"Where?" Silin asked.
"This way!"
Huimao jumped down and ran in a certain direction. Silin could sense its location, so he wasn't afraid of losing it.
Although this area was already in the post-war zone, there were still many sea beasts left. When they saw Silin and Huimao, these sea beasts swarmed towards them.
However, they came to an abrupt halt when they were a dozen or so meters away from Wheeze. Wheeze gave them a very dangerous feeling. These sea beasts weren't stupid, and they were quite wary of Wheeze after it tore a pouncing sea beast into pieces in an instant.
However, there were still many sea beasts. Some hesitated for a moment before they were ready to pounce. However, Huimao's roar stopped them. Huimao's roar gave them the feeling of a sea king beast.
As for Silin, because he was very close to Huimao, many sea beasts couldn't find a chance to attack Silin. However, once Silin was a little further away from Huimao, these sea beasts wouldn't hesitate to attack.
Huimao wandered around the ruins, then pointed at a place and said, "It's here!"
"Underground?" Silin also smelled the smell. Although his sense of smell wasn't as good as Huimao's, it was far more sensitive than the average person. In addition, he smelled the smell from the egg that Huimao spat out. Now, Silin could smell a trace of the same smell from here.
Huimao chose a spot and skillfully started to dig. After digging into the ground, Huimao's front claws became mechanized. After stretching out, he dug a hole that was big enough for Silin to enter.
Following behind the gray cat, Cillin took out a disc-shaped instrument and placed it at the entrance of the cave. The disc-shaped instrument expanded with a bang and covered the entire entrance of the cave. It also assimilated itself with the surrounding ruins so that it was hard to tell from the outside that a hole had been dug at the back.
Silin followed behind Huimao with a breathing mask. Huimao was getting better at digging holes. He was faster than a excavator.
Huimao dug very deep. There was still the smell of the sea king beast around the hole. It was hard to imagine how the sea king beast could send these eggs so deep underground.
"Ah, there it is!" Huimao shouted excitedly.
Thousands of meters underground, there was a pile of eggs.
Just like the eggs Wheeze had eaten earlier, there were all kinds of eggs, and they weren't exclusive to sea beasts.
Silin placed his hand on an egg and examined it. These were all undeveloped eggs. If he broke them, it would only be a pool of sticky egg white and yolk. However, after some time, the little life inside the eggs would develop and break out of the shell.
Silin had a rough idea of the sea king's plan.
What is this place?
Border defense!
This was the third line of defense in the coastal area. The first two lines of defense were also in ruins. At the moment, there was a battle going on at the fourth line of defense.
The coastal areas of this planet did not dig deep into the ground. These eggs of different shapes and sizes were all wrapped in a layer of hard material. Just like the egg that Huimao spat out, it could avoid detection. As long as the scanning device did not go within 50 meters of this place, it would be difficult to detect.
The metal composition that Silin analyzed from the skin samples provided by Huimao was inferior to the composition of the various components on the eggs. In other words, the dark blue layer of keratin-like attachment on the eggs had a better composition. However, on the other hand, the attachment on the eggs could not continue to carry out ion exchange. You can't have it both ways. This was why the composition on the sea king's body was not as perfect as the composition on the eggs.
Silin turned around and saw Huimao swallowing the eggs one after another.
"… Didn't you eat too much?"
"A little, but I've digested a little. It's fine to eat this little bit. These are not as hard to digest as the egg," Huimao said while swallowing the eggs.
"That egg is hard to digest?" Silin thinks. He thought about the eggs that Huimao spat out in the room. Some of the eggs here looked similar to that egg. However, when Silin put his finger on these eggs, he knew that even though the outer layer was wrapped in the same attachment, the shell itself was very different. Just like the egg that Huimao spat out, there were only a few eggs in this large pile, no more than 10 in number.
"Half of the genes of those hard to digest eggs are the same as the sea king, but I don't know the other half," Huimao said while swallowing the eggs.
Silin nodded and put these eggs into the ring with curly leaf patterns. Other than their research value, they could also be used as food for Huimao. However, if these eggs accidentally hatched a small sea monster in the sub-space, there would be no other way. There could not be creatures with strong life signals inside. If it was in the form of an egg, it would be fine, but if it was a sea monster, it would cause the sub-space to lose stability and collapse.
"I almost forgot that you have that thing, hehe." When Huimao saw that Silin had put away all the eggs, he smiled happily. This way, he didn't have to force himself to swallow the eggs.
After cleaning up the place, Silin said, "Let's go, to the next place."
"Is there more?" Huimao's eyes lit up. These were all food! The more, the better!
"There should be."
Since the sea king had hidden sea monster eggs under the third line of defense, there should be at the first and second lines of defense, right?
After leaving the cave, Silin and Huimao went to the second line of defense in this direction.
Just as Silin expected, the second line of defense was also flattened into ruins. It seemed that this was done to cover up the eggs underground and clear all the obstacles around it.
Silin did not smell the eggs here, but he could use the third line of defense as a reference. Silin and Huimao went deeper into the second line of defense. After searching for a while, they finally found the eggs hidden there.
Strangely, there was no egg similar to the one Huimao spat out.
Celine inspected some of the eggs. From the looks of it, these eggs had been hidden away during the great war between humans and beasts decades ago. However, the sea beasts inside had gradually matured. It was just that they still needed some time to fully mature. He believed that these little sea beasts would break out of the soil and join the battle during the next great war.
After the Beast Tide, the second line of defense would be rebuilt, and those eggs would be directly below the line of defense. When the next Beast Tide came, these eggs would hatch, and they would be able to cooperate with the sea beasts that came out of the sea.
But why hadn't there been any young sea king beasts after all these years?
Logically speaking, these hatched little sea monsters would join the battle. But why hadn't they heard of any young sea king beasts? If the young sea king beasts were protected in the deep sea, it would be reasonable. But these were all sea king beasts that had participated in the battle. Could it be that not everyone had seen a young sea king beast?
When Silin and Huimao arrived at the first line of defense, they knew the answer to this question.
The first line of defense was quickly broken in the war between humans and beasts. It was incredibly fast. The heroes of breaking the first line of defense were the hatched little sea monsters hiding underground.
It didn't take Cillin and Wheeze long to find the place where the egg was hidden. Wheeze had smelled the scent of an egg breaking, and some sea beasts had crawled out of the hole and disappeared into the sea. They didn't head inland.
"Ah, there are a few that haven't hatched yet!" Huimao walked around the eggs. A little sea monster that had just broken its shell was swallowed by Huimao. After swallowing it, it complained about the taste and spat a few times.
As soon as Huimao's voice fell, an egg made a cracking sound.
Looking at the little sea monster that had just broken its shell, Silin had a strange feeling.
After this little guy came out, it had a fierce look. The small spikes on its back were all erect. Its four limbs were webbed, but they also had sharp claws. Its body was dark blue, and its surface was hard to protect. Its big mouth was full of sharp teeth. After seeing Silin and Huimao, it didn't rush towards them immediately. Instead, it opened its mouth and shouted.
This voice …
Sea king beast?!
Although it sounded young, it was indeed the sound of a sea king beast.
How could a young sea king beast be so different from an adult one?! If it was mixed with other sea monsters, it would be really hard to distinguish it. No wonder those people couldn't find a young sea king beast.
As the young sea king beast shouted, a few eggs next to it that hadn't moved before made a cracking sound, and then they all broke their shells together.
There were big mouth sea monsters, and some other sea monsters that Silin had seen when he came over. These newly hatched sea monsters all rushed towards Silin and Huimao.
However, after all, they were young sea monsters, and there weren't many of them. Most of them had already left, and these little ones didn't have much attack power. Soon, they were killed by Silin and Huimao. That young sea king beast was swallowed by Huimao.
After swallowing it, Huimao squatted there and didn't move. No one knew what he was thinking.
"What's wrong?" Silin asked.
Huimao flicked his tail, "This little guy has all the genes of a sea king beast. It's different from the egg I spat out before. However, I feel that my protruding egg is more difficult to digest. "
Silin pondered, but now was not the time to think about it. "Let's go. We'll talk about these things later. The fog is about to disperse. Let's not run into a group of sea monsters. Let's go back to the sea."
Silin and Huimao avoided a large number of sea monsters when they flew inland. When they returned to the residence of the RAS, the place was already under martial law. All the windows of the buildings had been opened, and they were no longer tightly shut.
Several people from the RAS were discussing how to continue negotiating with the minor nobles. They were discussing whether to take tough measures. However, because tough measures would damage the reputation of the RAS, they didn't want to take such measures until the last moment. After all, the RAS still maintained a good image.
When Silin came back, he didn't communicate with the others. He went straight into his room and didn't come out, saying that he wanted to rest.
After entering the room, Huimao made an analysis of the little sea king beast he swallowed. From the analysis, Silin found that there was a hollow cartilage on the tail of the sea king beast. The cartilage was usually flat and curled, but when stretched, its length was dozens of times longer than the overall height of the sea king beast.
Although it was cartilage, it was speculated that the adult sea king beast could harden the cartilage in a short time. The hardened cartilage penetrated deep into the ground, and then sent the egg into a deep hole.
The appendages wrapped around the various sea beast eggs belonged to the sea king beast. Those sea beast eggs hidden underground, even if the form inside the egg had been fully formed, would be in a state of hibernation before the attack of the sea beasts. When the sea beasts attacked, the sea king beast's cry would wake them up from their hibernation.
After hatching, the baby sea king beast would not immediately come out of the ground. They would feed on other sea beast eggs until the adult sea king beast called them. Only then would these little guys break out of the ground with other hatched sea beasts.
Therefore, the adult sea king beast would estimate the time it would take for the eggs to grow, and use that time to attack the land.
The sea beasts that lived at the top of the food chain, especially the oviparous ones, were all within the "Sea King"'s consideration. The sea king beast would select a portion of its eggs, then wrap each egg with a layer of appendages, and secretly hide these eggs underground when it attacked the land.
The first time the sea king beast did this, no one noticed it, so it did the same thing the next two times. The first line of defense was broken, and the sea king beast had tasted the sweetness of victory. However, if it wasn't for Silin discovering the hidden eggs this time, the humans on the planet would have suffered a lot in the next few decades.
Silin had only dug out the eggs in one direction, and there were still eggs buried under the other lines of defense on the continent. However, Silin didn't have the time to dig them all out.
Silin searched for Stappen through the internet again. Stappen's location had changed. He had probably found some information this time, and was continuing to analyze it. Stappen's analysis narrowed down the search area by a lot, and Silin discovered that the three places where the eggs were hidden were all within Stappen's boundaries. It wasn't just a single place, it was an analysis of the entire continent.
It was hard to imagine that a person could come up with a result just based on data alone. If it wasn't for Stappen's analysis, Silin wouldn't have been able to find these places so quickly.
Silin didn't tell Stappen the answer he had found. Now wasn't the time to talk about this. After a brief conversation with Stappen, Silin contacted Guan Feng and told him about his findings.
Guan Feng would discuss the rest of the details with the people of the RAS. After all, they didn't think that Silin was qualified to speak to the academicians directly.
In the following days, the people of the RAS didn't bother with the minor noble and his planetary government. After the RAS's reinforcements arrived, they started cleaning up the other places where the sea beast eggs were hidden.
"You've done a great service this time, Silin! You've made me proud!" Guan Feng was smiling so happily that his fox eyes were narrowed into slits.
Guan Feng didn't think that Silin would not only find a better mixture of sea blue gold, but also eliminate the huge hidden danger there. Those old geezers didn't make any progress no matter how much they tried, but Silin managed to get his hands on a couple of recipes without a word. This also made Guan Feng feel better.
"Not bad, you're worthy of praise!" Guan Feng looked like he was in a pretty good mood. Guan Feng might have a lot of say in the RAS, but he wasn't the only one. Now that Silin had gotten his hands on the other recipes for sea blue gold, Guan Feng's influence had grown as well. The "Abyss" project team owed Guan Feng a huge favor. Of course, they would stand on Guan Feng's side when it came to important decisions.
"You'll get your reward. Just tell me if you need anything. Just tell me if you have any other requests," Guan Feng said.
"Can I ask for anything?" Silin asked.
"Yes, as long as it's within my capabilities."
"If that's the case … I heard that even an academician of your rank has the right to recommend someone to become an honorary scholar?"
Guan Feng raised an eyebrow. "That's right. Do you want to join?"
"Not really. I want to recommend someone." Silin told Guan Feng about Stappen. Guan Feng waved his hand and gave his approval.
"I'll let your team leader know. Come back with me when you find Stappen. I'll take care of the rest."
"Alright." With Guan Feng around, Silin didn't have to do too many troublesome things.
After receiving Guan Feng's promise, Silin contacted Stappen through the network. Although the fact that the RAS had found sea beast eggs near the border hadn't spread, Stappen must've heard about it from the minor noble research groups. Right now, Stappen really wanted to meet Cillin and share his joy with him. This incident had proven his point of view to be correct. Although the public didn't agree with him, Stappen was happy to have a supporter.
When Silin saw Stappen, the latter looked like he was in dire straits. Although Stappen had done his best to tidy himself up, his broken leg and white hair only made him look even more dispirited.
It was obvious that Stappen's broken leg had only recently been severed. Right now, he was only supported by a simple mechanical leg. Stappen couldn't afford any treatment at his current dire condition.
Stappen was also surprised to see Silin. He didn't think that he would meet such a young person. In Stappen's imagination, this person who could discuss and analyze data with him should be a middle-aged researcher at the very least, right? But the reality was that he was a young man in his early twenties.
The duo found a quiet place to talk. Silin didn't want anyone to hear their conversation, but it didn't matter if they did. It wouldn't change the outcome.
After talking about the Sea King for a while, Silin explained the purpose of his visit.
"Honorary scholar?!"
Stappen couldn't help but exclaim loudly when he heard Silin's words.
Who wouldn't want to go to the highest temple of academic researchers? Even in their dreams! It was Stappen's dream when he was young, but he had suppressed it after experiencing so many things. It was an extravagant hope that could never be achieved.
But now, Silin was saying that he could give him such a chance. How could Stappen not be excited?
Stappen didn't lack ability to live to this day. The only thing he lacked was an opportunity. However, the god of luck never seemed to like him. He was always suppressed and abandoned step by step.
Every time Stappen lay exhausted in his simple and crude workshop, he would always think that if he was given a chance, even if it was just a small chance, he would definitely prove himself. He would prove that he was right, that what he was doing was the right thing!
The minor noble didn't give him this chance. The research organization didn't give him this chance. But Silin did.
The minor noble would definitely be quite unwilling to bring Stappen to the RAS after learning the truth. But could the minor noble not let him go? Did he dare not?
He didn't dare!
The RAS wanted him, and Stappen himself had agreed to it. A minor noble like him didn't have any bargaining chips in his hands right now. He couldn't shake the RAS at all.
Not only did the minor noble not make things difficult for Stappen after he realized this, he even smiled at him. After all, he came from this planet, from his fief. This was his home. He would still rely on Stappen's analysis and support for the war against the sea beasts in the future.
After everything was taken care of, everyone prepared to return to the capital star region. However, the day before they were about to leave, two academicians were kidnapped while they were out scouting. Of the guards who protected them, three were killed, and ten were injured. Two of them, who were transferred from the affiliated schools like Silin, were heavily injured.
The people of the RAS were furious, and the minor noble couldn't sleep at all. Kidnapping someone from the RAS on his own turf? It was going to be hard for him to get out of this mess. He had just finished the war against the sea beasts, only to run into this mess again. The minor noble was about to lose all his hair.
The naval equipment on the planet was pretty good, but the equipment in other areas wasn't. There was no surveillance footage, so it was obvious that the kidnappers had come prepared. Moreover, they weren't residents of this planet.
The person who could injure the guards without making a sound couldn't be weak either. Their plan was very thorough.
Not long after the two academicians went missing, they received a message.
Who would've thought that the kidnappers were after the sea blue gold!
Normally, the best sea blue gold recipe wasn't made public, and the ones that were made public weren't the best ones. However, the RAS had obtained more than one recipe this time, and all of them were very high level. It would probably take at least three to five years for them to be made public. Not to mention that there was a "super recipe" that was known as the perfect sea blue gold.
Sea blue gold had a wide range of uses, and different ratios had different functions. The fact that Guan Feng needed sea blue gold to develop the Purgatory Thunder Snake S proved how valuable it was.
Every high level sea blue gold recipe would sell for an astronomical price on the black market. It wasn't strange that someone was after it. What was strange was that the kidnappers had gone against the RAS directly.
Was it the work of a certain noble, or the rioters?
For now, there was no conclusion.
The planet was quickly locked down after the two academicians went missing. Even the surrounding planets were mobilized to guard the place. The Mist Bodhisattva Royal Family also sent people to investigate.
There weren't many people who knew about the true sea blue gold recipe. When Silin gave the recipe to Guan Feng, the latter must've communicated with a few important people in the RAS.
Therefore, the only people who knew about the recipe were Silin, Guan Feng, the project manager of the Abyss, and a few leaders of the RAS. Everyone else, including the two kidnapped academicians, didn't know about it. However, the two of them were important figures in the Abyss project, so they couldn't be ignored. The RAS was doing their best to find them.
The Mist Bodhisattva Emperor had decreed that the sea blue gold recipe must not be leaked.
There were a lot of rioters in the empire. If they learned about the latest sea blue gold recipe, it would undoubtedly bring a lot of trouble to the empire. Although some things weren't stated openly, Silin could guess a few things. After all, the empire spanned more than twenty star regions. How could it possibly be a united front?
The "poisonous insects" hiding in the shadows would come out and wreak havoc whenever they had the chance.
Guan Feng wouldn't tell anyone who knew the recipe, and the person in charge of the Abyss project was backed by the royal family. That being said, Cillin was a different story since he was a native of the imperial capital. The RAS didn't dare do anything to Guan Feng because he was his backer. All they could do was guard him closely. Silin was trapped inside a building like he was in a prison cell. To put it nicely, he was being protected.
Right now, it was rumored that Silin had leaked information about the sea blue gold recipe. There were a lot of people who disliked Silin, and a lot of people who were jealous of him. There were definitely a lot of people who wanted to smear Silin's name. Although a lot of people didn't believe it, the rumor didn't change the fact that Silin was under heavy surveillance.
There were even more people who disliked Guan Feng. However, although Silin was Guan Feng's student and Silin was rumored to have leaked the recipe, no one dared to say that Guan Feng had anything to do with it. Those who did were killed in secret. Who was Guan Feng? He was the emperor's tutor, and even the current Mist Bodhisattva Emperor would defend him. Why would someone as experienced as Guan Feng do something so stupid? Therefore, anyone who wronged Guan Feng was seen as malicious slander, and slandering the emperor's tutor no less. Therefore, those who wanted to but didn't dare to smear Guan Feng's name directly targeted Silin. The rumors against Silin grew more and more numerous.
In order to prevent the kidnappers from escaping, no one was allowed to leave the area. Therefore, the reinforcements didn't leave to prevent the kidnappers from escaping. If anyone tried to leave by force, they would definitely be attacked as kidnappers.
Therefore, Guan Feng's original plan to send Silin back to the capital was rejected by the higher-ups just to be safe. Now, Silin could only be guarded by layers of guards in a room that was a hundred square meters in size. He wanted nothing more than to eat, drink, and go to the bathroom. Silin wasn't allowed to touch the internet, and his communicator was confiscated.
Huimao and Silin were locked up together. It couldn't let Silin eat the eggs even if someone was watching over it. All day long, it lay in Silin's arms, waiting to be pacified.
Although Guan Feng couldn't revoke Silin's guardianship order, he did a lot of work. One day, Silin woke up and saw his senior brother, Pistura, and senior sister, Fu Qingqing. Pistura's presence meant that the imperial guards sent to assist in the investigation would show him some respect. Fu Qingqing's presence meant that the imperial guards sent to assist in the investigation would be more careful as well.
As for Goryeo, Pistura said that the kid was still on his way here.
Everyone Cillin came into contact with was under surveillance, not even Pistura or Fu Qingqing. That being said, they could achieve their goal even if they didn't say a word. After all, they were here to hold the fort.
Guan Feng couldn't come. He was one of the few insiders, so he stayed at the RAS with a few others. That was why he sent Pistura, Fu Qingqing, and Goryeo to back up Silin. His disciple wasn't someone anyone could bully. Even if he was confined to a hundred square meters or so, the person in charge of the guards had to treat him with respect!
Cillin was very grateful for Guan Feng's help, but there was another person besides Guan Feng who had come over.
Gen Xingchen and his men showed up the second day after Pistura and Fu Qingqing arrived. It looked like they were here to back up Silin as well.
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