So I’m a Fish, So What?

My body came to a halt as soon as I cross the last stretch of the vertical passageway.

Closing my eyes, I focus all of my attention on dealing with the aftermath of the first direct attack on my soul.

That abomination somehow bypassed my Heretic Nullification and straight-up penetrated my soul defenses while injecting poison into it.

Talk about hacks!

If I hadn’t reacted quick enough by ordering Sage to purify the venom, my soul might’ve collapsed due to heavy damage!

That’s not even mentioning the excruciating pain I’ve been feeling for a while now!!

Luckily, I was able to get by with minimal damage thanks to my quick wits.

That damage mainly consists of a temporary stat reduction similar to a videogame debuff.

Well, a few hours of rest while strengthening my soul should fix it all up anyways!

And so, let’s get right on it!

I hope there’s some tasty food somewhere down here...

 

Opening my eyes an unknown amount of time later, I start scanning my surroundings.

Ouri issued me a mission to destroy what lies beyond the passageway, so this area is obviously included.

What came into my vision is a picture that looks as if it came right out of a Science Fiction movie.

I currently stand in what seems to be a docking station of sorts judging by the presence of tens of huge robotic arms hanging from the walls while supporting unmanned submersibles.

Looking back at where I descended from, I notice a rusted hatch with a broken hole on its side.

That‘s an airlock hatch, right...?

... Wasn’t this world supposed to follow a fantasy setting or something?

Sure, the elf patriarch has some extra cyborg bodies, but this place is just waaaay over the top, y’know?

I can assume the cyborg bodies are magical items, but this place screams totally futuristic technology!

It’s totally wrecked though.

Many places look as if they’ve been crushed due to strong impacts while others seem as if they were literally deleted with an eraser.

A futuristic laser attack maybe? Or some weird technological bomb?

Since there seems to be nothing of interest around here, I scan the submersibles using Sage and record their composition then move on to the next place.

Making my way through an enormous bisected doorway, I’m greeted with some huge metal constructs with tall broken ladders lying on the ground beside them.

Oh my god, are those freaking mechas?!!

Whoever built this place must’ve been a huge fan of Pacific Rim, huh?

I should’ve probably maxed out Taboo before coming here... I feel like some country bumpkin learning about the wonders of the city right now.

Huh? Are my eyes playing tricks on me?

Are those things scattered around actually paper...?

I thought stuff like that decomposes underwater in two months maximum though.

Moving closer, I quickly confirm that it’s indeed paper, it also has a hand-drawn blueprint on it.

There’s some kind of waxy coating covering it which consists of a hydrophobic material I believe, that’s the only way to prevent decomposition.

Now, I dunno how well the coating held on, so I’m better off recording the content in my Soul Memory Archive before I touch anything.

Hooh? Hmm Hmm. I see.

I don’t understand a single word of what’s written here! Tehe~.

Analyzing a new language is hard if you don’t have any prior knowledge about it.

I’d first need to analyze the spoken language through a native speaker, then get familiar with the entirety of its written script.

Finally, I’d need someone to read me some of that script so that I could link both written and spoken aspects, fully deciphering the language.

Basically, I must have some knowledge of a language’s written and spoken words to successfully learn it.

Just like I had some basic knowledge of Japanese through anime and manga which allowed me to quickly learn it through that nurse back when I was born in my previous life.

I kinda miss the times when I could just find a dictionary and analyze an entire language through it...

Well, I can glean a bit about the information recorded on these papers through the pictures at least, so that’s fine.

As for the reason an advanced civilization would use physical records instead of electronic ones, I suppose they’re worried about hackers or enemy countries.

Both the good and bad aspects of technology advance with time, this isn’t some children’s book after all.

I first pick up a blueprint that highlights specific parts of the mechas with details written beside them.

The second document had pictures of a smooth spherical object along with a bunch of symbols that are very reminiscent of mathematical expressions.

What I saw in the following paper though, was astonishing, to say the least.

At first, it seemed like some lines were randomly scribbled around, but I quickly discovered an extra thickness to the paper itself.

Overwhelmed by curiosity and having no other choice, I used my large side fins to flip it upside down.

Then lo and behold! By unfolding the document, I was finally able to make out a 3D model of that jellyfish gatekeeper resting right above my head!

To think it was actually a biological weapon...

I guess this explains why it was able to hurt me.

It’s not even a creature present inside the system, but a relic from an ancient civilization!

I’d like to thank the goddess of luck for delaying my arrival at this place up until now.

This drawing has a bunch of very scary-looking weapons that would certainly deprive me of any fun fun time on it, but they must’ve run out of energy or fallen into disrepair by the time I reincarnated.

I mean, if that’s not the case, then my body would’ve been vaporized by that jellyfish’s strikes instead of only getting hurt by the kid’s mode soul poison.

On the bright side though, the recipe for that poison may be somewhere inside this facility!

And since I can’t damage anything around here with my current firepower, then there must be one of those things lying around as well!

Y’know, one of those self-destruct button thingies.

Otherwise, Ouri’s request would be plain impossible for me to fulfill right now, and therefore she wouldn’t ask me to come here.

So, the current plan’s to slowly go through each room in this facility, record all the data left behind, and find the self-destruct button.

Nice and clear!!

 

After I finished record and analyzing everything in what I assume is the hangar, I start making my way to the next area.

I think this place was submerged in water after the damage in the docking station came about since there are actually stairs leading up to the passageway.

Whoever lived here had to use those stairs, but this entire place is now flooded, so you can just swim up.

It’s fine by me though, I’m still in the category of a marine animal after all!

As I’m walking through the passageway, a bunch of grey nozzles pop out from all directions, scaring the crap outta me.

I thought I stumbled into a laser trap or something, I even went as far as to activate Wyrm Power while readying myself for a desperate fight or flight situation!

However, nothing happened.

The nozzles just popped out, aimed at me, and then... fell asleep, I guess?

I guess there’s actually no need to set up traps in here.

If an intruder is strong enough to bypass those fortified walls and mechas standing outside, then whoever lives here is fucked no matter what.

My guard doesn’t drop for a second though, it’d be utterly stupid to view the situation from my one-sided point of view only.

Using my Spatial Awareness sphere, my sight penetrates through the walls and follows along the pipes to which the nozzles are connected.

What I find is some sort of huge water tank covered with a bunch of symbols strangely reminiscent of warning icons you’d see on packages back on Earth.

This doesn’t help much though... Whatever’s in there could range from simple pure water to acid or something even more dangerous...

The fact that this entire place seems to be outside the W system’s authority doesn’t bode well after all.

But then I catch sight of the tank’s surroundings.

Pipes coming from the outside carrying ocean water, connected to some huge containers and then to the tank itself.

Then it hits me, this entire place is just one huge industrial water purifier that supplies this place.

If so, then this hallway might just be a decontamination chamber.

I’m in an underwater laboratory, huh?

 

I sped up my exploration after the previous discovery, the chances of dangerous weaponry being in a laboratory are pretty low after all.

No one would risk their research results being destroyed due to a malfunctioning security system, so the traps around here mostly consist of lasers and hidden turrets, both of which are easy to spot and avoid within my sphere.

As for the ones that go Kaboom!, I made sure to stay the fuck away from their proximity even if they were seemingly disabled.

A shame I didn’t have full access to the files hidden behind such traps, I resorted to recording whatever I could using my sphere’s god’s perspective mode instead.

And now, after about a day of hard work scouring through this enormous underwater laboratory, I finally happened upon a place of utmost importance, the main control room.

Although it’s not certain, such rooms almost always have the big red self-destruct button framed inside.

That button or something similar is my exact goal for this trip!

Only a locked steel door stands between me and that goal, but the presence of that door makes it seem as if there’s an uncrossable distance in between.

No matter how you look at it, asking a fish to break through a steel door is too much, y’know?!

Sigh... This wouldn’t have been a problem if I had leveled up my Poison Synthesis skill high enough to unlock a corrosive poison, but I didn’t have a reason to do so before...

I’m gonna have to use my brain for this one, huh?