(2/3)
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[Damn, one look and you know it's the Sea Dragon Leviathan! That dinosaur-like head is way too obvious!]
[Now I know why it can solo a Reaper Leviathan. They might both be Leviathans, but heavyweights will always hit harder than lightweights!]
The viewers let out a chorus of marvels. At the same time, Benjamin's nervous yet excited voice echoed. "This is the Sea Dragon Leviathan, Chat. Doesn't it feel like the sense of oppression has been dialed straight to the max!"
"But it's not over yet. This thing has another absolutely terrifying skill. Let me show you!"
Having said that, Benjamin fired a creature decoy torpedo toward the area ahead where the Sea Dragon Leviathan was located.
In the next moment, something that shocked the viewers occurred. After the creature decoy was launched, the Sea Dragon Leviathan didn't chase it at all. Instead, it opened its bloodthirsty maw and spewed out massive fireballs one after another!
Bang, bang, bang!
These weren't just fireballs, but chunks of molten lava engulfed in flames. Every single one had a diameter of five meters. That pitiful creature decoy was bombarded several times in a row, instantly incinerated until not even ashes remained.
[This thing can actually breathe fire?!]
↳ [No, it's breathing ice!]
↳ [Is that sarcasm?]
↳ [Bruuh u retarded]
[Charizard, is that you, Charizard?!]
[Holy crap, I feel like this is probably the strongest combat power in this game!]
[it's truly ridiculous. Being that huge is one thing, but it even has special skills!]
[We thought it was a warrior, but it turns out the fucker is a mage!!]
The viewers watching the video were all shell-shocked by the creature before them. This was too much! The devs had really gone too far this time!
With a thing like this, how were they supposed to fight it?!
"Without a doubt, if we just walk over there, we'll either be bathed in fireballs or directly swatted to death by the Sea Dragon. Creature decoys don't work, and neither the Stasis Rifle nor the Propulsion Cannon can take it down," Benjamin's voice rang out.
"I died here several times, realizing that there was simply no way past it. It was only later that I found out the devs actually did leave us a solution: hiding within the nearby reefs is a naturally formed cave tunnel."
After saying that, Benjamin piloted the Cyclops, twisting and turning until they arrived in front of a massive reef. Sure enough, the viewers noticed that within the huge rock wall ahead, there really was a cave entrance!
[Holy crap, there really is!]
[Badass! This is the devs' mercy!!!]
[But this is way too well-hidden. If you don't look closely, you wouldn't spot it at all. Thank goodness Benjamin was paying attention!!]
The viewers murmured in admiration. However, the Cyclops couldn't fit into the cavern, so Benjamin had to pilot the Prawn Suit to enter instead.
He advanced along the cave tunnel. Judging by the coordinates, he was getting closer and closer to the Sea Emperor Containment Facility.
Soon, Benjamin navigated through the cavern, completely bypassing the terrifying Sea Dragon Leviathan. After pressing forward a little further, a massive downward-sloping crater suddenly appeared on the seabed ahead.
This hole was perfectly square and incredibly uniform. One look was enough to tell it had been artificially excavated.
"This right here is the entrance to the Sea Emperor Containment Facility," Benjamin said, plunging right into the hole.
Then, to the viewers' absolute shock, they discovered that beneath the tunnel lay a boiling lava lake with no end in sight. Endless streams of magma completely covered the seabed below.
And right in the dead center of this boundless lava lake, a single solitary building had been constructed!
[I see it! That must be the Sea Emperor Containment Facility!]
↳ [That's a rehub center for cr*ckheads like you!]
↳ [7/10 Ragebait]
[My god, it was actually built right inside this lava lake!]
[What were the Precursors thinking? No matter how you look at it, this is a fucking terrible place for postpartum care?!]
[But this scene is seriously breathtaking. What the fu~, an endless lake of magma!]
[Let's be for real here, you could take a screenshot of literally any frame in Subnautica and use it as a wallpaper!]
↳ [True, it's pretty much indistinguishable from the real world at this point!]
The viewers discussed among themselves. At the same time, Benjamin switched the Prawn Suit to grappling hook mode. Latching onto the rock ceiling above, he swung forward on the tether like Tarzan.
"Pay attention. The environment here is extremely harsh. Neither the Cyclops nor the Seamoth can withstand temperatures this high, so you can only come here using the Prawn Suit!"
"But even with the Prawn Suit, it heavily tests your proficiency with the grappling hook. If you're even slightly careless and miss the rock wall, you'll fall straight into the lava lake and burn to death alive!" Benjamin said as he operated the controls. "Don't ask me how many times I died here. Only a dozen times or so."
Hearing Benjamin's warning, the viewers felt another wave of sympathy mixed with a headache. They felt sorry for Benjamin working so desperately hard to clear the game, and their heads ached thinking about what they were supposed to do when it was their turn to play.
There was no need to think about it. This was definitely another piece of the New World Game Studio malice. They actually resorted to employing environmental hazards to kill players!
Soon, after a series of swings, Benjamin crossed the vast lava lake and finally landed successfully at the entrance of the Sea Emperor Containment Facility.
At this moment, the entrance of the facility was similarly blocked by a force field.
"Now then, Chat, that Precursor Key we found in the Disease Research Facility finally comes into play."
As he spoke, Benjamin approached the force field console and used the Prawn Suit to insert the Precursor Key.
With a low hum, the force field covering the facility's entrance deactivated, and Benjamin immediately stepped inside.
The interior of the Containment Facility was completely dry. The Precursors had used some kind of technology to keep the seawater out entirely. At the same time, the ambient temperature plummeted instantly. According to the Prawn Suit's temperature display, the lava lake outside was well over a hundred degrees, yet it was only a very cool twenty degrees in here.
Upon entering the facility, Benjamin's field of vision was filled with an incredibly spacious hall, looking to be the size of at least four football fields!
And within this grand hall, there was absolutely nothing else except for a massive pool of water.
Benjamin walked toward this pool, his tone ringing with anticipation and excitement. "Chat, prepare what's coming up ahead."
The viewers' hearts also swelled with expectation because they all knew that they were about to see the Sea Emperor Leviathan!
Sure enough, just as Benjamin reached the edge of the pool, a loud crash erupted as the water churned up waves ten meters high. Then, a colossal head abruptly breached the surface!!!
"You have come..."
In the ears of both Benjamin and the viewers, that gentle, intellectual, older-sister-like voice rang out once again.
At this moment, everyone finally got a clear look at the Sea Emperor Leviathan's appearance. It was exactly like what they had seen in the hallucinations. The Sea Emperor Leviathan possessed an insect-like head. As her head surfaced, the green compound eyes on either side stared quietly at Benjamin.
[Fuck, That sudden pop-up scared the hell out of me!]
[Just the head alone is huge. It's as big as a two-story house!]
[So this is the Sea Emperor Leviathan?]
[Huhuhuuu, what happened to the gentle older sister we were promised? Why does she look like this?!]
The Sea Emperor Leviathan's sudden emergence had given the viewers a fright. That voice and appearance truly did not match up at all!
"Are you... the Sea Emperor Leviathan?" In the video, Benjamin was clearly startled as well. He took several steps back in a row before asking with a tremble.
"I have no name. That is the title the Precursors gave me," the Sea Emperor Leviathan answered. "The Precursors built this prison and locked me in here, wanting me to hatch my egg. Unfortunately, they failed to achieve their desires and ultimately met their demise. You are now infected with this disease as well. I am very curious... what choice will you make..."
After saying this, the Sea Emperor Leviathan plunged back into the pool with a heavy crash, kicking up waves once again!
Seeing this, Benjamin swam down after her.
At this point, everyone finally saw the Sea Emperor Leviathan's full appearance.
Her torso looked somewhat similar to the Sea Dragon Leviathan, with her body covered in tough, brownish scales. Her tail end consisted of a cluster of octopus-like tentacles.
Aside from her head, she looked very similar to the Sea Dragon. However, in terms of sheer size, she was vastly more massive than the Sea Dragon Leviathan. She looked to be at least three hundred meters long!
A three-hundred-meter colossal behemoth!!!
The area she occupied was a massive pool of water. But that was only relative to a human. For a creature like the Sea Emperor Leviathan, it was like a goldfish trapped in a tiny bowl, offering absolutely no extra room to maneuver.
The viewers were thoroughly intimidated by the Sea Emperor Leviathan's size.
[With that volume, no wonder her name is Sea Emperor. The Sea Dragon is barely two-thirds of her size!]
[But the Sea Emperor is quite gentle. Just like the Reefback, she doesn't actively attack humans!]
[Not only does she not attack, she even communicates with us!]
[Within the game of Subnautica, besides Gaia, we finally have another entity by our side capable of communicating with us!]
"Please, come with me..." At that moment, the Sea Emperor's voice echoed in Benjamin's ears again.
"Okay!" Benjamin hastily replied, following the Sea Emperor Leviathan as she swam down toward the bottom of the pool.
"Sea Emperor, you communicated with me via brainwaves this entire journey, hoping I would come here. Is it because you desire freedom and want me to help you escape this place?" At this point, Benjamin couldn't help but ask.
He could feel that such a small space was far too confining for the Sea Emperor Leviathan. It was no different from a prison.
"The concept of freedom is already a stranger to me. But just as you said, I truly desired it. I can no longer remember how long I have been trapped in here. Decades, perhaps centuries... There was once a time when I hoped to escape this prison and roam freely across this planet."
"But those are merely my past thoughts. The me of the present no longer requires freedom," the Sea Emperor Leviathan's voice murmured slowly. "For I can feel that my days are numbered. I am about to die."
Hearing this, the viewers' hearts all leaped into their throats. After finally encountering someone they could talk to, the Sea Emperor Leviathan was actually about to die?
"Death is something every living creature will experience. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. I am not afraid. However, I cannot let go of my children. They have been locked away in this place with me for far, far too long. They have not even been born yet... not truly seen this world..."
As she spoke, the Sea Emperor Leviathan brought Benjamin to the bottom of the pool. At the pool's base lay an emerald-green platform, obviously set up by the Precursors. And resting on this platform were six eggs. Each one stood two meters tall and was covered in brown spots.
These were the Sea Emperor Leviathan's eggs.
"My children have been trapped in here constantly. They are not like me; they still have a long, long future ahead of them. Therefore, I hope that you can help bring my children into this world..."
"But, how am I supposed to do something that even the Precursors failed to achieve?" Benjamin looked incredibly troubled. He remembered very clearly that the Precursors had locked the Sea Emperor up precisely because they hoped she would hatch her offspring, allowing them to use the Enzyme 31 produced by the newborns to cure the Kharaa bacterium.
The Precursors failed, so how could he possibly succeed?
"You can do it," the Sea Emperor replied. "The reason the Precursors failed was because they did not know that a special Hatching Enzyme is required for my children to break out of their shells. I will tell you the method to synthesize the Hatching Enzyme now..."
Accompanied by a burst of whispers, in the next moment, Gaia's notification tone chimed.
"Synthesis method for the Hatching Enzyme acquired."
Benjamin immediately clicked open the recipe for the Hatching Enzyme, and was astounded to find that the materials required to craft it were all just common plants found in the shallows!
Crafting it should actually be incredibly easy!
"Wait a second. Since it requires such a simple item to allow your children to be born, why didn't you just tell the Precursors? Why let them keep you locked up here for such a long time?" Benjamin couldn't help but ask.
This was also the very question burning in the minds of the viewers watching the video right now.
If she had just spoken up from the very beginning, none of the subsequent events would have ever happened! The Precursors would have been saved, and the Sea Emperor wouldn't have been imprisoned for so long!
"Because the technology the Precursors possessed was too advanced," the Sea Emperor explained. "They wore a special type of artificial body armor. That armor possessed extreme defensive capabilities and even completely shielded out the telepathic waves I emitted. As a result, I was unable to communicate with them. I once tried to use other methods to interact with them, but unfortunately, they were solely focused on conducting their experiments. They ignored me, a mere test subject, completely. And so, that resulted in the situation we have today."
The moment these words were spoken, the chat were hit with a sudden realization.
[Holy crap, I didn't expect it to actually be like this!]
[Fuck me, the Precursors probably never imagined in their wildest dreams that the very thing that doomed their entire race was their own advanced technology?!]
↳ [Location?]
↳ [What do you mean?]
↳ [You said "Fuck me." so... where u from?]
↳ [Fuck off, I'm a man!]
↳ [Even better, I'm a man too.]
[Yeah. The Precursors relied on their advanced technology to capture creatures everywhere for research, treating everything with an arrogant, superior attitude in their attempt to cure the Kharaa bacterium. Yet ironically, it was precisely because of their high-tech gear that they couldn't hear the Sea Emperor speak. Ultimately failing to obtain the cure, they drove their own race to extinction...]
[Their greatest strength became their downfall! Such a powerful, highly advanced race, ultimately killed by their own technology!]
[This reason is both heartbreaking and hilarious!]
[To think that such a tiny, stupid problem ultimately led to the extinction of the Precursors, the Sea Emperor being imprisoned for centuries, and mutually assured destruction that dragged countless other creatures down with them...]
[Tsk, tsk, so this is the storyline the devs designed! It's absolutely brilliant!]
Every single viewer sighed in admiration at this plotline. It truly gave them a sense of absurdity that was simultaneously incredibly logical.
Just imagine, if the Precursors had treated the creatures on this planet as equals during their experiments, instead of simply carrying out brutal tests, perhaps the entire tragedy could have been avoided.