"Does anyone understand what these fish are saying?"

Looking at the pitiful mermaids below, chattering incessantly as they tried to approach the ship but didn't dare to, Sigrdrifa asked irritably.

"They're mermaids, not fish." Nora immediately saw through what Sigrdrifa was thinking (fishing), "You better not mistake them for whales and hunt them."

"To be precise, they're sirens." Medea walked out from the cabin and said.

Her sudden appearance made everyone realize that Medea hadn't been seen for the past few days, as she had been holed up in the alchemy room of the Stovefire Island Manor, tinkering with something unknown.

"Sirens?" Thira also recognized the name.

These creatures used to be abundant in the Aegean Sea. They loved to perch on rocks and sing, luring sailors on nearby ships to jump into the sea and drown. It's also said that the main ingredient for "Desire II" comes from sirens.

However, with the rise of the East Solomon Empire during the Fourth Epoch, the extraordinary creatures in the Aegean Sea, like sirens, harpies, and minotaurs, were basically hunted to extinction, so Thira had never seen these monsters before.

"Alright." Sigrdrifa tugged at her long white hair, distressed, "Does anyone understand what these, uh, sirens are actually saying?"

"I can." Medea confidently replied.

"You understand Siren language?" Thira asked, surprised.

"No." Medea smiled faintly, "I just know mind reading."

Mind reading... oh, mind reading! Nora suddenly understood.

As is well known, thoughts aren't entirely composed of language. For example, when a person thinks about bread, they mostly envision an object from their memory that represents bread, rather than the word "bread" itself.

For instance, if someone loves croissants, the first thing they think of is the shape of a croissant; if they love bagels, they think of bagels.

In other words, even if the people of The Azure Longsword don't understand the mermaids' pronunciation of "bread," they can know the meaning of their chatter by reading their thoughts.

They might even learn a bit of mermaid language in the process... although it doesn't seem to hold much significance.

So the two Mind Mages began reading minds, translating for everyone at the same time.

"Mighty land dwellers!" the mermaids chattered, "Our clan has already submitted to you, please don't harm us!"

What a straightforward response... Aske thought to himself, then said:

"Reassure them."

Nora and Medea cast a group mind suggestion, and soon the mermaids, as if receiving assurance, gradually calmed their initially anxious and uneasy expressions.

After roughly communicating with these mermaids, everyone learned that they lived in the sea near the Azores Islands, where they had been for thousands of years.

As for why they wanted to stop the ship of The Azure Longsword, it was because... they had offended the sea god's offspring.

"Sea god?" The girls were puzzled; when did we offend the sea god?

However, Nora quickly got the answer from the mermaids' thoughts: the sea god's offspring was the progeny of Leviathan and a giant whale, its body resembling a slightly larger whale but possessing Leviathan's uniquely strong vitality.

As the people of The Azure Longsword had harmed the sea god's offspring in the nearby sea, the mermaids feared that when it came back for revenge and couldn't find these humans, it would vent its anger on them, which is why they tried to forcibly keep these humans.

Nora: ......…

"Sigrdrifa." She sighed helplessly, "We've gotten ourselves into big trouble this time."

After explaining the situation to everyone, they all fell silent. However, Sigrdrifa remained unsatisfied, shouting:

"I said we should've killed it earlier! Now it's going to bring back the sea god for revenge!"

"How did it become 'we should've killed it in advance'?" Nora was almost driven mad by her logic, "In the end, you shouldn't have been randomly shooting into the sea with a whaling gun!"

"That's because I made a bet with the squad leader." Sigrdrifa argued, "I had to find a whale to show him!"

Aske: ???

"Squad Leader." Nora showed an exasperated expression, "It's one thing for Sigrdrifa to be reckless, but why are you fooling around with her?"

"Well..." Aske wanted to explain, but doing so would mean placing all the blame on Sigrdrifa. So, with a quick change of thought, he smiled and changed the subject:

"It's too late to point fingers now. The priority is to get on the island and hide the ship as soon as possible."

"Get on the island?" The girls were a bit confused. Weren't you just talking about sailing around it? How did it suddenly become about getting on the island to hide the ship?

"Of course, because we've learned of Leviathan's existence now." Seeing their confusion, Aske explained, "Did you guys forget about the Magic Tide?"

Upon his mention, the girls suddenly remembered that the last Magic Tide was in Solomon City last June, and a year had already passed unnoticed.

For the current Magic Tide with a level limit of Lv.20, most of the girls didn't feel much. Only Peggy and Aske, having ascended to Lv.20 and becoming demigods, immediately felt the oppressive effect on their spirituality from the surrounding environment.

Considering that the higher the demigod level, the greater the probability of erosion and sanity damage, this level limit is actually beneficial. However, as time passes, this oppression is gradually loosening — clearly indicating that the next round of Lv.25 Magic Tide is approaching.

Each arrival of the Magic Tide is typically accompanied by a riot of extraordinary creatures and the appearance of numerous mutants. From 5 to 10, Olympia City was besieged; from 10 to 15, everyone hid in the Weisbach Palace in Bavaria without much impact; from 15 to 20, the mutation of the Spiritual Tree almost destroyed Solomon City.

This time, going from 20 to 25, The Azure Longsword is likely to spend it at sea. If the so-called sea god's offspring seizes the opportunity to seek revenge with a horde of oceanic extraordinary creatures, using tsunamis to sink the ship, everyone might end up having to retreat to Fire Island, with the demigod Peggy flying them back to the continent with the ancient book.

With that in mind, it seems more prudent and safe to hide on the island, waiting for the Magic Tide to come, and dealing with the sea god's offspring if it does indeed come for revenge.

So, Nora and Medea communicated with the mermaids, using a mix of broken mermaid language and mind suggestions, roughly explaining their intention to "stay on the island for a while," much to the mermaids' delight.

Realizing that their clan was no match for these people, the mermaids knew that if the others wanted to leave, they couldn't forcibly stop them. Consequentially, they risked facing the sea god's offspring's wrath.

But now, with the decision to stay near the island, if the sea god's offspring showed up, the mermaids could simply dive to the deep sea, waiting for the fight above to conclude.

If these people died, the sea god's offspring would naturally spare the mermaids; if the offspring died... wouldn't that be even better? In any case, the mermaids stood to gain nothing but advantages.

Thus, these mermaids, with upper bodies like humans and lower bodies with fish tails, immediately put on flattering and ingratiating smiles, eagerly guiding The Azure Longsword's ship towards the island's harbor.

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