Chapter 37
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Chapter 37: Trilobite’s Head Was Stolen
“Gluurrr—Zzz—Gluurrr—!”
The three “vampire squids” spat out bubbles and made odd noises as they swam up and down among the clusters of small nautiluses around them. Their tentacles, covered in transparent membranes, waved at a special frequency.
Their body colors changed rapidly.
“Hmm…”
Trilobite stopped swimming fast and looked at the “vampire squids” in confusion.
“What is this? Some weird animal act?”
“Or…”
“Right!”
Trilobite suddenly recalled that cephalopods were the smartest group after vertebrates!
Before he transformed into a Trilobite, he had heard that squids, cephalopods, passed the "delayed gratification test." That meant they resisted eating a small snack right away to get a bigger, tastier meal after twenty minutes!
At the time, only chimpanzees, crows, and parrots could pass that test.
This showed that cephalopods, despite their big eyes, could rival the smartest vertebrates in intelligence!
“Looks like the Discovery Channel’s documentary ‘Future Fantasia’ had a point, portraying swamp octopuses and their arboreal descendants as future ‘primates’ that could form communities and use tools.”
“So, vampire squids might develop a simple ‘language’ like monkeys and baboons use!?”
“What are you all talking about?”
“System, do you speak octopus? Or specifically, vampire squid language?”
【Eh? Why would someone want to understand that kind of language?】
【Besides, if you don’t get it, how would I?】
“Hmm… true…”
Trilobite thought that the System Lady seemed clueless about natural sciences, like a baby fascinated by evolution tales.
He realized that even he, an expert in his field, didn’t grasp the complex topic of cephalopod group communication, let alone the System Lady.
“Alright…”
“But you’re all blowing bubbles and wiggling tentacles—it looks ugly.”
“And you’re definitely plotting against me!”
“Why not… strike first!”
“Whoosh—!”
Challenging three 1.5-meter vampire squids with his 1.3-meter Carcharocles body was risky for Trilobite!
As always, cephalopods were all troublemakers, not to be messed with.
Generally, predators ate squids easily due to size advantage.
For example, sperm whales hunt giant squids.
Sperm whales weigh 25 to 40 tons, while the heaviest giant squid recorded weighed 997 kilograms, and those over 500 kilograms are big.
How could one fight with a weight difference of 30 to 50 times?
The only recorded case of a sperm whale dying while hunting a giant squid happened because it choked after eating too fast.
It was like a cat or rabbit facing a tiger—if they couldn’t escape, death was the only outcome!
But at equal weight, cephalopods could hold their own.
Squids or octopuses often caught fish only slightly smaller than themselves.
It was truly risky for Trilobite to challenge three larger squids gathered as a group.
So…
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Having fully regained the magic points spent recruiting his spawn earlier, he cast ten layers of shields on himself without hesitation!
Then…
“Son of a thief——!”
Before the three vampire squids, he raised his middle finger in defiance, sacrificing his family tree to mock the world!
Instantly, all their tricks, contracts, and schemes vanished into nothing!
Driven by wild rage, they charged at the strange Monster God in “fish shape” ahead, dragging the nautiluses along!
“Boom——!”
“Thud!”
Impact sounds echoed one after another, shaking the water.
But the first casualties weren’t the vampire squids—it was the nautiluses around them.
Though clumsy-looking, they could jet forward rapidly in short bursts. The vampire squids seemed to abandon their ancestral skills, flapping the two fleshy wings atop their heads to advance.
So…
“Bang!”
“Thud!”
Nautiluses spun wildly, colliding and tumbling into chaos!
Seizing the moment, Trilobite struck…
“Ah—oo—!”
The Carcharocles gaped its shark jaws wide, unleashing the terrifying “jaw-bone guillotine” inherited from Duncker’s fish. Crashing blows and cracking shells reverberated through the sea.
Soon, the first nautilus sank bubbling to the seabed, trailing shattered shell and mangled flesh.
Yet their “sacrifice” bought time for the three vampire squids.
Shaking off the taunt’s effect, they halted just in time, retreating to watch the Carcharocles battle the nautiluses.
Of course, it was a one-sided slaughter.
The Carcharocles utterly overpowered the nautiluses.
If it cracked their shells, the nautiluses stood no chance.
This battle gave the vampire squids—actually the blood octopus deities—a shocking lesson in Trilobite’s eyes.
—-
“Oh heavens! Oh heavens!”
“He’s too strong! Too strong!”
“Ignored our temptations! Such wisdom! Such cleverness!”
“Superior to us! Truly superior!”
“We’re doomed! Doomed!”
“Can’t retrieve his head! What a loss! Such a loss!”
…
Watching the fish-shaped Giant God wreak havoc, the Outer Gods trembled in fear.
But true to their reputation as the cleverest Outer Gods, the blood octopus deities soon spotted an opportunity!
“Eh!? Look! Look!”
“Isn’t that his head there? So huge! So fierce!”
“Bring it back and we’ll claim our reward! Our reward!”
…
Drawn by their companion’s cries, the other blood octopus deities peered toward the seabed. There lay a skull-like object not far away!
It resembled the fish-shaped Giant God’s head—or skull!
“We’ve seized the target’s skull! Yay! Yay!”
“Yay! Haul it! Haul it!”
They dove into action. While Trilobite slaughtered their Outer God allies, they slipped underwater, wrapping tentacles around the “skull” to abscond with it.
Trilobite paused mid-suck on a nautilus, baffled.
“Huh… They came just for my shed exoskeleton?”
“But why!?”
“Do vampire squids gnaw bones?”
Yet the question no longer mattered.
The exoskeleton was useless to Trilobite anyway—letting the three vampire squids take it cost nothing. Besides, they’d delivered so many “tasty snacks.”
Call it a “fair trade.”
As Trilobite ignored the skull-thieving blood octopuses and refocused on butchering nautiluses, a realization struck.
“Ah! My trilobite spawn hasn’t eaten!”
He flicked the trilobite spawn clinging to him onto the seabed.
“Well, as my spawn—my ‘pet’ and ‘partner’—I can’t feed you excrement.”
“Instead…”
Trilobite gaped his jaws open.
“Here! All the meat scraps in my teeth are yours!”
“Sharks need oral hygiene too!”
Unbeknownst to him, this act stunned mortals—and even Sulya, now a demigod!
