Thaumas, the sea monster, is a Pacific ridley sea turtle. Its speed is only half of that of a regular sea turtleâs. It is a reptile and needs to periodically break through the surface to breath. Contrary to land turtles, a sea turtleâs underbelly is fragile and prone to fatal blows. Thus, most sea turtles will quickly pop their heads above the waves and sink back down immediately. However, the Pacific ridley sea turtle is unlike the rest. They will lazily float on the surface for a long time before dumbly realising the dangers that couldâve struck. âďšâ
Basically, Pacific ridley sea turtles are an endangered species internationally and are sloppy creatures. Itâs rare to find a plethora of things on the backs of other sea turtles, but they often have layers upon layers of algae and shellfish.
Thaumas is the Greek sea god that personifies the wonders of the sea.
Xia Yi looked up from underwater and was met with a spectacular sight: a giant, oval boat was resting at the surface of the ocean. Upon closer inspection, he could see four oar-shaped limbs â or âflippersâ, to be more exact â around this âboatâ. The two to the front were larger than those to the back, but all of them appeared to carry immense strength. However, their movement was unusually slow, barely stirring up any ripples in the water.
ăThere are humansâŚă
Siren looked up in alarm, frowning towards the ocean surface.
Given the light yellow, elongated oval-shaped boats that were scattered around the giant sea turtle, Xia Yi could easily guess that they were rubber lifeboats. Is that Li Shao and An Li again?
Though Xia Yi didnât want to meet other people, he couldnât just watch on in indifference as those he knew walked towards their deaths.
He wasnât sure whether these sea monsters had good or evil naturesâ they were just a bunch of extra-large, illogical creatures. Their thoughts were often childish, but they were sea monsters nonetheless. It was unreasonable to measure them with human thought processes. If Li Shao and his group did something to anger these monsters, he could guess that the sea turtle wouldnât mind changing its diet for a quick second to swallow them whole.
Splash.
Since he was in a hurry, Xia Yi brought a sudden surge of water with his arrival. The force caused the sea turtle to wobble, and instantly, a chorus of yelps and screams were heard.
A number of people fell off the turtleâs shell.
Before Xia Yi could focus on what was happening, he was surrounded by oysters and shellfishes.
It felt like heâd just had the misfortune of standing beneath a garbage truck when it was unloading its dump. In an instant, the seawater was filled with greyish-white and brownish-black shells. Since everybody was working hard to pull the shellfishes off the turtleâs back under the monsterâs threats, they didnât have the time to toss these shells into the ocean. Instead, they were stacked high around the turtleâs shell. In the end, they were still food even if their lifeboats couldnât possibly carry them all away.
After the sudden spray of water, the sea turtle tilted to the side and caused the spectacle of âraining oystersâ.
Siren felt the light dim without warning and immediately swam away. The mermanâs speed was unparalleled, and with a graceful swish of its tail, it shot to the surface; it even had the time to catch a particularly large oyster. Giving the shellfish an odd glance, it broke through the waves.
The current situation was indescribably strange.
Over ten stunned humans were standing on an island, each with ripped clothing and awful hair. Half of them were pulling themselves up with the huge algae roots while others barely managed to look up from the clusters of shellfish. All of them had red prints on their faces from where they fell. Still, they were lucky in comparison to those unfortunate folks flailing about in the water.
âHelp! I canât swimââ Someone screamed as they thrashed and sunk.
Having no other choice, Xia Yi had to use another wave of water to wash these guys back onto the âislandâ.
ăSiren?ăA giant head that was shaped like an upside-down triangle popped up from the waves surrounding the edge of the âislandâ. Two cloudy, yellow eyes looked around its vicinity. A single glance at its mouth sent chills down the peopleâs spines; it was shaped into a downward, eagle-like beak that could probably penetrate iron plates with ease.
The sea turtle slowly turned its neck, opening its mouth to catch numerous shellfishes that fell from its back. It easily chewed through the hard shells, and under the light, the reflective shell bits even fell from the edge of its mouth like bread crumbs.
ăThese humans are mine, donât think that theyâre food.ă
Li Shaoâs legs gave out and he collapsed on the ground out of fear. This time, no merman with long, silver hair could take away his attention. Ultimately, there were still great differences between dying of starvation or thirst at sea and being swallowed by sea monsters.
Food⌠itâs definitely that alluring scent⌠the result of terror and panic.
However, Siren lost all of its appetite when it saw how intently Xia Yi was staring at the humans.
At this moment, a shark that was swimming somewhere deeper in the ocean was unexpectedly smashed by the countless shellfishes from the âskyâ. When it dizzily rose towards the surface, it smelled the sweet scent of bloodâ Xia Yi had accidentally grazed his arm when he was blocking the shellfishes earlier. Without a second thought, the shark opened its mouth and charged towards its prey.
Xia Yi jerked his head away, but he was only able to lean back in an attempt to dodge the attack. Still, sharks were fierce creatures, and this one was about seven to eight meters long. A slap of its tail could bring Xia Yi to its mouth.
A light silver shadow flashed before his eyes.
Jets of water sprouted from the ocean.
Everyone watched in horror as a shark jumped out of the water, followed by another light silver fish tail. The mermanâs elegant and strong figure was barely visible in the spray. The people then saw the shark twitch its tail in obvious pain, and when it fell back into the water, the white sea foam had already been stained red by blood.
They watched the triangular fin that stuck out of the water hurriedly flee, leaving behind a red trail.
When Siren resurfaced, it had on a gloomy expression. Wet hair covered its eyes as it placed a slender finger in its mouth and sucked on it gently. Crimson water trailed off its pale skin and disappeared into the sea.
Everyone, including Xia Yi, was stunned speechless.
To be frank, only An Li and three others had still been conscious when Siren had first appeared. Now that they saw the merman from the shoulders and up across the ocean, countless wheezes could be heard. Though nobody fainted, it could very likely be that their nerves had strengthened due to the number of sea monsters theyâd recently encountered and challenged. After seeing a giant octopus that was several stories high, a huge sea snake with a length that nobody truly knew, and this big sea turtle that disguised itself as an island, a fish-person didnât seem much⌠Except how could this supposedly kind and beautiful mer⌠man⌠be so violent? It even forced a shark to escape with injuries?!
In Xia Yiâs eyes, heâd just witnessed a life-and-death fight between two wild creatures. Although it didnât last long, Siren purposely swam near the shark. Its every move was calculated to the sharkâs blind spots, allowing the merman to effortlessly scratch five long, bloody marks along the sharkâs gills.
This wasnât any special ability, nor was it⌠At least, Xia Yi knew that Siren could kill from a distance using infrasonic waves, such as whatâd happened with the marlin from last time.
Merpeople arenât creatures who just looked pretty and sang!
This same realisation dawned on An Li and the other ability wielders. Theyâd never forget the melodious song that almost took their lives. But looking at what just happened, theyâd still die if they encountered the mythological mer-creature even if they somehow managed to stop its singing.
Siren slowly swam towards Xia Yi. Despite not wanting to feed, it still enjoyed the intense emotions that were emitted by the negative sides of humans. Being surrounded by these mental waves put Siren in a good mood. Still, Xia Yi gave it a completely different feeling; it was an enticement that didnât stem from the mermanâs appetite, and it really was a surprisingly wonderful feeling.
âShayi!â
Oh this pronunciation and its completely wrong accent!
The merman was still holding the big oyster itâd picked up earlierâ it had only used one hand to defeat the shark. However, this caused Xia Yi to completely misunderstand its intentions.
âIâm not hungry.â
Siren looked at him blankly.
Xia Yi realised his fault and quickly focused his mind on that sentence, thinking it over again.
Those who could hear infrasonic waves continued to be stunned speechless. Li Shao, whoâd just climbed back onto his feet, fell down again. An Liâs expression was turning stranger by the second while the giant turtleâs head plopped into the water. After recovering from its initial shock, the turtle rapidly paddled its flippers. It was almost unfathomable to watch someone who was floating incredibly slowly like a real island merely seconds earlier suddenly behave like a speedboat with a brand new motor. Half of its body was lowered, with its tail submerged in the water as the turtle splashed along at top speed.
âNo, our lifeboats!â
âHELPââ
The people whoâd had the responsibility of âweeding and cleaning unwanted debrisâ were sent into a state of panic. If it wasnât for An Liâs threats, they didnât want to reclimb onto the sea monsterâs back at all. Yet, even if they wanted to escape, the monster insisted on following them. They had no choice but to work diligently and tremblingly. But what was happening now? Where was the sea monster dragging themâ
ăThaumas, what are you doing?ă
ăWhat are you doing, bringing a merman in heat around the ocean?ăEverybody knew that merfolk were extremely vicious when they were in their special period. Even if it was a sea monster, no good would come if its underbelly was scratched by a merfolk!
Siren looked at Xia Yi in puzzlement. Instinctively, it reached out to hug its treasure close to its chest.
ăNo, Shayi is really good to me. He also treats Ceto well.ă
ăNonsense! Other than the merfolk, no other creature in the ocean can speak in both infrasonic waves and human languages! Phew, this swimming has tired me out! I need to take a breather.ă
ăâŚâŚă
Xia Yi stared at the âislandâ, the corners of his eyes beginning to twitch.
Iâm not an expert at swimming, but even I wonât be tired out by that distance!
Another half an hour passed with Thaumasâs insistence on âescapingâ whenever Siren and Xia Yi came close. Whenever the two neared, the sea turtle would flap around in the water. A dark silhouette had eventually appeared faintly along the horizon; it could be land, another boat, or an island.
Yet it was then that the sea turtle stopped.
The sky was coloured in an eerie orange that at first went unnoticed due to its resemblance to dusk. Except, it was obvious that something was unusual when such a giant turtle cranked its neck upwards, staring at the sky.
The clouds were very thick, and long cracks had appeared down the middle.
The entire patch of clouds were shaped into wavesâ they didnât even look like clouds. Instead, they more resembled colour blocks clumsily splotched on a canvas, or water ripples in a pond. Between the cracks of every ripple, people could clearly see the orange sky. The colour distinction was obvious to the human eye.
This sight was familiar to Xia Yi; he seemed to have a memory of an image like that, but perhaps heâd seen it at a very young age, because he couldnât recall it immediately. As he was deep in thought, Siren had already snaked an arm around his waist and pulled him to the edge of the turtleâs shell.
Thaumas shook its head but didnât escape this time. Turning its gaze behind it, the turtle called, ăHurry, you humans! If you donât want to die, lie down and take hold of something⌠anythingâŚ. Algae, shellfish, the cracks in my shell⌠theyâll all do! Siren, go beneath me!ă
Siren didnât move and fixed its gaze on the sky. The cracks between the clouds were even more distinct and extended for god knew how long, the entire sky, as far as their eyes could see, seeming like a fine piece of silk that was heartlessly torn into pieces. The tangerine shade darkened and settled into an eerie marmalade.
A jolt went through Xia Yiâs body.
He remembered now; heâd seen similar pictures of such clouds, except they were red instead of orange. People like him often had much better memorisation of images than words, and he rarely made mistakes regarding these types of things.
âEarthquake clouds?â
The longer the cracks were in these earthquake clouds, the closer they were to the moment of disaster.
Still though, he didnât believe that sea monsters would have any knowledge on pseudosciences like these.
ăListen. The sound.ă
Siren seemed to read Xia Yiâs confused expression and explained in a hushed voice.
Xia Yi held his breath and focused. Sure enough, he heard an extremely quiet but persistent noise hidden amongst the tossing of the waves. It sounded like something was gradually being ripped apart. When natural disasters such as earthquakes or volcanic eruptions struck, the Earthâs crust would also emit infrasonic waves along with the release of energy.
Upon seeing an earthquake cloud, there was usually a week before the actual earthquake. The areas covered by the cloud were the expected places of impact. Looking up, they were right beneath it, or at least very close to the earthquakeâs location. The crack was also so long and filled the entire skyâŚ
Xia Yi finally confirmed his suspicion. As the colour drained from his face, he called out to Li Shao and An Li, âHold on to anything thatâs secure!â
There was no worry of being crushed to death when encountering an earthquake at sea. However, the problem was the tsunami that could form in an instantâŚ
Thaumas had already switched directions and was fleeing at a speed that was incomparable to that of its previous âescapesâ. Siren hugged Xia Yi and followed closely behind the sea turtle. Yet the clouds covered too broad of an area and the infrasonic noises continued to sound.
ăLeave the ocean floor! Flee the deep sea!ă
Sirenâs infrasonic waves echoed throughout the vast ocean.
ăEurybia, get up! If you donât move this instant, I promise you that youâll never have a chance to complain about any heat ever again⌠Abyss, use your tentacles to shield Nereus or else the waves will rip it apart⌠Ceto, stay with Gululu. All of you come to the middle areas of the sea right now! Hurry, thereâs no time⌠ă
Suddenly, a deafening infrasonic sound burst from the depths of the Earth.