Chapter 573

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

After dozens of seconds, the priest, who had fully restored his humanoid form, stood up.

Ji Chen looked at him with a hint of surprise.

Rebirth from a mangled state was not an ability that ordinary humans could master, not to mention the strange ability to transform their hands into tentacles.

Watching as the newly transformed believers were all wiped out, the priest felt a deep sense of regret.

“My newly converted believers!”

The priest looked at Ji Chen with a resentful expression and said in a tone full of bitterness, “Damn human, I will make you pay and condemn your soul to be forever immersed in the depths of the sea!”

“Human?” Ji Chen raised an eyebrow slightly. “So, you don’t consider yourself a human anymore?”

“The bodies of creatures like humans are too fragile.”

The priest’s face showed a trace of disdain, and he coldly snorted, “I have long abandoned that weak body, pledging loyalty to the Lord and willingly embracing the evolution bestowed by the Lord.”

Transforming one’s body into this monstrous appearance was called evolution?

As Ji Chen gazed at the priest with elongated tentacles, the bishop who was swaying his own tentacles, and the scattered bodies of the sea heirs, a sudden realization struck him. His eyebrows furrowed deeply as a memory resurfaced. Hadn’t he just seen this priest commanding these sea heirs? Connecting the dots about the so-called evolution, could it be… that this priest and bishop were both sea heirs?

Ji Chen’s heart skipped a beat, and he focused his gaze to bring up their information panels.

[Sea Heir Priest: Primo]

[Race]: Half-Sea Heir

[Sea Heir ArchBishop: Isaiah]

[Race]: Sea Heir

Ji Chen’s heart grew heavy.

This revelation was nothing short of shocking to him.

In his impression, sea heirs were either adorned with large, flowery crowns on their heads or had tentacles covered in slime. In any case, they had absolutely no resemblance to humans.

And now before him, two sea heirs with striking human-like appearances had emerged, one of whom even admitted to transforming from a human into a half-sea heir. The other, although somewhat unsightly, had a humanoid appearance that hinted at some significant revelations.

These sea heirs were evolving to resemble humans in their outward appearance.

What was even more unnerving was that the sea heirs were no longer treating humans as mere food sources but had developed some form of social logic. They were assimilating specific humans, turning them into their own kind, and covertly forming a religious organization.

Did this not indicate that sea heirs had undergone significant evolution in their learning capabilities?

Ji Chen, who once fought against a sea heir tribe, instantly sensed the complexity of the situation.

The best way to deal with sea heirs was to act swiftly and decisively, eradicating them all before they could develop powers that countered their weaknesses.

However, it now appeared that this deep-sea church, consisting of humans turned into sea heirs and sea heirs becoming humans, had become active in Tressburg City. They absorbed an unknown number of followers, and even Baron Bessos, a noble, was compromised.

Especially concerning individuals like the sea heir priest, who showed no obvious differences in appearance when not provoked, sea heirs transformed into humans had been lurking within human society, quietly probing human weaknesses and abilities. They were evolving powers that would be absolutely devastating.

Ji Chen spoke with a cold and indifferent expression, “Is your Deep Sea Church active only in Tressburg City, or are you active elsewhere as well?”

The priest didn’t conceal anything and responded candidly, “Wherever the will of our Lord is sown, our footsteps are there.

Sooner or later, the will of the Lord will be spread across this land, and all believers will experience rebirth.”

The sea heir priest’s eyes wandered, and he spoke with surprising seriousness, “Why not join us? The Lord will grant you greater blessings and bestow upon you even more powerful abilities.”

Ji Chen sneered and said, “The price is becoming a monster like you?”

“This is precisely the necessary path for us to gain immense power and become loyal followers of the Lord.”

“But I’ve killed so many of your believers.”

The sea heir priest wore a cold-blooded smile on his face. “If these believers knew that their sacrifices had guided a lost newcomer to the Lord, they would feel extremely honored.”

Ji Chen rolled his eyes. It seemed like a waste not to recruit this guy as a pyramid scheme leader.

With a mischievous thought in mind, Ji Chen whispered a few words to Alice.

Alice nodded and brought out the sea heir heart core.

As the Sea Heir Core emerged, both the Sea Heir Priest and the Bishop instantly fixated their gazes on it. The Sea Heir Priest displayed a look of disbelief, as if he had witnessed something incredible.

He actually sensed a trace of the divine aura emanating from this object!?

Could it be that this human and these other races were also followers of the Lord, and the Lord had sent them to test him? But he hadn’t sensed any familiar aura from them!

For a moment, the sea heir priest considered many possibilities, without even noticing the playful look in Ji Chen’s eyes.

However, the sea heir archbishop suddenly reacted and uttered a hoarse voice resembling speech for the first time.

“Lord… fellow… humans killed… Take it back… for the Lord!”

Before the sea heir priest could react, the archbishop rushed towards Ji Chen, emanating a strong, damp, and putrid odor.

Without the need for further words, Anina stepped forward, her feet touching the seawater as she wielded her large sword. The Dragon Slayer Great Sword, a 6-star artifact, possessed immense power even when not slaying dragons, capable of cutting through metal and stone.

With a swift strike, the sharp blade broke through the archbishop’s defenses, almost cutting him in half at the waist. However, in the next moment, the flesh and blood at the wound rapidly regrew, returning to its original state within a dozen seconds, leaving no trace of damage.

Compared to the sea heir priest, who had transformed from a human into a sea heir, the pure sea heir bishop possessed a much more robust regenerative ability.

Whether it was the sea heir archbishop, who seemed to be a leader among the monsters, or their powerful regenerative abilities, it was the first time Ji Chen had witnessed such things. The Sea Heir tribes he wiped out before only had a Sea Heir chieftain as a monster leader, and the others were just ordinary foot soldiers with no rapid recovery abilities.

Clearly, the strength of these sea heirs was far greater than the sea heir tribes Ji Chen eliminated back then.

Boom!

A loud explosion rang out as the fists of the sea heir archbishop and Anina collided heavily. Then, both of them quickly retreated, wearing grave expressions.

Although Anina had a massive advantage in terms of strength, the sea heir archbishop managed to hold his ground with his formidable regenerative abilities.

Seeing that Anina had not achieved any results, her face turned resolute as she prepared to continue the battle. However, she watched as the sea heir archbishop suddenly began muttering to himself and then turned to flee toward the ocean. His flesh and blood skirt wriggled, and he swam rapidly on the water’s surface.

“Trying to escape?”

A glint of cunning flashed in Ji Chen’s eyes. He raised his right hand, and a towering wall of water several meters high shot up around them. Sharp water spikes protruded from the wall, trapping the sea heir archbishop inside. Then, one by one, chains pierced through his body like sharp arrows, pinning him to the water’s surface. No matter how he struggled, he couldn’t move an inch.

On the other side, Anina didn’t remain idle. Seeing that the sea heir archbishop was restrained, she turned and charged toward the sea heir priest. At Ji Chen’s command, they decided to spare his life for now.

By the time the city’s defense guards came rushing out of the passage, the battle here had already ended.

As they looked at the bodies of tentacled monsters strewn about and the eerie-looking sea heir archbishop, the guards couldn’t help but show horrified expressions. They had seen their fair share of gruesome creatures, but this was the first time they encountered something so grotesque with human-like features.

“The battle here has already ended. How’s the situation inside?”

“We’ve already taken control inside. All surviving Deep Sea Church believers have been subdued, and those who… mutated into monsters were executed on the spot.”

Ji Chen nodded in approval. This operation was relatively successful, capturing most of the Deep Sea Church believers and successfully apprehending the Sea Heir priest and the Sea Heir archbishop, two crucial figures.

This was of immense value for his research on human-turned-sea heirs and sea heir-turned-humans, this was of immense value.

Without further delay, Ji Chen began escorting the two captives back..