There is a saying that one trouble follows another. It might be an extremely appropriate expression for describing the environment of the Dark Continent. I have experienced this firsthand many times before.
The number of Regenerating Squids has rapidly increased in this sea area. No, 'rapidly increased' is too mild a word. It was an explosive proliferation.
It happened just as the securing of the necessary cuttlebones was completed and I thought I didn't want any more to appear. The number of squid increased at an accelerating pace, and they are now in a state of nearly filling the waters near the island. I explored as far as possible by letting Quinn swim, and it wasn't just a story limited to the vicinity of this island. This entire sea area has turned into a major habitat for Regenerating Squids.
It was already beyond the range we could handle even if all of us went out to exterminate them. Even using the Railgun [CYST BURST], it is like a drop in the ocean.
Anyway, the way they increase is abnormal. They can divide and reproduce parthenogenetically like amoebas. A new individual can be generated even from a single tentacle. And yet, they have the vitality and regenerative power not to die even if their heads are crushed.
That vitality is tremendous, resisting even the Almeiza Machine. They immediately cut off the infected part and regenerate. The regenerative power is stronger in mature, large individuals, and to surely take them down, it was necessary to fire several Cyst Bullets.
In the process of increasing their own species, living things have a set optimal value for the number of individuals that can propagate per a certain area. When the number increases beyond that value, a reaction to instead decrease their own species begins to appear. This is called the density effect.
Due to reasons like lack of food or water pollution, they cannot increase indefinitely in one place. There are various density effects such as a decrease in the number of eggs laid due to the stress of frequent contact in narrow spaces, an increase in the mortality rate of juveniles, and cannibalism.
Those reactions cannot be seen in these Regenerating Squids. Despite swimming in such a packed state that they can hardly move, they were breeding as if that were the optimal value.
There shouldn't be much food in this sea area besides Nutakonbu, but can they provide enough energy to maintain this massive population with just that? Various questions arise, but since knowledge regarding existing ecosystems cannot be applied as is to this sea, I cannot say for sure.
Judging from the progression of the Regenerating Squids, which began to increase with the decrease of the Magnetic Snail's power, perhaps those snails were an existence corresponding to the squid's predators. Or perhaps they formed territories and kept the squid away. In either case, although they were opponents we had to fight, I didn't think such a result would be waiting after that victory.
Unless we do something about this swarm of squid, it was difficult to depart from the island. No matter how much they are opponents we can deal with, they are not weak enemies. It is a prerequisite to fight in a state where Quinn can fully demonstrate her power, and charging into a force of numbers that fills the sea as far as the eye can see was admittedly reckless.
To be held back this much by an anomaly that occurred around a remote island on the edge of the Dark Sea, it makes me feel depressed thinking about how many difficulties will be waiting before arriving at the human continent from here on.
However, I no longer felt pessimistic. If difficulties stand in the way, I just have to overcome them. There is no path left to turn back.
And the time for the decisive battle came. A large shadow is coming from across the sea. Gigantic, vast, enormous—such words cannot fully describe it. Its size was equal to a single island.
The highest state of alert was issued throughout the island. A system to meet the attack with thorough defenses was in place, but even so, there was no optimism whatsoever. The scale was too different from previous enemies. Excluding the snake that turned its back to the wasteland where I was born as a Chimera Ant, it was an enemy with the largest physique.
It was a squid as large as an island. It is said that even a giant squid has a total length of around ten meters. And since such a huge squid has been discovered within the human sphere of existence, it might be called a relatively 'decent-looking' monster in the Dark Continent and its seas, which are a paradise for giant organisms. Giant squid and octopus monsters like the 'Kraken' have been spoken of in legends since ancient times.
The Kraken is swimming straight toward this island. Combat will likely be unavoidable. I'd like to repel it from a long distance without letting it get close to the island, but there was one problem with that.
The arrival of a massive enemy—that was certainly troublesome. But at the same time, it was a great chance. This Kraken, from its appearance, is of the same species as the Regenerating Squid. In other words, there should be a cuttlebone inside proportional to its size.
If it's a cuttlebone that can be harvested from an island-sized squid, it is truly a single plank worthy of being called a ship. Even if the sea gets a bit rough, there's no worry about capsizing. That was the greatest concern in crossing the sea of mucus. How to safely transport the main bodies? With a bone about the size of a surfboard, there was always the danger of being enveloped in a cocoon and suffocating.
I want to get it by any means. And it's desirable for it to be undamaged. If I used a Railgun, there was a risk of damaging the bone. Or rather, this squid cannot be killed unless the power is enough to crush it completely, bone and all.
I didn't think it was an opponent I could win against while holding back. The regenerative power of this squid becomes stronger as its body is larger. Even a squid with a body length of ten-odd meters has regenerative power like a planarian that has undergone otherworldly evolution. I cannot imagine how stubborn it would be at a Kraken-class size.
The speed at which the enemy approached was fast. It will reach the island within a few minutes. Even the time spent hesitating was precious. I decide to fire the Railgun, aiming at an angle that won't damage the bone as much as possible.
"3, 2, 1... Open Fire!"
The [CYST BURST] set up on the high ground of the fortress spat fire. Or rather, I should say it spat lightning. A flash erupted, and the roar echoed many times over. The target is so large it's harder to miss. Confirmed the hit on the enemy's main body. Seawater that boiled instantaneously generated a thick mist.
And without a moment's pause, the Kraken appears from within the mist. Not a single injury can be seen on its form. It swims toward the island as if nothing had happened.
I no longer had the luxury to worry about the bone. I fire [CYST BURST] in succession. However, the result did not change. Far from causing a wound, I haven't even been able to slow down its progression speed.
Furthermore, it was hard to see the enemy's surroundings because of the mist, but the situation at the time of impact was strange. The bullet certainly should have hit, yet it didn't look as though any kind of destruction occurred there. If it had been injured and then regenerated at high speed, I would understand. Instead, the injury itself had not occurred from the start.
The energy of the bullet is piercing the enemy's body, blowing away the sea and evaporating it. It would be strange if there weren't a wind-hole in the Kraken's body. Is there some special ability other than regenerative power? It didn't look like it was using Nen.
Without knowing the enemy's exact ability, it finally allows reaching the island. The Kraken hauled its body onto the cactus barricade stretched around the outer perimeter of the island.
This barricade is the end result of the Regenerating Squids. Since the squid that occurred in abnormal numbers were washed up with enough momentum to fill the sandy beach, it started with us turning them into cacti because we were at a loss for how to dispose of them.
I don't know if they have resistance to poison or if it's because their regenerative power is abnormally strong, but the Regenerating Squids with an acute case of Almeiza Machine turned into cacti, bloomed a large number of flowers, and continued to scatter Cyst Bullets. That period surprisingly lasted for more than a month. It seems that life energy commensurate with that too-strong vitality is stored.
The squid that received those Cyst Bullets became cacti and scattered bullets themselves, and by repeating this, a large number of cacti were naturally placed as if to surround the island. Near the barricade, Cyst Bullets are being fired incessantly, serving as an automatic defensive wall that keeps the Regenerating Squids away.
But it wasn't a trap that worked on the Kraken. That massive body, that speed—simply arriving at the island is equivalent to the arrival of a natural disaster. Before the incoming high waves, the barricade that had incorporated and piled up numerous squid was no different from foam on the water.
A tsunami rushes in. Because we had built a sturdy, high defensive wall, the damage was prevented, but it's terrifying to think what would have happened if this hadn't been completed. And without time to rest, the enemy's arms were stretched out above our heads.
Tentacles, each so large they reminded me of dragons, clung to the defensive wall. Ten arms pulled the sluggish head up from under the sea. The shape itself is no different from any squid found anywhere. That fact reflected as more strange than anything else in my eyes.