You Have Been Kicked from the Group Chat

"Hmm?"

Vane froze for a moment, then instinctively opened the group chat interface for a look.

"Oh! Number Two finally replied..."

He saw Vera's brief notification and scrolled through the chat history, but no one else had spoken at this moment.

Just then, seeing that he had not reacted, the Scribbled War God extended another tentacle and poked his arm.

Vane was focused on checking the messages and waved it off.

"Quit messing around. I'm busy."

[Sibling... need help?]

Vane's body suddenly stiffened. He slowly turned around and asked tentatively, "Sibling?"

[Do you need help, sibling?]

Unlike the vague words from before, a clear response entered his mind directly.

"Holy shit!!!"

Vane leaped backward, his face filled with horror. "A Seaborn is talking?! Did I create the First Speaker?!"

[Holy shit?]

The Seaborn's voice was clearly puzzled as it repeated Vane's exclamation, learning the combination of syllables.

Hearing it repeat his swear word, Vane calmed down instead.

"No..." He pressed a hand to his temple and carefully sensed it. "This voice... appeared directly in my head? Can you communicate through consciousness?"

The Scribbled War God waved its tentacles, and the thought it conveyed carried a clumsy sense of experimentation.

[Sibling... thoughts.]

[Blurry... perception.]

It was still adapting to this completely new method of communication. Its vocabulary was simple and its logic direct, confirming Vane's guess—

He had not only changed this Seaborn's appearance, but had also accidentally granted it intelligence.

Vane's eyes immediately lit up. Rubbing his hands together, he began his next experiment.

Vane's eyes gleamed with excitement. He wanted to try directly controlling this Seaborn!

His intent traveled through the connection, and the Seaborn sent back a distinct wave of confusion.

[Control?]

Vane immediately responded with solemn righteousness, wrapping his intent in lofty justification.

"This is for a greater goal! To better understand the Great Swarm, for our shared evolution!"

He accurately grasped the core logic in the Seaborn's mind: unconditional devotion to the "Great Swarm."

Sure enough, at the mention of "for the Great Swarm," the Seaborn's simple mind showed no hesitation.

[For the Great Swarm, this body is given to sibling. Please... use it.]

Success!

Vane silently praised himself and immediately calmed his mind, concentrating his consciousness.

After a brief sensation of dizziness and separation, Vane's field of vision abruptly changed.

When he opened his eyes, the world around him had turned into a bizarre composite perspective.

With a shift of intent, several tentacles swung in response, making wet, slick sounds.

Success! Is this how Seaborn see the world? No, this isn't the time to study that!

Vane forcefully suppressed his curiosity toward the new body and attempted to activate [Immortal Body] within the Seaborn's body.

The familiar crimson glow actually emerged over the Seaborn shell. Though it felt slightly different from when he activated it in his original body, it had truly been successfully triggered!

It works! It really works! Skills can actually adapt across bodies!

Vane—the Seaborn version—excitedly waved his tentacles.

Now came the crucial part!

He calmed his mind once more. This time, Vane attempted to split his consciousness.

One part maintained control over the Seaborn body, while the other returned to his original body.

A wondrous sensation came over him—on one side was the world beneath the Seaborn's composite senses, and on the other was the familiar perception of his own body.

He saw both of them at once from two perspectives: the crimson Seaborn, and Vane's unmoving original body.

"Begin testing!"

Vane controlled the Seaborn's body and viciously lashed at himself, standing in place.

The moment the tentacle made contact, the glow of [Immortal Body] flashed across Vane's original body.

The attack was absorbed, but...

The energy was increasing within the Seaborn's body!

Just as I expected!

His earlier speculation had been confirmed. [Immortal Body] did not depend on a specific physical structure.

He had vaguely sensed this back when his ability fused with Gorth's skill—

As long as there was a sufficiently powerful "connection" between them, whether it was a link of flesh and blood, synchronized consciousness, or pure energy resonance...

The properties of [Immortal Body] could be shared between different individuals, even different forms!

Then...

Across the land of Terra, whose body was more malleable than a creature like the Seaborn, born to adapt and evolve?

A Seaborn body was the perfect "external energy buffer" and "spare blood pack"!

Not to mention that behind this body was connected the unfathomable, ocean-spanning—

Great Swarm consciousness!

If he could connect to the Great Swarm...

No! He definitely could connect to the Great Swarm!

Vane sank his consciousness, searching within the Seaborn's body for that connection...

Silence was the only theme of this sea abyss.

Here, time had lost all meaning. The lightless abyss devoured every ray of light, and every sound as well.

Yet deep within this forbidden region, where even the hardiest deep-sea creatures struggled to survive, there was something.

A sleeping, living "mountain range."

One enormous corner of it loomed faintly in the darkness. Even that fleeting glimpse of a mere portion had already surpassed the limits of ordinary understanding of biological size.

It was Ishar-mla, one of the Seaborn's Four Firstborn, the corrupt heart that governed migration and conflict.

The instant Vane's consciousness attempted to merge into the Great Swarm through the Seaborn's body—

Deep within this utterly dark sea abyss, a pattern of energy formed by bioluminescent organisms... flickered softly.

It... had answered the call of a "sibling."

Vane's consciousness was enveloped by an all-encompassing stillness, a vast background murmur formed from countless tiny thoughts.

As though wrapped in icy seawater, just as Vane hesitated over whether he should withdraw, his consciousness finally connected with the Great Swarm.

[Hungry... hungry...]

[School of fish discovered, coordinates...]

[Capture food, send it back to the nest.]

[Enemy! Land creatures! Hostile! Drive them away!]

[Sibling trapped... rescue.]

[Environment changed... lost, return... relocate.]

Countless thoughts intertwined and passed through the network. They came from Seaborn individuals of different forms and different seas.

The content was chaotic and disordered, yet the entire network displayed a strange efficiency and harmony.

And what maintained the stable operation of this vast network were several enormous wills at the deepest reaches of the sea of consciousness.

Two were tranquil, as if they had fallen into the deepest slumber.

One emitted a faint yet steady glow, while another...

Was focusing its "gaze" upon him, this newly connected and utterly discordant node.

[Sibling, status abnormal.]

The enormous will conveyed a clear thought, cold and ethereal.

[Return to the Great Swarm... synchronize... purify anomaly.]

A sense of reassurance, like returning to the mother body, wrapped around Vane's consciousness, tempting him to merge into this sea of awareness.

Vane jolted awake. [Immortal Body] activated to its limit as he forcibly resisted the assimilation of his consciousness.

[Sibling?]

For the first time, Ishar-mla's thoughts carried a ripple of confusion.

[Why refuse to return?]

Vane instinctively wanted to say something cheeky to ease the tension, but suddenly realized that this was a state of consciousness—

Whatever he thought would be transmitted directly!

In his panic, a meaningless greeting slipped out uncontrollably, rapidly sweeping through the Great Swarm.

[Hi hi hi!]

Ishar-mla: "?"

The enormous will stalled for a moment, filled with incomprehension.

Even the Great Swarm consciousness, which had been operating steadily, froze because of this utterly unparseable message.

Countless Seaborn tried to understand this unfamiliar information, but gained nothing.

Driven by an instinct to imitate, the confused Seaborn unconsciously repeated the incomprehensible message.

[Hi hi hi...]

[Hi hi hi!]

[Hi hi hi!] x N

Before Vane could regret it, he was instantly bombarded by cries of "hi."

The Great Swarm consciousness descended into chaos. Just as Vane was considering whether to run, an ethereal voice came through.

[Ishar-mla used Great Silence. It was super effective.]

The Seaborn returned to normal and stopped spamming the message. The Great Swarm network stabilized once more.

Ishar-mla's gaze refocused on Vane, the source of the chaos.

This sibling's consciousness possessed severe "contaminating" properties.

After a brief moment of confusion, Ishar-mla swiftly made a decision based on the core logic of eliminating all potential threats to the Great Swarm's stability.

Vane had only just recovered from the shock of Great Silence when he felt an irresistible force acting upon his consciousness.

The composite senses vanished, replaced by the familiar sensation of his own body.

He was back, back in his vampire body.

Vane stood there dumbfounded, his expression indescribably complicated.

[Ishar-mla has kicked you from the group chat.]

Vane fell silent for a moment, then turned his gaze toward the other Seaborn.

One account got banned. Can't I just register an alt?

Meanwhile, in the depths of the sea abyss.

Having cleared away the abnormal node, Ishar-mla withdrew the will it had invested.

To it, countless siblings died every day while feeding, fighting, and migrating, while new individuals were born.

It would not—and had no need to—feel anything resembling sorrow over the departure of a single sibling.

Its consciousness returned to tranquility, like the eternally silent deep sea.

However, that tranquility did not last long.

The familiar consciousness once again attempted to enter this deep sea, this time originating from another Seaborn individual.

Ishar-mla: "..."

[Ishar-mla rejected the connection.]

"Ah, shit! It really blacklisted me?!"

Vane's face flushed red. It felt like he was being targeted by an admin in a game, and a surge of anger rose within him.

"I refuse to believe this!"

He immediately shifted his target to the third, then the fourth... Vane continuously used new Seaborn as stepping stones to send fresh requests to the Great Swarm.

For a time, countless requests from different Seaborn individuals, all bearing the same abnormal characteristics, surged one after another before Ishar-mla.

Ishar-mla's will remained silent.

Its silence did not stem from speechlessness—

As an emotionless divine entity, it did not possess such feelings in the first place.

It was merely thinking—

This anomaly clearly possessed properties of spread and repetition. Would it continue to interfere with the Great Swarm consciousness's purity and stability?

If left unchecked, would it pose a potential threat to the Great Swarm?

After a brief assessment, Ishar-mla made its decision.

It needed to reassess the anomalous individual's threat level.

If its existence was confirmed to pose an uncontrollable risk to the Great Swarm, then... erasure was the most efficient choice.

Vane's request was approved.

When his consciousness once more arrived in that vast sea, before Ishar-mla could do anything, Vane immediately transmitted his words.

[Ishar-mla! I'm here to negotiate!]