I Became an Evolving Deep-Sea Creature-Chapter 46

Chapter 46. The Hive (2)
Having acquired a massive galleon for free, Yul mentally cast self-brainwashing and focused his mind.
'This is a weapon system... Isn't a ship a weapon? In the Renaissance, a ship-of-the-line was a strategic weapon like a nuclear bomb, right? This isn't quite that level, but a ship is a weapon nonetheless.'
Through the magic circuits spread across his nervous system, he drew up the overwhelming magic residing in his soul and exerted influence over the ship.
‘The mana consumption is way too high, though.’
Raising the sails or lowering the anchor consumed huge amounts of magic.
‘Simple actions like these cost so much mana, yet manipulating the cannons uses almost none.’
The magic seemed to be distributed efficiently when it came to moving the cannons, letting him reload them at overwhelming speed.
It was probably a difference in recognition—because cannons had no other function, the ship clearly recognized them as weapons.
‘I can also open and close the gunports. With this, I can secure enough firepower.’
The ship didn’t carry many cannons. There were about 24 in total across the port and starboard sides, but gunpowder and cannonballs were plentiful.
‘There are swords and guns too.’
After completely taking control of the ship using the Mantra of Armament, Yul inspected the firearms.
The captain’s pistol floated up and drifted into Yul’s reach.
‘A flintlock musket, huh.’
Inside, both the bullet and the powder were missing, likely because the captain had resisted intensely.
‘This thing’s basically a toy.’
Yul gathered all the personal weapons and stored them in a hold.
Using knives or guns to fight the Hive was impossible. At a minimum, cannons were needed to inflict real damage.
He had no intention of ramming the ship straight into the Hive.
For some reason, after absorbing humans, the Hive had grown slower and slower.
'Is it due to digestion?'
In any case, the Hive was drifting southward, surrendering its body to the currents.
-Are you all alive?
A message came in. It was from Borgin.
-I’m alive. What about you, Borgin?
-I’m fine. But I’ve lost contact with the other Patrollers. And I haven’t located the Warrior Corps.
-Same here. But I’m monitoring the Hive from nearby.
-Good. I’ll search for the Warrior Corps. You keep observing the Hive.
Yul left the task of finding the Warrior Corps to Borgin and circled the Hive, evacuating nearby creatures.
Just like removing flammable material from a fire zone, he prevented the Hive from growing by removing any creatures it could absorb.
He also sent Marchand’s group a direct route to arrive here as quickly as possible.
And while he waited endlessly, Le Céleste arrived even before news of the Warrior Corps.
-What? Marchand? Why are you here so fast?
“Ah! Lord Yul! We received favorable winds and sped here at incredible speed. The currents also helped. There must be a massive current stream nearby.”
-Oh, is that so?
Apparently, they had been able to reach him at nearly the same speed that Yul could pull the ship with magic.
‘Strong winds and currents blowing toward this place? That’s dangerous.’
The idea that humans could reach the Outer Ocean so quickly from their own territory gave Yul a chill.
-This place is the edge of the Great Azure Ocean, the Outer Ocean. It’s the most dangerous sea, where no sea creature goes.
“I’ll make a note of that.”
Marchand said that as soon as he heard the word ‘dangerous.’
-Did you bring the item?
“Yes. We brought everything you requested. But the weapon from the mage is… rather large.”
-Huh? A mage? Ah, you mean Ian. What, it really is big, isn't it?"
What Marchand brought was Ian’s weapon.
Yul had expected something about 1 meter long, but it was at least 3–4 meters.
It resembled a fountain pen. The tip was shaped like a barbed harpoon, with several openings along the sides to let water flow inside.
The exterior was coated with Krelsite, and the back end—shaped somewhat like a car key handle—was made of a material that held magic well.
“The lighthouse mage said to pass along a message. He said he used up all the Krelsite.”
-Hmm. I’ll need to restock it again.
“Um, Lord  Yul… when you say you’ll bring more Krelsite… Do you mean you, personally?”
Marchand, giving his , finally couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked.
-Yeah. I’m the only one who can mine it.
Humanity would need a long time to develop the technology to mine ore from the seafloor. For now, Yul was the sole supplier.
-All your salaries are paid by selling Krelsite.
“…Isn’t the trade with the Arctic actually unnecessary, then?”
At Marchand’s suggestion, Yul shook his head.
-No. We need to maintain some connection with the Penguin Kingdom. Besides, once we finish dealing with them, I plan to head to the Archipelago Ocean in the south. Oh, right, take whatever you want from this ship.
“Eh? Come to think of it… what is this ship?”
-It’s a galleon from the Kingdom of Aragon. They seemed to be adventurers who drifted here. And, everyone 'inside' is dead.
“……Dead?”
-There’s a monster called the Hive. It killed them.
When Yul roughly explained the Hive’s characteristics, Marchand shuddered.
“There’s no such monster on land. Nothing even remotely similar.”
Marchand boarded the Aragon Kingdom’s ship and examined the interior.
-I plan to use the gunpowder and weapons. Make them usable. You can recover the rest of the cargo and their navigation logs.
“Understood.”
Together with the sailors, he gathered various items from the Aragon ship: food stores, navigation logs, a compass, a telescope, and more.
Marchand said he found something particularly unusual among them.
“Lord Yul, it’s a staff meant exclusively for mages.”
-I heard all of you captains are mages, right? You use it or sell it.
There was a magic stone set into the staff, but in such a small amount that it wouldn’t be very efficient for Yul to consume.
“Yes. And we also found some Krellsite ore.”
-Krellsite? Why would that be in the Kingdom of Aragon?
“It was enshrined carefully, and it looks as if it was freshly mined.”
Had a species other than Yul begun trading it? Or had they obtained Krellsite from some island? There was no way to know.
-That’s… I’ll think about it later; it’s not important right now.
“Okay. Everything’s been sorted.”
-Hmm. I can feel it getting closer. You all keep your distance.
“Please be careful, shipowner. We’d rather not suddenly lose our benevolent patron.”
-So even you, with that stiff face, know how to joke? Don’t worry. Just stay far away for now.
Once Marchand’s Le Céleste had moved some distance away, Yul intended to immediately carry out combat with the Hive.
-Hoo. Ready.
He muttered as if making a vow to himself. There were no reinforcements anywhere, but he had no intention of waiting for the Warrior Corps. Right now, all he could think about was rescuing Nugh.
Yul clung tightly to the underside of the sailing ship. Using a towline would restrict his movement, so that wasn’t an option. Instead, he used the Horn of the Sea King to alter the flow of the tides and steer the ship.
The magic consumption increased slightly, but he had no intention of controlling it for long.
Right on the edge of Yul’s detection range, the Hive’s position soon came into view.
No one knew when Nugh would be completely assimilated by the Hive. He might already have been absorbed.
But at the very least, he intended to take that body back.
‘Stay calm. Focus.’
Yul opened the gunports and precisely aimed the cannons. At the same time, gunpowder flew through the air, and cannonballs also flew through the air, automatically loading themselves into the cannons.
Though he couldn’t see them, he handled it as skillfully as if moving his own hands or feet.
That was the ability of the 「Mantra of Armament」.
Holding his breath, Yul continued to cling beneath the ship.
He entered the Hive’s detection range. Tensing, he thought a tentacle attack might come flying at any moment, but the Hive showed no interest in Yul.
‘No, rather than me, it has no interest in this sailing ship. It already killed every living thing on board.’
Right now, this ship might simply be considered a ghost ship drifting on the sea.
Now it was time to drive an iron thought straight into the bastard’s head. He lifted the prepared linstock and brought it to the touch hole.
—BOOOM!
The twelve culverin cannons on the port side erupted in unison.
Screeeech!
Almost simultaneously, the cannonballs fired from the Argos cut through the air and struck the Hive sprawled across the sea surface.
Crash! Boom! Thud!
They were nothing more than chunks of iron, but the terrifying impact caused parts of the Hive to burst apart.
Its living outer skin tore like paper, spewing purple viscera.
Like a cocktail mixed into seawater, purple blood spread between the waves.
‘It works!’
The Hive didn’t scream. More precisely, it seemed to feel no pain.
However, unlike its previous sluggish behavior, it now displayed an incredibly fast reaction speed.
Some of the Hive’s tentacles transformed into fin-like shapes, and by swaying its body like an orca, it gained thrust.
‘So it speeds up when it detects hostility.’
Yul spun the sailing ship halfway around and fired the remaining cannons.
The cannonballs severed part of the Hive! Seeing chunks of flesh tear free and separate from the main body, Yul gained confidence.
‘Reload!’
He loaded the cannons on the opposite side again. Using the ramrod to clear out the gunpowder residue, pouring in fresh powder, and adjusting the cannonballs.
No one had taught him, yet he knew the exact amount of gunpowder. How far to push the ramrod to clear the powder, and how to aim the cannonballs properly.
Yul realized he had underestimated the Mantra of Armament. It went beyond simple telekinesis—there seemed to be ‘something’ more.
‘I’ll keep pouring on the bombardment like this.’
He intended to fire until the gunpowder ran dry.
Whirrrrrlick!
From far away, a tentacle flew in, then shot off uselessly into empty air.
‘Unlike underwater, tentacles fired toward a ship have atrocious accuracy.’
The tentacle projectiles that had pierced orcas with pinpoint precision from several kilometers away couldn’t even touch the ship at a much closer distance.
‘Then let’s maintain the distance.’
Along with successive volleys, he used the Horn of the Sea King to its maximum to widen the gap.
At that moment, the Hive—having taken multiple bombardments—began to change shape.
From the island of biological debris, through holes torn in its inner membrane, bizarre, round, purple lumps of flesh began to swell.
After swelling, the flesh hardened and then immediately formed a reflective armor.
-Clang!
Armor with a high curvature along its sloped surface defended the Hive’s upper body.
‘What? How is that even possible!?’
When a steel cannonball struck the upper section and bounced off, Yul was dumbfounded.
Then the Hive’s body accelerated even faster, because a gigantic sail formed in the central section where there was no reflective armor.
It caught the wind. Gaining speed, it began to pursue Yul.
With its upper armor becoming angular like the nose of a Nighthawk stealth aircraft, it closed in on Yul’s sailing ship and delivered a tremendous ramming attack.
-CRASH!
At the same time, enormous tentacles scattered outward and stretched toward the entire ship.
Even Yul, clinging tightly beneath the hull, could see the tentacles.
At the tip of each tentacle was an embedded eye. The transparent lenses twisted their directions as if each possessed its own intelligence, attacking everywhere at once.
The instant Yul sensed a threat to his life, a red light flared from his entire body.
【Authority—Madness (狂化) Activated】
‘Good. I’ve been waiting for this moment.’
Before the ship could completely explode, Yul moved swiftly to seize his original objective.
Darting like an arrow through the countless tentacles, Yul sensed shockwaves resounding behind him, but they posed no hindrance at all to rescuing the captured Nugh.
Biting down and tearing away part of the massive purple tentacle attached to Nugh’s back, Yul plunged straight down into the deep sea of profound darkness.
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(T/N): Just got back from my holiday break. I know my greetings are a bit late, but still—Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, guys! Let’s go, FIGHTING 2026!!!