Deep inside the UNS Guardian of the High Seas was a small cargo area containing various hazardous biological materials taken from the corpse of the Elder Leviathan.
Throughout this small cargo area were several naval personnel wearing precautionary hazmat suits, gloves, and gas masks. They seemed to be tasked with documenting the biohazards.
While they were efficiently and quietly documenting the biohazards of the Elder Leviathan, a white-haired lady unexpectedly entered the cargo area without any protection.
"Miss, you can't enter this area without protection. Please follow our safety rules." One of the naval personnel conducting the documentation stopped the dragoness.
Laplace turned her gaze at the naval personnel with her irises gleaming in radiant gold. But she calmed herself down and nodded in understanding.
Although she didn't understand what they were saying, they seemed to be implying her outfit's lack of protection.
On the other hand, Captain Lux and Abraham had hurriedly arrived since the dragoness just stormed off the flight deck for no reason and disappeared quickly from their eyes.
"Laplace, why are you in a hurry?" Abraham questioned while looking at the white-haired lady and the piece of biological hazard she was staring at.
"I feel some strange energy emanating from that flesh, Abraham. It feels a bit enticing, like cooked beef." Laplace calmly answered while putting on her own bio-protection suit.
Abraham glanced at the biological hazard that was considered cooked beef by Laplace. It did look like cooked beef, but there was no way anyone would be eating it without any precautions.
"Don't tell me you're planning to eat it." Abraham sternly inquired to the dragoness. Luckily, she shook her head and responded in rejection.
"I obviously don't consider it as food of some sort, Abraham. I'm not someone who eats anything for no reason." Laplace sounded a bit offended from being treated like a gluttonous beast.
"That doesn't give me confidence at all." Abraham quietly remarked though it was clearly heard by the dragoness who found it offending and lightly stomped his foot.
"I don't appreciate that, Abraham. Nonetheless, wait here for a moment and watch. I'll try to investigate that smell." Laplace seriously uttered and left to discover where the strange feeling was coming from.
'She didn't even wait for my answer.' Abraham sighed and waited for the dragoness at the entrance of the small cargo area. He observed her from afar as she got nearer to the biohazard.
Laplace walked closer to the piece of flesh that radiated the strange feeling. As she got closer to it, the stronger the feeling became.
It felt as though it was directly coming from her blood. As if her bloodline was tempting her to get closer to the flesh for some reason.
With each step, the dragoness got closer. As she stood before it, she slowly tried opening up the biohazard with her gloved-covered hands.
The documenting naval personnel merely observed her from others. The same could be said with Captain Lux, who was watching with interest in his eyes.
Most of them were wondering what the dragoness was trying to do and what was actually inside the piece of flesh.
Laplace separated the flesh bit by bit and slowly noticed a hard object in its depths. It took some time to hold it clearly, but it was at this moment that she realized it was rather tiny.
Perhaps, at the size of a small marble.
The dragoness pulled the tiny object from the biohazard left behind by the Elder Leviathan. With her strength, she easily took it out from the flesh and finally, it was for the world to see.
She was right about its size. The only difference was that it was an actual marble. A gorgeous marble that seemed to be brimming with azure-like shifting substances.
Laplace examined the beautiful marble under the pinch of her pale fingers with a scrutinizing gaze. After peering at it for quite a while, she finally had some understanding about what it may be.
"What do you think is it, Laplace?" Abraham calmly asked with curiosity all over his face. His interest was understandable as he wondered what the peerless marble might be able to do.
"Hmm… It's hard to say, but I believe that this is the compressed mana essence of the Elder Leviathan. I don't really see such things in other Leviathans, so it might be centuries worth of mana concentrated into one."
"After all, just because the Elder Leviathan died, doesn't mean that all of its contained mana would dissipate with time. Most of it might compress into one object while some would dissipate with the body."
Laplace calmly explained, making Abraham nod in understanding. Although he had a hard time understanding what some of her words meant, the middle-aged man understood the concept.
"That marble must be a powerful artifact," Abraham remarked, which made Laplace grin and smugly express.
"Correct, those bastard magi would probably be wasting their wealth for this marble." An artifact containing centuries worth of mana essence would cause chaos in the market.
"What do you want to do with it?" Abraham calmly inquired and his questioning words did nothing but make Laplace's grin even wider.
"Naturally, I'll eat it." Laplace confidently declared since this was a particularly rare artifact even for the dragoness.
Abraham sighed at first before lightly smiling at the words that escaped the lady's supple lips.
Though... Inside his mind, he planned to converse with Systema about the subject.
'Can I eat that, Systema?' The Fleet Admiral asked. What followed him was the familiar mechanical bell ringing inside his mind and the monotone voice of his precious partner.
*Ding!*
| You can eat the Elder Hearth, Fleet Admiral. Its effects would be internal implosion. |
Systema's words were straightforward. Abraham would practically explode if he dared to eat the marble in Systema's fingers.
Abraham felt disappointed after hearing the answer, but he wanted to know why he would explode. Fortunately, the following response of Systema answered his questions.
| The physique of the Fleet Admiral does not have the ability to efficiently and safely absorb the Elder Hearth. If the Fleet Admiral does so, it would be akin to a demon core being eaten by a normal man. |
When Systema spoke about the demon core, Abraham felt chills inside his spine. A demon core was practically a plutonium core. A ball of extreme hazard.
The comparison practically destroyed the middle-aged man's regrets about the so-called Elder Hearth.
'But will Laplace be able to handle it?' Abraham asked as he didn't want his friend to eat something that rivaled a demon core.
| Laplace is part of the Cardinal Beast Deities. Her physique is the apex of what could be done with natural biology. She won't die from eating it. |
| Perhaps, she can evolve into something greater through the consumption of the Elder Hearth. |
He nodded after hearing the explanation of his precious partner inside his mind. With the confirmation of his partner, he decided to not stop the dragoness from eating the ball of death.
Laplace calmly took off her gas mask and slowly placed the gorgeous marble, or the Elder Hearth, on her tongue. She closed her eyelids and gulped down the Elder Hearth in one swoop.
Seconds passed by and everyone around her watched with scrutiny. But with time, she opened her eyes and felt nothing had changed.
She turned her gaze to Abraham with a prideful smirk.
But before Laplace could utter a word brimmed with smugness, blood dripped from her lips and she fell to the metallic floor with a thud.