Chrysalis Chapter 1766 - Defenders Reborn

We burst through the narrowing gap in the ooze wall and tumble into a foul, heavily corrupted tunnel on the far side. Right away, my healing network, already active from the spear strikes, kicks into overdrive as the thick mana starts corroding my carapace, gnawing at my joints, and biting into the delicate hairs on my antennae. Luckily, my eyes hold up against the assault, so that's one less concern.

Glancing at the Pure Core, sure enough, it's sucking in the filth and obliterating it. That's intriguing, come to think of it. Mana can't be destroyed, only transformed, so if the Core isn't erasing the energy outright, it must be converting it somehow. I'm starting to wonder what those tiny snails are truly up to. Are they somehow feeding off the corruption? Or whatever it turns into after the Pure Core processes it?

Next time I'm up there, I'll have to question them. Or at least try. Not sure how you chat with a singing snail anyway.

Scrambling my legs under me, it's time to check on my guards once more. I might be holding steady in this mess for now, but they definitely aren't. Once again, it's up to my shell to shield the ants meant to shield me.

“Alright then, how are you all holding up? Need some healing?”

But when I spin around, there's nothing there. Of course not—they've hidden themselves once more!

More irritated than worried, I probe the Vestibule to locate them, but the Will feedback feels... off. Not fuzzy exactly, but distorted. According to the Vestibule, Protectant isn't just perched on my back; she's also scrambling up the wall to my left, scouting ahead.

“Protectant.”

A glum silence follows.

“Yes, Eldest?”

“Are you in three places at once?”

“No.”

Hmm. I consult the Vestibule once more.

“Are you in two places at once?”

“... Yes.”

“You took one of those super weird evolutions, didn’t you?!”

“It’s not weird,” she retorts defensively, finally showing herself perched on my head. I hate it when they do that!

“Get off of there,” I demand, swiping at her with my antennae, but as usual, she grips on tight and dodges my awkward swats. If I truly wanted her gone, I'd need to put in real effort, which I'm not bothering with now, so I relent, like always.

“This evolution offered key benefits that outweighed the downsides, in our view,” she states curtly, nestling back atop my head.

“The super weird evolution, you mean?”

“Just because we now possess multiple bodies doesn’t make it weird!”

Seems plenty weird to me.

“So, let me get this straight: there are four of you? Meaning I don’t have twenty bodyguards anymore, but eighty?”

“There are only twenty of us, but eighty bodies, yes.”

Great.

“And how exactly is this better?”

“Well, for one, this evolution saved our lives by devouring the corruption we took from you.”

Can't argue with that point.

“Thanks, by the way,” I mutter, feeling a bit sheepish. “Didn’t get a chance to properly thank you for that. You literally saved my life.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” Protectant replies, brushing aside my earnest thanks. Sheesh!

“It also solves a big issue we've had defending you: you've had to protect us nearly as much as we protect you. Now, with these expendable bodies, we can throw ourselves into danger far more readily, and you won't need to fret over safeguarding us.”

“Wait… so I’m just supposed to let you get squished over and over?”

“As long as one body survives, we can regrow the others,” she confirms with a nod.

“You grow them?”

“Indeed. They don’t appear from thin air.”

“It’s like… some kind of cell division thing?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

Fair enough, they wouldn't. This whole setup feels a bit icky. Their evolution must have tapped into Theorazzn’s mana replication traits and turned it into this self-duplication power. I ended up with the regeneration network; they got the cloning trick.

“But… how do you tell which body is the main one? The original?”

“There isn’t an original or main body. They’re all equally us.”

This is giving me a headache. With this and Leeroy's changes, I'm not sure anymore who boasts the strangest evolution.

“Well… are you okay out here in the tunnels? Can you handle the mana?”

“We can. Don’t worry about us.”

No details, huh? She's always so tight-lipped.

“Alright then. I guess I’m out of questions for now. Let’s move.”

Suddenly, she vanishes from my senses, and I'm oblivious to her on my head again. Their stealth has improved with the evolution—or maybe the tier seven mutations—and tracking them is tougher than ever, but the Vestibule still lets me pinpoint their positions.

Well, if I no longer need to babysit Protectant and her sisters, that's one less burden. As long as it functions and they're sure they can manage, I can zero in on my goal: smashing some slugs right in the face!