Deep Sea Populace and Their God

In the deep sea, upon the pitch-dark muddy bed, countless sand dunes stood like small burial mounds.

These dunes stretched in unbroken succession, their end nowhere in sight.

Eternal silence reigned in the darkness, not a single ray of light visible.

Yet within this eternal darkness, in this place of terrifying water pressure, inside each of those sand dunes lay strange creatures sleeping.

These creatures had fish heads with eyes so unnaturally large they seemed ready to bulge from their sockets.

Their bodies were entirely green, with limbs—in this respect, their evolution was similar to that of the Shark People.

But compared to the Shark People, they were uglier, more like true monsters in appearance.

Calling them fish-men was less accurate than calling them frog-men.

Though they had fins and scales, their all-green bodies, flat heads, and bulging large eyes—what else could they be but frogs?

These bizarre Frog-Fish People were not as tall as the Shark People, nor as sturdy.

But their numbers were vast, their clans spread across most of the deep sea.

As they slept on the muddy bed, a slight opening of their mouths revealed the dense, fine spikes lining their jaws.

These Frog-Fish People were clearly no gentle creatures.

The view sped forward, soon arriving at a certain spot in the deep sea's center.

At this moment, in a certain abyss of the deep sea, Frog-Fish People had gathered, filling the entire darkness.

They were densely packed, seemingly endless.

Inside the abyss, a Frog-Fish Person wearing a strange bone crown was continuously emitting some kind of bizarre sound wave.

Without opening its mouth, this sound wave carried information through the water into the minds of all Frog-Fish People.

"The great Lord of the Deep Sea has awakened. The time to unite the four seas has finally come!"

"Deep Sea Populace! Begin! Begin to reclaim for our god the divine authority that belongs solely to water, to the sea."

"The Pseudo-God shall surely fall. The ocean shall surely belong to our god, and surely to us, the Children of the Deep Sea!"

Raising high a scepter made from a Shark Person's skull, the Frog-Fish Person priest at the center of the abyss was fervent with excitement.

Surrounding the abyss, the countless Frog-Fish People suspended in the water all let out strange cries in unison.

For a moment, the bizarre sound waves transmitted from the entire abyss even caused the water at the sea's surface to splash and radiate outward in ripples.

The Frog-Fish Person priest was very satisfied with the response of his people, then raised his scepter slightly.

"Go! Go! Fearless Deep Sea warriors, go and destroy the people of those Pseudo-Gods!"

"Ooh ooh ooh, kill the Pseudo-Gods!"

"Ooh ooh ooh, eat the Pseudo-Gods' people, slaughter them all!"

"Ooh ooh ooh, I want to charge at the very front!"

"..."

The Frog-Fish People of the deep sea boiled over with strange cries, the smiles on their faces almost manic.

When the Frog-Fish Person priest announced the attack, the Frog-Fish People in the abyss scattered in all directions, filing out.

As they traveled, they continuously emitted strange sound waves, awakening more Frog-Fish People who had been sleeping in the sand dunes across most of the deep sea, who then joined the great army.

In an instant, the entire deep sea was in turmoil, the seafloor covered everywhere with the figures of Frog-Fish People.

These Frog-Fish People blotted out the sky and covered the sun, seemingly without end.

After these not-so-bright Frog-Fish cannon fodder charged out, a group of Frog-Fish Person priests leisurely gathered to discuss the next steps.

"The great Lord of the Deep Sea is no longer satisfied with our offerings. He needs more, much more. Truly an awe-inspiring appetite!"

Though the Frog-Fish Person High Priest wearing the bone crown said this, his tone could not hide the fear and sigh.

He turned to look deeper into the abyss.

There was a massive black hole, and inside that black hole, several enormous tentacles were swaying.

Seeing that scene, flickering in and out of view, all the priests couldn't help trembling.

One priest suppressed his fear, then put on a solemn face like the most devout believer.

"We, the people, must satisfy Father God's appetite. They are merely some Pseudo-Gods. Under the full assault of our brave Deep Sea Populace, they have no chance of survival."

"Of course, it would be even better if Father God Himself were willing to act."

This Frog-Fish Person priest's subtext was obvious—someone should go into the black hole to meet the Lord of the Deep Sea, report this matter, and if possible, request the Lord of the Deep Sea to deal with the Pseudo-Gods of the other three seas.

The Frog-Fish Person priests looked at each other, none of them speaking, and finally all turned their gazes to the central Frog-Fish Person High Priest.

How could the Frog-Fish Person High Priest not know what these fellows around him meant?

Me, go meet the god?

Just thinking about the god's chaotic gaze, that terrifying scene of feeding, the Frog-Fish Person High Priest couldn't help trembling with fear.

But the Frog-Fish Person High Priest had no choice, nor could he shirk the duty.

After all, who could blame him for inheriting this position now?

Though the subjects of the deep sea were easy to raise—able to breed in terrifying numbers by feeding on certain minerals in the silt—

Numbers couldn't change the disadvantage of low quality. Besides, how could a full-scale assault avoid facing the enemy's deity?

Mortals against gods? They'd have a snowball's chance in hell.

If numbers alone could defeat a god, the ocean wouldn't be divided into four seas as it was now.

Only a god could defeat or even kill a god—that was a truth all intelligent beings in this world understood.

What's more, the Frog-Fish People had already tested the waters a few days ago.

With their overwhelming numbers, they caught the Shark People and the other two tribes off guard, briefly seizing a vast stretch of sea. But soon, they came face to face with the enemy's god.

And then the Frog-Fish People were all wiped out.

Now, this was the Frog-Fish People's last desperate gamble.

There was no choice. If they didn't bring the Lord of the Deep Sea enough food, and the Lord grew angry enough to crawl out from the lowest depths of the Abyssal Sea, then the subjects of the deep might face total annihilation.

From ancient times to the present, the Lord of the Deep Sea had always had a massive appetite.

But even so, the Frog-Fish People had always managed to satisfy it.

On one side, there was the Blood Food gained from constant war with the other three seas. On the other, they lured some of the less intelligent Frog-Fish subjects down to the Abyss to pay homage to the god.

In any case, over so many years, they'd barely managed to keep their own god content.

But not anymore. The god's appetite had grown, and it had become pickier.

It even spat out the Frog-Fish it ate, making them seem like trash even a dog wouldn't touch.

The Frog-Fish People's god no longer wanted to eat them—this seemed like a good thing, but in truth, it made the Frog-Fish priests tremble even more.

Because it meant that to secure enough offerings, their entire race would have to expand the war against the other three seas, even wipe out one of those oceanic races.

The Frog-Fish People were numerous—even the combined populations of the other three seas didn't reach a tenth of theirs—but they were still mortals.

How could mortals fight gods?

The gods of the other three seas were far more merciful than the Lord of the Deep Sea. They would avenge their subjects.

In the end, seeing the relationship between the other three seas' races and their gods, the Frog-Fish priests, knowing their own situation, didn't know whether to feel envy or sigh.