A Wild Surge at Sea

"Though we aren't exactly on friendly terms, are you sure you want to devour me?" The Sea Witch thought she had misheard. "Or does devouring... mean something else to the Evil Spirit Orca Group?"

She directed the latter half of her question at the Evil Spirit Orca underlings behind her.

"That's right!"

The brothers Jun Hyuk and Jun Ho exchanged a glance, then simultaneously opened their mouths wide. "De... vour!"

Ren Tao swept his gaze over them. You two, shut up!

"No, that's not it!"

At the crucial moment, Tae Hee "stepped" forward and explained solemnly, "Have you ever seen anyone consult their food before devouring it? Big Brother's kind of devouring is the gentler sort of... devouring!"

Tae Hee swallowed those last words, because both the Sea Witch and Ren Tao were glaring like tigers ready to pounce.

The Sea Witch finally understood. She sighed and lowered her head. She wanted to ask why he had to devour her, but then again, did Evil Spirit Orcas need a reason to eat?

Ren Tao also wanted to say, Let me explain! But what was there to explain? Devouring genes was still devouring. If someone wanted to devour him, would he agree?

For a moment, the atmosphere grew painfully awkward.

"Let's find Tang San and the others first!"

Ren Tao turned away, unwilling to continue this dreary topic for now.

By the moral standards of his previous life, taking something from someone required their permission first; otherwise, it was robbery. But in the Douluo World, was taking by trickery and force simply the law of survival?

Choosing between moral principles and the laws of survival left Ren Tao caught in a dilemma.

An hour later.

The Sea Witch had regained her composure and sat sideways on Zhen Jiu's back. Zhen Jiu was whiter than the other orcas and looked a little less vicious.

Zhen Jiu gently moved those enormous fins, trying to swim as smoothly as possible.

The party of people-and whales-headed toward the open sea.

Once she realized Ren Tao was not joking, the Sea Witch put her mind to work analyzing the situation. Her earlier calculations had all been correct, but human plans could not outwit heaven. She had overlooked the crucial premise of devouring bloodlines, leaving her at a severe disadvantage.

What she needed to do now was ease the tension between them and buy herself time.

Of course, she still had to maintain her dignity, so her reply to Ren Tao was,

"If you're asking for my opinion, I refuse. But if you intend to force me, I would rather self-destruct!"

That answer sent Ren Tao's guilt soaring. He felt like a r*pist coercing an innocent woman.

The awkward atmosphere lasted until evening. After sunset, the Evil Spirit Orca Group stopped, and Ren Tao devoted himself to finding a way to break the "Abhorrence Brand," while the Sea Witch found a patch of coral on the seabed and sat quietly inside it to rest.

The nine orcas formed a circle around her and watched her.

Ren Tao entered the Sea of Inheritance to study the "Abhorrence Trident."

His evolved domain quietly unfolded. Its red power came from the Lovesick Heartbreak Red and crystal blood dragon ginseng, carrying an exceedingly violent, masculine force, while the golden threads were the Devouring Golden Threads obtained from Tang San. But this domain had one ultimate transformation: the golden threads would trace a human figure, forming a golden body that closely resembled Ren Tao himself. It looked like a Buddha rising from a sea of blood, so Ren Tao named it "Blood Sea Pagoda."

It seemed to contain a subtle metaphor: only through endless slaughter and devouring, through enough spilled blood to form a sea, could he forge an imperishable golden body and ascend to a higher level of life.

The "Abhorrence Trident" floated quietly in the air, its rust stains unchanged. Yet no matter what Ren Tao tried, he could not leave even the slightest mark on it.

So how had that Evil Soul Master predecessor managed to unravel the Sea God's power?

"In this world, one force no one can rival is the mighty power of time..."

After a long while, Ren Tao felt as though he had fallen asleep. In his haze, he saw the figure of an old man emerge from the mist. "Another is the power of evolution. It is unwavering, ever advancing, unstoppable."

Oh.

The power of evolution. Like a sudden flash of inspiration, Ren Tao felt he had grasped the key to solving the problem.

"Anyone who tries to stem the great tide of evolution and sets themselves against this force, whether human or god, will be mercilessly ground out of existence!"

He did not know whether the old man had spoken those final words or whether he had imagined them himself. In any case, he woke immediately afterward.

The surrounding sea was pitch-black.

Only the coral where the Sea Witch rested held a few drifting glimmers. They came from the luminous pearls she had released, floating through the water and faintly illuminating a few meters around her.

None of the orcas approached that pearly glow, showing their respect for the Sea Witch.

Yet faint, inexplicable disturbances were also traveling through the water. It was these subtle fluctuations that had roused Ren Tao from sleep.

"Everyone, get up! Something's happening!"

Ren Tao swiftly notified the nine orcas through telepathy. Hu Dong and Tae Hee were still awake, keeping watch, and immediately drew close to him upon hearing the warning.

"What's going on?"

Ren Tao released his spiritual power to investigate. Since his domain's evolution, his perception had improved further, expanding from its previous range of ten li to over thirty li. Everything within that range appeared as clearly as though he were seeing it with his own eyes.

"It looks like large numbers of sea soul beasts are migrating? How long has it been since this last happened?"

He dug through the Evil Orca King's memories. Apparently, the most recent occurrence had been tens of thousands of years ago, before the Sea God's rise. That was also when the Evil Orca King had migrated to the inner sea.

"Is it a red tide?"

Hu Dong froze for a moment, then cried out in alarm.

Red tide was a general term for disasters erupting in the ocean, not specifically the spread of viruses or algae. Sometimes it was an underwater volcanic eruption; sometimes it was energy seeping in from another world. The causes varied, but every occurrence brought mass migrations of sea soul beasts and the horrific sight of blood flowing into a sea.

Even the mighty Evil Spirit Orca Group could not contend with such natural disasters.

But now that a red tide had erupted again, Ren Tao had a few different ideas.

If it was a virus or algae, that was one thing. But if it was a volcanic eruption or energy seeping in from another world, could he devour it to strengthen the Sea of Inheritance?

"If it's a red tide, large numbers of sea soul beasts will migrate. I wonder whether any hundred-thousand-year soul beasts will be among them?"

After a little reasoning, Tae Hee posed that question.

After eating the Whale Brain, and with Ren Tao constantly teaching and guiding them, the orcas had all grown noticeably more intelligent. They no longer relied solely on violence to solve problems; they had learned to think as well.

Of course, that was mainly because they no longer had any room to put violence to use.

"I haven't spotted any yet!"

Ren Tao was pleased by Tae Hee's response. At least his time and effort had not gone to waste. "What else can you think of? Let's hear it."

"According to the Sea Witch-no, Princess Xin Luo-Tang San and the others are camped a hundred li away. The soul beast tide should pass them before reaching us. That means, if a hundred-thousand-year sea soul beast appears, might they abandon the Human-Faced Sea Anemone and target another soul beast?"

Surely not?

Unless they found a hundred-thousand-year soul beast better suited to Tang San than the Human-Faced Sea Anemone.

"Big Brother, why don't we circle around ahead of Tang San's group, then come back with the soul beast tide and ambush them?"

After saying this, Tae Hee wagged that tail excitedly, thrilled to have thought of such a brilliant idea. Those big eyes looked Ren Tao up and down, studying his expression, all but saying, "Boss, praise me!"

"Tae Hee has a good point, Big Brother!"

Hu Dong gave Tae Hee an envious look, deeply impressed by how well that youngster's brain worked. "We're always passively taking their blows. Why don't we spring a sneak attack on them this time?"

Fish in troubled waters?

That could definitely work!

Ren Tao was about to nod when he sensed movement behind him and turned toward the Sea Witch.

The Sea Witch was walking out of the coral, several luminous pearls above her head shining with faint halos.

"Don't look at me. I have no intention of getting involved in your affairs!"

After a pause, she added, "The Sea God's intentions are obvious. He wants you and Tang San to fight until one of you dies. Whichever of you dies, it's no loss to me!"

Now that she had calmed down, she had begun to feel a deep hatred for Ren Tao. Why was devouring her the only thing this man ever thought about?

Could he not see how beautiful, adorable, and charming she was? Compared with the danger to her life that had yet to arrive, the Sea Witch felt her pride had taken a far more serious blow!

"Then which of us would you rather see die?"

Ren Tao asked the question meaningfully.

The nine orcas, along with the Sea Witch Xin Luo and Ren Tao, set off immediately. Following Tae Hee's suggestion, they circled around the outskirts and hurried through the night, intending to reach the center of the beast tide before Tang San's group.

After they had traveled for quite some time and detoured several dozen li to the side, the Sea Witch provided an update: Tang San was holding position and had not moved.

Ren Tao suspected they were hiding beneath the "Vast Sea Protective Shroud," waiting by the stump for a rabbit to come their way.

As they continued onward, they finally encountered the enormous beast tide.

Countless swordfish leaped out of the water, while all sorts of shrimp and crabs raced beneath the surface. Most were merely ordinary marine creatures, but the farther back they went, the more soul beasts appeared, until it gradually became a tide of soul beasts.

Its thunderous momentum struck fear even into the Evil Spirit Orcas, overlords of the water.

No wonder Tang San's group had stopped advancing. This spectacle really was frightening!

Only then did Ren Tao realize that Tae Hee's plan had overlooked a crucial point: such an enormous beast tide could also deal them a devastating blow.

Every soul beast seemed to have gone mad, scrambling ahead and constantly crashing into and trampling one another. It was every bit as bad as a stampede in the human world.

What should I do?

Since the plan has hit a snag... why not devour the Mermaid Princess right now?

This was the second chapter updated yesterday. I wasn't satisfied with it, so I made some revisions and reposted it.

I'm still not quite satisfied, but I'll leave it like this for now and revise it again when I come up with better ideas!