Ch. 16 - The storm is coming

The siren was about two metres long, with most of her fish tail dragging on the ground, supporting her body. When the siren returned and saw the two people in front of her, she froze, particularly when she noticed Yang Yi holding a corpse by the neck.However, she reacted quickly, and a melodious song soon rang out.

【You hear a beautiful and captivating melody. Enchanted by it, you fall into a state of charm, losing 5 points of sanity.】

Yang Yi suddenly stopped moving, dropped the corpse, and let his hands hang limply by his sides.

"It's over, this fool got charmed again!"

Suna gripped her dagger tightly, ready for a fight to the death. She figured this time, the siren wouldn't spare her and would probably keep her as emergency rations.

A drop of cold sweat rolled down her forehead. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the N0vᴇlFirᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Yang Yi, seemingly deeply enchanted by the siren, began walking towards her in a daze, swaying as he went.

The siren was incredibly beautiful, with golden wavy hair, delicate and captivating features, and a heavenly voice. Her skin glowed like white porcelain, and she had a voluptuous and tall, sexy figure.

In contrast, she also had a set of sharp teeth capable of crushing skulls, claws sharp enough to tear open a belly, and a fish tail strong enough to break human bones.

Yang Yi was utterly mesmerised, approaching the siren as if seeking a hug, nestling into her arms...

The siren, apparently fond of her prey, momentarily abandoned her attack. Her gaze softened, and though she opened her mouth several times, she couldn't bring herself to bite Yang Yi.

"Sorry, but...we're not the same species," Yang Yi said softly while in her embrace.

【Sanity below 50. You enter a state of madness: Strength +2, Agility +1, Constitution +1, Spirit -2, immune to most mental abnormalities...】

Before the siren could realise something was wrong,

Boom!

The gunshot was deafening, reverberating through the entire cave. This time, the flintlock gun didn't disappoint, firing successfully on the first try.

The sharp half of a broken bone that was tucked into his back waistband didn't seem necessary anymore.

"You can resist the charm? Then what was that earlier, when you followed her willingly?" Suna's crimson eyes were filled with confusion and bewilderment. "Your gun has a strange sound to it. How did it reduce my sanity by one point?"

Only one point...

Yang Yi immediately caught the key detail. The woman definitely wasn’t normal! Even with a Spirit stat as high as 8, Yang Yi lost 3 sanity points the first time he heard the gunshot!

Yang Yi didn't bother explaining. He stepped back, watching as the headless body of the siren slowly slumped to the ground, twitching continuously.

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

Suna immediately ran over and, after examining the siren's body, showed a hint of regret in her eyes.

"Your gun is too powerful. Could you avoid shooting the head next time? I'd like to have a complete siren's head." She pulled out a bottle from somewhere and began collecting the siren's blood, brain tissue, and surface mucus.

"What are you doing? I killed this siren, so the spoils belong to me!"

Yang Yi frowned and quickly picked up a piece of flesh, stuffing it into his pocket to remind Suna.

After all, the vending machine only needed a small amount of tissue, and the system would recover the monster's corpse afterwards, preventing the possibility of using the same corpse multiple times.

Hearing this, Suna paused and looked up at Yang Yi, thinking for a moment.

"How about this: you leave me one complete body, and I'll give you all the resources on my ship, plus an additional month of navigation guidance. Deal?"

Yang Yi thought about it briefly and agreed.

The siren wasn't as strong as the Drowned Revenants. Without her song, most adult men with spears could kill her on land. Her spoils were unlikely to be that valuable, so the navigation charts would be more useful.

"You mentioned earlier that the time interval between the two groups of sirens returning to their lair was around 15 minutes, right?" Yang Yi asked.

"Yes, the intervals were 20 minutes, 17 minutes, and 18 minutes," Suna replied, recalling clearly.

"Then you'll need to add a new piece of data — not more than two minutes!"

Yang Yi grabbed Suna and pulled her in front of him.

The next second, two sirens burst out of the pool behind Suna, lunging at where she had just been standing, but they missed.

Just moments before, Yang Yi noticed ripples on the surface of the pool and became alert. When he saw a head emerging from the water, he immediately pulled Suna to help her avoid the attack.

The two smaller sirens, seeing the body of their fallen kin, flew into a rage, emitting threatening hisses.

Their pale skin began to flush red, and they bared their sharp teeth.

The haunting melody resumed, this time a duet, the sound sharp and echoing in the cave.

Even Suna was overwhelmed, her head spinning from the sound.

【The song is both piercing and enchanting. Your sanity decreases by 5 points.】

Although Yang Yi was immune to the charm, the sound still made his chest feel tight, his eardrums ache, and even caused him to start losing health.

He immediately raised his gun and aimed.

Click!

The gun misfired!

"Run! Let's get outside. The space here is too small, and their song echoes in the cave, putting us at a disadvantage!" Yang Yi said decisively.

Suna was in bad shape too, with blood trickling from one ear, seeming a bit disoriented.

Yang Yi immediately grabbed her and began running out of the cave.

Fortunately, the sirens weren't fast. After all, they had no legs, and their fish tails weren't well-suited for moving on land, so their speed was relatively slow.

The two of them managed to escape the cave. By this time, Suna had recovered enough that Yang Yi no longer needed to pull her along.

"Your pistol may not need reloading, but it misfires from time to time, doesn't it?" she asked.

Yang Yi frowned, slightly annoyed.

This woman had a knack for focusing on things she shouldn't, which wasn't doing her any good!

They kept running.

Yang Yi wanted to buy time until the flintlock gun's cooldown ended, which would make the fight easier.

But they hadn't run far when they came to a stop, faced with a murky sea.

The island was mostly submerged by the sea, with no path in front.

There was no sunlight overhead, just thick clouds and heavy rain pouring down.

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

A storm at sea!

Yang Yi immediately remembered that the system announcement had warned him of an impending storm.

"I didn't mention it before, but the storm has already been going on for two days. Now, all the players are desperately trying to escape this sea area," Suna explained.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Would it have helped? We still had to deal with the sirens," Suna replied calmly.

She wasn't wrong.

If they didn't take care of the sirens, they'd inevitably be chased down by them during the storm, which wouldn't end well...

Yang Yi looked back, timing it perfectly.

The two sirens were still about 50 metres away. By the time they closed the distance to 5 metres, the flintlock gun's cooldown would just about be over.

Five metres was a distance Yang Yi felt confident in; there was a high chance he could hit his target.

He raised his gun, aimed carefully, and held his breath.

The moment they were within range, he fired.

Bang!

The shot rang out, and a severed arm flew into the air.

The siren's head remained intact — Yang Yi had missed.

"Your aim is terrible!" Suna mocked.

"As if you're any better!" Yang Yi retorted nonchalantly. "You keep the siren with the severed arm busy. I'll take care of the other one and then come back to help you!"

"Got it!"

The two of them ran towards their respective targets.