It was probably still January, but nobody knew exactly what the date was.
An Li touched her cracked lips and tiredly looked up at the blinding sun. Her current state was caused by overexertion of her strength and dehydration. Alongside her, everyone else was also covered in salt stains. At first, theyād still wipe them away in fear of radiation, but now, no one had the energy to care.
A dull splash of water sounded. The noise was from the death of another normal person whoād been exposed to radiated waters for too long. His body was pushed into the sea as his remaining food and water reserves were divided amongst those left on the same boat. In the beginning, survivors would fight over these resources and feel sorrow for the deadā now they didnāt feel anything anymore.
They gazed numbly towards the horizon, silently counting how many days their minimal stock could last for.
A peculiar sense of dread was spreading amongst them.
They had to think of some way ā whether that be fishing or robbing someone else of their water ā to survive, for their pitiful supplies could only support them for another day or two. No one was rowing anymore; even Li Shao was curled up in the lifeboat, staring blankly. If they didnāt want tomorrow to be the last day of their lives, then they shouldnāt be searching for any so-called āislandsāā¦ they needed to conserve as much energy as possible.
āDamn bastards! We all believed in your words and now what?!!ā
A young man glared furiously at the captain. All of the eight people on his and An Liās boat were still alive, and only the chief mate looked unwell as he laid there clinging to life. Aside from him and the captain, everyone possessed special abilities, including the young man. He was yelling angrily, āDidnāt you say that there were many islands around here? Yeah, that sounds right since thereās a gazillion islands in Southeast Asia! But what kind of damned direction are we heading? How many days has it been? We havenāt even seen a single shoal rock!ā
The colours were gone from the captainās face, and multiple gruesome rashes were forming on his skin due to contact with radiated seawater. If he couldnāt treat them soon, they might start to fester and become infected. What awaited the captain then would be fevers and an eventual death from the failure of organs responsible for his immune system. Still, no one wanted to give up before the very last moment.
Gazing out towards the gently tossing waves, the captain painfully and solemnly said, āThe direction of the currents has changed.ā
After the radiation disappeared, the atmosphere had been restoredā though unfortunately, for some reason, the magnetic field had yet to return completely. The seasonal winds changed their direction while all signs of algae and schools of fish had seemingly evaporated into thin air. Travelling according to predicated currents not only didnāt lead them to the southeastern Asian island cohorts, it may have possibly led them further astray.
āAn-Jieā¦ will weā¦ die?ā The ability wielder named A-Min asked weakly.
Humans could barely survive for up to three days with just food and no water.
There were numerous folks whoād developed special abilities aboard the Thalassa Goddess , yet only two had water-related powers. One of them had insisted on staying on the cruise ship to await help while the other was on this very lifeboat. However, he had extremely limited capabilities. The amount of fresh water he could create every twelve hours would fill only one plastic water bottle. It wouldāve been enough for one person and barely sustainable for fourā but this lifeboat contained eight people.
Excluding the captain and chief mate, there were still six people left. Only A-Min and this water-user had abilities unsuited for onslaught. It was painstakingly obvious who they would abandon first. As a result, A-Min was so terrified that she didnāt dare to close her eyes and rest.
Who could she believe during this time?
Another splash came from the ocean as a few small fish floated to the surface with upturned bellies. They were a product of one of the most valuable people on the lifeboat; he possessed electricity with a mediocre level of voltage. His ability had been stabilising over the past few days and could now be used several times every 24 hours. The one downside was that luck determined whether they could successfully electrocute any fish. Due to the radiation present at surface levels of the sea, very few fish still roamed these areas. Still, they were all satisfied with what they managed to capture this time around.
Even though everyone only scored less than half a fish, the others still envied them for being able to stay on the ability-usersā lifeboat.
āWho would share their food when faced with their current situation?!
Thatās why those on the remaining lifeboats fought violently when electrocuted fish floated to the surface. In the end, though they merely managed to catch one, they were still practically putting their lives on the line. On the other side, An Li had already cooked her lifeboatās fish.
She engulfed the entire fish in flames, sparing the need to even flip them halfway.
Due to her lack of practice, two of the fish were slightly charred and had a smoky smell, but the others wolfed them down without worrying about the possibility of getting burned. Who knewā¦ if this could be their last meal?
In a shallower region far away, Xia Yi had already noticed the grossly humongous crab.
It had two pincers, the larger one almost comparable to the size of an office table. The weirdest thing was that the crab was red; its scarlet shell faded into a brownish colour near the edges and gave it a cooked appearance. At the same time, seeing how it energetically waved its pincers, it was clearly alive. One couldnāt help but wonder whether this creature had just barely evaded a death caused by an underwater volcano.
This was something people would be terrified of solely by laying their eyes upon it. The only reason why Xia Yi didnāt immediately turn and run was because of the strange voice that sounded once again.
āItās so hot, Siren, when can we go back to the deep sea?ā
That was the second time this name had been said.
Sirenļ¼
This pronunciation was completely different from the rest of the sentence, devoid of those peculiar and incomprehensible tones. It sounded like an English word or some other foriegn languageā¦ and that was right. Sea monsters didnāt name themselvesā rather, humans did. The names became so widespread that the monsters themselves happened to find out about them. That was why the pronunciation was so accurate.
Unfortunately, Xia Yi had no idea what the word meant. Heād never attended a standardised school so it was quite an achievement for him to even conclude that the word may have been a name.
Meanwhile, Xia Yi was finding the crab more and more odd as he looked at it.
The colour was one thing, but this crab also had two legs less. Usually, crabs had four pairs of legs and two pincers; this thing honestly resembled a spider more than a crab, with only six legs and two pincers. There were no signs of injury that could indicate if itād lost its limbs from fighting. Its legs were evenly spread out on the soft sand and trails of bubbles escaped its mouth. The protruding, bead-like black eyes flickered from where they were on the edge of the shell.
āCeto, come quick! Why is this human looking at me like that? Does he like me?ā
Xia Yi was completely stunned this time.
The sounds that heād been hearingā¦ the noises thatād been causing his excruciating headachesā¦ they suddenly became clear and distinguishable underwater? Even though they were still strange and unpleasant, the meanings were very clear. Everything presently happening was challenging Xia Yiās entire world view. Donāt tell me that crabs have been able to talk all this time?
A flat, gigantic head shot out from the seafloorā it was the oarfish.
This thing had buried itself in the sand again.
Of course, an oarfish wouldnāt have something like a āneckā. Its head was directly connected to its body, so when it shook it, half of its body shook as well. Cetoās forehead and the front half of its body looked like a huge, bloody dot, sending chills down Xia Yiās back. He promptly turned and began swimming in the opposite directionā¦ Even if sea monsters didnāt eat humans, they definitely wonāt have good tempers!
āHe likes you? Thatās pretty great!ā A certain oarfish had yet to locate where in the world Xia Yi was because it was still dizzily lost.
āSiren, come! Letās have a fight, gululu!ā The crabās large pincers snapped threateningly.
Xia Yiās hand flew up to his forehead as the shrill sound appeared again. It caused him momentary dizziness and forced him to slow down. A cold sensation was felt on his back, scaring Xia Yi into an immediate escape attempt. Siren quickly tightened its arms around Xia Yiās waist, restraining him in place.
Light silver strands of hair rippled in the waves and tickled Xia Yiās profile.
A quiet chuckle seemed to be heard beside Xia Yiās ear as a wrist, lined with translucent fins, graced his neck. The merman hugged him tightly and flipped its silver tail, creating a large splash.
āThe sea is shallow here. If you end up breaking all of your legs, unable to crawl back, you would need to wait here patiently and obediently until they all grow back out again!ā Siren stared at the giant crab. The mermanās infrasonic waves had a higher hertz, so not only did Xia Yi find it slightly more bearable, but he even produced the misperception that it sounded very melodic. āI will ensure that there is no food hereā¦ā
The airy words caused the crab to instantly lower its pincers and crawl a few horizontal steps before turning around. In a very un-crab-like motion, it moved backwards with its body facing the front instead of the side.
That air of arrogance didnāt make it look like it was running away after losing, but rather it seemed as if it had refused to ālower itself to so-and-soās levelā.
āā¦ā
The oarfish, on the other hand, shot out of the sand and rushed straight forward. That insane speed, that ridiculous bodyā¦ Xia Yi was just starting to feel astonished when he heard the mermanās possibly-melodious voice grow shrill.
āStop, Ceto! That is the way to lanāā
Too late. The oarfish mustāve been very anxious to return to the deep sea, for it travelled at max speed, which resulted in a head-first slam against the islandās shoal rocks.
The long body wobbled for a moment before pitifully falling limp.
From the surface, one could see the oarfishās head flapping aimlessly on land. Given that not even a marlinās sword-like jaw could pierce its body, the chances of it dying from the impact were quite low.
For a bit, nothing but silence echoed in the water as the oarfish twisted and turned its body. āā¦Help!!ā
Wow, look at how quiet, helpless, and sad that call for help was.
āI canāt breathe! Too muchā¦ oxygenā¦ help!!ā
This creatureās āhelpā was surprisingly well-enunciatedā¦ Well, that was unavoidable. As a sea monster, the phrases that they heard the most when humans accidentally came across them were āMy God!ā and āHelp!ā
Over the course of time, even the dumbest of them allā the squidā could accurately mimic the pronunciations via infrasonic waves.
Just as Siren was growing exasperated and was at loss for what to doā¦
ā Pfftt !ā Xia Yi couldnāt contain his laughter anymore.
Heād never laughed so carefreely before. Just how much of an idiot is this sea monster?!