Chapter 4: The Mermaid's Level of Skill

Although Li Mingxing's ship did not rely on the power of wind and water, its traveling speed was far from slow. The location that Zheng had flown four hours to reach was covered by Li Mingxing's ship in just over three hours.

When they arrived at the coordinates Zheng had specified, Li Mingxing could already hear the sirens' song from afar. It was a remarkably bizarre melody; no matter how one listened to it, it evoked whatever one desired most in the world, compelling the listener to follow it of their own accord. The closer one ventured toward the source, the more overwhelming this compulsion became. The reason Zheng had been able to escape earlier was entirely because the flying dragon she rode upon was actually the other half of her own ethereal projection, possessing no consciousness of its own. Thus, the moment it sensed something was amiss with Zheng, it instinctively turned around and flew straight back.

Among Li Mingxing's subordinates, however, no such safeguard existed. Upon hearing the song, even the harpies perched atop the masts took flight, soaring directly toward the origin of the melody.

Only Zheng and Aisha stood there blankly, staring at the unfolding scene, completely at a loss as to what to do. Finally, Zheng broke the silence: "Let's go wake up the zombies at the bow. Being undead, they shouldn't be susceptible to the sirens' song."

Just as Zheng finished speaking, Li Mingxing interjected, "There's no need to worry."

Hearing his voice, Zheng and Aisha simultaneously turned and leaped to his side. At that moment, Li Mingxing's gaze, much like his subordinates', was fixed straight ahead, as if he too had been entranced by the music. Yet judging by his calm words, he was entirely unaffected. This contradiction left both Zheng and Aisha thoroughly bewildered.

"I haven't been charmed," Li Mingxing explained. "I simply wanted to use this opportunity to gauge the sirens' strength. Since they use this method to lure us in, there must be other sea monsters in the vicinity. Once we arrive at their domain, the two of you will take the initiative and attack those sea monsters. Once we eliminate them, I refuse to believe those sirens won't submit to us."

Aisha nodded immediately upon hearing this. Zheng, however, could not help asking, "Ah-Xing, how are you immune to this kind of singing?"

Her question caused Li Mingxing's old face to flush crimson. The truth was, Li Mingxing *had* initially fallen under the spell of the sirens' song. As the melody washed over him, he had hallucinated being locked in intimacy with Aisha, Mitaling, Zheng, and even the young druid maidens of the forest fairy legion—so vividly that it even triggered his lewd-dragon constitution.

Yet it was precisely this physical reaction that jolted him back to his senses, reminding him of his deep affection for Zheng and her fierce temperament. That realization was what broke the trance. Naturally, Li Mingxing would never dare speak of this; although Zheng might not scold him severely, it would inevitably create a rift in their relationship.

Consequently, Li Mingxing merely claimed that he possessed a certain innate resistance against mental attacks, smoothly brushing the matter aside without further elaboration.

Before long, Li Mingxing's vessel arrived at the sirens' lair. Having fully recovered his wits, Li Mingxing spotted upwards of forty sirens swimming leisurely in the ocean, their voices still raised in song.

Behind the sirens lay a small island composed of over a hundred reefs, upon which cascaded a waterfall resembling a water curtain cave. Li Mingxing could faintly perceive a trace of siren aura emanating from within the waterfall. That was undoubtedly their true stronghold, though he had yet to figure out what tribute or condition was required to recruit siren subordinates from there.

As Li Mingxing's ship drew near, the sirens abruptly ceased their singing and swam toward the large vessel. Li Mingxing noticed four glowing points trailing behind them.

He recognized these luminous dots as the sensory tentacles sea monsters used to scout ahead and lure prey. Judging by the brightness and size of the light, the combat prowess of these four sea monsters was roughly around the lower fourth tier, comparable to the sea monsters under his own command.

Li Mingxing was well aware of a unique ability possessed by sea monsters: the capacity to devour one lower-fifth-tier or weaker enemy per day. If these four sea monsters were allowed to close the distance and execute their devouring skill, even the formidable strength of Li Mingxing's forces would suffer a heavy blow.

Without hesitation, before the creatures could draw closer, Li Mingxing unleashed his imperial aura to the absolute maximum and shouted orders across the deck: "All griffins, head straight for the waterfall in the back! My sea monsters, go devour those four counterparts of yours! Blue harpies, strike and silence those singing sirens! And you water elementals, I know you have your ways—figure out how to seal off the surrounding sea surface! Aisha, how are your druids? Can you control the underwater kelp..."

Prompted by his commands, the troops who had just snapped out of the sirens' spell surged into action. The ten sea monsters lunged forward, gaping their maws wide, and inhaled deeply toward the four enemy beasts. With that single breath, the four enemy sea monsters were sucked helplessly straight into the maws of Li Mingxing's creatures without the slightest chance of resistance.

Having swallowed the four enemy beasts, four of Li Mingxing's ten sea monsters immediately withdrew, retreating beneath the hull of the ship to rest; it seemed they had stuffed themselves and needed time to digest their meal.

Meanwhile, the remaining six sea monsters surrounded the pack of over forty sirens. Sensing the mortal danger, the sirens grew intensely agitated. One particular siren with deep, sea-green hair shaped like kelp shrieked shrilly, and within moments, the entire group of forty-plus sirens neatly arranged themselves into three defensive tiers.

The outermost ring was the largest, comprising roughly twenty-five sirens, all with blue hair. As soon as they formed a circle, the seawater around them surged violently into the air, erecting a towering water barrier that blocked all external threats.

The second ring consisted of fourteen pale-green-haired sirens. In their hands, the seawater condensed into icy arrows nearly a meter long.

At the very center was the single siren with deep sea-green hair. In her grasp, seawater had been magically compressed into the shape of a swirling water sphere.

The moment that water sphere appeared, one of the seven water elementals under Li Mingxing's command hurried to his side. "There is something wrong with that water sphere."

Li Mingxing had also noticed the sphere, though its significance escaped him. Meeting his inquiring gaze, the water elemental explained, "That is a water magic sphere. With it, the success rate and potency of nearby water-type magic are vastly enhanced—though, of course, that enhancement does not apply to us."

"To what extent does it boost them?" Li Mingxing asked with a solemn expression.

"I cannot say for certain, but the increase should be somewhere between thirty to fifty percent. The exact magnitude depends on that siren's proficiency."

Li Mingxing pondered for a moment. "Do you have any way to snatch that water sphere away?"

"Impossible. That sphere is simply that particular water controller's personal comprehension of the element. If I were to take it into my hands, it would revert to nothing more than a tiny puddle of ordinary seawater, completely useless."

Hearing the water elemental's assessment, Li Mingxing grew even more determined to capture the deep-green-haired siren alive. At that exact moment, his flock of blue harpies finally reached the airspace above the sirens, wheeling tightly together and unleashing successive bolts of lightning downward.

Initially, the lightning bolts were intercepted and absorbed by the sirens' water barrier. However, as the electrical barrage intensified, the water barrier maintained by the outer ring of sirens began to waver under the strain. Recognizing the opening, the second-tier sirens countered by launching volleys of water and ice arrows straight up into the sky toward the harpies.

Realizing the danger, the blue harpies aborted their lightning attacks and soared higher into the atmosphere. Yet they had underestimated the sirens' vertical range; despite their frantic ascent, seven blue harpies were struck down and plummeted into the sea.

Seeing this, Li Mingxing bellowed an updated command: "White harpies, join the assault! Blue harpies, focus solely on dismantling their water barrier!"

Obeying instantly, the two harpy squadrons coordinated their efforts just as instructed. The clever blue harpies did not waste energy trying to shatter the entire barrier at once; instead, they concentrated their attacks on localized patches. The moment a small section of the water barrier was blasted open, a white harpy would immediately swoop down and disable the exposed siren with a well-aimed blowpipe dart before a new wall of water could form.

Thanks to the flawless synergy between the two harpy types, the outer ring of sirens was rendered completely immobilized in short order. Had they not possessed the innate ability to breathe underwater, that brief period of paralysis would have made them the first sirens in history to drown in the ocean.

With the outer ring neutralized, the remaining sirens lost their protective shield. Changing tactics under the command of their deep-green-haired leader, the remaining dozen-odd sirens conjured a thick, blinding layer of white fog across the surface of the sea.

The troops Li Mingxing had dispatched vanished into the dense mist without a sound. Instantly, Li Mingxing realized that this fog possessed mental-attack properties identical to the sirens' song.

A cold snort escaped Li Mingxing's lips. While he had originally intended to recruit these sirens intact, if their continued resistance inflicted excessive casualties among his forces, he would not hesitate to slaughter every last one of them.