Chapter 36: Moonlight Fish Mother

This time, the Deep Sea Merfolk did not roar. Its bulging fish eyes stared unblinkingly at Lily Rhodes. It emitted a series of guttural GURGLE GURGLE sounds from its mouth, as if trying to convey something.

Unfortunately, for someone who couldn’t even pass a basic English exam, understanding fish-speak was entirely out of the question. Even though she couldn’t comprehend its words, Lily understood the look in its eyes. Within that gaze lay vigilance, hatred, contempt, and even a faint, barely perceptible trace of greed and jealousy.

"Jealousy?" Lily thought. "I’m not sure. I’d better look closer."

Just as she wondered if she had misread its expression—after all, what could she possibly possess that would incite its jealousy?—the Deep Sea Merfolk suddenly swung its Trident again. The water column binding it shattered like a fragile bubble. Once freed, the creature didn’t retreat into the water. Instead, it stood firmly upon the surface.

This time, she saw it with absolute clarity. The emotion hidden in the creature’s eyes was undoubtedly jealousy.

As it took a step forward, preparing to charge at her, Shelly suddenly popped its head out of its shell and snapped its jaws shut around the Deep Sea Merfolk. The turtle’s immense bite force could easily tear the creature in half. When Shelly opened its mouth again, the Deep Sea Merfolk had already been reduced to a limp corpse.

"The Deep Sea Merfolk is dead, and the Treasure Chest on its tail actually turned real!" Lily exclaimed.

Sprout retrieved the corpse, the Treasure Chest, and the Trident, laying them out in a neat row on the ground. It was obvious that Shelly found the creature utterly repulsive. The turtle had merely crushed it to death without breaking its skin, only knocking loose a few scales. Even so, Lily could sense that her companion was in a terrible mood—it was the distinct depression of having accidentally bitten into something incredibly foul-tasting.

"Deconstruct," Lily commanded.

A flash of white light swept over the area, instantly transforming the corpse into several portions of processed materials.

[Deep Sea Mermaid Bone: Much sturdier than ordinary fish bones.]

[Deep Sea Mermaid Meat: Contains a trace amount of Deep Sea essence. Smells fishy. Consumption allows for brief periods of activity in seawater.]

[Deep Sea essence: Long-term consumption allows for unrestricted movement in seawater.]

The bones could be used to craft a Fishbone Dagger. The meat and the essence shared similar effects, though the Deep Sea essence was clearly far superior. She would list the Deep Sea Mermaid Meat in the trading hub and keep the Deep Sea essence for herself.

Finally, there was the creature’s Trident.

[Trident: The preferred weapon of the Deep Sea Merfolk. Forged from Deep Sea Ore, it is incredibly hard.]

Lily picked up the Trident and gave it a swing. It didn’t feel right. Although the weight was appropriate for her current strength, the weapon was far too cumbersome. She positioned herself as a Mage, not a warrior, and she had zero experience wielding polearms like this. If mishandled, the Trident wouldn’t boost her combat prowess at all; it would only hinder her performance.

"Forget it. I’m gonna put this up in the trading hub too," she decided.

By now, the rain had stopped, and the sun had broken through the clouds. All that was left was the Silver Treasure Chest.

[Special Silver Treasure Chest: Transformed from a slain Deep Sea Merfolk. Contains the creature’s entire hoard of treasures.]

"Entire hoard of treasures?"

Her eyes immediately lit up at the description. She had a strong hunch that she was about to unbox something extraordinary. Without any hesitation, Lily opened it.

CLATTER!

As the lid swung open, she didn’t find the glittering, golden weapons she had envisioned. Instead, a pile of multicolored stones and pearls spilled out. Lily picked up a red stone—a ruby of exceptional clarity. Back on Azurea, this single gem would have been enough to guarantee her financial freedom for life. But this wasn’t Azurea; this was The Survival World. No matter how beautiful these gemstones were, they were practically useless here.

"This Deep Sea Merfolk has absolutely zero taste," she grumbled. "Why hoard useless gems and pearls? Couldn’t it have collected some blueprints or something? Even basic items would be better."

Just as she was complaining, a pinkish-white scallop shell at the very bottom of the chest caught her eye. She picked it up and gave it a shake. She could clearly hear the sound of sloshing water inside.

"So it’s empty."

But based on the sound, there was definitely something else sloshing around in there, and it didn’t sound like a pearl. The scallop was quite large, offering plenty of space inside. Lily pried it open with her bare hands, revealing its interior.

The next second, a solid silver fish with gossamer-like tail fins flopped out. It bounced on the ground twice before going completely still. Seeing this, Lily quickly willed a stream of seawater to fly out from the ocean and fill the empty Silver Treasure Chest. She then scooped up the stranded fish and placed it inside. Once back in the water, the exceptionally beautiful silver fish immediately calmed down.

[Moonlight Fish Mother: Special Fish species. Extremely rare in number and highly prone to premature death during its growth cycle. A rare, supportive nanny-type fish. Possesses rare Water Talent and Space Talent. Exhibits strong territorial instincts; everything within its territory is classified as subjects requiring its care and protection.

Note: This Moonlight Fish Mother is about to spawn. It must be placed in a completely quiet and safe environment. Otherwise, the mother fish will refuse to spawn, resulting in the eggs dying within its womb.]

Seeing this warning, Lily didn’t hesitate. She scooped up the chest, sprinted into the courtyard, and poured the Moonlight Fish Mother into the largest water vat available.

"This should be quiet and safe enough," she muttered.

She watched the Moonfish swim in the vat. Its elegant, flowing tail fins made it look like a fairy dancing gracefully underwater. Thinking back to when she pried open the shell and the Moonfish dropped straight onto the ground, she grew worried. Although it hadn’t shown any visible injuries or even lost a single scale, Lily feared it might have suffered internal damage that could harm the unspawned eggs in its belly.

She turned and jogged over to the fountain, collected a generous amount of Healing Water, and poured it all straight into the vat. As the Healing Water mixed in, the swimming Moonfish grew noticeably more lively. Lily could sense a distinct wave of happiness radiating from the creature.

"By the way, what exactly does a Moonfish eat?" she wondered.

Aside from a comfortable and quiet environment, proper nourishment was an absolute must. Otherwise, what if the famished Moonlight Fish Mother ended up eating its own freshly laid eggs? With that in mind, Lily closed her eyes and began to listen. What her Talent allowed her to ’hear’ was less about actual sound and more about an intuitive feeling—a perception of invisible Energy.

After a long moment, she opened her eyes, a flash of helpless resignation in her gaze.

"Of course it wants Crystal Cores too," she sighed.

She pulled out a few Crystal Cores and tossed them into the vat. Upon seeing them, the Moonfish darted over immediately, continuously rubbing its body against the cores in a display of sheer delight.

Having settled the fish, Lily opened the regional chat channel and shared her recent encounter with the Deep Sea Merfolk. Right now, just waking up every day cost her a fixed daily upkeep of ten Crystal Cores, and that number would only increase in the future. Relying solely on her own foraging definitely wouldn’t be enough. Therefore, as far as she was concerned, the more people who survived in this world, the better it was for her.