Overwhelmed by the unexpected, Lu Yan was silent for a long time as the scene unfolded before him. From the tumor, a fetus was extracted, and with its removal, the entirety of R'lyeh began to tremble violently. The ground cracked open, stone pillars collapsed, and debris fell from the sky. Bereft of the fetus, the once-white umbilical cords turned into a frenzied state, morphing into blood-red tentacles covered with cold scales. These tentacles pierced through the followers, draining them into nothingness.
In the midst of chaos, Jiang Yue bellowed, "Give it to me!" But Dr. Lu Cheng held the fetus tightly, protesting, "No, I was the one who brought the child out. You won't leave me behind!" He knew his only worth lay in his foresight, and that clinging to the dead fetus was his sole chance of survival in the sinking R'lyeh.
The followers' faces were filled with panic as water levels rose, nearly reaching their nostrils. Jiang Yue's arms had transformed into wings, and her legs into talon-like claws. With a furrowed brow, she grabbed Dr. Lu Cheng's shoulder and soared into the air. A follower, spotting the bird above, raised his arms and cried out, "President! Save me!" But Jiang Yue merely glanced at him coldly.
In the end, only a few made it back to the ship. Captain Luo Yi, with his dark tentacles, rescued the merchants from the sea's depths. A retired navy officer, he recognized some familiar faces among those he saved and wished to return for more, but Jiang Yue grabbed his shoulder, declaring, "Enough, this place is sinking!"
Not just the city was doomed to sink, but the blood-red umbilical cords also emerged, seeking to reclaim their possession. As vast amounts of seawater flooded into the ship, the absence of crew members slowed the whaling ship's departure significantly. At the brink of disaster, the ship finally started, emitting a loud hum as it fled R'lyeh. The faceless cords, in their frantic and fierce dance, conveyed a deep sense of unwillingness to everyone present.
Captain Luo Yi, stunned by the sight of the sinking city, was speechless for a long time. When the whaling ship returned to the sea surface, it was deep into the night. After a brief silence, a merchant suggested, "After such a great cost, it's time to divide the spoils, isn't it? That was the agreement from the start." His eyes gleamed with greed.
Dr. Lu Cheng, fresh out of university and only part of this deep-sea mission due to his special talent, looked puzzled. "Divide the spoils? How?" Another, a one-eyed man, replied, "Of course, we divide our god."
Dr. Lu Cheng instinctively held the child tighter, murmuring, "You can't do this... there will be consequences." "Consequences? If there are any," the merchant laughed deeply, "you brought it upon us by bringing it into this world prematurely. Yet here we stand."
Dr. Lu Cheng turned to Jiang Yue for support, the only person he still trusted. Still adorned with feathers from overusing her talent, she was cloaked in a black robe, her voice calm. "We need a 'god', but not an intact one. We seek controllable power, not a ruler from the abyss." She extended her hand to Dr. Lu Cheng. "Hand it over."
Below water, Dr. Lu Cheng had the leverage to negotiate with Jiang Yue, but in the cramped operating room, he was powerless. Reluctantly, he handed over the child. However, as Jiang Yue attempted to take the fetus, a new umbilical cord sprouted from its navel, attaching itself to Dr. Lu Cheng. Like a parasite, it greedily sucked his blood, nourishing the mother entity.
Dr. Lu Cheng was astonished. During the underwater chaos, he hadn't noticed the monster piercing his skin. And now, the dead fetus, nourished by human flesh, began to emit a faint heartbeat from its chest cavity. Its previously indistinct face formed features, and it started to cry loudly.
Feeling weak, Dr. Lu Cheng's expression turned to horror. "Take it away! Take it away!" Jiang Yue frowned, attempting to sever the umbilical cord, but it was far tougher than the white ones before, resistant to her blade as if it were steel.
With no way to separate them, Dr. Lu Cheng was bound to the operating table with the fetus. Lu Yan watched emotionlessly, as if observing someone else's story. His brother whispered to him, "The scene that follows might be somewhat cruel." Lu Yan, accustomed to the sight of blood from numerous surgeries, barely blinked.
An elderly man emerged from the shadows, his long beard nearly touching the ground, holding a blood-red ancient tome in his hands. Known in earlier years as a prominent harbinger, he went by the moniker "The Wizard". He explained, according to the ancient text, that the most crucial part of the entity before them lay in its stomach—seven fish eggs, each capable of growing into a formidable life form destined to rule the world in the future.
The Wizard, wielding a stone knife carved with strange patterns, proceeded to open the fetus's stomach. Black blood gushed out immediately, drenching the operating table below. The cry of the fetus echoed through the silent operating room, a haunting sound that unnerved all present.
As the fetus wailed, the Wizard coughed up fresh blood, his mutation rate uncontrollably soaring.
"Are you alright?" they asked.
"It's nothing, just a bit of backlash," the Wizard responded.
After the brief surgery, the fish eggs were finally extracted from the fetus's stomach. The seven eggs appeared semi-transparent, with little black dots like tiny fish swimming within their bubble-like confines. However, upon contact with the air, the vitality of the eggs visibly drained at an alarming rate. The shriveled eggs even emitted a nauseating smell akin to dead fish.
Panic filled the merchant's heart. "What's happening? Find a solution, quick!"
The old man glanced at the eggs and decisively picked up the knife, amputating the fetus's limbs. Inserting an egg into the yet-to-form flesh, its deteriorating condition finally halted.
"It seems these eggs are not yet mature. They need the embryo as a culture medium. We were too hasty! These eggs could have hatched on their own, but now, having lost most of their vitality, we'll have to find a way to artificially mature them later," the Wizard explained, a pained expression on his face.
Then, he methodically began to dismember the dead fetus. He must have been a doctor or a butcher in the past, for his movements were too practiced. He extracted the fetus's tiny eyeballs, opened its chest to remove the small golden heart, and cut off its tongue, silencing the annoying cries. He removed the ears, cut the throat, and finally, extracted the brain.
It was like a gruesome sacrifice.
After everything, the old man's body twisted in an unnatural pose, bending at an impossible angle to clutch his own throat, contorting like a knotted ball. He let out a pained scream, "Save me! Save me!"
Jiang Yue tried to unfold him, to no avail.
With a crack, the Wizard died in a bizarre position, a smile on his face. This scene sent chills down the spine of many, especially the recently graduated Dr. Lu Cheng.
Fortunately, aside from the Wizard's death, no other disturbances occurred. The deep-sea society secured three of the eggs, and the other survivors, except for Captain Luo Yi, took one each.
The fetus on the operating table had long ceased breathing, treated like discarded waste. Warm blood trickled down Dr. Lu Cheng's face.
He turned to Jiang Yue, tremblingly asked, "Can we take it away now? I'm scared."
Jiang Yue smiled slightly, "Of course." Beneath her black robe, a long bird's beak grew on her face. She opened her mouth and swallowed the dead fetus, not wanting to waste even the refuse. Jiang Yue's eating resembled that of a bird's, without chewing, her neck stretching as her wings fluttered.
Time passed. Dr. Lu Cheng had returned from the sea long ago but still suffered from nightmares. Merely a lover of mysticism, he had fortuitously awakened Talent 66, desiring to prove the existence of gods but never imagining being drawn into such a brutal truth. Yet, fate did not spare him.
Two weeks later, someone knocked on Dr. Lu Cheng's door. Expecting a delivery, he was instead met with a chilling sensation upon seeing the visitor.
Jiang Yue, hand on her stomach, emotionlessly announced, "I'm pregnant." Less than a month after returning from the sea, Jiang Yue's belly had swollen as if she were due in ten months.
Days later, she gave birth. Dr. Lu Cheng named the child "Lu Yan." The child appeared no different from a human baby. The two cared for it as if they were a normal couple, until it began to speak.
At one year old, Lu Yan looked at Jiang Yue and said, "Bird," then turned to Dr. Lu Cheng and said, "Eyes." A spark of joy lit up in Jiang Yue's eyes.
Lu Yan was born with the Talent 6, Omniscience.
The scene before Lu Yan shattered like bubbles, bringing him back to the present. Despite being underwater, he felt suffocated, gasping for air, "I remember, I didn't learn to speak until I was five."
Lu Yan grew up in fear, which made him exceptionally slow to react. He had no memories until he was three and only learned to speak at five. His talent, Omniscience, emerged after coming into contact with pollutants.
Before him still lay the massive corpse of a dragon. His brother floated up gently, swimming around him like a fish, with a soft smile on his face, "So, as I said, I will protect my brother."
Lu Yan witnessed events from before the world's reset. Born from Jiang Yue's womb without his "brother's" suppression, he revealed his talent early and was raised by the deep-sea society as a sacred child. As Lu Yan grew, the world's pollution increased, and the situation grew more chaotic, forcing the Disease Prevention and Control Center to expedite the second half of the Fire Seed Project and establish survivor bases. Relying on Lu Yan, the deep-sea society built a powerful base rivaling the Disease Prevention and Control Center, securing supreme authority.
According to Dr. Lu Cheng's precognition, Lu Yan was destined to become a god. However, the first kingfish residing within him rebelled. His "brother" used the talent of absorption to consume Lu Yan, inheriting all of his legacy. He replaced Lu Yan, becoming the new deity, and returned to their common homeland in the deep sea.
Decades later, humanity was destroyed, and pollutants dominated the world. If not for Tang Xunan's efforts to reverse the flow of time, this bleak outcome would have been the world's final state—desolate, ruined, lifeless, devoid of hope.
Yet, thanks to this unexpected miracle, the world was reset to many years prior, back to when the blood-stained whaling ship first arrived at R'lyeh. Time can be reversed, but the existence of gods remains indelible. In this underwater city, He watches over Lu Yan in His own way.
This marks the beginning of everything.
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