Cluck cluck cluck!
Cluck cluck cluck!
Just as the viewers were pondering, those strange sounds suddenly rang out one after another all around them.
[What is that sound?]
[That cry sounds a lot like a mother hen.]
[It sounds pretty dense, like a whole group of something.]
[It couldn't be another Leviathan, could it?]
"A Leviathan?!" The words sent a jolt through Jenny. Just hearing those three syllables made her scalp tingle now, especially after watching CaseOh's tragic encounter with the Reaper Leviathan.
"Gaia, have we run into another Leviathan?!" Jenny asked hurriedly.
"From the sound of it, this should be a group of small creatures, not a Leviathan." Gaia answered.
"Whew, that's good, that's good." Jenny breathed a sigh of relief. Since it was just a bunch of small animals and she was safely inside the Seamoth, even if they attacked it probably wouldn't be a big deal.
"Might as well go take a look."
Jenny switched to manual control, gripped the steering wheel with both hands, and piloted toward the source of the sound.
Then, one by one, strangely shaped creatures appeared in front of the Seamoth.
These creatures looked somewhat similar to Earth's seals, with short, stocky, clumsy bodies that appeared chubby and silly. Each was only about a meter long.
The biggest difference from seals was that every one of them had a basketball-sized fleshy lump growing from its tail.
That fleshy lump was covered in dense clusters of glowing green spots. Up close, the sight could easily trigger trypophobia.
[Hiss, how can a creature look this ugly!]
[Yeah, the upper body is kind of ugly-cute, but that tail is just disgusting, one big meatbal]
[It looks like a seal dragging a green basketball. Does swimming with that thing even work?]
[Ugly Ass Seal.]
[Pfft, what the hell is a Ugly Ass Seal?]
Although the creatures looked ugly, they weren't scary. They had no sharp teeth or claws and clearly lacked any real fighting power, so the viewers weren't afraid at all. Instead, they started joking around casually.
"Don't talk nonsense,"
Seeing the barrage, Jenny couldn't help laughing too. "Whatever, they look pretty dumb and cute. Let's get a bit closer."
Even though the creatures didn't seem dangerous, there were quite a few of them (at least a dozen), so Jenny didn't charge straight in. She carefully steered the Seamoth closer.
Once she was at a safe distance, she raised her bracelet and scanned them through the Seamoth's glass window.
"Beep. Gasopad, also known as Ugly Ass Seal. A member of the pinniped seal family. Moves extremely slowly. A spherical appendage grows from the rear of its body. When danger is detected, the spherical appendage releases a toxic compound into the surroundings. This compound is highly poisonous and strongly corrosive, capable of dissolving most living organisms."
"Assessment: Not edible. Extremely dangerous when releasing toxic gas. Please avoid at all costs."
The moment Gaia's voice finished, the live-stream viewers couldn't hold it in. They didn't just laugh, they straight-up exploded!!!
[Haha, it really is called Ugly Ass Seal!]
[Bro, the devs knows exactly how our minds work!]
[The second Gaia said Ugly Ass Seal I completely lost it!]
[Wait, think about it. The devs planned this from the start! The creature makes mother-hen sounds, its tail has a basketball, everything lines up perfectly. Calling it Ugly Ass Seal is just too reasonable, HAHAHAHA!]
When she heard "Ugly Ass Seal," Jenny nearly burst out laughing too. She quickly covered her mouth to stop herself.
Could Lucien not be serious for once while making a game? Did he have to let himself go this wild?!!!
But complaints aside, she had listened carefully to Gaia. Even though the Ugly Ass Seal looked dumb and cute, their combat ability was no joke!
They could release deadly poison, and that poison could dissolve living things?!
What kind of concept was that?!
Startled, Jenny immediately spun the wheel to leave.
[Wait, Jenny, test how strong the poison actually is first!] a viewer suddenly said.
"How am I supposed to test that!" Jenny frowned.
[Shoot at it!] the viewer continued. [Hurry up, Jenny. I'll send you a dono!]
Right after came the sound of a donation alert.
"Ah, fine then."
Since the viewers were spending money, Jenny didn't want to disappoint them. She first steered the Seamoth far away, then swam out of it herself and carefully approached the Gasopad again.
"Gaia, their swimming speed shouldn't be faster than mine, right?" Jenny asked cautiously.
"No." Gaia gave a firm answer.
"Good." Jenny nodded. She swam to about twenty meters away from the school of Gasopad. "Let's try it now!"
Under the expectant gazes of the viewers, Jenny pulled out her pistol.
"The distance is a bit far, but with so many Gasopad, I should hit one by sheer luck."
With that thought, Jenny aimed at the school ahead and pulled the trigger.
Bang bang bang!
She fired five shots in a row. The last one finally struck one of the Gasopad.
"Cluck cluck cluck!!!!"
The struck Gasopad let out a miserable cry. Its basketball tail shook violently, and the green glowing spots on it instantly sprayed outward, exploding rapidly in the water and forming a bright green mist that enveloped the surrounding area!
One Gasopad had released thick toxic gas, and the others panicked and followed suit. In an instant, the green mist spread rapidly outward.
Jenny was slightly startled and quickly turned to swim away. Fortunately the gas didn't reach her position, but it completely covered a twenty-plus-meter radius around the fish.
[Hiss, more than a dozen Gasopad releasing poison together looks pretty spectacular!]
[A whole stretch of green, like we've arrived on the green grassland, haha!]
[Not scientific. Why don't these fish sing, dance, and rap?!]
[Nigga, SYBAU!]
Amid the viewers' amazed comments, the toxic mist didn't last long. It disappeared after only a few seconds.
But once the gas cleared, Jenny and the viewers witnessed an extremely horrifying scene.
In the area where the mist had been, everything except the Gasopad themselves was dead! That included five or six Rabbit Ray, three or four Dart Fish, and more.
Their corpses looked utterly terrifying. Their outer bodies had been completely corroded away, leaving only clumps of internal organs floating in the water, and even those organs were steadily melting into bloody fluid.
[Fuck, that toxicity...]
[The corrosiveness is a bit exaggerated. Stronger than strong acid on Earth!]
[Damn, it's making my scalp go numb!]
The viewers were shocked. Jenny was also scared out of her wits. Good thing she had been cautious earlier and hadn't rushed in.
If she had charged straight at them, she probably would have been melted on the spot.
But the power of the gas suddenly gave Jenny an idea!
She watched the school of Gasopad swim away. The one that had been shot was already dead, its corpse slowly sinking deeper into the ocean.
Opportunity time!
Jenny quickly swam toward the Gasopad corpse!
"Gaia, can I collect the toxin from this Gasopad?!" she asked urgently once she reached the body.
Hearing this, the viewers also realized what she was thinking.
[Damn? Jenny idea is pretty slick!]
[That's actually brilliant. If you can collect this toxin, it feels like you could even take down a Leviathan!]
That was exactly Jenny thought. From what she knew of Lucien, he would never design a creature like this for no reason!
A herbivore that moved slowly but possessed an insanely overpowered attack method!
This was clearly a hint for players to make use of it!!!
Imagine having a toxin that could corrode flesh and blood. She could kill a Leviathan for everyone to see!
Hehe, this time she had guessed her little brother's intentions!
Thinking of this, Jenny felt a little proud of herself.
However, Gaia's answer left her disappointed, "Beep. Insufficient conditions. Collection cannot be performed."
"It actually doesn't work." Jenny frowned.
Had she guessed her brother's thinking wrong? Then what exactly was Lucien planning? Did he really create a Ugly Ass Seal just to troll?!
Was he that bored?
Thinking about it carefully, with his mischievous personality, it really was something he would do!!!
Whatever. It was just a game. Having fun was what mattered most!!!
[Looks like Jenny overthought it. How could the old thief let players use something this strong!]
[Exactly. It's fucking devs we're talking about! When has they been ever been nice to players?!]
The viewers sighed as well.
"Since it doesn't work, forget it. Let's keep moving!!!" Jenny still couldn't figure out Lucien intentions, so she could only set the question aside for now and ask him after the stream.
Giving up on collecting toxin from the Gasopad, Jenny climbed back into the Seamoth and continued toward the land.
The rest of the journey went smoothly. After a few more minutes of sailing, Jenny finally saw a large shadow appear on the sea surface ahead!!!
It was the shadow of land!
"Chat, did you see that? Land! We've reached land!!!" Jenny cheered.
[Awesome! Jenny should be the first streamer to reach land, right?]
[Probably. I haven't seen any other streamers make it yet!]
[To be honest, staying in the ocean the whole time always feels kind of oppressive. Finally we can go check out the land!]
It wasn't just the viewers. Jenny had been active only in the ocean this whole time, so the oppressive feeling hit her even harder than anyone else.
"And maybe I'll run into other NPCs. Didn't the Aurora's second officer say this is a gathering point for survivors?!"
Jenny added. Up to now, she hadn't encountered a single NPC in the game. The woman from Cabin 2 she had worked so hard to save had only been a way to unlock co-op.
She wondered if she would meet anyone this time she went ashore.
Jenny pushed the Seamoth to maximum speed. But before she could get close, she was stunned by a strange sight on the land!
Right at the edge of the coast stood a towering building!
The building looked extremely tall, piercing into the sky. By rough estimate, it was over four hundred meters high!
[Fuck, what is that thing on land!]
[It looks like a skyscraper!]
[It is a skyscraper, but the style is really unique!]
The live-stream viewers were all stunned too. They had come here following the second officer's instructions to meet up, but who would have thought there would be such an unexpected discovery!
"It really is a building!" Jenny exclaimed as well. "Wow, it's so beautiful!"
As the Seamoth drew nearer, she could see the entire building was a dark greenish-black color. Its surface was engraved with a large number of intricate patterns and designs that emitted a faint green glow, giving it an exotic, otherworldly beauty!
On this boundless, open, flat sea surface, the several-hundred-meter-tall building stood out dramatically, extremely eye-catching and incomparably majestic.
Jenny looked up at it, feeling a sense of smallness rise in her heart.
Soon the Seamoth reached the shallows beside the building. Jenny quickly jumped out, swam all the way to the shore, and successfully stepped onto land.
By now she had completely forgotten the joy of reaching shore. All her attention was on the mysterious building before her.
Jenny ran straight toward the building. It had no windows installed. Its edges were perfectly seamless, without a single gap, looking like one solid piece.
"Better let Gaia scan it first." Jenny aimed her bracelet at the building ahead.
"Beep. Alien structure. This is a mysterious alien building. Unable to determine the material it is made of or its specific purpose."
Gaia analysis result caught everyone completely off guard!
Even with Gaia's incredibly advanced artificial intelligence, this time she had no answers at all. And it involved aliens!