Sirens, visitors under the deep sea, the rulers from the indescribable dark abyss, they are waiting quietly and patiently in the water outside the island at this moment.
The grand and ancient Great Temple was silent, and most of the priests who used to be bustling here had disappeared. The last converts were hiding in various rooms, waiting for the day of fate to come.
In the deepest room of the Great Temple, an old man wearing a triple storm crown stands in front of a bed depicted with waves, clouds, and lightning, and looks down at the person lying on the bed.
That was the last Priest of Storms in the temple besides him, the Pope, a powerful and determined Transcendent.
However, now this powerful man can only lie on the bed in a daze, weakening little by little in the great panic and anxiety. His skin has already turned a grayish blue visible to the naked eye, and some kind of scales like sea fish cover his neck. And all the skin on the limbs—in fact, the storm priest’s legs have even "melted" and deformed, and the original human limbs are gradually merging into a form between fish and snakes, which makes him even Can no longer wear human clothes, but can only wrap himself in a thin blanket.
"Your Majesty the Pope..." The chief priest of the storm who was lying on the bed moved his lips suddenly, and murmured, "Are you still alive..."
"I'm here," Storm Pope Saul Storm said in a low and gentle tone, "Can you still hear my voice?"
"I can... although it sounds very far away," the Priest of the Storm said in a low voice, the scales around his neck kept rising and falling as he spoke, "Are we at the seaside now?"
The Pope of the Storm shook his head: "Have you forgotten, we are in the temple in the center of the island, which is far away from the sea..."
"Is it... I can't remember, I heard the sound of the waves, very close, I thought I had reached the sea..." The storm priest said slowly, "There is also the sea breeze blowing on my face, I feel... very comfortable."
The old pope's expression darkened, and his speech slowed down: "...there is no sea breeze here."
"Probably because my time is running out..." the chief priest of the storm was silent for a moment, and said with a hint of relief. He slowly raised his severely mutated right hand. The animal is connected to the original human limbs, "I have heard their calls more and more clearly, and the call from the sea itself... It was a very gentle voice, and I think she...has no malice."
Faced with such low murmurs, the Pope did not speak for a while, and an unspeakable silence condensed between the two.
A few seconds later, the chief priest of the storm who was still lying on the bed broke the silence: "We have been persistent on this road for too long... Maybe it is really time to choose to give up."
The old pope shook his head: "This is not like what you usually say."
"But this is not an 'ordinary' day," the Priest of the Storm said in a low voice, "We persistently go to the deep sea, trying to find answers from the deep sea, but a fallen god can't give us any answers... Our initial persistence is here It has gone bad for seven hundred years, you, me, and many priests, we started to move forward persistently in order to seek the truth, but in the end "seeking the truth" became an excuse for all kinds of paranoid behavior... What is happening to us now Things are probably the price of everything, paranoid...incurred even more paranoid mutations... "
The old pope was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "...you are called a 'philosopher', so you are still thinking about these things up to this moment."
"Thinking is the instinct of human beings, the talent and birthright of human beings..." The priest of the storm called "The Philosopher" said in a deep and slow voice, "I only hope... when I completely become a member of 'them' Afterwards, I can still think as I do now, as I do now... ”
His words stopped suddenly, and an unsettling noise replaced the human language, continuously murmured from the depths of his throat, the sound seemed to be mixed with the faint sound of ocean waves, and seemed to have invisible water flowing in the room There is a damp, seaweed-like smell in the air, the water element is enriched, forming visible stains on the bed, floor and wall, and in this terrible vision, lying on the bed men began to rapidly transform towards the final stage of mutation—
The last distinctive feature of him as a human being, those light blue eyes, are being quickly covered by a light golden chaotic color, and the original pupils have gradually become a pair of vertical pupils. Pope Saul Storm heard the barely recognizable human language coming from the other party's throat: "Ah, I heard... the voice in the waves... Your Majesty, I heard the call of the dark abyss , there is a sound, there are many overlapping sounds..."
The pope held the priest's hand, and he felt that the soul of the priest was resonating with some more distant and higher will. This man was gradually being influenced by the consciousness in the endless deep sea. The lips of the priest moved, and his eyes became more and more intense. In a daze, his last words were staccato: "Those voices are calling... those voices are calling... those voices are saying..."
All of a sudden, his trance seemed to fade away, and an unprecedented clarity appeared in the priest's mutated eyes. The Naga's lips, who were human a few seconds ago, trembled violently, as if the last trace of instinct in his muscles was still there. struggled, but in the end his struggle failed—
The trembling lips finally turned into a bright smile, and the corners of his mouth were raised, he was very happy: "Let's go dig the big squid!!"
Saul Storm let go of the officiant's hand and sighed dejectedly.
This person already belongs to the deep sea.
Everyone on this island already belongs to the deep sea.
The priest who turned into a naga was still lying on the bed, still immersed in the trance brought about by his first "promotion". The pope, wearing the triple storm crown, stood up. He tidied his clothes and picked up the With his scepter, he turned and walked towards the door—he left the room deep in the temple, walked through the long and deep corridor, and walked through closed doors one after another. Behind those doors, there were inhuman murmurs, There was an inexplicable sound of waves, and a chilling slippery sound like a sea snake crawling on the ground.
He walked through all of this expressionlessly, the pope's robes were gradually eroded and disintegrated by the elements, and with the continuous footsteps, scales began to appear on his face, webs grew between his fingers, and thick, moist and smooth skin Covering his torso, there were scales and fins protruding from the thick skin. He staggered and fell to the ground, and the scepter fell to the ground. After a few seconds, he slowly got up again, picked up the scepter, and continued to move forward Serpentine.
Saul Storm walked through the empty and silent streets of the town, and when he came near the coast, many naga came out of the nearby houses and followed him silently. A hundred years ago, everyone carried the port ramp that was built little by little by hand, and came to the end of the trestle leading to the sea.
The sea water surged, and a gorgeous throne formed by the condensation of water elements slowly rose from the water. A graceful and elegant woman with long silver-white hair and an extremely beautiful appearance stood in front of the throne. On both sides of the throne are tidal royal guards holding particle pulse rifles and trident beam warblades.
"Sol Storm," the Siren Queen Petya nodded slightly, with a slight smile on her face, "We have been waiting for a long time."
"The last of us lasted longer than expected," Saul Storm bowed his head. "We want to wait until this is all over."
"It's okay, this is what we promised from the beginning," Petiya said gently, "Although I am not a human being, I understand how a race wants to maintain its original form until the last moment... the one who persists until the end Human, if he knew that everyone on the island, including you, the Pope, had been transformed into Naga half a month ago, he would probably commit suicide—this is a great tragedy."
"... This drastic transformation of life form will have a great impact on a person's body and mind, and until the transformation is complete, the human mind cannot imagine or understand it," Saul Storm in Naga form shook his head , "Anyone who has not completed the transformation will be deeply afraid during the mutation process, and too many people have done unnecessary self-mutilation for this."
"Fortunately, we have solved the problem of Naga's loss of sanity in the early stage of conversion, otherwise the chaos will become more serious," Petiya nodded, her eyes looked not far away, where the sea water was surging, and a machine was in the sun. The tower-like facility formed by many pipes and antenna devices exuding luster below gradually rises to the surface of the sea, "I will leave the mental stabilizer here for a while, and wait until the minds and personalities of the last batch of naga on the island are completely stabilized After that, bring them to the continent of Io."
The tower-like device was created by the sea monsters after studying Naga for a period of time. For the sea monsters who have advanced technology, it is a very simple thing, and its function is also very simple-by continuously releasing people The "spiritual singing" that cannot be heard by the ears but can be recognized by the siren and the Naga, comforts those Naga who are in a trance because they have just completed the transformation, so that the Naga, who originally took about a month to regain their memory and personality, can be transformed. Recovered within hours of completion.
The "spiritual singing" that the sea monsters like can speed up Naga's waking speed. The discovery of this phenomenon is completely unexpected to the sea monsters—it stems from the fact that the sea monsters held a "New Era" on the sunny beach a few months ago. Naga Citizens Welcome Conference", when the deep sea witch Hathaway drank an excessive amount of "big squid extract", the high-ranking witch who fell into a state of severe hyperactivity broke through the blockade of the royal guards, and the same as several other Excited witches performed a song of death heavy metal together—the Krakens love music, and they are good at all kinds of music, but it is clear that the Naga who just embraced the deep sea have not followed the customs. In that accident, more than half of the Naga fell into a deep coma...
Three days later, the witch of the deep sea who woke up from a hangover thought for a while, and thought that it was not the musical instruments at the time that had an impact on Naga, but the powerful "spiritual singing" of the sea monsters—then she conducted a series of experiments and confirmed that I have thought about it myself.
After a series of complicated tests and adjustments, the Krakens created a "Mental Stabilizer" that could quickly regain sanity for the first-time transformed Naga. A music player that can only hear the "sound" and a whole bunch of pipes and antennas that go into making this player look awesome.
Petya withdrew her gaze from the mental stabilizer, and sighed slightly in her heart.
Krakens can only carry out this level of "technology research and development" now.
But fortunately, the situation is gradually getting better. As more and more sea monsters master the secrets of arcane magic and begin to understand and deal with the natural laws of this world, the sea monsters have been frozen by the technological tree that has been frozen for millions of years. ... Finally a little sign of looseness.
The former Pope of the Storm and the current leader of the Naga, Saul Storm, didn't know what the queen he had just sworn allegiance to was thinking at the moment. He was just thinking about the future of the Son of the Storm. Seemingly more relaxed: "We have had friction with you for many years... Fortunately, it is finally over."
"The siren didn't want to fight anyone, but it's a pity that both of us have been unable to communicate smoothly," Petya recovered from her thoughts, she smiled, and nodded slightly to the Naga leader in front of her, "Now you have Perceived the goodwill of the siren from the echo of the psychic energy, then as a celebration of the reconciliation between the two parties... we will also share the secrets of the deep sea with you.
"Welcome to be a member of the ocean, and may this be your new home."