Arknights, But Raising Sea Creatures in Terra Chapter 39

058. Skadi: I Was Born of My Mother, Not a Sea Creature

After Heart of the Corrupted Skadi was snatched away by that Lord God, the nations of Terra finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But the Great Swarm of Sea Creatures was bewildered:

"Where's Isabella? Where's Isabella???!!!"

"Isabella's gone, does that mean our food is gone too?"

"... ..."

"Waaah!!!"

Although the Great Swarm of Sea Creatures cried out like children sent to kindergarten by their parents, thankfully, they didn't have to wait long. Heart of the Corrupted Skadi reappeared.

Though no one knew why Heart of the Corrupted Skadi had changed her clothes...

But none of that mattered.

Because the Sea Creatures and Heart of the Corrupted Skadi shared the same perception; they had no understanding of the meaning of clothes.

If you don't understand, don't think about it. If you don't think about it, you won't care.

So the Sea Creatures cheered once more.

As Heart of the Corrupted Skadi reappeared, she was still muttering, "The little skirt displayed in that glowing little box was so short, why did the Lord God give me such a long one? And pants, too."

But Heart of the Corrupted Skadi also upheld the fine tradition of the Sea Creatures: if you don't understand, don't think about it.

So Heart of the Corrupted Skadi simply lowered her head and looked at the Great Swarm of Sea Creatures gathering before her, "I'm back, my children."

After speaking, Heart of the Corrupted Skadi activated the Hive Cluster Mind, pulling all the Sea Creatures in this world into the group chat.

The Sea Creatures naturally wouldn't resist or object. Thus, not only Heart of the Corrupted Skadi's side but also Chen Ran's side was flooded with tens of thousands of group join notifications.

It wasn't until a long while later that things finally calmed down, and Heart of the Corrupted Skadi raised her head.

Whether it was because Chen Ran had lectured her, Or like a Siberian Husky that makes a mess at home, gets hit by its owner, and then thinks it's not allowed to pee – its incredibly peculiar and straightforward thought process—

In any case, Heart of the Corrupted Skadi had no intention of coming ashore again. Instead, she floated on the sea and, through the Hive Cluster Mind, said to the Sea Creatures, "My other self refused the Great Swarm's call... Go bring her to me, I'll talk to her."

The Sea Creatures naturally obeyed. As soon as Heart of the Corrupted Skadi said this, tens of thousands of Sea Creatures swarmed ashore like a locust plague.

Although this scene terrified many Terra residents into screaming, The Terra residents soon discovered that the Great Swarm of Sea Creatures had no interest in them.

They didn't even trample the flowers and grass along the way. The Sea Creatures were only heading for Skadi of this worldline.

And no matter how strong Skadi of this worldline was, she was still one person against many.

Coupled with the other consciousness belonging to Isabella in her mind, who kept nagging her, Saying things like "I agree with my other self," "Isn't survival just about eating your fill?", "Since my other self has already issued free meal cards, why shouldn't we go claim one?"

After all this talk, didn't you also want to go eat!

Skadi of this worldline was suffering from a splitting headache due to the constant chatter in her mind, and her combat effectiveness was severely hampered.

So when the tens of thousands of Sea Creatures swarmed her, Skadi of this worldline instantly lost all ability to resist.

Then, the swarm of Sea Creatures lifted Skadi as if giving her a piggyback ride and carried her back to Heart of the Corrupted Skadi.

Looking at the colossal Heart of the Corrupted Skadi before her, which was like a towering mountain, Skadi of this worldline gritted her teeth, remaining silent, appearing determined to resist to the end, refusing to yield.

But soon, Skadi couldn't help but let out a "Huh?"

This was because the Sea Creatures of this worldline, after linking to Heart of the Corrupted Skadi's Hive Cluster Mind, their benefits...

No, that's wrong, their assimilation characteristic had already begun to manifest.

Under the shared consciousness, the other group of Sea Creatures, who were feasting wildly on the gourmet planet, after extending a warm welcome—

Began to describe in great detail their current lives of carefree eating and drinking, living like they were in paradise, enjoying luxurious food and clothing.

It was impossible for the newly joined Sea Creatures not to be envious.

So, one by one, they all asked:

"Take me with you!"

"I want to eat too!"

"How can we live like you, carefree and just waiting to die?"

Hey! That's a good question.

And so, amidst the Sea Creatures' chatter—

Skadi, who was being lifted and carried by the swarm, her face slowly changing from determination to confusion, then to incomprehension, and finally to a blank, stunned expression as her brain's CPU overloaded—

Because the swarm of Sea Creatures, in front of Skadi, began to contort wildly like Ditto, And then, as if molding clay, they gradually took shape.

She molded them into little figures with white hair and red eyes, tiny flowers on their heads, dressed in bright, flashy clothes, and even wearing colorful stockings on their legs... beautiful girls.

Skadi: "?"

The fact that Sea Creatures could transform into humans was already quite terrifying.

After all, no one wants their best friend from yesterday, who was pouring their heart out to you, to literally tear your heart out today.

Fake humans had always been an enduring horror trope.

But as Skadi looked closer, she noticed that all the Sea Creatures who had transformed into humans had the exact same face as hers.

Skadi: "???"

Skadi was stunned. She blinked several times, and after confirming that what she was seeing wasn't an illusion, Skadi quickly reached out and touched her own face, "Am I... am I also a Sea Creature...?"

It was clear that Skadi had misunderstood something.

Seeing the Sea Creatures transform into her from a lump of clay, Skadi assumed she had come about the same way.

It wasn't until Skadi took off the hat on her head and touched her scalp, confirming she didn't feel a small flower there, that Skadi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm not a Sea Creature..."

She was born from her mother, not molded from clay.

"No, you are."

But Heart of the Corrupted Skadi denied Skadi's words, "The blood of our kin flows within you, and another me's consciousness resides in your mind. Therefore, you are."

Skadi: "... ..."

Skadi looked up at Heart of the Corrupted Skadi, and Heart of the Corrupted Skadi looked down at Skadi.

The two of them stared at each other, while the observing Terra people wondered if Skadi would remain defiant to the death or return to the Great Swarm—

"What are you talking about?" After a long pause, Skadi finally spoke, "Your voice is too loud, it's making my ears go deaf... Say that again?"

Heart of the Corrupted Skadi: "... ..."

PS1: Check out "I'm in Terra, I Have No Books to Read"

059. Sea Creatures Ascend to a Gourmet Planet, but Skadi Gets Caught in Between

"Heart of the Corrupted Skadi is staring at Skadi"

"Skadi is staring at Heart of the Corrupted Skadi"

"Heart of the Corrupted Skadi is..."

Chen Ran: "?"

"If you have nothing to say, you can just shut up instead of repeating yourself like this, really."

Chen Ran was speechless and waved away the semi-transparent pop-up window in front of him.

He hadn't been monitoring the development of Terra on the normal timeline the entire time; he was multitasking.

After all, that gourmet planet was now approaching ecological balance.

If Heart of the Corrupted Skadi were to bring tens of thousands more Sea Creatures to move in and start feasting—

Chen Ran naturally had to consider whether that gourmet planet could accommodate them.

"It would be hilarious if another mass extinction event occurred."

But Chen Ran also worried that Heart of the Corrupted Skadi's thought process might suddenly become bizarre, and she might inflict a small, apocalyptic shock of Sea Creatures upon the normal timeline Terra.

So, Chen Ran was managing that gourmet planet while using the thumbnail descriptions in the semi-transparent pop-up window to achieve work-life balance.

However, the semi-transparent pop-up window had been repeating itself since a moment ago.

"So, did Red T finish her business? Or did the Terra people get wiped out?"

Chen Ran clapped his hands and turned towards the Terra (normal timeline) planet model.

He bent down and peered closely.

He saw that within the planet model, which resembled an ecological terrarium, Heart of the Corrupted Skadi was occupying the only water source like a little crab.

And the Terra people, like pill bugs or tiny ants, were huddled on the dry shore, trembling.

"What did Red T do to scare these Terra people so badly?"

Chen Ran didn't consider the possibility that his sudden approach, and his moon-sized eyeballs scanning around, might have been what terrified those Terra people to the brink of collapse.

Chen Ran muttered a few times and then focused his attention entirely on Heart of the Corrupted Skadi.

But after watching for a long time and finding Heart of the Corrupted Skadi still with her head bowed, doing something unknown, Chen Ran directly reached into the planet model and grabbed Heart of the Corrupted Skadi.

"So, Red T, what exactly are you doing?"

Chen Ran asked, looking at Heart of the Corrupted Skadi, who had been caught and was now lying in his palm.

Heart of the Corrupted Skadi blinked her innocent little eyes and replied, "I'm thinking about how to speak to someone who can't hear very well."

"Your hearing isn't good? It's not like your eyesight is bad. You can just use hand gestures, or grab a piece of paper and write, right?"

"Oh…"

Upon hearing this, Heart of the Corrupted Skadi clapped her small hands in realization, "Lord God, you're so smart!"

Chen Ran: "… …"

Chen Ran felt like he was almost getting used to Heart of the Corrupted Skadi's simplemindedness.

Even though Isabella and Skadi weren't exactly the same person, why were they both so similarly simpleminded?

Had your divinity been washed away by my humanity, and your brilliant mind been washed away by Skadi's simplemindedness?

Never mind.

Chen Ran stopped dwelling on it and continued to ask, "So, Red T, you mentioned before about taking the Sea Creatures from this normal worldline home for a meal. Is that all settled?"

"It's settled."

Heart of the Corrupted Skadi nodded her small head, then sat up from Chen Ran's palm. Through the Hive Cluster Mind, she gave the group of Sea Creatures the route to the cafeteria.

The next second, a large, pale mass of Sea Creatures ascended from within the planetary model of Terra (normal timeline).

Then, that group of Sea Creatures flew towards the planet of delicious food.

「Sea Creature 1: Charge! Let's go, family!」

「Sea Creature 2: Time to eat, time to eat!」

「Sea Creature 3: I can already see the cafeteria!」

「Skadi: I'm not a Sea Creature! Let me go!」

「Sea Creature 4: Family, family, this family member says it's not a Sea Creature? And it says to let it go… What should we do?」

「Sea Creature 5: It looks exactly like us, it's a Sea Creature!」