Chapter 70
When Xia Yi woke up from fainting, it was already dark. The siren had him lie prone on his back and swam with him for a long time. Xia Yi’s weight meant little to the siren; after all, the pressures beneath the deep sea could destroy reinforced steel.
After Xia Yi opened his eyes, he didn’t move.
All he saw in front of him was the sea water tinged with blood, and he didn’t know what had happened to that monster afterward.
Would it stop attacking, or simply climb ashore to continue assaulting humans?
Its fins below its waist appeared to have evolved into feet, completely capable of evolving into an amphibious animal…
Hopefully, it wouldn’t suddenly set its sights on China and start crossing the ocean.
He had already recalled the Marshall Islands.
In the circle, a film critic enjoyed some curious films. The American version of Godzilla was a successful example of its promotion, with a huge footprint shown on the poster.
The monster was entirely absent in the first half of the film, quite unlike the Han River creature, which was not to attract the audience’s curiosity with all of its grotesque appearances.
He recalled that the beginning of that review was a photograph. As the film critic’s quipped, though Godzilla was an invented creature, whether there is a chance that it emerged, the answer is, “Yes, but maybe not a lizard.”
It seemed as though that photograph was grey and a line of them pointed out,
From 1946 to 1968, the United States conducted over 60 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands.
—That’s roughly the origin of that monster.
Just like those swarms of spider crabs crawling out from deep-sea dump sites of nuclear waste, vicious and murderous.
Why didn’t the sea monsters kill it?
The siren felt Xia Yi wake up, and abruptly heard this question. Turning his head, he effortlessly let Xia Yi off his back, noticing Xia Yi’s spirit was down. Mermen really couldn’t understand:
Why kill it?
This monster… isn’t it like the spider crabs?
And those huge size and ferocious teeth prove it has a sizable appetite.
It can’t reproduce.
This guy should be a type of fish near the Marshall Islands, related to deep-sea anglerfish. The disproportionate ratio between its head and fish tail shows it can’t swim fast in seawater. In fact, all anglerfish are ambush predators, using the first dorsal fin evolved into a luminescent lantern to attract prey. When it comes to speed, they’re quite poor.
Anglerfish have large appetites but are not picky—they eat whatever they can find.
When sea monsters encounter this guy, they just drive it away. In the natural world, many strong creatures have a concept of territory, often needing a fight to repel invaders, but more often than not, they avoid fighting if they don’t stand a chance, showing animals aren’t foolish. They can tell from appearances alone whether they have a chance of winning and avoid pointless deaths.
Although this monster is fierce and powerful, it’s only exceptionally aggressive when mating. When it encounters sirens or other sea monsters, it moves elsewhere. Sea monsters are lazy; at most, they might drive away this glutton for eating too much without fighting over food. They don’t bother about anything else.
“It can’t reproduce”
… does that mean it’s not a threat to you?
The siren was quite displeased with Xia Yi’s use of “you,” but didn’t show it, only asking back:
Isn’t it?
That monster doesn’t look appetizing at all.
Why bother with it?
Sea monsters don’t kill for no reason—they only do so for food or maybe for the thrill of killing. Perhaps only humans would do such things.
For example, Abiseth couldn’t understand why there were so many fish caught by the ships. They should be for eating, so why don’t people catch them themselves?
Humans speculate about sea monsters with their own logic, finding them incomprehensible. But who’s to say sea monsters don’t think about humans in their own way?
Xia Yi remained silent, and the siren could only ponder quietly for a long time. Finally, he inferred from Xia Yi’s emotional fluctuations a rough idea—because those humans were attacked and died in front of Xia Yi?
That’s why he harbored such intense hatred towards that monster.
“Do you know those people?”
“Oh… I don’t know.” Xia Yi felt somewhat perplexed.
“Then why do you hate that guy for their deaths?”
The siren had been wanting to ask this question for a long time. Why couldn’t the ancestors of merfolk let their loved ones know that their songs could take lives?
No, more accurately, he knew why he couldn’t let Xia Yi see him killing humans. But why would seeing Xia Yi make him retreat? Forgiving the siren could not understand.
“Merfolk as a race have fought amongst themselves; octopuses and squids have even devoured their own kind.”
In the ocean, any creature killed is part of the natural selection process, with no resentment.
“It eats people… No, it kills people. However, those that made it this way are certainly not human.”
Back then, whether it was scientists or the US team, they had long since died!
Xia Yi thought that if he told those who had been eaten by spider crabs along the coast, it was the fault of humanity that created such monsters by dumping nuclear waste. That may be the case, but it was absolutely inappropriate.
The monster came from the Sea of Japan, while nuclear waste was dumped by the former Soviet Union; what did this have to do with China?
“It doesn’t make sense to talk about it,” the siren continued.
Looking at Xia Yi directly, he asked:
“Thomas said that two or three hundred years ago, there were many ships in the Atlantic that threw dead people from the cabins down every day. He saw it and when the people boarded the ship they were driven up, crossed the Atlantic, and very few were alive.
Also, tying up the people alive and throwing them into the sea, Thomas said that humans are very complicated, depending on different factors, different skin colors form large divisions, and then live in different places, with different habits, and then must again be carefully divided…
And it is strange that you generally believe that each person has a large difference or reject the division beyond the human race, as if two or three hundred years ago in the Atlantic, people with black skin died.”
The Sire’s words were too abstract, and Xia Yi had to follow his memories for a long time before reluctantly concluding.
He’s probably talking about the slave trade during the colonial period, right?
The stifling ship holds were packed with abducted Black people, given very little food and water each day. Some ships even locked the holds shut once people were aboard, disregarding how many died inside, with diseases spreading unchecked. Eventually, due to the heavy losses, they began managing and throwing bodies into the sea.
“Today, those who died clearly look different from you. Why would you be affected?” the siren asked.
Xia Yi looked at the siren in disbelief, realizing he couldn’t explain this question. Not just linguistically, but he couldn’t even understand it himself.
For example, regarding the Indonesian tsunami or the Japanese earthquake, from a humanitarian standpoint, gloating or indifference were both unethical.
However—Xia Yi was certain that when he heard about the Indonesian tsunami, images of vandalized Chinese shops and burnt buildings flashed through his mind.
At that time, what was the logical reasoning to correct his thoughts?
Oh yes, after all, Indonesia also has tourists from other countries and Chinese descendants living there. Such disasters affect all of humanity, they are tragedies that cannot be resisted.
If at such times people still disregard each other, perhaps humanity would be on the brink of extinction—like now, is this really the end of the world?
“Siren, when I see others die, especially in such horrifying ways, I feel fear. After instinctive fear comes anger… Such a monster…” Xia Yi suddenly couldn’t continue.
Creatures that eat people and attack people should be the most unforgivable and must be sentenced to death.
But how was this judgment made?
By humans.
Xia Yi’s mind was in turmoil.
He couldn’t explain.
All of this was already challenging his worldview, leaving him puzzled and bewildered. However, it seemed the siren didn’t expect him to continue, as his pale silver fishtail curved slightly to the right, leading Xia Yi to another place.
The ocean was pitch-black, with only slight glimmers near the surface and bioluminescence from algae and fish below coral reefs.
Yet, the sea was not quiet; some creatures liked to come out at night.
“Let’s go to Euria,” the siren suggested.
Using his fingers to clear seaweed from Xia Yi’s forehead, he pushed aside a drifting sea anemone with a serious and focused expression:
“It’s cold there, but there are no people.”
The water temperature in Antarctica is actually similar to the deep sea, especially at this time of year when Antarctica is still bathed in eternal daylight until June, when polar day disappears. Now is also a slightly milder time in Antarctic temperatures.
Xia Yi didn’t object. He felt he needed to go to a place where he couldn’t see any people and think everything through.
However, there seemed to be one strange thing.
“Siren, this is the Marshall Islands.”
Xia Yi found it incredible. They should have drifted here following ocean currents after a storm, so how did they end up in the Marshall Islands, nearly approaching the International Date Line?
Tropical ocean currents don’t distinguish between the northern and southern hemispheres; they blow from the Americas towards Asia. Even if they were caught in equatorial counter-currents, they should have drifted towards the Solomon Islands—some Esbog syndrome patients have memory and detail retention skills that rival computers, especially for impressions that may be needed at any time, such as viewing and reviewing images, such as world maps.
This time, the siren miraculously understood what Xia Yi was saying. Their unspoken understanding was unlike their usual interaction.
“Yes, the current direction is wrong.”
The siren didn’t find this strange; on the contrary, he thought it was quite normal:
“Here, the direction of the sea water flow reverses every once in a while. Thomas said it used to be rare, but in recent decades, it’s been happening more and more frequently. Abiseth said he always follows this current to find Volkus, according to your human calculations, once every ten years in the past, later it was six to seven years, and even two or three years back.”
“What is Volkus? That sea monster from Bermuda, always mentioned, but I still don’t understand what it is.”
“It is…”
[Hahaha, I found the ship. Neither the Siren nor Xia Yi were here, so the ship is mine now!]
Xia Yi and the siren looked at each other simultaneously.
“Where is the aircraft carrier? How did Abiseth find it even without the Siren or Xia Yi here?”
The giant squid excitedly pulled and pushed the boat, its tentacles wrapping around the command tower. If it were human, it would have burst into song, so happy to have found it again. Regaining what was lost is such a happy thing!
“Abiseth.”
“Yes, I know you envy me. Hahaha, my ship… Wait!”
The giant squid suddenly realized, its eyeballs rolling:
“Siren? You… You didn’t die? Neither you nor Xia Yi died? That’s bad!”
Xia Yi lightly tapped his forehead, suspecting he misheard.
“Why is that bad?”
“I told you, the ship is mine. Even if you’re alive, the ship is still mine!”
