Lord: Starting with Biological Modification

Chapter 271: Chapter 266: First Deep Sea Trial

Beside Minas Tirith Port, in a hidden bay cordoned off by the Security Department, several patrol boats were stationed.

With a metallic groan that set one’s teeth on edge, the massive gate to the underground waterway slowly rose.

Seawater poured in, churning up white-capped waves within the channel.

Beneath the surface, a behemoth floated silently.

Leviathan One.

Within its body, a vast chamber was illuminated by the soft glow of Runes.

As Sea Wolf stepped into the central command chamber, he was immediately stunned by the sight before him.

He instinctively looked up. The ceiling was as high as a cathedral’s dome. The combination of flesh and sinew with a metal skeleton didn’t seem out of place, and countless faint blue energy conduits crisscrossed like blood vessels.

"What the fuck..." Sea Wolf couldn’t help but curse. He paced back and forth a few times, estimating the size of the space.

"This damn place... it’s bigger than the entire deck of my ship! Lord Velin, have you stuffed a whole army into this monster’s belly?"

"In theory, it can carry two hundred fully armed soldiers," Velin’s voice came from the command platform up ahead. "But for its maiden voyage, I only brought one hundred men."

Sea Wolf followed the sound with his gaze and saw Velin standing on a raised platform. Behind him were Valerius, Barrett, and Ola.

Around them, nearly a hundred Mages and Knights were making their way to rows of seats.

Barrett patted the seat closest to him, motioning for Sea Wolf to come over. On the armrest, a palm-sized, black, beetle-like creature rested quietly. It was a "Hive Terminal."

It was Sea Wolf’s first time observing the thing up close, and his face was a mask of disgust.

"What... is this for?"

"Connection," Barrett said succinctly. He picked up his own terminal and skillfully pressed it to the nape of his neck.

The beetle’s appendages automatically latched onto his neck. "Leviathan is too big. You have to become a part of it to know what it’s ’seeing’ and ’thinking’."

Ola, shouldering his giant axe, looked extremely impatient. He pointed at the fifty Mages meditating in the back. "And them? What are they jacked in for?"

"They’re the gun turrets and the repair crew," Velin explained. "They’re responsible for attack, defense, maintaining the Arrays, and... when necessary, repairing Leviathan One."

Sea Wolf’s eyelid twitched as he listened.

He leaned in close to Velin and lowered his voice. "Lord Velin, to be frank... does this thing burn through money when it runs?"

"Energy is the main constraint," Velin admitted openly. "The Original Blood Crystals and Magic Gemstones we have on board are only enough to sustain high-intensity combat for ten days. Therefore, every sortie must be decisive."

Valerius caressed the living control console before him, his face a mask of zeal.

"Ten days! Velin, we’ve made history in just ten days!"

He raised his head, his gaze burning as he looked at Velin. "Lord Velin, when this beast sails into the port of the Royal Capital, the Sea and Earth Alchemy Association will be forced to create a new seat for you as an Academic Master!"

"Enough with the nonsense!" Ola rapped his fingers on the table. "When are we getting this thing moving? I’m about to rust from all this waiting!"

Velin’s gaze swept over everyone.

"Prepare for interface."

The order was given.

The command team, monitoring staff, and Mages all sat down and put on their Hive Terminals.

Sea Wolf hesitated for a moment, then, copying Barrett, pressed the cold beetle to the nape of his neck.

[INTERFACING]

HUMMM.

A psionic wave swept through the entire chamber.

In the next moment, Sea Wolf’s world was turned upside down.

The solid alloy walls, the pulsing flesh, the glittering Magic Arrays... all of it vanished.

In its place was a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree, unobstructed view of the deep sea.

They were no longer sitting in an enclosed chamber.

They *were* Leviathan.

Above, shimmering pillars of light from the moon pierced the surface;

Below, a bottomless gloom;

All around, startled schools of fish scattered in panic, leaving trails of tiny bubbles.

[My gods...]

Sea Wolf’s whisper echoed across the public channel via the psionic link.

He could "feel" the cold seawater, "hear" the pulse of the deep sea, and "smell" its salty tang, but it was as if through a thick barrier. The sensations weren’t real, more like they were filtered through a veil.

Everything was breathtakingly vast, yet distorted, like a phantom dream.

He quickly understood why: to protect the pilots’ minds from being overwhelmed, the Hive Matrix filtered out over ninety percent of the raw sensory information.

The Leviathan was simply too vast. The torrent of information transmitted every second by the nerve endings spread across its body was more than any human brain could handle.

What he was experiencing now was merely a summary, filtered, simplified, and ultimately "translated" by the matrix.

[Commencing defense and environmental adaptability test.]

[Target depth: three thousand meters.]

The command was given.

The Leviathan’s enormous body adjusted its buoyancy and began its descent into the deep.

No one felt any tilting; the gravity stabilization field within the chamber negated any turbulence.

But their "vision" was changing rapidly.

The light from above quickly dimmed, and their surroundings grew dark.

Strange, deep-sea creatures cruised in the distance, their faint bioluminescence leaving trails in the darkness.

The external pressure was transmitted through the psionic link—an invisible yet heavy, crushing sensation, as if a mountain were pressing down on "their" own backs.

Valerius felt the data stream from the Hive Matrix, and his voice was a little dry.

[The pressure... it’s already over one thousand kilograms per square centimeter! Even the sturdiest iron chest would be crushed flat!]

Inside the chamber, a Knight set down his water cup. The surface of the water didn’t even tremble.

The fusion of biological structure and alchemical creation was nothing short of perfect.

[Designated depth reached.] Sarah’s voice, channeled through Velin, reached everyone.

[Commencing basic navigational performance test.]

Velin issued a new command. [Straight ahead, maximum speed.]

The Leviathan’s eight massive tentacles suddenly retracted, its mantle contracted violently, and it blasted a huge volume of seawater backward.

WHOOSH—!

A tyrannical, unstoppable thrust propelled them forward.

Despite the gravity stabilization field operating at full power, everyone in the chamber was still thrown back, pinned to their seats.

Ola, who hadn’t been sitting properly, nearly slid off his chair. He let out an excited roar, feeling less like he was sailing and more like he’d just been kicked from behind by a giant.

There was no sensation of breakneck speed, only a domineering surge that ignored all resistance.

The seawater in their "vision" was violently shoved aside. In its wake, the current churned into a massive vortex, and sediment from the seabed was kicked up, forming a murky trail.

[Halt.]

After gliding for several kilometers, the Leviathan came to a smooth stop.

[Final test.]

[Combat systems.]

His will locked onto a reef several kilometers ahead, which rose from the seabed like a mountain range.

[Activate the Thunder Gemstone. Prepare to release "Stormtide Snare."]

[Acknowledged!]

[Core charging. Estimated time to full power: thirty seconds!]

In the deepest part of the command chamber, the energy core began to spin at high speed, emitting a low hum.

Faint blue arcs of electricity erupted from the core, surging along the energy conduits that networked the entire body and flowing toward its outer shell.

Everyone "saw" blinding electrical light erupt from the seams of the black armor plating that covered "their" body.

The arcs of electricity intertwined in the water, rapidly forming a massive electrical net with a hundred-meter radius.

[Charging complete!]

[Release.]

The massive electrical net began to contract, slowly but inexorably, around the undersea reef.

It didn’t move quickly, but it carried an unstoppable, oppressive force.

There was no explosion, no deafening sound.

There was only a momentary flash of brilliant light that illuminated the entire deep sea.

The light faded.

Inside the command chamber, everyone stared, speechless.

The massive undersea reef had been sliced cleanly in two.

The cross-section was as smooth as a mirror, its edges vitrified by the intense heat.

[Core cooling.]

[Next full-power discharge requires a minimum of ten minutes...]

[Severing sensory link for all non-piloting personnel.]

[Acknowledged.]

As they slowly came to their senses, many looked down at their own hands, as if unable to believe they had played a part in unleashing such world-shattering power.

Sea Wolf let out a long breath.

He looked at the young man’s back at the main control console, his expression growing incredibly complex.

It was a mixture of fear and awe, but more than anything, it was submission.

"Lord Velin."

Sea Wolf murmured.

"Give you ten of these things, and you could wipe the Bone Tribe from existence."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!