132. One-Third of a Half-Baked Trio / 133. The Fourth? ...

Eirene quickly fell behind, so she stayed behind to help Laurentina clear out the swarms of Terrorfish and cultists. Monsters and humans were indistinguishable to them; whether their blades sliced through or pierced through, they hunted them all the same.

Bai Ye quickly rushed into a house by the roadside and saw burning papers in the center of the house. Bai Ye waved his hand, and a gust of wind rushed into the house, sweeping the papers away from the fire.

"Looks like we arrived at the right time." Bai Ye put all the charred, but not completely burned, pages into his inventory.

Dario witnessed Bai Ye's seemingly magical performance but didn't ask any further questions.

Bai Ye suddenly asked:

How many of you came?

"..." Dario said slowly, "It's just the two of us. Lady Carmen is still on her way."

"Assist in evacuating the townspeople here; the entire town has effectively fallen," Bai Ye suddenly said.

Dario frowned; in his view, this was merely the prelude to an attack, and the enemy had only just begun to show themselves.

"You're not the only ones who know how to fish. These Terrorfish didn't come from the sea; they've been lurking on land for a long time," Bai Ye said coldly.

"This...this is impossible." Eirene, who had caught up, shook her head. "They are not capable of moving on land for this long."

"Nethersea Brand," Gladiia spoke again.

The land has been eroded and transformed into an environment suitable for their activities. The erosion of the land by the ocean is called "Nethersea Brand".

Now, under some kind of command, the once dormant deep sea has boiled once more.

"Damn it," Eirene couldn't help but click her tongue.

Clearly, these things are hindering their progress and preventing them from achieving their goals.

"We must retake this place first; we can't let the monsters devour it." Bai Ye looked at the plaza where he had set up the teleportation point. This was the place he had his eye on; he couldn't let Seaborn occupy the stronghold.

"Where are we going?" Eirene asked.

"Based on the intelligence you have, where is the Eye of Iberia located?" Bai Ye asked in return.

"From the nearest coastline of Gran Faro, it's about fifty nautical miles to the location of the last Eye of Iberia. That is, provided that the lighthouse is still in its current location on the map," Dario answered truthfully.

Chapter 132 One-Third and a Half

(Frostnova feeds on setting the story, so I'm very sorry for consuming books.)

"Bai Ye, please give the order." Gladiia handed over command to Bai Ye, fulfilling a promise she had made herself in the past:

"The amount of information and perspective determine the right to speak. I will temporarily follow your instructions; doing so will be more efficient."

She never forgot this promise, but before making that promise, Gladiia had actually said something else:

"I'll keep an eye on you."

This statement is practically meaningless now, since Gladiia has complete trust in Bai Ye.

Bai Ye didn't notice this. He had long regarded Gladiia as a companion, so he didn't care that the Abyssal Hunter captain was handing over command. He also didn't know that in Gladiia's heart, she had already entrusted herself and the fate of the Abyssal Hunter to Bai Ye.

After observing the situation for a moment, Bai Ye spoke:

"Your Honors, please take Miss Aria and evacuate the townspeople. As for us..."

Bai Ye glanced at the Abyssal Hunter who were already prepared, and also drew his sword, "Arc Light Modified":

"Let's begin a long-awaited hunt."

Grand Inquisitor Dario frowned at Bai Ye's natural command and command, but he did not object to Bai Ye's suggestion. After all, as long as these monsters could be dealt with, there would be no problem. As for who killed them, the result was the same.

Dario had no doubt that these Abyssal Hunter were hostile to monsters; they were natural enemies, a fact that had already been proven in Saltwind City.

"Eirene," Dario said.

"I'm here, teacher... no, sir!" Eirene immediately straightened up.

"Take the Lighthouse Keeper with us, let's evacuate the townspeople." Dario said, turning around, but before setting off, he suddenly stopped, his back to the crowd. The Grand Inquisitor spoke:

"Eirene, identify the cultists in the crowd, find the enemies hiding among them, and kill them on the spot."

"Remember, it's better to kill the innocent than to let any lurking enemy go free."

"..." Eirene fell silent after hearing this.

She gripped the lantern and rapier tightly in her hands, and after a brief silence, she nodded firmly:

"I--"

"I understand, sir."

Iberia was an incredibly brutal battlefield where, for the survival of the entire nation, the value of the individual became meaningless; any sacrifice was necessary, and any sacrifice was worthwhile. This is a microcosm of the suffering on this land.

Although Eirene had prepared herself as a judge during her studies, she realized that she was far from ready when she actually had to face the challenge.

But she has to learn.

The judges took Aria away.

The vast plaza was now empty except for Bai Ye, three Abyssal Hunter, and the gradually appearing Terrorfish.

"Do we have any plans?" Laurentina started the long-handled circular saw in her hand, the teeth rotating and flashing with a terrifying cold light.

Gladiia suddenly looked at Bai Ye and asked:

"I remember... your body harbors... well, the Firstborn. Is there a way to completely remove it?"

The mention of the Firstborn still made Gladiia a little unaccustomed to it; after all, this thing had been their mortal enemy in the past. Moreover, the one inside Bai Ye's body was something that the Abyssal Hunter had to fight with almost all their might to finally kill.

The thing actually managed to come back to life. If it were an ordinary person, they would probably have given up long ago. It was only because the Abyssal Hunter had a strong will that he didn't collapse because of this information.

Bai Ye shook his head. He had already discussed this issue with Ishar-mla. If it were truly that convenient, the problem of the deep sea would be solved immediately. He could control the entire the Swarm simply by entering the ocean, making further progress unnecessary.

The logic is actually quite simple: the Firstborn is not superior to the Swarm and does not have the power to directly control the consciousness of the Swarm. If the will of the Firstborn conflicts with the consciousness of the Swarm, then the Firstborn will be isolated.

Moreover, Ishar-mla isn't the only the Firstborn in this ocean; Bai Ye is also a half-baked the Firstborn. Someone like him is more like an anomaly. If he decides to oppose the Swarm, he will inevitably awaken another the Firstborn. Then, the disturbed the Firstborn will unleash an even more terrifying catastrophe.

"Although I can't directly control the Swarm, I can still use other auxiliary abilities," Bai Ye said with a smile.

For example, the Terrorfish won't actively oppose Bai Ye and his companions; they'll avoid them because of Bai Ye's aura. Furthermore, Bai Ye can locate all enemies through the collective consciousness of the Swarm. While he can't directly unleash the full power of his the Firstborn —a far cry from his Beast Lord —it's still sufficient for Bai Ye.

At least, he already possessed great power; his the Firstborn powers were merely an aid.

Now, any lurking Terrorfish, Seaborn, or half-human, half-fish aliens are clearly visible in Bai Ye's field of vision, and he can also see the Nethersea Brand sea hidden in the land and under the reefs.

The Terrorfish were coming ashore; they had arrived long ago, but were alerted by Bai Ye's establishment of the teleportation point and began their journey ahead of schedule. Caught off guard, the cultists had no choice but to burn the documents to prevent the Inquisition from discovering their plan.

As the situation became clearer, Bai Ye sensed that something was wrong.

The Abyssal Church had long known about Gran Faro and the great lighthouse "Eye of Iberia" near its coastline. However, instead of destroying the lighthouse and the town immediately, they lay low in Gran Faro, as if waiting for the Inquisition and the Abyssal Hunter to come to them.

This is no coincidence, especially now that the sea monsters, provoked by the Abyssal Church, have launched a full-scale attack on the land, and the Inquisition is overwhelmed. It is even more difficult to understand why this place is so quiet and the town has hardly suffered any damage.

Is it really because this place is close to the Inquisition?

Bai Ye was unaware of the Abyssal Church's plans; the documents contained no information about them. However, Bai Ye knew very well that there were limits to scheming. He simply needed to react to each move as it came and proceed with his own plan step by step, and there wouldn't be any problems.

After all, Bai Ye can summon Players to assist him, which is a significant advantage for the native inhabitants of this land.

Chapter 133, the fourth one?

(The new Fallout TV series seems pretty good, although I haven't played the game yet.)

Although he couldn't directly control the Seaborn of Gran Faro, Bai Ye was able to easily find all the lurking Terrorfish there.

Using the power of the Seaborn to fight against the Seaborn is still a classic case of enemies and allies sharing the same origin. Bai Ye's current approach is actually no different from that of the Abyssal Hunter.

In other words, these lowly creatures like the Terrorfish only follow the will of the Swarm and act on instinct; they have no emotions or intelligence whatsoever. Otherwise, these guys would probably have come over and questioned Bai Ye:

Are you being polite?

"These Terrorfish are all very weak..." Laurentina followed behind Bai Ye, killing the sea monsters in front of them one by one. After they died, these Terrorfish quickly turned into ashes, which splashed into the air with the footsteps of the group and then drifted down.

However, besides the ashes of their corpses, these Terrorfish left other things on the ground.

It was a strange patch of light. A single Terrorfish's light wouldn't be noticeable, but there were just too many monsters here, so the light spots quickly coalesced into a patch, attaching to the ground and forming a bizarre fungal carpet.

In the wake of that the Great Silence catastrophe, coastal inhabitants of Iberia have occasionally witnessed the ocean glowing, with the earliest reported sighting dating back seventeen years. This is the ocean's erosion of the land, with the Terrorfish transforming the environment into a suitable habitat for the Swarm.

But Bai Ye was prepared.

His the Swarm knowledge gave him a way to deal with it. Since the evolution of the Seaborn has not yet broken away from the category of carbon-based life, the most effective way to deal with this kind of spread is still burning.

"In Sargos, we usually have other ways to get rid of them, but here, we really have to use fire." Gladiia agreed with Bai Ye's decision.

Ordinary flames were useless, so Bai Ye took out a large number of Molotov cocktails from his inventory and distributed them to the three Abyssal Hunter.

"The special incendiary formula, thanks to the innate magic of Talulah and Lafushini, gave me a lot of inspiration. In addition, there are some other auxiliary ingredients, specifically for dealing with the Nethersea Brand. I named it 'Dragon Breath Potion'." Bai Ye held up the bottle in his hand, which was filled with a thick, orange-red liquid.

Although he never proved particularly useful, Bai Ye was indeed a professional apothecary, and with the investment of experience points, he might become arguably the best apothecary on this land. Besides healing, Bai Ye could also concoct poisons and destructive potions.

Dragon Breath Potion is a potion specifically designed for Seaborn, and its destructive power will be extremely significant before stimulating them to undergo the next round of evolution.

Bai Ye threw the Molotov cocktail onto the surface of the Nethersea Brand, then lit a match and threw it on top of it.

Immediately, the flames began to burn and spread, and a strange, acrid smell filled the air.

Seemingly sensing the danger, the Terrorfish fled towards the sea. However, even after entering the sea, the flames on the Terrorfish, which were tainted by fire, did not go out. They adhered to the monster's body until they burned away all flammable materials.

"High temperatures and flames can always effectively kill carbon-based life. Before the Swarm evolution occurs, we must hurry up and enter the deep sea."

This tactic didn't last long, otherwise the Aegir cities wouldn't have been swallowed up by the Seaborn.

However, this was not what Bai Ye needed to worry about right now. The Abyssal Hunter ignored the scattering Terrorfish and instead threw Dragon Breath Potion onto the Nethersea Brand on the ground. They wanted to clean up the area and prevent this rare foothold from falling again.

Along with the Terrorfish, people also fled. They were cultists from the Abyssal Church. Bai Ye naturally wouldn't outmaneuver them, and they were more vulnerable than the Terrorfish, wouldn't leave Nethersea Brand, and were easier to deal with, requiring no incendiary agents.

Bai Ye had no interest in talking to these madmen; he led the Abyssal Hunter through the entire town. The cultists of the Abyssal Church also exuded an aura similar to that of the Terrorfish, so Bai Ye could easily sense them using his the Swarm knowledge.

This was a one-sided hunt; the entire Gran Faro was the hunting ground for Bai Ye and the girls. They spread terrifying flames, relentlessly pursuing the cultists and the Terrorfish.

"What a commotion..." Eirene looked at the flames shooting into the sky not far away, and even here she could feel the heat wave hitting her face.

"It seems he also possesses the technology to remove the Nethersea Brand." The Inquisition naturally has its own methods; they will use the technology left behind by the Aegir to remove the Nethersea Brand, but Bai Ye's approach seems more efficient and faster. The downside is that it will stimulate Seaborn to evolve again.

"Don't get distracted, keep going...wait, there's an Aegir here." Dario suddenly reached out and stopped a young man. "Stop. What's in your bag?"

The boy was startled; he was clearly an ordinary person. After being stopped by the judge, he involuntarily let go of the bag in his hand.

The canvas bag fell to the ground, and Dario saw the old notebook sticking out of it.

Eirene darted forward, picked up the entire bag, and handed it to her teacher. Meanwhile, Aria raised her staff, pointing it at the Aegir. This was Bai Ye's warning to her before leaving: be wary of any potential cultists. Bai Ye didn't want this girl to embark on a treacherous journey and die on the beach.

"This is..."

Dario glanced through the notebook, then turned to look at the girl, a look of surprise appearing in his eyes for the first time.

Who are you?!

"He may not even know his own identity. He is the last Aegir of Gran Faro, a descendant of Breogan."

A voice sounded behind Dario, and when the Grand Inquisitor turned around, he saw a man wearing a black cloak and a mask.

Dario saw the white hair peeking out from under the brim of his hat and his scarlet eyes.

This characteristic was not unfamiliar to him.

However, this is impossible. There are only three Abyssal Hunter on land, that has been confirmed.

"Since there are three, there will be four. You have the scent of my colleagues on you, so it seems they've come too," the man said softly, then extended his hand to the boy from before.

"Please don't hurt him. I'm taking this person with me."

"No one will be taken away, including you. You're going to stay here too." Dario raised his hand cannon and aimed it at yet another unfamiliar Abyssal Hunter in front of him.

Not far away, Bai Ye and the others were heading here.

Chapter 134 Amaya