As the soldiers on the harbor carried the glass tanks holding merfolk saplings up the warship, thunder abruptly cracked up in the skies, followed by torrential rains from the thick dark clouds. Even so, the warship slowly steered away from the harbor and headed towards the middle of the sea amid churning waves.Dicken and I swam along, following the warship, which had to slow down due to the downpour’s obstruction and the churning waves. Soon, Dicken led me down to the bottom of the warship’s hull, where its spiraling propellers were just above, struggling to push the ship against the storm and leaving the sea turbid in its wake. I had a hunch that Dicken was going to sabotage the propellers when Dicken suddenly released my hand, and curled his fish tail around me. Then, before I could see what he was doing, there was a blinding blue streak that shot past my vision, heading straight for the propellers.Bzzt…All at once, the propellers screeched shrilly as if they had ground agai

“Survival.” Dicken narrowed his pensiveness. “The seas over the earth’s surface are the protective layer over our domain, but human’s extensive abuse has caused its environment to deteriorate over a hundred years. This threatens my race, because our usual procreation methods are utterly devastated by the yearly rising temperatures of the ocean. To avoid extinction, we’ve eventually evolved a method that would grant our kind perpetuation…”“By converting humans?”Dicken nodded. “Yes. That is why I’d sent some of our elites as envoys, hoping that they could change into humans and procreate with human women, after which they would convert their children with our kind’s Yiki. That way, those children would return to our fold as our own, becoming merfolk warriors who would aid us in this war to occupy the oceans.”I shook my head in disbelief, and wondered what it would be like if there really was a war between humans and merfolk. Still, I suddenly remembered the tragic sight of the merf

I seemed to know Dicken better now, and finally saw what lay beyond his profound love for the ocean. Like human emperors who expanded their borders, Dicken’s nature was as callous and bloodthirsty as the merfolks leaders, and he revered defeating violence with more violence. Of course, this was the best solution to snuff out the vileness which humans wrought, and the mastermind of this great conspiracy ought to pay the price for challenging a troublesome leader like this one.I wondered where Bob and Gary were hiding at that moment… Were they shaking in their boots? And then there was my grandfather—or the elder of the merfolk, to be precise….Nonetheless, even as that thought crossed my mind, there was a melodious cry echoing nearby, and the frenzied merfolk that were tearing the soldiers into pieces suddenly stopped. Dicken’s gaze turned dark, just as his expression turned solemn.I had a bad feeling about this, too.“Come out, my king. I know you’re there… Still hiding there t

50 years later.[I’m Linda, from France. I’m officially joining the Navy today—it’s a day worth remembering for me, even if I know an exceedingly demanding trial awaits me.][I’ve seen and heard about the terrifying merpeople and their horrific fighting capabilities, but I fear nothing.][I shall be leaving tomorrow with the Navy to enforce the blockade against the merpeople. This is a good chance for me to show myself, which is why I’m really thrilled.]I couldn’t help clenching on my pen as I looked outside the window, where a gigantic warship was berthed at the harbor. Sacre bleu, it had to be the most imposing warship I had ever seen—it was painted in black for camouflage in night battles, whereas its hull was of a sleek design. With the towering bridge on its bow, it looked just like a horned beast sailing through the seas.The thought of sailing in that warship as it crashed through the waves to the merpeople’s territory excited me. “All new recruits! Assemble!” As a res

As the skies darkened, the stern ramp opened, and our speeboats swiftly slid out into the boundless sea as we set out, riding the waves.I looked out through the glass towards the sea shrouded in darkness, unable to help clenching on my gun as my heart skipped about like the ocean's waves. My eyes were fixed on the electronic navigation system to see that we were heading towards a red zone, which was alleged to be deep within merpeople territory. Our objective was to set a sonar bomb in a zone within the channel. It was a newly developed weapon that would distort the merpeople’s sense of direction and render them incapable of fighting, while ensuring that the underwater nuclear power stations were not destroyed.As we approached the channel, we slowed down our speedboat as the waters around the mouth of the channel slowly steered us through the gap. The cliff on both sides blocked out the moon, and we were immediately engulfed in sinister darkness—I actually felt the breaths of the