Lin Jun is inspecting their Fungal Network.

Over and over again, but couldn't find the source of that voice.

If a sound suddenly emerged from the fog, that would at least be understandable. But to appear directly in the Fungal Network feels a bit creepy.

It's like coming home and hearing a stranger's voice from the next room.

Cheer up?

Was it said to me or to Dylan?

Probably to me, since Dylan is out cold.

But who could have said it?

A monster in the fog?

If so, this monster has a pretty nice voice, almost on par with the sea demons in the books.

Or perhaps some god, a foreign god, an old god, angel, or demon?

Lin Jun couldn't help but consider various scenarios from their past life.

Maybe this world is a play arranged by a god, and I am just a clown on stage?

Really hope it doesn't unfold like that...

A whole night full of puzzles, at least they finally got out of the fog, and it's morning now.

Six hours later.

Dylan, replenished with magic power under the sunlight, wakes up on the small boat, seeing the wilted scout...

Dylan installed Photosynthesis to enjoy sunbathing, but the scout, with no Photosynthesis and not even High Temperature Resistance, is purely tormented under the scorching sun.

Moreover, after being soaked in seawater earlier, Dylan's condition now seems way better than the scout's.

Dylan looked around, no fog, no giant ship, and certainly no Water Ghost.

"Does this mean we've... survived?"

"Not exactly," Lin Jun said, pouring cold water on the hope.

Even if the sun can replenish magic power, Dylan can't survive by just sunbathing; half of him is still flesh.

Needs water, needs food.

Maybe they can figure out a way to catch some fish for food, but there's no solution for water.

If only there were glass bottles, they might think about using evaporation to get some fresh water, but all their luggage sank with the Wind Feather, and there's no container.

If there's no turnaround within a few days, Dylan and the scout will probably turn into one large and one small mushroom jerky.

As the day turned to nightfall again, without the sun, the scout finally regained some energy.

Scout Puki used its fungal tendrils to catch a strange fish from the sea.

Lin Jun checked the panel for poison and then threw it to Dylan to eat.

Of course, it was eaten raw; there's no way to make a fire on the boat.

Halfway through their midnight snack, a melodious voice drifted from afar.

In the dead of night, on the sea, singing?

Actually, it's fine, as long as the unfamiliar voice doesn't appear directly in the Fungal Network, Lin Jun can accept it.

[Sound Wave Detection Level 6]

Lin Jun immediately locked onto two figures on the distant reef.

The upper half is a human girl, and the lower half is a fish.

Sea Demon?

Open the panel.

[Race: Mermaid]

[Level: 21]

[Skills: Charming Sound Level 4]

Alright, calling it a Mermaid in this world makes sense.

But, Charming Sound... is it charming?

Honestly, it was... quite disappointing...

Isn't it supposed to be heavenly?

But to Lin Jun, the singing felt... ordinary, very ordinary.

Lin Jun couldn't help but wonder if, under the skill's effect, even a lousy singer could sing with charm?

At least, this ordinary singing had an effect on the man beside him.

The status on the panel showed he was charmed.

Dylan's eyes were glassy, he stretched out his hand to paddle the boat, trying to get closer to the reef.

Of course, it was futile; hand paddling doesn't even move as far as the waves.

Noticing a prey but not moving closer, a mermaid dove underwater and swam over.

Soon, a pair of bare arms hooked onto the edge of the small boat.

A girl with emerald-like shimmering eyes softly hummed a song, resting against the boat while looking at Dylan affectionately.

But as soon as she looked, she gasped.

Dylan's face was green, covered with fungal threads, like some moldy meat that had been left out too long.

The affection in the mermaid's eyes quickly turned into shock—she had never seen anything like this before!

Her expression kept changing, seemingly hesitating whether to eat this potentially stomach-aching thing, even her singing became perfunctory.

It was really perfunctory. If the previous song was ordinary, now it was just a nuisance.

Anyway, Lin Jun couldn't stand it anymore.

The Scout's fungal tendrils shot out swiftly, wrapping around the mermaid's neck the moment she sensed something was wrong.

At the same time, another tendril slapped Dylan, who was in a shallow charm state, violently waking him up.

This charm was nothing compared to the Yellow-covered Book, which had Dylan beaten half to death and still not broken.

"Wh-wh-what's going on?"

Charm doesn't mean memory loss. Before Lin Jun could answer, the awakened Dylan quickly pieced together the situation.

He looked at the mermaid being pulled on board by Puki with a serious expression.

The seriousness wasn't because he was just charmed, but he didn't understand why they'd pull this thing onto the boat?

He had a bad suspicion.

"Boss, you can't be... planning to eat this thing, right?"

"What if I say yes, would you eat it?"

Dylan frowned and shook his head, then after a moment of silence, reluctantly nodded.

Well, he really does have the potential not to be human.

"Too bad, it's not for eating."

Relieved to hear it's not for eating, Dylan asked in confusion: "Then why is it here?"

Dylan didn't understand, if it were just an enemy, wouldn't killing it be enough, why bring it on board?

Lin Jun explained, "This creature has intelligence."

Dylan nodded; he knew mermaids were intelligent, but he still didn't get why.

"Idiot, intelligent and can swim! What does that suggest to you?"

Dylan still didn't get it.

Sigh, the kid is hopeless.

Lin Jun simply commanded, "Dylan, hit her."

Dylan: ?

Though confused, since it was the boss's order...

His fist went straight for the mermaid, and Dylan didn't hold back.

After all, the thing before him was a monster with the appearance of a young girl that just tried to kill him and eat him.

When the sun rose, there was a swollen-faced mermaid in front of the small boat, tasked with pulling it along.

The fungal tendrils coiled around her waist, ready to whip her if she dared to slack off.

Intelligence makes them easier to tame. If it were a big fish, it would've swum all over the place, impossible to control.

Thanks to the mermaid's efforts, the small boat broke free from drifting with the waves.

They picked a random direction and went full speed ahead, gambling on their luck.

If luck really wasn't on their side, there was still reserve food to hold out a few more days...

...

The mermaid was rather lucky; before being exhausted to death, she guided the boat to an island!

Kicking the nearly lifeless mermaid back into the sea, Puki stepped onto the island's sandy beach.

"Finally!" Dylan cried tears of joy over there.

Lin Jun, however, didn't feel the sense of survival from a desperate situation, because it was just a Puki here.

Habitually, they opened the nearby panels that could be opened, finding only ordinary things; no demons in sight for now.

[Skills: Delicious]

Hmm?

The word "Delicious" caught Lin Jun's attention, stopping them in their tracks to recheck the panels they closed moments ago.

Eventually, Puki stood under a tree at the edge of the beach, where several red-shelled fruits hung...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.