Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 216

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 216
The Shark faction, who despised the Orca, fortified their own strongholds and moved like guerrillas, while devising one crucial measure.
They planted self-destruct devices in every fortress.
Thus, whenever the Orca assembled their legions to invade the cities, they would detonate the strongholds without hesitation, regardless of whether their own forces remained inside—a mutual destruction they did not shy from.
It was their tradition, but certainly not something the other species, particularly the Orca, could possibly know.
…It was a secret maintained under oath by all of them.
Moreover, since no fortress had ever actually used the self-destruct devices until now, it remained even more hidden.
“What? Why do you look so startled?”
“H-how did you……?”
“Ah. There’s a way.”
At Calypso’s gesture, Atlant hoisted Gamora by the collar.
“Guide us.”
Before that murderous intent, Gamora trembled once more and submitted, moving his feet in one direction.
Toward a place where he might very well die the moment he led them there.
‘What do I do? What do I do?’
If I go that way… I will surely die.
Red warning lights screamed in my head. I cannot die. I must not die.
The desire not to die would be natural for any living creature, but it felt strange.
As if this survival instinct did not feel like my own.
No, wait. There was something more important than this strange state right now.
‘I need a way out.’
Gamora bit her lips anxiously. How quietly they moved.
Under cover of night, they felled the sentries so easily and proceeded with such stealth.
Even that Dolphin, who didn’t appear particularly strong!
Finally, when Gamora approached near the self-destruct device.
Gamora squeezed her eyes shut and pointed to one location.
“Th-there it is…!”
“Is that so?”
At the final fork in the path, Gamora pointed in the direction where there was no self-destruct device.
Calypso seemed to believe without suspicion, and she exhaled a breath of relief internally.
That moment.
Thud!
“You’ve worked hard all this time.”
When Gamora opened her eyes in pain, she was lying on the ground.
Clear, cold eyes looked down at her.
“Just by belonging here, you must have killed countless Beastkin, haven’t you?”
A merciless gaze.
“Th-that is… Ugh!”
“Now, don’t make a sound. What’s the point of asking?”
It was true. Among those belonging to this fortress, the only ones who hadn’t killed innocent lives were the prisoners and that one held in the underground.
“Sink with this city.”
Calypso hummed softly as she dragged him toward the self-destruct device.
As if she already knew it was here.
…Then why did she have me guide her in the first place?
Calypso showed no surprise upon seeing the oddly-shaped self-destruct device, and instead issued instructions to Levai beside her.
Even her methods were chillingly precise.
“Well then, showtime.”
Boom!
The moment the self-destruct device activated, the massive fortress began to tremble.
Only fifteen minutes until the fortress collapsed. We had to escape from here.
“You know the plan, right?”
“I’ll stay put obediently.”
“Only I have to suffer, only me.”
Calypso laughed brightly, like summer waves, her expression refreshingly carefree.
“Make sure he never crawls back out of the ground again.”
The moment Calypso said this, Gamora felt a tremendous impact in her head and her consciousness fading away.
No, this can’t be. This can’t be….
I have to tell my ‘master’ about this….
Wait.
‘Master’? Who is that?
Gamora’s eyes closed. Complete unconsciousness.
* * *
Rumble.
The ground shook, but none of us panicked.
“Everyone remembers their role, right?”
They all nodded at each other.
I turned toward the Dragon Duke.
“You hold on for a bit too.”
I couldn’t take the Dragon Duke with me on this operation, so I planned to leave him with Atlant for now.
Once we moved to a safe location, Atlant would follow and make his move.
The Dragon Duke wore a somewhat gloomy expression but didn’t refuse.
That tugged at my heart, so I flinched before taking his hand.
“I’ll definitely return your memories. Don’t cry. See you again.”
“…When we meet again, will you call my name then?”
“What…. Yes.”
We parted ways after confirming our next meeting point.
‘Most of them won’t be able to escape and will fall.’
I had deliberately designed this place like a maze so that both enemies and allies couldn’t easily escape when the self-destruct device activated.
But I passed through without any difficulty.
‘I need to find the commander. I need to find Lineius, who he must be carrying.’
I stopped mid-step.
Levai, who had followed me for reasons of his own, also halted, breathing slightly harder.
“What is this? A large number of people are coming out of the basement?”
It was strange.
‘The basement is usually where they keep prisoners, isn’t it?’
“Levai, let’s go there first.”
“Yes? Not to the top?”
“Something feels off.”
Why did it feel like I absolutely had to go there? I had planned to stop by anyway since I needed to free the prisoners.
“According to the investigation, they shouldn’t have any separately held prisoners?”
“Still. I need to go.”
I had a feeling that if I didn’t go, I would regret it. Usually, it was important not to ignore such instincts.
The basement was empty after all the humans had fled.
Dust fell from the ceiling in a gentle cascade.
‘I need to finish here within five minutes.’
I calmly calculated and surveyed the basement when I stopped short.
“Matriarch?”
Levai, who had followed despite my telling him to stay behind, also froze.
Inside the locked cell, flickering flames felt like waves washing over me.
I held my breath.
There was only one prisoner inside.
In a moment of silence, it was Levai who spoke first.
“An… Orca?”
How did he recognize it was an Orca Beastkin from that bloodied appearance?
There was no time to ask.
I felt it too.
An Orca Beastkin.
And… no matter how much time has passed, no matter how devastatingly changed, how could I not recognize you?
I would have recognized you even if Levai or any of my other cherished subordinates had been in that place.
“… Hauser.”
And I would have felt the same rage.
‘Calm down. Stay calm.’
The Orca Beastkin who roamed the Wasteland helping weaker Beastkin.
It was indeed Hauser.
But why?
Why was he captured by the Sharks and held here?
His bloodied state was not ordinary. No, it was fortunate that he was even breathing.
‘He’s alive. That’s what matters.’
If he’s still breathing, Whale can definitely save him.
We don’t have to die helplessly anymore. So…
My vision wavered between the present moment and the chaos of the third war, but it didn’t matter.
Because something more important lay before me.
I confirmed my shoulder moving slightly, then exerted force to bend the iron bars.
“Matriarch! The pillar is collapsing!”
“I know!”
“I’ll prop the door up with this.”
“Just hold on a little longer! I’m taking him out of here.”
Levai didn’t ask why I was suddenly taking that Orca Beastkin with me.
I created an opening between the bars, then casually severed the wire with the edge of my hand.
‘If Ekion were here, I could have used the power of water.’
It was a temporary measure with time constraints, and I regretted it. It had become difficult since losing my memories.
‘So it really is you, Hauser.’
I hoisted the shackled Hauser onto my shoulder like a sack of rice.
Sorry, but endure the discomfort, you fool.
‘When you wake up, you’ll get beaten half to death.’
I didn’t even search for you to live a normal life, and here you are dying like this?
I ground my teeth and climbed the stairs.
“Matriarch, this way!”
I paused to glance at the ceiling.
The commander of this fortress must be descending from the top right now.
This fortress was built so nothing could be jumped from—after the self-destruct, everyone had no choice but to use the stairs.
I bit the inside of my mouth hard.
I gave up quickly.
‘I’m abandoning Lineius.’
Nothing is worth more than a human life.
Especially not the lives of my subordinates.
“Get to the exit!”
“…Yes. This way!”
Levai’s expression looked even more conflicted than mine, as if he understood my choice.
What can I do? The power of water is a waste, but I can search through the rubble after the fortress collapses anyway!
Because I unintentionally rescued Hauser and encountered those Sharks charging at us repeatedly, we barely escaped the fortress.
Far enough that the collapse’s aftermath couldn’t reach us.
“Haa, haa. Never… make me run… ugh… again…”
“You’re complaining? I carried two of you while running.”
“You shouldn’t have made a fragile Dolphin do such a thing!”
“Are you joking? I told you to wait at the basement entrance, so who followed me here?”
“Gasp, if I hadn’t been there, you’d have been trapped in the basement and turned into a mummy!”
Levai fired back his retorts while breathing heavily.
My mind was exhausted too, so I sat down and stared blankly ahead.
The massive fortress was collapsing all at once.
‘Huh.’
That’s going to become a massive pile of rubble. Can I even find Lineius in there?
“Second Brother must be doing well?”
“What more is there to say? You possess the power of water, after all.”
“True enough.”
I sighed and gazed up at the sky. Then I quickly turned my head away.
“Rest is over. We’re leaving immediately.”
“What?”
“We need to save him.”
I looked down at Hauser, whose breathing was shallow and labored, my expression complicated.
‘Suha, I really hope your ending isn’t one where you’ve become a villain.’
In that moment, Hauser’s eyelids trembled faintly before his eyes slowly opened.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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