[Author’s Note: The first three chapters establish the background and setup with a slightly tense plot.
Starting from chapter four, the story shifts into a lighthearted and relaxing farming phase.
Thank you for reading!]
“Ling Shuying, you are suspected of researching forbidden ecological seedlings and privately distributing them within the City State.
You have severely violated the Coral Covenant Academic Norms Treaty and the Thousand Sails City State Management Act, causing irreversible and detrimental impacts on the City State’s ecology.
“Every scholar in the Alliance is hard to come by, and you are a genius among geniuses.
We do not wish to see you stray down the wrong path.
“Return to the Green Algae Institute with me.
As long as you hand over all the ‘algae seeds,’ the Alliance will guarantee your safety.”
Ling Shuying let out a faint sigh.
She looked helplessly at the woman in white standing before her, the sound of crashing waves echoing behind her.
“Director, the originals and replicas of HD-231, OP-364, and OP-546X were already confiscated by the patrol team last week.
You led them personally, remember?
“I admit that I researched these algae seeds, and I did distribute some replicas to the refugees.
But this type of algae only produces food.
It is safe, controllable, and even boasts a high yield.
“I don’t understand.
What do you mean by causing ‘an irreversible and detrimental impact on the City State’s ecology’?”
The woman addressed as the Director wore an unpredictable expression.
The rising sun shone on her face, making her glasses gleam with a harsh glare that obscured her eyes.
Behind her stood a neat row of law enforcement team members, armed with enforcement rifles and ready to make an arrest at a moment’s notice.
“Shuying, you are a scholar.
There are some things you cannot comprehend,” the Director lowered her voice to explain.
“Technology cannot be left in the hands of technicians.
Your technology is highly dangerous; it should be handed over to the higher-ups to let them decide.
“Right now, I am reasoning with you on behalf of the Green Algae Institute and the Alliance.
The law enforcement team behind me, however, won’t be so reasonable.
You know the City State’s stance on you.”
“Ever since the Great Sinking, the famine has lasted far too long.
I just wanted people to have enough to eat.
“If we just distribute the seedlings, we would have food immediately!
“Why stop me?!”
Ling Shuying’s face grew pale, and she offered a dismal smile.
The answer was already clear in her heart.
Thousand Sails City State and the Coral Covenant were simply two sides of the same corrupt coin.
After the “Great Sinking,” the continents plunged into the ocean, triggering massive ecological mutations.
Humanity was forced to struggle for survival, relying on the colossal “World-Bearing Giant Algae” that sprouted from the sea, the floating ruins of ancient architecture, and the few scattered reefs that hadn’t fully submerged.
Arable land was incredibly scarce.
Food and freshwater were both in severe shortage.
In the face of such a survival crisis, whoever controlled the land and the farming technology held ultimate power.
Internally, the Thousand Sails City State was co-ruled by the Merchant Council and the Navy Commander, maintaining control over the shipping lanes and the naval fleets.
The Coral Covenant, on the other hand, was a loose Alliance that monopolized ecological technology.
Although the two factions secretly opposed each other, they shared a unified, unspoken consensus when it came to resource distribution: monopoly.
Monopolize knowledge, monopolize land, and monopolize the seedlings.
Only by doing so could they ensure their piece of the pie remained untouched, maintaining absolute dominance over the populace!
“Sigh…” The Director let out a faint sigh, the sea breeze whipping her hair into a messy tangle.
As the sun continued to rise, she took off her glasses and looked at Ling Shuying.
A complex and enigmatic look flashed in her eyes, deeply imprinting itself into Ling Shuying’s mind.
Ling Shuying’s heart skipped a beat as sudden realization washed over her.
She quickly pulled a test tube filled with blue liquid from her coat, bit it open, and swallowed the contents.
Without hesitation, she spun around and leaped off the cliff!
The law enforcement team was caught entirely off guard.
“You…” The captain’s face darkened furiously as he glared at the Director.
He could tell that this woman had let the target escape on purpose.
“I will report your actions exactly as they occurred to the City State Committee!”
The Director simply shrugged.
“I am just a scholar.
I simply couldn’t react in time.
She hasn’t gotten far—shouldn’t you be chasing her?”
“Hmph!” The captain let out a heavy snort like an angry bull, knowing there was nothing he could do to her.
“Notify the maritime pursuit team immediately!
Deploy the Sea Hunters!
Without a ship, she can’t get far!” the captain ordered.
“We must capture her and bring her back!”
“Yes, sir!”
As the law enforcement team marched off into the distance, the Director kept her gaze fixed on the horizon.
She let out a barely perceptible sigh, her heart brimming with bitterness.
“This is as far as I can help you, Shuying…”
***
SPLASH!
Ling Shuying’s body plunged into the sea, kicking up a massive spray of white foam.
Even hitting the water, the sheer impact of falling from such a height left her body aching and her head spinning.
Fortunately, she had brought the D-BS7 with her.
It was a serum designed to rapidly induce adaptive biological evolution.
This serum had two primary functions.
The first, and most immediate, was the enhancement of bodily functions.
As for the second…
Small, scaly, fish-like patterns began to spread across Ling Shuying’s neck and skin.
Webbing grew between her fingers, and two functional gills formed on her face.
She looked exactly like a Fishman.
The second function was autonomous adaptive enhancement based on the surrounding environment.
If in the sea, it would heighten one’s maritime survival abilities, just as it was doing now.
If in a dense forest, it might cause the user to sprout long, ape-like arms.
Ever since the Director and the patrol team raided her laboratory last week, Ling Shuying knew this day would come.
She had made ample preparations in advance.
She had carefully mapped out her escape route, deliberately luring them to this Sea Cliff.
Not only did jumping off a cliff make her extremely difficult to pursue, but more importantly, based on the patterns of ocean currents, she predicted that “that thing” would soon appear nearby.
As long as she utilized “that thing” correctly, she could successfully escape and head to her destination.
There, she would finally be far from the City State’s clutches, free to restart her experiments.
Ling Shuying felt a burning sensation in her lungs, yet she could still breathe comfortably.
Furthermore, her underwater vision was becoming increasingly sharp.
Beneath the surface of the sea lay the remains of a forgotten city.
The desolate metropolis rested at a tilted angle on the seabed, forming the continental shelf of the island above.
A commercial mall constructed of steel and concrete still retained the basic outline of its original architecture.
Now draped in kelp and coral, and teeming with schools of nameless fish, the once prosperous and bustling city center—a former beacon of human pride—had become a paradise for marine life.
Ling Shuying gazed into the distance at the uniquely shaped black building.
Despite years of seawater erosion, it still maintained its fundamental structure.
Carved into the stone facade were faint characters that could barely be deciphered:
Beiguo Mall.
“Beiguo?
The North?” Ling Shuying thought to herself.
“Perhaps this underwater ruin was somewhere in the north before the sinking.”
However, she had no time to dwell on it.
Time was running out, and she had to hurry.
She had to reach the exact coordinates at the exact right moment.
She swam forward, her movements growing more practiced and her speed continually increasing.
Schools of jellyfish and sea turtles glided past her, while some fish, sensing the sudden disturbance, gave her a wide berth.
SWISH—
WHOOSH!
Guided entirely by instinct and the enhanced reflexes from her adaptive evolution, Ling Shuying executed a sudden mid-water flip, narrowly dodging a mechanical harpoon.
“Not good!
They caught up so fast!” Ling Shuying’s heart sank.
Two, three, six, ten!
A total of ten mechanical sharks were speeding toward her from the distance!
It was the Law Enforcement Bureau’s maritime pursuit team.
These were “Sea Hunters,” piloted by specially trained maritime enforcement officers specifically designed for high-seas apprehensions.
Ling Shuying’s pupils shrank.
This number far exceeded her expectations!
“Damn it, do they really need to send this many people?!” she cursed inwardly.
Twisting her body, she changed direction and darted frantically toward the ruined building ahead.