Washed Ashore: Aftermath of the Legendary Clash

The Chain Archipelago, nestled within an unnamed sea, held a silent vigil. Upon its craggy shore, a lone figure lay, having been relentlessly tossed by the waves until finally cast upon the land.

Ming Yu’s eyes remained shut, her face starkly pale. The gentle rise and fall of her chest was barely perceptible, a fragile sign of life. She seemed to have lost both consciousness and the ability to move.

Streaks of dark red marred her silver-white hair, which fanned out around her. Her long, delicate eyelashes, however, twitched with a faint, almost imperceptible tremor.

Above, a magnificent white-feathered sea eagle circled for a moment before gracefully descending. It settled on Ming Yu’s shoulder, meticulously preening its pristine white plumage as if entirely unconcerned by its surroundings.

The eagle’s sharp gaze fixed on Ming Yu’s closed eyes, its beak twitching with an almost predatory readiness. Yet, it ultimately refrained from striking.

Its belly was already full.

Having followed this human for some time, it had enjoyed countless lavish feasts of sea beasts, all without expending any effort.

As the white-feathered sea eagle glanced back in the direction they had come from, a flicker of almost human-like fear crossed its keen, predatory eyes.

The colossal sea beasts, with their terrifying aura and immense power, had made the eagle’s very core tremble with dread.

Yet, this human had somehow vanquished them all.

Nevertheless, shortly after, perhaps due to the mysterious injections, she had suddenly coughed up blood. Her condition had appeared dire.

The white-feathered sea eagle could recall little of what transpired afterward. Its memory held only a hazy impression of an earth-shattering whale cry, a sound that reverberated through its very being.

It had been the closest it had ever come to death.

Had this human not produced another peculiar syringe and injected it as well, the eagle was certain it would have already joined its fallen brethren.

Though the injection had brought excruciating pain, once the white-feathered sea eagle had endured it, a sensation of rebirth surged through its entire body. It felt as though it had been dragged back from the precipice of life and death.

Having miraculously survived, its intelligence and physical prowess had both increased dramatically.

Witnessing the approaching sea beasts, the white-feathered sea eagle cast aside all caution. It attempted to lift the unconscious human and was astonished to find that it could actually carry her aloft. Its former self would never have been capable of such a feat.

With no other recourse, the eagle decided to seek a safe landing for the human. It set its course towards the familiar archipelago where it had once made its home.

Upon reaching the edge of the islands, it decided to rest and recuperate its strength.

Just as the white-feathered sea eagle finished preening and prepared to hunt for fish, Ming Yu’s trembling eyelashes slowly stilled. Her eyes, blood-red and clouded, gradually fluttered open.

With immense effort, she managed to twitch her index finger. Her blood-red pupils, however, appeared dim and lifeless.

Under normal circumstances, Ming Yu would never have risked continuously injecting gene enhancers.

The brutal conflict between legendary colossal beasts was an arena no human could hope to survive, let alone influence.

Fins of a deep, abyssal blue, soaring hundreds of stories high, were but the merest glimpse of a legendary colossal beast’s true, immense form. A mere aftershock from their clash was enough to churn the ocean into monstrous, sky-high waves.

Amidst their mutual slaughter, steam squids and narwhals—belonging to the Kraken and Leviathan lineages, respectively—had combined their might. Together, they had capsized a warship displacing several hundred tons.

In the immediate vicinity, any sea beast capable of enduring the shockwaves was, at minimum, A-class. Even more alarmingly, a vast number of S-class sea beasts, rarely encountered on ordinary days, had emerged.

Everyone was locked in a desperate struggle for survival, unable to spare a thought for anyone else. It was every person for themselves, a chaotic scramble to escape.

All, that is, except Ming Yu.

Far from retreating, she had instead advanced, treading over the floating corpses of S-class sea beasts. Her gaze remained fixed on the two legendary colossal beasts battling fiercely in the distance.

Simultaneously, the warnings from Jiang Chen and Xingtian echoed, one after another, within her mind.

[The facts are before me, I can’t…]

[You need to prove your worth to the Council, to atone for your past transgressions…]

****

[This operation, barring any unforeseen complications, will take us through the outer territories of the Leviathan…]

[Without absolute certainty, do not attempt to engage it directly, nor provoke it carelessly…]

[For the Association Headquarters’ intelligence division has confirmed that the Leviathan is not merely an S-class sea beast; it is a legendary colossal beast…]

****

[Actually, ascending to Sky City isn’t entirely impossible.]

[You’ve met the Association Chairman, haven’t you?]

[He once single-handedly challenged a legendary colossal beast, creating such a monumental disturbance that it drew the attention of Sky City itself…]

****

Prior to this moment, Ming Yu’s knowledge of legendary colossal beasts had been confined solely to rumors and secondhand accounts.

Now, having witnessed these so-called legendary colossal beasts with her own eyes, she had to concede that her previous notions had been utterly misguided and hubristic.

Nevertheless, she had still been compelled to try.

Regrettably…

Ming Yu had first taken a desperate gamble, undergoing a secondary gene enhancement within a dangerously short timeframe. Then, she had been caught in the shockwave of the whale’s cry, sustaining severe internal organ damage and significant internal bleeding. The incessant coughing of blood simply would not cease.

Miraculously, however, her hyper-efficient cellular metabolism and rapid cell proliferation had clung to her life. A flood of excitatory hormones coursed through her system, temporarily sustaining her combat prowess.

She had become a grim reaper of life, cutting down swarms of A-class and S-class sea beasts as if they were mere fodder.

The terrifying cost of gene enhancement was laid bare.

It was akin to draining years, even decades, of one’s lifespan in an instant, squandering it all to bloom with the vibrant splendor of summer flowers in life’s final moments.

Just as the effects of the various excitatory hormones began to wane, and Ming Yu, nearing exhaustion, prepared to retreat, a pale blue beam of light, originating from an unknown source, pierced through her abdomen.

She could react to bullets, but not to a blue laser.

Treading upon the floating carcasses of S-class sea beasts, her will ultimately succumbed to physiological shock. Her vision rapidly blurred, fading into obscurity.

****

In this harrowing moment, Ming Yu felt an icy chill permeate her entire body. Her limbs were utterly devoid of strength, and each shallow breath brought the metallic tang of blood.

Bracing her palm against the rough reef, she painstakingly managed to roll onto her back. This seemingly simple action sent a jolt of pain through her entire body, leaving her gasping for air.

“Cough, cough—”

Dark red droplets splattered onto the damp reef, resembling delicate, crimson flowers.

Ming Yu cast a cursory glance at the blood, then assessed her current state. A fragile sense of calm settled within her.

Though the situation remained far from ideal, at least the internal bleeding had ceased. The half-fist-sized puncture wound in her abdomen was already close to healing, indicating that the worst had not yet come to pass.

Cellular regeneration, a process demanding immense energy, had utterly depleted her reserves. Her stomach rumbled incessantly, a hollow protest.

Ming Yu drew several deep breaths, then, gritting her teeth against the waves of pain, pushed herself up to a sitting position.

The sea breeze swept over her, a chilling caress upon her skin. The briny, pungent scent filled the air, sharpening her senses further.

Her movement startled the white-feathered sea eagle from her shoulder. It took flight, circling cautiously above her head.

Ming Yu merely spared it a fleeting glance before redirecting her attention from the white eagle.

‘Where exactly is this place?’ she wondered.

Her gaze swept across the landscape. Vast expanses of aquatic plants bordered the coastline, giving way to low, dense thickets. Beyond them, incredibly, stretched a towering, impenetrable forest.

It was truly unbelievable.

Ming Yu removed her completely defunct earbud, tossing it carelessly into the sea. Then, she waded through the shallow water, moving slowly towards the shore.

‘In all likelihood,’ she mused, ‘danger lurks here.’

Ming Yu reached behind her, only then belatedly realizing her thermal cutting knife was missing. Her heart clenched with alarm. Her fingers then fumbled at her waist pouch, brushing against the cool glass of a syringe. Only then did the knot of anxiety in her chest begin to loosen.

‘Thank goodness, this is still here.’

‘Even though my current physical state is dire,’ she thought, ‘as long as I control the dosage, I definitely won’t drop dead on the spot…’

‘Hmm…’

‘Probably not…’