Chapter 873: Chapter 872: Transformation... Complete

The sea demons, visitors from beneath the deep sea, rulers from the indescribable dark abyss, were quietly and patiently waiting in the waters outside the island.

The magnificent ancient Great Temple was silent, most of the priests who once bustled here were gone, the last transformers hiding in various rooms, awaiting the arrival of the day of fate.

In the deepest room of the Great Temple, an old man wearing the Triple Crown of Storms stood before a bed depicting waves, clouds, and lightning, gazing down at the person lying on it.

He was the last storm deacon in the temple besides himself, the Pope, a powerful and determined Transcendent.

Yet now this powerful person could only lie in a stupor on the bed, weakening bit by bit in immense fear and anxiety, his skin showing a visible shade of gray-blue, with some kind of scale resembling a sea fish covering all the skin on his neck and limbs—indeed, the storm deacon’s legs had even "melted" and deformed, the original human limbs gradually merging into a form halfway between fish and snakes, making it impossible for him to wear human clothes, and he could only wrap his entire body in a thin blanket.

"Your Eminence, the Pope..." The storm deacon on the bed suddenly moved his lips, uttering a low mumble, "Are you still here..."

"I am," Storm Pope Saul Stodom bent down, speaking in a low and calm tone, "Can you still hear my voice?"

"I can... though it seems very distant," said the storm deacon in a low voice, the scaly tissue near his neck undulating as he spoke, "Are we by the sea now?"

The Storm Pope shook his head: "Have you forgotten? We’re in the temple in the center of the island, it’s far from the sea here..."

"Is that so... I can’t remember, I hear the sound of waves, very close, I thought we were already by the sea..." the storm deacon slowly said, "And the sea breeze on my face, I feel... very comfortable."

The old Pope’s expression darkened, his speech slowed down: "...Here, the sea breeze cannot reach."

"Perhaps it’s because my time is near..." the storm deacon said after a moment of silence, with a hint of relief, he slowly raised his already severely mutated right hand, a tough web-like membrane connecting the original human limbs between his slender pale blue fingers, "I can hear their call more and more clearly, and also the call from the sea itself... It’s a very gentle voice, I think she... bears no malice."

Faced with such a low mumble, the Pope didn’t speak for a moment, an indescribable silence pooled between the two.

A few seconds later, the storm deacon lying in bed broke the silence: "We’ve been on this path for too long... Maybe it’s really time to consider giving up."

The old Pope shook his head: "This doesn’t sound like something you’d normally say."

"But these aren’t ’normal’ days," the storm deacon said deeply, "We’ve been adamantly heading to the deep sea, seeking answers there, but a fallen God can provide us no answers... Our original insistence has deteriorated over these seven hundred years, you, me, and many deacons, we initially persisted to seek truth, but in the end ’seeking truth’ became an excuse for all kinds of obsessive behaviors... What’s happening to us now is probably the cost of everything, obsession... has led to more obsessive mutations..."

The old Pope was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "...You’ve been called the ’Philosopher,’ so you’re still thinking about these things until this moment."

"Thinking is a human instinct, is a human talent and innate right..." The storm deacon known as the "Philosopher" said in a low, slow voice, "I just hope... When I completely become one of ’them,’ I can still think as I do now, as I do now..."

His words suddenly stopped, a disturbing noise replaced human language, continuously gurgling from deep in his throat, the sound seemingly mixed with faint sound of waves, as if invisible water flows in this room, a damp, seaweed-like scent lingering in the air, with water elements concentrating, forming visible stains on the bed, floor, and walls, and in this terrifying phenomenon, the man lying in bed rapidly transforming into the final stage of mutation—

His last distinctive human feature, those light blue eyes, were being rapidly overlaid with a pale golden chaotic hue, the original pupils gradually turning into a pair of vertical slits, in the suddenly intensified sound of breathing, Pope Saul Stodom heard an almost recognizable human language from the other’s throat: "Ah, I heard... the voice in the waves... Your Eminence, the Pope, I heard the call of that dark sea abyss, there is a voice, many layered voices..."

The Pope grasped the deacon’s hand, he felt the other’s soul resonating with some more distant, higher will, the man being gradually influenced by the consciousness from the endless deep sea, the deacon’s lips moved, his gaze becoming increasingly unfocused, his final words fragmented: "Those voices are calling... those voices are summoning... those voices are saying..."

Suddenly, his daze seemed to fade completely, an unprecedented clarity emerged in the deacon’s already mutated eyes, this Naga, who seconds ago was still human, had his lips tremble violently, as if the last trace of instinct in his muscles was still resisting, but in the end, his resistance failed—

The trembling lips finally turned into a brilliant smile, his mouth corners lifted, incomparably happy: "Let’s go dig up the Big squid!!"

Saul Stodom released the High Priest’s hand and sighed dejectedly.

This person already belongs to the deep sea.

Everyone on this island already belongs to the deep sea.

The High Priest, transformed into a Naga, still lay on the bed, immersed in the bewilderment brought by his initial "ascension". The Pope, wearing the Triple Crown of Storms, stood up, adjusted his clothes, picked up the scepter leaning against the corner, and turned to walk towards the door. He left the room deep in the church, passed through the long and deep corridors, and walked past many tightly closed doors. Behind those doors, there were inhuman murmurs, mysterious sounds of ocean waves, and a chilling, slithering sound as though sea snakes were crawling across the ground.

Expressionless, he walked through all this, as the Pope’s robes gradually eroded and disintegrated by the elements. As he continued walking, scales began to appear on his face, webs grew between his fingers, and a moist, slick skin covered his body. Scales and fins slowly emerged on this thick skin. He stumbled and fell, dropping his scepter, and after a few seconds, he slowly got up again, picked up the scepter, and continued to slither forward.

Saul Stodom crossed the now-empty and silent town streets, approaching the coast. Many Naga emerged from nearby houses, silently following behind him. They climbed over the harbor ramps built by hand over hundreds of years, arriving at the end of the pier leading to the sea.

The sea surged, and a magnificent throne, condensed by water elements, slowly rose from the water. Standing before the throne was a woman of elegant and graceful temperament, with long silver-white hair and an extremely beautiful appearance. Beside her were Deep Sea Handmaidens dressed in luxurious clothes, and on either side of the throne stood Tidal Royal Guards holding Particle Pulse Rifles and Trident Light-Wave Blades.

"Saul Stodom," Sea Demon Queen Petia nodded slightly, a slight smile on her face, "We’ve been waiting a long time."

"The last of us held on longer than expected," Saul Stodom lowered his head, "We wanted to wait for all this to settle properly."

"It’s all right, it’s what we promised from the beginning," Petia said gently. "Although I am not human, I understand the sentiment of a race wanting to maintain its original form until the last moment... That human who held on to the end, if he knew that everyone on the island, including you, the Pope, had already transformed into Naga as of half a month ago, he would probably have committed suicide — a great tragedy indeed."

"...Such a drastic transformation in life form has a tremendous impact on a person’s body and mind, and before completing the transformation, a human being’s mind cannot imagine or understand it," Saul Stodom, now in Naga form, shook his head, "Anyone who hasn’t completed the transformation would be deeply engulfed in fear during the mutation process, and many have resorted to pointless self-harm."

"Luckily, we solved the problem of initial irrationality in Naga transformations, or the chaos would have been much worse," Petia nodded, her gaze directed towards a nearby area where the sea was surging. A tower-like structure composed of numerous pipes and antennae devices gradually emerged above the surface of the water, its sleek brilliance glowing under the sunlight. "I’ll leave the Mind Stabilizers here for some time until the thoughts and personalities of the last batch of Naga on the island are completely stabilized, and then bring them to the Aeo Continent."

This tower-like device, created by sea demons after studying the Naga for some time, was a simple contraption for them, who had mastered advanced technology. Its function was also straightforward — to continually emit a "Spirit Song," inaudible to human ears but recognizable by sea demons and Naga, soothing the Naga who had just completed their transformation and were in a daze, allowing them to regain their memories and personality within hours instead of a month.

The "Spirit Song" favored by the sea demons could accelerate the Naga’s awakening process, a discovery that was entirely accidental for the sea demons. It originated from a small incident during the "New Naga Citizen Welcome Ceremony" held by the sea demons on Sunshine Beach a few months ago. At the time, Deep Sea Witch Hesterwe drank an excess of "Big Squid Extract," and the resulting highly excited state she found herself in allowed the powerful witch to break through the Royal Guards’ blockade and, along with a few other equally excitable witches, perform a piece of death metal. Though sea demons love music and are skilled in all its forms, the Naga, who had only just embraced the deep sea, had not yet assimilated culturally, leading to over half of them slipping into deep comas during the incident...

Three days later, the Deep Sea Witch, waking from her stupor, pondered for a moment and concluded that it wasn’t the instruments affecting the Naga but the sea demons’ powerful "Spirit Song" — she then conducted a series of experiments, confirming her hypothesis.

After a series of complex tests and adjustments, the sea demons manufactured a "Mind Stabilizer" capable of rapidly restoring the sanity of newly transformed Naga. This advanced equipment consisted of two main components: a music player that could project "sound" only discernible by sea demons and Naga, and a mass of pipes and antennas included to make the player appear impressive.

Petia retracted her gaze from the Mind Stabilizer, sighing softly in her heart.

Currently, this is the extent of "technological development" possible for the sea demons.

However, fortunately, things are gradually improving as more sea demons grasp the secrets of arcane magic, starting to understand and deal with the world’s natural laws. The technological progression frozen for millions of years among the sea demons... finally shows slight signs of loosening.

Once the Storm Pope, now the Naga leader, Saul Stodom didn’t know what his recently sworn queen was thinking at this moment. He merely worried about the future of the Sons of the Storm, but appeared much at ease after receiving further assurances from the queen: "We had many years of friction with you... It is fortunate that it’s finally over."

"Sea demons never wanted war with anyone; it’s just that our communication remained stunted for so long," Petia, pulling herself from her thoughts, smiled, nodded gently to the Naga leader before her, and said, "Now that you’ve sensed the goodwill of sea demons through the echoes of spirit, as a celebration of our reconciliation... we will also share the secrets of the deep sea with you.

"Welcome as a member of the ocean; may this place become your new home."