The Record of Unusual Creatures

After hearing what Hao Ren said, the "brain monster" fluttered a bit and floated up in the air. It looked very weak. Of course, it could be that it could not adapt to this abnormal body at all. The tentacle underneath the 'brain monster' touched the 'Queen of the Sirens' a few times. Hao Ren felt that the real Queen's must have missed her own body.     

"Is there a way to reverse this process?" Vivian also asked.     

Hao Ren put his hand on the tentacle underneath the gigantic brain, and he successfully read the thoughts of ​​the brain again. He had now more or less grasped how his bizarre 'shared mind' ability worked; its working was not random but only effective with specific targets. The truly stable connection so far had been with this gigantic brain.     

After a few moments, he let off his hand. "It's reversible. The brain monster's will is very weak now, and the Queen of the Sirens has roughly found a way to regain her body through years of study. Now everyone please take a step back, the process must not be interrupted."     

Everyone backed off while Shaqira and Sorma were setting up a water barrier to prevent interference from outside. Hao Ren placed the protective crystal on the open space between the Queen of the Sirens and the brain monster, and then they moved outside the barrier.     

The gigantic brain reached out its tentacles and formed a fan-shaped encirclement around the Siren Queen, and a series of faint blue sparks were jumping in between those tentacles. The two minds began to trade places, back to where they were supposed to be. Shaqira was slightly worried when seeing that. "Are you sure…"     

"I'm as sure as eggs is eggs that the soul inside the brain is of your queen." Hao Ren shrugged. "I know you're anxious, but can you please not roll my cat up with your tail?"     

Rollie could barely voice her protest. "Meow... meow, I'll not eat dried fish again. Can you let me go?"     

Meanwhile, Hasse frowned and asked, "How long does this process take?"     

"I've no idea. I didn't ask just yet, but it shouldn't be long. After all, the consciousness of the brain monster no longer resists," said Hao Ren, turning to look at his side. Nangong Wuyue was shaking her head as the girl finally awakened completely while Nangong Sanba was still unconscious. "You're awake? How do you feel? You've come back?"     

The confusion in Nangong Wuyue's eyes quickly faded. However, she could still vaguely remember the state of mind during the chaos, and felt horrific. "Wait a minute! It's all over? The queen's been subdued? What about the brain monster?"     

Hao Ren said with a smile. "It's all over. Now they are restoring their minds."     

Nangong Wuyue had not look at what was going on between the tentacles and the queen. She grabbed Hao Ren's arm and asked, "Wait, now I remember... I didn't hurt anyone, did I? I didn't fight with you people, right?"     

There was a bizarre expression on Hao Ren and Lily's face. The two were too embarrassed to tell inept siren that she was the safest one during the period of control. With her half-depleted strength, she had protected everyone. When Nangong Wuyue became more and more tense, Lily explained to her in a euphemistic way. "At that time, you were using the tip of your tail attacking us mercilessly but luckily you hadn't even managed to cut through our clothes. Then I dragged you here."     

Hao Ren patted the siren maiden on the shoulders, comforting her. "This is a good thing. Can you see how much trouble your compatriots have caused us this time? It would have saved me a lot of trouble if they were as inept as you were. But then I remember that you still didn't know how to use your tail to whip people's face when you were fighting in Dragonspine Ridge. How come you did that when you went berserk?"     

Nangong Wuyue said, "...can you not discuss this?"     

"Ahem, so how is your brother doing?" Hao Ren finally knew he was a miserable comforter; he quickly changed the subject.     

"He will probably wake up in a while," said Wuyue, glancing at her brother. "He cast a dozen of sleep spells on himself before slamming his head against the pillar of the palace when he realized that he was being controlled."     

Hasse sighed. "Although half-baked, he was at least decisive."     

Hao Ren rubbed his nose; he had his heart in his mouth just now when most of the men were affected. Fortunately, they were all safe in the end. Physically, they would recover very fast, but mentally, they still needed a few days to recuperate.     

At this time, a sudden burst of magical power came from not far away. Hao Ren looked up and saw that gigantic brain was chaotically falling to the ground as the siren queen staggered to her feet. Shaqira rushed up. "Your Majesty, you are back?"     

The siren queen shook her head before nodding in confusion. Sorma immediately turned and called Hao Ren out. "Her Majesty the Queen has recovered! Please untie her chain."     

"Wait a minute," Hao Ren swam up and looked at the Queen. Although the Queen was a gentle woman with a gracefully elegant smile. he could not know which soul was in her by just looking from the outside. "I need to test to see if the brain monster has completely left her body."     

The siren queen nodded silently as Hao Ren took out the MDT. "Compare it with the soul sample to see if it the brainwave frequency of the brain monster."     

The MDT flew around the siren queen a couple of times, and then buzzed. "It's done. The restoration is successful."     

Hao Ren took the restraint device off the queen and reached out his hand to this elegant woman. "Welcome back, Your Majesty."     

"Thank you so much for your help," the siren queen nodded slightly, despite the excitement in her eyes, she still tried to not show that on her face. But when she saw the unconscious brain monster, she could not help but became emotional. I didn't even think I could escape from that terrible container. It feels good to return to my body. "     

Hao Ren left the siren queen to Shaqira and Sorma, they might have a lot to catch up on. Meanwhile, he needed to recover the living brain monster as specimen. Taking out a cylindrical container out from the dimensional pocket, which specialized in storing medium-sized biological specimens, he labelled it, and then let the autonomous robot throw the brain monster into the container together with a protective crystal. The protective crystal would ensure that the brain would remain in hibernation until it was sent to CARS. He let out a long sigh and felt a sense of accomplishment. The MDT, lying on his shoulder, also let out a sigh and said, "After a treasure hunt, people usually would return with a ship load of treasure. But why are you only returning with a lump of pork belly?"     

Hao Ren choked hearing that. "*Cough cough—* Can you not be so disgusting?" he said.     

"Oh, there's still another thing." Hao Ren suddenly smacked his head. "Bring back the siren general as well. As the brain wave of the brain monster has been isolated, those controlled sirens should've recovered."     

Taking the order, the MDT left. Those remained at the scene began to examine their injuries and assess the damage to the equipment. After the aqua barrier was turned off, Y'lisabet swirled and bathed herself in the water. Lil Pea swam in and around the broken walls having a little fun of adventure with Rollie following closely behind keeping an eye on her. The sound of the rush of water was heard around the wrecked palace as sirens cautiously came out and gathered. Most of these sirens were members of the Queen's Guard. After getting out of the control, the sirens looked up and stared blankly at the completely destroyed palace. Some sirens had their eyes on the maelstrom above protective wall.     

"Let's keep it to another time," Hao Ren interrupted the conversation between the siren queen and Shaqira. "We need to figure out what this maelstrom is all about. What does it do, actually?"     

The siren queen looked up at the maelstrom. "It's a portal, leading to--"     

Lily chimed in. "The Plane of Dreams?"     

"What's The Plane of Dreams?"     

"It is your home, another universe," Hao Ren waved his hand. "I'll explain it later. I have roughly figured what's in the mind of the brain monster. The key now is how to turn this maelstrom off. Do you have a switch or something?"     

The Queen looked at the maelstrom grimly for a long moment before sshaking her head. "I'm afraid I can't turn it off. It has absorbed too much energy. Now it has become self-sustaining. Even if we cut off the energy supply, it will continue to swell until a portal is opened."     

Hao Ren: "…Holy molly!"