Di Ping returned, and the sea went back to the way it had been.
The creatures beneath the sea felt bewildered, as though something had left an emptiness inside them.
When Di Ping had been there, the entire sea had come alive. An immense will had all but controlled the seawater across the globe. The marine creatures that depended on the sea had gone from fear to reliance, and when that will suddenly vanished, they panicked again.
Countless marine creatures rioted in the sea, but some oddly shaped creatures let out cheers. They were powerful and unwilling to let the newborn will of the seawater lord it over them.
On land, in Whale City.
Di Ping was undergoing the standard mental-state assessment the Investigation Bureau administered to its Investigators.
If an Investigator returned from a mission in a terrible mental state, constantly at risk of going mad, the Investigation Bureau would have them rest until they recovered.
Di Ping's results were not promising. While in a blank state, he uttered many strange phrases.
Listening to those sounds, the onlookers perceived strange species of deep-sea fish through Synesthesia.
Those fish looked bizarre, their bodies seemingly coated in refined steel, and everything about them exuded the ferocity of carnivorous predators.
Di Ping also wrote some incomprehensible text. Although Ke Meng could not read it, looking at those characters brought blue seawater to mind.
When asked what he had seen during his slumber, Di Ping broke out in a cold sweat and began gasping.
"I... I saw it. No, that's not right. I didn't see anything. I don't know what it was. It was incredibly powerful, indescribable. It wanted to invade my dream, but for some reason it failed. That's what startled me awake..."
Di Ping closed his eyes and clenched both fists