Seized by the System

Chapter 1158: They Were Replaceable

After receiving the message from his subjects, Twelve Arms took some time, but he finally arrived, coursing through the waves.

His memories were still at the time when the Heavens and Earth were overturned.

At that time, it seemed that the whole world was about to descend to its end. Everywhere, thunder and lightning clashed as everything was enshrouded in shadows.

Fortunately, he was an Octopus of Destiny. After he had awakened, the Heavens and Earth had returned to normal…

Wait, the current situation, was it really normal?

Twelve Arms looked at the calm sea. He lowered his giant octopus head and took a huge sip of the seawater.

“No, why is it missing a familiar taste of fuel and plastic?”

“This is not our seawater!”

His intelligence had surpassed that of an ordinary octopus, his senses sharp as he immediately identified the difference.

At that moment, one by one, his octopus subjects swam over.

“Mm, Guard A, Guard B… not a single one is missing.” Twelve Arms counted the heads, relieved to find that he still had these subjects. As long as they were still with him, he would be able to start over and rebuild his Octopus Kingdom.

“My King, my King, what is this place?” The old octopus swam forth and asked.

“Mm, if only my Heavenly Book Master was still here,” Twelve Arms lamented. However, he believed that with his Heavenly Book Master’s capabilities, it was definitely doing better off than him, “It was sure to know what this place is.”

Was that not the truth; the other was waiting for the world to be completed before it came out to become a master; unlike a poor thing like him, who had been sent out first as cannon fodder.

“My King, I’m hungry.” A little octopus suddenly said pitifully.

“Alright, everybody get to work. First, let’s catch some big fish to eat, leave the fry to start farming,” Twelve Arms skilfully gave orders, “Right, send out the sentries to check if there is any land nearby and if there are humans on land. We must be prepared. If they are willing to stay peaceful, then we may begin trade and transport with them. If they intend to hunt and kill us, we must be prepared to defend ourselves.”

First, agriculture, and second, the military. He had perfectly demonstrated what a qualified King should do.

Even though it was a bit rough on the edges, it was enough to cope with the situation at hand.

In the end, Twelve Arms was still an octopus from humble origins, unlike a certain fellow. After he had given his orders, he personally led the others to begin hunting for fish.

Seeing as he was still a brachiopod with twelve, strong limbs; he was far superior to the common octopus, both in speed and hunting.

In the early days of development, he was able to handle the work of a hundred laborers.

Evidently, there was still plenty of fish in the sea. The current humans were still incapable of fishing in the ocean.

The octopuses, however, were masters of the sea. Even more so now that they had acquired wisdom and intelligence. The ordinary schools of fish were not their opponents.

Octopuses were carnivores, but their diet was vast, consisting of tiny shellfish to ginormous sharks, all of which were on the menu of wild octopuses.

However, Twelve Arms was a wise king and gave an order not to freely capture the larger species of fish.

First of all, it was dangerous. Secondly, these fishes may possess intelligence. He still remembered the principle that intelligent creatures must not hunt each other for food; they must be carefully analyzed before they may be hunted.

In a sea without enemies and competitors, the Octopus Kingdom bloated like a balloon as it developed at speed.

One by one, the fish farms were built. Once they were able to find tough, sturdy waterweeds, they built a huge underwater fence.

After which it would be patrolled periodically by octopuses to prevent it from being destroyed by other big fish.

After all, they had absorbed a lot of knowledge from the humans on Earth, and possessed many modern technologies. Although many of which were unusable, such as generating electricity in the sea, and starting a fire in the sea…

Without fire, the branches of technology were unable to light up.

In order to advance to a higher civilization, they must first board the lands.

After a period of time had passed, about three months later, Twelve Arms led a group of octopuses to where they found a large island roamed by only a few wild beasts. They began boarding the island.

What had taken Twelve Arms by surprise was that they had lost quite a fair amount of their previous abilities, including the ability to live on land for long periods of time.

“My King, it’s impossible. We won’t be able to last for long; this world is lacking in vitality.

There’s only enough for us to retain our wisdom, but not enough to restore our previous Spiritual Ascension.” The first batch of scout octopuses reported.

“It looks like we’ll have to return to living in the sea. Now, everyone, we will have a meeting to sort out our old technological knowledge to see which ones are suitable for use underwater.” Twelve Arms decisively issued an order.

The former ministers gathered together once again. They used to be octopus leaders or old octopuses with higher intelligence.

“Marine aquaculture and shipbuilding technologies may still be used underwater, but we need to engage in trade with the civilizations on land. We’ll exchange fishes and pearls for their materials, this will enable us to utilize both these technologies.” said one of the ministers.

“Have we located the humans?” asked Twelve Arms.

“Your Majesty, we’ve discovered the humans. They are residing at the northern part on land. They appear to be impoverished; they don’t even have enough to eat. They are vastly different from the humans of the old world. There are no signs of those big terrifying iron ships either.”

“If that’s the case, then there is the possibility of trade. Send some envoys to liaise with them. Be careful. These humans are different from the former humans on earth. They’ve never seen us before and will surely treat us as monsters and demons.” cautioned Twelve Arms.

Although he still retained a gift of honesty, he was no longer foolish.

…

On a certain beach in the south of the Nine Provinces.

“Grandfather Octopuses, please spare us. We’re just trying to catch some fish for food. We have no intentions to encroach upon your territory…”

A few young fishermen dressed in rags were bowing with their hands folded in front at the group of octopuses surrounding them as they spoke in an unintelligible locale.

“Oh, the people in this world are far worse than those on Earth…” Octopus A sighed.

“Aren’t they? How dull, not even a single one of them capable of understanding us.” Octopus B, too, sighed.

“We still need to complete the task assigned by His Majesty. Let’s change it to written form instead. See if they can read.” Octopus A said with no other choice.

Soon, a row of Chinese characters appeared on the beach.

The group of fishermen looked at one another in an even more frightened manner.

“Who here can read?” Fisherman A asked.

“I can’t, but the boy from the Zhang family went to school for a few years, he should be able to recognize some words.” Fisherman B said.

“Then call him over.”

“Can the Grandfather Octopuses let us go now?”

After a while, the octopuses withdrew. Before departing, they even left a pile of fish for the fishermen.

The fishermen looked at one another. After a while, they left with much gratitude.

The next day, a few brave ones returned to the same place, bringing with them their children, and they communicated using words.

Finally, the two parties came to an agreement. The octopuses would provide the fish, and they would supply the wood, nails, and other materials…

Octopus A commented, “I told you. Humans are complicated. They’re cowardly and courageous. Give them a little bit of an advantage, and they’re about to soar the skies, yet they dart off at the slightest rustle of wind.”

“They’re irrational. I suddenly think that we, octopuses, should become the protagonists of the world. Look, you and I can work the radio, understand Morse code, and we have eight arms to work with. We’re far more efficient than they are. We don’t know the concept of laziness either.” Octopus B seemed to have discovered a whole new world.

“Hey, you’re right. We should bring this up to His Majesty. Instate a few human puppets and takeover this piece of land.” Octopus A readily agreed.

Coming in contact with these primitive humans had given them the idea that they were an expendable species. Like the time travelers who had arrived in the feudal society; anyone with a sane mind would not be willing to accept the rule of old feudal forces, bowing down to them every day and living in prejudice and discrimination.