From Lucas’s understanding of pearls, these things should be produced by some kind of shellfish.
His knowledge about pearls came solely from books, and this was the first time he had actually seen one in real life.
But when he saw what kind of creature produced the black pearls, Lucas was stunned for a moment, and the next second, he felt his entire perception shatter.
The creatures producing the black pearls that Airoma found in the abandoned building complex were piles of blue translucent substances stacked in corners.
These substances resembled some kind of gel, inside which were wrapped black bead-like objects.
These looked exactly like the black pearls Nori had just stepped on—they were definitely black pearls.
It wasn’t just Lucas; Lina also felt her understanding collapse.
As a member of the royal family, she had seen pearls before and knew they should come from shellfish.
So what on earth were these things?
Lucas stepped forward, wanting to reach out and touch them.
“Don’t touch!”
Airoma suddenly warned sharply.
The moment Airoma spoke, the gelatinous substance suddenly extended a blue tentacle that slapped toward Lucas.
Fortunately, Airoma’s warning came just in time, and Lucas’s quick reflexes meant he wasn’t hit by the tentacle.
It was then Lucas realized that these so-called gelatinous substances were actually jellyfish-like creatures.
“These creatures’ tentacles are poisonous; if touched, they can cause full-body paralysis. If you want to harvest black pearls, you have to use tools,” Airoma explained, flicking a grappling claw from her sleeve into the jellyfish.
The claw precisely hooked one black pearl, and Airoma retracted the line, pulling the black pearl out of the creature.
“Doing it this way is rare. Most people use special pliers designed for harvesting.”
However, Lucas’s attention wasn’t on the black pearls but on these jellyfish-like creatures.
What were they?
Some of the black pearls inside them were noticeably larger.
And, perhaps it was just his imagination, but one of the black pearls seemed to be evolving toward a human form.
“Hey, little brother, want one? It’s perfect as a gift for a special girl,” Airoma tossed a black pearl in her hand.
“Look, that elf girl’s eyes are glued to them.”
Lucas looked at Nori, who was staring intently at the jellyfish creatures.
Following her gaze, it was exactly toward the jellyfish that contained a huge black pearl inside.
It seemed Nori had noticed it too.
“Lucas, doesn’t that thing look a bit strange?”
Nori pointed at the jellyfish.
“I feel like that black pearl looks like a person.”
Inside the jellyfish, the black pearl currently appeared almost humanoid but not quite human, curled up inside the creature.
Moreover, its abdomen seemed connected to a ribbon-like structure.
“Lucas…”
Lina stared at the jellyfish, “It looks like there’s some kind of embryo inside.”
“Embryo?”
Lucas turned to Lina.
“That’s what an underdeveloped creature looks like. If that thing hatches, I doubt it will be anything good.”
“Ah, you noticed it too,” Airoma scratched her head.
“The princess was right. If these black pearls aren’t harvested for too long, they develop into embryos inside these creatures.”
Thinking about it carefully, the black pearl jewelry worn by nobles and royals were essentially embryos of some creature. The thought was somewhat chilling.
“If we encounter these, we destroy them. If these creatures are allowed to mature, they will turn into monsters roaming the Dead Harbor,” Airoma said, flicking out her grappling hook to drag the jellyfish to Lucas’s feet.
Without hesitation, Lucas swung his saw spear and chopped the jellyfish into a gelatinous puddle.
The embryo inside was also chopped into a mass of flesh.
After dealing with that jellyfish, Lucas shifted his attention to the others around him. Some of these jellyfish had already developed embryos inside.
To prevent future problems, Lucas used his saw spear to destroy them one by one.
But this only cleared a small portion.
How many such creatures still lurked in Dead Harbor was a complete unknown.
“What exactly are these things?”
Lina frowned at the large puddle of slime on the ground and asked Airoma.
“They’re jellyfish that produce black pearls. If I had to name them, we just call them Pearl Jellyfish here. But they can hatch monsters too, so there’s both profit and risk with them.”
The area had been cleared by Lucas, and nothing else of value remained.
Airoma led the way again as the group continued deeper into Dead Harbor.
The further they ventured into Dead Harbor, the more pearl jellyfish appeared.
Lucas couldn’t figure out how jellyfish—creatures that should live in the sea—ended up so far inland.
What’s more, many of these jellyfish already had fully formed embryos inside, some even filling their entire insides.
Through the translucent bodies, Lucas could roughly make out the shapes of these monster larvae.
They were basically dark-skinned humans.
Knowing these things would eventually become monsters, Lucas felt no pity.
He destroyed the pearl jellyfish one by one with his saw spear.
Deeper into Dead Harbor, jellyfish containing small pearls became harder to find.
At first, Airoma would hook a few black pearls casually, but by the end, she couldn’t even find an opportunity to do so.
These pearl jellyfish made progress difficult.
To move forward, everyone had to wait for Lucas to clear the path ahead.
Eventually, even Lucas became numb from constantly destroying these creatures.
When would it ever end?
“Little brother, the sun’s about to set,” Airoma looked up at the sky.
“If we turn back now, we still have time…”
“How much farther to our destination?”
“Uh…”
Airoma poked at her fingers.
“At this pace, if we rest tonight, we’ll get there around noon tomorrow. But little brother, do you really want to spend the night in Dead Harbor?”
“If you’re scared, you can go back on your own,” Lucas replied coldly.
“Ah, no no no, little brother, I don’t want to die. I don’t want to go back alone,” Airoma grabbed Lucas’s arm.
“I-I’ll stay with you all then.”
Since they had to spend the night in Dead Harbor, a safe shelter was necessary.
But the nearby ruins looked unsafe.
If monsters appeared at night, they’d easily spot them unless they were blind.
Lucas looked up at the stacked abandoned ships.
“We’ll spend the night up there,” Lucas pointed to the ships piled at a higher point.
“That place can hide us. That’s where we’ll stay.”
“Got it!”
Airoma said and threw her grappling hook up first.
After a short while, she popped her head out, signaling the others to come up.
Lucas carried Lina and Nori up one after another.
The four of them sat in the abandoned ship’s cabin, watching the sun slowly sink below the horizon.