Crisis in the Underwater World

"Cannibalism?"

Old Ying Dang was slightly taken aback, his fingers hidden behind his back trembling violently.

"Yes, they eat people, they eat living people."

Shui Luo turned her head, her face falling into shadow. "But they seem to be following some kind of hunting instinct. Before eating a person, they must gain the trust of their 'food,' just like some wild animals never eat carrion; it's their principle."

"And how they gain trust."

"It's about changing the appearance of your host."

The young monk Shitian tilted his head, looking curious, "Change appearance?"

"Right."

Shui Luo slowly said, "The Tuomen Acuminate Fungus can not only transform our limbs into that explosive muscle state, but also change our appearance to be indistinguishable from the real thing."

"It approaches 'food' in all sorts of guises; sometimes it becomes 'food's' family, sometimes its friend, and sometimes it becomes someone 'food' is about to meet."

"In this process."

"The host of the parasite, that is, our underwater inhabitants, is completely passive, their appearance is forcibly changed, and their own movements are beyond their control."

We call this situation a ' Negative Doppelgänger '.

"It means it's exactly like you, like a substitute for you, but it's bad and evil! It's the opposite of 'positive,' the 'negative'!"

Shitian suddenly realized, "Oh! I understand, the one on the shore..."

That's the Negative Doppelgänger.

Shui Luo squinted, "It transformed into my likeness to welcome you all. Once it gains your trust, it will devour you whole!"

"Once Negative Doppelgänger, that resident's original consciousness will never return."

"His body was completely controlled by the Tuomen Acuminate Fungus,' constantly changing its appearance to lure and capture all sorts of people, becoming a puppet specifically for the Tuomen Acuminate Fungus' to capture energy!"

"Fortunately."

Shui Luo then looked at the old Master Ying saw through all of this in advance; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

"Oh?"

"Hahaha!"

But then, the old Ying Dang stroked his beard and chuckled, "Young Master Shui Luo, I must tell you the truth. I truly didn't know there was such a thing as 'Tuomenjianfujun' (Tuomen Acuminate Fungus). But when I took a closer look, I noticed a thick, dark, malevolent aura emanating from the boatman. I immediately concluded that he was definitely not a good person, so I acted without hesitation!"

Shui Luo nodded slowly, her trust in the old Daoist priest seemingly increasing even further.

The old Daoist's "to be honest" attitude may seem to expose his ignorance, but in reality, he is a master swindler who knows that "you can't pretend to be something you're not." Appropriately admitting one's shortcomings is the key to increasing others' trust!

The saying goes, "It's all half-truth, half-lies," and even a wealthy man can be fooled into becoming a lonely orphan!

"But..."

But the old Daoist priest looked somewhat fearful and said, "Young Master Shui Luo, according to you, all the underwater inhabitants are now infected with Tuomen Acuminate Fungus. And about cannibalism..."

"Master Ying."

Shui Luo said, "We have conducted in-depth research on the Tuomen Acuminate Fungus. If you are parasitized by it, you will go through four stages. The first three stages are three levels of enhancement to the host's body. The higher the stage, the greater the enhancement."

"Only after the fourth stage."

"Only the host has the potential to become a ' Negative Doppelgänger '."

"Furthermore, the longer one stays in the fourth stage, the greater the likelihood of becoming Negative Doppelgänger."

Shui Luo glanced at his entourage around him. "They, along with the residents here, undergo a phase test every five hours. If anyone enters the fourth phase, they will be immediately quarantined and have no chance of leaving. As for that boatman... that was an accident."

"Oh."

The old Daoist priest slowly exhaled, "Then I am relieved. After all, my little disciple Shitian is too weak to be defeated, and I was worried about his safety."

"But."

At this moment, Shui Luo looked down upon Giant Whale City and said, "All the residents have been infected. Nearly 10,000 residents have entered the fourth stage, and this number is increasing every day."

"Based on our historical data."

"Residents who enter the third stage will inevitably enter the fourth stage within three months, regardless of how the situation is controlled."

"Those who enter the fourth stage... will inevitably become Negative Doppelgänger within two months."

"As I just said, Negative Doppelgänger... is essentially a walking corpse, which is practically equivalent to 'death' to the original owner of that body."

"It's urgent."

"The lives of 900,000 inhabitants in this entire underwater world are hanging by a thread!"

Shui Luo suddenly turned to the old Daoist priest and said, "Father said that you have been acquainted for forty years, and your ability is to foresee cause and effect. Therefore, Father overruled all objections to invite you here, hoping that you can help us resolve this crisis!"

"Hehe."

The old Daoist priest was unfathomable, laughing loudly.

But in his heart he was thinking to himself.

What's the point of solving anything?

How the hell am I supposed to solve this?

If you were an ordinary family, and your home was haunted by some female ghosts or spirits, I could probably give you a good talking-to. After all, those things are just inner demons, and you can't really figure them out anyway.

Now, it's even worse—900,000 people are infected with the adulterer's bacteria?

You could mutate into a man-eating zombie in no time!

I, an old man, must devise a way to make a clean getaway while preserving my reputation!

"Amitabha."

But then the young monk Shitian's eyes flashed, and he clasped his hands together. "The home of Benefactor Shui Luo has suffered such a calamity. My master often teaches me that I am a monk, and he is a cultivator. We must never turn a blind eye to the suffering of the people, especially after the other party has prepared a generous reward."

"Master is tired today."

"This humble monk, Shitian, on behalf of my master, promises that we will not leave until this crisis is resolved."

As he spoke, Shitian noticed that the old Daoist's face was flushed red.

"Oh."

Shitian nodded. "Master scolded me for not being forceful enough. I swear on Master's behalf, if he had any thoughts of escaping, he would be hit by a car as soon as he went out, drown in the latrine, or choke to death on the spot when he drank cold water."

The old Daoist's face turned even redder.

Shitian said happily, "Look how happy Master is! He always says I'm his most reliable mouthpiece, and now he's praising my intelligence."

Shui Luo revealed a barely perceptible smile, "To resolve this crisis, we need to find the parent organism of the Tuomen Acuminate Fungus, the original parasitic fungus that Father discovered in the deep sea years ago."

"Our research revealed..."

"The Tuomen Acuminate Fungus possesses a high degree of collective intelligence."

"Like ants, they unconditionally accept the control of the 'mother'."

"Once the mother organism is eliminated, the other * Tuomen Acuminate Fungus will stop iterating and gradually lose their ability to feed!"

"As for that mother plant..."

"It can travel between various hosts, and for 40 years, we don't know where it's hiding."

"What is certain is that it must be parasitizing some resident."