The cold, metallic, and indescribably terrifying atmosphere was finally left behind.
Like a silver fish being chased by a giant sea monster, Sirona used all her strength to activate her rainbow scales and magic net fin membrane, desperately trying to escape in the cold, lifeless "water flow" of the steel sky.
She didn't even dare to look back, fearing that the terrifying being in human skin would suddenly tear through space and catch up with her.
With each swish of her tail, with each friction between her scales and the cold magic net energy, she felt that her beautiful tail had become a little balder—the aftereffects of that "research" made her feel wronged and afraid.
After an unknown amount of time, when the suffocating sense of oppression and the cold metallic aura were finally replaced by the familiar, warm magical energy with the rhythm of the ocean, Sirina's tense nerves finally relaxed slightly.
She broke free from the magical network of the steel sky and plunged into a relatively calm, small node filled with the rhythm of the natural magical network.
The light here is a soft blue-green, like sunlight filtering through the shallow sea.
The flow of energy, like a gentle ocean current, soothed her still-shaken heart.
Sirona stopped, her huge indigo fish tail drooping limply. She curled up in a corner where the node energy was relatively calm, panting heavily.
Free... have you really escaped?
She looked down at the thing she was holding tightly in her arms—a cold disc that emitted a faint blue luster and had intricate geometric patterns flowing across its surface.
Lind Truk's voice still seems to echo in my ears:
"Give it to your elders...an invitation to cooperate..."
Fear, like icy seawater, washed over my heart once more.
"..."
Sirina recalled the ancient songs she had heard from the elders when she was a child—stories about how a greedy sea monster disguised itself as an injured dolphin to gain the trust of a kind sea monster and eventually devour the entire coral reef.
Is this disc the fang of that "monster"?
It looked so exquisite, yet it exuded a cold sense of order that was completely different from any natural creation or magical object she knew.
That being... the sight of him tearing through space, that all-consuming dark aura... he was ten thousand times more terrifying than the most dreadful sea monster in the ballad!
Take it back? Give it to the elder? What if…
What if he really does descend upon the Eye of the Storm along this thing? The Eye of the Storm is the home of all the sirens, a sacred place that has protected them for millennia! Can the elders withstand that monster?
Sirona was caught in an unprecedented dilemma.
She held the disc as if it were a red-hot iron, or a deep-sea thunderclap that could explode at any moment.
Her beautiful brows furrowed tightly, and her deep blue eyes were filled with confusion, fear, and a deep sense of responsibility.
Should we return or not? Should we hand it in or not?
Just as she was struggling internally and almost plucked out a few strands of her beautiful hair, the energy flow in the small magic network node where she was located suddenly fluctuated abnormally.
Buzz—
The calm "water flow" rippled outwards as if a stone had been thrown in.
Immediately afterwards, several swift and elegant figures, like phantoms blending into the water itself, "swam" out from the center of the ripples.
Their appearance is very similar to that of Sirina, with a perfect human-like upper body and a gorgeous fish tail covered with scales on their lower body.
But their demeanor was more composed, and their eyes were sharp as lightning.
They were not naked, but wore a close-fitting armor woven from dark coral, shells and some kind of flexible metal wire, which shimmered with a restrained pearl-like luster under the reflection of the magic net energy.
Each person held a uniquely shaped long fork, the tips of which gleamed with a cold light, and the handles were inlaid with crystals that could guide the energy of the magic network.
This is a patrol of sirens!
As soon as they appeared, they immediately spread out in a skillful tactical formation, scanning their surroundings warily. Finally, their gazes all fell on Sirena, who was huddled in a corner, clutching a strange object, looking terrified and bewildered.
The leader was a siren captain who appeared to be older, had a serious face, and a deep purple fish tail.
She recognized Sirina, a hint of surprise and concern flashing in her stern eyes.
"Serena?!"
The captain's voice, carrying the ethereal resonance unique to sirens, was filled with disbelief at this moment.
"By the Storm! What are you doing here? This place is half a world's ocean away from the Eye of the Storm! Your 'Tidal Mark' is so weak it's almost gone; the elders thought you had met with some misfortune!"
The other patrol members also gathered around, their curious gazes sweeping back and forth between Sirena and the dark blue disc she was tightly clutching.
Sirina is a well-known "dream walker" in her tribe. She is very curious, but her strength is not top-notch. It is a miracle that she can appear alone in such a remote and relatively energy-sparse edge node.
When Sirona saw her familiar tribesmen, especially the patrol captain Arya's stern yet concerned face, her nose tingled with tears, and the fear, grievances, and lingering dread that had been building up for days surged up instantly.
"Captain Aria! Waaah..."
With a sob in her voice, she almost lunged forward, but her body instinctively tried to hide the disc behind her back.
Captain Arya swiftly caught her, her sharp eyes immediately locking onto what she was trying to hide.
"What's this?"
Arya's voice was wary as she signaled to the other team members to remain alert.
The energy fluctuations and craftsmanship emanating from that disc were unlike anything she had ever seen before; they were cold, precise, and carried an unnatural sense of order, which instinctively made her uneasy.
"I...I..."
Sirona was incoherent. Looking at Captain Arya's sharp eyes and then at the concerned and curious gazes of her tribesmen around her, she knew she couldn't hide it anymore.
Moreover, deep down, she longed to tell the story of this terrible experience.
"I'm lost..."
She began to speak, her voice broken and intermittent, as she sobbed.
"Chasing a group of beautiful, glowing jellyfish...swam too far...and then...then the 'water flow' (magic net) suddenly became very strange, cold and hard...I was so scared, so I hid in...a huge, flying 'metal island'..."
"A flying metal island?"
A young patrolman couldn't help but gasp, but was silenced by a stern look from Captain Arya.
Sirena shrank back and continued:
"Inside...inside I met...a 'person'! No! He wasn't a person! He was...a monster!"
Her voice suddenly rose, filled with fear.
"He can tear space apart! His aura is more terrifying than the bottom of the abyss! He... he even plucked my scales for 'research'!"
She showed off a few sparse spots on her tail, looking aggrieved.
The patrol members looked at each other, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
Tearing through space? Researching scales? This sounds even more bizarre than deep-sea legends!
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