Lord: Starting with Biological Modification

Chapter 273: Chapter 268: Suspicious Korsh

The parchment trembled slightly in Korsh’s tentacle.

It wasn’t because of the current, but because the line of text on it filled him with suspicion.

[Large deep-sea creature discovered. Behavior abnormal, appears startled. Has fled.]

"Is that all?" Korsh stared at the Scout captain before him.

"Captain, it was just a big, brainless brute." The Scout captain waved his tentacles dismissively.

"It looked like a Storm Giant Squid, but a size larger. The moment we got close, it panicked and started thrashing around wildly. It even knocked over half of a seamount."

Korsh put down the report.

"After it knocked over the seamount, which way did it flee?"

"Toward the deep sea."

"A startled beast would choose the deepest channel to escape?"

The Scout captain froze. "Well... maybe it’s a smart one?"

Korsh said no more, waving a tentacle to dismiss the Scout.

He pulled out another, earlier report—during the harbor harassment operation, a large creature had been sighted in the deep sea region.

Two reports, two sightings.

They were three days apart and ten nautical miles from each other, but both were on the periphery of the Multi-Armed Race’s operational area.

Korsh marked the locations on the sea chart with a tentacle.

A patrol route began to emerge.

"Damn it."

He swam toward the Grand General’s quarters.

Grash was roaring, and several of his adjutants were cowering in a corner.

"The harbor defenses are stronger than expected? Those land-dwelling weaklings actually dared to fight back! We lost three assault teams without a single decent result to show for it!"

Grash slammed his tentacle on the table, and spiderweb cracks spread across the stone surface.

Korsh waited for the roaring to subside before swimming forward.

"Grand General, a suspicious target has appeared in the outer waters."

"It’s just some animal!" Grash gave the report a cursory glance and waved his tentacle impatiently.

"Our enemies are the weaklings on land! Korsh, don’t waste your caution on this kind of bullshit!"

"But Grand General—"

"Enough! I don’t want to hear any more nonsense about some beast! Focus on the harbor!"

Korsh was driven out of the tent, the unease in his heart growing stronger.

He returned to the camp and summoned a few of his trusted subordinates.

"Captain, do you have a mission for us?" his vice-captain swam over.

"Bring me all the patrol reports from the last ten days."

"All of them?"

"Yes, all of them."

Two hours later, two more of the latest reports were spread out before Korsh.

He checked the time, location, and sighting records one by one.

The conclusion was unsettling—the "giant beast" appeared precisely on the Multi-Armed Race’s patrol routes every single time.

And each time it was discovered, it would quickly retreat to the most concealed areas of the deep sea.

"This isn’t the behavior of a wild animal," Korsh muttered to himself.

His vice-captain sidled up. "Captain, you think there’s something wrong with that beast?"

"More than just something wrong." Korsh stood up. "It’s very likely an enemy reconnaissance tool."

"A reconnaissance tool? Storm Giant Squids are incredibly difficult to tame. Do those land-dwelling weaklings have that kind of technology?"

Korsh didn’t answer, swimming toward the armory instead.

"Prepare the Resonance Conch. I’m going to verify this myself."

"Captain, Grand General Grash just said—"

"The Grand General said not to waste caution on trivial matters," Korsh said calmly. "If I’m right, this is not a trivial matter."

An hour later, Korsh left the camp with five elite warriors.

The Resonance Conch was carefully wrapped in a special leather pouch. This piece of bio-equipment could detect the mental fluctuations of highly intelligent beings and was the Multi-Armed Race’s secret weapon for tracking enemy Mages.

If that "giant beast" really was an enemy asset, the conch would definitely detect the anomaly.

Meanwhile, Leviathan One was cruising slowly three thousand meters deep in the ocean.

Inside the command module, Velin stood before the main console. A dense spread of red markers on the 3D sea chart displayed the enemy’s deployment.

"Pilot Officer, mark all supply routes."

"Completed, Commander."

Sea Wolf sat in the co-pilot’s seat, looking at the red dots on the chart.

"Damn, there are more of these octopuses than I thought."

Velin nodded.

"Their numbers exceed our estimates, but their deployment has weaknesses."

"The supply lines are too long, and their defensive focus is too concentrated."

Ola cut in, "When are we making our move? I’ve been carrying this deep-sea combat suit around every day. It’s going to rust if I don’t use it soon!"

"Soon—"

Before Velin could finish, the Pilot Officer’s alarm suddenly blared.

"Commander, a high-threat squad is approaching!"

Velin’s attention snapped back to the Honeycomb Matrix.

"Details."

"Six elite members of the Multi-Armed Race, carrying unknown bio-equipment."

Sea Wolf jumped to his feet. "Don’t tell me we’ve been discovered."

"Not yet, but it’s dangerous."

Velin thought quickly. "Pilot Officer, what’s that squad’s trajectory?"

"They’re heading for the area of our last appearance. Movement pattern indicates purposeful tracking."

Ola clenched her fists.

"Let’s just take them out!"

"No."

Velin shook his head. "If they disappear, the enemy will be on alert, and we’ll lose our reconnaissance advantage."

Sea Wolf asked, "Then what? We keep playing dumb?"

Velin stared at the approaching red dot on the screen, pondering for a moment.

"No. This time, we’ll play a different game."

Deep beneath the sea, the Resonance Conch in Korsh’s tentacle began to emit a faint glow.

"Captain, we’ve got a reaction!" the vice-captain said excitedly.

Korsh held up the conch, feeling the vibrations it emitted.

"It’s still far, but there are definitely mental fluctuations from a highly intelligent being."

"Is it the giant beast?"

"It should be." Korsh frowned. "And the intensity of these mental fluctuations... it’s not something a typical Magical Beast could produce."

They continued forward. The light from the Resonance Conch grew brighter, and its vibrations intensified.

Suddenly, a massive shadow appeared in the water ahead.

Korsh immediately signaled his team to halt and take cover behind a large boulder to observe.

It was an enormous deep-sea creature, swimming slowly.

This time, however, it showed no signs of panic or foolish behavior.

Its movements were graceful and powerful, eight massive arms swaying in coordination to propel its enormous body through the water.

More importantly, the Resonance Conch in Korsh’s tentacle was practically jumping out of his grasp.

Intense mental fluctuations emanated from the "giant beast," their complexity far exceeding that of any known deep-sea creature.

"Captain..." the vice-captain’s voice trembled. "These mental fluctuations... there are multiple distinct consciousnesses inside!"

Korsh gripped the conch tightly, his suspicions confirmed.

’This is no wild Magical Beast.’

’Somehow, it’s full of intelligent beings.’

’And judging by the intensity of the mental fluctuations, there’s at least one high-level Mage among them.’

"Retreat," Korsh ordered in a low voice.

"Captain?"

"Retreat immediately. Stay concealed."

Korsh led his team away quietly, the answer already clear in his mind.

’The enemy was far more dangerous than they had imagined.’

’They weren’t just land-dwelling weaklings; they possessed deep-sea combat technology.’

’And they had been observing the Multi-Armed Race in secret for a long time.’

Korsh had to report this discovery to Grash at once.

Even if the Grand General was unwilling to listen, he had to tell him.

Because if his judgment was correct, they were facing a threat of the highest possible level.

Inside the command module of Leviathan One, Velin watched the red dot moving away on the screen.

"They’re retreating," the Pilot Officer reported.

Sea Wolf let out a sigh of relief. "Holy crap, that was a close call."

Velin mused for a moment before speaking slowly, "No, we’ve already been exposed."

"That captain is smart. He already knows we’re not some ordinary deep-sea Magical Beast."

Ola frowned. "So what do we do now?"

Velin looked at the location of the Multi-Armed Race’s camp on the sea chart, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

"It doesn’t matter. We’re just about ready anyway."

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