The Storm Approaches

A sea monster, about two meters long, dragged most of its fish tail across the ground to support its body.

When the sea monster returned and saw the two humans in front of it, it froze, especially upon seeing Lucas Hall with his hands around a corpse's neck.

But the sea monster reacted quickly and immediately began to sing a captivating melody.

"You hear the enchanting tune and fall into a trance, your willpower decreases by 5."

Lucas suddenly stopped moving, dropped the corpse, and let his arms fall to his sides.

"Great, this idiot's been enchanted again!" Seraphina muttered, gripping her dagger, preparing for a final struggle.

The sea monster probably wouldn't leave her alive—she was probably being treated as emergency rations.

A cold sweat dripped down Seraphina's forehead.

In contrast, Lucas seemed completely mesmerized, walking unsteadily toward the sea monster, as if craving its embrace.

This sea monster was stunningly beautiful—an archetype of loveliness, with golden wavy hair, delicate features, and flawless skin that shimmered like white porcelain. Its body was tall, curvaceous, and alluring.

But it also had sharp teeth capable of piercing skulls, claws so deadly they could tear through a stomach, and a fish tail that could snap human bones with a single strike.

Lucas seemed to be completely enchanted by her, clinging to her like a lost soul.

The sea monster, sensing Lucas's fascination, hesitated and gave up on attacking.

Her gaze softened as she opened her mouth several times but couldn't bring herself to bite Lucas.

"Sorry, but… we're not from the same species," Lucas murmured softly, nestled in her arms.

"Willpower below 50, you fall into a state of madness. Strength +2, Agility +1, Constitution +1, Spirit -2, immune to most mental status effects…"

Before anyone realized, Lucas had drawn a flintlock pistol, pressing it against the sea monster's chest and aiming at her head.

The sea monster only realized something was off when it was too late.

Bang!

The gunshot rang out loudly, the sound echoing through the cave.

The sharp bone shard strapped to his belt was apparently not needed.

"You can resist her enchantment? Then what was that earlier, when you walked right up to her?" Seraphina asked, her crimson eyes full of confusion.

"Your gun sounds weird, though—why did it drop my sanity a bit?" Lucas replied, rubbing his head.

"Just a bit…"

Lucas quickly caught the clue.

This woman definitely wasn't normal! Even his own sanity, which was at an 8-point mental capacity, dropped 3 points the first time he heard the gunshot!

Lucas didn't feel the need to explain anything. He stepped back a bit, watching the headless body of the sea monster slowly collapse, spasming violently.

Thick, dark red fluid and bits of flesh splattered all over Lucas.

Seraphina immediately ran over, looking down at the sea monster's body with a touch of regret.

"Your gun's too powerful, can you not shoot the head off? I wanted to keep the whole sea monster head intact for myself."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle, preparing to collect the sea monster's blood, brain tissue, and surface mucus.

"What are you doing? I killed this sea monster, so the spoils belong to me!" Lucas frowned, immediately picking up a piece of the monster's flesh and putting it into his pocket to remind her.

After all, the capsule only needed a small amount of tissue, and the system would recycle the corpse afterward to prevent anyone from using the same one for two capsules.

Seraphina paused, thinking it over.

"Alright then, I'll leave you the most intact body, and in exchange, I'll give you all the resources on the ship and also a month's worth of sea maps. How about that?"

Lucas thought for a moment before agreeing.

The sea monster wasn't as strong as the drowned ones, and without its song, most grown men with spears could defeat it in single combat on land. So, the monster's spoils probably wouldn't be too valuable, but the maps were useful.

"You said the intervals between two groups of sea monsters returning to their lair were about 15 minutes, right?" Lucas asked.

"That's right, the intervals were 20 minutes, 17 minutes, and 18 minutes respectively," Seraphina replied, her memory sharp.

"Well, you'll need to add a new data point: less than two minutes!" Lucas suddenly yanked Seraphina forward, pulling her toward him.

Just then, two sea monsters sprang from the water behind Seraphina and lunged at her previous position, but missed entirely.

The moment Lucas saw the ripples in the water, he grew alert. The moment a head appeared from the water, he yanked Seraphina out of harm's way just in time.

Two smaller sea monsters emerged from the water, their eyes filled with fury as they saw the corpse of their kin lying on the ground, letting out angry, hissing sounds.

Their pale skin flushed a deep red as they revealed rows of sharp teeth.

The haunting melody began again—this time, a duet, the sound sharper and more piercing, reverberating through the cave.

Even Seraphina felt her head spin from the tune.

"The song is both ear-piercing and beautiful, your willpower decreases by 5."

Although Lucas was immune to the enchantment, the melody still made his chest feel tight, his eardrums aching, and even his life energy started to drop.

He immediately raised his gun and aimed at them.

Click!

The gun misfired!

"Run! Get outside! The space in here is too small, and their song will echo in the cave—this is bad for us!" Lucas decisively ordered.

Seraphina, already struggling, had blood trickling from one ear, her mind a little fuzzy.

Lucas grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the cave entrance.

Fortunately, the sea monsters were slow—after all, they didn't have legs, and their fish tails weren't suited for land movement. They were much slower than expected.

The two of them managed to rush outside, and by the time they did, Seraphina had begun to recover and no longer needed to be pulled.

"Your pistol doesn't need reloading, but it misfires sometimes, doesn't it?" she asked.

Lucas frowned, slightly annoyed.

This woman always seemed to notice things that didn't concern her at all!

They continued running.

Lucas planned to buy some time until the flintlock gun's cooldown period was over, hoping that would give them an easier victory.

But after not running long, they had to stop—before them lay a sea of murky water.

The island was mostly submerged, and there was no more path forward.

The sky was completely covered by dark clouds, and it was pouring rain.

Only occasional lightning illuminated the world, followed by the deafening sound of thunder.

A storm at sea!

Lucas immediately remembered the system announcement, which had warned that a massive storm would hit soon.

"I didn't tell you earlier, but the storm's been going on for two days now. All the players are scrambling to flee the area," Seraphina explained.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Lucas snapped.

"Would it have mattered? We still need to deal with the sea monsters first," Seraphina said, remaining calm.

She wasn't wrong.

If they didn't deal with the sea monsters, they'd be hunted down in the storm, and that wasn't something they wanted…

Checking the time, Lucas glanced over his shoulder.

The two sea monsters were still about 20 meters away. If they reached within 5 meters, his flintlock's cooldown would likely be over.

And 5 meters was the range where Lucas felt most confident—he could probably land a shot there.

He raised his gun, aiming carefully.

The moment the sea monsters were within range, he fired.

Bang!

The shot echoed through the air, and a severed arm flew into the sky.

But the sea monster's head remained intact—Lucas had missed.

"Your shooting sucks!" Seraphina teased.

"Yeah, like your shooting's any better!" Lucas retorted, unbothered. "You deal with the one with the severed arm, and I'll take care of the other one. I'll come back to help you afterward!"

"Fine!"

They both dashed toward their respective targets.