The tunnel was pitch black. After walking some distance, the two stumbled upon two or three corpses on the ground.
The moist air of the sea had accelerated the decay of the bodies, now reeking of putrefaction—but they weren’t positioned in any eerie, ritualistic manner.
Judging by their attire, they seemed to be interstellar mercenaries. Scattered around them were bandages, damaged medical robots, and overturned bottles of disinfectant.
“Why would mercenaries be here?” Long Shiyu wondered.
“The mechanisms in this tunnel are old and easily breached. Sometimes they rest here for convenience while tomb raiding,” explained Shen Zhaomu, examining the bodies. “This part of the tunnel is seldom patrolled, but we’ve never found bodies before. And these wounds…”
He scrutinized them closely: “Some are inflicted by water ghosts. They must have sought refuge here while treating their wounds after an encounter, though unfortunately, they were attacked.”
“Could the water ghosts have followed them?” Long Shiyu asked.
“Unlikely,” Shen Zhaomu replied. “The fatal wounds aren’t typical of water ghosts. Their bites are uneven, causing the flesh to rot and blacken if exposed to air, like this one.” He pointed. “The neck artery is cleanly severed, the attacker’s weapon sharp, broad, and curved, like a scalpel. And these small blood spots, a few centimeters from the wound’s edge, resemble…,” he hesitated, “scratches from a mantis’ serrated blade.”
“Mantis?” Long Shiyu pondered. “The only exotic mantis creatures I know of are Veyrpan’s kind, right?”
“Yes,” Shen Zhaomu agreed, frowning. “found only in Sky Settlement. But why here…”
The twin mantises always accompanied the sky whales, and Sky Settlement never descended to the ground, let alone the seabed.
Shen Zhaomu had a drone quickly scan the area, then reported to the tunnel authorities.
Lu Shanhuai grumbled over the comms, “I was told we’d dive 300 meters, but we ended up in this seabed tunnel. Should’ve known better than to trust Brother Shen.”
“You’ve known him long enough. He never sticks to the plan once he’s off the ship,” Yang Zhiming added, surrounded by the clamor of machinery in the ship’s engine room.
Meanwhile, no one mentioned Long Shiyu’s disappearance.
“I told them I was going to sleep in my cabin,” Long Shiyu explained to Shen Zhaomu.
“Didn’t they suspect anything?” Shen Zhaomu recalled the moment he saw the bread dragon underwater, feeling his heart start to lurch.
Long Shiyu’s face was the picture of innocence: “Why would they suspect me?”
Shen Zhaomu: “…”
Right, he always ended up believing himwith that expression.
Long Shiyu pointed down the tunnel: “The scent of the exotic creature continues that way.”
Shen Zhaomu took a few steps forward, then halted.
He heard… water.
Not with his ears, but through his psychic power.
In an instant, Shen Zhaomu embraced Long Shiyu, leaping upwards as golden light congealed into several blade-like forms, plunging downwards.
The formed blades, five to six meters long, easily pierced the ground. Something screamed and writhed beneath them. Simultaneously, the ground partially collapsed, and dark, turbid water surged up.
It wasn’t seawater but a wave created by an exotic creature. Even the soil above crumbled, and rocks and mud rained down in tons.
Shen Zhaomu shielded Long Shiyu with his psychic power, forming a semi-circular barrier overhead. The muffled impact sounds indicated it was holding back all falling debris. He wrapped an arm around Long Shiyu, clearing the path ahead with his psychic power as they moved forward through the dust.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Ktlr lr kts atlr jgfj lr boo-ilwlar. Pa’r abb ecrajyif,” Vtfc Itjbwe cbafv.
Obcu Vtlse, bc atf batfg tjcv, rffwfv atgliifv. Ktlr kjr j “gbwjcalm ragbii lc atf gjlc”! Lf cbk tjv sfa jcbatfg fzqfglfcmf jvvfv ab tlr gbwjcmf klat atf qglcmfrr.
Vtfc Itjbwe: “…Tbeg vfolclalbc bo ‘gjlc’ rffwr boo.” C atbeuta ragemx tlw, “Ktf ‘Te’ lc sbeg cjwf vbfrc’a gfofg ab atlr xlcv bo gjlc, vbfr la? Ktbeut j ijcvrilvf vbfr rffw ab rela sbe.”
Long Shiyu glared at him again.
The collapse continued for what seemed like an eternity.
The two reached a safer area at the other end of the tunnel.
“Are you okay?” Shen Zhaomu asked Long Shiyu.
The young man in his arms looked up, his eyes still black and clear: “I’m fine.”
“…It must have been a water ghost just now. They didn’t kill the mercenaries but certainly followed them here,” Shen Zhaomu released his hold, “With both marsh merfolk and mantises, this tunnel harbors all sorts of anomalies. It’s too abnormal.”
Water ghosts, known for their penchant for dragging people underwater to drown, were accompanied by tidal surges, which explained the recent chaos underground.
“It might be because that exotic creature passed through here recently, awakening them,” suggested Long Shiyu.
“Perhaps,” Shen Zhaomu glanced in the direction of the tunnel, then checked his terminal. “But this leads towards Bei’en Main Island. Why would an exotic creature go there…” He paused, switching to the tactical channel, “Lu Shanhuai, can you check if there’s anything unusual on the main island?”
After a brief pause, Lu Shanhuai responded, “Nothing so far. What’s up?”
“The exotic creature that attacked the sailors might be heading there. Alert the guard station on the island.”
“Got it,” Lu Shanhuai clicked his tongue, “Just when the station’s main force is there… Wait, could that be its purpose?”
“Let’s hope not,” Shen Zhaomu said gravely, “That’s all we can hope.”
The channel buzzed with activity as Lu Shanhuai relayed the message to others.
Shen Zhaomu and Long Shiyu exchanged a glance and quickened their pace deeper into the tunnel.
After about three to five minutes, the tunnel floor became damp, with several fresh corpses of fierce water ghosts lying around with fresh wounds. Someone had recently and efficiently dispatched them.
The familiar wounds prompted Shen Zhaomu to sense his surroundings and massage his temples: “…He’s actually here.”
“Who?”
“Just an old friend,” Shen Zhaomu patted Long Shiyu’s head, “Don’t worry, he’s not a jerk like Bai Yiyi, though he’s also not quite normal.”
“Why would your friend be in the tunnel?”
“Nobody knows, him included.” Shen Zhaomu added, “He’s a bit like you in that regard. Both of you must be studying at the Schrödinger’s school.”
As he spoke, a figure emerged from the darkness.
The man, appearing in his late twenties with delicate features, wore dark green fluffy pajamas, holding a map. He looked like a tourist who just woke up and was forced to make a run for the tour bus before he could even change his clothes… if one disregarded the gray blood of the water ghosts on his clothing.
His eyes lit up upon seeing Shen Zhaomu: “Oh my, finally a familiar face.”
Uther Green, one of the top competitors for the chief position and on good terms with Shen Zhaomu, wasn’t human but from a distant planet’s sorcerer family.
With a sparse population but lifespans nearly double that of humans, Uther was actually in his fifties or sixties but only looked slightly older than Shen Zhaomu.
A legend in the Association, unlike Shen Zhaomu and Bai Yiyi who, despite their whimsy, were reachable in emergencies, Uther could go missing for nine months a year, spending the remaining three in the star capital’s bars.
Yang Zhiming exclaimed over the channel, “Wow, fuck me, a living, breathing Uther actually appeared before me! My youth is over!”
Lu Shanhuai was equally astonished, “These two elusive phantoms meeting underwater? Unbelievable.”
“This might just be the true essence of a phantom,” sighed Yang Zhiming.
Bai Yiyi, Uther, and Shen Zhaomu were known as the “Three Chief Phantoms” in the Association—a title given for how elusive they were. All three were outstanding, each with unique strengths, unparalleled in the Association’s history. Yet they were the oddities among hunters: Bai Yiyi, always inwardly contrarian; Uther, perpetually missing; and Shen Zhaomu, acting on his own.
Such oddities were rare, but this batch was particularly abundant. Qiu Ruowen’s praiseworthy well of experience was the only thing that stopped her from going mad dealing with these three phantoms.
Shen Zhaomu said, “What brings you here? Chief Qiu has been looking for you for a while.”
“Is that so.” Uther replied, “I was following an exotic creature and haven’t checked my terminal for a while. Oh dear, I’m doomed, she’s going to kick my butt with her boots when I get back.”
Long Shiyu whispered to Shen Zhaomu, “His speech seems odd.”
Shen Zhaomu whispered back, “The Alliance’s common language isn’t his native tongue.”
“Oh.”
Uther continued, “Shen Zhaomu, old pal, you really saved my life. I was lost here. I originally intended to visit the Castle of Bei’en, but a passerby directed me to this damned tunnel instead,” he lamented.
Long Shiyu remarked, “But the tunnel and the castle are in completely opposite directions. You’re now even further away.”
“Oh, yes, dear, yes, I couldn’t agree more about your words,” he replied with a sigh.
Long Shiyu: “…”
Shen Zhaomu interjected, “It’s good that you’re here. We’ve encountered a suspected exotic creature roaming towards the main island. Time is of the essence; we must hurry back to the station.”
“Something like that really happened?” Uther finally glanced at his terminal. “Oh, so the Association has issued a warning.”
Thus, they stepped over the corpse of a water ghost and made their way towards the main island.
“Oh, by the way,” Uther suddenly remembered something as they walked. He pulled out a strange component from his bag while following Shen Zhaomu. It was golden and shimmering, seemingly freshly removed from some machinery. “After I hunted that exotic creature, I came to the main island to look for the wreckage of a submarine to collect. I heard there are many rare models here.”
Not just mercenaries, many others also brought their private submarines to Bei’en. These vessels came from various galaxies and species, and were of all sorts. The maritime conditions of Bei’en were complex and variable. When accidents occasionally occurred, most people were rescued, leaving only the submarines sunk at the bottom of the sea.
“I found many submarine cores,” Uther showed the part to Shen Zhaomu, “but I swear to God, this is the most unique one I’ve ever seen.”
“We’ll know once we show it to Yang Zhiming,” said Shen Zhaomu. “That’s assuming you don’t suddenly go missing.”
They walked in the silent tunnel.
The undersea tunnel was extremely old, with sand occasionally falling from the ceiling. It was clear that these three were no ordinary people; they showed no fear.
After several minutes and passing through numerous defense barriers, they reached the open area of the tunnel where tourists were taking photos. After another sharp turn, they saw the way upward.
The elevator here was long out of service, so they ascended the stairs, finally leaving the oppressive atmosphere behind.
Outside, it was already evening. They emerged onto a grassy clearing where many tourists were waiting to enter the tunnel. Not far away, they could see the streets of the main island of Bei’en. This exit was very close to the station, just a five-minute walk.
Long Shiyu sniffed the air and whispered to Shen Zhaomu, “The scents here are too chaotic. I can’t track its smell anymore.”
“It’s okay, I’ll find it,” Shen Zhaomu reassured him, rubbing his head. “You better go back to the station quickly. Don’t wait for me if it gets late; just go to sleep.” He paused, then added, “And don’t wander off. You’ve been a big help this time. When you return, I’ll take you out for something delicious.”
“Okay,” Long Shiyu responded sincerely.
“…And don’t follow me.”
“Okay.”
Shen Zhaomu still seemed worried, repeatedly admonishing him before he and Uther left.
On their way, for safety, Shen Zhaomu blocked Lu Shanhuai’s number.
Fifteen minutes later.
A team of interstellar mercenaries set sail from the port.
They had rented a local medium-sized fishing boat, planning to head to the Nyx Archipelago north of the main island.
The sale of advanced Bei’en diving equipment was prohibited on the main island, but if one could acquire it from the black market on the islands and avoid the maritime police patrol routes, they could attempt underwater tomb raiding—if they managed to get a fishing permit, it would be even safer.
There were many branches in the royal family of Bei’en, and there were always a few overlooked small tombs.
Even a small tomb could contain valuable decorations from the Bei’en dynasty. If they were lucky enough to find gemstones, it could mean a huge profit.
Who doesn’t love money?
Augusta stood at the bow of the boat, his chin covered with a hint of dark stubble, his jawline sharp.
The dark sea was split by the fishing boat, creating foam. Occasionally, colors dripped around him, tinting the white foam before quickly vanishing. Further away were dark reefs and leaping fish.
His eyes held a determination and fierceness not seen in other mercenaries. He held a pair of double-edged swords with fullers at his waist and was clad in a dark teal long coat.
The coat fluttered in the sea breeze, with a pattern of a winged lion battling a dragon on its back.
“Boss,” a mercenary said to him, “should we make a move tonight?”
“We’ll see when we get there. It’s not certain we can find the church’s contact so quickly,” Augusta replied, absentmindedly twisting an emerald ring on his finger. “Moreover, there are many troublesome characters on this island,”
A chill flashed in his eyes, “especially that Shen guy.”
“Boss,” the mercenary continued, “but… ah, fuck, why is someone grilling fish?”
“What’s so strange about that?” Augusta retorted, licking his lips chapped by the sea breeze. “There are plenty of fishermen here by the sea, don’t make a fuss over nothing.”
“No, I mean, someone is grilling fish on our boat.”
The author has something to say:
One cutesy sob a day: 0/1
Thank you for the chapter! It’s definitely Shiyu
SHIYU LMAO
Someone is grilling fish on our boat. 😆
Thank you so much for the chapter
Lmaoo shiyu and his insatiable appetite 😂