In complete darkness.
There was nothing here, no living beings, no movement; it was like an empty void.
Only the gently flowing seawater can prove that this is the Ocean.
The depths of the Ocean are completely different from the void above.
"Children, come this way! Stay close to your teacher and don't get lost."
Okay~
"Teacher, I don't want to swim anymore, can you carry me?"
"No way~ You're already a big fish, and besides, which little kid told me yesterday that they wanted to be a guardian?"
"Oh... okay, teacher."
A petite woman swam at the very front of the crowd, reminding the students of safety like a teacher.
She had a shark-like fin on her back, and her skin was so smooth it seemed to have no pores.
Her jet-black hair swayed gently in front of her large, watery eyes.
The group of 'students' following behind her were much the same age as her.
They both had dark blue hair and fish fins on their backs, but the latter was much smaller than her.
Their chubby faces resembled adorable mermaids, clumsily swimming behind their teacher.
There were also several small fish, about the size of a palm, swimming inside.
The fish looked like sardines, but they had a small shark fin on their backs and their big eyes were full of intelligence.
All around, fruits like the sun floated in the Ocean, illuminating the deep sea.
Various wondrous structures sit on the ground, while schools of fish swim continuously overhead.
There were jellyfish, tuna, and all sorts of other fish, some glowing and some not.
Every now and then, one or two enormous creatures, so large they blot out the sky, would swim by around the school of fish.
"Alright, students, we've arrived! The Ground Museum!"
The teacher stopped, stretched out his arms, and pointed to a huge house in front of him whose architectural style clashed with its surroundings.
The little fish also stopped, staring wide-eyed at the colossal beast before them.
"Wow--!"
"Wow--!"
The little fish exclaimed "Grandma!" again and again, making the teachers in front squint and listen carefully.
"Teacher, teacher, please take us inside!"
One of the little fish couldn't resist swimming up to the teacher and nuzzling her.
"Okay~ Follow me, don't fall behind!"
The teacher patted the fish's head and led the students to swim through the gate, which was several meters high.
Upon entering, the first thing you see is a towering tree encased in a huge glass dome.
Wow, what strange seaweed!
"No, it looks more like a sponge."
The little fish chatted amongst themselves, swimming up to the glass dome to observe it closely.
"This isn't seaweed, students," the teacher said, swimming up to them.
"This is a plant unique to land, a tree!"
"Teacher! Is this common on the ground?"
A little mermaid raised her chubby little hand to ask a question. The teacher stroked her chin and said uncertainly,
"I don't know much about that, but I think there probably aren't many things that big on land."
The students nodded in unison.
"Alright, let's look at something else."
The teacher stopped them from talking and led them to a huge rock.
"This is a fossil of a land creature, and land creatures are completely different from us!"
The students stared wide-eyed at the strange creature with four legs, a long, thin tail, and a neck several meters long.
"Teacher, their tails are so small, how do they swim?"
"Land creatures don't swim; they walk on the ground."
The little fish didn't seem to understand the concept of walking. "Then won't they just float away?"
"No, no, there's no seawater there. Every creature there is attached to the ground; they won't drift away."
The little fish didn't seem to understand, but they didn't ask any more questions and continued their tour with the teacher.
"Hey everyone, this time we're going to see something really big!"
The teacher turned around and said mysteriously to the students.
This successfully piqued the interest of every little fish, who exclaimed, "What kind of teacher is this? What kind of teacher is this?!"
The teacher seemed to enjoy the child's cute and charming manner, and after smiling, she stopped teasing him.
"This is an extraterrestrial rock that fell from the land five years ago."
Moreover, judging from its shape, it appears to have been processed by terrestrial organisms.
Even the guardians have said that the rock possesses a peculiar power.
As they talked, the teacher led them to the deepest part of the museum.
There, a square rock stands on the exhibition stand.
The rock is about five meters long on each side. Even after five years of erosion, the rock still has sharp edges and corners, like a steadfast will.
The rocks are also covered with all sorts of strange and unusual runes, imprinted on their surface.
The entire rock is shrouded in mystery.
"Everyone is welcome to look around, but please don't touch anything, be careful not to get hurt!"
After the teacher gave a brief instruction, the students scattered and gathered around the rock to examine it closely.
"Teacher..."
Just then, a small fish swam up to the teacher.
The teacher smiled gently, bringing her face parallel to it. "What's wrong?"
The little fish's big, watery eyes were filled with curiosity and confusion.
"Teacher, do you think there really is a ground in this world?"
The teacher paused for a moment, then gave an affirmative answer, "Of course there are, otherwise, what are all these exhibits for?"
"Then why have I never seen land? And I've never heard of any land creatures coming to the sea."
I feel that there is nothing else in this world besides the Ocean...
Suddenly, the little fish froze, its pupils trembling as it stared behind the teacher.
"Hmm, what's wrong?"
"Stone, stone, rock..."
"What's wrong with the stone?" The teacher followed his gaze and looked back, his pupils suddenly contracting.
The square stone began to shimmer with golden light, as if it were gilded.
The little mermaid and the little fish were so frightened that they hid behind their teacher, while the teacher stared intently at the stone.
Clang--
The next moment, the rock disintegrated from the rune, turning into Xiaoxiao stones that rolled down.
A large number of bubbles surged from the rocks, and a girl with snow-white skin and long hair floated out from within.
She slowly opened her eyes, revealing her peach-colored pupils.
"Ah--!
Surface people have appeared!!!
Upon seeing the girl, the students scattered like sheep seeing a gray wolf.
"Class, don't wander off! Follow me to find the Guardian!"
The teacher, looking terrified, organized the students and led them to swim towards the door.
The girl was left looking completely bewildered.
Suddenly, seawater rushed into my nasal cavity, and the air in my lungs was violently coughed up due to the water pressure.
Then seawater rushed into my lungs, and a strong feeling of suffocation came over me.
The girl instinctively twisted her limbs, trying to surface.
But how could she possibly swim out like that?
My lungs were completely filled with seawater, and the remaining air turned into wisps of bubbles that drifted away.
The girl stopped moving, closed her eyes in despair, and quietly awaited death.
Ten seconds...
Twenty seconds...
The imagined death did not come, and instead, I did not feel uncomfortable; it was as if I could breathe underwater.
The girl opened her eyes in surprise and touched her neck.
A pair of gills had appeared there at some unknown time.
Only then did she notice her surroundings: ancient yellow rock walls and strange round light bulbs floating in the air.
Even though the style here is similar to the buildings on the ground, it's still immediately obvious that this isn't a human society.
Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, the girl murmured to herself, somewhat lost.
"I... I'm dead, aren't I?"