Chapter 38: Rescue

After a chaotic scene transition, Dachun found himself in an ocean covered by evening glow. Beside him was Elian, wreathed in red light and significantly clearer than before, with the oppressive aura of blood greatly diminished.

——System Prompt: You have entered the whale's soul consciousness space.

So this was the old whale's soul world? Truly magnificent and glowing with sunset hues, it possessed a grandeur far exceeding the ten-paces-invisible blood mist of that bat. Truly, a mere bat could not comprehend the aspirations of a whale!

A mournful song drifted from the distant sky. Could this be the Mermaid's Song?

The next moment, the waves beneath surged violently, and a massive whale silhouette leaped out of the water, soaring into the air. "You've come too!"

Holy crap, you can fly in the soul world! This was clearly a Kun!

Dachun immediately said, "Let's go save the mermaid together!"

Elian also smiled sweetly and obediently, "We were worried you would exhaust yourself, so we came along to help!"

The whale's gratified voice resonated across the sky and sea, "Together!"

Looping gracefully through the air, the whale descended beneath Dachun and Elian's feet, carrying them upon its back. Then, the field of vision rapidly shifted forward—the sunset sky and sea vanished, replaced once again by the real ocean. Directly behind them was the towed small boat and his own sleeping physical body inside it. Yet, the mermaid's mournful singing still echoed endlessly in his ears.

——System Prompt: Your soul has possessed the whale! The whale has received soul reinforcement, and its status has been enhanced.

Holy crap!

I can do soul possession and buffing too?

Now that the strength differential had changed, saving her was an absolute must! The benefits of saving her—she would become the Chamber of Commerce's guardian deity! Even the difficult problem of nurturing the whale would have a backup solution, and the sunken ship octopus could also be dealt with!

Dachun began to subtly guide the conversation, "For someone to make such a powerful mermaid cry out for help, it means she must have encountered a very formidable enemy. But we are extremely brave and very wise—so if we happen to encounter anything to eat along the way, we should grab a bite first to replenish our stamina!"

Dachun was terrified that the whale would be hypnotized to the point of neglecting its food entirely.

The whale seemed to finally recall the reality of its hunger. "What you say is true! But this is the life-cry of the Daughter of the Sea; she has reached a moment of extreme peril."

This was Dachun's first time having such a fluent conversation with a whale. So this was the benefit of soul possession.

Dachun hurriedly asked, "What is a life-cry?"

The whale explained, "It means the Daughter of the Sea consumes her own life and power to summon powerful sea tribes to rescue her."

Elian remarked, "There is indeed such a sailor's legend. Once a mermaid summons a large number of sea creatures, she herself becomes extremely weak and finds it very difficult to recover, right?"

The whale answered, "Yes! This is the duty of our sea tribe."

Holy crap! If that was the case, even if she were rescued, the mermaid's value would be drastically diminished! What he wanted was a powerful mermaid at the level of a guardian deity, not the kind that served as a player's pet! Wouldn't taking the risk of pushing the old whale to its limits be completely not worth it?

Dachun immediately began to calculate. The ones attacking the mermaid were most likely high-end mercenary treasure-hunting teams from Silver City; they wouldn't kill her just to drop equipment materials. Her value lay in holding her for ransom, meaning the mermaid didn't need to fight to the death.

Moreover, a whale's perception reached the furthest among all sea creatures. Since he had received the signal from this far away, it meant nearby sea monsters must have already set out, making it all the more unnecessary to continue consuming life force.

Dachun immediately asked, "Can you contact the mermaid?"

The whale replied, "I've been in contact all along!"

The bio-technology of the sea tribe was truly advanced!

Dachun instructed, "Tell her that we are the strongest, and also the farthest yet final rescuers. She doesn't need to consume her life to summon other sea creatures. She must preserve her physical condition and strength so she can still save herself at the critical moment!"

The whale sounded astonished. "Are we the strongest? But... I am old!"

Dachun grew anxious. "But we are the cleverest, the wisest! Wisdom is true power!"

Elian also chimed in, "The warrior is extremely powerful. You can let the warrior do the fighting!"

Hearing words of praise for himself coming from her mouth? She must be turning kind!

Dachun felt immensely gratified. "That's right, I understand human vessels quite well. I know how to deal with them!"

Only then did the whale regain its spirit. "I understand!"

With that, the whale once again burst forth with a long, resonant cry.

Dachun was both excited and nervous. Did this mean it agreed to let me control the whale?! This style of gameplay... would require some intense micro-management, right? No, no, who needs micro-management when you can just capsize their ships from underneath? The bottom of a ship is a blind spot...

A moment later, the tone of the relentless, mournful singing shifted, turning brisk and impassioned!

The whale excitedly replied, "I told the Daughter of the Sea that the warrior is extremely wise. She has agreed, and will now summon only us!"

As the words fell, turbulent waves suddenly surged around the whale.

——System Prompt: Your team is pulled by a mysterious tidal force, and your sailing speed has been significantly increased. You have integrated the comprehensive mechanical forces of the fishing rod and the boat. Your advanced module combination skill has been upgraded to Level 2. You have obtained achievements: Weight Capacity +1, Stamina +1, Health +1, Leadership +1.

Holy crap!

This mermaid was practically a sea god! Far too powerful! But—

Dachun anxiously looked back and saw that the towed small boat was also accelerating along with them. Phew, thankfully his physical body wouldn't get flung away. Dying was a minor issue; losing the magic gold would be catastrophic! However, the small boat couldn't enter the battlefield; it had to be left far behind to avoid being spotted and wanted.

Dachun watched the clouds fly across the sky, yet felt none of the usual wind-piercing sensations of braving wind and waves. This had to be a spatial skill! Actually, the whale possessed this skill too, but it could only trigger it during the natural tides of morning and evening, whereas this mermaid could activate it at any moment.

At this speed, reaching the Silver Sea would take roughly half an hour. Furthermore, seeing the proficiency of the module combination soaring, charging up to Advanced Level 10 on this trip would be a piece of cake, and might even break through to Expert!

Right at that moment, Elian spoke up, "Once the mermaid is rescued, only the two of us, plus the whale, must know this secret. Tell no one else."

You really are something! Jumping straight to post-war planning.

Dachun happened to need a new trump card and indeed shared this mindset, but he still wanted to hear her specific reasoning. "Shouldn't we let Fafna know? I was still thinking about the matter of the Chamber of Commerce's guardian deity."

Elian sneered, "Could she afford to offend Silver City? Do you have any idea how complex her circle of connections is?"

"You're right."

Yet, since the whale was making such a huge commotion, the opposing hunting team would inevitably make it public. How could it possibly be kept secret?

...

In the Silver Sea, cannon fire thundered and bloody waves churned through the heavens.

Salieer, the second-ranked player in the world, sat enthroned in the command cabin of the luxury warship "Silver Queen" which he had hired, directing five surrounding large trawling fishing vessels to constantly shift formations in order to block and drag down sea monsters.

Facing the outer trawling formation, these S-grade giant sharks, giant crabs, and dolphin pods were completely negligible—mere minced meat and scrap residues under magic cannons, with top-tier ingredients glowing with rainbow light floating everywhere across the sea surface. The only colossal threat, the giant electric eels, proved to be blunder-prone teammates that occasionally dealt friendly fire. Conversely, the suicide attacks of flying fish swarms, resembling saturated drone assaults, caused considerable trouble for the entire fleet.

Amidst the fierce battle, the weeping and wailing of the caged mermaid suddenly ceased, and her singing turned brisk instead.

Hmm? Salieer hastily asked his housekeeper, "What's the situation? Is this part of my design?"

The housekeeper looked uneasy. "My Lord, it might be that interfering NPCs are about to appear!"

Salieer's expression tightened.

An NPC first officer came over to report, "Sir, the magic tower has detected an A-class tidal fluctuation spatial reaction approaching us."

Such an anomaly made Salieer even more nervous. "How could an A-class tidal fluctuation possibly exist?"

The housekeeper reminded him, "My Lord, all the sea monsters in the surrounding area that we investigated have already arrived. We must deal with this sudden A-class anomaly with our full strength."

Salieer's expression was grave to the extreme. "I want to see this clearly. Deploy the Hawk's Eye!"

The first officer reminded him, "Sir, the usage fee for the Hawk's Eye is 10,000 mineral coins."

Salieer grew irritated. "How many times do I have to say it? Charge it to my privileged account!"

The first officer replied indifferently, "I am merely reminding sir that your privilege points are running low."

Salieer's heart twitched. "Using a Hawk's Eye should be fine, right? Hurry up!"

As a magic hawk soared into the air, the magic crystal screen inside the command cabin began displaying the images transmitted by the Hawk's Eye.

He saw it—a sperm whale. But could a sperm whale of this massive size really be A-class?

Salieer froze in shock. "This thing?"

The housekeeper was abruptly startled. "My Lord, isn't this that missing whale designed by the Shiqian team?"

"What?"