When Bai Liu was browsing the shop for items, he noticed a popular tool called [Underwater Bubble], which allowed the player to breathe and float within a bubble for a full two hours, while also repelling fish and preventing them from approaching.
The item's functionality was decent, but it cost over seventy points and could only be used twice—a consumable, at that.
From Bai Liu's critical perspective, aside from enabling underwater breathing, the item offered no additional value. Charging over seventy points for it was pure extortion; anyone who bought it was simply paying an "idiot tax" to the game store.
Of course, this had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he couldn't swim and had no desire to jump into the water. It was simply that, as a natural-born miser, he would never waste points on such extravagance, nor would he ever follow a game design path he found so utterly lacking in elegance.
Bai Liu glanced up at the storeroom door, which had begun to creak ominously, as if someone was returning to lock it.
An ordinary player would be gripped by panic at this moment, desperate to flee from the eerie, pallid wax figures.
But Bai Liu, perfectly composed, switched off his flashlight, slipped into the midst of the wax figures, found a shadowy corner, wrapped his lower body in a dusty cloth, and stilled himself, feigning the posture of a statue.
The mermaid cocoon wax figures, with their poor eyesight, searched the area in confusion. Failing to find him, they soon fell still.
The storeroom door rattled, then slowly opened. Two sailors descended the stairs, carrying a dim oil lamp and speaking in hoarse whispers:
"Take inventory of the wax figures…"
"We've counted several times—there's no mistake…"
"After tonight, there'll be four more wax figures here. Let's send these four to the wax museum. The figures there have been guarding the Siren King for too long; it's time they took their amulets out for a stroll…"
"Guard the Siren King well. Don't let him awaken and return to the sea, or we'll all…"
The two sailors stood at the top of the stairs, their old-fashioned oil lamp casting a sickly glow. In this near-total darkness, Bai Liu couldn't tell if these sailor-uniformed figures were wax or flesh.
They were deathly pale—so white they seemed opaque, with not a vein visible on their faces or hands, even in the lamplight.
Definitely not human, Bai Liu thought, his eyes shifting minutely as he observed them.
But something was off. These two still retained human forms, while the monster book listed them as [Merfolk Sailors]. Bai Liu's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, a sense of unease rising within him.
One of the sailors was the same who had warned Bai Liu's group not to wander the deck. His gaze was lifeless, his eyes fixed and unmoving. "Are the amulets intact? If so, lock them down. Last time, a wave broke one, and that sailor still can't come ashore."
The two sailors moved among the wax figures, securing them with chains.
Bai Liu held his breath, eyes fixed on the open storeroom door, inching toward it.
One sailor paused, as if hearing the wax figures speak, and turned to mutter at them, "You say you saw a tourist here just now?"
Bai Liu's expression darkened.
A miscalculation—he hadn't expected the sailors to converse with their amulet wax figures.
It seemed a chase was inevitable, but this was still better than being on deck, where there would be more sailors and a true gauntlet. Here, there were only two.
Bai Liu's mind raced for the optimal solution. With his poor physical abilities, a chase would be fatal, which was why he'd tried to avoid it. But this was a deadlock—whether he ran or stayed, a pursuit was unavoidable.
He couldn't outrun them, nor could he go up, where more sailors waited. That would be a massacre, forcing him to jump into the sea.
But Bai Liu had no desire to do that. So what should he do?
The sailor approached the wax figures, then, as if hearing something amusing, let out a low, chilling laugh that echoed through the hold. "So, a distinguished guest has arrived early. No need to rush—you'll end up here soon enough."
He wandered the corners with his lamp, the upward glow making his smile all the more sinister. "…Please, come out quickly. The night's fishing is about to begin. The merfolk are waiting for you beneath the waves."
Bai Liu's mind whirled. These sailors were clearly more dangerous than the wax figures—monsters in their own right. But what was their weakness?
In seconds, the sailor was nearly upon him. Bai Liu acted first, shining his flashlight directly at the sailor. But the sailor merely shielded his eyes for a moment, then lowered his hand, his smile growing more twisted. "We're not like those things. We're not afraid of the light."
So light wasn't their weakness. Their reaction to strong light was no different from a human's. Bai Liu's mind spun, and in the next instant, he hefted a barrel of alcohol and smashed it over the sailor, splintering it into pieces.
The two sailors' bodies were hard as armor, utterly lacking the weaknesses of the mermaid wax figures—like creatures reborn from shattered cocoons.
In the dim hold, the sailors stared at Bai Liu, one reaching out to seize his wrist, baring rows of razor-sharp teeth in a grotesque smile. "Come, guest. Let's watch the fishing—underwater."
Bai Liu met their gaze.
The sailors seemed invulnerable, but they weren't like the Siren King, who had no weaknesses at all. The system hadn't notified Bai Liu that the sailors were invincible, so there had to be a way to fight back—otherwise, the game would be unplayable.
But neither physical nor optical attacks worked. That couldn't be right. According to Bai Liu's earlier deductions, merfolk sailors and mermaids should both fear light, or they wouldn't only appear at night.
He didn't believe his logic was flawed—after all, the mermaid wax figures' aversion to strong light had already proven him right. But these two sailors stared into the beam without flinching…
…Something was shielding their weakness. The front desk had mentioned that amulets could protect them from harm.
Bai Liu's thoughts raced. He searched among the wax figures for the sailor's amulet, spotting one with a fine crack atop its head, as if struck by the barrel. Its expression had shifted from serene to pained, hands raised as if shielding its eyes from a blinding light.
Bai Liu's eyes narrowed. With a swift kick, he spun and struck the face of the sailor's amulet wax figure.
The mermaid wax figure toppled and shattered, spilling foul black blood. The sailor gripping Bai Liu's wrists let out a shrill, inhuman scream, a high-pitched wail like some aquatic creature, making Bai Liu's ears ring.
It was as if the sailor's exoskeleton had been smashed—chalky fragments fell away, revealing the true form within.
Without hesitation, Bai Liu grabbed the other sailor's amulet, smashed it against his knee, and shattered it.
The sailors themselves were formidable, but their amulet wax figures were as fragile as eggshells—no wonder they were kept locked away in the hold.
Both sailors shrieked, their skin turning from pure white to a mottled blue-black, eyes migrating to their temples.
A pungent fishy stench filled the air as their lower bodies transformed into slick, coiled, eel-like tails. Their mouths bristled with serrated teeth as they crouched, gecko-like, and lunged at Bai Liu.
Bai Liu quickly redirected his flashlight, and the sailors, who had been unfazed before, now recoiled, shrieking even louder.
Once their amulets were destroyed, strong light became effective.
Bai Liu retreated up the stairs, flashlight trained on the two sailors as they crawled after him, hissing and snarling from the shadows, unable to approach the beam. He backed out of the hold, slammed the door, and locked it.
Even after the door was shut, he could hear the slithering of fish tails and the pounding of the sailors below, as if a nest of serpents writhed in the darkness.
["Siren Town Monster Book" updated—Merfolk Sailor (3/4)]
[Monster Name: Merfolk/Sailor (Butterfly State)]
[Weakness: Strong light, Amulet (2/3)]
[Attack Method: Biting, Clawing (being scratched may trigger mutation)]
Bai Liu calmly straightened his collar and ascended the stairs. Lucy immediately spotted him, linking her arm through his with a mock-complaint. "Where did you go? They said the fishing is about to begin."
"We've reached the right waters," Lucy said with a smile. Fish-scale patterns had appeared on her face, her eyes glimmering in the dark, and her grip on Bai Liu's hand was oddly rough and slick. Bai Liu quietly extricated himself. "Is that so?"
"Yes," Lucy replied, her voice low and hoarse. "The mermaids have arrived."