Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

Maritus's filamentary energy bands did not miss the Fool, an obvious nest of Sealings. Ulpian's attack just now also contributed to the Fool and the Sealings on board.

Looking around, Qi Yan saw that the boat and the surrounding area were full of little ones lying on their backs, unconscious.

“Ha, I told you, this battle is pointless,” Maritus sneered.

Unfortunately, its statement received no response.

The knight and Ulpian simultaneously stepped aside, looking at it with pity.

Maritus: ?

It realized that it had been questioning itself far too many times today.

Qi Yan slowly stood up from the deck, his eyes filled with even more malice, even a hint of ferocity.

Malitus cautiously stepped back a short distance, reminding him:

"Even though you are not a fellow countryman, all your acts of aggression will be shared with the companions you cherish around you."

“You’re right, but…”

A scene that felt familiar to Maritus played out once again.

Qi Yan narrowed his eyes slightly with a dark expression: "Qi Yan is the brother of Qi Lin, the cutest girl in the world. When you try to provoke him, all you should be thinking about is how to leave your last words."

The moment Malitus opened its mouth, its vision suddenly blurred.

Qi Yan seemed to transcend the limitations of space, suddenly appearing before it.

Spatial jump?!

The core of the Maritus organism almost left a blur.

The next second, its body was grabbed by Qi Yan.

Without giving Maritus a chance to speak again, Qi Yan completely ignored the properties of the filamentous energy band with his other hand, grabbed it directly, and tore it off violently.

Maritus's bubbly body was torn open with numerous wounds, but it did not share any of the injuries with anyone else; it bore all the damage itself.

"How can it be?!"

"I'm sorry, I wear Li-Ning. Anything is possible." Qi Yan grinned, revealing a slightly cruel smile.

Only then did the seawater behind Qi Yan belatedly begin to show signs of abnormality, as if it had been hit by several cannon-level attacks. The seawater roared and surged, creating numerous cavities and even beginning to vaporize.

The terrifying impact turned the area around the Deep Blue Tree ruins upside down.

Ulpian immediately threw out the anchor to use as leverage to escape, and the Butcher, who had not yet gotten very close, also quickly slipped away, carrying Ital into the Deep Blue Tree Ruins.

The knight gently placed his hand on Rosinante's head.

"Rosinant, we..."

No one knows what the knight finally wanted to say.

In order to block Maritus's retreat, the knight who occupied the unfavorable terrain had no chance to escape. He was instantly swallowed up by the kinetic energy wave brought up by Qi Yan's forceful body piercing through the seawater.

But the one who suffered the most was not a Cavalier.

Maritus's body was held tightly in Qi Yan's hand, its biological core surging wildly up and down in the head-shaped vacuole, but no matter how desperately it struggled, it could not shake Qi Yan's hand in the slightest.

Witnessed by Qi Yan's cruel smile, the core of the Maritus bio-element emitted a sharp tremor, perfectly withstanding the full burst of this kinetic energy wave at the closest possible distance.

The chaos on the seabed lasted for a full five minutes before gradually subsiding.

Ulpian only dared to return to the scene after the waves subsided.

"Thank goodness, you went easy on me."

He saw that apart from the original seabed silt and ocean snow being swept away, revealing the hard seabed rock layer, nothing else had suffered much damage, and only then did he feel relieved.

Qi Yan remained standing unharmed, clutching the nearly mangled Maritus in his hand, his smile finally turning into one of triumph.

"How could I be a bad person who destroys the environment? After all, I, Qi Xiaobai, am known throughout this land for my kind heart." He shook the barely alive Maritus. "You agree, right, Comrade Little Maritus?"

Maritus: "..."

You're right, but... I am an ancestor of Agor, the founder of the Deep Sea Church, the first human to join the Sea Lineage, and the first to glimpse the truth behind the destruction of prehistoric civilizations...

But now my body is riddled with holes, my biological core is almost shattered, and this terrifying method wasn't spatial teleportation but something you forcibly created by crashing into the seabed with your physical body, and you even deliberately held back...

As Maritus's almost fading consciousness drifted away, it inexplicably recalled its entire life.

Fragments of chaotic memories flashed through Maritus's mind like a revolving lantern, but he was powerless to confide in anyone.

"You're still keeping this special sea creature alive, perhaps to interrogate something?" Ulbian asked curiously.

"There's nothing to investigate. It's just your Agorian sage, Maritus," Qi Yan casually revealed.

Ulbian's eyes widened instantly.

Qi Yan shook the seaweed-like Maritus and said with a smirk:

"Whether they are philosophers, traitors, great men, or sinners, anyone who dares to act recklessly in front of me is doomed."

I spared its life only because I coveted its abilities. I planned to feed it to the Butcher, allowing the Butcher to undergo a targeted evolution.

Ulpian instinctively wanted to remind him that the consequences of Hai Si promoting this ability on a large scale would be too terrifying, but then he suddenly remembered that the person in front of him was Qi Yan, and felt that there was no problem.

"It's up to you. I'll go find the knight and hope he and Rosinant are alright."

Ulpian turned and swam in the direction the knight had flown away.

"Third team, once you find the Knight, take him with you and escape. Also, find out where the Fool has been swept away."

Qi Yan called out to Ulbian, "If you encounter Shuiyue, remember to remind him that I'm about to begin my operation."

He pointed to the massive, deep blue tree ruins beside him and chuckled, "This is exactly what I'm looking for. Remember to give Rosinant credit for it. I'll have Ital find it a few beautiful female seahorses later, enough to make it so happy that its legs are trembling when it's carrying a knight."

Ulpian stopped, skillfully ignoring Qi Yan's rambling remarks, and precisely extracted the useful information.

"So this is the core of your plan. I don't expect you to reveal your entire plan to me, I just hope you can answer one question for me."

Ulbian inquired earnestly, "You mentioned fleeing. May I ask how far-reaching this operation will be? When do you expect it to begin, and how long will it last?"

Qi Yan pretended to think for a moment, then said casually:

"Let's tentatively set it for a month later, to give Ital some time to climb the tree. As for the scope and duration, it's hard to say. After all, I don't know anything else besides brute force. You'd better have Shuiyue hurry up and notify all coastal countries to do a good job in flood prevention and control."

“All of them?!” Ulbian’s voice suddenly rose several octaves.

"Yes, all."

Qi Yan nodded with a smile, then carried Maritus toward the Deep Blue Tree Ruins.

Chapter 1111 Forward! Target: Deep Blue!

Ital and Qi Yan stood in front of the gate to the core area of ​​the Deep Blue Tree Ruins. Its tail was raised, the tip of which was curved into a question mark shape, and it kept rubbing its body against Qi Yan's calf.

"Are you hungry? Or do you want some rubs?" Qi Yan asked, looking down.

Ital immediately placed its front paws on Qi Yan's legs and tilted its head back to reveal its chin.

Qi Yan smiled, sat down on the ground, and gently scratched Ital's chin.

A comfortable snoring sound came from Ital's throat.

The Butcher, hiding in the corner, stepped on the dying Maritus with one claw, glanced at this side, and then looked down at his feet again.

"You...want to eat me?" Maritus's voice was weak.

"This is the master's will. I will devour you and evolve your abilities."

The butcher stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.

“My path should not end here,” Maritus said weakly. “Will you inherit my thirst? The horde needs to survive, and only the next generation can bring back the answer.”

The butcher carefully examined his compatriots at his feet:

"You always talk about Isamara, but Isamara has not returned, the flock has not received an answer, and whose answer does your path lead to?"

Maritus did not reply.

Butchers are unwilling to waste too much saliva on food, as this is disrespectful to food and nutrients.

Food should be eaten properly.

“I will destroy the information about the Generations before you eat me,” Maritus said again, his words clearly threatening.

Without pausing its movements, it lowered its head and bit down on Maritus's biological core, amidst Maritus's astonishment.

"You...you shouldn't...you...you'll regret it...the crimson ocean will eventually engulf everything..."

Before Maritus could even finish his last words, the biological core was directly bitten and crushed by the Butcher, who chewed it a few times and then swallowed it.

The Butcher licked his lips and nodded in satisfaction.

With reverence for its food, it lowered its head and devoured the remaining remains of Maritus at its feet, bite by bite.

After finishing off the food at his feet, the Butcher turned to look at Qi Yan and Ital, but did not disturb them. He then curled up in a corner and began to digest the nutrients and information from Malitus.

Qi Yan also noticed that the Butcher had finished eating. He patted Ital's little head and smiled:

“Let’s keep going. I’ll help you up the tree.”

"But this door requires specific biometric information..."

The gate that had left Ital helpless shattered with a crash. Qi Yan withdrew his destructive leg, his smile unchanged, and asked as he bowed his head:

"what did you just say?"

Ital: "...Will the Butcher be alright staying outside by himself?"

Qi Yan bent down, grabbed Ital's Fate by the back of the neck, and turned to shout at the Butcher:

"Those who praise my true name will see eternal life in the cycle of reincarnation."

The Butcher raised his head, looking like Li Boli:

"If something happens, shout Qi Yan."

Without turning his head, Qi Yan waved his hand and carried Ital away along the stairs behind the door that seemed to lead straight to the underworld.

The Butcher crossed his legs, scratched his head, and muttered to himself in confusion:

Why did my head suddenly feel incredibly itchy after I exclaimed "Ah!"? It felt like something was about to grow out.

Unable to find a solution after a moment's thought, the butcher decisively abandoned this wasteful endeavor.

You should go to sleep after you've eaten!

It once again curled up into a ball, peacefully digesting the legacy of Martius.

On the steps of the Deep Blue Tree, Qi Yan carried Ital down the long staircase, where only the lights barely provided any illumination.

Ital, held in Qi Yan's hand, turned to look behind him. At the gap created by Qi Yan's kick, the light was constantly shrinking and rising as the distance increased.

Finally, Ital had to strain to look up at the faint light, as if gazing at the last remaining star in the endless night sky.

“Sir, I can sense that there is a generation below.”

Ital suddenly spoke up.

“It is the main body of the spreading branches,” Qi Yan explained unhurriedly. “Even though it has died, its body continues to grow, with its branches spreading all over the ocean, nourishing the swarms with itself.”

“Yes.” Ital nodded.

It naturally knows these things, but it has something else to say.

"Sir, do you think I can successfully consume Him and become the new Him?" Ital showed a lack of confidence for the first time.

In the large group, it always seems to be the idea king, making all sorts of decisions and even winning over the Butchers to follow it.

But now, with her husband by her side, she can fully express her inner confusion and unease.

Qi Yan stopped carrying Ital and held him in his arms.

“You’re mistaken. We don’t want the branches that spread. After you assimilate to Him, you won’t become a new birth; you’ll only become the next Him.”

We must go deeper than the sprawling branches, all the way to Terra's mantle, to the true heart of the Blue Tree.

That is the place where they were nurtured, and naturally, you can become one of them there.

Ital blinked twice and nodded as if he understood.

Silence fell between the man and the cat, and only Qi Yan's footsteps echoed in the long, dark passage.