The giant whale, with only two-thirds of its body left, fell into the sea and never surfaced again.
The mysterious red tide also vanished without a trace after sinking beneath the water.
Even so, Morel decisively changed course. He would rather take a detour than stubbornly risk danger.
Not to mention that they had plenty of time for the voyage; even if time were tight, Morel would still choose the safer option.
It was reverence for the sea.
The Purple Smoke turned away from the area where the red tide had appeared, while the people who had previously gone into the cabin gradually returned to the deck.
"What was that just now?!"
Kanzai came to the stern and looked toward the area where the giant whale had fallen into the sea, his face full of astonishment.
Gel also walked to the stern. Hearing Kanzai's question, she answered in an emotionless tone,
"It was a Sea Ant Swarm, a type of scavenging marine creature. But the Sea Ant Swarm here was unusual. Whether in terms of individual size or population scale, it was far beyond the norm."
As she spoke, she looked toward the waters where the red tide had ravaged moments ago. A trace of something unusual flickered deep in her eyes; she was clearly not as calm as she appeared.
Kanzai tilted his head and glanced at Gel, whose graceful figure was accentuated by her fitted black dress. Realization dawned on him. "So they're ants in the sea."
"..."
Gel was slightly taken aback by Kanzai's phrasing, then hesitated to speak.
She wanted to say—
The name Sea Ant Swarm was a label humans had assigned based on things familiar to them. It was difficult to encompass the whole species with the phrase "ants in the sea."
But once