Something is coming?

Hearing Costate's warning, Ronald didn't hesitate to step forward, take a part of the fish's body, and began dissecting it with the spell from "The Origin of Species."

Having completed this action, Ronald turned back to the passage they had descended from.

Although the human-sensing spell didn't indicate anything, reality quickly confirmed the accuracy of the maid's intuition.

Only a few breaths passed.

The dim basement stairs were illuminated by a soft golden light. A spell sprite, floating and with basic body structure, slowly entered the basement from here.

"..."

Ronald recognized this thing.

According to his past knowledge, this was a commonly used spell by casters of the Dawn Spell Society. It usually played assistive roles in daily life or patrolled specific areas upon command, and it inherently had no combat capability.

The spell sprite now appearing before the three of them was undoubtedly serving this purpose.

"Il, Costate, we need to leave immediately!"

Seeing this thing, Ronald instantly knew he couldn't stay here.

He reached out and crushed the spell sprite from a distance, then quickly led the two girls behind him up the stairs.

In fact, the appearance of the spell sprite in the basement already meant that the trio's presence was inevitably exposed.

Destroying the sprite immediately would alert its creator; not destroying it would result in it patrolling the open basement, soon discovering Ronald and the others and reporting back to its creator.

In any case, leaving immediately was the optimal solution under the current circumstances.

Things turned out just as Ronald anticipated.

As the three crossed the stairs and passed over two unconscious casters on the floor, Ronald's keen hearing detected commotion from the manor's front hall, where urgent shouts like "intruders" and "being destroyed" could faintly be heard.

Fortunately, Ronald reacted exceedingly fast, without any delays.

So by the time they reached the first floor,

the newly awakened Dawn Spell Society members hadn't arrived there yet.

"Starting from the relationship between the Earth and the sky, our understanding begins to form!"

Ronald immediately recited a spell from the "Astronomy Master."

Then, using sheer force, he smashed a hole in the ceiling above and lifted Il and Costate into the sky faster than any standard caster could, transforming into a swiftly vanishing shadow above the sea.

By the time the Dawn Spell Association casters arrived and saw the traces left behind, facing Ronald and the others who had swiftly flown away from Lighthouse Island, they could only accept the result with resignation.

"..."

On the other side, Ronald was heading towards the city with Il and Costate.

Taking advantage of this time,

Ronald began to carefully examine the genetic analysis of the fish through "The Origin of Species."

——Blue-edged barracuda.

——Schooling creature.

——A common near-shore fish with a habit of entering freshwater regions.

——Feeds mainly by filtering organic matter from seabed mud. Mild-tempered with a wide distribution range...

All of these are ordinary information a typical barracuda would gather.

However, at the end of the analysis result from "The Origin of Species," Ronald discovered a completely new organ structure.

——Chordate gastric sac.

——This organ can absorb magical elements from food when grinding it.

...

This is a hundred percent magical organ!

Though it lacks offensive capabilities or special features, the properties of this gastric sac means the barracuda has transcended the realm of ordinary creatures.

With a deeper analysis from "The Origin of Species,"

Ronald could confirm that the magical absorption ability of the fish was a result of its own evolutionary process, not the product of forcibly spliced gene structures.

"Is that really the case..."

Confronted with this result, Ronald's expression was complex.

All previous speculations have proven true.

Apart from Yizi Forest, the world's organisms have started to evolve in adaptation to magic.

Compared to ordinary casters,

Ronald's understanding of this phenomenon was deeper—he knew the cause of this biological evolution.

The true catalyst for these rapid changes was undoubtedly the world's anomaly. But all of this was orchestrated by that Astrology Tower Master, Katherine, currently still within the Infinite Negative Field.

His mind continued to ponder and deduce.

It's important to note that humans are just one of countless species, fundamentally no different from the barracuda lying on the experimental bench.

With marine life already starting to evolve in affinity with magic,

it's very possible that human beings will undergo similar changes in the future.

So Katherine's real goal is to transform the world's people into a species in harmony with magic?

The thoughts about this event surfaced in succession, but Ronald couldn't immediately verify the correctness of his guesses. After all, after nearly all casters left, the situation within the Infinite Negative Field became undetectable.

Moreover, based on Ronald's understanding of the current world,

The previous methods of deliberately falling into the Infinite Negative Field due to world anomalies have become ineffective.

The only way to return to that world would probably be like the attack he and Bapulor faced back then when brought by someone with an original classic through a self-explosion-style attack.

"..."

"Boss, can we land a bit up ahead?"

While Ronald pondered many issues and continued to return with the other two, Il suddenly spoke.

Moreover, this strong being, in a rather uncomfortable tone, requested from Ronald:

"I'm feeling a bit unwell and need a moment to recover."

"Alright?"

"What's happening to you?"

Ronald was extremely surprised at Il's reaction.

What could cause this being to feel physically unwell?!

Despite his surprise, he quickly accelerated and descended, finding the nearest land on the drifting sea surface.

Put! Put!

As soon as the three landed, Il reacted violently by kneeling on the ground.

Then, their hands started branching into fine twigs, which were immediately thrust deeply into the ground to absorb nutrients from the earth.

After completing this action,

Il's expression of discomfort began to dissipate.

Even so, they breathed quickly, seemingly regulating some intense internal changes.

After more than a minute, Il finally lifted their eyes to Ronald, asking in a still weak tone:

"Boss, can you give me a little more time?"

Ronald naturally agreed without hesitation:

"You go ahead; Costate and I will watch over you while you recover!"