Thanks for the Invitation, I'm on Terra, and I'm a Parasite

"Not yet."

He closed his eyes, and his body began to split apart, turning back into three harmless-looking dogs.

After leaving them with basic orders to patrol the coastline,

Zuo Jian returned his consciousness to Laurentina.

"We'll be there soon. Grandma Petra must have seen the person you're looking for, Painter, because she's lived for a very long time!"

Laurentina held Anita's hand, listening to the girl's words and looking into her expectant eyes.

"It's all right. Even if your Grandma Petra hasn't seen the person I'm looking for, it's all right."

"Zuo... what I promised you won't change."

"Is it really that obvious?"

Anita scratched her head awkwardly.

"Hehe, I can tell at a glance."

"Wow, Painter, you're amazing. Are people outside all like you? Can they tell what others are thinking at a glance?"

"Of course not. Only mature adults can do that."

Laurentina smiled confidently and pinched the little face that practically had every thought written across it.

[By the way, why do you keep emphasizing words like "adult"? I don't remember ever stressing that sort of identity in front of her. You shouldn't need to force it this hard to cover for it, right?]

"Shut up! None of your business. And where did you run off to just now? I called you, but you ignored me."

[I went to inspect the ocean and found that it produced almost no fish or plants.]

[Except for the Seaborn.]

"...It seems the impact of Its death was even more severe than expected."

[It?]

"I don't know.

That's what the Seaborn call It. The captain has all the detailed intelligence. Our mission back then was only to clear the way for the other teams."

"We're almost there... Huh? Wall Brick, why did you all come out together?"

Pulling Laurentina along, Anita called out to a man holding a can.

"Ninety-nine... one hundred! It's one hundred!"

"One hundred... Oh! So today is the hundredth time?"

As she said that, her stomach even let out a rumble.

"Painter, are you hungry?"

"How about we go find something to eat first? If we're late, there won't be much left."

[Find something to eat?]

Zuo Jian narrowed his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

[According to my investigation, this place is essentially dead land. The ocean produces nothing, and as for the soil, my preliminary assessment is that it lacks the nutrients required for plant growth.]

[So the question is, how have they survived until now?]

Laurentina froze. Then she noticed more and more residents emerging from their homes holding cans and heading into the streets.

"...Maybe everyone agreed on a time to collectively scavenge the garbage heaps for food?"

"Little Anita, what does one hundred mean?"

She lowered her head and looked at the girl.

Judging from Anita's expression, this clearly wasn't the first time it had happened.

"Oh, right, I forgot you aren't from here, Painter. The priests told us about it."

"After waiting through one hundred tides, one of us gets to go to the sea and live a good life without ever going hungry!"

"And after a little while, lots and lots of food will wash up on the shore. Then... everyone will..."

"Wait, food? How could that be possible? You've eaten the things that washed ashore?!!"

Laurentina suddenly grabbed Anita by the shoulders and shouted.

"Painter, you're so strong. My shoulders hurt."

"Sorry..."

"What's wrong?"

"Did I say something wrong... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."

"No... Anita, you didn't say anything wrong. I just... don't feel very well."

"But why is one of your eyes blue and the other red, Painter? And... they're both scary..."

Zuo Jian, you just said there was nothing in the sea, that every living thing had disappeared, except—the Seaborn.

[...You're angry, Laurentina. Calm down.]

And you aren't angry?

[No. On the contrary, I'm utterly enraged.]

Zuo Jian and the Nun

"Painter, what's wrong?"

"...Why are they carrying cans into the streets?"

Laurentina asked. At the same time, after Zuo Jian's pupils closed, a red humanoid crouching on the edge of a cliff along the distant coast held up a head made of flesh and blood with an indifferent expression.

A closer look would reveal that the head bore two different faces, as though they had been forcibly stitched together.

They were the faces of Quintus and Lai Ke.

"What the Church of the Deep has already done here, and what it plans to do next."

His flesh-and-blood body underwent a violent transformation, eventually regaining the features a human should possess.

Hair, skin, and the facial features upon his face.

He didn't know why, but the face he instinctively created resembled Laurentina rather than his own original appearance.

But that wasn't important.

What mattered was that no face could convey the overwhelming fury within him at this moment.

"Tell me. Tell me every word."

He brought the head close, his exquisite face speaking cruel words in an icy voice.

"Spit it all out, word for word. Otherwise—"

"I'll make you regret ever being born into this world."

Nerves capable of feeling pain grew inside the two-faced head in his hand.

The fingers of the hand holding it had become claw-like, piercing into their foreheads.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

.

"Painter, you don't know this, but the priests are really good people."

Holding Laurentina's hand, Anita answered happily.

"At first, everyone had a terrible life. There was nothing to eat in the sea, and nothing would grow from the ground. Sometimes, we'd even fight over a single can."

"But whether you won or lost, in the end, you still couldn't escape starving to death."

"The priests saw how we were living and decided to help us."

[The people of Saltwind City are generally in poor physical condition. As experimental subjects, they possess inherent flaws.]

[Weak specimens simply cannot withstand more than a few experiments.]

[Thus, in order to obtain higher-quality experimental materials and recruit more believers.]

"At first, the priests told us that after waiting through one hundred high tides, someone's shell inside their can would turn red."

"The person holding the red shell is the lucky one who was chosen. They get to go to the sea and live a good life!"

"And after a little while, the shore will be filled with food. That way, everyone won't die!"

[At regular intervals, they provide nourishment to the Swarm. In return, It grants gifts to Its "siblings."]

"Even though each person doesn't get very much food, at least everyone gets a full stomach. So the priests really are good people."

[After consuming the Swarm's flesh, these specimens will gradually be assimilated.]

[This will greatly improve their reusability in future experiments while also helping expand the Church's membership.]

"And also, the priests have rarely come out lately. They didn't come out often before either, but there would still be someone teaching everyone lots of things."

"Grandma Petra taught me how to speak, but most of the others learned from the priests. They didn't just teach us how to talk; they taught us how to read too. They also told us that everyone here is brothers and sisters, and we shouldn't fight."

[Ignorant and starving residents are often easier to control. A few small gifts are enough to make them obey your every word.]

[Once they trust the Church completely, all of Saltwind City can become a breeding ground that provides both materials and believers.]

[They can even be used as the Church's shield against the Inquisitors, buying enough time for any future relocation.]

"So, Painter, look. They're even willing to teach people like us how to read, so... why are you making that expression?"

[The ignorant masses will even willingly, eagerly, offer everything they have to us.]

[But for such inferior and lowly lives, this was their...]

[Hon-hon-hon-hon-hon-honor.]

"...Yes. They really are such good people."

Laurentina had to use Zuo Jian's ability to adjust her facial muscles just to make her expression look normal.

Otherwise, there was no way she could maintain this appearance after hearing all that.

[Laurentina, calm down. Don't let your emotions control you.]

"Zuo Jian, how can you be so calm?!"

She couldn't understand why Zuo Jian could remain so calm after going through so much.

"Before, you clearly..."

[Laurentina, anger solves nothing.]

[It is motivation. It is a reason. But it is not a solution.]

[But anger isn't wrong.]

[It's just that one of us has to stay calm.]

"But before, you also—"

[That's why we let Amaya go earlier and overlooked the loss of some blood.]

[Laurentina, don't let rage control you, but you don't need to suppress it completely.]

"And then you get to suppress yourself? You get to silently endure this feeling?"

"Painter?"

Laurentina suddenly cried out.

The abrupt outburst even startled Anita beside her.