Chapter 629: Stranded Crew and the Song

Luo De had not been particularly concerned until he stared closely.

He was startled to see the crew and sailors wrapping their heads and hands in clothing, waving and calling out to them.

Even so, Luo De could still see through the shadows of the wrapped cloth the translucent, slack skin exuding thick mucus.

Star spirits?

No, Star Spirits' flesh was translucent pale blue, with fully intact internal skeletons.

But what Luo De saw was instead some constantly writhing, fibrous substance replacing the bones.

"What the hell?"

Everyone halted midair, inspecting the crew on the stranded ship's deck.

Only then did they notice the crew had been reduced to three men; this was a large merchant vessel with no trace of magical propulsion.

Three men could not possibly operate this ship.

"Save us! My lord! Please, save us!"

A man with his head wrapped in red cloth shouted; his clothing hung loosely, ill-fitting.

The other two were the same.

Yet they only waved, saying nothing.

Their behavior was far too strange.

Sea elf Laura aimed her recording stone at Luo De: "Faced with a bizarre stranded vessel, what will Mr. Luo De do? Will he strike while the iron is hot, or proceed with caution?"

"What's 'strike while the iron is hot'?"

Luo De had grown somewhat familiar with this woman; if she was blunt, he would be too.

He flicked her forehead, making her whimper in pain.

Then he turned back to the crew on the ship.

"What happened?"

"My lord, two weeks ago we were caught in a sudden storm; we couldn't lower the sails in time, and the mast snapped and fell into the sea."

"Only you three survived?"

"A disease broke out on board; everyone else died. We've also been infected, turned into these monstrous forms—we wear head coverings to avoid frightening you."

"Take them off."

The three surviving crewmen exchanged glances, hesitated a moment, then nodded.

Slowly, they removed the wrapped clothing.

—Three translucent gelatinous heads were exposed to the sunlight.

Their faces had clearly lost muscular tension, unnaturally elongated, drooping down to their collarbones.

Their bones had become black, mobile fibrous matter; the area where the brain should be pulsed visibly, black fibers pushing outward from the skull, sprouting dozens of 'small horns.'

Most grotesque were their mouths—vertically split open to their ears, revealing three rows of spiral-shaped fangs.

The man who spoke had changed the least.

Perhaps because he was still able to speak.

"What is this?!"

Sea elf Laura whispered in shock.

Dogkin Shanren frowned tightly; skilled in biological magic, she immediately made a basic assessment:

"A gene and bloodline contamination. They can no longer be called human."

Dimia felt a pang of pity: "Can they be saved?"

"This kind of bloodline contamination doesn't cause a normal person to regress or evolve into a new species—it continuously dismantles the original biological structure and bloodline factors. To save them…"

Shanren shook her head, "It's about as hard as recreating a human from scratch. No, even harder."

And from what they said,

this bloodline contamination disease seemed contagious.

Though unlikely by magical principles, the emergence of Ascension and the Magic Web Veil proves all possibilities exist.

Shanren narrowed her eyes, glancing at Luo De and the sea elf Laura.

She no longer intended to let these men reach land.

Quarantine them first, study them later.

"No!"

The surviving crewman who could speak screamed desperately.

Thick mucus seeped from his body, splattering across the deck in a messy mess.

"Master mage, your magic is so powerful—there must be a way to save us! I can't die! My child was just born!"

The other two slumped helplessly to the deck, exhausted and bewildered.

After two weeks adrift, they'd thought they'd found rescuers—only to be handed an incurable death sentence.

Everyone fell silent.

Luo De spoke again: "This bloodline contamination… how did you contract this disease?"

"We don't know, we don't know… it suddenly appeared on the sailors, one by one, turning them into those monstrous things, then melting into gelatinous blobs. By the time we realized it was contagious, it was too late—we didn't even know how it spread."

The man slumped against the deck, his elongated face expressionless.

He was emotionally shattered.

Luo De realized speaking too negatively before the victims might be cruel.

He pinched his forehead in frustration—he simply lacked rescue experience.

He thought for a moment.

He instantly cast the Magic Web spell called 【Dason's Cool Breeze】.

It was a low-tier spell to help maintain mental clarity.

And he offered a few words of encouragement.

Then he activated the power of 【True Deception】 from the Realm of Enchantment.

Sea elf Laura's recording stone whirred rapidly; she watched Luo De soothing the survivors, her eyes brightening as she muttered several positive phrases.

The man soon gathered strength, after a brief pause in memory, spoke:

"I remember now. The disease didn't appear without warning. The day before the first man fell ill, we encountered a strange siren."

"Strange?"

"She was huge."

"I haven't seen one, but I know what you mean."

Luo De nodded.

Sirens had upper human bodies and lower fish tails—roughly equivalent to merfolk.

But they ate human flesh; their plump female forms and beautiful voices were deadly lures.

Tally tugged his sleeve, cheeks flushed: "He's not talking about that place…"

"Oh."

The man nodded, fear in his eyes: "We'd encountered sirens before—normal-sized, like humans. But this one was different… it was the brother handling the rigging who spotted her—he said he saw a black shadow beneath the sea, larger than our ship."

Luo De glanced at the merchant vessel—it was sizable, about forty to fifty meters long.

He remembered Earth's largest blue whale had been only thirty meters or so.

But this was a world of spiritual energy—nothing could be taken for granted.

"At first we thought it was a whale. But later, we noticed it retained some human features—occasionally, a faint female face would surface near its head."

He seemed to recall that face, his expression twisting in pain.

His now-transparent right eye burst with a sizzle, spraying mucus—he remained oblivious.

"And then?"

Sea elf Laura felt her stomach churn but forced herself to ask:

"And then… she began to sing, like a normal siren. But we always carried earplugs—we just plugged them in and were safe. Yes, logically, plugging our ears should've worked!

But! But! The song came from beneath the water! It vibrated our entire ship! We all heard it! AAAAAHHH!!!"

The man clutched his head, tearing off a large patch of skin from his translucent gelatinous flesh.

Beneath the skin lay a writhing mass of 'fuzz,' dense and crawling like countless insects.

Siren songs had a hypnotic effect, luring people into the sea.

But they hadn't been hypnotized.

Had the hypnotic power failed?

Luo De felt a chill crawl up his spine; he was about to calm the man again

when he suddenly froze, turning toward the distant sea: "Wait… yes… that's the song…"

Luo De frowned.

He followed his gaze.

His vision was sharp—he instantly pinpointed the 'ripples' far across the water.

—A vast expanse of water droplets trembling from high-frequency vibrations.

(End of Chapter)