is where the Leader is born... The Nest Lord is already evolving. Fighting against two nests externally is its cover to buy time... All elite guards have been deployed by it next to the Mother Nest... I suggest you make a decision quickly... otherwise, in less than half a month at the fastest... hehe..."

After saying that, its four wings vibrated slightly, turning into an afterimage, and it silently merged into the darkness, disappearing without a trace.

The next morning, Rosaline, who hadn't slept well all night, went downstairs with dark circles under her eyes. She saw that her teacher had already woken up early.

It was an area that could barely be called a pen, containing some wild animals the teacher had captured.

In the faint morning light, Ivette sat by a simple wooden table, her figure elongated. She held a long, thin syringe, and a dark liquid sloshed slightly inside the glass tube. She was focused on slowly injecting it under the skin of a gray rabbit.

Rosaline didn't speak to disturb her, knowing that her teacher was conducting an experiment.

After developing the "Regeneration Pump" spell three years ago, the teacher had been researching how to filter out the Aberration factors within the body using the Phantom Heart, as a life-saving method after Aberration infection. However, due to a lack of understanding of its nature, the required knowledge was too advanced, and she was also a bit too lazy. She basically conducted experiments every few days, only for one or two hours each time. As a result, the optimization process for the grand "Regeneration Pump" had been stuck for three years with little progress.

It was fine to be so leisurely before. For a powerful mage who had lived for countless years, what couldn't wait until tomorrow?

But after witnessing yesterday's battle and the visit from the Twin-Blade Demon last night, the teacher was actually not sleeping in this morning and started experimenting early. This could indirectly indicate that the "Leader" about to be born in the Mount Ish range had put great pressure on her.

She tiptoed into the kitchen and put on an apron to prepare breakfast. When she placed the warm plate next to her teacher's hand, she saw a strange expression appear on her teacher's face.

"How is it, teacher?" Rosaline asked.

"I've got a lead." Ivette let out a sigh of relief. "It was worth staying up all night researching here."

"Teacher, you researched all night?" Rosaline asked in surprise.

"Mhm."

"So as long as you put your mind to it, teacher, you're a genius." Rosaline said with a smile.

Is she hinting that I've been too lazy before... Looking at the girl's angelic smile, Ivette felt a little doubtful.

After breakfast, the two set off again. It could almost be said that they circled the Mount Ish range in the center of Ish Island. They started from Ish City in the south, went to Grayport City in the upper left, passed through scattered ruined towns, reached Luya City in the far north, and then traveled down the East Ring Road on the right side, returning to Ish City in the south.

-- The entire trip took a day, and the energy storage panels of the Magitech Motorcycle were drained. It was all thanks to Ivette's nearly 650 points of magic reserves charging it.

During this process, the two were mainly observers on the edges of several battlefields. Firstly, they confirmed that Mount Ish was indeed fighting against both the Grayport and Luya factions simultaneously. Secondly, in the battles, the Tide Worm army confronting Grayport was not led by a third-stage Aberration, while the Tide Worm army confronting Luya was led by a third-stage canine Aberration. They wondered if it was specifically sent out to bluff.

Finally, as they returned along the ruins of the 150-kilometer-long East Ring Road, they encountered the Twin-Blade Demon once again while looking at Mount Ish from a distance.

It flew next to the hovercar and said with a low laugh, "Heh heh, now you should know... I didn't lie to you..."

We haven't confirmed that everything you said is true... Rosaline was about to retort, but then she heard the Twin-Blade Demon continue, "I am indeed the most intelligent perfect being..."

For a moment, the teacher and student fell silent. They couldn't refute this, because when observing in Grayport City and Luya City, they had both attempted to communicate with the third-stage Aberrations or Mother Nests of those factions. However, perhaps due to the lack of human brains, the other party behaved like wild beasts, unable to speak human language or understand gestures. They only repeatedly hissed, and if approached, they would attack directly...

In this regard, as a humanoid Aberration, the Twin-Blade Demon was much stronger, at least able to communicate.