MASG chapter 87

 

The surface of Leviathan’s eyeballs was covered in scars, obscuring the color of his pupils.

The moment Mo An saw him, he recognized him. Even though they had never met and did not belong to the same species, Mo An recognized him. Mo An’s thoughts were dragged back and his throat seemed to be strangled as he remembered the day he had just hatched and their miserable escape from Power Plant No. 3.

That day, his life had come closest to death. The pressure from a natural enemy almost made Mo An unable to breathe.

“What’s wrong? Do I look that scary?” Leviathan moved his fingers, and instantly, the flow of the sea in this area slowed down. He appeared in front of Mo An in human form. At first glance, he looked like an ordinary, naked man who was just taller than average.

He was nearly three meters tall and had overwhelming strength. Mo An was unable to move for a moment, as if some mysterious ancient object had frozen him in place and stripped him of his ability to act. The difference was not only in strength, but also in control over ocean currents. Mo An was like a low-dimensional life form that had crashed into a high-dimensional enemy.

“Compared to a mermaid, I really am very scary. Right?” Leviathan revealed his cruel, bloodthirsty side. Under his command, the seawater took shape, gradually solidifying into a sharp, ice-blue icicle. The icicle was so clear that it seemed not to exist; yet, it stabbed straight into Mo An’s body, causing a large surge of pale blue blood.

Strangely, he seemed unable to feel any pain.

“Very scary, right?” Leviathan continued to advance, his smile growing wider—clearly playing with his about-to-die prey.

Mo An still could not break free. He couldn’t even move his fingertips. Why was this happening? No matter how much he thought, he could not figure it out.

Dozens of meters above his head, the sea surface shimmered. The sky seemed about to grow bright. Mo An could sense the changing light and shadows. He tried to swing his tail once more, but the weak current could not overcome the stagnation, which was laughable to a pitiful degree. He forced all his gill slits open and rapidly filtered the oxygen in the seawater, fighting to seize more energy.

No, he could not die here. He had to go back.

He had jumped into the sea right in front of Xia Yu. If he died here for no apparent reason, Xia Yu would be devastated.

Relying on sheer willpower, Mo An finally managed to move one hand. He grabbed Leviathan’s wrist, stabbing his fingertips deep into the skin. Strangely, no blood flowed out.

“Very good, very strong resistance. Killing you is much more enjoyable than killing fish eggs. Just killing little fry can no longer satisfy me. It looks like I should hunt down more big juveniles like you in the future. I’ll strip you of your life right before you mature, give you a bit of hope, and repay it in the end with total despair.” Leviathan pulled Mo An closer indifferently, and with his movement, the icicle continued to advance.

Mo An heard the sound of organs shattering.

Even after the entire icicle had pierced his body, he felt no pain, only bone-deep cold. The ice entered his bloodstream, pried open his blood vessels, and froze the organs in his abdominal cavity. His skin was ripped open, the ice entering from the front and exiting from the back. Pale blue blood poured out in torrents as if some thick pigment had been overturned.

“You…” Mo An tried to break his wrist. “You and… Nuwa…”

Leviathan nodded enigmatically.

A second icicle appeared on Mo An’s back. It pierced his lower back and exited through his abdomen.

Suddenly, Mo An really wanted to cough.

When he coughed, pale blue blood came out of his mouth instead of transparent bubbles. The blood almost surrounded his upper body, staining everything blue. In this vast blue carnage, Leviathan experienced the pleasure of slaughter. He took several deep breaths, like a massive, insatiable sea beast at the bottom of the ocean.

“You’re quite clever after all. Worthy of a mermaid raised in human society and hatched on land.” A third icicle appeared by Leviathan’s ear. “So where should I stab this time? The eyes or the gills? I prefer the gills. Without gills, you can’t survive. Slowly drowning is a beautiful process. Sometimes, when I see humans fall into the water, I stop and enjoy watching them die.”

“It was you.” Mo An’s gills flapped violently.

“It was me. Nuwa and I joined hands and almost wiped you all out. You really are a bunch of fragile little bugs with no self-awareness. You’re arrogant and conceited.” Leviathan moved even closer. “Otherwise, with the concealment ability of the double tail, do you think Nuwa could have found the hatching ground? You thought you had hidden yourself well, but the protection of sirens can’t keep you safe forever.

So it really was him. Mo An’s other hand drooped weakly. The light above grew more obvious. The sky was truly about to brighten. Pale blue electric sparks suddenly appeared at his fingertips for a few seconds. Despite his disadvantage, he still had no intention of giving up.

He could not give up. If he died inexplicably, Xia Yu would be sad for the rest of his life. In Xia Yu’s mind, he had only gone into the sea once before disappearing. He would never accept that. Even if he deceived himself, Xia Yu would definitely conclude that he was missing.

Being missing at sea meant being missing for a lifetime. He would spend a lifetime looking for him.

“Very uncomfortable, right? The feeling of being unable to speak. The feeling of being unable to resist.” Leviathan aimed the third icicle at Mo An’s heart. “I’ve heard that only the blood from a mermaid’s heart and gills is bright red. But do you know what color my blood is?”

Mo An forced himself to stay conscious, not allowing his eyes to close. Electric sparks continued to gather at his fingertips like flames that could never be lit—just ignited, only to be forcibly extinguished again.

“My blood is black. We are a race as ancient as the Haisiruola. Do you find my eyes scary? It was your own kind who injured me, done by the snake woman. Otherwise, my eyes would be just like yours and able to see everything clearly. Last time, the gargoyle[mfn]A gargoyle is a mythical stone creature, usually depicted with wings, claws, and monstrous features. In legends and fantasy stories, gargoyles are often living statues that can move despite being made of stone, and they commonly serve as guardians or sentinels that protect important places or individuals.[/mfn] stopped me, so I barely let you off. But the sirens hid you, and I searched for you for a long time.” Leviathan blinked. “I really want to see you suffer right now. It must be very delicious.”

The third icicle aimed at Mo An’s heart, stabbing deep.

“Still blue blood. Looks like I didn’t stab deep enough.” A fourth icicle appeared by Leviathan’s right ear. However, before he could aim it at Mo An, an unexpected electric current struck his hand. The intense, piercing sensation sent electricity through all four of his limbs. All the icicles vanished in the blink of an eye, turning back into seawater.

Before his eyes was only a pale blue expanse. Mo An had hidden himself in the seawater.

Leviathan was shocked for a moment, but only for a moment. He didn’t need to look around to see his surroundings, yet the mermaid who had been right in front of him had vanished without a trace. Had he run? No, he had not escaped. His beloved companions were right here. If he ran alone, the rest would fall into his hands.

What a loyal and righteous mermaid. Leviathan swam upward for a distance. “I underestimated you. You have a very beautiful and powerful electric strike. I almost forgot that mermaids carry electricity. Your electric current seems different, too. What was it again… oh, Eco-electricity created by Nuwa? Truly extraordinary.”

As he spoke, he could hear the sound of a fishtail cutting through the water, but he didn’t see a figure. Once pale blue drifted into the seawater, it became invisible. Biological evolution truly was advanced intelligence—pale blue was an extremely inconspicuous color.

“What a pity. If I had pierced your heart directly just now, I could find you by following the bright red blood.” Leviathan chuckled softly. “Did you grow up feeding on eco-electricity? You should hate humans. They captured you, and together with Nuwa, they attacked the hatching ground. What’s the difference between the two? Everything you see today is just a replay of yesterday. Your hatching ground suffered the same attack. None of the double-tailed ones survived. The fish eggs were left only to wail. Only you were taken back to the laboratory by humans. You should hate humans.”

Naturally, there was no response from the sea.

“It looks like, besides electric shocks, you have some other tricks. You can change your color. Sirens don’t possess this ability. Your hair is silver, like the Black Siren’s hair color. You’re a hybrid mermaid, right?” Leviathan asked while searching for him. “When two different branches of mermaids intermarry and produce unruly offspring, some abilities that don’t belong to mermaids will be activated. But don’t be happy too soon. Just because you can change your skin color like an octopus doesn’t mean you can escape my sight.”

Suddenly, a wound appeared on Leviathan’s face.

The cut was deep, exposing the cheekbone. Yet, no black blood flowed out. Leviathan froze, not expecting Mo An to move so fast. Immediately after, a hand tore from his back toward his chest and emerged from the front. Sharp mermaid claws ripped open his back and abdominal cavity.

Mo An covered the wound on his abdomen. He had lost too much blood.

“You think this is enough to kill me?” Leviathan peeled himself away from Mo An’s hand, inch by inch, leaving behind a gaping hole. Suddenly, the entire sea area darkened as if black squid ink had invaded it. Shadows draped seamlessly behind Leviathan, providing the perfect hiding place.

“Just injuring one of my limbs made you use all your strength. It looks like male sirens are nothing more than this.” Leviathan fully entered the darkness. Mo An felt as if he were facing an abyss. The seawater seemed to be sucked into the abyss, flowing constantly forward. Once again, Mo An’s body stopped obeying him and drifted toward the abyss.

What the hell was he?! Mo An turned upward, the violent movement draining the blood from his face. It was useless struggling—the harder he tried, the farther he got from the surface.

On the ship, Talos had already sensed the presence of Leviathan.

“Why did that guy come?” Talos pulled up Silver Fang. “So that’s how it is. No wonder Nuwa found the hatching ground so quickly. Leviathan teamed up with it!”

“Leviathan? Can he be killed?” Silver Fang patted his left arm. “I’ve got large-caliber weapons.”

“At most, you can kill one of his limbs, but you’ll never touch his true body. Ordinary people only need to meet his gaze once to become his slaves.” Talos looked toward the sea surface. “He must be coming for Mo An.”

Xia Yu, who had been slumped on the deck, slowly stood up straight. His stomach hurt badly; grief made him want to vomit. But at that moment, he held on. “Is that the Leviathan that hunted us before? Where is he?”

Talos did not answer. Telling Xia Yu would be like sending him to his death.

“He’s in the sea, right?” But Xia Yu was not so easily fooled. “He and Mo An are both in the sea. Silver Fang, give me a weapon. I’m going to save him. I can’t lose anyone else.”

“I’ll go.” Silver Fang had already started adjusting his gear.

“Let me go instead. Last time, I held Leviathan off for a while, but that was on land. In the sea, I can’t negotiate with him.” Talos put his pipe in his pocket. If Silver Fang went into the water, he would only sink slowly into the deep sea and drown. If Xia Yu went into the water…

“Wait! What’s that sound?” Xia Yu had already moved toward the railing. “There’s movement!”

“What movement? You must have heard wrong.” Talos calmed down and waited two seconds. After confirming that the only sound was the wind, he pulled the out-of-control Xia Yu back. “Silver Fang, take Xia Yu back. Both he and Mi Dou need proper rest. Don’t let them have a mental breakdown.”

“No! There really is movement! Can’t you hear it?” Xia Yu shook off Talos’s hand and looked truly insane. “Why can’t any of you hear it?”

Silver Fang listened for a second or two. “No, there’s nothing. Xia Yu, you’re grieving too much right now. You need to calm down. I and Talos will handle the next steps. We’ll go underwater, kill Leviathan, and bring Mo An back.”

“No… no, no. I heard it.” Xia Yu waved his hand.

He suddenly fell silent and stood perfectly still, as if carefully listening to the creatures in the sea and observing every detail of each snowflake.

“They’ve come.” When he spoke again, Xia Yu delivered shocking news. “My kin. They’ve come.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the pitch-black sea lit up. It wasn’t daylight, but a ghostly blue light from the ocean that turned the sea surface into a fluorescent forest.

In the water, hundreds of millions of blue jellyfish of all sizes filled the visible range, flashing light strong enough to resist the Leviathan and carrying deadly poison.