Above Bai Liu and the Siren King, fireballs burning like miniature suns plunged into the sea. Below them lay countless sunken corpses and shattered shipwrecks. Charred black debris drifted silently through the water.
Everything appeared calm. Yet the continuously ringing system alarms reminded everyone that this scene was anything but peaceful.
[System warning: Player Bai Liu's mental value continues to decrease. Current mental value: 6…]
[System warning: Player Bai Liu's mental value continues to decrease. Current mental value: 5…]
On the small TV screen, Bai Liu's face was now completely covered in scales. Tough, claw-like skin extended from his hands. His second finger bent unnaturally, and his lower limbs had fully elongated into a fishtail.
He was indistinguishable from the other monsters.
Wang Shun felt as if his heart were about to burst from his chest. "His mental value is 5…"
"Bai Liu… do you still remember that you're a player, not a monster?" Mu Sicheng raised his head and stared at the screen grimly.
The Siren King's tail flicked lightly as he approached Bai Liu at an unpredictable speed.
On the small TV, the Siren King blurred for a split second. In the next instant, he appeared directly in front of Bai Liu.
The audience gasped, then quickly covered their mouths.
The Siren King's expression was calm. His long hair drifted across his high nose bridge. He extended a finger and gently touched the space between Bai Liu's brows. His pale lips moved slightly, but no sound emerged.
No one except Bai Liu could hear him.
"You brought me to the deep sea. What is your wish?" the Siren King asked softly. "State your wish, and I will grant it."
Bai Liu's pupils shrank under overwhelming pressure. The moment the Siren King approached, it felt as though his brain had been thrown into a blender. His body seemed crushed beneath a steamroller, completely immobilized.
[System warning: Player Bai Liu's mental value continues to decrease. Current mental value: 1…]
Wang Shun bit his hands anxiously. "Ahhh—it's only 1 point! Only 1! Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
Mu Sicheng's breathing stalled. He said nothing, his eyes fixed intensely on the screen. Around them, the other viewers were shouting in panic.
"I—I don't dare watch!"
"I need oxygen!"
"Fuck… I haven't seen a life-or-death player like this in years. I always feel like he'll create a miracle… my heart is beating so fast…"
[System warning: Player Bai Liu's mental value continues to decrease. Current mental value: 1. Rage limit reached—]
[Player Name: Bai Liu (Rage Attribute Bonus Panel)]
[Physical Strength: 655 → 955]
[Agility: 733 → 1033]
[Attack Power: 555 → 995]
[Resistance: 776 → 1209]
[Comprehensive defense and attack power have increased. Total panel attribute points have exceeded 4000. Player rated as Super A-level. Player Bai Liu's level has increased from A to Super A.]
Wang Shun slapped his thigh fiercely. "It's only Super A even at the limit! That's still far from S level! S-level attributes require over 10,000 points!"
"It's about 6,000 short. There's no way he can withstand an attack from a god-level NPC." Mu Sicheng frowned—a rare expression for him—as he watched the screen with faint regret. "He's a very interesting player… but unfortunately, this might be his last game."
The intense pain jolted Bai Liu into clarity. Blood flowed from the corners of his eyes and mouth. He didn't care. He wiped it away indifferently.
Then he smiled and said clearly to the Siren King, "My wish is for you to attack me right now."
The Siren King paused.
His silver pupils shifted slightly as he stared at Bai Liu. "You want me to attack you? You might die."
"Who knows?" Bai Liu's smile widened. Every scale on his body trembled and bled under the oppressive aura of the Siren King. He was nearly indistinguishable from a true merman now.
The Siren King's presence suppressed him like a tide of blood. Fear rose uncontrollably from the depths of Bai Liu's instincts—but he ignored it.
As a result, his face displayed a fractured expression.
The right side of his face was filled with uncontrollable terror. Tears streamed from that eye, and the corner of his mouth trembled downward.
Meanwhile, the left side remained calm and relaxed. He smiled casually, one eye indifferent, the corner of his mouth tilted upward.
Bai Liu leaned closer until they were nearly nose to nose.
Lowering his gaze slightly, he whispered almost playfully, "If you can't kill me… what will I get from you?"
The Siren King's pale eyes fixed on Bai Liu. After a long silence, he withdrew his gaze.
"Mad wanderer," he said softly, "as you wish, I will attack."
"However, you have returned me to the depths of the sea. If you survive, I will owe you one wish. You may redeem it at any time, so long as you hold a part of my body and call my soul's true name—Tawil."
"Thank you." Bai Liu's eyes curved gently.
The Siren King slowly circled him.
Then, in an instant, his pupils narrowed into vertical slits. His fishtail coiled tightly and lashed toward Bai Liu's waist with unstoppable force.
Bai Liu was struck by the Siren King and shot toward the bottom of the sea like a torpedo cutting through water. The entire TV screen shook for a moment. The seabed trembled, cracks splitting across its surface, revealing the boiling magma beneath. Fish fled in panic, yet all of them instinctively avoided the Siren King hovering in the sea.
The Siren King lowered his eyes condescendingly, his long hair drifting in the water. The fishtail that had struck Bai Liu swayed gracefully. Against the ocean's backdrop, his appearance was immaculate, untouched by even a trace of mud. There was no human emotion on his face—only a sense of holiness, like a god descending.
All the viewers in front of the small TV closed their eyes. No one dared to open them. Then one person whispered, "Is he dead?"
Wang Shun withdrew his gaze helplessly, his expression melancholy. "His mental value is only 1. Even if he withstands the Siren King's attack, it'll drop to zero. He's probably gone."
Mu Sicheng stood with his hands in his pockets, staring at the screen. His eyes narrowed, and no one could tell what he was thinking. For once, there was no lollipop in his mouth. He simply hummed in acknowledgment and sighed regretfully. "I thought I could play a game with him. Bai Liu… he was very interesting."
Just as many viewers were preparing to leave in regret, the system suddenly emitted a faint warning beep, like a bad signal on the black TV screen. Static flickered for a few seconds before the image returned to normal. This immediately drew everyone's attention.
The small TV hadn't gone dark. There was only one explanation. Bai Liu wasn't dead.
[System warning: Player Bai Liu's mental value continues to decrease. Current mental value: 0.1. Please clear the instance as soon as possible!]
[System warning: Player Bai Liu's mental value continues to decrease. Current mental value: 0.1. Rage ultimate limit—]
[Player Name: Bai Liu (Rage Peak Attribute Bonus Panel)]
[Physical Strength: 955 → ??? (Unable to measure)]
[Agility: 1033 → ??? (Unable to measure)]
[Attack Power: 955 → ??? (Unable to measure)]
[Physical Defense: 1209 → ??? (Unable to measure)]
[Comprehensive defense and attack power have increased. Total attribute points unknown. The player cannot be assessed. Superior authority is being notified… Superior authority has intervened. Bai Liu's small TV video data has been sealed into the game's encrypted files.]
Wang Shun's eyes widened in disbelief. He was completely dumbfounded and could barely speak. "S-Still alive? A mental value of 0.1? Shit!"
Mu Sicheng was equally stunned. He stepped forward toward the small TV, trying to locate Bai Liu in the dust cloud. The Siren King seemed to realize that the person at the bottom of the sea was still alive. He slowly descended, his tail sweeping away the mud on the seabed.
Bai Liu's limbs were embedded in the seabed at grotesque angles. The lower half of his body, struck by the fishtail, had completely vanished. Only his upper body remained half-buried in the mud. Blood streamed from his eyes, nose, and ears—yet he was laughing, openly and joyfully. He laughed so hard that blood spilled from his mouth.
Facing the Siren King—who had nearly killed him with a single strike—Bai Liu still had enough strength to raise his broken right hand at a ninety-degree angle and lazily wave. "Yo, Siren King."
Wang Shun couldn't help but feel torn between laughter and disbelief. "Doesn't it hurt? He's even greeting the monster with a broken hand. The sensory realism in this game is 100%!"
"A madman," Mu Sicheng sneered.
Bai Liu was, of course, in pain. Agonizing pain coursed through his entire body, but his attitude toward it was indifferent. The pain was physical; it did not disturb his mental composure or the comfort brought by the imminent clearing of the instance. His emotions were compartmentalized, like paint confined to separate squares—unable to bleed into one another.
The Siren King spoke without emotion, his expression unchanged. "You're still alive."
"Yes." Bai Liu smiled, his mouth full of blood. He was still in the mood to laugh. "I said, if you can't kill me, what will you give me?"
The Siren King leaned closer, his eyelashes casting shadows over his pale eyes. "What do you want?"
Bai Liu's mind was slightly muddled. The Siren King's exquisite face was so near that he suddenly felt the urge to tease him.
Bai Liu smiled and used his broken hand to touch the Siren King's long hair. With blood-stained lips, he pressed a kiss to it and laughed softly. "Perhaps a kiss? I've never seen a creature as beautiful as you. I couldn't even recreate you through modeling."
The Siren King lowered his eyes. "Okay."
"???"
Bai Liu was still processing what "okay" meant when he saw the Siren King close his eyes and lean down to kiss him.