Chapter 22 The Siren's Curse: It's better not to be a good person...

The siren leader emerged from the sea, the ruby ​​on its forehead swaying gently, its facets reflecting the moonlight like a pool of congealed blood.

She adorned her hair with colorful seashells, and her magnificent fishtail swayed, creating ripples.

The other sirens gathered around her, presenting their leader with freshly caught tuna.

The siren leader glanced down, then with a swift stroke of his sharp, curved fingernail, cut off the fattest and most succulent piece of his belly and stuffed it into his mouth, showing no sign of satisfaction.

Most of the tuna were left on the surface of the sea and drifted away with the ocean currents.

The siren looked toward the raft.

Under the hazy moonlight, the people on the raft moved back and forth, occasionally bending down to lift things. Perhaps the siren's gaze was too direct, for the figure turned its head to look over.

Their eyes met for a moment.

The siren leader grinned and let out a beast-like roar.

I want it, I want it... I'm so hungry!

[Waste waste waste waste]

The sharp sound waves traveled on the wind, commanding every siren.

Sink them, drown them, bite off every piece of their flesh.

[Kill, kill, kill; eat, eat, eat; rob, rob, rob]

None of the sirens responded.

Their fighting ability was actually not strong; they relied entirely on their songs to seduce passing ships. They usually only dared to attack those who had fallen into the water after the ships had crashed into the undercurrents and reefs and sunk.

The singing wasn't working, and they didn't want to go head-to-head with the ships and cannons.

When the siren leader received no answer for a long time, she flew into a rage and grabbed the siren closest to her.

【go! 】

The siren trembled and dared not speak.

The siren leader was enraged, its bestial nature unleashed. Without warning, it lunged forward, frantically tearing at the siren's throat. Sharp teeth scraped against the throat bones, producing a teeth-grinding sound.

The fish struggled for a moment, emitting mournful cries, then suddenly convulsed, and a patch of blood appeared on the sea surface.

The siren leader released her grip, her beautiful face smeared with blood. She gently licked the bits of flesh between her fingers, her anger subsiding slightly.

Suddenly, a soft sound came from not far away.

The siren leader turned his head and looked over.

A spherical object is floating on the surface of the sea.

Needless to say, a clever siren brought the item to the leader.

The siren leader picked it up with his finger and grinned as he examined it.

A ball made of scraps of cloth and rope, it felt wet and slippery to the touch, and had a strange smell.

What's this?

Another ball came crashing down.

The sirens initially mistook it for a cannonball and quickly dodged. But after two or three times, they realized the thing was harmless and didn't even bother to dodge, just staring at it with their heads tilted back. Some sirens even tried to swat it with their tails.

In a short while, more than twenty balls were floating near the siren.

The siren leader tilted her head, not understanding what the humans were doing. But based on her understanding of humans, they wouldn't do anything pointless, so... this must be an attack on them.

The siren leader flicked his tail, about to order the other siren to retreat, when another object was thrown from mid-air.

Unlike the previous balls, these were several square cloth bags, equally harmless. The siren tried to see what they were, but before they even landed, they disintegrated in mid-air, scattering white powder in the wind.

It rarely snows at sea, but at this moment, it looks like snowflakes are falling.

The sirens curiously reached out to take it and licked it with their tongues.

Dry and tasteless.

The siren found it amusing, wandering through the falling snow, stretching out their arms and spinning around. Their clear laughter echoed across the sea.

Just then, another loud "boom" came from the raft.

The sirens' ear fins twitched, recognizing the sound of ship cannons firing. They reacted quickly, scattering in all directions.

[Useless]

Humanity's efforts are in vain.

They can't hit us.

They laughed, only to see that the shells were not aimed at them, but at—a sky full of dust.

The shell was traveling at high speed, and upon contact with the powder, it created a chain reaction—an explosion.

Before the sirens could react, they were hit by the aftershocks of the explosion, their faces and hair stinging with pain, and they let out screams one after another.

Like a fuse, the spheres floating on the sea surface suddenly burst into flames, leaping and creating a small sea of ​​fire around the sirens.

ah--

The high-decibel sound waves lingered for a long time.

The sirens, terrified of the firelight, fled in panic, some getting hit by cannonballs, others burned by the flames. Some died, some fled, and some were wounded; they crumbled in an instant.

The siren leader roared.

Don't run away!

Unlike ordinary sea monsters, the leader of the sirens initially panicked but then realized that the scene was only frightening in appearance. As long as he hid on the seabed in time, he would not be burned by the fire.

However, the sirens were naturally afraid of fire, and in the face of their natural enemy, they became like headless flies, completely disobeying orders.

The siren leader grabbed one of them.

The other party was disheveled, pale-faced, and making incomprehensible cries; it was clearly no longer of any use.

[Useless!]

The siren leader threw herself down heavily, then swam a short distance into the sea, overcoming her fear of the fire, before surfacing again. Now out of the inferno, she could have easily escaped; after all, the ocean was vast—could she possibly set the entire sea ablaze?

But as soon as they saw the sea monster eggs hanging on the raft, they were immediately unable to move.

A cunning glint flashed in the siren leader's eyes.

Humans knew they were afraid of fire, and never imagined she would turn around and attack them in the flames.

The siren plunged down, found the raft's location, and rammed into it, trying to capsize it.

Fang Zhiyi had been watching the movements on the sea and had long since spotted the lone sea monster leader.

The raft rocked and swayed violently, but he remained completely calm.

We've been waiting for the siren leader to come knocking on our door!

Fang Zhiyi gripped the rudder and steered the raft in a turn. He and Chu Zhao's raft were connected by a long net. With a "hiss," flames leaped between the rope and the net, rushing towards the sea monster leader.

The siren leader's eyes widened, and its tail thrashed wildly, attempting to extinguish the fire with seawater.

I don't know what kind of fire was started, but water poured on it didn't extinguish it. Instead, it burned even more fiercely with the help of the water.

As the flames drew closer, and the scorching pain on his skin caused by the heat, the siren leader had no choice but to retreat.

Fang's meaning: Trying to escape? Too late!

He and Chu Zhao worked in perfect harmony, with the raft simultaneously attacking from both sides to trap the sea monster leader.

The siren leader tried to escape from the seabed, but instead walked right into a trap. The fishing net hidden below got tangled in her tail, and a force pulled her back.

Looking back, the fine fishing net was tightly wrapped around its tail. It struggled and thrashed about, its scales falling off piece by piece. The faint smell of blood aroused the siren's ferocity.

Sirens may look like humans, but they are actually wild beasts. Greedy, cunning, and ignorant... Stimulated by the approaching firelight, the siren leader completely lost his mind and focused solely on breaking free from the fishing net. However, this backfired, and the net tightened its grip, leaving bloody welts.

After struggling, not only did he fail to break free, but he also exhausted his strength.

The siren leader's chest heaved, and his fish tail drooped limply.

At that moment, a pulling force came from above the sea, dragging her upwards.

Looking up, the sea reflected distorted firelight.

The siren leader reacted and continued to struggle. Instead of engaging in a struggle, the other side released its strength, letting her writhe below until it was exhausted, then pulled her up again.

This happened several times, until the siren leader was pulled out of the sea and slammed heavily onto the deck.

The deck was wet with seawater.

The siren leader straightened up and met a pair of amber eyes.

Fang Zhiyi smiled brightly: "Hello."

Humans!

The siren leader bared rows of sharp, fine teeth, letting out a threatening hiss at the person before her. She even attempted to attack and bite with her sharp nails.

Fang Zhiyi was prepared and had no intention of confronting the siren leader head-on. There's a rule in the survival world: anything from the sea that comes ashore, regardless of what it is, will be considered dead after a certain period of time.

So no matter what the siren leader did, he just stood there, watching the siren leader make futile struggles.

After about three minutes, the siren leader stopped struggling. Its tail slapped the deck one last time, splashing up some seawater. Its vertical pupils stared intently at Fang Zhiyi, determined to remember his appearance.

You killed the siren leader.

[Obtained: Siren's Tear x1, Siren's Venom Sac x1, Jewelry x1, Fishbone Dagger x1, Treasure Key x1, Fish Raft x4]

[Gain the title "The Siren's Curse"]

The siren curses you, hates you, and fears you. You are branded with the siren's mark; perhaps after death, you will become one of them.

[Equipment effect: Intimidates sirens, increases damage to marine life by 10%, and has a certain chance to charm others]

Fang Zhiyi didn't care about the siren's curse.

He's already killed the real culprit, why would he be afraid of a curse?

After examining it, I determined that the title was useless and put it at the bottom of the box. As for the other items... well, how come the siren is so poor?

Fortunately, the Siren's Tears fell, providing the materials to upgrade the raft to level 5; everything else was just a bonus.

Fang Zhiyi only kept the [Siren's Tears] and generously shared the other dropped items: "You choose first."

Chu Zhao: "I didn't do anything."

The entire plan to hunt down the siren leader, from its initial conception to its subsequent execution, was orchestrated by Fang Zhiyi. He never imagined that anyone would have such a bold and decisive idea, let alone successfully implement it.

As for his role in it, he was merely a helper; there was no question of him sharing the spoils.

Fang Zhiyi said seriously, "In a battle, information is very important. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known that sirens are afraid of fire."

Since that's the case, Chu Zhao didn't refuse any longer and chose to take the [Siren's Venom Pouch], saying he didn't want anything else.

Fang Zhiyi didn't stand on ceremony anymore.

Along the way, he found Chu Zhao quite to his liking, not only in appearance but also in personality. Generous, decisive, and straightforward.

However, one thing kept popping into his mind: what Ou Yang had said.

—Chu Zhao is not a good person.

Fang Zhiyi touched the tip of his nose.

Good people don't live long.

It's better not to be a good person.

Fang Zhiyi suppressed the strange thought and put everything else away. He still held the same idea: regardless of whether it was useful or not, he would put it all away first, just in case he needed it later.

"Let's go—" Fang Zhiyi paused in her action of pulling the sail, sensing something was wrong. "Hmm?"

There seems to be something extra on the raft.

A note from the author:

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