BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM-Chapter 1223: A way to safety (1)

Erik watched as the clone finished the last pieces of fruit, its hunger finally sated. Color had returned to his face, and his hands no longer trembled.

"Better now?"

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"Yes, Master. Thank you." The clone wiped juice from its chin. "The food... I didn’t realize how much I needed it."

He still needed some time to rest. Being on this small patch of land, he didn’t sleep to keep an eye on the sky.

The clone briefly looked at the waters surrounding them, then back to his master. Stay tuned with novelbuddy

"What do you suggest we do?" the clone asked. "The void ravagers might still be hunting around here."

Erik gazed out over the ocean. "We need something small and fast. The wyvern forms were a mistake—too obvious, too tempting as prey."

Erik could hardly believe what he was saying—wyverns as tempting prey? Though the idea seemed absurd, he knew the logic from Mannard wouldn’t work here on Mur. Everything was different here.

"We could try water-based forms," the clone said. "Something that can dive if we spot trouble."

Erik shook his head. "That might work, but the sea thaids are the problem. I don’t know how many are in the waters, but the deeper we dive, the more dangerous it will be for us. Flying close to the water surface will have the same result for flying thaids that usually hunt those in the water."

Erik paused.

"The flying ones will see us as if we were flying, while the sea one diving below will notice our silhouette." He patted the pouch of seeds at his side and then looked at the sun.

Whatever they did, they still were in a shitty situation.

"What about seabirds?" The clone’s eyes lit up with the idea. "They are small enough to avoid notice but still capable of long-distance flight. And they naturally rest on the water’s surface."

Erik considered this. "That could work. We might be left alone for several reasons, one of them being that we would not be considered a successful snack for many thaids, but keep in mind that smaller forms mean smaller thaids attacking us. Maybe they won’t be that strong, but many attacks would still be annoying."

There was no alternative. Bug forms would make the journey too long since their wings couldn’t carry them far. Larger forms, while faster and able to shorten the journey, would make them easier to spot—the last thing Erik needed now that the Chimaeric Demons had been decimated.

[What do you think?] Erik asked for the biological computer.

[The seabird thaid form makes sense,] the system said. [Not only are they naturally present in this environment, but their behavior patterns would help us blend in. Seabirds frequently travel in small groups, so we won’t stand out like a lone creature would.]

Erik nodded. [There are other advantages too,] the system said. [Seabirds have excellent vision adapted for spotting both aerial and aquatic threats. Their wings are designed for efficient gliding, which will help conserve our energy during long flights.]

"Are you sure there isn’t something better? I would actually stick to bugs, but they would make the journey harder, but better ask and have confirmation rather than doing things blindly."

[Most alternatives present greater risks, in the same way you predicted. Better stick to something small, but not so small as to make the journey difficult. The seabird thaid form gives us flexibility. We can rest on the water’s surface when needed, take flight quickly if threatened, and even dive briefly to avoid immediate danger. It’s the best balance of capabilities for our situation.]

It made perfect sense—bigger predators wouldn’t bother hunting such small birds, and by acting like other seabirds, they could travel without drawing attention.

Besides, Erik was also going to use Phantom Veil to turn invisible.

"The system agrees with us."

"Then it’s settled, master."

Erik nodded.

"Alright. We’ll wait until nightfall, then head out. We will take turns shapeshifting. The one in charge at that moment will carry the other, who will rest in the meantime."

"Let me start then, master. You need to rest; your wounds were grievous, and if you rest more, it will be for the better."

Erik appreciated the gesture but also cursed at the clones’ spirit of sacrifice every time he was involved. The clone was a mess; it had to rest both now and during nightfall, or it would collapse during the journey.

"No," Erik said. "After all you’ve been through, I should take the first shift. I’ll rest until nightfall, and you’ll do the same—but you’ll get more rest during the night while I’m in charge. You will take my place during the day while I rest."

The clone’s expression darkened. Not being able to serve his creator was a tremendous blow to his pride, and he and his dead brothers had already failed to bring him safely to Mur and gave him a great pain given by the loss of so many of his children.

However, something else seemed to have stirred in the clone’s mind as he accepted his master’s orders, and then a troubled look crossed the clone’s face. "Do you think they made it, Master? I mean, the others..."

Erik sighed.

"They had to," Erik said, but uncertainty crept into his voice; not even he was sure of his own words, but tried to believe them. "For now, let’s focus on something we have control of, albeit low: survival. One problem at a time."

The clone nodded.

He then lay on the ground and rested under the shade of the trees that Erik grew, shielding both of them from the flying thaids that might spot them.

Erik looked out at the ocean that surrounded their small safe spot. Aside from that small stretch of land they were on, no place was safe. Not the waters churning below, nor the sky clouding above. Honestly, even the land itself wasn’t safe, but at least there was a tree hiding him from the sky and some sand beneath him hiding him from the waters.

He sighed. Erik had already lost most of his army trying to cross these waters and didn’t know if the remaining one was still alive. He was forced to think back at the battle.

Originally, he thought the best thing would have been to send a small contingency of clones to stall the flock of three-headed monsters, but they had shown that with the clone’s capabilities, that would have been futile.

However, now he was reconsidering his choices.

<Maybe I should have sent them to stall them…> The thought of sending the clones to certain death made him shudder, yet by avoiding that choice, the only result he got was that everyone died.

In truth, sending away a fifth of his army to save Amber, Mira, June, and Emily was akin to sending four-fifths of it to lure the thaids. It indeed worked to stall for enough time to make the three women escape, but it only worked because there were enough clones to stall the three-headed void ravagers.

<At least I saved them…>

The clones could be recreated, but Mira, June, Emily, and Amber were irreplaceable. He had paid a heavy price, but it was necessary to ensure their survival, and despite feeling bad for their death, he would still take the same choice if put in the situation again.

That made him feel even worse. He turned to look at the sleeping clone.

Being just the two of them meant fighting wasn’t an option—it would get them killed, at least here on the sea. Their only chance was to stay hidden, though even that wouldn’t be easy.

Erik sat down and rested his back against one of the fruit trees. Next to him, he could hear the clone breathing as it fell into a deep sleep. Sometimes he snored.

Erik looked at the darkening sky, thinking about how bad things were. Now that he had lost his army, he and his clone would have to sneak around like small animals trying not to get caught.

It felt weird being almost alone. He used to have many clones around him, but now he only had one left. He knew that one wrong move could get them killed.

He thought about their plan to turn into seabirds. It made sense, but he knew that even good plans could go wrong.

His fingers absently traced patterns in the sand as he thought. The void ravagers had proven that even he and his army were wholly unprepared to fight Mur’s apex predators, and that made him wonder how he could get to the blackguards if he couldn’t even cross the jungle.

"Phantom Veil should work against most of them. They hunt by sight primarily. If they can’t see us..." He paused, considering that even phantom veil would have limitations depending on the type of thaid he found himself having to fight.

Some thaids could sense heat. Here on the sea, some might detect movement in the water through pressure changes; others in caves could be able to use forms of echolocation. A

"Maintaining invisibility for extended periods will also drain my mana quickly."

He couldn’t use it for that long, meaning that he had to get stronger quickly if he wanted to survive on Mur.

All this consideration made Erik reaffirm the thought that fighting would be a fatal mistake. If not even 40 thousand Chimaeric Demons had been enough, there was no way that 2 people could do anything meaningful.

"Shit…" Erik sighed. "I just hope things would not be so bad on land."

The sea and the sky were the breeding and hunting grounds of the most powerful thaids. Hopefully, those on land would be weaker than those in the sky and sea, exactly as it was for the thaids on Mannard.