As the tide receded, the sunset also appropriately dipped below the horizon… Under the baptism of war, the kingdom hidden deep beneath the sea—Atlantis—shone with its final glory.
In the deep currents of the ocean, an indigo blue halo peeled away in layers among the jagged reefs, and fish tails thrashed wildly in the refracted dark green light.
Until scales cut through the water curtain, several slender figures shot past like arrows—these were the mermaids who had survived the great extinction and were later favored by the ocean!
Their tail fins were as long and slender as crescent moons, and their hair, of various colors, floated with the ocean currents. At this moment, they were desperately thrashing their tails to escape.
The dark silhouettes of shark schools swooped down from above, circling and pursuing them closely, their crimson eyes fixed on the mermaids ahead.
The mermaid at the very front suddenly changed direction, and a string of blood-red thorns instantly flew from the edge of her tail fin.
But those thorns not only failed to intercept, they even slowed her down, and she was bitten by a shark that immediately followed.
Its sharp teeth quickly tore her to shreds. The shark's rear tail gave a violent shake, and it sneered mockingly, "How does it feel to be unable to use magic, mermaid!?
As the echo faded, the shark's entire body quickly erupted with azure blue light spots, and its speed suddenly increased by a notch.
"Buzz..."
The moment it approached the mermaid, the shark instantly transformed into a human form, and the huge mace in its hand was about to smash down.
"I've been annoyed with you guys for a long time! Why do you weaklings get to be the overlords of the ocean!?
"Bang—!"
A powerful blow missed its target, and the residual energy spread from the seabed. As the water vibrated, the mermaid instantly tensed the muscles in her waist.
"Bang... bang!"
One mace after another, the shark seemed to be enjoying itself, each blow narrowly missing the mermaid's scales.
Eerie blue phosphorescence splattered from the scales due to the violent friction, and the rapid "click-clack" sound of the mermaid's gill slits opening and closing grew louder.
"Damn it... I'm a player! It's all that damned Roger's fault, that beast! He deserves to have no girlfriend in real life!" The mermaid panted heavily as she struggled to dodge the attacks, not forgetting to complain.
She was Su Yao, a female player who chose the mermaid race. At the start of the second beta test, she began streaming with the title "Enjoying the Ocean's Beauty," and had been traveling all over the ocean.
Looking at the fierce melee on the seabed, Dongfang Qing raised his hand and opened the apocalypse. What these players had done in the past few years immediately dumbfounded him.
Originally, mermaids, as darlings of the ocean, could cast magic without restraint, without worrying about mana consumption.
Until a man who called himself the pirate king stole the heart of the ocean, then urinated in the Sea God's palace, and even cut off the statue's "dignity" and replaced it with an abalone... From then on, mermaids lost their mana supply, restoring mana became extremely difficult, and the power of their magic also greatly decreased.
With the destruction of the statue, the King of Atlantis also seemed to be punished, falling ill and never recovering... And the mermaid kingdom was attacked by a large number of other marine species in a short period of time.
"Damn! I still underestimated the players..." The corners of Dongfang Qing's lips, originally a straight line, were pushed into dimples by surprise, and his fingertips unconsciously tugged at the pleats of his skirt.
Amidst the rustling of fabric, Dongfang Qing clicked open Old Chen's live stream.
"Huh?"
Before him was an unbearable scene. His Roger Pirates were in merriment. Although the content was automatically censored for the audience... there was still sound!
The lingering astonishment caused a blush to climb onto his veil at some unknown moment. Dongfang Qing had no choice but to exit, swallowing his saliva dejectedly.
"What a chuunibyo, a crazy pirate king... Old Chen, that old fossil, he's in the late stages, beyond saving, isn't he!" Su Yao cursed as she fled, having already greeted Old Chen's ancestors eighteen generations back in a short time... "What are you mumbling about!?
Can't you even speak properly anymore! Hehe, I don't mind beating you into a pulp and then eating you!"
Not understanding the Chinese Su Yao spoke, the shark only felt that she was scared silly, and the force in its hand grew stronger with each blow.
The soreness in her waist made her want to cry, so she could only helplessly look at the cheering comments: "Wow, this is really annoying, you guys quickly think of a solution! I can't swim anymore!"
..."My beautiful lady, swim east! Your companions are there, and other players are there too!"
"How much resentment does this shark have, to specifically target the Streamer alone!"
"Hahaha, I'll keep quiet. The real show is yet to come."
"Run along the undercurrent! You'll just make it to the East Sea! If you encounter a human fleet, you'll be saved!"
...Taking a quick glance, Su Yao saw that all the comments advised her to go to the East Sea, so she gritted her teeth and quickly changed direction.
"Crash!"
"Damn you, Roger! You've made me so miserable, we mermaids will remember this grudge! All you pirates just wait for me!"
The spikes of the mace grazed his fish scales, instantly leaving a crimson bloodstain. Su Yao immediately cursed in the next instant.
Rubbing its chin with a fin, the shark's movement of swinging the macesuddenly paused, and a hint of excitement immediately crept onto its lips: "What in the world are you muttering to yourself!? Do you want a big stick, huh!?"
The two continued their chase in a battle royale style all the way to the East Sea, until Su Yao, unable to dodge in time, crashed into a ship.
"Thud~"
"Hiss... Ouch... It hurts!"
Her silver-blue fish tail thrashed frantically in mid-air, but under the force of inertia, she still crashed headfirst into the ship's dark steel plate.
"Damn Roger! Always bullying people!" Su Yao sat dejectedly on the swaying wave crest, her coral-colored long hair tangled around her nose. She pouted angrily, shaking her hair free.
She wailed, while her fingertips rubbed the scales on her forehead. From the violent impact, a large purple bruise had already swelled there.
"And it's poisonous!? Who's so malicious to put poison on the bottom of a ship? It's even more sinister than still water!"
The moment the seaweed slipped from her ear fin, an ominous premonition rose with the dizziness. Her pupils suddenly constricted, and she fearfully looked up.
The large ship she had just crashed into now had fragments of her tail scales still clinging to the dark skull on its hull.
"This... this is..."
Looking ahead, it was an extremely massive ship. From below, it seemed to block out the sky, and its hull was loaded with countless giant cannons... Each porthole was inlaid with golden skull reliefs, and as for the decorations on the cannons above, she was all too familiar with them!
They were all items from the Sea God's Temple in Atlantis! Among them was a shiny silver object—wasn't that the "dignity" of the Sea God's statue?
Her gaze moved up again, and Su Yao finally confirmed her thoughts: this was Roger's ship! She had walked right into the lion's den!
..."Oh ho ho! Ran into the pirate king! Let's look forward to what kind of show Old Chen will put on next!"
"You hit the seaweed—!"
"Fooled... Hahaha, little girls are so easy to trick, now this will be fun. She cursed so fiercely just now, she's going to wilt!"
"Moumoumoumou delicious mermaid!"
"Now, let's welcome Pirate King Roger! Let him demonstrate the power of an Archmage!"
...At this moment, the comments surged again, and for some reason, the audience's emotions were unprecedentedly high, looking completely detached.
After confirming that this was Roger's ship, Su Yao exploded on the spot, a hint of grievance flashing in the corners of her eyes: "It's over... The people on this ship are even dumber than that shark! You... you!"
"Rustle rustle..."
Tension and panic immediately brewed within her. She pouted, about to escape, but a sudden chain bound her fish tail.
"Hehe... Brothers, you all saw it, didn't you? Isn't the mermaid very attractive!?"