Whale-Man

"Just as I thought!"

"The Village Guardian had secretly been keeping a Whale-ification Disease patient here, one whose condition had progressed to its late stage."

"Because he had been in prolonged contact with Whale-ification Disease patients, he broke through his own resistance and contracted the disease!"

"It was not hard to guess why he summoned a Demon."

"This Whale-ification Disease patient is about to Whale-Transform!"

When Whale-ification Disease reached its final stage, the patient truly Whale-Transformed, becoming a real whale.

Such a whale would bring some kind of disaster, while also becoming some kind of treasure.

"After a Whale-ification Disease patient Whale-Transforms, they will emit a genuine Whale Call, causing the Sky Whales to mistakenly believe that a new Sky Whale has been born and triggering a chain reaction of earthquakes and more!"

"Moreover, since the patient is not a real Sky Whale, the Sky Whales cannot truly sense the infant's presence and will only grow increasingly violent!" Naimus's gaze seemed to pierce through the cave and see the patient within.

"But this is not entirely a bad thing. A late-stage Whale-ification Disease patient develops many organs resembling those of a Sky Whale. Every one of those things is a treasure."

For example, Naimus had once seen a Whale Bone Flute, made from a patient's windpipe and bones.

That Whale Bone Flute could produce a Whale Call, allowing one to communicate with Sky Whales to a certain extent.

It was a treasure of the Church of Precepts, kept in their vault and brought out only during certain special periods.

Besides that, Whale Oil would be produced in the patient's internal organs, and its effects were close to those of genuine Sky Whale Oil.

The latter was itself a controlled resource. Genuine Sky Whale Oil could only be extracted in small quantities after a Sky Whale died.

It could help Steel Breeds increase their own numbers and possessed the ability to elevate them into Golden Breeds.

Although the Whale Oil of Whale-ified people was inferior to that of Sky Whales, it could reliably evolve Black Stone Breeds into Steel Breeds and assist Steel Breeds in their cultivation.

For that very reason, some places had even raised Whale-ification Disease patients.

However, when multiple Whale-ification Disease patients existed at once, Sky Whales found themselves with several offspring they could not locate at all, and they became utterly enraged.

They went completely mad, their flight no longer steady. Of the millions living on their backs, more than half were killed or injured as a result.

That incident provoked universal outrage. The major powers joined forces and slaughtered every breeder.

Their corpses were still hanging from that Sky Whale's dorsal fin.

"During Whale-Transformation, the patient's entire body emits a unique scent. It is easy to discover if someone searches for it."

"So other scents are needed to interfere with it."

"On top of that, during this process, the patient's demand for human organs becomes even greater."

"At a time like this, summoning a Demon to confuse matters is an extremely wise choice!" Naimus swiftly deduced the Village Guardian's plan.

Demons were the best garbage bins. Every abnormality during the Whale-Transformation process could be directly blamed on a Demon.

The Village Guardian simply had not expected Naimus to eradicate the Demon so efficiently, find him that very night, and set an ambush for him.

"Good girl, it's all right!"

"Eat something quickly. Once you've eaten, you'll calm down!!"

Inside the cave, the Village Guardian endured the pain wracking his body as he hurriedly pulled out a cloth bag. It contained strange strips of dried meat, which he fed to the nearly three-meter-tall, jet-black "monster" before him, one that resembled a humanoid Beast.

As the Village Guardian watched his daughter ravenously tear into the dried meat, even the pain in his body seemed to lessen at that moment, leaving behind only heartache.

He had originally been a member of the Otto Caravan. During a shipment, he had taken advantage of an external crisis to secretly hide some of Otto's goods, intending to find a chance to sell them himself.

But the matter was eventually exposed, leading to the destruction of his family.

His name had been stripped away as well, and he had become a Reserve Village Guardian.

He had originally waited in despair for death, only to unexpectedly discover that his daughter had not truly died. She had merely contracted Whale-ification Disease.

From then on, the Village Guardian found the will to live again.

He killed a fellow Reserve Village Guardian, took his internal organs, and secretly dug up corpses to steal their organs as well.

Everything was to provide his daughter with enough food so she could survive the progression stage of Whale-ification Disease.

Until now, the most crucial stage.

"As long as we get through this stage, good girl, you'll regain your sanity and be able to live normally!" The Village Guardian comforted his ferocious daughter, repeating his own research conclusions over and over.

Unlike the worldly Naimus, the Village Guardian knew some information about Whale-ification Disease, but he had ultimately been trapped in this small village.

He did not understand the later stages of Whale-ification Disease very clearly. To protect his daughter, he had begun his own "research."

Having gained a certain degree of resistance by drinking Deep Well Water, the Village Guardian used himself as an experimental subject and developed a relatively deep understanding of Whale-ification Disease, leading him to that conclusion.

"I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed!" Naimus's voice triggered a fierce reaction from the Village Guardian.

"After Whale-ification Disease patients Whale-Transform, the structure of their brains undergoes Alienation. They will not regain their sanity. They will only suffer more."

The Village Guardian paid no attention whatsoever to Naimus's words. He stared at Naimus in terror and fury, as though Naimus had defiled the last pure sanctuary in his heart.

The black spots that had faded from his body reappeared. As he lunged at high speed, his pair of glowing green eyes even dragged two green streaks through the dark cave.

His Claws slashed toward Naimus, yet Naimus did not even feel like raising his sword to block.

Gift of Forgiveness!

Any power with a value below ten would be nullified.

Power related to gods was simply this unreasonable.

The Village Guardian felt as if he was not attacking a person, but crashing directly into a mountain wall... No, even if he had struck a mountain wall, he could have split stone and shattered rock with his Claws.

Yet now, he could not harm the man before him in the slightest.

"Run, good girl!! Run!" The Village Guardian frantically clawed at Naimus, his heart filled with self-righteous emotion at the thought of sacrificing himself to save his daughter.

The cave did not have only one entrance. On its other side was another opening, one that was normally sealed shut.

The Village Guardian had also taught his daughter, who still retained some traces of reason, to escape through there at a critical moment.

But at that moment, several ropes had already emerged.

At the same time, two black shadows darted past them.

They were Downs and the Shadow Hound.

Yet the Village Guardian's daughter did not flee. Instead, she let out a Beast-like roar.

Her previously curled-up body rose upright. Her black skin was covered in ravines, making her look like a whale standing on two legs.

Having lost most of her human form and become primarily whale-like, she should now be called a Whale-Man.

Thank you for your support.