Chapter 22: The Mermaid's Location
The waves raged furiously, the night storm arriving too quickly. The gale had barely subsided when raindrops as large as beans began to fall, the sea and sky nearly connected by the curtain of rain. Standing amidst the downpour, even opening one's eyes was a struggle.
A furious wave swept over, and a fishing boat at the center of the storm creaked and groaned, as if about to be twisted in two.
There was no denying it—the five members of the protagonist team had considerable courage. They had found a fearless captain, along with a medium-sized fishing vessel, and set sail.
Undoubtedly, the five members of the protagonist team had no idea how terrifying the sea truly was. They believed that being transcendent meant they could overcome the wrath of heaven. But they overlooked one thing: in a world of the supernatural, the wrath of heaven was even more fearsome. The ocean was not something these landlubbers could challenge.
Crack!
A bolt of lightning, faintly tinged with purple, flashed across the sky. Inside the fishing boat's cabin, the five wore varied expressions. Aichi was contemplating whether he would drown, while the white-haired youth pondered if his dangerous object carrying the five of them would be struck by lightning.
Doyle Mu was praying devoutly. In his words, as long as one was pious enough, they could move the Storm God and spare the fishing boat from sinking.
Nainai and the mature woman, Manli, were pulled along by Doyle Mu to pray together. The clever little one, Nainai, chanted like a mantra during her prayers. If not for the torrential rain outside, she would have already fallen asleep.
...
Inside the top cabin of the steel warship, the storm outside was insufficient to shake the vessel. All that could be heard was the patter of raindrops striking the metal.
Baha was munching on Bubu Wang's snacks. Beside him, Tide Hunter held a chocolate bar, nibbling it in small bites. She hadn't wanted it initially, but she couldn't keep refusing others' kindness.
The dynamics within Su Xiao's team were interesting. His relationship with Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha needed no elaboration. The key point was Tide Hunter. Her first impression of Amu was the best, followed by Bubu Wang, and now she had a decent impression of Baha as well.
As for Su Xiao, Tide Hunter didn't feel disgust or hostility toward him. Instead, she maintained a 24-hour state of vigilance. Initially, she wasn't too intimidated, but after witnessing the mutual scheming between Su Xiao and Kingsley, Tide Hunter felt deep down that even if he tricked her, she might remain completely unaware, perhaps even believing she could win.
"Damn, it was an adventure film just now. How did it suddenly turn into a disaster movie?"
Baha looked at the image on the wall, deeply impressed by the courage of the protagonist team setting out with just a fishing boat.
"I feel like their boat is about to sink."
No sooner had Tide Hunter spoken than a loud crash came from the image. The screen began to shake, accompanied by the sound of twisting metal.
"Uh... it really did sink."
Baha laughed unkindly.
"They have the dangerous object, the Mechanical Giant Bird. They'll use it now."
Tide Hunter bit off the end of her chocolate bar, focusing on the projection on the wall. Sure enough, a mechanical giant bird spread its wings, breaking through the rain curtain, flying about a dozen meters above the sea. Two members of the protagonist team were on its back, while the other three clung to its claws.
"They should fly close to the sea surface, or they'll get struck by lightning."
"Granny, please don't say that. They're already miserable enough..."
Crack!
A thunderclap. Lightning flashed across the projection, striking the mechanical giant bird's back. Su Xiao clearly saw the white-haired youth on its back shudder violently. The mechanical giant bird, sparking with flames, plummeted toward the sea.
"Granny, are you cursed? I don't know if you're the number one beauty of Tianba, but you're definitely the chief prophet of Tianba."
"What's a prophet?"
"Nothing~"
"Actually, falling into the sea isn't a big deal for them. They're all transcendents. As long as they don't encounter a transcendent sea beast and survive the storm..."
Before Tide Hunter could finish, a massive beast burst out of the sea.
The top cabin suddenly fell silent. Bubu Wang and Baha were stunned by Tide Hunter's jinx-like words. This was practically "words become reality." She said the boat would capsize, and it did. She said they'd be struck by lightning, and they were. She said a transcendent sea beast would appear, and one immediately leaped out of the sea.
Su Xiao, however, was not surprised at all. This wasn't a coincidence. When the boat capsized and they were struck by lightning, he wasn't certain yet. But when the transcendent sea beast appeared, he was basically sure this was Kingsley's arrangement.
The fishing boat the protagonist team had procured was too slow. Both Su Xiao and Kingsley were traveling on steel warships. After sailing for a while, they had to wait for the protagonist team. The ones responsible for triggering traps naturally had to be in front.
Kingsley didn't want to wait any longer, so he simply summoned a sea beast to make the protagonist team reach their destination as quickly as possible.
Things didn't deviate from Su Xiao's expectations. A few minutes later, the giant sea beast surged out of the sea. The white-haired youth and the others crouched on its back. Judging by the beast's appearance, it had been beaten badly. Temporary companion +1.
With the giant sea beast, the protagonist team's travel efficiency underwent a qualitative change. What was estimated to take a week to sail would now, at the latest, be reached by tomorrow morning.
...
The next day, 8:00 AM.
The sky was clear and cloudless. Looking out, the sea was as flat as a mirror. There wasn't even a ripple on the surface, let alone waves.
Large fragments of rock floated in the air, forming broken rings that interlocked with each other, creating a magnificent sight.
Golden sunlight filtered through the gaps between the stone rings, casting golden halos on the mirror-like sea surface.
On the back of the giant sea beast, the five—white-haired youth, Aichi, Nainai, and the others—were awestruck by the scene before them. Such beauty was something they had never seen in their lives.
"So this is where the dangerous object, the Mermaid, hides. It's beautiful."
Nainai looked up at the sky, feeling that today was a day well-lived.
"Stop staring. The descendant's blood is limited. We need to find the mermaid quickly."
Doyle Mu was the most composed. He dipped his finger in some blood, confirmed that the blood mark on his forehead couldn't be washed off by water, and then leaped into the sea.
This sea area was indeed where the mermaid was located. This intelligence came from the Alliance Council, which had used it to reach a cooperation agreement with Kingsley.
Things had reached the most critical juncture. As the protagonist team dived into the sea, not only was Su Xiao monitoring their actions, but Kingsley was as well.
Through the surveillance equipment on Nainai, Su Xiao saw the underwater situation. Large numbers of glowing particles floated beneath the water's surface, illuminating the underwater scene.
When Nainai and the others descended to a depth of about a hundred meters at the seabed, Su Xiao saw vast ruins of abandoned buildings. The most conspicuous was a giant shell on the seabed, nearly five meters in diameter, with soft white tendrils inside.
These white tendrils hung limply, with some areas appearing to have suffered blunt force trauma. The giant shell also had cracks.
Moreover, the seabed was covered in a layer of white bone fragments, spreading over several kilometers around.
From a preliminary observation, Su Xiao concluded that the giant shell was a type of dangerous object, with a danger level around B-rank. It had likely been attracted by the mermaid's cries, serving as both her dwelling and protection.
Apart from the giant shell, the large number of glowing particles distributed in the sea were likely remnants of some S-rank dangerous object. That danger had been eliminated, leaving these particles scattered over several kilometers of sea.
The mermaid was gone. Judging by the traces of destruction on the seabed, at least one S-rank dangerous object, two A-rank dangerous objects, and over three B-rank dangerous objects had tried to protect the mermaid but failed.
Due to the search by the five members of the protagonist team, a semi-fluid substance resembling plasma seeped out from the seabed, gradually dissolving into the seawater.
Seeing this, Su Xiao realized things were more complicated than expected. That plasma-like semi-fluid was likely also a remnant of an S-rank dangerous object.
At least two S-rank dangerous objects, one A-rank dangerous object, and three B-rank dangerous objects had been annihilated here.
According to the records of the Mechanisms, the mermaid usually only attracted one S-rank dangerous object. That had been the case in previous appearances.
This time, the mermaid was very unusual. She had attracted six dangerous objects, all of which had been eliminated.
When six dangerous objects gathered together, the danger level wasn't calculated by simple addition or subtraction. To fight them, one would have to face at least five to six types of "certain death."
With the protagonist team's lineup, they would likely be wiped out. Even if they succeeded, either Aichi or the white-haired youth would definitely die, and the other would be half-crippled at best. This was even with the blessing of World Force. Without that advantage, they would be killed on sight.
The blessing of World Force had many effects. The most prominent was the explosive increase in luck attribute when the World Child encountered danger.
According to Su Xiao's knowledge, when a World Child faced danger, their luck attribute could sometimes surge to nearly a hundred points, lasting for a few seconds to half a minute. When the danger was no longer fatal, the luck attribute would gradually decline, returning to normal levels. Under normal circumstances, Aichi's luck attribute was 52 points, and the white-haired youth's was 57 points.
Besides the explosive increase in luck attribute, under the blessing of World Force, a World Child could sometimes exceed their limits, i.e., "power up." By overdrawing life or other resources, they could unleash very strong combat power for a short time.
Whether Aichi and the white-haired youth could power up now wasn't important. What mattered was, where had the mermaid gone? Kingsley likely knew this intelligence. He had still let the protagonist team come here, indicating that they could use the traces left on the seabed to find the mermaid's whereabouts.
It was Nainai's retrospection ability. Apart from that, Su Xiao couldn't think of any other possibility. At this point, if he did anything covert, the protagonist team would likely notice. Earlier, the mature woman, Manli, had already started to suspect. After the clever little one, Nainai, analyzed things thoroughly, the protagonist team's members suppressed their doubts.
At the seabed, the white-haired youth checked inside the giant shell and shook his head at the other four. Nainai gestured for them to back off, then lay down among the shell's white tendrils.
Waves~
A ripple spread outward. Though everything around seemed still, if one paid close attention to the nearby glowing particles, they would notice faint shadows beneath them. These shadowy particles slowly converged toward the seabed. The retrospection had begun.
As Nainai fully activated her retrospection ability, a large number of reversed shadows appeared around her. A few seconds later, a layer of shadows covered the seabed.
An arm made of shadows reached out from the giant shell's tendrils. Nainai had traced the scene here back to 36 hours ago, when the mermaid was still inside the giant shell.
Near the giant shell was a tangled mass of red threadworms, about the size of a millstone. This was an S-rank dangerous object.
Near the threadworms was a white figure formed from light, with swords stuck in its back and a halo above its head. This was also an S-rank dangerous object.
Boom!
All the shadows shattered. Nainai, lying inside the shell, spat out large bubbles from her mouth. She had traced something she couldn't bear, causing blood to seep from her ears and nostrils.
Just as Aichi and the white-haired youth moved to approach, Nainai raised her hand to signal she was fine. She skipped a segment of the traced scene, bypassing a brutal battle, and shadows appeared around her again.
Several figures, bare-chested and wearing grass skirts, stood around the giant shell. One of them grabbed the mermaid's arm, broke through an afterimage in the seawater, and disappeared. The others followed suit.
These people left, but in the surrounding seawater floated countless corpses. Some corpses looked like they had been eaten by insects, while others had large numbers of finger-sized holes all over their bodies—all penetrating wounds. Their expressions before death were filled with terror and despair.
This scene was chilling. The blood had dyed the seawater red. By conservative estimate, the number of corpses exceeded a hundred thousand. Someone had used spatial abilities to transport them into the sea, using their lives to attract the two S-rank dangerous objects.
Then, taking advantage of this gap, at some cost, they eliminated the two S-rank dangerous objects. One was permanently destroyed, while the other was temporarily dealt with. In the end, those mysterious individuals kidnapped the mermaid.
Aichi, the white-haired youth, Nainai, and the mature woman, Manli, all looked around at the shadowy corpses in the seawater. The bodies were too dense. They had seen dead people before, but never a scene like this. Those dead white faces, despairing eyes, and hair floating like seaweed in the seawater sent chills down their spines. In their minds, even hell couldn't be worse than this.
The only one who remained relatively calm was Doyle Mu. He was the oldest. Though he appeared composed on the surface, he too felt a chill in his heart. He felt that the seawater in his mouth had a stench of corpses.
The retrospection continued. Large numbers of white glowing particle shadows spread out, attaching to the nearby corpse shadows. Then, the corpses were absorbed, leaving only bone fragments on the seabed.
Now, when Aichi, the white-haired youth, and the other five looked at the white substance covering the seabed beneath their feet, they felt physical disgust. They were stepping on the bones of over a hundred thousand people. Thirty-six hours ago, these had all been living people. They had families, loved ones, could cry and laugh, had their own aspirations—each was a vibrant life. Now, they were just a pile of bone fragments, waiting to decay.
The white-haired youth clenched his fist. What he needed to do now was no longer just about finding the mermaid.
"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle~"
The white-haired youth choked on a few mouthfuls of water. What had been a serious moment suddenly became somewhat comical.
Nainai nodded. She understood what the white-haired youth wanted to say. But standing here, it felt as if she could hear countless wronged souls wailing.
Nainai pressed her hands together. A shadow appeared beside her—the mysterious figure who had grabbed the mermaid with one hand.
Nainai reached out and pressed against this shadow, making it more solid.
The shadow stepped on the seabed and then shot toward the sea surface. Its speed was deliberately slowed by Nainai. As long as she stayed within 25 meters of this shadow, it could exist for a long time—up to 26 hours—or until it found the original body of this shadow.
Finding the original body of this shadow would bring them very close to the mermaid. More importantly, the mermaid had been kidnapped, meaning there were no dangerous objects around her anymore. They only needed to deal with those mysterious people.
The white-haired youth made a gesture, and the others followed the mysterious shadow, rushing toward the sea surface.
Inside the top cabin of the steel warship, Su Xiao leaned back on the sofa. By now, he had confirmed one thing: Kingsley wasn't relying on the protagonist team to deal with the dangerous objects around the mermaid.
Earlier, Su Xiao had wondered how the World Child (fake) could possibly deal with those dangerous objects. Now it seemed that even a World Child (fake) would fall short when faced with such unsolvable dangers.
The reason Su Xiao had placed his bets on the protagonist team was that he was following Kingsley's lead. He didn't believe Kingsley would bet on the protagonist team without being confident.
Now it appeared the bet was correct. Not only would he recoup his investment, but there would also be unexpected gains.