The answer was â most definitely! â Since they no longer needed to fret over how to run away from their predators, their lives consisted of nothing but eat, sleep, and repeat. The deep sea was cooler and the darkness suited the general vibe they were going for.
Of course, every now and then, there would be one oddball, but overall, amassing a collection was a mustâ or else, what would they do upon waking up and not being hungry yet?
The Lionâs Mane Jellyfish was the worldâs longest organism. Normally, their tentacles could reach over 30 metres long, so imagine one the size of a sea monster like Nereus. Be mindful that sea monsters didnât have the habit of naming themselves, but they did have humans for that.
All of the sea monsters discovered around the world thus far were named by humans. Jellyfish liked sunshine, meaning theyâd occasionally float to the surface of the sea. Furthermore, despite their large size, jellyfish preferred small fishes which were more abundant near the surface. Also, since they needed to disguise themselves during a hunt, their tentacles could be compressed to a third of their regular length. Each of these tentacles were covered with venomous stings that usually had some type of neurotoxin, and when the tentacles lashed out, the stings on them stuck up and out as well. As they fell through the water, they formed a gigantic fishnet. Nereus could cover 800 square metres of spaceâ that was its complete attack zone. Even though the jellyfishâs tentacles were incredibly soft and feeble, no shark or swordfish could have the chance of ripping through them. The sea monster version of the Lion Maneâs Jellyfish had stings that induced paralysis at an unmeasurable speed.
Nereus only ate small fish, so on a normal day, it would slowly retract its tentacles, throw away the larger animals, and then enjoy the rest.
Most of the time, it stayed semi-transparent, which was a fabulous cover for hunting. However, there were bound to be times when its occasional colour alterations were caught on satellite cameras, and just like that, its picture appeared in some countryâs intelligence service fileâ in all of its glory. Sea monsters could intercept and emit many different types of infrasonic waves; plus, there were many optical fibers buried under the sea. As a result, a lot of human-related things werenât a secret to these creatures. The only obstacle to their knowledge was whether or not they understood what they heard. Eventually, the name Nereus started being accepted by these creatures.
Could a jellyfish build a collection?
Yes, and that collection was alive.
Nereus had kept around 10 to 20 big-eyed emperor fish as petsâ yes, thatâs rightâ pets.
It was currently floating lazily in the ocean as these small fishes travelled back and forth through its tentacles. Making sure they didnât touch the poisoned stings, the fishes gnawed their way up the jellyfish, who in turn was expanding and contracting its dome area with gentle ease.
Strange things would inevitably grow on such a large body.
For example, there was that huge sea turtle with a variety of seaweed growing on its shell, not to mention a gazillion shellfish. Even though both it and Nereus kept small fishes as pets, one couldnât and shouldnât let themselves become so disgusting! Unhygienic organisms were plain scary!
âSixteen tentacles! All ripped apart!â The Lionâs Mane Jellyfish was complaining to the big octopus. âWhere the hell did that human come from? What collectible qualities does he possess? My little cuties can routinely clean and massage my whole body. They can also swim out and lure other fish to my tentacles so I donât even have to move to stuff myself to the fullest! Can that human do that?â
Abyss scratched its round head with one of its tentacles.
Its collection was â obviously â bottles and jars.
That human wasnât too bad. He threw down over ten bottles!
Of course, that was what the merman had said, and Abyss believed it without a doubt.
It was hungry; its appetite was much larger than the jellyfish. Even though Nereusâ tentacles were 60 to 70 metres long, it weighed around the same as an adult human. There was no comparison between Nereus and Abyss, so it was obvious whoâd become hungry first.
The Lionâs Mane Jellyfish grew angry. This ship-fascinated octopus had the nerves to ignore it!
âAbyss!â
ââŠmaybe he wasnât for collecting!â The octopus continued to scratch its head. It was eager to end this conversation and go find food.
âIf he wasnât a collectible, then what is he?â The jellyfish was surprised. Itâd lost so many tentacles because the merman hadnât wanted the human to be âdamagedâ. The only thing that couldnât ever be damaged was treasures for oneâs collection.
âMaybe heâs food!â Abyss muttered the infrasonic waves; it was clearly reminded of the time when the merfolk had gnawed on Xia Yiâs mouth.
Nereus was shaking, moving up and down in the waterâ its way of laughing.
âYouâre kidding. How many meals could he make? You wouldnât even feel him on your teeth!â
âI donât have teeth!â
ââŠMy point isâŠâ
Wait a second, merfolks did seem to have small appetites!
âWe could be in trouble.â
Octopuses were very smart creatures. Affirmed by an accredited scientific discovery, these creatures possessed higher levels of intelligence than many other organisms on this planet.
Abyss stared at the ocean surface with its big, round eyes. âHumans are fragile, right?â
âI think soâŠâ
âSoâŠâ Abyss stretched out its eight tentacles and began to slowly sink to find food. âLetâs hope that heâs still alive!â
No merfolk would ever eat something dead!
â
Meanwhile, Xia Yi wasnât only merely alive, he was surviving quite well.
Even the dumbest person would realise that something was unusual after the past several days.
Xia Yi figured out that he didnât need to breathe underwater; the only discomfort he felt was from the water pressure. Be that as it may, he hadnât sprouted out gills or something as ridiculous as that. At this moment, though his swimming speed may not be top notch, he could agily turn in the water. Similarly, he felt safe undersea, which didnât make sense considering he knew there were strange creatures residing here that could easily attack him. He reasoned that it was his bodyâs subconscious choice since the radiation in the air hadnât completely disappeared yet.
On the other hand, he never felt thirsty!
If he didnât have food, he could go find some seaweed, but the human body couldnât survive three days without fresh water.
Xia Yi finally realised there was something wrong with his body.
This morning, he picked up a piece of seaweed heâd found yesterday and threw it into the cracks of a shoal. In his dismay, he mentally complained that though the purple laver didnât taste bad, it was much too salty. It was a shame there was no rain in the past several days, or else he couldâve washed it a little with rainwater. If only it wasnât salty enough to kill a man.
But considering this was the end of the world, who had the luxury to pick and prod at their food?
Xia Yiâs thoughts drifted away until he was suddenly jolted back to reality by cold water falling on his feet.
He looked down in confusion and found that the crack from earlier was now filled with water, the purple laver washed out along with the small stream.
Could this be the mouth of a fountain?
Xia Yi reached for the crack in shock, but the rock stayed a rock. Not only that, the water that was overflowing a few seconds ago disappeared in the blink of an eye. If it wasnât for his wet feet and the fallen purple laver, Xia Yi wouldâve thought that heâd been dreaming.
He stared at the place for a long time before slowly comprehending.
He focused his eyes on that crack and concentrated on the thought of wishing there was water. He mentally chanted the phrase over and over for more than half an hour before a splash was heard and water began to flow. This time, Xia Yi could see clearly that the water didnât sprout from somewhere, but had appeared out of thin air instead.
His concentration was broken by the shock and the water disappeared immediately.
Xia Yi dabbed at the wet surface and licked his finger.
It wasnât saltyâ rather, it tasted like the faint soil on the rock.
Even though the reality was right there in front of him, Xia Yi remained frozen for a long time. He looked at his hands from every angle. He didnât believe that heâd wake up one day and become Superman, muchless with such a practical power. No wonder he didnât drown; no wonder he magically learned how to swim; no wonder he didnât die of thirst!
â Itâd be a miracle if he could die of thirst while immersed in the ocean all day.
His body had subconsciously absorbed the oxygen from the water and gathered the necessary nutrients to maintain life from the ocean.
Xia Yi didnât feel too overjoyed for he couldnât help but be reminded of another object.