When the killer crabs retreated with the tides, satiated and satisfied, the beach was left a hellish mess. Broken bones littered the ground, decorated with torn, bloodied clothing and hair. Other than the low rumbling of the wind, the air was deathly still.
After some time, a patch of sand jerked and a person difficultly crawled out.
He was covered in sand, with tangled hair and clad in ripped fabric. On his leg, a deep, bone-revealing gash could be seen, yet no blood was pouring out because a layer of frost covered the wounded area. The person couldnât really stand, and after crawling for barely half a metre, he encountered a palm that had been forcefully bitten in half. Frightened, the person stumbled back, only to sit on half of what was supposed to be a human head.
âAHHâ mmph !â
His scream was stuffed down midway by his own hands.
The water remained calm; aside from the stench of blood in the air, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.
âDamn⊠Damn these monsters!â Zhou Liang cursed madly.
When disaster struck, heâd used his water ability to wrap up countless grains of sand, and ignoring the injury on his leg, heâd buried himself by the ocean. Throughout the night, Zhou Liang had hid and continuously drawn in water to create and reinforce a dense shield around himself while screams and horrifying clicking echoed above his head. Somewhere during the hours, Zhou Liangâs sanity had almost given in, and if it wasnât for the voices that had suddenly appeared in his mind, he wouldnât have made it here.
Siren⊠that name⊠who exactly is that?
Zhou Liang breathlessly pushed himself up. Limping with great difficulty, he began shuffling away at a rate of his feet slipping out beneath him every ten steps. Though his ability of water manipulation was the most powerful when he was by the coast, how could he dare stay put?
Zhou Liang finally woke up from his illusion of what the apocalypse and his ability had meant.
This was no longer the world he knew; the beach didnât entail relaxation or food. Instead, it was a synonym for danger.
Until he possessed enough strengthâ no, even if he doubled the strength he had today, heâd still be helpless when faced with so many monsters.
However, the problem was that abilities needed mediums to draw from. After all, a wind user couldnât unleash their power in a narrow place with zero air circulation. Thus, when Zhou Liang remained far from a water source, there were minimal amounts of water molecules for him to gather out of thin air. By then, he could barely defend himself, much less attack someone else.
These animals were marine creatures, meaning they couldnât leave the ocean for too long. There would still be hope if he travelled inland⊠or else!!
As he continued applying freezing powers to his injuries, Zhou Liang pondered in puzzlement. Where did those voices come from? There seemed to be a name of some marine trench⊠and there was some guy named âThaumasâ who was being attacked by those monsters called âspider crabsâ! Donât tell me that there are still people who can kill these monsters with ease during these timesâ when all high-tech has been reduced to nothing?!
Special ability users around the world simultaneously heard the news carried by infrasonic waves.
Of course, plenty of people were befuddled. The severance of communication had turned the world into a bigger place. Even those âbig shotsâ had no way of knowing what was happening a few dozen kilometres away. It took several days for any message to travel; the news received by Beijing was that killer crabs had come ashore and plundered the population in some city. However, as they were holding the meeting to discuss this, the killer crabs had already followed the currents and migrated to another beach for further massacre.
âThere is no effective way against them. As of now, we have no hot weapons other than firearms. There are no helicopters⊠At most, we have chemicals like sulfuric acid in the labs, but those would need to be splashed once in proximityââ
âChairman, do you mean⊠we allow the sea monsters to deal with the spider crabs?â
âThere are too many densely-populated cities near the southeastern shores. Even if the military followed the trajectory of the killer crabsâ migration, there will still be issues such as replenishment or other dangers along the way. What could they even do once theyâve arrived? We have no means of restraining these monsters. Still, the land, shore, and people are all parts of this country⊠yet we stare blankly, absolutely helpless. From what the special ability users have heard, these killer crabs are propagating in large numbers!â
These violent monsters are the product of mutations due to nuclear waste and are nothing like the creatures they originated from. Nobody knows whether theyâve evolved and adapted to a long-term life on land. By that point, humanity would be over! Weâd have no choice but to hide in mountains and forests!
âInform the Academy of Science that they must discover the killer crabsâ weaknesses and effective ways of attacking them as soon as possible! As long as it does not cause extreme pollution, chemical weapons can be utilised. We cannot gamble against nature itself regarding the evolution speed of these monsters!â
âUm⊠the Academy will need samples to do research. Even if theyâre corpsesâŠâ
âCaptain Hao, take three ability users and follow this directionââ
The old man pointed towards the map, tapping a spot with his finger. ââTo this city. I estimate that in three days, the killer crabs will have migrated to the dyke here. Notify the public there to evacuate. All you have to do is bring the news. If the people there do not leaveâŠâ
The elder looked at the young man in a second lieutenantâs uniform, pausing before patting the youngsterâs shoulders.
ââŠForce is not necessary. Prioritise the safety of you and your team members. Nowadays, you are the entire countryâs greatest treasure and defensive power, while the Academy of Science is our hope. With Beijing as our foundation, we will rebuild this entire country; we merely will not have any higher technology or weapons. Although without electricity, we can still obtain energy through the wind and sun. In ten or twenty years, a new society will appear. Before then, the country needs you! Protect yourself! Staying alive is more important than anything else!â
The Special Ability Teamâs captainâs lips trembled slightly. He wanted to say something, but no words came out. Instead, he stood at attention and saluted.
âAlong the way, spread the news of the killer crabs to the seaside cities. It doesnât matter whether they believe you or not, you still have to say it. Let this news save as many people as it canâŠâ The old man looked incredibly tired. He murmured, âWe used to believe that our country was strong. And now the Earth has told us that humans are nothing but ants existing on its body. It has a history of 4.6 billion years and will continue on in the future. How naive were humans when we speculated that we would perish alongside this planet?!â
Those around the conference table fell silent.
There were monsters mercilessly devouring humans on land, but for the time being, the government had no defense against them. Having to place their only hope in sea monsters with unknown temperaments was the greatest blow to them all.
âChairman, do you really think these sea monsters can kill the spider crabs?â
âThere is a law in nature: animals that live in packs can never compare to an animal that has survived by itself in terms of individual strength! In fact, some creatures only bring disaster when they are in a group, such as termites and locustsâŠâ
As for these named sea monsters, they are unique because no records have shown them to possess any similar kin.
âI believe that as long as you wait in a building near the beach, when the âbattleâ is over, dead spider crabs will be easy to recover.â The old man stated in all seriousness, âThere is an army of these monsters, so some are bound to escape. Therefore, research must be done. We cannot be satisfied until power is grasped by our own handsâ relying on outside strength is only a temporary solution and will not fully resolve the real problem. We cannot do anything this time, but if the spider crabs attack again during next yearâs breeding season, we must have them climb to land and never return!â
âYes!!â
The sea monsters wouldnât have heard this high-spirited answer.
As they ascended, the water pressure reduced and the rapid speed gave Xia Yi the illusion that his ears were ringing.
The further they swam up, the more Xia Yi could see the oddities in their surroundings; there were deep markings along the reefs and sand, and the atmosphere was much more static than when the sea monsters had passed through. It was obvious that the larger cracks in the rocks had been pried open, with some remnants of dead fish and shrimp still floating about in the water. This was a rare scene, because swarms of creatures would usually be fighting for these scraps of food.
Yet now, not even shells, sea cucumbers, or starfish were in sight.
ăThis is going too far!ă
Eurybia waved its tentacles in fury.
While the sea monsters also liked eating continuously, theyâd never clear out an entire region of water. With their intelligence, the monsters understood the concept of âfuture harmâ. As such, theyâd never consume only one species of food; most importantly, they never ate babies.
The initial radiation during the beginning of the apocalypse had caused the deaths of a great deal of ocean life. However, the spider crabs were completely unaffected by itâ furthermore, they seemed to have been shocked into a mad race of propagation. They began lingering and migrating along the Pacfic Ocean, attacking any prey they could find.
ăPerhaps the fishes that swam faster were the only ones who escaped certain death.ă
Like tunas or marlins, for example.
ăMy big-eyed emperor fish! Boohoo! ă
The Lionâs Mane Jellyfish was rolling in the water; no trace of the little fishies it kept around the coral reefs could be found. Nereus darted between the reefs and cracks, anxiously calling out, but in the end, the jellyfish was met with nothing but disappointment.
ăAhâ My bottles!!ăThe octopus laid behind one of the reefs, pained at the sight of the now-collapsed temporary shelter it had built with rocks. All the delicate little bottles it got from the Thalassa Goddess were in smithereens.
The sea monstersâ eyes burned as their furious infrasonic waves carried far, far away.
ăThaumas, where are you?ă
Infrasonic waves could be used for locationing, so Siren never had to worry about losing his way in the oceans.
The merman looked hesitantly at Xia Yi.
For humans, spider crabs were something of great danger⊠yet Siren didnât want Xia Yi to leave his side.
ăNereus, you will stay and accompanyâŠă
ăNo, why canât I go?! Iâm going to avenge my fishies!ă
ăUmm⊠those guys have mutated in such a way that theyâre not afraid of infrasonic waves. Your body is too soft, Nereus!ăAbyss pushed the angry jellyfish to the side with its tentacles. ăThe spider crabsâ eight legs are pointed and sharpâ youâll get stabbed right through!ă
ăThen Iâll stay and watch from a distance!ăNereus wouldnât give up.
Siren pondered and came to the conclusion that it wasnât a bad idea to have Nereus spread its body out to protect Xia Yi.
ăThen you will stay on the surfaceâ only floating about! You cannot contract your body!ă
Jellyfishes released a large quantity of carbon monoxide whenever they swam upwards. That was why, when Nereus first encountered Xia Yi, the poor human had fainted from carbon monoxide poisoning in the shallow waters.
ăI canât swim fastâŠă
The moment Xia Yi pointed this out, Siren wrapped an arm around his treasureâs waist. The merman swam to one of the tentacles near Abyssâ body and wrapped his other arm around it. He then slapped the back of the octopusâ head.
ăSwim, Abyss!ă
ăâŠă
The octopus was baffled.
Merfolk were much faster in the water! They could even catch tuna fish while on a hunt!
â But could humans endure such speed?
In water further off, a giant turtle was struggling to throw off the spider crabsâ attacks. Since its stomach was its weak spot, the turtle could only press itself against the ocean floor. Generally, many sea turtles died from sharks attacking their stomachs when they floated to the surface for air. Thaumas passed its days on the surface because it had infrasonic waves; with that as a weapon, any predator would scramble for their lives.
Except the destructive infrasonic waves were useless against these spider crabs, for they were monsters of an unnatural mutation.
Unlike their land counterparts, sea turtles couldnât retract their heads and fins into their shells. Thus, Thaumas had become a major target for attack. Still, regardless of both the sharpness of their limbs and how violent these spider crabs were, they couldnât do much to Thaumas.
It had carried all that algae and moss for so many years, and its skin was not only tough enough to withstand immense water pressures, it was also incredibly smooth.
It was especially so when the water was churning, but the spider crabsâ limbs would slip off before they could pierce down.
At first, Thaumas didnât think much of this assault, except as the spider crabs came together and clambered onto its back, Thaumas was forced to swim slower and slower. It also didnât dare float to the surface. This was clearly a troubling situation.
If it were any other sea monster, it would simply be a stalemate. However, the passing of time put Thaumas at a great disadvantageâŠ
For sea turtles needed to go to the surface to breathe.
ăHelp, Siren! And hurry, Abyss!ă
The first response came from the Atlantic Ocean.
ăThaumas? Huh⊠What should I do? Stay with me! Iâll save you!ă
The sea turtle roared amidst its predicament.
ăShut up, Phorcys! Youâre absolutely of no use at all! Keep blabbering and youâll stop me from hearing Sirenâs voice! Piss off where you are!ă