Chapter 62
It was truly an incredibly dreadful night!
In the dead of night, a subsonic wave suddenly appeared in their minds which was devoid of content, only an immensely intense awareness. This wave triggered the pain center in the neurons, causing awakened supernaturals to writhe in agony before even opening their eyes.
It was a pain so intense that it almost caused rational minds to collapse into wails of despair.
Young supernaturals, or those with ordinary professions and no experience of danger before the apocalypse, were the first to faint. The elders, slightly dulled in senses, as well as mercenaries and special forces among dangerous professions, gritted their teeth, each recalling their most severe injuries from the past, cursing incessantly.
“Shit, what the hell is this? It’s worse than the last time I took two bullets in my leg and still survived!”
“You bastard, who could knock me out cold like this?”
Cold sweat rolled down as neurons were affected by the sonic waves, causing uncontrollable tremors in everyone. Compared to sea monsters with tough hides who shrugged off injuries, the sonic waves of Xia Yi had a greater impact on supernaturals who were also humans, because their brain structures were similar.
Thus, after losing control of his abilities, Xia Yi’s sonic waves nearly rendered everyone unconscious, feeling as though they had been heavily struck in their subconsciousness, exacerbating their misfortune.
This was definitely not an illusion, as the subsequent chaotic subsonic waves clearly confirmed that this was no nightmare.
“Hoo…”
In the underground base of City B, which was a radiation-free safe zone, the space was limited, even for supernaturals who were assigned bunk beds, two to a room. Therefore, a supernatural struggled to lift his head from the ground and was instantly horrified.
“Captain? Captain, where are you?!”
This voice woke up the supernaturals around who couldn’t hear the subsonic waves, prompting them to open their doors and find Captain Hao rolling out in a sorry state from the trash bin placed at the staircase landing.
He was covered in dirt, one hand still holding his forehead, his face deathly pale, showing a complete expression of impending doom.
“Captain, did you have a nightmare? Is there a monster trying to eat you?”
Those supernaturals who didn’t know what was happening joked, “Your ability acting up is worse than sleepwalking!”
“Damn it, shut up!” Captain Hao struggled for a while but couldn’t get up from the ground.
Then, those terrifying waves of consciousness, devoid of any content, came again.
Whether it was due to a previous attack or the intense headache just now hadn’t subsided, the feeling of fainting due to the pain wasn’t as strong, but there was an abrupt desire to die, to find a quick way to end it all—what was going on?
Captain Hao felt like smashing his head against the concrete floor, but fortunately, he restrained himself. However, the other two supernaturals didn’t have this capability, and one had already knocked himself unconscious by hitting the cabinet.
This commotion frightened everyone, who scrambled over, but didn’t know what to do.
“Professor Lin, inform Lin…”
Captain Hao pounded his forehead with his hand.
This feeling was too terrifying.
The sonic waves from sea monsters before were nothing like this. Could there be sea monsters with similar psychic attacks?
But it didn’t make sense; supernaturals had no capability to threaten sea monsters.
Was surviving in the apocalypse really this difficult?
Professor Lin had already received the news. After all, there was always a supernaturally gifted individual on duty. It was hard to miss such a big reaction. That guy was also rolling on the ground at first, then bumped into a chair.
After being awakened, he still muttered foolishly, questioning if he was dead, saying there was a feeling of sinking into death but also immense happiness. It turned out that dying was quite a beautiful thing, while living was truly suffering… He was thoroughly brought back to reality by Professor Lin with a book.
The chaotic scenes were not confined to the underground base in City B. To Ari who drifting on the ocean, and Zhou Liang, who had been seriously injured and still not fully recovered. . .
Asia, Europe, the whole world, wherever there were powerful supernaturals, small-scale disturbances occurred. There was even an ordinary person who, taking advantage of a supernatural rolling on the ground, picked up a stone and smashed him to death.
Those ordinary supernaturals secretly returned to their thoughts. With the information blockade, they had no idea what the reason behind this was. However, they noted down the intermittent mental weakness or suspected onset of mental illness in individuals whom they had never thought they could defeat before, calculating potential dangers.
The conclusion drawn by all the organizations that still existed and had intact research institutions at the same time was—sea monsters were killing each other.
This conclusion wasn’t abrupt. According to the interpretation of typical behaviors of organisms in the natural world, in the absence of natural enemies and disasters, predators of the same kind or possessing similar abilities were each other’s greatest enemies.
They must fight and compete for territory. It wasn’t unusual for the most severe ones to pay the price for this. Then, the absolute victors would propose rules that all members of their kind must follow within their territory. The social structure determined the superstructure. In reality, there wasn’t much difference between humans and animals.
“What we must consider now is whether this conflict will affect us!”
“Those island nations should be the ones worrying!”
“Don’t forget about the long coastline of our country! Sea monsters are not just exceptionally large or strong; they possess abilities beyond our imagination!”
“That’s just an exaggeration. A sea monster capable of causing a tsunami, is it a fairy tale?”
“General Zhao! Some things simply cannot be explained by existing science, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist!”
“Before humanity discovered subsonic waves, before global research institutions discovered that sea monsters communicate using subsonic waves, do you believe that, across the entire Pacific Ocean, or, well, regardless of where the other party is on Earth, they can casually chat without relying on any machinery or network?”
“That’s different!”
“It’s not different at all. Look back at ancient tales; even long-distance sound transmission was considered an incredible feat. It was something only immortals could do…”
“Yet, before the apocalypse, all we needed was to launch a satellite and build a network platform, and we could talk to anyone with a little payment for phone and internet bills. So perhaps one day in the future, supernatural abilities won’t be mysterious anymore. Everyone will have them, and they’ll know how to control them—”
Everyone listened silently, their expressions serious.
Fate never provides enlightenment to people; rather, it is humans themselves who, amidst twisted conclusions that run counter to the truth, find the most accurate wisdom. This was the most interesting and helpless aspect of human existence.
The intense subsonic waves abruptly ceased, leaving all the supernaturals feeling strange about the final impression it left.
Because it wasn’t a gradual fade-out; it was as if the consciousness-affecting waves suddenly realized this fact and vanished. There was no trace left, as if the supernaturals who woke up from the nightmare were lying on the ground, refusing to get up.
—These days were truly unbearable!
The undulation of the waves began to slow, and only then did they realize that the moon, shining through the gaps in the dark clouds, was still brightly lit. It wasn’t a storm at all. The survivors on the island became even more convinced that such phenomena were all caused by the sea monsters.
They muttered prayers to themselves, drawing crosses over their chests. Even if it had no effect, it was better than cowering under coconut trees, trembling.
Thank God, it’s a miracle that we weren’t swept away by the waves just now!
“That giant octopus is gone…”
Under the moonlight, the terrifying tentacles no longer appeared on the surface of the sea.
“Damn it, it’s hiding in the water, it’s treating us as food!!”
“But there’s nothing to eat here… We were in too much of a hurry when we escaped…”
Food and water were all left on the aircraft carrier. A normal aircraft carrier’s supplies could sustain almost five thousand officers and soldiers for at least ninety days. Now they only had a dozen or so people left, and besides the food originally taken away by the retreating troops, there was enough to last them a long time.
These were military rations, packaged specially, so there was no worry of them spoiling. They didn’t need refrigeration, and the lack of electricity didn’t affect them.
“And then what? Are we going to reclaim the aircraft carrier?”
“Jason, don’t joke around! The aircraft carrier is a treasure in the hearts of the senators. Even if it becomes scrap metal, it has to be dragged back. But for us now, what use is it?! Except for the food above!! Yes, that’s enough for us to last a long time, but fresh water is running out. As long as it doesn’t rain, we’re finished!”
“But we’re just as bad off on this island! At least there’s food on the aircraft carrier!”
It was obvious that the argument had reached no conclusion. They hadn’t dared to give up the aircraft carrier before, of course, because it was safe enough to weather any storm and they didn’t have to worry about shark attacks. But it had attracted a sea monster now…
“Let’s wait… Wait until dawn!”
When in fear, darkness was the greatest enemy. Even though one can see their surroundings, it often doesn’t offer much substantial help.
What Xia Yi continuously felt was endless darkness. He desperately gripped the cold metal frame, not knowing when he would loosen his grip. He knew his supernatural ability was out of control, but the pouring waves barely maintained his consciousness.
The sudden tearing sensation, along with the subsequent creeping numbness up his spine, almost made Xia Yi think he would faint the next second during the collision. But strangely enough, his mental realm seemed to be enveloped in darkness all along—it was the consciousness of the Siren.
It forcefully controlled his thoughts, plunging him into a pattern of eerie fluctuations, as if his body was experiencing both pain and unbearable discomfort. After the mental synchronization, thoughts that had never occurred before, or he hadn’t carefully considered, all emerged in his mind at once, while he also heard the voice of the Siren.
Calling his name softly, like the tide, the consciousness of Xia Yi was submerged in an instant.
It was a song, never before imagined to be so beautiful. Touching his soul, Xia Yi gradually felt that not only could he see nothing, but his sense of hearing was also gone. The sound he sobbed out of his throat gradually faded away too.
The world seemed to only consist of himself and the Siren… where their bodies joined together, occupying all his senses. He didn’t even feel the slight struggling of his legs twitching nonstop.
This sensation of losing oneself, approaching eternal death—
When the scalding hot flow was forced to spray in front of him, his distant consciousness seemed to gradually return. The darkness dispersed like a mist, and he opened his eyes to see the Siren, staring at him with deep purple pupils, bowing his head to kiss deeply.
The joy and satisfaction, the intense feeling of love, all repeated incessantly in Xia Yi’s mind through spiritual fluctuations, without words, without precise vocabulary, almost suffocating him.
Leaving him with no spare thoughts to question, to think of anything—
After an unknown amount of time, Xia Yi, exhausted, loosened his grip. It felt as if he slipped from the Siren’s embrace and fell onto the deck. The material of the flight deck of the aircraft carrier was special, absolutely hard beyond imagination.
The pain caused Xia Yi to suddenly shrink, and the Siren’s body, following the tightening reaction, lay down sideways. His long hair, soaked, stuck to his back and chest, and his neck suddenly tilted backward.
The Siren slowly lay down, holding Xia Yi, who was convulsing incessantly, in his arms.
Their breaths were chaotic.
Xia Yi’s consciousness, which had barely been maintained before, completely dissipated after the Siren’s mental fluctuations withdrew with the movement of his body. Before falling into a deep sleep, it felt that he could still hear the faintly ethereal and beautiful singing.
There seemed to be a saying that the singing of a mermaid was extremely dangerous…
But it was also the most beautiful voice in the world, even if it led to death.
Xia Yi’s breathing gradually stabilized as the Siren gently kissed his lips and jaw, then raised his head and slightly shifted his body. The deck was covered with traces left by seawater, and his slender legs, presenting a pearly color, slowly closed together.
This was the first time the Siren had seen himself in this state.
The fish tail was gone, replaced by two feet similar to Xia Yi’s, but the ankles couldn’t exert any force at all. Humans should be able to stand up, but it was clear that the mermaid had never learned how to walk. He could only move slightly from a sideways lying position.
Above the ankles, from the calves forward, were covered with pale silver scales, while the insides of the legs were smooth without scales. The waist and abdomen also had small scales. At least when it was dark, the Siren’s appearance almost resembled that of a naked human.
The objects pursued by mermaids were always humans.
Obviously, the Siren’s father should also be a human, but his mother had never appeared in his memory.
He wiped away the sweat beads from Xia Yi’s forehead and face, kissed the red scar-like wounds on his back, and then quietly lay beside him, listening to the steady and stable heartbeat.
He wished time would stop here, forever, forever like this, and Xia Yi would always be by his side.
Under the moonlight, everything returned to calmness. The waves swayed slightly, and there was a faint strange smell of fish and blood in the wind.
Sleepyblue’s Corner:
I feel so thankful for this community for treating me so kindly 🥲 Thank you for all your kind comments which make me feel motivated in translating, I might not be able to post replies on time but I’d like you to know how much your support means to me💖
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What to Do When I Become a Koi and Fall into the Male God’s Bathtub[BL]
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