Sumatra's Greatest Fan-Chapter 71: The Mission Begins

’Perfect Incision and Mist Vortex,’ Torq analysed the two Skills with gratitude, ’They work as a single Spirit Weapon and perfectly perform their intended task.’

’They had been created with a clear understanding of a Cooter Clansman’s physiology and how their bodies interact with fluids.’ Torq thought, ’With these two Skills, cleaning myself at regular intervals has become easy.’

Activating the Skill of Perfect Incision only cost 2 units of Prana and the Skill of Mist Vortex consumed a total of 14 units of Prana. All in all, by consuming a meagre 16 units of Prana, Torq was fully free from any Narlakk’s influence, had he been under one subconsciously.

When his fat deposits were burnt, Torq felt his mind clear up by a tad, ’Which means in the short duration since my arrival here, I’ve been infected.’

That was why the Narlakks were extremely fearsome, capable of collapsing most powers from within without lifting a finger. Their physiques allowed them to camouflage and remain hidden for as long as they wanted, oftentimes releasing their pollen at the cost of their lives.

’In the previous timelines, they maintained their camouflage even to the point of death.’ He grumbled, ’That’s why detecting them was such a pain.’

"Fuck!" His thoughts were interrupted by a loud curse from nearby. Torq faced the old man in question, the Team Leader of the Maintenance Crew he was a part of.

The old man, named Inin, was cursing in anger, for he had been under a Narlakk’s influence too, not to the extent he refused to activate the Skills, but still dangerously close. And with his strength, he would have become susceptible to the influence in a few more minutes.

He was angry, because he was pretty close to sabotaging the missions, for as part of the maintenance crew, him slacking off would result in irreparable damage down the line.

"I apologise, Captain." Inin prostrated on the floor and shouted aloud, "I fear my incompetence might cost us this mission."

If he could be infected once without knowing any better, he could be infected again, and again, as many times as the enemy needs, to act against the Cooter Clan’s interests.

Knowing the risks associated with his involvement in the mission, Inin expressed his intent to back away from the mission.

As he remained prostrated on the floor, there was a flicker of lightning. Appearing before him Bnapbnap, his features placid.

"Get up and perform your duty, Inin." Bnapbnap said, "Keep using the two Skills at regular intervals."

Seeing the old man still express hesitation, Bnapbnap figured out the cause, "Are you hesitant because you feel the medicine costs will outweigh your importance in the mission?"

"Yes," Inin nodded without hesitation, "Even though we can carry a lot of medicines on board, the sheer consumption from constantly regenerating our flesh would shave away our reserves."

"I’m afraid there won’t be enough medicines by the time we reach the Dralh Sea."

"You are pretty aware," Bnapbnap smiled faintly and used a column of mist to prop up the old man, "Continue to perform your duties until your last breath, Inin."

"The Cooter Clan is resourceful enough to afford such expenditure." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Yes," Tears welled up in Inin’s eyes as he stared at the confident expression of Bnapbnap and roared aloud, "Long live the Cooter Clan!"

"Long live the Cooter Clan!" As he continued to roar, the rest of the Cooter Clansmen joined suit, sharply raising the volume of their roar that thundered across the region.

Fully stocked for the journey, everyone boarded their respective Battleships.

Walking amidst his team of 20 Maintenance Crew members was Torq, eyeing the giddy figure of Inin who walked at the forefront, ’Can afford the expenditure, huh?’

In the previous timeline, Runthral wasn’t targeted right after his graduation. ’The Narlakks took action for the first time in this mission.’

Unawares of the Narlakks’ existence, the Cooter Clan suffered a crushing defeat. Not only was Raurau the sole survivor, Runthral too had been captured, using who the Nirclick Race gained authority over the Cooter Clan on par with Empyrean Snappers.

And as Runthral matured while under the Narlakk influence, the pollen in him mutated to affect Empyrean Snappers too. Through him, the Empyrean Snappers fell victim one after another.

The Cooter Clan’s destruction removed the dominant force protecting Sumatra’s water bodies, allowing the enemies to invade deep inland through the rivers and seas.

’It all started from this mission.’ However, that was in the original timeline, when Torq was busy completing his puzzle as a Transcendent.

But in this timeline, things had changed. First was the nerf to Nusantara Celestial, which caused a butterfly effect.

As a result, the Narlakks prematurely targeted Runthral, before they could amass enough strength from the Cooter Clansmen they had captured across the islands. This allowed Torq to gain control over a quill at the earliest.

And empowered by the turtle shell he had converted the quill into, Narlakk Nirrkarrlarr served as a good test subject for the Cooter Clan, through which they quickly figured out some countermeasures.

’The Skills of Perfect Incision and Mist Vortex never appeared in the previous timeline. Similar Skills did appear, invented by my desperate father, but they weren’t as Prana efficient as these two Skills.’ Torq thought, ’And these are merely the first in line.’

’The Cooter Clan will continue researching that Narlakk and extract more and more of its value.’ He grinned, ’Since they have a better foundation this time, they can reach the point which father struggled to barely conceptualise in the previous timeline.’

Through the Narlakks, the Cooter Clan could extract powerful Spirit Pools of Iron and Silver Grade that were just like Lightning Plasma Spirit Pool, extremely compatible with Mystic Mist Art.

’We can reach a point where we extract Spirit Pools out of our enemies using the Narlakks.’ That’s why Torq made plans to give Narlakk Nirrkarrlarr to the Cooter Clan. It was to facilitate the creation of a future where the enemies merely became fuel for the Cooter Clan’s development.

Towards that, he intended to get his hands upon as many quills as he could. ’Steadily, I will bankrupt you fucks!’

His team entered the Battleship and walked into the cabin, quickly descending through a flight of stairs as they arrived at a room attached to the hull. It had a small compartment that allowed them to exit the hull and treat its external side.

The reason Torq was assigned to the Maintenance Crew was thanks to his Spirit Pool. The hull of the shit was created using Gentle Coral.

Of course, the Gentle Coral he could create was shit, too fragile for the Cooter Clan’s use, especially in the creation of a battleship. However, there was a gimmick with the usage of the Gentle Coral, which the Cooter Clan took advantage of.

That was why this Spirit Pool was an option for Cooter Clansmen, despite its lack of strength or future for cultivation.

When condensed, Gentle Coral appeared as a whitish fluid, which the Cooter Clansman could mould the shape off for the few seconds it could be treated as their Spirit Weapon. And then, it would harden into a solid.

In regular conditions, Gentle Coral was weak. However, when the whitish fluid is released deep under the sea, with extreme pressures acting upon it, the fluid gets compressed to high levels. And when it hardens, the resulting Gentle Coral was tough enough to form the hull of a Ship.

Depending on the depth where it hardens, and the resulting quality, it could be used anywhere from Ferries to even Battleships.

The reason someone like Inin’s name was known by the Settlement Leaders was because he was part of the team in charge of building Battleships. He was a valuable Clansman, and hence was placed in the Maintenance Crew, for he knew what to do to repair the Battleship where necessary.

"Place your belongings in the shelves designated to you." Inin addressed his team, "We’ll begin our work shortly after."

’It’s starting.’ Torq felt a mild jerk from the Battleship, growing tense in response as he was now part of a mission with a survival rate close to zero.