Chapter 75
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
Chapter 75: The True Version of Devouring Fish
The old man coughed twice, shifted his body slightly, and continued:
"You are the only creation of my lifetime, so I have strived to make you perfect.
"Objectively speaking, you are now no different from a human.
"In terms of knowledge, wisdom, and emotions, you are indistinguishable.
"But you are ultimately not human, and I have come to realize a truth: blindly pursuing humanity is meaningless."
The old man placed his withered hand gently on the monster’s head:
"I am nearing the end of my life, while yours will stretch into a future I cannot foresee.
"You can become anything you desire; you can choose your own path.
"One regret I have is that I never gave you a proper name.
"If the opportunity arises in the future, perhaps someone worthy of trust can help you with that."
The old man’s breaths grew shallower, and after exhaling his last, his chest fell still.
For the first time, the monster experienced an emotion it recognized as farewell. It did not know how to articulate or record this feeling; it could only rely on the most primal response—tears from the tear glands it had inherited from an unknown source—to bid its creator a final goodbye.
The death of its creator left the monster adrift in a sea of existential confusion.
Time passed indeterminately until, at last, it resolved itself while gazing at the vast expanse of the Sea before it.
It stepped into the rising tide of the beach, allowing itself to be swallowed by the relentless Waves.
Its body began to disintegrate in the seawater; wounds that had once healed tore open anew, and the resilient Sutures dissolved rapidly.
Amid the relentless wash of the Waves, it transformed into an unremarkable little fish.
Without familiar landmarks, time in the Sea seemed to flow both swiftly and sluggishly.
The spirit within the fish was unaware that it had entered the next chapter of divine enlightenment; it simply swam through the Sea as any ordinary fish would.
The creator’s final words seemed to act as a blessing; now, it could indeed shed its humanoid body and take on the form of any creature it desired.
There was only one task it needed to accomplish: to consume what it wished to become.
The underwater realm was starkly different from the land; creatures had to remain vigilant against threats from all directions, including above and below.
Yet there were advantages as well; swimming through the Sea evoked a sensation akin to flying over land, a feeling that filled the little fish’s spirit with joy.
But this joy was short-lived.
For it soon encountered a true giant of the deep.
At that moment, it was foraging along the seabed when the light ahead dimmed abruptly.
Looking upward, it saw an immense Black-and-White Fish gliding above.
Its colossal form blotted out the sunlight like a cloud passing over the earth.
As its mouth opened, thousands of fish were drawn into its gaping maw.
The massive jaws closed, and its gills expelled seawater like a net, funneling all the fish into its stomach.
In that instant, the little fish resolved to become such a fish!
To achieve its dreams, it began to diligently hunt for food, growing into the largest individual within its tribe, and then preying on smaller fish.
It only needed to undergo a transformation for a period in the coral reefs or caves at the bottom of the Sea, and a new body with a larger size limit would be formed.
Time passed, and the small fish grew larger, even surpassing the creature it once admired.
Until one day, it felt it had reached its limits, but its body experienced a sensation it had never felt before.
It seemed as if it was about to transcend the bonds of the ordinary.
The strange feeling brought some pain to its body; it swirled up and down in the Sea, creating towering waves that swept the surrounding coast.
Each time it surfaced, a massive column of water shot into the sky.
Finally, at one moment, it sensed the opportunity for a breakthrough; during its last rise to the surface, its new body broke free from its old shell.
It spread two wide wings like clouds in the sky, beginning to flap vigorously.
The hurricane wrapped around the Giant Bird as it ascended into the air; it finally possessed a perfect body and became its true self.
On the cliff by the Seaside, a white-haired old man watched the surging Sea and recorded his observations in the bamboo slips in his hand.
Above, the Giant Bird seemed frozen in place.
Countless memories surged into its mind, intertwining with the memories of another body.
The spirit and memories that belonged to the kitten began to awaken.
It understood its position and recalled that this was the revelation bestowed by the divine.
It thought of that man—no, the divine being who spoke to it before granting enlightenment.
“Is this considered a success?”
—
“Plop.”
A sudden sound echoed in Lin Qingliu’s Clinic.
He closed the book in his hands and looked back, only to see several ordinary standard pens lying haphazardly on the table.
“What is this, an overflow of ability?”
Lin Qingliu raised an eyebrow and discovered that his pen holder had completely disappeared.
Among the identical pens, there seemed to be an unusual black pen imprinted with a Kitten’s Paw.
“Just as I thought.”
Lin Qingliu was almost certain about which divine enlightenment the kitten experienced. Just to confirm his suspicion, a familiar system prompt unfolded in his view:
【【Bestow a Blessing】has taken effect
Follower 【Unnamed】has awakened
Current Level: One
Current Path (only): 【Myriad Appearances】
Manifested Ability: 【Metamorphosis】】
【Triggered feedback effect of 【Bestow a Blessing】, you have gained a new ability
Path: 【Myriad Appearances】
Manifested Ability: 【Metamorphosis】【Illusion】
【Metamorphosis: Bite force and digestive system are enhanced; can transform into inanimate objects that have been digested, with a maximum size difference of 50%, and the altered object shows no obvious difference from the original object.】
【Illusion: Consumes mental strength to create illusions within a certain range; the brain’s activity level determines the reality of the illusion; base radius of five meters, duration one time of five minutes.】
Just as I thought, Lin Qingliu stood up excitedly.
Because he wasn’t very rigorous when designing these stories and paths, some inconsistencies in power were unavoidable.
But one must admit, his fifth ability was incredibly helpful for the art of deception.
And the only one who might see through his mistake was a cat that completely believed in him, which fundamentally minimized the risk.
Feeling the changes in its body, the kitten on the Examination Table slowly woke up.
Lin Qingliu gently held it in his arms and said softly:
“You have passed my test, and now I will bestow you a name.”
He looked at the kitten in his embrace and asked earnestly:
“Do you wish to remember the scientist who granted you wisdom and emotions during your divine enlightenment?”
Despite the thick layer of dreams, the kitten still vividly recalled the adventures within the dream.
Without much thought, it nodded its head vigorously two times.
“Good, then from today on, your name shall be—
“Fulan.”
