No Tide for Yesterday

Chapter 2 – This Table, I ClaimThree days later.The wind on the breakwater was wilder than usual, carrying the salty spray straight into the small hut.“Bang!” The rickety wooden door of the lab was kicked open.Old Bill stumbled in, waving a cracked old phone with its screen spiderwebbed, almost smacking Lena Shore in the face. The noise was louder than a category ten typhoon.“Lena! Something’s happened! The sky is falling!”Lena was carefully separating a mutated algae specimen from a petri dish with tweezers, her hands steady, not even a flick of her brow.“If it’s about those grouper fish we couldn’t save, just add them to tonight’s menu. No need to freak out.”“Eat, eat, eat! Always thinking about food! Who said anything about fish?!” Old Bill stomped furiously, his flip-flops clapping against the wooden floor. “Look at this! The internet’s on fire! They’re saying there’s a ‘Goddess of the Sea’ on our island! I swear, these kids have never seen you scold anyone harder than you

 The wind on the balcony was sharper than anything inside—cold, needling, and merciless. It reminded Lena Shore of the northern sea currents she had studied for half a decade. Even nature had a way of telling her truths: Nothing soft survives without fighting. She stood alone, the slice of cake untouched in her hand. The desert-like sweetness mocked her—too artificial, too polished, too celebratory for a night that tasted like humiliation. Below the balcony stretched the city she once called home. Skyscrapers pierced the sky like sharpened blades. Neon lights flickered like restless predat

The next morning, sunlight poured through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows of the convention center, scattering bright patches across the marble floor.The main hall was already full.Three thousand seats—not a single one empty.In the front row sat foreign dignitaries, top entrepreneurs, scholars. Behind them were media reporters and regular attendees. Dozens of cameras stood on tripods around the hall, all aimed at the center of the stage.The atmosphere felt… strange.Whispers rippled through the audience like a swarm of buzzing bees.“Is the ‘Ocean Goddess’ really speaking today?”