Your God Has Returned / Gladiia's Hesitation

"Swordfish, it seems he's unwilling to talk. We need to find a way to pry his mouth open." Bai Ye ignored the shouting bishop.

"He will say that he is the one who is blindly arrogant—" Gladiia began.

Bai Ye wasn't listening to what she was saying. His right arm was burning hot.

There are other Seaborn around!

At the same time, a dark shadow suddenly appeared behind Gladiia. It was tall and strong, yet moved without a sound.

His feet seemed to glide darkly across the ground, moving forward in a bizarre and incomprehensible way, yet at a speed that would make anyone who observed it with the naked eye feel disgusted and nauseous.

The dark figure appeared too quickly and too suddenly; it seemed that even Gladiia hadn't reacted in time. She stood there, motionless.

Skadi's expression changed drastically; her eyes widened, and she stretched out her hand.

"Second Captain!"

In a flash, Bai Ye, standing opposite Gladiia, activated his Thought Acceleration.

The world seemed to slow down in his eyes.

No, actually he was too fast.

Looking up, in the dim light of the Bai Ye, he seemed to see Gladiia winking at him.

Yes, how could Gladiia not notice?

With Gladiia's speed, she could dodge before the sound even reached her; this captain possessed a speed that was a source of pride even among the Abyssal Hunter. After all, she was a swordfish.

However, this Gladiia wants to hide.

All of this was planned by Gladiia. In Bai Ye's Thought Acceleration vision, the speed of the dark figure was slowed down, and he could clearly see that the monster stretched out its humanoid forelimbs, the front of which were covered with sharp chitinous shells.

It seemed that Gladiia was determined to take the hit head-on. She had already twisted her body slightly, enough to avoid a fatal blow, and she was confident in her body. The Abyssal Hunter's powerful self-healing ability was enough to allow her to recover in a short time after being seriously injured.

With his Thought Acceleration, the world seemed to freeze in that moment. Bai Ye could clearly see the Seaborn creatures of that kind of people, the upturned corners of Quintus Bishop's lips, Skadi's dilated pupils, and the water droplets splashing in the air and the dust suspended in the light...

The next moment, a sonic boom exploded in the cave, shattering the ground beneath Bai Ye's feet. What flew out were not only pebbles and sand, but also torn shoe soles and pieces of cloth.

Bai Ye's figure had already disappeared.

When Skadi came to her senses, she found that Bai Ye had already appeared behind Gladiia. His outstretched right hand was pierced by the chitinous tip of Seaborn, but it also tightly gripped the monster's forelimb in his hand.

Bai Ye shielded Gladiia from that attack!

Then, a flash of sword light appeared, and the "Wind Chime" that had appeared in Bai Ye's left hand somehow slashed down at the monster's limbs. In order to make the strike more secure, Bai Ye did not hesitate to let the monster pierce his hand to fix it.

Even with the Abyssal Hunter's dynamic vision, it was impossible to see the trajectory of the blade.

In the next instant, Bai Ye severed the monster's forelimb, kicked the humanoid Seaborn in the "abdomen" and sent him flying, then put the half of the forelimb that was piercing through his own palm into his inventory.

While adding another item to your collection, it also saves you from the secondary injury caused by the barbs when pulling it out.

In an instant, a large hole appeared in Bai Ye's palm.

Bright red blood flowed out and dripped onto the ground.

"Bai Ye!" Skadi shouted.

"You—" Only then did Gladiia manage to turn around.

Everything happened too suddenly, even exceeding the reaction speed of Abyssal Hunter who was far beyond human capabilities.

"Phew—it's been a long time since I got injured."

"The power of this Seaborn is actually so immense."

Bai Ye remained expressionless, lightly flicked his hand, and then took out gauze from his inventory to wrap his right hand, as if the hole in his right palm was fake.

His body was steaming, the heat from the high-speed friction was dissipating, and the instantaneous high-speed movement did not cause him any discomfort, but his clothes and shoes could not withstand this rough use that exceeded the design parameters.

After all, these clothes were designed according to the standards of ordinary Terra, and now they were torn to shreds. And worst of all were Bai Ye's shoes.

These light industrial products were torn apart by the sudden burst of speed; the soles of the shoes completely shattered, one half flying off somewhere unknown, while the other half landed squarely on Quintus Bishop's face.

I don't know if it was intentional or accidental.

After the shoe slipped, it left a deep shoe print on Quintus Bishop's face. That half of his face quickly swelled up.

Chapter Thirty: Your God Has Returned

"Thud—"

Bai Ye's shoes eventually slipped to the ground, splashing water on the damp surface.

Only then did everyone realize what was happening.

Gladiia turned her head and gave Bai Ye a complicated look.

Skadi quickly walked to Bai Ye and Gladiia's side, and the three of them surrounded each other, confronting the cult leader and Seaborn.

In the unnoticed aquarium, the Specter, like a sleeping nun, quietly opened its eyes a crack.

"..." Quintus Bishop covered his face with his hands.

The area marked by Bai Ye's shoe sole was swollen high, with deep shoe prints on it—well, the sole of the shoe, which was blown away by a huge force, had extremely strong kinetic energy; an ordinary person would probably have already passed out by now.

However, regardless of the circumstances, the inhuman Quintus Bishop's expression at this moment changed from anger to a distorted and comical one.

"Damn it, why don't you just die obediently, you stupid wretch? If it weren't for the envoy needing you, you wretches would have died on the beach long ago."

The bishop roared angrily, then pleaded with Seaborn, "Messenger, please resolve this issue as soon as possible. I feel disgusted looking at these people who are harming our oceans."

Seaborn ignored the bishop's request and simply "looked" at Skadi.

Yes, because although this Seaborn has evolved a humanoid appearance and body, it does not have visual organs similar to those of humans, and the human mouth is located in the position of an organ similar to a cheek.

This is an anomaly, like an alien, a monster completely different from known civilizations.

However, the next moment, something surprising happened to Skadi and Gladiia.

This Seaborn began to speak, "Ishar-mla..."

It was the strangely toned language of Sargos, and his vocal organs didn't seem very flexible, making the language stiff and harsh. But there was no doubt that he was indeed trying to communicate with the hunters.

The sound is not meaningless noise or shouting, but language arranged according to a certain logic.

The prey, after a long and arduous battle, has spoken...

Skadi looked up in surprise at the monster before her.

The monster stared at her.

However, he quickly turned his head away.

"No...you're not...you're not Ishar-mla..."

The monster murmured, its voice growing increasingly violent.

"No, why? There isn't one."

"Gone, vanished."

Seaborn's body began to tremble.

Meanwhile, the cult leader Quintus urged anxiously from the side, "Messenger, what are we waiting for? Kill them all!"

Suddenly, a drop of blood fell to the ground.

It was an inconspicuous drop of blood, sliding down the lines of Bai Ye's palm. For a drop of blood, the journey was long. It passed through the fingertips, but fell to the ground and bloomed into a bright flower.

Bai Ye hadn't been injured or bled in a long time; he couldn't even remember the last time he bled. The stinging pain in his palm made him somewhat numb, but it didn't affect the power and precision of his movements—adapting to pain was a required course for Players.

If you want to become a master, you need to turn on the pain simulation in a fully immersive game. Only when you feel pain will you be able to dodge, calculate distances, and learn from your mistakes.

However, in a short while, the wound on Bai Ye's palm had almost healed. His physical attributes exceeded 80 points, and his non-human self-healing speed was comparable to that of Abyssal Hunter.

However, it's not just the powerful physical attributes that are effective.

The blood flow in his right arm was getting faster and faster, and the temperature of his arm was getting higher and higher, even becoming somewhat scalding hot.

[Divine Possession]

Description: The Sea God Ishar-mla has possessed you, granting you certain powers. Is walking with a god a blessing or a curse?

God's name: "The Firstborn" Ishar-mla, Corrupted Heart

Power: Migration - "Expand territory and plunder resources"

Effect 1: Right arm modification, increased physical strength, and improved adaptability.

Effect 2: Underwater breathing, underwater combat

Effect 3: It has a positional advantage over Seaborn, but this can be negated by other the Firstborn.

Effect 4: Enhances the bloodline abilities of surrounding Seaborn / Abyssal Hunter.

Effect 5: Revelation. Your deep-sea bloodline will grant you the ocean's inspiration—its name is the Call of the Swarm.

Note: "The ocean is the cradle of life, and the stars are our home."

In the past, on land, this power was never fully activated; it could only passively enhance the right arm's abilities and improve its adaptability. Some of the effects remained only on paper and had not actually taken effect.

Otherwise, Skadi, Specter, and Gladiia would all have directly sensed the change. Otherwise, Gladiia wouldn't have been so indifferent when they first met.

But at this moment, Bai Ye was truly in the ocean. Although he hadn't made direct contact yet, he had already stepped into his the Firstborn homeland. Moreover, he had been directly harmed by Seaborn.

This further accelerated the awakening of power.

Bai Ye could even hear Ishar-mla's ethereal voice whispering in his ear.

At that moment, the cave suddenly fell silent.

The bishop's roar still seemed to echo in the air.

However, Skadi, Gladiia, the Specter pretending to be asleep, and even Seaborn himself all noticed the changes around them.

Their bodies were trembling unnaturally, convulsing as if electrocuted, while their minds were unusually active.

The wounds are healing, the body is jubilant, and the strength is increasing.

This is a positive change.

Seaborn turned his head and turned his "gaze" toward the source of the anomaly— Bai Ye.

It once again felt that long-lost resonance.

Yes, many years ago, during a hunt, Abyssal Hunter came out in droves.

Tear apart the monsters. Open up the sky. Charge into the darkness.

In the end, only Skadi remained, the lives of all her comrades laid out at her feet. All the battles had been fought for that one moment.

The moment she desperately stabbed down.

After that, the Seaborn lost the Firstborn.

They had lost contact with Him. But they knew that He was still alive.

They could feel His pulse, but they couldn't hear His voice.

And now, Seaborn knows that he can hear again.

He has returned.

An incredibly strong fluctuation emanated from Bai Ye's still-healing wound, instantly confirming Bai Ye Seaborn.

It turns out that the one being fed at the Firstborn was not Skadi, but a scaleless, land-dwelling human.

Although Ishar-mla's voice is now much softer than it used to be, lacking the booming power that once resonated throughout the entire the Swarm, Ishar-mla can no longer even directly contact the Swarm.

However, it eventually sensed Ishar-mla's presence once again.

Chapter Thirty-One Gladiia's Wavering

"Ishar-mla, so you are the real Ishar-mla."