Free Web NovelThe merfolk’s hair was a deep blue, and a gem-encrusted crown rested upon her head.
But now wasn’t the time to observe her. Three pirate ships surrounded her, and several harpoon guns were already aimed in her direction.
Merfolk were fast, so when hunting them, people always chose to use harpoon guns.
“Watch out!”
Loren guessed this group of pirates was hunting the merfolk. In this world, there was no Luffy—pirates were all vicious, lawless outlaws. True adventurers wouldn’t sully themselves with the title of pirate.
Pirates were pirates. Kill them all without worrying about accidentally hurting any innocents.
So Loren acted decisively. The merfolk he controlled raised her hand, and a tsunami surged from the sea. The pirate ships immediately began to rock violently. The pirates holding harpoon guns could no longer aim, and many even fell into the water.
What happened next caught Loren off guard. Faced with this situation, the merfolk showed no fear or hesitation. A silver-white longsword suddenly appeared in her hand.
The sword resembled a cross, but it was too ornate to be just a weapon. A gem like an eye was embedded in its center.
The merfolk swung the longsword. The seawater touched by the blade transformed into water blades that shot out instantly, their speed far surpassing Loren’s Crimson Blade.
The sharpness of these water blades was terrifying as well. The massive pirate ships were like paper. When the water blades sliced through them, they met no resistance, cutting the ships cleanly in half.
A pirate standing on the deck hadn’t even realized what happened. He touched his face, and then his entire body split down the middle.
“…”
Even Loren was shocked by the power of this sword. That was just a casual swing, and it could reach this level.
And it wasn’t over yet. The merfolk continued swinging her longsword, unleashing several more water blades. The other two pirate ships were also cut into pieces.
The pirates who had fallen into the sea weren’t spared either. She finished each one off with precision.
This was the first time Loren had seen a merfolk kill so decisively. Every merfolk he’d encountered before was somewhat hesitant and indecisive.
“You’re this fierce?”
Since the merfolk Loren controlled was also a merfolk, he chose to go up and talk to her directly.
But what greeted Loren was hostility. The blade of that longsword was already pressed against the neck of this merfolk corpse.
The corpse Loren had refined was highly durable, but he didn’t think it could withstand this sword.
“My name is Nami. I got lost a long time ago…”
Loren had already fabricated a backstory for the merfolk he controlled. Her face didn’t belong to any known merfolk, and claiming she’d been lost for a long time was impossible to verify.
He’d also continued his naming convention for puppets, but unlike Gwen and Orianna, this merfolk had nothing to do with the Nami from League of Legends. She was much prettier and had a standard merfolk appearance.
“I’m not asking about this corpse. I’m asking about the necromancer controlling it from behind.”
“!”
Loren had considered many possibilities, but never this one. It seemed sneaking into the merfolk’s gathering place with her was out of the question.
“Shouldn’t you state your own name before asking someone else’s?”
Since this merfolk wasn’t giving Loren any courtesy, he naturally wouldn’t be polite to her either.
But he didn’t plan to start a conflict with her. Nami was still quite important to Loren, and getting taken out here would be a loss not worth the gain.
If they could talk, Loren would choose to talk first. Situations where things couldn’t be explained and were forcibly misunderstood were ultimately rare.
After all, Loren had never really done anything to harm the merfolk. At worst, he disrespected corpses.
But he was a necromancer—expecting him to respect corpses was ridiculous. This world didn’t have any law against desecrating the dead.
“My name is Melody. I came out this time to investigate the large number of missing merfolk. What connection do you have to these disappearances?”
Melody actually introduced herself, which caught Loren by surprise.
And she didn’t immediately label him as the culprit, so Loren decided to tell her the truth:
“I can’t disclose my identity. You probably won’t believe this, but I found these corpses.
“The one hunting the merfolk is a half-merfolk named Mara. She was cut in half and thrown out by the merfolk. You should remember that.”
The story of Mara’s parents was a well-known cautionary tale among the merfolk, used to educate young merfolk about not going outside.
“…”
Melody sheathed her longsword, and her mood instantly dropped. Loren could even see guilt on her face.
“Wait, you actually believe me just like that?”
Loren had already prepared to flee since words were cheap. Usually, Loren could talk nonsense at the Church and no one would question him, but this was different.
“What’s wrong? Is this related to you?”
“It is… I didn’t expect this to happen either…”
“No way, it’s actually related to you?”
Loren now wanted to go home, grab some watermelon, and slowly listen to Melody’s story.
He still didn’t understand why Melody believed him so easily, but it was ultimately a good thing.
“After that half-merfolk was born, her mother wanted to cut off all the fish parts from her body…
“She was a living child, but also a painful memory for that merfolk. This child wasn’t one she wanted to have—she was a symbol of sin…
“At that time, I was still young and couldn’t stop her. I never imagined it would lead to this result…”
This matched the story Loren knew. By now, he had returned home and picked up some watermelon:
“Oh wow, so if you were given another chance, what choice would you make?”
Loren’s words struck a chord with Melody. She actually continued answering him:
“If I could choose, I would save Mara, raise her, and educate her well…
“Or just kill her outright, not giving her the chance to harm the merfolk.”
Loren directly narrated what was happening on the other side back at home. Everyone else also grabbed some watermelon—this matter was indeed quite interesting.
“I acknowledge you.”
Loren, controlling Nami, gave Melody a thumbs-up. Melody’s style was quite to his liking.
Of course, if she became an enemy, Loren would find a way to kill her too.
“By the way, how did you discover this was a corpse? And knowing all this, why did you still believe what I said?”
Loren was still very curious about this. Instead of wondering, he might as well just ask.
After all, this matter was too strange. You see someone controlling your tribesman’s corpse, saying some bizarre things to clear their name—no normal person would act this way.
Yet Melody did. Judging by her behavior, she wasn’t some naive fool.
“This is the guidance of fate.”
Melody was still a bit young, unable to hide her true emotions. As she spoke, she subconsciously clutched the Inverted Cross pendant hanging on her chest.
