Lin Gui focused his gaze, his heart suddenly tightening.
It wasn't that the seawater had turned red.
Rather, countless fine, crimson threads, as thin as ox hairs, were gushing frantically from the deepest depths of the bottomless abyss.
They were like living tentacles, spreading and diffusing upward, filling every inch of seawater within sight in the blink of an eye.
【Eyes of the Netherworld】 allowed him to see the true essence of souls.
The souls of ordinary living beings were soft blue halos.
Meanwhile, the souls of demons appeared as a dangerous red.
The stronger the demon, the more blazing and massive its soul halo became.
At this moment, these soul threads that could dye the entire Silent Abyss red...
The strength of their source's owner had already surpassed Lin Gui's imagination.
His face instantly turned deathly pale, and cold sweat drenched his back.
He questioned the merman's soul, which was still screaming in his mind:
“What is... down there?”
The merman's soul's terror almost broke through the confines of the bead:
“Sathos... the silent demon god... It's a Demigod, Sathos!”
When he heard the word “Demigod,” the fear on Lin Gui's face strangely receded a bit instead.
He lowered his head and fell silent for a moment, his eyes flickering intensely.
In the end, a near-callous calmness replaced his panic.
Silently, he shut the still-vibrating carriage window tight, then slowly sat back down on the carriage floor.
“You... how could you...” The merman's soul was extremely astonished by his reaction.
“Did you hear what I said? A Demigod! Sathos!”
“Any sea region it passes through, whether islands or continents... will sink! They will sink!!”
“Including our merfolk race's royal court—Atlanna!”
Lin Gui raised his eyes, his gray pupils calm and rippleless.
They were currently right above Sathos. Faced with the might of a Demigod, any struggle would be futile anyway.
Of course, things might not be as dire as the merman's soul thought.
Although Demigod demons were terrifying, they rarely appeared outside the Dark Tide periods.
The North Wind caravan had safely traversed this undersea route many times.
Lin Gui believed he shouldn't be so unlucky as to run into an incident right now.
Most importantly, he was already here.
He could only pray that the big-shot demon below wouldn't turn over.
“You've remembered?”
The merman's soul suddenly froze.
From extreme terror to a hint of confusion, and then to a sudden revival of some forgotten sense of urgency.
“Yes! Yes!! That's right!!”
“I remember now! I am the commander of the royal guard of Atlanna!”
“I traveled ten thousand miles of sea, crossed the silent seabed... I abandoned my physical body and escaped the shackles of Sathos's law of sinking in the form of a soul...”
“All just to get out! To seek help from the City-State Alliance!”
Its voice trembled with excitement, yet it was incredibly clear.
“Atlanna is sinking! It is sinking at an uncontrollable speed!”
Before long, the entire undersea city-state will crash and be destroyed completely!
“For the life and death of the millions of citizens of my sea folk!”
The merman's soul's voice carried an unquestionable determination.
“I must deliver the message for help to the City-State Alliance as soon as possible!”
Lin Gui, however, only replied indifferently:
“Even if you deliver the message to the City-State Alliance... they won't dispatch people to rescue you.”
“Why?!” the merman's soul almost roared, filled with disbelief.
Lin Gui let out a short, cold laugh.
There was no warmth in that laugh, only the sarcasm of someone who had seen through the ways of the world.
“You are too naive.”
His voice was frighteningly calm.
“The City-State Alliance? It's just a bunch of factions with their own hidden agendas, bickering at the negotiation table.”
“What they are best at is delaying, shirking responsibility, and backpedaling.”
“For the sake of profit, an alliance treaty signed today can be discarded tomorrow.”
His gray pupils looked at the merman's soul, carrying a hint of near-cruel pity.
“As for those races on the brink of extinction due to the Dark Tide or other reasons... do you really think the Alliance will lend a helping hand?”
“Their more common practice is to take advantage of the other party's weakness to annex their legacy and carve up their land.”
“Or, simply pretend not to see and leave them to their own devices.”
“No! Impossible!” the merman's soul vehemently protested, its conviction nearly collapsing.
“Our merfolk race joined the Alliance when the City-State Era began!”
“We paid a massive price just to have our race's name written into that 《Mutual Assistance Treaty》!”
“If the Alliance violates the treaty and betrays the covenant like this... how will the other races view them? The Alliance's credibility will be completely gone!”
Lin Gui looked at him, his gaze remaining cold.
“Credibility? In the face of survival, how many gold coins is credibility worth?”
“Moreover, who can prove that you were attacked?”
“Who can prove that it was the Demigod Sathos who caused the sinking?”
“Even if proven, would the Alliance provoke a Demigod for the sake of the merfolk race, who are far away in the deep sea and unrelated to their interests?”
His words were like a cold dagger, piercing through the merman's soul's last hope.
“Of course, this is just my personal opinion.”
Lin Gui's tone softened slightly, as if casting a faint glimmer of light into the cold, deep sea.
“Perhaps under the pressure of public opinion, the Alliance really will send reinforcements in the end.”
“For example... a symbolic 'Hero' squad.”
He changed the subject, seemingly offhandedly pointing out:
“After all, you still have a compatriot in the Alliance.”
“A merfolk who is quite prestigious in the current City-State Alliance.”
Hearing this, the light of the merman's soul, which had been scattered by fear, suddenly coalesced.
“Anya! You are talking about 'Voice of the Sea' Anya!”
Hope flared up in its voice once more.
“Yes, I can go find her! That singer who has soothed countless souls with her singing!”
“With her influence among the various races, she will definitely be able to persuade the Alliance!”
It urged eagerly, its soul's halo trembling slightly: “Take me to find her! Immediately!”
Lin Gui's expression remained unchanged as he said calmly:
“Don't worry, I will commission the North Wind caravan to send you to Dawn City.”
His gaze drifted seemingly casually toward the figure outside the window who was currently maintaining the bubble.
“Speaking of which, there is a Legendary merfolk mage outside.”
“Master Percel holds a highly revered status in Twin Reefs. Perhaps he could...”
“No!”
The merman's soul interrupted him, its voice suddenly turning sharp.
After a brief silence, it lowered its voice, squeezing out each word from between its teeth:
“Just hand me over to this caravan.”
Lin Gui nodded slightly and didn't press further.
That moment of silence had already explained everything.
Why not seek help from his own kin?
Why would he rather trust a stranger human caravan?
Politics in the deep sea were never simpler than those on land.
Factional infighting, power struggles, and even... blood feuds.
After being pacified repeatedly, the merman's soul finally shrank back into the depths of the bead in anxiety.
The ominous red light gradually faded away, and the bead returned to its original dusty gray appearance.
Lin Gui stuffed it back into his pocket and let out a heavy sigh in his heart.
Regarding the Dark Tide, there were some truths he couldn't speak plainly to the merman.
The source of every Dark Tide was mysterious and unpredictable.
But its final direction was often led by a Demigod demon.
For a Demigod-level existence, their power was already akin to the laws of reality themselves.
With a single thought, they could overturn mountains and redirect sea regions.
They were terrifying existences that could truly crush Legends and view thousands of living beings as mere ants.
And that "silent demon" named Sathos was precisely such a Demigod.
Because of it, on the western side of the Akara Continent, stretches of coastal lands fell into the seabed.
The forbidden zone named the Silent Sea spanned the entire western side.
It completely cut off the possibility of crossing the ocean from the western side to reach the continent on the other shore.
Only, Lin Gui hadn't expected that Sathos would actually end up sleeping in this narrow Blackwater Bay.
According to the information released by the City of a Thousand Towers, that Dark Tide eventually vanished into the western Atlanna Ocean.
And what Lin Gui didn't tell the merman's soul was...
The "Tide of Silence" led by Sathos had already receded as early as eight years ago.
And the merfolk's royal court, Atlanna, had also been completely out of contact for a full eight years.
In other words, the merman's soul had slept for a full eight years during this period.
Eight years...
That glorious undersea city-state had probably already crashed and been completely destroyed under that irresistible power.
Sunk at the bottom of the abyss where even light couldn't reach, turned into a forgotten ruin.
He didn't speak of this cruel speculation.
He needed this wisp of a merman's soul to head to Dawn City holding onto hope.
To complete the commission issued by the system, which rewarded 【Merman's Gills】.
A spell that would allow him to breathe freely underwater...
Lin Gui had flipped through countless ancient books, yet he had never heard of any magic that could grant land creatures such an almost instinctive ability.
The value of this magic bestowed by the system was perhaps far beyond his initial imagination.
For the sake of this reward, he had to keep this persistent soul "living" on.
Even if the hope it pursued might have already been completely annihilated eight years ago.
Rate on N.U.
