Chapter 899
On the surface of the sea, the Cursed Siren’s screams echoed endlessly. Countless sea monsters were launched into the air like raindrops, only to be torn to shreds moments later. The Cursed Siren’s blood rained down like a torrential downpour. This was all part of the incredible battle scene orchestrated by Princess Helene. When facing the sea monsters, she was nothing short of a true grim reaper.
She sliced through the sea monsters as if chopping vegetables. The blood of all who watched boiled with excitement. Jack Tang rose from the ground, taking a deep breath and shutting his eyes tight, trying to regain his composure. Then, his eyes snapped open.
“I'm going to fight. I would rather die than lose the fighting spirit of the Gorgon Pirates. The son of Prince Loki fights for us, the daughter of Angela the Pirate Queen fights for us, and even the third in line to the Seiren Empire's throne fights for us. So why are we just standing by and watching? I'm going to fight. Do as you will!”
Jack Tang drew his scimitar and charged forcefully into the swarm of sea monsters. Haimon looked at Haiyuan’s headless corpse on the ground, then glanced at Douglas.
“Brother, perhaps you were wrong, and Shen Lang was right. The Gorgon Pirates should never wait for others to save them; we must save ourselves. Angela the Pirate Queen chose the red whistle, chose to fight, and preserved the soul of the Gorgon Pirates. But we… we lost that soul.”
Muttering to himself, Haimon drew his scimitar and charged madly into the oceanic battlefield.
“I'm going to fight. Do as you will!”
“I'm going to fight too. Do as you will!”
“I'm going too!”
One after another, the Gorgon Pirates drew their scimitars and charged forward on trembling, weak legs. One by one, the sails of the Gorgon Pirates' warships unfurled as they charged toward the cursed waters and the countless sea monsters. There is a force in this world called momentum. When it wanes, it is like a receding tide, impossible for mortals to turn back. But when it begins to rise, it is like a raging inferno that cannot be extinguished.
More and more Gorgon Pirates joined the charge. They were like moths drawn to a flame. But watching someone sacrifice their own life sends the greatest thrill through the human heart. Previously, when Angela the Pirate Queen sacrificed her life, it failed to ignite the fighting spirit in their hearts. And now, Shen Lang, Hella, and Helene were sacrificing their lives, attempting once more to ignite that spirit, but this time, it had failed from the very beginning. However, the blood-pumping battle that followed, the sky-piercing screams of the Cursed Siren, and the sight of its severed giant tentacles gave them a glimmer of hope for victory. As more and more pirates charged into battle, the scales of victory began to tip.
“Shen Lang was right. If we lose our fighting spirit, we no longer deserve to be called the Gorgon Pirates. A glorious death is better than a wretched life.”
“Brothers, haven't you despaired enough? Haven't you feared enough? Haven't we lingered in this hell for long enough? Let's kill these sea monsters and reclaim the fighting spirit of the Gorgon Pirates!”
Countless Gorgon Pirates roared and charged with wild abandon. In a situation like this, any Gorgon Pirate who remained behind would be so shamed they would lose the will to live in this world. Humans are social creatures; at times like these, no matter how afraid, one must clench their teeth, shut their eyes, and charge forward. In the end, tens of thousands of pirates rushed to the sea to battle the monsters, leaving only a few thousand behind in the ruins of the Silrak Kingdom—those whose fighting spirit had been completely castrated, never to be reclaimed.
But regardless, the Gorgon Pirates had been reborn. Even if every last one of them were to die without a trace, the strong and invincible Gorgon Pirates had returned!
* * *
So, where was Shen Lang now? He was inside the belly of the giant octopus known as the Cursed Siren. His entire body was tightly wrapped, and he even wore goggles. He had even prepared a primitive oxygen tank. Some might ask how one could create an oxygen tank in this world. In reality, there were many ways to produce oxygen. Heating potassium permanganate or potassium chloride could produce it.
So how did Shen Lang avoid being crushed by the countless teeth in its mouth while entering the Cursed Siren's belly? Because this giant octopus never had teeth in the first place; it was all an illusion. Where would an octopus have teeth?
Furthermore, it wasn't just that; nearly everything visible was an illusion. The very idea of an octopus as large as a fortress was a lie. This octopus was very large, but it weighed at most close to ten thousand pounds. If there were truly a giant octopus the size of a fortress with tentacles thousands of meters long and thick, one wouldn't even be able to fight it; they would be instantly crushed to a pulp.
The Cursed Siren’s most powerful weapon was its psychic energy. It created fear and illusions, causing people to lose all their fighting spirit and collapse to the ground the moment they saw it. Even Hella’s legs had given out upon seeing it, and Princess Helene had said it was impossible to defeat. That was why Shen Lang had injected the two of them with a drug, putting them into an altered mental state. By doing so, the illusions the Cursed Siren created for them vanished, and they could see its true form. In reality, this octopus weighed only tens of thousands of pounds, and even with all its tentacles spread out, its reach was merely a hundred meters.
After overcoming the terrifying illusions, Hella and Helene fought the giant octopus furiously, beginning to sever its tentacles one by one. The octopus’s strength was immense, but not enough to overpower Princess Helene, so it was being dominated by her. In response, the Cursed Siren had no choice but to summon countless sea monsters to surround Helene and cry for help. While in reality, the tentacles were only tens of meters long, visually, it looked as if tentacles thousands of meters long were being severed, making Princess Helene appear like a goddess defeating a mighty beast.
* * *
Having safely entered the belly of the Cursed Siren, Shen Lang greeted someone.
“Cursed Empress, how do you do? At first, I didn't think you were the Cursed Empress. There are so few records about you.”
The scene before him was chilling. For there was another person besides Shen Lang inside the giant octopus's belly. The woman was living parasitically within the octopus's body. Long hair covered her face, obscuring it from view, and her entire body was as still as a statue, as if it had grown from within the octopus's belly.
Shen Lang spoke slowly.
“I saw your name in my father's diary. My father retreated without ever entering the cursed waters, so he never saw you himself, but he sensed your presence. After that, he searched through many ancient records, but information about you was still scarce. You were a princess of the Silrak Kingdom, were you not? Your body has died, but your spirit has lived on for thousands of years.
You were a princess of the new Silrak Kingdom, founded three thousand years ago, but you believed human psychic energy was too weak, so you chose to live parasitically in this octopus. But did you know that the average lifespan of an octopus is only four years? I could never figure that part out. This octopus must have lived for a very, very long time. Otherwise, it couldn't have grown so large. It's remarkable for a normal octopus to weigh over a hundred pounds, but this giant you inhabit weighs tens of thousands.
The octopus is one of the most intelligent species in the sea. Its brain has two memory systems, but it's still inferior to human neurons. However, what's truly remarkable about an octopus is that its brain and nervous system can continuously evolve. Since this one has lived for so long and grown so large, its brain must have evolved to an astonishing degree. That's how you've been able to control countless sea monsters, create terrifying illusions, and rule these waters. But there's one thing I couldn't solve. We are human, so why did you not kill us, but instead try to trap us in these ruins forever?”
Shen Lang's deduction was correct. The giant octopus was called the Cursed Siren because of the Cursed Empress living parasitically inside it. The two had become one, ruling over these waters as its overlord.
A woman's voice answered Shen Lang's question.
“This is my kingdom; it cannot be without subjects. Otherwise, I would be too lonely. All who enter the ruins of the Silrak Kingdom must not leave.”
“If that's the case, why did you create the ghostly wails that drive people to depression and even suicide?”
“My kingdom fell. Am I not allowed to weep? Are my subjects not allowed to grieve with me?”
“Your Highness, your plight is pitiable, but I must leave this place. I must take my Gorgon Pirate fleet and leave.”
The Cursed Empress, parasite within the giant octopus, screamed.
“You cannot leave! You cannot! Once you enter the ruins of the Silrak Kingdom, you are my subjects. Do not even think of leaving. Anyone who tries to leave must die!”
“Then I am sorry. Your Highness, Princess of the new Silrak Empire, I must kill you.”
She laughed loudly.
“Hahahaha! Kill me? You think you can kill me? I have never seen a man as weak as you in my life. You cannot defeat me. Those two women are very strong, especially the blonde one who has severed most of my tentacles, but they are surrounded by countless sea monsters. Eventually, their energy will run out. That will be the moment of their death. And while your Gorgon Pirates may have regained their fighting spirit and become very brave, they are only fifty or sixty thousand strong. How can they face my army of hundreds of thousands of sea monsters? Since you are so intent on leaving, you can all die here.”
The Cursed Empress shrieked curses as if she had lost her mind.
“Princess of Silrak, are you trying to kill us all because we have discovered your true form? You are not as enormous and terrifying as you made yourself out to be.”
“You're right. All who have seen my true form must die!”
“Princess of the Silrak Empire, why aren't you moving at all? Your body must be very strong. So why can't you kill me? I think the reason is quite simple. While you are controlling the octopus's body, you cannot move yourself, can you? If you move, you lose control of the octopus, don't you?”
The Cursed Empress sneered.
“Clever, very clever. I've never met anyone more intelligent than you. Decades ago, that man from the East almost entered my domain, but at the last moment, he retreated. And now, decades later, his son unexpectedly arrives. Should I call this fate? Or reincarnation? That bloodline will finally die by my hand.”
“Unfortunately, you won't have the chance to kill me. Because you cannot move. Besides, you can't create illusions for me.”
Shen Lang's brain contained a computer that could filter out and eliminate any brainwaves. So, while Shen Lang had initially seen illusions, he quickly regained his clarity, and the Cursed Siren's illusions could no longer interfere with his brain. Shen Lang slowly drew his black sword, approached the fearsome Cursed Empress, and plunged it forcefully into her chest.
“Agh!”
The Cursed Empress screamed, then laughed loudly and said.
“Hahahaha! I cannot die, so you can never kill me! Handsome man from the East, now it is my turn to kill you.”
True to her words, she was unharmed despite being stabbed.
“But you will die soon.”
The Cursed Empress roared, and a strange scene unfolded.
Boom, boom, boom.
In the sea, the giant octopus known as the Cursed Siren thrashed its tentacles, severed them, and broke free from Princess Helene's attack range before suddenly diving into the depths. Helene and Hella were engaged in a fierce battle with both the giant octopus and countless sea monsters when it suddenly severed its own tentacles and fled.
“No...!”
Princess Helene cried out in alarm and followed it into the sea. But as soon as she entered the water, she was surrounded by countless sea monsters.
Swish, swish, swish, swish.
Princess Helene's greatsword swung wildly, instantly slaughtering dozens, even a hundred, sea monsters. But a second later, she was once again swarmed and surrounded by a million sea monsters.