“I see.” Polly nodded slowly, his grey-blue eyes showing a solemn expression. “If genes are a resource then they have completed the integration within the Abyss. Now the monsters have also reached a balance of power and their intelligence might’ve been greatly improved during the integration process. They understand that a battle might result in losses for both. If this guess is correct, some monsters should now leave the Abyss and hunt outward. Humans must also be one of the targets they hunt but they haven’t noticed for a while. We will have to prepare to defend against the collective attack of monsters at all times.”

“It is true but one point is different from your guess.” Tang Lan refuted.

“What did you find?”

Tang Lan controlled the computer and changed it to a photo. It was hard to imagine how ugly this photo was. An Zhe had no sense of aesthetics but he was sure that this photo could be described as ugly—because it impacted human senses to the greatest extent. On the surface of two dense molluscs were organs that couldn’t be described with the human language. Tentacles were flowing with mucus as they touched each other. In the next photo, their tentacles separated. In the photo after that, one of them headed in another direction.

“Six cases have been observed in a similar situation. The monsters didn’t occupy their individual territories and stand still as you originally predicted. They walked the Abyss, testing each other and then separating.” Tang Lan’s voice became solemn and low. “I suspect the worst is happening. Sir, they seem to be communicating. I don’t know what they are communicating but whenever they come into contact with each other, I can feel the fluctuations in them becoming stronger.”

He continued, “I suspect they are perceiving each other and testing if the other has the genes they need.”

“Probably,” Polly replied. “In the institute, you are one of the people most sensitive to this volatility.”

“I am becoming more sensitive to it recently.” Tang Lan’s face paled. “It is everywhere in the air and every monster has it. Sometimes I feel that even the stones on the ground are vibrating. It is getting harder and harder to keep thinking. I shouldn’t have come back so early but I can feel that my own fluctuations are being incorporated into them. Sir, I… I’m a bit abnormal.”

Polly held his hand, voice calm. “Don’t be afraid.”

“100 years ago, when the genetic sequence of an organism was the most stable, some species were extremely sensitive to changes in the magnetic field. You happened to have fused with one such creature.”