276 Quack Goes The Rabbi

"Miss Blackfire!" Laena called out as she swam over with the two guards by her side. 

As she swam over, one of the injured mermen tried to grasp onto her tail fin.

"Watch out!" Vy shouted as she leapt into action. 

Still in her fighting fish form, she headbutted the merman right on the head, knocking him unconscious. Although shaken, Laena was unharmed. Vy took back to her hybrid form as she approached Laena. 

"Thank you, Miss Blackfire."

Putting the pieces of the puzzle together, Laena explained that these merfolk Vy and Lycster encountered were part of a large scale syndicate in Trilantis. They have their eyes set on the precious cargo Vy was transporting for Future Eye. 

"Do they have ties to others above sea level as well?" Vy asked out of curiosity. 

Laena nodded, "It would not surprise me that they do. They have eyes everywhere. According to our sources, they had been tracking it from the moment it left our client's hands."

-It is likely that they were behind all of the attempts that delayed our journey.- Aether speculated. 

Vy wanted to gather more information about this syndicate that Laena was referring to. They had been nothing but a thorn in her side. They have caused her to suffer injury after injury. Vy would very much like to give them a piece of her mind. 

Laena ordered the two guards that came with her to round up all the people in the building, while they waited for backup to arrive. 

"Does this syndicate you speak of have a name?" 

"They are called the Hydromondi, their emblem is a blue ring octopus. But we have reported that there might be another organization behind them that is the true puppeteer," she explained. 

Laena turned back to look at the building behind them as the guards that she had brought with her brought out the frozen mermen and mermaids. 

"This might have been one of their many hideouts,'' she remarked. 

At that moment, Vy felt an uneasy feeling in her gut. When she turned to look at the building behind them, she could not help but notice a rising heat signature coming from within it. Every cell in her body screamed at her to run. 

Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion, the heat signature seemed to be expanding at top speed throughout the space. 

"DUCK!" Vy screamed as she immediately summoned her Dark Kyu powers. Her eyes turned colour and her nails were sharpened. 

Controlling the water around her, she created a dome of ice all around them. The dome of ice was at least a metre thick. Something told Vy the blast was not going to be a small one. With Lycster, Aether, Laena and the two guards protected, she turned her attention back to the building. 

Lycster's heart skipped a beat as the explosion occurred. This might have occurred underwater but the size of the explosion and its effect was still deadly. Laena was surprised by the attack as well, no one saw it coming. 

"What just happened," Laena's voice was shaking. 

Vy could not quite explain how she knew it was coming either. Was it just a stroke of luck and her special sight? This was too close to comfort. The fire seemed unaffected by water, for it continued to blaze strong and proud. 

The once frozen members of the Hydromondi who were not shielded by Vy's ice shield were free from their prison of ice. They tried to swim away from the explosion as soon as they could but they were blocked by the incoming backup squad Laena had called for. 

They too were surprised by the explosion that had occurred. But the professionals remained focused on their task at hand, securing the members of the Hydromondi. The backup squad had them surrounded from every side. 

With nowhere to run, their only option was to surrender. But that was not their only option. As if on queue, all the Hydromondi members bit down on something in their mouths. Blue liquid dribbled from the side of some of their lips. 

Vy took down the ice shield as they were safe now. Upon realising what they were trying to do, Vy rushed forward. 

"No!" she exclaimed as she tried to stop one from biting down on what was inside their mouths. 

But she was too late. The merman grinned as he spat at Vy, Aether was quick to react, quickly pulling Vy away so that the blue liquid would not get on her. 

-Lethal poison.- Aether hissed. 

Her Familiar was right. Within a matter of seconds, all of them were gasping for air. All of their faces were writhing in pain and agony before they stopped moving altogether. Some foamed at the mouth, others grasp at their gills as they became short of breath. 

Their airways were blocked by the poison, their heart and lung muscles constrict due to the poison. There was nothing any one of them could do but watch them writhe in agony until their body went limp. 

Vy covered Lycster's eyes. She did not want him to have to witness these deaths. 

Laena sighed as she shook her head. From her expression, Vy could tell this might be a common occurrence for members of the Hydromondi. Instead of letting themselves get caught, they end their own lives. 

It was the best way for them to keep their secrets safe from being revealed. 

Vy wondered if the cargo they carried was truly worth the sacrifice of so many lives. This only made her even more curious to find out what it was. They had been speculating for quite some time now and finally knowing what it was might give them some much-needed answers. 

She turned back to look at the building that was now nothing more than an empty husk on flames. Feeling the warm flames that continued to burn, Vy felt more determined to uncover the operations of this mysterious syndicate. 

She wondered who the puppeteer behind it all would be. 

Fire is often used to destroy evidence, and it would only leave a trail of ashes in its wake. But sometimes, it leaves behind important pieces of clues for others to put the puzzle together. 

As Vy looked at the debris that floated around her, she swam over to look at the pieces. Most of them were nothing more than rubble from the main structure. Amongst it, were what looked like splintered planks of wood from a crate. 

She noticed that there was the emblem of an octopus with blue ring symbols all over it. 

-Laena was right, this place likely doubled as a warehouse of sorts for them.-

All the more reason for them to destroy any evidence of its existence. Aether and Lycster looked at the debris too. A partially burnt piece of parchment caught Aether's eye. He brought it to Vy's attention immediately. 

-Take a look at this.- he hissed. 

Vy took the partially burnt piece of parchment. She examined it carefully. She squinted her eyes to figure out what was on it. It was not sentences of written words. It looked like an emblem. But it was not the emblem of the Hydromondi either. 

This emblem looked like the shape of a rabbit.