Pressure

If Mutants showing up at their door without launching a sneak attack was already strange enough, then a Mutant opening its mouth and speaking human language was nothing short of a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

Although it spoke Black Tide Language, its pronunciation was bizarre, making it difficult for Rosaline, who only knew a little Black Tide Language, to understand. But the shock was no less overwhelming. She stammered, "You... you... how can you talk?"

Ivette seemed to think of something and asked, "Did you recover your memories from when you were human?"

"After... completing my third... evolution... I could see some... fragments of information... left in my brain..." As the Twin-Blade Demon spoke, its tone gradually became smoother, as though it was getting the hang of speaking human language.

Then, seeing Rosaline's nervous expression as she hesitated to speak, the Twin-Blade Demon wanted to laugh again. But when it saw the expressionless Ivette beside her, it restrained the impulse and said, "I already knew about your... living area... Those from the Mother Nest factions... knew too... so they all... stayed away... Yesterday, I was merely testing... your strength..."

Testing probably referred to its sneak attack on Rosaline yesterday... Mother Nest factions? That should have meant the opposing sides in the Grayport war... But why did it sound like it was excluding itself from them?

As Ivette pondered this, Rosaline hid behind her teacher and used the speaking skills she had learned in the dream to ask, "Are you still human? And what is this Overlord you mentioned?"

"I can merely see... a little memory and knowledge... I am different from those stupid dogs... with three evolutions... I have more intelligence than them... and a body stronger than humans... I am a higher being, with no upper limit... a Perfect Lifeform."

This time, the Twin-Blade Demon finally could not hold it in any longer and once again revealed that smile that frightened Rosaline. Only this time, Ivette did not suddenly strike it.

It was obvious that this fellow had drawn a clear line between itself and the Mutants... It called itself a Perfect Lifeform and called other Third Stage Mutants stupid dogs... Considering that its knowledge came from memories of its human days, did that mean humanoid Mutants found it easier to gain knowledge and intelligence upon reaching the Third Stage...? Ivette thought.

After a pause, the Twin-Blade Demon continued, "An Overlord... is the Fourth Stage of evolution... Once one is born... it becomes the ruler of the island... At that point, the best outcome for me would be... losing my freedom... The worst would be... becoming nourishment... And your existence... is too great a threat. You will definitely be eliminated..."

"Why are you the only one seeking cooperation with us? What about the other Third Stage Mutants?" Ivette asked.

"They are all stupid dogs. They cannot communicate and know nothing... Those who know the truth are all slaves of the Mother Nest. They evolved only with the Mother Nest's help... My evolution relied only on myself." By this point, the Twin-Blade Demon's awkward speech had become much more fluent, and its tone carried a distinct sense of superiority.

The Mother Nest could help Mutants evolve, but the price was being controlled by it... The Twin-Blade Demon had entered the Third Stage through its own strength, becoming a lone wolf among the Mother Nest powers...

Ivette understood the hidden meaning in its words, yet she was still puzzled. "Then after an Overlord is born, is it controlled by the Overlord or the Mother Nest? Or are the two one and the same?"

"When a Mother Nest is first born... it is weak. It chooses a... partner, to become the Nest Lord... There can only be one Nest Lord... As long as it does not die, it cannot be changed and is not controlled by the Mother Nest... Only a Nest Lord can evolve into an Overlord," the Twin-Blade Demon said.

So that was it. It likely meant that an early Mother Nest lacked the capability to grow and required outside investment. That was what a "Nest Lord" was: someone who could form some sort of contract with the Mother Nest and enter a symbiotic relationship... Once the Mother Nest grew stronger, it would in turn nourish the Nest Lord, helping them evolve into a Fourth Stage "Overlord" and establish a Mutant force... Ivette asked, "How are Mother Nests born?"

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

"Do you know where the first Mutated Creatures came from when the apocalypse descended?" Ivette asked again.

This time, the Twin-Blade Demon did not even answer. After shaking its head, it silently looked at her. Though its enormous white compound eyes could not exactly convey a gaze, its humanlike facial contours still made it seem as though it were speechlessly asking, How would I know that?

Then, seeing that neither of them had any more questions, the Twin-Blade Demon curled its lips again and said, "This information... is my sincerity... The Corrupt Forest between the mountains... is where the Overlord will be born... The Nest Lord is already evolving. Starting wars with the two nests outside... is a cover to buy time... All Elite guards have been deployed beside the Mother Nest... I suggest you make your decision quickly... Otherwise, in less than half a month at the earliest... Heh heh..."

After saying that, its four wings trembled slightly. It turned into an afterimage, silently blending into the darkness and vanishing without a trace.

The next morning, Rosaline came downstairs with two dark circles under her eyes after sleeping poorly all night. She saw that her teacher had already gotten up early.

It was an area that could barely be called an animal pen, filled with some wild animals her teacher had captured.

In the faint morning light, Ivette sat quietly beside a crude wooden table, her shadow stretched long. She held a slender syringe in her hand, its dark liquid gently swaying within the glass barrel as she carefully pushed it beneath the skin of a gray rabbit.

Rosaline did not make a sound to disturb her, because she knew her teacher was conducting an experiment.

Ever since developing the technique "Regeneration Pump" three years ago, her teacher had been researching how to use the Phantom Heart to filter Mutation Factors from the body as a lifesaving method after mutation infection. But because she did not understand their properties and the knowledge required was too advanced, coupled with the fact that she herself was indeed rather excessively lazy, she only conducted experiments every few days, for just one or two hours each time. As a result, the optimization of the massive "Regeneration Pump" project had been stalled for three years with little progress.

There had been no problem taking things so leisurely before. For a powerful mage who had lived through countless ages, what was there that could not wait until tomorrow?

But after witnessing yesterday's war and receiving the Twin-Blade Demon's visit that night, her teacher had actually not slept in today. She had started experimenting early in the morning, which indirectly showed just how much pressure the soon-to-be-born "Overlord" in the Ish Mountains had put on her teacher.

She tiptoed into the kitchen, tied on an apron, and began preparing breakfast. When she set a warm plate beside her teacher's hand, she saw an unusual expression appear on her teacher's face.

"How is it, Teacher?" Rosaline asked.

"I found a lead." Ivette let out a relieved breath. "At least I didn't spend the whole night researching here for nothing."

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

"Mm."

"So as long as you get serious, Teacher, you're a genius." Rosaline smiled.

Was that her way of hinting that I'd been too much of a slacker before...? Looking at the angelic smile on the girl's face, Ivette could not help but wonder.

After breakfast, the two set out again. They practically made a circuit around the Ish Mountains in the center of Ish Island, setting off from Ish City in the far south, heading to Grayport City in the upper left, then passing through scattered town ruins to Luya City in the far north. Finally, they traveled south along East Ring Island Road on the right and returned to Ish City in the south.

The entire journey took a day. The Magitech Motorcycle's energy storage panels were completely drained, and Ivette had to rely on her nearly 650 points of mana reserves to recharge it.

During the journey, the two mainly observed from the edges of several battlefields. First, they confirmed that the Ish Mountains were indeed fighting both the Grayport and Luya factions at once. Second, among the Tidebug Army fighting Grayport, there were no Third Stage Mutants leading them, while the Tidebug Army fighting Luya was led by a Third Stage canine Mutant. It was unknown whether it had been specifically sent out as a show of force.

Finally, while returning along the ruins of the 150-kilometer-long East Ring Island Road, the two encountered the Twin-Blade Demon again as they looked toward the Ish Mountains in the distance.

It flew beside the hovercar and said with a low laugh, "Heh heh, now you should know... I did not deceive you..."

We still have not confirmed that everything you said was true... Rosaline had wanted to reply with that, but then she heard the Twin-Blade Demon continue, "I truly am the wisest Perfect Lifeform..."

For a moment, both teacher and student fell silent. They could not refute that, because while observing near Grayport City and Luya City, they had both tried to communicate with the Third-Rank Aberrations or Mother Nests of those two factions. But perhaps because they lacked human brains, the others behaved no differently from wild beasts. They could not speak human language or understand hand gestures. They only kept hissing, then attacked directly whenever anyone came close...

From this, it seemed that as a humanoid Mutant, the Twin-Blade Demon truly was much stronger in that regard. At the very least, it could communicate.