I Became an Evolving Deep-Sea Creature-Chapter 22

Chapter 22. The Wrecked Ship
After much thought, Yul decided to choose the Horn of the Sea King.
‘A magical evolution,’ as shown by the Ultrasonic Cannon he used back in his jelly octopus days, possessed tremendous power.
He really wanted the Metal Consumption ability too, but Yul had never actually seen any metal around the nearby seafloor.
‘There must be an undersea mine somewhere, but I’ve never really paid attention to it.’
Besides, since Metal Consumption was a continuous effect, it wouldn’t show immediate results anyway.
Pop!
As soon as Yul selected the evolution, a tiny cone-shaped horn sprouted on his forehead like a small bump.
The tip of the horn was blunt, looking rather like the horn of a baby goblin.
If another orca asked why he had a horn, at this size, he could probably bluff it off as just a lump or swelling of some kind.
Yul tried activating the Horn of the Sea King. As always, he instinctively knew how to use it the moment he obtained it.
At first, it felt awkward—like suddenly gaining a third arm—but the more he used it, the smoother it became.
‘Wow, was swimming always this easy?’
Moving the heavy body of an orca used to consume quite a lot of energy.
But after activating the Horn of the Sea King, the energy expenditure was almost negligible, allowing Yul to swim at an incredible speed.
‘As my proficiency increases, the magic consumption will probably decrease too.’
Manipulating distant or large-scale currents was still difficult, but even controlling the currents just around his body provided immense speed while drastically reducing stamina drain.
‘Amazing.’
He thought that maybe he should ask his status window to give him random choices more often.
While swimming, Yul suddenly realized he had gone too far.
‘Did I get too carried away with the Horn of the Sea King? I’ve come way too far.’
Even while using the Horn of the Sea King, Yul barely felt any significant depletion of magic.
After all, the magic core embedded in his soul produced terrifying levels of magical output, and this orca body seemed extremely specialized for handling magic.
‘The magic circuits are spread all throughout my body, too.’
If humans used their hands to channel magic, orcas seemed to have magic circuits woven through their entire nervous system.
When it was about time to breathe, Yul surfaced and looked up at the sky.
‘It’s night. Hm? What’s that, there’s a light below too?’
In addition to the stars in the sky, he noticed a light near the surface and, curious, swam toward it.
‘Ah, isn’t this the island I came to last time? I’ve drifted all the way here.’
Yul had returned to the island where the shipwreck lay.
It was the same island he had seen when helping the penguin migrants—there had been a wrecked ship stranded there.
But now, two years later, there was an astonishing change.
‘Huh? The ship’s been restored?’
The completely shattered ship had once been tilted and stuck aground, but now it had been repaired and stood upright.
‘No, wait—the shape’s different. Looks like they scrapped the old one completely. They built a new ship altogether.’
It wasn’t as large as the one before. Even if the island had trees, it didn’t seem enough to fully reinforce it, so the new ship was slightly smaller.
It looked as if they had dismantled the old vessel and reused the materials to construct a new one.
Though it had become a much smaller carrack, it still looked incredibly heavy.
“Alright, not much left now!”
A booming voice echoed. Yul poked his head up and scanned the sea’s surface.
There, he saw lights floating in the air—magical lights hovering above the deck.
‘A common magic spell. So that’s the light I saw earlier.’
The man who seemed to have conjured the lights—a mage and likely the ship’s captain—was commanding his crew.
“The day we return to our homeland is near! The day we sail back to the Kingdom of Frangia!”
‘Ho?’
To think they had survived all this time and even rebuilt their ship here—it was impressive.
Yul recalled one of his quests.
-Form a good relationship with one human being.
Maybe he could clear it this time.
Yul observed the captain closely. The man was large and broad-shouldered, with a goat-like beard.
He was missing one leg and wore a wooden prosthetic in its place.
‘He must be quite charismatic. Even injured, he’s leading his men effectively.’
He looked like a pirate captain straight out of the Age of Exploration. Looking closely, the repairs on the ship seemed almost complete.
“Once the dawn shift is done, we set sail at first light!”
“Yes, sir!”
Only about twenty crew members had survived. They must have suffered terribly over the two years spent on repairs—but finally, they were ready to depart.
Curious, Yul cast「Connection」.
“Hmm?! Who’s there!?”
The captain flinched in surprise, whipping his head around. In an instant, he drew a pistol from his coat.
“Show yourself! Mage!”
Startled by the captain’s shout, the sailors stopped their work and stared in confusion.
Yul, not wanting to alarm them, cast Formula 3. Transmission of Thoughts.
-I’m not here to fight.
“I can’t trust you unless you show yourself!”
At the captain’s words, the sailors gripped their cutlasses and glanced around nervously.
But judging by their expressions, none of them could locate Yul’s position.
-If you’re holding that gun, I can’t show myself, can I?
“...Fine. I’ll put it down.”
The captain placed his gun on the ground and unbuckled his sword belt, letting it fall beside it.
“There. I’m unarmed! I don’t know who you are, but show yourself!”
Yul drew in a deep breath of water, then exhaled.
Fwooooooosh!
At the sound of the great spray of water, the men turned toward the sea, alarmed.
Yul noticed that the captain’s magical orb illuminated him clearly.
“G-g-good heavens!?”
“It’s a sea monster!”
“It’s trying to stop us from leaving the island!”
“You fools! That’s an orca!”
The crew shouted in panic, but the captain, radiating strong charisma, calmed them down.
“Are you the one who spoke to me?”
-Yeah.
Yul spouted water again in affirmation and continued.
-Want me to help? I can send you back to your homeland.
The captain’s eyes flickered.
‘Hmm. So communication through「Connection」 works just fine.’
Humans can’t comprehend the magical signals of marine life or the ultrasonic waves of orcas, but when thoughts are transmitted through a Connection spell like this, they can understand them.
-‘Am I practically the only sea creature who can communicate with humans?’
Yul wasn’t offering goodwill purely out of kindness. He had several reasons for making the proposal to the captain.
He couldn’t deny that he personally felt some goodwill toward humans. He also had the freedom to decide how he spent the half-year before he had to to his assigned patrol area. But beyond those secondary reasons, there was a direct motive.
-I want to form a friendly relationship with you.
“We—be friendly with you...?”
-Yeah. You know, mutual help and trade. Do you have any magic stones? If you do, I could help you.
Magic stones were like a tonic to Yul—something that could extend his lifespan. He’d sampled one back in his jelly octopus days, but never as an orca; even without testing, he was sure a magic stone would lengthen his life.
“No, we don’t have any!”
-No? Hm. Well, then I’ll be on my way.
As Yul eased himself beneath the surface, the captain suddenly sounded frantic, splashing from the shore toward the sea.
“Wait! W-w-we don’t have any right now! But if you help us, the Kingdom of Frangia will repay you!”
-With what? How? Explain specifically. Who are you, and why are you here?
He needed information from these humans first.
“I’m Étienne Drake, privateer captain for the Kingdom of Frangia!”
-A pirate, then?
“I’m not a pirate! I’m a privateer captain!”
Yul knew the difference well enough and didn’t press it.
“We were charting a new route through the Great Azure Ocean! Until we hit a massive storm and were set adrift. We drifted and were trapped on this uninhabited island, and we’ve spent two years repairing the ship.”
-You don’t have to tell me everything. Want to come out in a boat and talk?
“Can’t we talk from here?!”
-You scared?
“A-a m-man of the sea doesn’t get scared!”
Étienne Drake ordered his men to bring a skiff and rowed alone toward where Yul bobbed. Seeing the several-meter-long orca, Étienne swallowed hard—but still rowed closer without showing fear.
As he neared, a thrill ran down Étienne’s spine.
‘A talking sea creature...! If I capture this creature alive and bring it to the Trombon Royal Family of Frangia, how great a reward might they give me? It could be enormous—far beyond any ordinary prize.’
That thought flashed through his head.
-Are you thinking I might be captured and sold somewhere if I show myself?
“O-of course not. Naturally not.”
-It’d be reasonable to think so, right? If I were you, I might try to catch a sea creature like this and make a fortune.
“Aren’t you a sea creature yourself?”
-I’m speaking from your perspective. If I were a privateer, I’d consider it. But judging by my power, you can see that’s not possible.
Yul dove beneath the surface and, a moment later, burst upward beside Étienne at tremendous speed.
He leapt nearly twenty meters into the air. Étienne watched, awestruck.
Splash!
Water sprayed everywhere, splashing across Étienne’s face and rocking his skiff.
-Imagine if I directed a strike like that at your ship.
“We’d all be dead.”
-Right? I might get hurt and need some healing, but you lot would become fish food.
“I-I suppose so.”
-Also, I can use magic. So don’t get any foolish ideas, okay?
Under Yul’s threat, Étienne nodded up and down.
‘This creature is fundamentally different from the ordinary sea creatures we know. It’s like a person who’s become an orca. I must negotiate.’
In old-school seafaring life, merchants and privateers were two sides of a coin: if an opponent was strong, immediate negotiation was often their instinct. So Étienne, abandoning the idea of capturing Yul, considered persuasion instead.
“Do you want magic stones? How many would you need?”
-Yes. About one ton of magic stones.
“That’s far too much.”
-It’s roughly 300 Ducats’ worth. Think of it as the price of your lives; that seems fair, doesn’t it?
“How do you know the price of magic stones...?”
-My friend told me.
When Étienne realized Yul even knew the market price for magic stones, he nearly lost his mind. Was this really an orca—or a person?
“We’re the first ship to chart the deepest reaches of the Great Azure Ocean. Flying the Frangian flag and coming this far is valuable in itself. Our charts, the logbooks I have—if we hand all of that to the Trombon Royal Family, it’ll be worth a lot.”
-Hmm. That valuable, huh?
“The Trombon Royal Family proclaimed to the Frangian privateers that anyone who brought back a chart of the unknown sea, the Great Azure Ocean, would be rewarded with 1000 Ducats.”
-Oh, I see.
So that’s why the ship came all the way from Randa to this far and dangerous place. It answered questions Yul had had since his jelly octopus days.
“Also, you can speak and you use magic, right? So how about this — form ties with the Trombon royal family and share your knowledge of the sea with us. You’ll probably be rewarded with plenty of magic stones.”
An intriguing offer. Yul needed to think it over.
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(T/N): Privateer - a legal pirate hired by a government to attack enemy ships during wartime. They’re not criminals like regular pirates. They have official permission to raid and steal from enemy vessels.