Chapter 459: Heterochromatic Ribbon Fish

After the battle, Xia Nan carefully studied the altar left by the Sahuagin on the beach.

It was equally simple, and even the materials used for construction were reef rocks and sea rocks picked up from who knows where, but the complex patterns carved on the surface of the altar and the overall structure were almost exactly the same as the one he had discovered in the hollow of Qiaoyan Island.

This confirmed Xia Nan's conjecture.

The sacrificial ritual that this group of Sahuagin was performing was exactly the one he had seen before.

Xia Nan didn't know what this kind of ritual could specifically bring to the Mermen; was it summoning that kind of powerful shark beast? Or was it purely out of faith?

But regardless, the fact that they used humans as sacrifices had already become reality.

Those corpses of fishermen that were unbearable to look at were now lying quietly in the pit, gradually becoming cold and smelly.

"A bit strange."

Rubbing the patterns carved on the surface of the altar with his fingertips, Haian's face showed a thoughtful expression.

"These runes are indeed the structure of summoning-type ritual spells, but there are very obvious changes in many places."

"Calling it an improvement... doesn't count; it's like blending several spell structures together."

"Hard to distinguish."

Although she wasn't a proper academic-style mage, her identity as a spellcaster only barely touched the edge because of her own 【Druid】 profession, but in terms of the accumulation of occult knowledge, the few people on the field must still have Haian as the most.

Right now, she was studying the reef altar left by the Mermen together with Xia Nan.

"Is this kind of sacrificial ritual a tradition of the Sahuagin?"

Having just arrived in Shoal Bay not long ago, he didn't understand the racial culture of the Sahuagin at all, so Xia Nan asked the two people beside him.

"Definitely not." Beside them, stepping on the corpse of an elite Merman with one foot, Luo Lin shook her head very affirmatively, holding a cigarette emitting smoke in her right hand.

"Sahuagin are considered a type with relatively strong aggression in the sea, viewing humans as enemies; if they encounter them, there's basically no possibility of holding back, and they will all be slaughtered."

"These are all out of hatred between races, although they will also plunder some useful things along the way, but using human corpses as sacrificial offerings for sacrificial rituals... at least I haven't heard of it for so many years."

Two consecutive times, similar experiences at different times and different places, made Xia Nan almost certain that this kind of sacrificial ritual was absolutely not something done by a single Sahuagin individual on a whim.

It must be specially arranged for some purpose they had yet to know.

So... what were these Mermen doing this for?

To some extent, no matter what conspiracy they were brewing, it actually had nothing to do with Xia Nan.

The sky was falling, and there were tall people to hold it up. He was just an ordinary adventurer who had just broken away from the poverty line, and his lv3 professional level was located at the bottom of the entire world's transcendental pyramid.

If something big really happened, those high-level professionals in Shoal Bay would naturally handle it, and it wouldn't be his turn to worry about this and that.

Moreover, if there were no accidents, he would return to the inland after the "Moon Tide Feast" ended in more than two months.

By then, even if the Mermen made a big fuss, Xia Nan didn't think they could overcome the geographical conditions and the physiological structure of aquatic organisms to cross two provinces and affect him.

But on the other hand, it had to be admitted that since coming to Shoal Bay, he had only left the port to do two missions, but both times he encountered altars arranged by Sahuagin.

This made Xia Nan inevitably feel concerned in his heart.

"Perhaps it's a mission ordered by the god they believe in?"

The gods of this world, although they seemed like chess players outside the chessboard, sitting high on the throne of God, each had different personalities, had their own preferences and biases, and also possessed their own philosophies and even desires, many of which maintained quite close communication with the believers below.

To put it nicely, it was "human-like."

The special actions of the Sahuagin that violated their past habits made it hard not to suspect whether their upper echelons, or even the faith god further up, had moved.

"That's not impossible."

Luo Lin nodded slightly, her gaze slightly unfocused, as if recalling something.

"If you really want to say that, I did hear some words related to Sahuagin during the few days I rested in the tavern."

"According to the past, they wouldn't appear with such a high frequency."

The god believed in by the Sahuagin was named "Sekola," and his nickname was "Great Shark" and "Deep Sea Caller."

The domains he presided over involved 【Plunder】, 【Tyranny】, 【Hunting】, etc.

In Xia Nan's knowledge base, there were introductions about this god's personality and behavior.

Simply summarized, an extreme and brutal racist.

He viewed other creatures in the ocean as enemies that needed to be cleared, encouraging Sahuagin to plunder and kill everywhere to demonstrate his own strength and philosophy.

Just like the holy emblem of this god, he was like a terrifying shark swimming under the water surface, searching for all prey in the ocean with greedy and brutal eyes.

If it was really this existence who had a sudden whim and required the Mermen to demonstrate their piety through rituals, using the corpses of other races as sacrifices... it could also be called reasonable.

The clues were limited, and discussing it just standing on the spot naturally couldn't lead to any useful conclusions.

After the few people cleaned up the battlefield slightly, they dug some soil and buried the pit where the villagers' corpses were piled, which could be considered giving these civilians who suffered from an unprovoked disaster a decent ending, so they wouldn't be exposed to the wilderness, and then they returned along the original path.

Having just finished the battle, the blood and flesh stained on their bodies didn't have time to be carefully cleaned.

From a long distance away, the ship team on the pier became alert under the reminder of several adventurers.

When Xia Nan and the others walked out of the forest, they could see that everyone had even adjusted the formation to prepare for battle, looking like they were facing a great enemy.

Seeing the figures of the few people, and after matching several different secret signals with Luo Lin, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's the situation? Is there a problem on the island?"

The burly bald man Aken, carrying his giant axe that looked like a ship anchor, walked up quickly and asked.

The tone was concerned, but one could also find the eagerness to try hidden within it.

The storm had ended for a period of time, and the heart fire from the Barbarian profession that had originally been worn away by the strong wind and heavy rain had already risen, heating up his emotions.

He longed for battle.

"A group of Mermen performing some kind of sacrificial ritual, they have all been solved. We'll talk about the specifics later."

Understanding the personality of this crew member of hers, Luo Lin just waved her hand and didn't say much.

Then she turned around and urged the shipwrights responsible for inspecting and repairing the ship:

"The situation has changed, everyone hurry up, it's best to finish the work before sunset."

"We need to get to our destination as soon as possible."

The frenzied Spiral-Toothed Shark school, the mysterious ritual of the Sahuagin... something might be happening on the Twin Oceans side.

For the sake of the mission commission, and for the clues she hoped to find, the progress must be accelerated.

Luo Lin, as the core of the core of the Oath-Breaker and the captain of the entire ship, had considerable prestige in the team. ===== CHAPTER 460 =====