What Are You Thinking?! / I Know a Few People in Siesta

"No... it's nothing."

Bai Ye pursed her lips, but did not reveal the truth.

Just now, he happened to pass by the bed where Specter had slept and saw a puddle of water on the sheets.

Although it was completely dry, the mark was still very obvious.

Bai Ye naturally knew what it was and what it meant.

Well, Bai Ye wasn't sure if Laurentina would reward herself occasionally, but yesterday's timing was just too coincidental, and Bai Ye was worried that Specter might already know something.

For example, using certain things you see as side dishes.

That would be a bit awkward...

It can only be said that the two of them had their own ulterior motives. One was afraid that the other would find out and worried that the matter would be exposed, while the other was worried that the other would find out that he already knew... It has to be said that they were truly evenly matched opponents.

"What happened?"

Skadi tilted her head, somewhat puzzled.

She was completely unaware of the situation, just as calm as the eye of the storm.

For a moment, both Specter and Bai Ye envied this carefree guy...

This matter is just a minor incident at present, and Bai Ye no longer takes it to heart.

In the following days, free from other distractions, Bai Ye continued his underwater combat training under the guidance of Skadi and Specter.

The Firstborn [Divine Possession] endowed Bai Ye with natural underwater adaptability, an ability that even surpassed that of Abyssal Hunter like Skadi and Specter.

He could clearly feel the water temperature and ocean currents, as if they were an extension of his body.

When facing the deep sea, he often felt a faint sense of inspiration.

While swimming, Bai Ye can sense the direction of the seawater and various things happening in the sea with light.

At first, Bai Ye was easily defeated by the two Abyssal Hunter in sparring, but gradually, Bai Ye became more skilled, and even the Aegir who originally lived in the sea found it difficult to gain the upper hand against him.

Furthermore, thanks to his [Thought Acceleration] talent, Bai Ye was able to hold his own against two Abyssal Hunter in a 1v2 battle.

Unfortunately, the seawater ultimately limited Bai Ye's performance. No matter how much he adapted, Bai Ye was still used to fighting on land. Moreover, without the help of the wind, Bai Ye's speed might not be faster than the two Abyssal Hunter if he relied solely on ocean currents.

Using the propulsive force of a gas burst to increase speed is indeed a good method, but it requires practice. Moreover, water resistance is greater than air resistance, making it potentially more difficult to achieve than on land.

Chapter Two: What Are You Thinking!

Skadi seemed to enjoy training with Bai Ye.

In reality, she was a very simple and innocent girl, or rather, pure. After learning about her origins as Abyssal Hunter, her mindset changed.

Skadi was originally an avenger. Her reason for becoming Abyssal Hunter was simple: she wanted revenge. Her family—her mother, grandmother, and sister—all died in the attacks of the "Seaborn," and Sargos's home and city were also destroyed by those monsters.

Because of these reasons, Skadi did not refuse after being selected as Abyssal Hunter. Hatred drove her to become a hunter, a warrior, and an elite, until she killed Ishar-mla.

However, due to Specter's interrogation, the Firstborn Bai Ye, who had been sealed away, revealed the truth about the Abyssal Hunter —the so-called Abyssal Hunter were actually of the same origin as enemies.

Hunters are modified warriors who have fused with the flesh and blood of monsters. Therefore, if they cannot experience the mental stimulation of fighting their own kind, they will forget their true nature as humans, be assimilated by the Seaborn, and become monsters themselves.

The Seaborn only attack cities within their territory, while attacks in the interior are all carried out by the monster-like Abyssal Hunter.

Similarly, Skadi's family and city were also destroyed by the Abyssal Hunter.

Upon learning the truth, Skadi lost all motivation to continue. Her original target for revenge was the Deep Sea, but now she learned that her enemy was already dead, and moreover, he was one of her own kind...

Moreover, she herself seemed to have become one of the sea monsters and Terrorfish, among the enemies she had once fought. The past and the future were meaningless, and all her actions were meaningless.

Fortunately, thanks to Bai Ye's bond, she was pulled back from the void. Although she didn't tell Bai Ye and nothing changed afterward, Skadi made a decision in her heart.

From now on, she will accompany and protect Bai Ye. Before falling into self-loathing and destruction, Skadi found the meaning of her continued existence.

From this day forward, she will fight for the Bai Ye.

Bai Ye was unaware of Skadi's inner thoughts, nor did he know the oath the Abyssal Hunter had made. However, Bai Ye could clearly sense Skadi's changes.

The girl of the past always walked the earth blindly, carrying a heavy heart, not knowing what she was doing. She had so many things she wanted to do: revenge, to return home, to find her companions... but all alone, she could do nothing.

Even after finding Dr. Kal'tsit, he could only work as a laborer and knew nothing about the doctor's grand plans.

But recently, Skadi seems to have changed. Her demeanor has become more cheerful, and her brows have gradually relaxed. The sad orca of the past has become a happy orca.

Bai Ye was naturally quite pleased with this change.

However, some people are not happy about this.

That's the Specter.

She always felt a little uncomfortable being near the two of them. She had no idea that Skadi could be so crazy, even doing that with people on land, something that seemed almost impossible to the Abyssal Hunter.

And indeed, this actually happened. There really were land-dwelling humans who could withstand the monstrous strength of the Abyssal Hunter, strength derived from the Seaborn —they weren't crushed!

Despite her desperate attempts to forget, Specter couldn't escape what she saw that night. Even now, every night when she tries to sleep, she's haunted by nightmares, and those images replay automatically in her mind...

This is truly bizarre.

Fortunately, Bai Ye's underwater training has finally come to an end.

He, who had been observing Specter, also noticed that the nun was acting strangely. However, Bai Ye naturally couldn't guess the reason for Specter's unusual behavior.

He believes that it was probably because he and the two Abyssal Hunter turned the holiday into a boring training session, which made the Specter, who originally wanted to relax, feel bored.

After all, this kind of training is one-sided; Specter and Skadi don't need to adapt to deep water—it's practically instinctive for them.

Bai Ye quietly walked up behind Specter.

The girl sat on the beach, quietly watching the water in front of her.

Bai Ye couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking.

Unlike the goofy Skadi, Miss Specter is quite intelligent—although when she became a nun in the Abyssal Church, the girl became muddle-headed due to prolonged torment, even more so than Skadi.

Bai Ye couldn't see through her.

However, when facing the girl, Bai Ye would always think of the water stain on the bed. This scene would always appear in his mind and linger there.

As Abyssal Hunter, the Specter is naturally able to sense when someone is approaching her.

At such close range, he was already within her detection range, and her body instinctively wanted to react to eliminate the threat. However, Specter managed to control her body; she knew that Bai Ye was standing behind her.

For some reason, the girl's heart began to race.

'Perhaps it's because of the Firstborn sealed within his body that I've changed...'

Specter consoled himself.

Actually, she had already been brainwashed into becoming the nun of the sea god.

Her often-repeated prayer was, "Listen, O Lord of all things, in the darkness, murmuring to himself..."

The Abyssal Church regards the Firstborn as their god, which also influences Specter's alternate personality.

Therefore, after Bai Ye told the nun that the Firstborn was sealed within her, Specter's main personality was also involuntarily affected by the other personality—after all, they shared common memories, and the two personalities were slowly merging under healing.

"This is so troublesome..."

Specter couldn't help but sigh.

She turned around and looked at Bai Ye with feigned composure. "Bai Ye, what's wrong?"

Specter usually refer to land-dwelling humans by their species names, such as birds. However, she remembered the name of this special individual, Bai Ye.

"Want to go out for a stroll? I heard you bought some carving tools on Rhodes Island. Siesta City is famous for its obsidian; perhaps it could be used as a carving material?" Bai Ye suggested.

Tsk.

Specter misinterpreted Bai Ye's meaning, and she immediately became alert. Was he going to send her away again, just like at the last concert?

Then Bai Ye and Skadi would do some shameless things.

Good heavens, it's only daytime!

Specter's face immediately turned red. She glared at Bai Ye and blurted out, "And then you left you and Skadi at the hotel?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she realized something was wrong. Didn't this mean that she already knew something?

Fortunately, Bai Ye didn't think much of it and explained, "No, the three of us will go together."

Wouldn't that be even worse?

The nun, whose mind was wandering, blushed even more.

Chapter Three: I Have Some Acquaintances in Siesta

Laurentina very strangely.

Bai Ye has recently noticed this; for example, the girl blushed again while he was talking to the nun.

Bai Ye:??

Has this guy gone mad again? Like, has he been invaded by the dark side of the Force again? After all, there's precedent for the nun; her mental state isn't stable.

Bai Ye was at a loss for words, and the atmosphere began to become somewhat strange.

Fortunately, Skadi came over at that moment.

"Aren't we leaving? Didn't we say we'd go shopping together?" The girl asked, looking at the two who were standing there, puzzled.

"Huh?! Want to go shopping together?" Specter was surprised. "Oh, you mean this?"

Bai Ye was a little confused. "Of course, what else did you think?"

What do you think?

This obvious question echoed in Specter's mind.

Only then did she realize that she had misunderstood...

Bai Ye gave Skadi a thumbs up. "Skadi, my Superman."

"?"

Unfortunately, the simple-minded Skadi couldn't understand Bai Ye's subtext. She could only respond with a thumbs up— Bai Ye had taught her that this gesture was called "look at me more often."

The three changed their clothes and left the waters and beach where they had been staying recently.

Because of their disturbances, the surrounding scaled fish had long since fled without a trace, the Fowlbeast dared not linger here, and the Rock Crab and Originium Slug had disappeared without a trace.

The waters had a deathly still atmosphere, looking almost exactly like the real ocean.

For the people at the monitoring station, this was also good news. In the past few days, they had been able to observe abnormal fluctuations in this body of water every day, and the values were so outrageous that they were almost like a harbinger of Catastrophe.

At first, they thought the volcano was about to erupt again and were almost terrified. But Miss Ceylon just casually said, "Leave it alone," and didn't pay any more attention to it.

Now those terrible fluctuations have finally subsided. They can finally get a good night's sleep without having to live in constant fear.

Bai Ye, Skadi, and Specter walk through the streets of Siesta.

The surrounding area was still filled with joyful crowds, tourists, and all kinds of music, making it very lively, or rather, somewhat noisy.

"So you see... humans on land really live a carefree life," Specter remarked, watching the cheerful tourists.

"If we could continue to walk towards the end of the world without any worries, it might be a happy thing."

This time, the nun was unusually free of disdain, even though she usually commented on things on land from a higher perspective.

After all, the Aegir's technological level, the crises they faced, and the power possessed by the Specter itself all unconsciously instilled in the girl a sense of arrogance and superiority. She admitted that she was indeed prejudiced, but she refused to change this attitude.

This time, however, there was a hint of envy in Specter's tone.

Is it better to know the impending disaster, fight, face the expected defeat, and head towards final destruction in a state of helpless despair, or to be happier to slide slowly into the abyss in carefree ignorance?

Although Specter's fighting spirit did not diminish, there was a fleeting moment when she wished she could be the latter.