Chapter 67: Burn

Seeing this, Lily Rhodes didn’t hesitate. She grabbed a nearby wooden bucket, sprinted to the pool filled with Healing Water, and scooped up a full load.

"Move!"

She waved away the Orcas crowding around Mother Orca and stepped right up to her.

Only then did Lily get a clear look at the severe injuries. The skin across Mother Orca’s entire body was sloughed off, exposing raw red flesh underneath. It looked exactly like severe burns.

She poured the entire bucket of Healing Water over Mother Orca. Wherever the Healing Water touched, the wounds began to rapidly knit themselves back together. However, the water couldn’t stay on the skin’s surface for long, and Mother Orca’s injuries were more than just skin deep.

The Healing Water pool was simply too small to submerge her completely, let alone accommodate the other twenty-plus Orcas in the pod. While their injuries weren’t as catastrophic as Mother Orca’s, they were still life-threatening if left untreated.

An idea flashed through Lily’s mind.

"Right, the glass workshop! I need a massive fish tank, aquarium-sized!"

Following her command, the glass workshop halted all other production queues and immediately began executing her order. Since it needed to house over twenty Orcas, the glass had to be exceptionally thick and durable. The tank was molded as a single seamless piece, eliminating any risk of leaks.

One hour later.

A colossal tank was finally complete. During the wait, Lily had continuously splashed Healing Water over Mother Orca to keep her from succumbing to her massive wounds. The Orca Pod saw her efforts and rushed over to help.

Once the tank was ready, with the pod’s assistance, she successfully lifted Mother Orca into the enclosure and began pumping water in. Fortunately, she had previously found a steady supply of Water Stones and fused them into a Water Spirit Pearl. Otherwise, her old production rate of Healing Water wouldn’t have even been enough for Mother Orca alone.

The tank gradually filled with Healing Water, and Mother Orca’s condition finally stabilized.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Lily turned to the rest of the pod. "You all have injuries too. Get in and soak."

The largest Orca in the pod gave her a grateful nod before leading the others into the water. Even though Lily had deliberately maximized the tank’s dimensions, squeezing in over twenty Orcas made it extremely crowded.

Thankfully, this wasn’t a play pool. The Orcas with lighter injuries obediently swam out as soon as they were healed, freeing up space for their companions.

Lily’s gaze landed on the largest Orca. Aside from Mother Orca, it had the most severe wounds. If she remembered correctly, Orcas lived in matriarchal societies led by the oldest female. Barring any surprises, this massive Orca was likely the pod’s matriarch.

But Orcas were the apex predators of the ocean. What exactly could have maimed them like this? And not just one or two, but the entire pod?

A faint sense of unease crept into her heart. Once she confirmed the Orcas were out of immediate danger, Lily turned and left.

"Shelly, have you noticed anything off these past two days?" she asked.

"The temperature went up again," Shelly replied.

"The outside temperature definitely rose, but that’s not what I mean."

"I mean the seawater’s temperature went up," Shelly clarified.

"The seawater?"

Could it just be from the blazing sun above? Lily frowned, unsure if the warming ocean had anything to do with the injured Orca Pod. Regardless, adopting a ’better safe than sorry’ approach, she instructed Shelly, "Let’s leave this area first. Find a cooler spot for us to stay."

Receiving the command, Shelly slowly turned its massive body and navigated away from the area.

At this point, the Orca Pod hadn’t fully recovered. A few of the lightly injured ones could move around, but since they weren’t familiar with Lily, they remained highly vigilant around her. Seeing this, Lily had no choice but to deploy her secret weapon: Baby Orca. She sent the little guy over as an undercover agent to figure out what exactly had happened.

While waiting, Lily continued crafting both small and large planter boxes, storing the fully planted ones into her warehouse.

About half an hour passed.

Baby Orca returned.

"Did you find out?" Lily asked.

Baby Orca flicked its tail. "They said they ran into snails."

Lily paused her crafting, asking uncertainly, "Snails? What kind of snails?"

Snails that could maim an entire Orca Pod? She wasn’t questioning Baby Orca’s intelligence gathering—after all, this wasn’t Azurea.

Baby Orca flicked its tail again. "Big, red snails. They usually live inside underwater volcanoes, but for some reason, they suddenly came out. And they learned how to spit magma! The seawater around them got really, really hot. Mom got hurt trying to protect the pod."

Hearing this, Lily completely stopped what she was doing. She closed her eyes and began to listen.

The ambient noise around her instantly faded into absolute silence. Her Talent was Ocean Listener, granting her the ability to hear the voice of the sea. Previously, she had only used it to hunt for Treasure Chests, but that was just a trivial application of her power. True to its name, the Talent allowed her to literally hear everything across the entire ocean.

Up until now, she had found the endless chatter too noisy and had deliberately blocked it out. Now, she dropped the mental barrier. Countless voices surged in from every direction.

At first, Lily couldn’t adapt to the sheer volume. Her head buzzed, a relentless THUD THUD THUD echoing in her ears like someone pounding a war drum. After a moment, she slowly acclimated, and the chaotic noise sharpened into distinct voices.

"Help."

"Hot."

"Help me."

A tidal wave of desperate pleas poured into Lily’s ears from all sides. Every single one was a cry for help. Factoring in the intel Baby Orca had just provided, Lily was almost certain that something catastrophic was unfolding on the ocean floor.

With this grim realization, Lily opened the Advanced material trading group chat.

Rhodes: "Do any of you have a large-scale exploration item?"

The moment she sent the message, all seven members popped online almost simultaneously. This was the first time they had ever shown up in such perfect unison. But this wasn’t the time to marvel at their coordination.

Rhodes: "Do you have one or not?"

Gu: "What do you need it for?"

Lily didn’t bother hiding the truth.

Rhodes: "I suspect something has gone terribly wrong on the ocean floor. My pet came back covered in severe injuries today. Burns. It was almost cooked alive."

Vaughn: "You actually keep a pet? What kind?"

Rhodes: "An Orca. Her pod apparently ran into some kind of magma-spitting snail, so I need to check if a disaster is happening down there."