Deep-Sea Stealth (Continued)

With their detention countdown nearing its end, they had no choice but to make a decision.

"Release them..."

Because the relationship between the two was too complicated, and the news of the failure of the fourth Mantle Exploration had already spread throughout Aegir.

If they are allowed to pass through properly, Maria and Heratia will likely be surrounded by reporters from all over Jiake Nanle.

Therefore, Maria and Heratia's retreat was arranged in an extremely secretive manner.

After leaving, the two returned to Heratia's house as quickly as possible.

Heratia breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that no one was following her.

"These past few days have felt like the most difficult time of my life so far..."

As she spoke, a hint of annoyance and unease appeared on her face.

Maria, however, simply walked to the side and looked at the bookshelf next to her.

"But at least we managed to fool them..."

"Did you manage to hide it?"

After a few moments of silence, Heratia couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.

"I don't think that this little thing can be fooled by those people... The Sea Patrol has always been the strongest pillar within Aegir. The reason they let us go is simply because they didn't have any evidence and their detention period was almost up."

"But we haven't been cleared of suspicion yet, and they will still send people to investigate us."

"That's only for the next few days..."

Maria's expression remained completely unchanged upon hearing that they would still be investigated.

She remained silent for a moment, then turned to look at Heratia.

"They won't have time to investigate us anytime soon."

"Soon...?"

Heratia sat on the bed beside her and rubbed her temples.

After Maria revealed the existence of the Seaborn and the Hunter Plan, Heratia already knew that Maria might be right.

She could sense, of course, that Maria was hiding something from her, but the fact that the Seaborn could evolve indefinitely was already enough of a headache for Aegir.

Moreover, according to Maria, no matter what crisis Seaborn encounters, as long as he survives and brings the information back to his race, soon a higher-level monster that can counter him will appear.

In this situation, only individual warriors with high-intensity combat capabilities can handle it.

Heratia also considered whether she could stop the investigation from continuing.

But soon, she herself laughed at her own idea.

Because she realized that what she wanted to do was exactly what Maria had done in the beginning.

When they first discovered the ruins, Maria chose to stop them. At that time, I was completely unaware of the situation and, in a sense, I wasn't on Maria's side either.

Now, does she want to stop the entire Aegir from developing the Precursor Ruins?

Is this possible?

No wonder Maria said at that time that some things are destined.

Really.

If Heratia had known that her discovery would lead to such consequences, she too would have said that it was all destined.

The Aegir civilization, which grew from the corpses of Precursor Civilization, could not resist such temptation.

Therefore, it can be confirmed that no matter how they try to stop them, Aegir will eventually open the ruins of the Precursor Civilization, ultimately triggering the Seaborn's counterattack.

In this context, the Hunter Plan was actually the right thing to do.

Since we cannot prevent disasters from happening, we should at least take precautions after they occur.

"If all goes well, the first batch of Seaborn will begin patrolling within a month. At that time, people probably won't pay much attention to it; they'll just be trying to seize some research opportunities."

"Such actions will definitely provoke a defensive counterattack from the other side..."

"The war with Seaborn will gradually unfold then."

"But if that's all there is to it, Aegir won't truly agree to the human modification plan."

Heratia spoke, she gradually lowered her head.

Maria merely glanced at her and said nothing more.

Next, they just need to wait for time to pass...

The fourth Mantle Exploration was undoubtedly a major surprise for the Aegir, but as time went by, even the most astonishing things eventually came to an end.

After a month, most people had already stopped paying attention to this.

The vast majority of people have returned to their normal lives.

But for some people, their lives... underwent a complete transformation...

"How are you?"

In the room, the supervisor, who had just finished get off work, looked at her best friend lying on the bed with a worried expression.

Seeing how hard the other person was breathing, she felt a pang of pity.

Ever since hosting that concert two months ago, my best friend's condition has been getting worse and worse.

At first, I would just occasionally get distracted and be a little confused. Later, my lifestyle started to change. Sometimes I would even go for hours without blinking. When I looked back, I was terribly sore in the eyes.

Later on, even their habits changed.

She's started to enjoy eating raw food.

At first, she simply thought that her friend had changed her tastes, but later she gradually realized that what her best friend meant by eating raw food was not quite the same as what she understood.

All she understood was simply eating sashimi occasionally.

But her best friend had really started eating large amounts of raw meat and other foods... to the point that even the hospital couldn't detect anything.

Initially, the hospital tried to persuade the two to go to a higher-level hospital or see a psychologist.

But in the end, they still chose to refuse.

Of course, this wasn't the supervisor's idea; she personally felt it might be an illness requiring special treatment.

But his companion refused.

She just wanted to be alone.

After a long silence, the supervisor agreed to her choice.

But now, she feels a little regretful.

Seeing her best friend lying on the bed, panting, she couldn't help but grit her teeth.

"How about we go to the hospital to get it checked out?"

The supervisor issued an inquiry.

But this time, the woman did not refuse.

She just stared blankly at the ceiling above her head, her breathing changing from rapid to murmured.

In the end, only a faint, low moan remained.

"Our compatriots... are coming..."

News of the discovery of a new species in the deep sea quickly spread throughout Aegir.

Many scholars, driven by curiosity, chose to leave Jiake Nanle and begin searching for these new life forms in the vicinity.

But not long after, reports of new creatures attacking people began to circulate.

Like a chain reaction, once the first attack occurred, more and more similar incidents were reported.

Soon, even more, never-before-seen creatures appeared in large numbers around Jiake Nanle, a bizarre situation that caused unease among the city's inhabitants.

They weren't worried about their own safety, but rather dissatisfied with the biologists' outburst.

After discovering such collective and unprecedented biological activity, all biologists went into a complete frenzy.

In their eyes, this event was destined to be recorded in history, and if they could stand out in it, they would also enter history.

No one can resist such temptation.

Similarly, for Maria, these people are destined to be recorded in history...

"The destruction of the entire Jiake Nanle is inevitable..."

Aboard one of the few remaining ships that could still leave, Maria and Heratia stood in the corridor, silently watching the lights gradually fade into the distance. Their eyes were slightly lowered, showing neither the joy of their planned success nor the regret for their impending loss.

In contrast to the indifferent Maria, Heratia appeared worried.

Although she already knew that Maria's Hunter Plan might be Aegir's most promising plan, she still felt somewhat guilty.

"There are at least 800,000 people in the entire Jiake Nanle... If something goes wrong here..."

Heratia spoke, her eyes slightly lowered, her tone soft and low.

"It's practically like committing evil..."

Clearly, while Heratia may have been a bit cunning, she was essentially a good person...

I can't be as cold-blooded as Maria.

Maria didn't make things difficult for the girl; she simply remained silent for a few moments before turning slightly to the side.

Just behind the two of them, a couple who looked like a couple walked over.

After being discovered, they didn't panic; instead, they took a closer look.

Then, the woman spoke, surprised and cautious.

"You... are the fourth time..."

Before the woman could finish speaking, she covered her mouth with both hands, her bright eyes darted left and right twice, and then she smiled with narrowed eyes.

It was clear that she meant no harm; she simply saw someone and was curious enough to come over and chat, asking about something.

But soon, as if she had seen something, she looked down and carefully examined the two people's hands, and then her expression suddenly changed.

"You two... are you in this kind of relationship?"

"Um?"

Maria paused, then looked down at their hands.

To her astonishment, Heratia now possessed a ring almost identical to her own!

This made Maria pause for a moment.

Then he looked at Heratia helplessly.

"No accidents should happen..."

Clearly, even though the two had acted very amicably, Heratia was still uneasy.

She remained worried that the two men might have been sent by the Sea Patrol for questioning.

But this has nothing to do with her making a ring just like Maria's!

"Just to be on the safe side."

Heratia smiled, then turned to look at the two people in front of her in a very natural and open manner.

"Really..."

She first acknowledged what the other person said, but didn't specify which question she was answering. "Can you keep this a secret for us? It's really not something worth publicizing..."

"Certainly."

The woman nodded, her eyes smiling.

After a moment, she looked around before asking a question out of curiosity.