One night passed without incident.
Looking back from the Wave Breaking, the traces of Koster were no longer visible.
Beneath the shadow of the sea surface, five Official Level creatures led nearly two hundred Synthesis Beasts – Demon Shark Men – constantly clearing the nearby aggressive sea creatures.
This made the days on the ship rather comfortable.
Until three days later, when the Wave Breaking entered the old territory of the Mermaids, the feedback from the Demon Shark Men awoke Lin Suo from his meditation.
He quickly walked to the figurehead of the ship.
His thoughts reached out to the group of Demon Shark Men, about two hundred meters straight ahead.
The security officer, Sailer, approached with ten Advanced Apprentices, looking somewhat surprised.
"Captain, what’s happening?"
"Scan with spiritual power, two hundred meters straight ahead."
The sensory range of a Third Ring wizard is around five hundred meters, which is the Lower Grade. Once breaking through to the Middle Grade, or Fourth Ring, the sensory range would surge, reaching five thousand meters.
Essentially a human radar.
Sailer immediately began to sense upon hearing this.
"Something is blocking the view, a mist."
"Tell the crew to be careful, change course, and go around it."
Better safe than sorry.
At sea, there are too many dangers, best to avoid them if possible.
Lin Suo instructed the Synthetic Beasts to keep an eye on that object as the ship’s speed began to increase.
After safely circumnavigating it...
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
However, it wasn’t long before the same scene played out again; the Demon Shark Men detected it, Lin Suo informed everyone, and they detoured again!
The second time, third time...
Lin Suo, with a serious face, called the navigator to confirm their current location.
"Captain, we seem to be going in circles!"
"According to our speed, we should have passed the old territory by now, but we haven’t seen the expected landmarks."
"Since we can’t get around it, let’s go take a look, Sailer! Prepare for battle."
"Andrew, supervise the crew to return to their cabins, no one is allowed out."
With the orders given, Lin Suo personally took the helm and headed towards the center of the problem.
On a solitary reef, a humanoid creature lay supine.
Golden hair shimmering, the bare upper body only covered with shells and strings arranged to hide sensitive areas, while the lower half was a sky-blue mermaid tail, reflecting rainbow hues in the sunlight.
A face of exquisite beauty.
Long eyelashes hung down, cheeks flushed, a delicate nose and small mouth, and a gently heaving, bright chest that was incredibly enticing.
After arranging the crew, Andrew returned and the moment he saw the mermaid, light seemed to spill from his eyes.
All the wizards, including the ten apprentices and Sailer, began to breathe heavily.
Andrew imagined the knight novels he had read in books.
Slaying evil foes, wooing ladies, raising a Mermaid Princess, establishing an Empire, becoming the first Emperor, marrying the Elf Queen, and reaching the peak of life.
The thought was a little exciting.
"Captain, there really are mermaids in the old mermaid territory, and she’s alive. Quickly, save her."
Sailer also turned his head towards Lin Suo, nodding in agreement with Andrew’s idea.
But Lin Suo had already been frowning.
He found the situation exceedingly strange.
In his view, there was no mermaid at all, but instead, just a dry corpse! The Demon Shark Men saw the same.
Realizing this, Lin Suo sternly reminded them.
"Sailer, look carefully."
Sailer rubbed his head in confusion, looking back and forth between the mermaid and Lin Suo, and confidently stated.
"It’s definitely a mermaid."
"Captain, mermaids have always longed for peace, since we’ve encountered one, let’s save her first."
Lin Suo remained silent.
Through a covert signal, he ordered the sharks of the Sea Clan to take action.
Instantly, whirlpools surged beneath the sea’s surface, with innumerable water blades erupting forth, attacking the dry corpse with unstoppable force.
Unexpectedly, Sailer and Andrew acted in unison, first creating a protective water screen around themselves.
Third Ring witchcraft—Water Prison Technique.
Controllable and defensive, Andrew was responsible for the counterattack.
First Rank witchcraft—Vine Pressure.
Gargantuan tentacles formed from seawater, thrashing into the sea, sending up a vast spray of water.
Yet the Vortex Water Blade was merely Apprentice Level witchcraft, utterly ineffective.
Disintegrating upon contact.
Just as Lin Suo was about to unleash the Bee Swarm to obliterate that thing to smithereens, the young Andrew had already disembarked, walking on water, he embraced the dry corpse and charged towards the ship.
Watching this made him shudder.
Without hesitation, Lin Suo charged forward, exploding with the full force of a Level One Earth Knight’s physical strength, and with a flying kick, he sent the man tumbling back into the sea, sinking directly beneath the waves.
Cresting a monstrous spray of water.
Sailer first paused, then turned with fury towards Lin Suo.
"Rhein, why did you attack Lord Andrew?!"
"You’ve been charmed; that’s not a Mermaid, it must be a Sea Demon."
"What Sea Demon? How could I, a Third Ring Wizard, fall prey to a charm so easily, yet you remain unharmed?!"
Could Lin Suo admit that he was now immune to such witchcraft after Symbiosis with the Demon Spirit Shark?
Sailer, along with the ten Apprentices, began to harbor intense malice towards him.
The Heart Seal issued a warning.
Lin Suo’s expression turned solemn; charmed, Sailer’s personality transformed drastically, but they were supposed to be allies on this mission, not sources of trouble.
"Sailer! Remember your task; you are a member of Migaron."
The infuriated middle-aged man’s face stiffened.
Instantly he was furious.
"Pretty boy, don’t tell me what to do!!"
His hand touching the ground with a water-blue Witch Wand, a circle of transparent ripples began to spread.
Third Ring witchcraft—Wave Strangulation.
Seeing this, Lin Suo, though finding it bothersome, had to intervene. Times had changed, Third Ring? Merely child’s play.
Dark green Magic Rings rose from beneath Lin Suo’s feet, with vines wildly growing from the deck, amplified by the Magic Rings.
In an instant, they wrapped around everyone.
Hands flashing with light, a black sand-textured Thunder Snake appeared in his grasp, bang bang bang bang—
Four shots fired, the ferocious Thunder Snake roared.
In a flash of lightning, following the gaps Lin Suo left, it directly shattered Sailer’s limbs, not even giving him a chance to cast a defensive witchcraft.
He was nearly crippled.
As for those Apprentices, they couldn’t even break free from the vines’ hold, hardly a concern.
Sailer bellowed, and two octopus tentacles burst forth from his spine, tearing through the vines and supporting him as he stepped out.
This was the power of his Bloodline.
Deep Sea Giant Octopus.
A bizarre chant resonated on the deck, Sailer completely lost to madness.
Mutterings of unutterable sounds spilled from his lips.
With each verse, his face grew paler, blood beginning to seep from all seven orifices.
Yet Lin Suo understood clearly.
One branch of the Sea Clan Language, the soul whisper of the Sea Demons.
The Transcendent language, rumored to possess the power to erase souls.
—"The world kissed my soul with pain, asking me to repay it with song."
Such was their song in return to the world.
Indeed, it was captivating.
Lin Suo’s eyes turned pitch black, Absolute Rationality activated.
The Demon Spirit Shark transformed into a black Magic Rune, covering his soul, perfectly defending against this Soul Attack.
The Apprentices, however, were not so fortunate.
Each and every one, dead on the spot.