These Two Are Quite Sick

Seraphina had no choice but to agree to Lucas's conditions.

But she didn't feel any regret at all.

Because on her ship, the "Astrology," she had only 8 units of wood, 5 units of cloth, and 4 liters of fresh water. Giving him half of that was no big deal.

Her ship, the Astrology, was special; upgrading it didn't require wood or cloth but instead needed 100 crystals and 50 iron.

So wood and cloth were pretty useless to her and had already been converted into food and water.

Of course, she wouldn't tell Lucas that she was practically broke.

And in fact, she was curious to see Lucas's reaction when he found out.

Lucas, on the other hand, had no clue. He thought he had extorted a substantial amount from her, since there was an information imbalance—he had no idea how poor Seraphina really was.

He used a broken bone to slice through the seaweed binding her and freed her.

However, Seraphina had been tied up for too long, and after several days without food, she was weak and couldn't stand up right away.

But what she did with her hands left Lucas stunned.

"What are you doing?" Lucas asked, confused.

Seraphina was gathering the slime on the ground, forming a small mound, and then she opened her mouth to suck it in.

This slime smelled awful.

"I'm thirsty. This slime secreted by the sirens can provide me with moisture, salt, and some nutrients..." Seraphina said calmly, wrinkling her brows.

Clearly, the slime didn't taste great, but she still forced herself to swallow it, not vomiting it out.

"Aren't you worried the slime might be toxic?" Lucas asked.

"Nope! You ate it for three days and didn't get poisoned!" Seraphina replied.

"Uh..." Lucas was left speechless. He couldn't help but think that this woman might have a few screws loose.

After replenishing her fluids, Seraphina's complexion improved considerably.

She took a small knife from inside her clothes, crouched down, and approached the large flagfish corpse. She sliced open its skin and began chewing and swallowing pieces of fresh fish meat.

This knife was an item.

[Name: Witch's Dagger]

[Type: Treasure]

[Quality: Good]

[Description: A dagger often used by witches, versatile in many functions, including slicing open your belly. It deals minor damage to otherworldly creatures.]

As Seraphina gradually regained her strength, Lucas started inspecting the cave.

The space was small, with a single passage leading outside, where he could hear the sound of rain and wind howling.

Inside the cave, there was also a pool of water, its depth impossible to gauge, possibly connected to the sea.

He checked the male corpse and felt that it had been dead for some time.

Lucas searched the body but didn't find anything useful.

"The pool, the cave entrance—do the sirens typically come back from one of these?" Lucas asked Seraphina.

"Both," she replied.

"Do they travel in groups?"

"No," Seraphina explained, having observed the sirens for three days and learned some patterns. "They usually split into two groups. The larger one moves alone, while the two smaller ones, about 1.4 meters long, usually travel together."

"Got it. So does the big one return first, or the small ones?" Lucas asked.

"Either. There's no pattern, but the intervals between their returns aren't long—about 15 minutes," Seraphina explained.

Lucas nodded, getting the general idea.

If all three sirens usually traveled together, running away would be the best plan, as fighting all three would be too risky.

But if only two were coming back, there might be a chance to win.

"Can you hold one of them off?" Lucas asked.

"If it's a smaller one, I think I can. I've fought them before," Seraphina said.

She had replenished her salt and water, and after eating some fish, she was starting to recover.

It was clear that her physical condition was good, perhaps even better than Lucas's.

"The sirens' main weapon is their singing, but it doesn't affect females. Also, their upper body strength isn't much different from an average woman's—it should be around 4, the same as mine. On land, avoiding their claws and teeth is all you need to do," Seraphina explained.

There were a few scratches on her body, likely from being clawed by the sirens.

"I didn't know there were three sirens back then, or I wouldn't have gotten caught! You have a gun, you'll have no problem dealing with them—just plug your ears and shoot as fast as you can!"

Seraphina didn't know that Lucas's gun had jammed, but Lucas wasn't about to tell her. It wasn't in his nature to admit his weaknesses.

Instead, he began checking his status.

Lucas Hall

Status: Healthy [A large green body symbol]

Strength: 3 (49/50)

Mental State: 7+1 (892/8000) [Talent Bonus]

Agility: 4+1 (69/100) [Pirate Outfit Bonus]

Constitution: 4 (4/100)

Perception: 5 (32/200)

Rationality: 50/100

Energy: 92/100

Health: 99/100 (1 HP lost from being bitten by Seraphina)

He had already figured out the growth conditions for each stat.

Physical exercise could increase Strength, Constitution, and Agility.

Wounds and recovery would increase Constitution experience.

Changes in Rationality, especially dramatic ones, would increase Mental State experience.

Fishing, shooting, and hook usage would raise Perception experience.

The progression system was realistic, and combining this with Seraphina's information—sirens had low strength on land, only around 4. And since they didn't always act in groups of three, Lucas figured if he could raise his strength to 4, with the bonus from Frenzied Strength (+2), he'd be able to overpower them.

After thinking this through, Lucas immediately got to work. He scanned the cave for any heavy objects that could help with his training.

At first, he didn't spot anything. The cave was pretty empty, just stone walls and scattered bones.

But Lucas was flexible in his thinking, and he immediately came up with other ideas.

For example, Seraphina herself—he could use her for strength training.

Or the large flagfish, which looked to be a suitable weight.

But the man's corpse seemed to be the best option.

It wouldn't resist, wouldn't bite him, and the weight seemed perfect.

Despite his arm being in bad shape, the body's weight was ideal, and its head and neck were still intact, making it easy to grab.

So, Lucas grabbed the man's neck with both hands and began lifting him, starting his strength training.

Seraphina watched, horrified. "Are you out of your mind? Have you lost it?"

She stared at him, shocked. "How much Rationality do you have left?"

"Don't worry, my Rationality's at 50!" Lucas said, unbothered.

"50?" Seraphina looked at him, wide-eyed, incredulous.

Lowering Rationality affected one's mental state, even if it didn't drop below 50. There was still some impact. But Lucas seemed completely unfazed, as if he was constantly in a strange state of madness.

Her gaze softened as she looked at Lucas with a strange fire in her eyes, as if he were some rare animal.

Lucas, oblivious to her stare, kept lifting.

Unfortunately, just as he did his ninth lift, the sound of movement came from the cave's entrance.

It seemed like one of the sirens was coming back.

"She's back. Quickly, stick these in your ears!" Seraphina tossed him two pieces of fish meat she had just cut off the tuna.

But Lucas shook his head. "No need, I have my own way."

He turned his head toward the siren.