Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Tail

Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Tail

Yunyang and Ge Xiaolun were unable to communicate directly with the Triangular Entities; they could only understand their meaning through Zhixin’s translation. Communication had never been particularly smooth to begin with, but when Zhixin’s usually composed face suddenly twisted in anger, the two men couldn’t help but ask in unison, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s insulting us,” Zhixin replied immediately.

“How so?” Yunyang and Ge Xiaolun exchanged glances, both curious.

“It said that the likes of the Divine Keisha have already fallen, that Morgana is an idiot, and that the days of the God Gene civilization are numbered. While I do agree with its second point, it scorns the angelic order of justice, mocking it as nothing but a shelter cobbled together by lesser beings for the truly witless.”

“Isn’t that exactly what makes the God Gene civilization advanced?” Yunyang was puzzled. How could the protection of the weak be something to sneer at? It was utterly unreasonable.

Ge Xiaolun voiced the question most pressing on his mind. “And Earth?”

“They don’t know about Earth,” Zhixin answered.

Ge Xiaolun let out a deep sigh of relief in his heart. Earth had suffered enough—within a month, the Gluttonous Army would return, and now, these Triangular Entities had appeared. If both forces attacked together, which should the Elite Squadron confront first? And if the two joined forces, what would become of Earth?

But before his heart could settle, Zhixin began to translate once more, conveying that the Triangular Entities intended to re-survey Earth’s ocean coverage and, if it met their criteria, would declare war.

“When did seafood become so arrogant?” Yunyang scoffed, curling his lip.

“They possess brains developed to a higher degree, so their approach to many matters is utterly different from ours,” Zhixin explained.

Yunyang listened carefully, then nodded in sudden realization. “I get it. What you’re saying boils down to one thing—these things don’t think like we do, right?”

“Exactly. They also mentioned that we are currently inside their vessel, and that they could devour us at any time. In other words, what we thought was a spaceship is actually a product of their biological engineering—a lifeform controlled by the Triangular Entities,” Zhixin translated and explained.

“Should we get out of here first? Being in a fish’s belly is kind of disgusting,” Yunyang said a little nervously, giving himself a rather good excuse.

But Zhixin ignored Yunyang, continuing to translate and explain the Triangular Entities’ language and abilities. Ge Xiaolun listened intently, leaving Yunyang to pull out the King’s Sword and drive it forcefully into the ground. He wasn’t worried about damaging this biological warship—after all, the sword’s power responded to its wielder’s intent, acting as a fierce weapon only when desired, otherwise as ordinary as any King’s Sword.

After a round of translation and explanation, Zhixin finally summarized the Triangular Entities’ intentions in one phrase: “They believe these are new times, and the battle will end only with total victory.”

“They’re preparing to attack us.”

“Attack us? Just like that? This thing can’t even control its basic emotions—losing its temper the moment we meet. Is this what higher intelligence looks like?” Ge Xiaolun was beginning to lose his grasp on this world; it was hard to imagine that this was supposed to be a more advanced species.

“Their so-called intelligence is merely the fierce activity of their brains,” Zhixin clarified.

No sooner had Zhixin finished speaking than Yunyang sensed a familiar attack emanating from all around them. Perhaps the Triangular Entity wasn’t strong enough—this attack was nothing like the ones he’d faced on a planet covered entirely by ocean, where he hadn’t even needed to dodge, simply enduring them head-on.

As Yunyang considered whether to go and hack at the giant fish, Ge Xiaolun asked, “Chief, we’re under attack. Can we fight back?”

Old Huang’s voice rang out in their private comms. “If you’re sure it’s an attack, you may retaliate.”

As soon as Old Huang finished, Yunyang replied, “Chief, I’m sure—this is how it attacks, some sort of invisible wave.”

With that, he unfurled his wings and, sword in hand, charged toward the Triangular Entity.

Sensing imminent danger as Yunyang flew toward it, the Triangular Entity retreated, sealing up the opening it had used to communicate. Approaching, Yunyang saw that the seal was made from some green stone he didn’t recognize, but it didn’t matter—one light swing of the King’s Sword sliced it open, revealing the Triangular Entity inside, redoubling its attacks.

By now, Ge Xiaolun had stationed himself at the opening, seemingly intending to block the exit with his body and prevent the Triangular Entity from escaping. Zhixin, unable to join the fight due to her combat power, stood on the ground watching curiously, eager to know what was happening inside.

Though the Triangular Entity was enormous, it wasn’t fast—perhaps due to a lack of water. But that didn’t matter; what mattered was that Yunyang was nearly upon it. The entity kept attacking as it fled, emitting a droning sound, but unfortunately, Yunyang and Ge Xiaolun couldn’t understand it, and Zhixin wasn’t there to translate.

Remembering Rose’s request, Yunyang focused his efforts—when he overtook the Triangular Entity, he brought the King’s Sword down on its fish-like tail. A pitch-black trident-shaped tail fell off, and Yunyang, quick as lightning, caught it before it could drop into the unknown waters below.

The Triangular Entity writhed in pain, a strange spatial energy radiating from its body. In a flash, it vanished without a trace.

Yunyang looked around in confusion—the entity had truly disappeared. What to do with this bio-ship? Dragging it back to Earth was out of the question; better to destroy it, since it belonged to the enemy.

After a brief discussion, Yunyang and Ge Xiaolun tore the bio-ship apart, leaving little more than scraps behind.

At the entrance to the Giant Worm Bridge, the two men paused to admire their handiwork before following Zhixin across. Emerging on the other side, Yunyang slung the giant tail over his shoulder, swaying as he walked with the sense of having caught a truly massive fish.

When the trio entered the council hall, only Lianfeng and Rose remained. Seeing them, both women gestured for the three to sit.

“How did it go?” Yunyang patted the fish meat on his shoulder, his expression clearly saying, “I brought you the fish—aren’t you going to praise me?”

Rose took the tail from his shoulder, laying it carefully on the conference table. While everyone’s attention was on the tail, she leaned in and stole a quick kiss from Yunyang.

Feeling taken advantage of, Yunyang refused to let it go and reached out to catch the red-haired troublemaker to return the favor with a kiss of his own.

But fate had other plans. Chief Lianfeng spoke up.

“Ahem, Yunyang, on behalf of the Black Wall, I’d like to request half for research purposes. What do you say?”

Yunyang agreed without a second thought—after all, it was useless to him, except perhaps to eat, and who knew if it would even taste good.

Each of the three shared their thoughts: the Triangular Entities were an incomprehensible, arrogant species, deeply prejudiced against the God Genes, incapable of controlling their emotions, and prone to start wars at the slightest provocation.

As the meeting concluded, Ge Xiaolun and Zhixin huddled together to discuss the possibility of building a celestial computer to simulate whether their conclusions about the Triangular Entities were accurate.

Yunyang and Rose, meanwhile, hand in hand, climbed a nearby hill to enjoy a unique outdoor barbecue—supplies conjured by Ge Xiaolun, who was paid with a large chunk of fish meat.

Everyone envied Ge Xiaolun’s convenient powers—he could conjure clothes, food, anything he understood, and would never have to spend money again, living a self-sufficient and carefree life.

“This looks great. I bet it’ll taste wonderful. Let me grill this piece,” Yunyang said, slicing a hunk from the remaining half of the tail.

“Alright, I’ll prepare some other skewers,” Rose replied, nodding.

An hour later, Yunyang brought over three grilled fish steaks to find the tablecloth already covered with plates of charred skewers. One corn cob in particular seemed to have been set alight—otherwise, how could all the kernels on one side be missing?

Seeing Yunyang eye her culinary handiwork, Rose sheepishly rubbed her hands together and said, “Eat up. I put my heart into these. You’re not allowed to leave until you finish them.”

Yunyang edged away slightly, cracked open a few beers, then picked up a skewer of indeterminate meat. He braced himself for the worst, but to his surprise, the blackened skewer tasted unexpectedly good. He looked at Rose in astonishment.

She was watching him expectantly, so he grinned mischievously. “Surprisingly delicious. From now on, you’re in charge of cooking—deal?”

“Hold on—let me try the fish steak before you decide,” Rose said, raising her hand to stop him.

After tasting the fish steak, her eyes lit up at the flavor. Yunyang thought she was just pretending, so he tried a piece himself.

He was shocked—this Triangular Entity actually tasted incredible. Could it be because its body was free of black smoke?

“It’s really good—no bones at all. This thing’s evolution is perfect,” Yunyang marveled.

“Too bad there’s so little of it. We’ll be out after just a few meals,” Rose said, nodding, then sighing in regret.

“Come, let’s drink.” No sooner had she finished lamenting than she raised a beer, inviting Yunyang to join.

Yunyang hurried to keep up—he couldn’t let his wife outdrink him, especially with only the two of them here.

Soon, Yunyang realized he might not be able to keep up with Rose’s drinking after all.