After the survivors of the archipelago followed Sophia to the continent, Silver Sand — the largest island in the chain — was returned to nature, becoming a true uninhabited island.
Vines crawled up the stone walls and squeezed through window-frame cracks into rooms that had once been packed with shackles.
Lizards sunned themselves in the empty plaza. Insects built nests under the dilapidated eaves. Branches and leaves pushed through every gap, slowly swallowing the brick and timber.
Life on the island had never been more abundant.
One morning, a heavy fog rolled in from the sea. It crept over the reefs, across the beaches, and wrapped the entire island in a grey-white silence.
After that day, the island never appeared under sunlight again.
---
At the temporary mermaid camp outside the entrance to the Tidal Sanctuary.
"There are two options. First, we cut off your fish tail and have the Puchis mold you a pair of legs — you can come ashore, though you still won't last long."
"Second, we stuff a chubby Puchi full of water, embed a clear glass panel in its belly, and you control it from inside. Go wherever you want. Just change the water every two days."
"And lastly — there's also a shapeshifting Puchi couch!"
Lin Jun had been designing pursuit-and-romance plans for the mermaid empress Sephiria when he sensed the change at the distant edge of the fungal mat.
Before this, the mist had been contracting in pulses — not advancing far with each push, like someone doing a frog jump. But this time was different. The mist had started a hundred-meter sprint, with the kind of momentum it had when it stormed the shores during the Human-Demon War.
An alert rang through the mycelial network: "Wee-woo! Wee-woo! Return to the Tidal Sanctuary immediately!"
The fishmen and half-demons in the sea, clearing out the mist monsters, received the alert and immediately pulled back toward the Sanctuary.
But most of the mermaids weren't connected to the mycelial network.
After a brief moment of surprise, Sephiria closed her eyes and raised her head. A high, clear song rose from her throat, piercing through the water and spreading in all directions. The mermaids near the camp all stopped what they were doing, lifted their heads, and swam toward her, following the empress's call.
They gathered around her, tails swaying, uncertain what was happening.
"There's danger — everyone into the Sanctuary!" Sephiria gave no further explanation. She swept her arm and issued the command.
The mermaids didn't hesitate. One by one, they disappeared through the stone doors.
"Your Majesty!" An older mermaid suddenly turned back. "Have Sara and Lillian already gone in? I didn't see them!"
Sephiria thought for a moment. She hadn't seen the two mermaids either.
After asking a young mermaid who was often with them, she learned that the two sisters had gone out that morning wanting to return to the seabed trench, hoping to retrieve a keepsake of their mother's they hadn't been able to take when they fled.
Since Qisi's death, there were no threats left in the sea, so they hadn't thought anything was wrong.
By now, they might have already swum a considerable distance out.
Without hesitating, Sephiria herded the last few mermaids through the Sanctuary doors and turned to swim swiftly toward the trench.
"Is it really necessary to go yourself? The mist is almost here." A Knight-rank Puchi Fish followed behind Sephiria. Lin Jun had no desire to see her die just like that.
But Sephiria was determined. "My people are already so few. I must protect every last one of them!"
Lin Jun thought for a moment, then reached through the mycelial network and sensed around. He found no trace of the two mermaids.
This was one of the drawbacks of the sea — some areas were too deep, and the fungal mats on the surface couldn't reach.
He materialized several scout Puchis in the areas where he thought the two might be and sent them diving into the sea.
After half a day of searching, the two young mermaids finally heard Sephiria's song and were drawn toward it.
"Your Majesty, why are you here?" Sara and Lillian looked frightened, clearly realizing they had made a mistake.
"No time to explain — come back with me, now!" Sephiria had sung all the way here, and that beautiful voice had grown slightly hoarse.
"Congratulations, found them at last." The Puchi Fish nearby clapped its tentacles, though its tone had dropped. "Unfortunately, it's already too late to go back."
The three mermaids looked back. A white, dense fog had appeared at the edge of their vision and was spreading toward them at a terrifying speed — far faster than even their quickest swimming pace.
The mist was not real fog. Even in the sea, nothing stopped its advance.
There was no escape.
Sephiria pulled the two young mermaids tightly into her arms and turned to the Puchi Fish beside her.
She knew it was just a puppet controlled by the Boss. The Boss would face no danger from the mist himself.
Her voice dropped, carrying a hint of grief. "Boss, if I don't make it out — please pass a message to Airaven for me."
"What message?"
Resentment and ferocity crept across Sephiria's beautiful face. "If he dares go on living happily with that elven woman, then even if I'm dead, I'll curse them both!"
Looking at that wonderfully expressive face of hers, Lin Jun silently resolved to try harder to keep this fish alive.
The next instant, the mist swallowed all three mermaids and the mushroom.
---
When the mist passed, the group was not separated — but the surrounding scene had changed entirely.
A water tank?
All three mermaids and the mushroom were inside a large, sturdy water tank. In the room housing it, a faint rocking could be felt. They were on a ship.
Besides the water tank, the room contained a fat man dressed like a wealthy merchant, a large man dressed like a captain, and several guards. They were speaking in a language Lin Jun couldn't understand.
That was strange. Lin Jun had learned every language currently spoken on the continent, including Dragon Tongue — which he'd leveled to LV9 by breaking down the remains of dead kobolds. How was there still a language he didn't know?
It was only through Sephiria's [Listen LV8] that Lin Jun grasped what they were saying.
"Presenting three rare mermaids will surely delight King Arthur. Once we secure the rights for long-distance trade voyages, our family will surely rise again!"
The fat merchant was sharing his grand vision of restoring his family's fortune with his retainer. The retainer glanced at the water tank and tugged at the merchant's arm with an odd expression. The merchant turned and leaned toward the tank. "A mushroom creature? When did this thing get in here?"
Then, with a look of revulsion, he called out: "Quick, get that mushroom creature out — if it's poisonous and kills the precious mermaids, we'll have a real problem!"
The guards nearby activated their mental-protection gear and unlocked the latch on top of the tank.
They were guarding against the mermaids' [Voice of Charm] — but the moment the tank was opened, the one to make a move was not the three mermaids but the mushroom creature they had assumed was completely harmless.
A tentacle snapped out. Two guards clutched their necks and dropped.
Before the others could react, the Puchi Fish whipped its tail and launched itself to the fat merchant's back. A tentacle coiled around him, and a blade pressed against his throat.
Everyone in the room froze.
Lin Jun felt a little puzzled.
The fat man was clearly the owner of this ship — probably the core of this mist illusion.
Though it seemed a little too simple.
Lin Jun wasn't sure if he was just that strong, or if the illusion had other tricks hidden in it.
Either way, killing him to test it out seemed like the right call.
"The Reflection!" Just as Lin Jun was about to act, a shout came from outside the door. A sailor burst in. "Captain, bad news — we've run into the Ref— this is—"
The next instant, a thunderous boom. A solid cannonball crashed through the room and struck the unlucky sailor dead center.
Through the breach, Lin Jun saw the source: a ship with a bronze sea-monster figurehead, elaborate carvings along the hull, an empty deck, and a row of square portholes along the side.
That looks awfully familiar — isn't that the ghost ship from the time out at sea with Dylan?!
Whose memories is this illusion even based on?
Wait — Lin Jun recalled that encounter.
If the ghost ship was here, then the other thing should be arriving too...
"Ahh!"
A sailor's scream rang out from the deck above.
Sure enough. The water ghosts had arrived.
(End of Chapter)
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