Chapter 78
Siren initially emitted those rhythmic infrasound waves out of annoyance, but he had no intention of letting those people die.
Xia Yi was still by his side! Those infrasound waves capable of causing visceral resonance and eventually leading to death were effective on everyone!
Who would have known that under the panic of that esper, those powerful rocky spikes suddenly exploded in all directions?
Despite killing three or four unlucky people near him, they also did not miss the coral reef. Siren immediately became exceptionally angry.
When he crouched low to avoid the attack, he smelled the blood in the seawater. There was no more courtesy; the tiger sharks outside the Great Barrier Reef were ferocious and indiscriminate in their feeding.
For Siren, who could catch swordfish up to four or five meters long outside the Great Barrier Reef, a few small boats were nothing. Trying to overturn them was effortless.
All these people living not far from the ocean, how could they not know the danger of sharks?
Each one of them desperately tried to paddle towards the coral reef. However, tiger sharks were incredibly fast, with keen eyesight. They could even lurk beneath the sea surface and ambush fledgling albatross chicks that had just learned to fly and could not sustain flight for long. They could detect any slight disturbance in the water and accurately judge the deadly attack position.
Hungry tiger sharks would relentlessly chase any moving object.
As the top of the food chain in the outer reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, they spared nothing. Sea turtles and fish were their main diet, and they also attacked seabirds and preyed on mollusks.
Sometimes, they even mistook garbage thrown into the sea by humans for fallen animals and viciously swallowed them in one bite. Furthermore, they would chase and bite the boards of boats, so ravenous that they gnawed on wood. How could they not go wild when they smelled blood?
Siren quickly swam away from the indiscriminate attacks of the tiger sharks, watching as the seawater gradually turned red with blood, before climbing back onto the coral reef.
The fear of impending death—
The teeth of tiger sharks were extremely sharp, capable of biting through boards and chewing them apart, which was not to be underestimated. They swiftly bit off the oars that the people used as weapons, spreading the scent of blood far and wide.
More and more sharks gathered; those that had previously swam away returned, and those that arrived later, driven mad by the smell of blood, began ramming the small boats.
All the people who had not been overturned and were still lucky enough to be alive turned pale, trembling uncontrollably. Some used harpoons, and one person used an esper ability, but under the moonlight, with the sea water churning, it was not easy to see the shadows of the sharks.
After bumping the hull of the boats a few times, the sharks emerged again, ready to bite. If they couldn’t bite the people, they would crush the boat boards.
Soon, the small boats were shattered, and the people on board fell into the sea.
It was an extremely terrifying and horrifying scene.
Amidst the madness, a song, which should never have appeared, softly echoed. Without words, it began as a monotonous, low hum. This was the sound of the waves under the moonlight at the Great Barrier Reef, carrying a misty, ethereal beauty.
Everyone’s movements slowed down, but the sharks were unaffected.
The constant, piercing screams finally snapped Xia Yi out of his daze.
It was the first time he had heard the song of a mermaid…
No, there was one more time, on the aircraft carrier…
Xia Yi felt his emotions were a bit chaotic; he was afraid, otherwise, he wouldn’t have heard the song. Subconsciously, he believed that Siren shouldn’t be seen by others.
If this were before the apocalypse, it would likely have attracted countless people to capture him. It was only the infrasound waves that disrupted his consciousness and made him suddenly realize that a mermaid could fatally injure a tiger shark in an instant…
These people…
Although most sea monsters avoided humans, it didn’t mean they were friendly!
Thinking of the sharp rocky spikes that came out of nowhere, which happened to land not far from him, Xia Yi felt angry.
People who had barely survived in the apocalypse unexpectedly turned against each other without even exchanging a greeting, slaughtering each other in the Great Barrier Reef.
Fish were everywhere, and there wasn’t even a reason to fight for limited food!
Why was this happening?
Listening to the screams, Xia Yi felt somewhat reluctant but also very confused.
It’s unbearable to think they’re from the same kind, knowing that the smell of blood attracted the sharks, reminiscent of the terrifying scene encountered with a tiger shark before.
There were too many things in this world that he didn’t understand. Xia Yi was aloof, always a negligible presence, not a threat to anyone, but some people like to make him a topic of conversation, especially when two people with grievances meet each other.
They discuss everything from the weather to clothes, and finally start talking about him with a strange and disdainful expression, because saving face and finding common ground was indeed difficult.
That’s how the world is; some people will step on you without any reason, just to highlight themselves. Others simply enjoy causing verbal humiliation for fun. Xia Yi understands very well that getting angry with them would be pointless.
There should have been a psychic among the group just now.
Whether it was because they found Xia Yi and Siren annoying or some other reason, they didn’t consider murder a big deal at all.
Even if there were no tiger sharks outside the coral reefs surrounding the lagoon, Xia Yi still wouldn’t approach such a group of people.
Thinking of how Siren had left without a word earlier, Xia Yi was no longer so perplexed.
He wasn’t someone who cared about gains and losses, nor was he someone who fluctuated between joy and worry like a young girl. If Siren could leave, that would be the best solution to all their problems. Xia Yi had already exhausted himself thinking about their relationship.
Just as he figured this out, Xia Yi suddenly noticed that the singing had stopped abruptly.
The singing that had felt eerie and complex just moments ago had vanished…
When do mermaids actually like to sing? Is it when they bring death?
Suddenly, Xia Yi remembered the first time he heard that song, feeling embarrassed. He turned and dove down to the seabed, but the screams still echoed around him.
Although the waters inside and outside the lagoon were not completely separated, there were many places where the coral’s tiny gaps connected. These gaps were too small for fish to swim through, only plankton and tiny shrimp could pass, so soon the lagoon also began to smell of blood, which was suffocating to the fish that had been swimming lazily or sleeping.
The strong smell of blood meant danger was imminent. Despite staying in this safe and sheltered lagoon, the small fish instinctively avoided it, and even the turtles climbed anxiously on the rocks, looking around.
Unlike land turtles, they couldn’t retract their limbs into their shells, and in the ocean, they were most vulnerable to shark attacks on their bellies and fins. Seeing them leisurely swimming in the water, one couldn’t imagine the constant threat they faced.
Xia Yi’s arm suddenly throbbed with pain as it brushed against the coral reef. Looking closely, he discovered a wound on his elbow.
At that moment, the sea surface suddenly surged, a pale silver shadow disappeared into the sea under the moonlight, quickly swimming up to Xia Yi.
There was nothing unusual about Siren’s body, but Xia Yi still saw several places at the tips of the mermaid’s hair where it was dyed a deep crimson, slowly dissipating in the seawater.
This was a big shock to Xia Yi. He didn’t think Siren was at fault, but—
Perhaps this was ultimately the difference between him and Siren.
Bitterly, Xia Yi thought to not look at Siren and swam to the side of the coral reef.
Siren looked somewhat uneasy. In fact, he had deliberately ensured there were no traces on him before returning, but obviously he had been negligent and hadn’t noticed his hair.
The moonlight remained bright, and the seawater gradually calmed down.
【Tomorrow… let’s leave here.】
Xia Yi struggled to say. The scenery here was beautiful and everything was fine, but the Great Barrier Reef was still too close to the mainland.
People always came, and once surrounded by the coral reef-enclosed lagoon, though calm, it had its drawbacks: once people arrived, they could only hide underwater. After all, it was impossible to swim out over the coral reef.
Why was it so difficult to get away from the crowd?
【It’s harder to go further; there are many small islands, and they are far apart from each other.】
Siren dared not say much, just suggesting this.
Xia Yi’s heart moved, thinking of a picture he had seen before, titled ‘End of the World’. An island lay quietly in the boundless blue sea, surrounded by floating icebergs.
It must be somewhere near the Antarctic Circle.
【Okay, let’s head south.】
At least on the world map, after passing Australia and New Zealand, above the Antarctic Circle and between the continents of America, there was a vast and empty ocean, almost without any country marked.
Xia Yi didn’t know that the islands in the South Pacific were isolated from the world, so far away that it would take a long time to reach the nearest island by boat, and even the species on the islands had evolved on their own.
The atmosphere was unusually strange on the last night they decided to leave the Great Barrier Reef.
Siren couldn’t sleep, and Xia Yi couldn’t sleep either.
Maybe there wouldn’t be a chance to see such beautiful scenery again!
Xia Yi felt a bit unwilling. Although he always avoided disputes, it was also because he had no interest in what people fought for.
The Great Barrier Reef was a place that was hard not to fall in love with.
Delicious lobsters, spectacular coral reefs, and tropical fish with stunning colors that looked like scenery. The service was meticulous but also casually snobby, leaving customers unattended whenever they felt like it.
【There are lobsters elsewhere, and there are coral reefs. Without the wrasse, there are parrotfish. Where there are coral reefs, they are there.】
Siren seemed to understand Xia Yi’s thoughts and tried to persuade him. At this moment, he remembered the Falkland Islands, thinking it might be better to go to Bermuda instead.
【And the Caribbean Sea is as beautiful as the Great Barrier Reef.】
Xia Yi almost rolled his eyes.
The Caribbean Sea?
That’s in the Atlantic!
This mermaid’s sense of direction can’t be that bad! He just said to head south.
【Thomas mentioned an underwater volcano last time, and it’s also in the Caribbean Sea!】
Yes, further up is Bermuda!
Xia Yi had a good memory for maps, but now he could only silently feel that trying to explain distances to Siren was futile. From the Great Barrier Reef to the Caribbean Sea, it was as if spanning the entire Eurasian continent as a bridge, and this was the straight-line distance, the path of the Panama Canal. Even if you were to take a Boeing flight, it would take quite a while!
Xia Yi couldn’t help but think to himself about how he and Siren…
Just as he thought about it, he couldn’t resist moving a bit towards the rocks, accidentally kicking over a large dark golden conch shell.
Before he could even take a look, Xia Yi suddenly felt himself being restrained, and Siren forcefully dragged him away from behind, with quite a distance.
Because the speed was so fast in that instant, Xia Yi even felt a bit dizzy and disoriented, taking a while to recover. He felt Siren gradually relaxing his grip on his arm, and when he turned his head, he saw Siren’s relieved expression, filled with confusion:
【What happened?】
Siren held his hand and cautiously approached the spot next to the rock where the conch shell had just been, eventually stopping at a certain position near the large conch shell and gesturing for Xia Yi to look.
The conch shell had originally been adhered to the rock at a ninety-degree angle, naturally leaving a very small gap underneath. After it had rolled down, it exposed the little creature that had been hiding underneath.
It was light yellow all over, resembling a bloated cloud ear fungus, but not translucent. It had concentric blue rings; its body, tensed from surprise, was gradually relaxing, and its eight tiny tentacles—because of its limited length, absurdly short—were shrinking and trying to hide itself back.
A blue-ringed octopus, or rather a normal blue-ringed octopus. Despite its tiny size, the venom it released was enough to kill twenty-six people.
This was why Siren had been so nervous just now. This was Abiseth’s homeland, where encountering blue-ringed octopuses wasn’t uncommon, especially since they naturally liked to hide under rocks.
But Xia Yi completely failed to grasp Siren’s mood.
After watching the little octopus successfully hide itself again, he asked, perplexed:
【Did Abiseth shrink?】
【…】
