Yes, after awakening from its slumber, Little Algae discovered its body had shrunk.

Its tentacles, which had originally been as thick as a thigh, were now only as thin as a baby’s arm and continuing to shrink.

Before Saul arrived, they had already shrunk to the size of ordinary human fingers.

Also, perhaps it had developed a sleepwalking habit while asleep—either way, when it woke up, it was already tangled into a ball, the kind that couldn’t be straightened out no matter what.

Little Algae had tried very hard to untangle itself, but after wriggling around, it only became more tightly wound. Its entire body, except for the bit exposed outside, had all been tangled into a ball.

Saul poked at Little Algae’s ball, then finally shook his head. “Forget it, just stay like this for now. Once your body completely stabilizes, you should be able to untangle yourself.”

If it still didn’t work in the end, worst case Saul could just cut Little Algae apart.

Sometimes you have to break something to rebuild it—once everything was cut open, he could connect it back together!

Thinking this jokingly, Saul patted Little Algae’s head. “I came to check on you. You’re recovering well. Just rest well for the next while. Probably in a year or two you’ll be able to continue…”

Saul didn’t finish because Little Algae, along with its ball behind it, had already performed a carp jump and leaped onto Saul’s face, directly covering it.

Saul pulled Little Algae off his face. Its new body was quite sticky, making a “ripping” sound as he peeled it away.

Looking more carefully, that wasn’t stickiness—Little Algae’s entire body was covered with densely packed hooks.

Saul quickly felt his face, fortunately not tearing off a layer of skin.

Little Algae, pulled off by Saul, wrapped around his neck again and climbed toward his head.

Seeing Little Algae so persistently climbing on him, Saul understood its intention.

“You want to come with me?”

“Ying ying ying!” Little Algae nodded happily.

Indeed, since first meeting Little Algae, the two had almost never been separated.

Even in the Chaos Realm, Little Algae was the first to accompany Saul there.

Saul once again stroked Little Algae’s ball.

This time Little Algae retracted all its barbs, feeling quite smooth to the touch.

While Saul petted Little Algae and considered whether to bring it along, Little Algae quietly wrapped around him without acting spoiled.

If Saul ultimately decided not to take Little Algae… it would probably still obediently listen.

Seeing such a well-behaved Little Algae, Saul couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

“Fine, then come with me. Sleep is sleep, wherever you do it.”

Hearing Saul agree, Little Algae immediately rubbed Saul’s neck continuously with its tentacle tip, looking very happy.

After rubbing for a moment, it dove headfirst into Saul’s nape, and the ball behind it also disappeared beneath Saul’s skin.

Saul raised his hand to feel his nape—there was a small bump there.

That had never been there before.

“Looks like it really is a dead knot.”

Little Algae seemed to have completely fused with the Black Sea Tree and Inverted Tree Seeds, no longer the same type of demonic creature as the original Soul-Devouring Mire.

As for what it was now, Saul didn’t know. It was probably a new species.

None before, and there probably wouldn’t be any again in the future.

Saul smiled and looked around the second basement level. Only one not-yet-fully-developed Black Sea Tree remained here.

With Little Algae leaving, with no one competing for nutrients, it might grow faster.

Taking Little Algae away from the second basement level and resealing the door, Saul returned to Byron’s side.

Byron had already begun new studies.

Although Water God Floco had only taught him for half a day, it had brought him considerable impact, and he was now busy consolidating his knowledge.

Kate floated in the water tank like a corpse, only climbing out when he saw Saul enter.

“Saul, do I have to stay in this body for a long time?”

Kate was somewhat aggrieved.

Seeing Kate make an aggrieved expression with the mermaid’s face made Saul feel it was rather unsightly.

“I’ll have to trouble you for a while longer. Having the Water God’s help will make the upcoming journey much easier.”

“The upcoming journey? You’re taking me to Nephret too?” Kate’s eyes widened.

“I already said I’d return this smuggled mermaid. Besides, I’m curious what the mermaids there are like. Oh, when the Water God possesses your body, are you conscious?”

Kate recalled his previous feelings. “I’m conscious but not very clearly—hazy, like dreaming.”

When Floco’s consciousness descended into the mermaid body, his fifth-rank energy would inevitably suppress Kate, a second-rank. The reason Kate wasn’t injured was probably because Floco had been careful to protect his consciousness.

Just then the door opened and Keli rushed in.

She didn’t continue asking for bone fragments, because Saul’s behavior just now clearly showed he wouldn’t agree to let her experiment with bone fragments.

Perhaps only when her strength improved further might she be able to access bone fragments.

Seeing Keli arrive, Saul didn’t continue fleeing but said very seriously to both of them, “Keli, Senior.”

Keli approached, looking at Saul quietly like a lady.

Byron also looked up at him.

“Next I’ll make a trip to Nephret. This time will probably also take about half a year. During this period, I’ll still need to trouble you both with the wizard tower.”

Byron asked with some concern, “When you go there, will you be targeted? Will they refuse to let you return?”

Saul smiled and said, “I’m not afraid of being targeted. Besides, they can’t keep me trapped forever, not letting me return. I’m currently the only third-rank wizard in the Borderland. If another Strom Eye is discovered, they’ll still need me to return and resolve the Black Tide threat. Even if they wanted to trap me, they’d only dare do so for about half a year. Any longer and neither the Stargate Council nor Sky City would agree.”

This was Saul’s current special status—with three fourth-rank wizards representing different factions in mutual check and balance, keeping Saul in a relatively safe position.

While the Tribunal’s invitation to Saul appeared to be asking for help solving certain mermaid problems, essentially they probably still wanted to probe Saul’s abilities and background.

After all, Saul and Gorsa were now in the same camp, while other factions knew too little about Saul.

Seeing Keli and Byron finally looking relieved, Saul changed the subject. “Of course, I also need to guard against them wanting to tie down my steps for other purposes. So there’s something I need to ask of you both.”

Keli placed one hand on Saul’s shoulder. “Speak!”

Her ladylike demeanor instantly crumbled.

“If something happens that you think requires my immediate return, or if the Tribunal has some conspiracy, you need to find a way to create an opportunity that forces me to return… create a fake Strom Eye!”

Byron pressed his lips together.

Keli’s eyes widened.

Strom Eyes were harbingers of black tide eruptions. How could Keli, who was second-rank, and Byron, who was nearly second-rank, create such a terrifying thing?

After thinking for a moment, Byron was first to react. “You want to use the reverse inertization formula?”

Saul nodded with a smile.

The reverse inertization formula, as the name suggested, was the reverse reaction formula of the inertization formula.

That is, turning completely inertized black powder back into black tide with powerful polluting force.

Although the reverse inertization formula couldn’t work on a large scale, faking a Storm Eye about to be born was still possible!

(End of Chapter)

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