The burning proceeded smoothly.
The sponge floating on the sea seemed to have no consciousness.
The flames, fueled by oil, devoured it freely.
John stood aboard the largest warship, observing the sea through binoculars.
After several dozen minutes of burning, the area covered by the sponge gradually began to shrink.
"Sir, according to our calculations, the burning should be complete in three hours."
"Mm."
Old Man and Frank, who had been unable to help, had already gone back. Ah Xing was still waiting there.
He lay on a beach chair, wearing sunglasses and drinking juice even though dusk had already fallen.
He looked utterly relaxed.
"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Nick Fury frowned.
Years of combat instincts told him it couldn't be that simple.
Could a few flames really destroy this superpowered being from the legends?
Nick Fury received another transmission from headquarters.
"Director, satellite scans show that although the yellow solid's surface coverage has decreased, its volume beneath the sea appears to have increased!"
I knew it!
"Contact that fleet again and tell them what we've found."
"All right, never mind." Nick Fury changed his mind.
Something unexpected had already happened.
As the flames spread, the yellow solid covered less and less of the surface.
Two ships from the fleet, which had been watching from a safe distance, headed straight toward the edge of the burning area.
They intended to retrieve some samples of the burned material.
The remaining ships continued their patrols, ready to eliminate any sponge that escaped.
But anyone watching closely would have noticed that the sponge seemed to be growing taller!
"Whoo-ha, food! Hahahaha!" A bright, clear voice rang out from somewhere.
Colonel John, commanding aboard the warship, couldn't stop his eyes from widening.
Those two ships approaching the sponge had actually...
They seemed to have