The day they escaped from the T&C Special Trade Hub.
After Amorph went into evolution, Number 26 and Adhai each spent their own time. Number 26 was diligently practicing the conversational techniques Amorph had taught it. Communicating through appendages called fingers was a very unfamiliar conversational method for it.
Its peers communicated using the colors of their bodies. Among its kind, Number 26 was the only one with appendages resembling fingers. While it had been using these appendages more and more lately, it was still inexperienced.
But Number 26 didn’t give up. It was a much more complex and progressive creature than Amorph thought. Its mental horizons had expanded immeasurably since being trapped in the smelly courage of the past. While receiving more attention and affection from Amorph was nice, It wanted more than that.
It started to dream of a future. A future where it led its people alongside the big one. To achieve that goal, it had to be able to communicate with the big one.
While Number 26 worked hard for its dreams, what was Adhai doing?
Adhai was lying on its side, trimming scales with her wings spread out. She quickly grasped the conversational techniques Amorph had taught her.
Perhaps it was only natural for someone as smart and physically advantaged as her to do so. However, because she finished so quickly, she found herself with a lot of waiting time, so she was trimming scales to alleviate boredom.
｢Little adult｣ ｢Me｣ ｢Curious.｣
｢Little adult｣ ｢Little adult｣ ｢Little adult｣ ｢Little adult｣ ｢Little adult｣ ｢Little adult｣ ｢Little adult｣ ｢Little adult.｣
Adhai kept sending thought waves. If Number 26 had been a human, it might have been injured by Adhai’s continuous thought wave attacks, but as a sea demon, it suffered no major harm.
Of course, it was unavoidable for it to feel annoyed by her whining while it was studying.
｢Adult｣ ｢Body｣ ｢Growth｣ ｢Fast｣ ｢Fast｣ ｢Fast.｣
｢Yeah. Sometimes the big one grows this fast.｣
｢Wonder｣ ｢Me｣ ｢Adult｣ ｢Growth｣ ｢Envy.｣
Saying that, Adhai looked down at her own torso. Instead of the white scales she wished for, beautiful green scales adorned her body.
With no blemishes, the smooth and gleaming green scales resembled emerald jewels. Perhaps if intelligent beings saw Adhai’s scales, they would be amazed at their beauty.
However, to Number 26, body color was only a means of communication and held no significance.
｢Me｣ ｢Want｣ ｢Scales｣ ｢White.｣
｢Is it good to be white?｣
｢Good!｣ ｢White｣ ｢Strength｣ ｢Coolness｣ ｢Charm｣ ｢Overflow.｣
Adhai stood up, spreading her wings and straightening her waist. At the same time, she curled her tail upward, forming a snail shell shape.
This posture was considered a love making posture among the Gallagons, but no one here knew that fact.
｢White｣ ｢Growth｣ ｢Advantage｣ ｢One｣ ｢More. ｢Exist.｣
｢Me｣ ,Adult｣ ｢Know｣ ｢Possible.｣
While Adhai spoke excitedly, Number 26 felt a strange sensation upon hearing her words. It wondered if this little one would give up even if it told her it was impossible.
｢You have to lay eggs after you grow big.｣
｢Understand｣ ｢Me｣ ｢Growth｣ ｢Need｣ ｢White｣ ｢Coolness｣ ｢Adult｣ ｢Me｣ ｢Fascinated.｣
Despite saying she understood, she didn’t seem to at all.
As Number 26 watched Adhai pondering what the most captivating posture might be, a question suddenly arose in its mind. Did Adhai really know how babies were made?
｢How do you make babies?｣
Upon hearing this, Adhai lifted her head high. It seemed like she was showing off that she knew while the adult didn’t.
Although Number 26 didn’t particularly like her attitude, Number 26 held its tongue. The big one was quite different from its kind in her eyes. If the big one’s method of “making babies” was different from what Number 26 thought, it could pose problems when leading its kind in the future.
｢I｣ ｢Speak｣ ｢Little adult｣ ｢Listen.｣
｢Male｣ ｢Above｣ ｢Female｣ ｢Below.｣ ｢Embrace｣ ｢Egg｣ ｢Born.｣
｢Female｣ ｢Egg｣ ｢Laid.｣
However, Adhai’s explanation was very different from what Number 26 had in mind. No, to be precise, it was absurd.
｢Hugging makes babies?｣
｢Then why don’t I have one if I’ve been sleeping next to the big one?｣
\I’ve slept with the big one too.\
Adhai had also slept with the big one, but she didn’t feel the need to point out that fact.
Anyway, perhaps Number 26’s comment was sharp enough, as Adhai couldn’t properly answer.
｢Then is there something else?｣
｢Little adult｣ ｢Guess｣ ｢Me｣ ｢Agree｣ ｢Impossible.｣
｢Little ones don’t know either.｣
In the end, Adhai didn’t provide an answer.
Number 26 vaguely knew that the big one was an exceptional being. So she thought it wouldn’t be easy to make a baby, and it seemed her speculation was correct.
But just when she thought it was over, Adhai called out to Number 26 again.
｢Little adult｣ ｢Baby｣ ｢Know how to make?｣
｢Me? I don’t really know.｣
｢Little adult｣ ｢Don’t know｣ ｢Don’t know｣ ｢Don’t know.｣
Adhai fluttered her wings.
Although the two species had completely different ways of communication, having spent a long time together, they could roughly understand each other’s gestures. That was a gesture the little one made when teasing someone. Number 26 felt an urge to smack her in that moment but restrained itself.
In such situations, the one who strikes first loses. So it decided to show off instead of resorting to violence.
｢I actually know very well.｣
｢Really. I know it very well.｣
Number 26 squeezed its brain hidden inside her body and recalled the baby-making process it had seen among its kin before.
｢First, you inflate the body to make it big.｣
Actually, Number 26 didn’t know much about making babies either. Despite being the leader of the group, it had never made babies with anyone. It only considered itself responsible for protecting its family and never thought about continuing any productive activities.
｢Yeah. And then embrace and intertwine with each other.｣
｢Embrace｣ ｢Intertwine?｣
Adhai seemed suspicious of whether there was any difference in what she said. She was a lot more perceptive than Number 26, seeing through whatever it was saying.
As Number 26 thought there was something more to say, something came to its mind.
｢Use your thin tentacles to touch your friend’s tentacles.｣
｢Yeah. Touch with your tentacles.｣
In reality, it had used its thin tentacles to soothe the big one when he was on the verge of going crazy. At that moment, it had experienced a mysterious connection to the big one’s heart.
A sublime yet strangely unsettling sensation. It felt like doing something forbidden. Number 26 could never forget it.
Listening to its words with a nonchalant attitude, Adhai nodded her head, deeming it reasonable.
｢Tentacles｣ ｢Affection｣ ｢Display.｣
｢Kin｣ ｢Night｣ ｢Flight ｣ ｢Mid Air｣ ｢Tentacles｣ ｢Embrace.｣
Adhai had seen kin secretly engaging in affectionate acts with their tentacles. And it seemed very pleasurable.
[TL/N- kin is when Adhai refers to both Number 26 and Amorph.]
However, that wasn’t the answer Adhai wanted. What she wanted was not the process but the result. No matter how pleasurable the act, it was useless without eggs.
｢Tentacles｣ ｢Embrace｣ ｢Kin｣ ｢Eggs｣ ｢Failure.｣
｢Tentacles｣ ｢Length｣ ｢Many｣ ｢Coolness｣ ｢Acknowledgment｣ ｢Eggs｣ ｢Relationship｣ ｢Irrelevant..｣
As Adhai said, having long and many tentacles was certainly attractive, but it was a separate issue from making babies.
In the end, the conversation came back to square one.
Despite Number 26 and Adhai vigorously debating and racking their brains, they ultimately found no answers.
｢I need a friend who knows how to make babies.｣
The conclusion reached after the profound debate between the sea demon and the Gallagon was simple.
That is, obtaining necessary information from a third party.
It was the result of applying the hunting laws learned so far with Amorph.
When dealing with an unknown enemy, the first step is to gather information.
Amorph, who had become an unknown entity regarding baby-making in the end.
As both a big one and an adult, he slept while evolving, knowing nothing.