"Now that you ntion it, I almost forgot to ask you."
Hearing Talulah bring up the subject, Steven imdiately opened his minimap Mod. After confirming that there were no red dots indicating the presence of monsters within the village, he stroked his chin and began walking toward Alina's house while questioning Talulah.
"Have you ever heard of sothing called a 'Collapsal'?"
Revealing the na of the creature, Steven knew there was no point in asking Alina, a simple village girl. However, Talulah, a noblewoman, might have so knowledge about it.
Judging by her deanor, she had clearly read quite a few books.
As expected, the mont Steven ntioned the na, the previously puzzled expression on Talulah's face instantly beca grave. Following him into Alina's house, she exchanged a serious glance with Steven before finally speaking.
"Are you saying that the monster you encountered was a Collapsal?"
Talulah frowned, clearly hoping Steven wouldn't confirm her fears.
But personal wishes aside, the fact that he had brought up the na ant that this monster could only be that creature.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. To be more precise, it was a 'Stray Collapsal'."
Steven nodded, confirming that asking Talulah had been the right decision. As expected of a noblewoman from so wealthy family, she knew far more than the average person.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the remains of the Stray Collapsal and placed it on a nearby table.
The mont the remnants were exposed to air, they seed to co alive. The nurous eyeballs embedded in the flesh twitched and rolled in different directions, while the pulsating mass of at wriggled as if preparing to attack at any mont.
Alina, upon seeing the grotesque thing up close for the first ti, turned deathly pale. She hadn't gotten a good look at it before, but now, under close scrutiny, she realized just how terrifying the creature that had been stalking her truly was.
Talulah, in contrast, had a much calr reaction. However, her face turned noticeably colder, indicating that she was far from unaffected by the revelation.
For now, she chose to ignore the fact that Steven had casually stuffed such a monstrous thing into his pocket. He had always been full of strange mysteries, and this was just another to add to the list.
The real issue was that the appearance of a Collapsal ant serious trouble.
It was no wonder she had previously encountered the Royal Guard in that mobile city. If this was the reason, then everything made sense.
Those people hadn't been there to hunt her down specifically. They had co to exterminate and contain the Collapsal. After all, their main duty was handling Collapsals within the Ursus territories.
But weren't these creatures supposed to only appear deep in the northern tundras? This place was rely a borderland—there was still a considerable distance between here and the far north.
Realizing that now was not the ti to dwell on such thoughts, Talulah furrowed her brows and turned her gaze toward Steven, nodding slightly.
"If this thing really ca from the monster you described, then I can confirm—it was definitely a Collapsal."
"Is it a big problem?"
Steven glanced at the still-writhing remains. Unable to resist, he slamd his fist down on it, smashing it into a formless lump before sweeping it off the table and stuffing it back into his backpack.
To be honest, Steven didn't feel much about it. Perhaps it was because the Collapsals he had encountered so far had only been fragnted creatures, re remnants of the real thing. His impression of them was quite limited.
They were sneaky, but not particularly strong.
Of course, maybe if he actually encountered the true form of a Collapsal, his opinion might change.
Then again, considering his past experiences, he doubted it.
After all, in Steven's eyes, he had yet to et anything truly powerful.
If he had to na sothing remotely impressive, then maybe the "Fallingstar Beast" from the mining site deserved so credit—it had at least caused him so trouble.
But everyone else? Whether it was Yelena, Kal'tsit, or anyone else, he never saw them as particularly strong.
"It's more than just a problem. These things aren't even docunted in ordinary books. The Ursus governnt has been actively erasing any information about them. Even I know very little."
Talulah rubbed her forehead. Her knowledge of these creatures ca from that old man who lurked like a venomous snake in the shadows. But even he had only one thing to say about them:
"If you encounter one, leave imdiately. The Royal Guard will take care of it."
That statent alone made it clear—even soone as cautious and calculating as that old man was afraid of these creatures. Most of the ti, he wouldn't even ntion them by na, referring to them instead as "that thing."
"I don't really feel anything special about it," Steven said, scratching his chin. "Aside from looking disgusting, it doesn't seem all that different from other monsters."
To him, these so-called Collapsals weren't that terrifying.
Sure, they were grotesque, but beyond that, they were just slightly stronger than wild beasts.
If anything, Steven felt like an ordinary Rhodes Island field operator could handle them. Even a random soldier with a gun should be able to deal with one without much trouble.
So why was Talulah acting so cautious?
By all rights, she shouldn't have much difficulty dealing with them either.
"I don't know what kind of encounter you had, but based on what I've learned, these creatures grow stronger the more people know about them."
Talulah revealed what she knew.
"In other words, the more people are aware of their existence, the stronger they beco."
This was why there were so few records about them—because the entire Ursus governnt had been systematically covering up their existence. The goal was to prevent them from growing too powerful to control.
"What kind of bizarre tic ability is that?"
Steven raised an eyebrow.
So if he broadcasted the existence of these things to the entire world, they'd suddenly transform into so godlike beings?
"Yes, but that's not the only problem," Talulah added, her expression darkening. "There's another ability these creatures have—and that's the real reason they're so dangerous."
If it were only about growing stronger based on awareness, the governnt's strict information control could easily keep them in check.
But unfortunately, there was more to it than that.
"What ability?"
"Pollution."
Talulah slowly uttered the word, her brows furrowed tightly. If she weren't already aware that Steven's strength far exceeded her expectations, she would have imdiately suspected that he had been polluted the mont he took out that Collapsal's remains.
"These creatures can transform matter into an environnt suitable for their survival. Not only that, but they can also corrupt living beings, turning them into creatures similar to themselves—while significantly enhancing the polluted's strength."
The thought of monsters twisted by Collapsal pollution made Talulah shudder. Even though she had only ever seen such horrors in books, the ntal image was enough to make her feel sick.
And when she considered that, if not for Steven, Alina might have been transford into one of those many-eyed, many-limbed abominations, she felt an even deeper sense of dread.
"Oh, I see what you an now."
Steven nodded in realization. This was basically like the Scape and Run: Parasites Mod he had played before. In that mod, the parasites could infect and assimilate blocks and creatures—turning the creatures into corrupted lifeforms and converting the blocks into organic biomass.
The difference was that these Collapsals lacked the parasites' ability to adapt to attacks. Instead, they had that weird "growing stronger based on knowledge" chanic.
Plus, these Collapsals didn't seem to have the terrifying infection rate of parasites. Their so-called pollution appeared to require direct contact to take effect.
With that in mind… they didn't seem that troubleso after all.
"Are you sure you really understand?"
Talulah's mouth twitched.
Sothing about Steven's casual tone felt off—like he wasn't taking this seriously at all.
If he truly grasped how much of a threat these creatures posed, he shouldn't look this relaxed, right?
"Of course I do. In fact, I already have a solution."
Steven scratched his head and revealed his so-called "perfect" plan with an air of confidence.
"Step one: Find the Collapsal.
Step two: Kill the Collapsal.
Step three: Wipe out everything it has polluted."
"Perfect plan."
He even gestured twice with his hands as if cutting sothing down, completely satisfied with the elegance of his approach.
Talulah, on the other hand, rolled her eyes so hard they might have reached the back of her skull.
"I feel like everything I just explained to you was a complete waste of breath."
This wasn't a plan—it was just a vague outline, like saying "How do you put an elephant in a fridge? Open the fridge, put the elephant inside, close the fridge."
The actual problem was how they were supposed to locate that damn Collapsal in the vast snowfields, and what thods they could use to effectively kill it.
Those were the real challenges.
Steven's so-called "flawless" plan ignored all of those details.
"You seriously need to get your head checked sotis."
After a long mont of hesitation, Talulah finally patted Steven's shoulder and gave her honest conclusion.
< >
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