Chapter 18
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Chapter 18: Can a Cricket Fish Turn Things Around Just by Growing a Chin?
“Cough cough…”
When Glade opened his eyes again, he found himself lying flat on a sandy beach, wrapped in foamy slime.
Waves washed over his body, and he could faintly hear seagulls crying.
“Am I still alive?!”
Glade moved his body gently.
The pain was gone.
He realized all his injuries from the fight with the bloodthirsty demon had healed completely; not only that, but his body had gotten much stronger!
A great power flowed through his body and blood, as if every cell was celebrating its new life.
“Thank you, Giant God!”
The Champion Knight stood up suddenly, and something even more surprising happened!
He found he had grown taller.
This war hammer was made from the “divine spine” given by the Giant God, and it was huge, almost two meters tall.
Though Glade was already tall, he used to be shorter than the hammer.
But now, the hammer was shorter than him; that meant he was about two meters ten or even two meters twenty tall!
His body, magically changed for deep-sea life, seemed to have shifted back; besides his lungs still able to breathe underwater, the rest was better for land.
Still, if Glade wanted to go to the ocean now, he could; his body and the strong power inside could handle the sea pressure.
Even more amazing, the armor he wore seemed to “grow” with him; it was like it was alive, growing and fixing itself, and even giving him steady strength!
“Gurgle… gurgle…”
The foamy slime slowly vanished in the sunlight, soaking into Glade’s skin and feeding his iron armor; much of it gathered at the armor’s chest, forming a clear gem there.
The armor’s power came from this “gem.”
“This is a divine grace crystal!”
Joy filled his heart and spread through his whole body.
Now he was not just a Champion of the Solar Knights, but a Chosen Champion among them!
“I understand!”
He cried out happily, slowly kneeling on one knee toward the ocean, tears in his eyes.
“Great is the Giant God!”
“My Lord has not abandoned me!”
“You sent me here to spread your teachings on land, drive out the chaos powers, and offer blood sacrifices of chaotic evildoers to you!”
Thinking this, Glade didn’t wait.
After kneeling and praying briefly, he lifted the war hammer and walked firmly toward the land.
Glade could see flames spreading over the plains behind the beach.
Faint echoes of demonic roars and human sobs drifted through the air.
“Just as expected…”
Glade stared at the burning village drawing nearer, his bright eyes blazing with fighting spirit.
“The Giant God’s will is incredibly intricate!”
“Then let me fight!”
By now, Glade was closing in on the village.
Bloodthirsty demons guarding the outskirts spotted a ‘giant’ in heavy armor charging them with a massive hammer. Dumbfounded expressions appeared on their faces.
“Wow!”
“Where’d this guy come from!?”
“What’s he trying to do!?”
Glade wasted no words. He swung his hammer down hard onto the nearest demon’s skull.
“Bang—!”
“Squelch—!”
The ferocious demon proved utterly helpless against this hammer-wielding brute, reduced to pulp in a single strike.
“The battlefield is my paradise!”
“Slaughtering demons brings me joy!”
“I am the battle Technician!”
“Demons! Die—!”
Roaring wildly, Glade charged into the burning village radiating savage exhilaration.
“Blood sacrifice for the Giant God! Offerings to the divine throne!”
—-
Trilobite remained completely unaware of the terrifying entity he’d spat out, or how drastically it would shift the continent’s balance.
He sucked down some plankton, retreated to his cave to finish the long-dead squid, then stared at his Chaos Points in frustration.
【Current Form: Initial Jawed Fish】
【Status: Full】
【Magic Power: 3000/3000 (Recovers 25/minute)】
【Chaos Energy: 2500/1000 (Can evolve)】
【Skill 1: Flip the World Off (100 Magic Power cost)】
【Skill 2: Ball Joint Armor (100 Magic Power cost)】
【Skill 3: Unavailable】
“Hmm…”
“This squid’s pathetic. Gave as much Chaos Energy as that ‘Abominable Worm’ odd creature.”
“Far worse than the conodont.”
“And also…”
“System! Are you messing with me?”
Trilobite was not just troubled but furious.
The next thing he wanted to do was simply to grow larger!
“Hmm…”
“From the last fight, I overestimated my jaw’s strength.”
After thinking it over, Trilobite realized that the battle seemed easy but was actually tiring.
He got really annoyed by the ink from that “Mantis Shrimp Squid.”
He almost got caught instead of catching the squid.
“Tsk, those tentacles hurt me so much!”
“I was still too weak.”
“In martial arts, only being big is unbeatable!”
“So, I needed to grow bigger!”
This made a lot of sense.
Calling the jaw an artifact that crushes gods was a bit much.
Did fish think they could challenge sea scorpions in every ecological niche just by having a jaw!?
What did they think, it was easy!?
Finally, when the sea scorpion empire showed weakness, fish used their myelin sheath and size increase not slowing them down to grow huge and sweep the sea scorpions away.
What truly made fish strong was their ability to grow “infinitely” compared to arthropods.
Sea scorpions or other arthropods slowed down a lot over two meters, but vertebrates didn’t have this issue.
It was because vertebrates were big enough that their jaws worked!
Trilobite fully saw his weakness and wanted to change course fast, rushing to grow larger.
But…
No money…
【You do not have enough Chaos Energy.】
【Intelligence… command cannot be accepted.】
“Hey! Did you just say my intelligence can’t be accepted?”
“You’re hiking prices and still insulting me, huh?!”
Trilobite found that the “Increase Size by 5%” option in the “Evolution STEAM” interface had… gone up in price!
His goal was to double his size!
He figured he needed to buy 15 “Increase Size by 5%” to get there.
But the System told him that doubling his size would cost 15,000 Chaos Energy!
That meant every 5% increase required 1,000 Chaos Energy!
Ten times the price!?
“System, explain this to me!”
But this time, Trilobite had picked the wrong fight.
【The first time was practically a free trial.】
【Now it’s the regular price.】
【What? Is this unusual!?】
【Besides, size increase is calculated by mass! Double your size, and your mass grows nearly eightfold!】
【And to support your body, bones, organs—everything inside needs strengthening!】
【15,000 total is already the internal price!】
“……”
Sound reasoning left no room for argument.
Trilobite…
“Ah, well…”
“You’re right.”
Trilobite actually backed down!
Total victory for the System!
The System felt oddly unsettled.
【Huh? You’re giving up that easily?】
【With your personality, shouldn’t you argue till the end?】
“My former profession demanded pursuing objective truths in nature.”
“In science, truth isn’t warped by selective records or politics.”
“Right is right. Wrong is wrong.”
“I challenged you before only because you were wrong.”
“This time, you’re right.”
【……】
The System fell silent briefly…
【You! You…!】
【Don’t think this settles our past grudges! Hmph!】
【(`へ?*)ノ】
“Such a childish temper…”
Trilobite helplessly shook his head.
"But fine, I’ll grow larger quickly. I’ll grow as much as I can!"
“Whew…”
Trilobite watched his Chaos Energy rapidly deplete, and feeling sad, he slowly fell asleep.
Soon, he woke up again; maybe only a few minutes had passed.
“Whew—!”
He shook his body and shook off the "fish skin" and "fish armor" that were still on him. At the same time, he summoned the System panel.
【Current Form: Blunt-Toothed Macrocephalus (Small Individual)】
【Status: Full】
【Magic Power: 3000/3000 (Recovers 25 per minute)】
【Chaos Energy: 30/1000 (Insufficient Chaos Energy, cannot evolve)】
【Skill 1: Flip the World Off (100 Magic Power cost)】
【Skill 2: Ball Joint Armor (100 Magic Power cost)】
【Skill 3: Unavailable】
“Wow, I changed species!”
“Nice, nice!”
The Blunt-Toothed Macrocephalus was considered the first regional top predator to come from vertebrates, and its length exceeded one meter!
But the System called it a “small individual…”
“It seemed I was now about thirty percent longer than before, reaching about 65 centimeters, and my weight nearly doubled!”
“Such good news…”
But his good mood vanished right away.
“Whew—hiss—!”
Trilobite gently sensed the vibrations in the water; his lateral line felt uneasy ripples.
Another troublemaker came knocking!
“Ugh…”
“What’s going on…?”
“Why do people always want to bully weak little me?”
Trilobite finally understood what it meant when people said, “I love peace, but peace doesn’t love me!”
Even worse, the monster that came this time made his heart race!
“Holy cow, a strange prawn?!”
