Lord: Starting with Biological Modification

Chapter 276: Chapter 271: Reorganization and Gathering Strength

Leviathan One’s tentacles slowly loosened. The siege turtle, choked to the brink of death, sank powerlessly into the deep sea like a great ship with a hole punched through its hull.

After a swirl of water, it was gone.

On the back of the other giant turtle, Grand General Grash was soaked to the bone. He watched helplessly as his trump card was dragged into the darkness, as the humans’ defensive line on the port rekindled with fighting spirit. His blood-red eyes were filled with nothing but shock and fury.

"Retreat!"

After long consideration, he finally let out a hoarse roar that pierced the rain.

"Full retreat! Back to the Coral Camp!"

The remaining siege beasts scrambled to turn around. The injured Multi-Armed Race Warriors dragged the bodies of their comrades, fleeing back to the sea in disarray without even time to retrieve their weapons.

They had arrived with overwhelming force, but they retreated in a rout, leaving more than twenty bodies on the blood-soaked beach.

He had wanted to give chase, but the port’s losses were too great. Moreover, Leviathan One alone would not have an advantage against more than a dozen Level 5 professionals.

The battle was over.

Barrett leaned on his sword, half-kneeling in the ankle-deep mud and water.

Rainwater washed over the dents in his armor, drawing warm blood from the gaps.

He watched the enemy retreat like the tide, watched the behemoth named Leviathan lurking just beneath the waves, and the nerves that had been stretched to their breaking point finally relaxed.

"We won..."

He murmured, his voice hoarse.

"We won?"

"We won!"

All around, the surviving garrison members and police officers supported each other. Some slumped against broken walls, while others simply lay down on the cold flagstones, letting the rain wash over their faces.

The CLANG of weapons dropping from exhausted hands, the sound of heavy panting, and the irrepressible groans of the wounded all mingled together.

This was the truest symphony of war’s aftermath.

Leviathan One slowly drew up to the shore, and Velin stepped onto the pier, which was covered in rubble and wreckage.

Ola and Sea Wolf followed behind him, their faces grim as they looked at the port, now almost a total ruin.

Soon, the post-battle statistics were delivered to Velin.

Over fifty garrison members were injured, and seventeen were killed. The cranes, jetties, warehouses... almost all of the port’s facilities were destroyed or severely damaged.

"My lord." Barrett struggled to stand and salute.

"Go get your wounds treated." Velin reached out and steadied him, preventing him from completing the gesture.

Just then, a group of people in white robes made their way through the ruins, led by Fabian.

"We were too late," Fabian said, his expression full of sorrow as he surveyed the scene.

Without another word, he immediately directed the Priests under his command to begin treatment.

In an instant, soft white lights began to glow in every corner of the ruins.

A young garrison member, his thigh pierced by a bone blade and bleeding profusely, watched as a white light enveloped the wound. The gash, which was deep enough to expose bone, began to heal at a visible rate, the pain quickly receding.

He stared blankly at Fabian, his mouth agape, but he couldn’t say a single word.

A young garrison member watched as his thigh, pierced by a bone blade, was fully restored by the Divine Art. He stared blankly at Fabian, his mouth agape, but he was speechless.

"The Holy Light will soothe your pain, child." Fabian offered this gentle reassurance before moving on to the next, more critically injured person.

Barrett watched this scene, complex emotions swirling in his one eye.

He had never trusted these sanctimonious, hypocritical churches, but at this moment, he had to admit that Fabian truly possessed a heart dedicated to helping others.

Velin didn’t disturb them. He walked over to Tristan’s side.

The latter’s face looked somewhat pale in the flickering firelight, and he too clutched a list of casualties.

"Tally all the losses, calm the populace, and compensate the families of the fallen. Use the highest standards for their pensions."

"Understood." Tristan nodded, folding the rain-soaked parchment and putting it away.

「Five hours later, day broke.」

The rain had stopped, but the cold morning wind couldn’t disperse the smell of blood that hung in the air.

A relatively intact warehouse at the port was converted into a temporary command post.

Velin, Tristan, Barrett, Ola, Sea Wolf, Elvin, and Sarah—all the combat personnel—were gathered there.

Velin stood before a long, hastily assembled table. Through the Hive Matrix, a three-dimensional holographic image was projected before the group.

It was an incredibly complex cluster of underwater coral reefs, a web of countless intersecting caves and channels that formed a natural submarine labyrinth.

"This is a map of the enemy camp, charted by Leviathan One over the past few days."

"My god..." Sea Wolf leaned in, clicking his tongue as he looked at the map.

"This godforsaken place is a mess. Where the hell did these bottom-feeders find it?"

"If we just charge in there, we’d be throwing lives away! In those caves, those octopuses have too much of an advantage."

"Hmph!" Ola snorted heavily but didn’t argue.

He longed for a fight, but years of bloody combat had taught him that a frontal assault in this terrain was suicide.

"Barrett, how long will your garrison need to be combat-ready again?" Velin asked, looking at the one-eyed captain.

Barrett’s left shoulder was wrapped in thick bandages, which Fabian had tended to personally.

"At least three days, my lord," he replied in a low voice. "The men have reached their limit, both mentally and physically."

"We don’t have three days," Velin said, his voice calm.

"Grash’s all-out assault failed. Now he’s a cornered beast, liable to do something even more desperate at any moment, like... abandoning the camp and scattering his forces. We must finish them off completely before he can react."

The warehouse fell silent, leaving only the CRACKLE of firewood burning in a brazier in the corner.

The pressure shifted onto the shoulders of everyone present.

"Since they’re hiding in the coral like a school of cunning clownfish..." Velin gently massaged his temples.

"Then we’ll turn the entire coral reef into a real ’fish trap’."

"Or rather..." He paused.

"A fishing net."

Sea Wolf froze for a moment, then inspiration struck.

"A net? To cover the whole thing?"

"Yes."

Tristan’s eyes lit up, and he practically blurted out, speaking rapidly.

"It’s feasible! There are three spare sea-defense trawling nets in the port warehouse! I’ll go get them immediately! We’ll conscript all the tailors, weavers, and rope makers in the city!"

"We’ll use every available sail, fishing net, and rope! In twenty-four hours, I can piece together a giant net big enough to cover that entire reef for you!"

"Good." Velin nodded. "City Hall will operate at full capacity. All resources will be directed to you."

The plan was set. Tristan didn’t even have time to bow; he immediately turned and hurried away to mobilize the entire territory’s administrative apparatus.

Velin then looked at Sea Wolf.

"I need you and your sailors to guide the craftsmen on how to stitch this giant net together. You know the sea better than anyone, especially how to keep a net from being torn apart by underwater currents."

"Leave it to me, my lord!" Sea Wolf promised, patting his chest.

Finally, Velin turned to an old man in the corner who had been all but forgotten.

Chief Alchemist Valerius was sitting upright in his chair, obsessively studying a captured bone blade from the Multi-Armed Race.

"Master Valerius, I need your help."

The old man looked up, his eyes shining with the light of someone who had found a new toy. "I’d be delighted, Velin. Go on, what novel idea have you cooked up this time?"

The two of them went into a private room to discuss the development of a special potion targeting the Multi-Armed Race...

Before long, Velin left the fanatical old man and walked out of the warehouse.

The morning sun broke through the clouds, shining down on the devastated port.

The territory’s administrative machine began to run at full speed.

Tristan’s orders reached every corner of the city.

The giant spare trawl nets in the port warehouse were brought out; they were originally intended for hunting large Sea Beasts.

Under the unified coordination of the technical department, all the textile workshops in the city were lit up through the night.

Guided by the sailors, craftsmen stitched together small nets and pieces of sail with tar-soaked hemp rope.

Meanwhile, in Valerius’s temporary laboratory, small explosions and the old man’s laughter could be heard from time to time.

An orange-yellow liquid, named "Clear Sea Potion," filled rows of glass jars.

「In less than twenty-four hours.」

A giant net, large enough to cover the entire coral reef, was completed by hundreds of craftsmen working through the night.

「Dawn broke once more.」

The surface of the sea was calm again, as if the bloody battle from the day before had never happened.

Leviathan One, Two, and Three slipped silently into the deep sea.

The three behemoths, melting into the darkness, moved forward in parallel. Above them, the massive fishing net, folded and bound, was towed by dozens of cables.

「An hour later, they arrived directly above the Coral Camp.」

Korsh was patrolling the camp’s entrance, a sense of unease in his heart.

After Grand General Grash returned, he had locked himself in his cave, refusing to see anyone.

An atmosphere of failure and fear permeated the entire camp.

He looked up at the dark waters above, feeling as if something was spying on them.

Inside the command cabin of Leviathan One, Velin watched the camp on the matrix map.

"Begin."

The three biological submarines released the cables simultaneously.

The giant fishing net, like a dark cloud in the night sky, began to slowly descend.

Silently, it descended, casting a shadow of death as it enveloped the Coral Camp below.

Velin stared at the screen, at the camp being devoured by darkness, and waited.

He waited to see what kind of frantic, desperate struggles the trapped prey would make when they finally realized they were cornered.

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