Chew, chew...
In an instant, a fragrant, cloyingly sweet taste bloomed between Jiang Lianqiu's lips and teeth, washing away the lingering flavor of the breakfast milk he had just drunk.
So this was what you meant by treating me to honeydew melon?
Sweeter than breakfast milk.
"...You were right."
Mech Servants worked with remarkable efficiency.
After receiving the clue last night and dispatching personnel to investigate the coordinates provided by Yukino Yukinoshita in the high seas of the Pacific, Jiang Lianqiu received Belfast's report before noon.
Near the seabed beneath the waters where that uninhabited desert island had sunk, strange fish had gathered.
"Most of them are mollusks, but their bodies contain mechanical structures. Some of those mechanical components even show signs of weaponization."
"These seabed creatures have gathered together, completely surrounding the point where the island sank. Because they are located on the ocean floor in the depths of the sea, even the most advanced submarines cannot descend this far—only deep-diving vessels can. As a result, they have never been discovered by humanity."
"Nor have these strange mutated marine creatures spread to other regions. There is no situation resembling information contamination, either, which is why our previous searches failed to notice them."
Aboard the small spacecraft headed for the destination, Jiang Lianqiu listened to Belfast's report while reviewing the footage sent back by the investigating Mech Servants.
It was roughly five thousand meters beneath the sea. By oceanographic classification, this place already belonged to the "Abyssal Zone."
Sunlight from the surface was completely cut off here. In the pitch-black darkness where one could not see their hand before their face, most surviving life had adapted to an environment of five hundred times atmospheric pressure, freezing temperatures, and absolute darkness.
Invertebrate mollusks, deep-sea sea cucumbers, tube worms and sea