"The Main God Space doesn't have any situations where death is certain."
"If the Great Light Sphere simply wanted to kill the Reincarnators, why would it have saved us in the first place, then gone to such lengths to pull us out of our original timelines?"
Fang Xiu's explanation, along with his calm demeanor, successfully reassured everyone on the Shazhou Team. Even John, the most pessimistic of them all, let out a sigh of relief.
"That's right. If we insist on reading too much into things, then the enemy would be so terrifying it would have no limits."
After their false alarm, the white boxer who had become the focus of everyone's attention resumed his story, laying out all the details he knew as an important point of reference.
—In the relevant world, sometime around the 1990s, the neon energy company Tagruato accidentally discovered a mysterious substance on the seabed somewhere in the open ocean. It was called "Seabed Nectar," and was also known as Seabed Dew.
Soon, numerous studies confirmed that once processed, Seabed Nectar could be absorbed by the human body without any visible side effects. On the contrary, it produced all sorts of astonishing benefits.
For example, it boosted cellular activity and increased muscle strength.
It also sharpened one's eyesight.
It could even improve one's mood.
So, in order to find ways to make use of this precious undersea resource, the Tagruato Group established a biotechnology subsidiary to develop medical products.
In this context, they also added an extremely small dose of Seabed Nectar to a popular consumer product: Slusho, the soft drink seen everywhere in the Cloverfield movies.
It was worth mentioning that the male lead, Rob, happened to work for the company.
"The setup is a little like the blood orchid in Anaconda."
John, who knew Hollywood movie tropes well, couldn't help delivering a scathing assessment. Then, as if trying to reassure himself, he rambled on, "Hahaha, if we don't assume we're dealing with a guaranteed-death scenario, there's plenty of evidence to support that theory.
"The other two films in the trilogy—The Cloverfield Paradox, originally titled The God Particle, was a screenplay the producer bought the rights to from its original author just to cash in on the franchise's popularity, then forcibly folded monster elements into it.
"Likewise, 10 Cloverfield Lane, with its alien spacecraft, followed a similar formula. The producer took an original screenplay called The Cellar, stitched Cloverfield elements into it, then released the result to make money."
The revelation of all this behind-the-scenes information restored the other Reincarnators' confidence.
Only Fang Xiu remained wary.
Regardless of the circumstances behind their creation, once the Shazhou Team grew stronger and the Main God assigned them to this world, these world-expanding details would surely be brought back!
Of course, what mattered was the present.
The Shazhou Team didn't seem to have a so-called "strategist," but their ability to analyze movie plots was top-notch.
Fang Xiu was already quite satisfied with that. At the very least, John could provide rare information that was difficult to glean from simply watching the films.
"The movies didn't go into detail about how Seabed Nectar formed, and the materials they gave us at the audition didn't either.
"My guess is that it's probably some kind of substance produced under enormous pressure. It's also entirely possible that Tagruato's mining operations leaked some Seabed Nectar, which then settled on the ocean floor."
John's career before arriving in the Main God Space had made him a talkative man. He wasn't shy or introverted, and once he'd gotten a sense of the captain's personality, he spoke to Fang Xiu at length:
"It's reasonable to believe that other deep-sea creatures could feed on this substance. Over time, that might have created a whole new, self-contained food chain, eventually giving rise to a super-monster like Clover."
The logic held up.
Unfortunately, what Fang Xiu took away from it was that Seabed Nectar was well worth investigating!
It was a dungeon specialty, like the many powerful Daoist arts they could try to acquire in Hong Kong Ghost World.
"Enhancing physical fitness is equivalent to increasing Yang Release power. If Seabed Nectar can evolve marine life into monsters capable of destroying a city, its potential for development must be astonishing..."
When you needed something, it appeared right on cue.
Having opened up the Double Vision storyline and successfully acquired a technique to steadily enhance his Yin Release spiritual power, Fang Xiu had been fretting over how to balance yin and yang.
After all, in Naruto World, the Kekkei Mōra, which stood above both Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tōta, came from combining the nature transformations of fire, wind, earth, water, lightning, yin, and yang. In other words, every path had to reach its pinnacle.
Meanwhile.
John's explanation was drawing to a close. He projected several photos of Clover.
"Everyone, take a close look. The sac-like organs on either side of the monster's head contract and expand in sync with its breathing. Doesn't that suggest it has fish-like traits?
"Clover's gills have simply mutated to the point where they can extract oxygen from the air."
The image changed.
The small monsters that Tang Tian hadn't taken seriously, and could apparently have killed by the dozens without a second thought, were magnified.
"There's also a very interesting detail about these large insect-like creatures that fall off Clover. They were originally parasites, mutated from sea lice that lived beneath the scales of fish!
"Since the monster originated in the deep sea, its skin must be able to withstand enormous pressure. It even survived a direct hit from an aerial bomb in the film, which tells you how tough it is.
"So these parasites would need a more effective way to pierce the monster's skin and feed on its blood."
"That's why, if a tiny human gets bitten, the parasites instinctively inject large quantities of trypsin into their prey. This causes their blood pressure to keep rising. First, blood seeps from their eye sockets and other places, then they eventually burst at the softer parts of their bodies."
At that, his story finally came to an end.
Seated at the head of the table, Fang Xiu remained deep in thought. Against a monster that seemed to rely purely on physical attacks, he could enhance Susanoo and use the Wood Release Buddha for a direct confrontation.
Developing Sage Arts further and strengthening the use of his ninjutsu were also viable options.
After exchanging for Hashirama Cells last time, he'd gained Water Release Chakra, and he'd definitely have to pay more attention to it this time.
He could also look into Sealing Jutsu when he had time.
Should he pick up some science-fiction-style weapons, too?
He couldn't sense the Ninja Cat for now. Maybe he should find a way to add more names to the Summoning Scroll.
"Got it. No wonder that woman, Marlena, burst open in the film not long after entering the quarantine room..."
Tang Tian was the first to break the silence again, a little belatedly. He went on, "Boss, what should I enhance this time? I still haven't used that double-D-rank item I exchanged for last time."
"..." Fang Xiu.
Truthfully, he didn't much like giving other people advice. But if he had to weigh in, then at that moment, the person he was most concerned about was the new female lawyer.
Ye Mei had a clear talent.
Her spiritual power stood out! The trouble was, the traditional routes weren't a good fit for her...
Before you continue