Post-Apocalyptic Dispatch Society

The Gharial consumed the crimson sphere as the effects of the syringe's solution took action. The solution would generally place an animal in a state of suspended animation while she would enter its mouth to take control.

But, this wasn't limited to her alone. Others too could do that, provided they could become small enough to enter the bodies of animals. This was why when she obtained this power, Xuna felt that it was perfect for her as a spy.

After all, it wasn't just her that could infiltrate enemy areas using it, but could also bring her allies in the same way.

And now, what she had been attempting was something similar.

By dropping the blood of all the people in the vat, she was storing their genetic information. While the collected blood dried, the information was being concentrated further. And the presence of the healing rod was to ensure the genetic material didn't begin breaking down as it did naturally.

Thanks to that, not only did it not break down, but it was also concentrated over time. And when the resultant crimson sphere was placed in the Gharial's mouth, it became as if the genetic information became the one controlling it.

As Xuna had been adding enough of her syringe's serum at regular intervals, its power had seeped into the genetic information, resulting in a change.

Thanks to this, it was as if a connection had been formed between the Gharial and the villagers where they were piloting it. Though in truth, it was their blood that was piloting the Gharial.

The Gharial stood on its elevated platform—built for it by the villagers—with a blank expression, having been affected by the crimson sphere that was slowly dissolving in its mouth.

Upon seeing that it was effective, Xuna took out the crimson sphere from the smaller vat—one created using the Gharial's blood. She arrived before Tuglai who seemed the most bizarrely evolved among the villagers, feeding it to him, "Whatever happens, just allowed it to finish its course."

"Yes…" Tuglai nodded as he entered a trance, losing his sense of self as the Gharial's thoughts began to influence his body. Due to the concentration of the serum in the syringe, the effect probably wouldn't dissipate even after many decades.

Though, what was required was only a short duration of connection as Xuna stared nervously, observing the Gharial's luck wriggle like a tentacle and slowly crawl towards Tuglai, tugging at his luck before eventually combining into one.

'Success!' Xuna pumped her fists as she stared at Yihan in excitement, only to see his face paling all of a sudden.

"Xuna…this wasn't what I thought…" He muttered, pointing at the Gharial that began to approach Tuglai before suddenly clamping upon him, tearing his limbs apart to eat him up.

"No…what is this?" Xuna was flabbergasted, having never expected something like this to happen.

In the West Guardian Village, she had created a statue through which the people of the village obtained their powers from.

So, she had been expecting the same here too, having never expecting the Gharial to end up eating Tuglai.

"Don't." Just as she planned to stop the Gharial, thinking that her plans went awry, Yihan stopped her, "I can sense the powers of a Guardian Beast forming here."

"This…" Only after that did she noticed that the Gharial's luck was taking up shape slowly, transforming into a Gharial that seemed mildly more sentient than its physical counterpart.

The Gharial's body grew in size a little as Nacre began to form in its body. It then appeared before Hukla who stared at it with a strange sense of fanatism.

A moment later, it began to munch on her too, eating her up in a matter of seconds as its body became slightly bigger.

Its luck became more pronounced and sentient as the Gharial made its way to the next villager, eating up him, continuing in the fashion as within two days, all the three hundred plus villagers were eaten up by it.

By now, it spanned a length surpassing ten metres, a hulking creature that was emitting a dense flux of Nacre, making its way to the shore as it stared at the rest of the Gharials that had arrived at the banks by now.

What followed next was a brutal massacre as it killed and devoured its own kind, not leaving even a single one alive, even chasing the escapees into the sea to kill.

A week later, it arrived at the shore, spanning a length surpassing thirty metres now, a behemoth that was barely able to handle its own body weight, crawling up the island mountain as it made its way into the cave, grunting in exhaustion in the end.

Its eyes stared at Xuna and Yihan that had followed it all along, brimming with intelligence as it opened its mouth, letting out a guttural sound before laying down hundreds of eggs.

It spent an entire day in the process, groaning in the end as its body seemed to be giving out, unable to handle such an extreme evolution.

It closed its eyes, dying, having completed the task.

"Xuna…" Yihan said, staring at the scene, wide-eyed.

"I know," Xuna replied as she cast her petrifying beam on the over thirty-metre-long Gharial corpse, turning it into a sculpture. Though, it seemed that wasn't enough as the luck version of the Gharial had tethered itself to the mountain itself.

This meant that the mountain island itself acted as the altar where the Guardian Beast resided. That was why it left its body, done with its purpose after laying down its eggs. Each egg was at least a foot high, massive.

Soon after, one of the eggs cracked, revealing a humanoid baby inside, one sporting scaly eyes and thin fins that extended out his ears.

His skin too wasn't humanlike, having a mild, almost transparent texture resembling a Gharial's. The baby didn't let out any cries, but instead stared at Xuna and Yihan to perform a bow, struggling with the baby body but still managing to do so.

Xuna stared at the luck above the baby in shock, stammering as she muttered, "this luck is the same as Tuglai…"

"Reincarnation?" Yihan was shocked, staring at the baby as he asked, "Are you…Tuglai?"

The baby blinked his eyes as a sign of affirmation, shocking the duo.

After observing the baby's mouth, Yihan flew out of the cave and plunged into the sea, returning with some fight that he had caught, giving it to the baby to see him eating it happily, albeit with mild difficulty.

Unlike a human baby, his teeth were all formed, and they were sharp, enough to consume fish right after birth.

There was an obvious growth in his baby body after he had his fill. It was a minute but noticeable difference as within a week, the baby was able to talk, this time able to articulate his words better, "I feel…smarter."

It wasn't just Tuglai that had been reborn, but Hukla and the rest of the villagers too. This was not to mention the Gharials that had been killed. They too were reborn now as humanoid entities.

They weren't able to talk though.

Only twenty babies—that originally could talk—were able to do the same. But, the rest were slowly learning the language, showing promise of being able to speak sooner or later, just like normal human babies.

One thing that was surprising was the fact that they were growing at a consistent pace, though limited to the first generation, as they were undergoing a process similar to rebirth. Those from the second generation would grow up slower and take as much time as a human to reach maturity.

Tuglai arrived before the sea, staring at the water as his scaly eyes spotted a fish swimming close by, leaping into the water immediately.

Boom!

A yellowish-white light emanated from his body as a layer of thick scales appeared all over his body, glimmering with a tough hue. His speed in the water blossomed as he grabbed hold of the fish easily, surfacing soon after.

All this happened a week after his birth, when his body still resembled a three-year old baby. So, it was pretty shocking for Xuna and Yihan who watched him peel off the bones and other unnecessary parts from the fish and consume it raw in relish.

Following him immediately after were the rest of the babies, capturing fishes easily. Though, whenever any predator arrived, their lives were in danger.

But, Xuna swooped in to ward off the predators. She didn't wish to kill them, for these babies would do it themselves once they grow enough.

Staring at how they were natural born killers, she didn't interfere with them, instead creating a massive greyish-blue wall over which Yihan inscribed their language, mathematics, and a bunch of other subjects.

This was to ensure the island would develop on their own and not become cut off from the affairs of the mainland. Even if they wished to remain secluded, they shouldn't be caught unawares. Hence, Yihan planned to impart enough knowledge to them through this inscription.

Considering the nature of inscriptions that were prone to wear and tear, the information would last for at least a millennium or two. And with that, he inscribed a set of words at the top of the inscription, symbolising the village's identity.

"South Guardian Village."