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Chapter 17 - Turbid Sea
Chapter 17 - Turbid Sea
Yang Yi charged at the siren on his left. He had no weapons in hand, and the broken bone he once had was long lost somewhere.
But he was on land, and while other options might’ve been scarce, there was no shortage of stones!
He grabbed one and rushed forwards. Midway, his strength suddenly upgraded; his base strength now reached 4 points, and with the bonus, it surged to 6!
"Hsss!" The siren hissed in a threatening manner, her scales bristling.
She was quite clever, seemingly realising the man before her wasn't susceptible to enchantment. Instead of wasting energy on singing, she prepared to tear him apart with her sharp claws and fangs.
But what she didn't know was...when it came to physical combat, humans were unrivalled rulers on land. Even without firearms, this fact didn’t change! Yang Yi was a prime example of this; he had no intention of fighting fairly.
Seeing how close they were, he simply hurled the stone at her, striking her squarely in the face.1
With his strength at 6 points, exceeding the average of 5, the hit was brutal. The siren staggered, bleeding profusely from her head.
Seizing the moment, he mounted her, grabbed another large stone, and began pounding her face without a trace of mercy.
It was clear this simply wasn’t a beautiful woman, but a flesh-eating beast in disguise. No normal person would show sympathy, never mind Yang Yi in his frenzied state.
One hit. Two hits. Three hits...
It wasn't until Yang Yi felt something break, and the siren beneath him stopped struggling, that he finally paused.
He wasn't unscathed. The siren's tail had left several deep, dark bruises on his back, and her claws had torn through his skin, leaving gaping wounds.
The power of that tail was terrifying, but as Suna had said, her upper body strength was comparable to that of a human.
As long as the fight was settled on hard soil, humans had the upper hand. In the water, it was a different story.
After finishing off the siren, Yang Yi casually picked up a piece of her flesh and put it in his pocket, then ran towards the last remaining siren.
The fight happening there was stuck in a deadlock.
Suna and the siren were entangled, rolling on the ground, covered in mud and water.
The siren was injured, missing an arm, while Suna was weakened. The two were locked in a struggle, neither able to overpower the other.
That was until Yang Yi intervened, tipping the scales.
With two against one, Yang Yi quickly pinned the siren down with his foot, pulled out his flintlock, and prepared to blow her head off.
"Don't shoot! I need her intact, especially the head!"
Remembering Suna's earlier request, Yang Yi paused and asked, "Then what do you want me to do?"
"I've noticed movements in her chest — she likely breathes through lungs. Try strangling her!"
Suna pressed down on the siren with her full weight, signalling for Yang Yi to act.
Nodding, he didn't hesitate. He gripped the siren's throat tightly with both hands.
Before long, the siren's resistance weakened. A few minutes later, she stopped moving altogether, her eyes rolling back, seemingly dead.
To ensure she wasn't faking it, Yang Yi kept his grip for a full five minutes, only releasing when Suna tapped him on the shoulder.
With that, the three sirens were finally dead.
"Didn't expect sirens to breathe through their mouths. I thought they had gills!" Yang Yi joked, eyeing the siren.
At a glance, she looked like a crude fusion of a human and a fish.
Suna, meanwhile, was roughly feeling behind the siren's ear.
"She does have gills, right behind her ears. How they function together is something we'd have to dissect to understand."
Suna continued to probe the siren's body like a child playing with a new toy, exploring every inch.
Yang Yi, however, wasn't as interested. He only needed to know the siren's weak points and how to kill them. The specifics of their anatomy didn't concern him.
He opened his log to check the siren's detailed information.
?Name: Lesser Siren?
?Description: Sirens are demonic creatures of the sea that use their voices and beauty to ensnare men. They are half-human, half-fish, and typically live in groups. They enjoy toying with their prey before gradually devouring them. This one is a lesser individual, with limited intelligence and strength.?
"There's a higher-level siren..." Yang Yi thought, feeling a deep sense of caution.
If it had been a higher-level siren, he might have died in her embrace before even triggering his frenzy... And even if he had triggered the frenzy, he probably wouldn't have won.
What a terrifying creature!
He could only hope that by the next time they met, he would have some resistance against enchantment.
On the other side, Suna had already begun cutting up the siren's corpse — a rather gruesome sight, causing Yang Yi to avert his eyes and check the weather forecast.
He needed to quickly gather information and figure out what had happened in the past three days.
Today's Weather
The storm is closing in on you. Escape the dark clouds overhead as soon as possible!
Location : Sea of Origins (Storm Zone)
Remaining Sunlight : Unknown
Temperature : 12~20°C.
Wind Force: Level 8
Yang Yi then reviewed the previous day's announcements.
?An unprecedented storm is sweeping across the Origin Sea. You must hurry to escape the storm zone before it becomes uncontrollable. Friendly Reminder: The speed of the black fog will increase to 15 knots. If you're too slow, you might not make it!?
After reading this, Yang Yi frowned.
"We've wasted two days. We need to leave as soon as possible."
He began searching for the Nightmare, his ship.
By now, the island was mostly submerged, with the landmass reduced to less than a kilometre in diametre.
Only the tops of trees were still visible above the water, and the sea's depth was likely around 10 metres.
He spotted the shadow of the Nightmare to his left, thankfully not blown away by the wind — perhaps because its sails were in tatters.
As for the distance, it was several hundred metres away, though probably less than a kilometre.
On the sea, it was a significant distance, especially for someone more suited to land.
Yang Yi wasn't a strong swimmer, just someone who had learnt as a child. He could manage a few dozen metres, but several hundred was asking too much!
Moreover, the water was turbulent, with potential undercurrents below.
As he racked his brain for a solution, he noticed Suna stuffing a piece of the siren's flesh into her stomach.
"Huh?" Yang Yi took a closer look.
He then realised Suna had a black pouch attached to her belly under her clothes.
"Is that...a space bag?"
Yang Yi was surprised that she had such a rare item.
?Name: Witch's Personal Treasure Bag?
?Type: Treasure?
?Quality: Excellent?
?Description : It can be attached to any part of your body, making it impossible to steal. It offers one cubic metre of space for storage but cannot hold living things.
Every proper witch must first have her own treasure bag!?
Yang Yi immediately had an idea and started walking towards Suna.
Notes
- Such grace! -Simply?