I'm a Stingray?

Chapter 187: IQ, once more

[Confirmed]

[Upgrading your IQ...]

That's when the little hero expected, for tremendous pain to be inflicted against his body, or head at least. But right now he realised why exactly he could use an intelligence boost. He kept forgetting that upgrading intelligence doesn't hurt whatsoever.

At least it used to be like that. Throughout this upgrade, he felt a small and painless pinch on his noggin. And the system notified just a second later.

[Upgrade complete]

[Your IQ now is = 60 points]

[250 system points consumed]

[You don't have any points remaining]

It felt like a blessing, but the fact that it still was low compared to the other intelligence he had, was agitating. But right now a question rolled in that little noggin, and it should be the best time to ask about it.

So he elevated from the dirt, and questioned. "How come my head didn't hurt when I upgraded intelligence before? But it hurt a little bit now."

[You will eventually feel more pain, the more you upgrade any type of intelligence]

[Nothing had hurt in the past few upgrades because your brain wasn't exactly complex, so base foundations were still being set up. Now, your brain has attained a beginner level of complexity. And naturally that's what caused a small head pinch]

The blue-dotted boy wanted to feel offended, but he also understood that the system was just being honest. Now however, he was looking a bit less forward towards upgrading intelligence. Specifically since pain will increase as if in a brick-by-brick way.

But a bit of superiority began creeping in, once he realised that he had a system that can eventually make him a super genius. Random fish didn't have that right now, humans probably don't have it either.

So with a bit of pride, he spoke out. "Should've known that it hurt because of my genius!"

[You aren't a genius, but your head did hurt because of intelligence. Such upgrades include tampering, and relocating nerves that are connected to your brain]

[Glia and neuron cells in your head increase as well. So all together, that's what causes and will cause pain]

Gaining the grand hint that he only understood half of what the system had just said, it became noticeable that his intelligence had to be upgraded a few times more, at least if he wished to understand uncommon topics.

Putting those thoughts aside, he began heading towards the very tunnel of which these enemies had sprouted out of. It was a bit too dark to see through it, but after reaching what felt like half way through ~ faint illumination was shining from the other side.

Clearly it was the moonlight, and he never had imagined that seeing it would cause so much joy. After a few moments he had finally reached the other side of the tunnel, and took a few seconds to observe his surroundings.

After peeking at the compass that was on the map, he managed to figure out which way the tribe of white-legged shrimp was.

...

It took just a little while to reach the place, especially since he was piercing the waters at full speed. Being sneaky wasn't exactly a concern, as his transparency was still active thanks to biting through that snipefish.

Most marine animals and predators couldn't see him. But those who could, didn't dare to approach as they didn't see it as a good idea to follow an invisible fish.

After reaching the tribe, he could notice that the area was a bit too calm. There weren't many shrimp crawling around, and those who were, behaved like they didn't see the king. Well they couldn't, but it felt tough to be ignored when earlier they treated him as royalty.

The few shrimp around here seemed tired as much as they were unaware. Their crawling was lazy and slow, some even collapsed on the spot for the sake of resting; the energy they had, wasn't even enough to reach their homes.

It felt odd at first, but the hero suddenly remembered something. And while swimming above a few conscious subjects, he managed to eavesdrop on a conversation.

One of them, who seemed a bit older, complained. "The president is crazy. We elderlies can't work like slaves, that's what the younger ones are for!"

A lady who appeared to be a teenager, contradicted. "That's a pretty stupid thing to say, you've lost a few grandchildren already. Doesn't that bother you? Their jaws were broken and they barely had any energy to cry out."

Such a conversation continued afterwards, but to Tim it was enough to piece the puzzle together. He had remembered the suicidal speaker back in the holy-tar tribe; talking about a deal that was made with the president of these shrimps.

Right after, he mumbled. "So these shrimp are really making dens for the tar-sect. Traitors! I shout kill them all."

[Although I typically would not mix up in situations like this, killing everyone is a horrible idea]

[They are likely unaware of just why they're digging. The higher ups are the only ones to blame]

"So you're saying that other important shrimp are in on this?" It didn't take much intelligence to understand that hint. But it also gave reasons to be angrier.

[Most likely, yes]

With that conclusion growing in the sea-pancake's head, he began looking for where the president could be. First it felt like it would take enough time, for the sun to rise over the horizon before the target was found. Such a time span featured effort that he did not want to put in.

So instead of swimming around aimlessly, he stopped and began observing all surroundings a bit better. It was difficult to see in the midst of darkness, but something still managed to capture the corner of his eye.

Although it was blurry and over a hundred meters away, a whole coating of white that was over coral and sand, was tremendously difficult to ignore - even in night time.

So having it swiftly decided, he began charging towards the just set target. Rage was building up bit-by-bit, as he just couldn't figure out enough reason for this shrimpy president to betray the reef, and most importantly: his own people. The thought of it was agitating.