20: Siren Attack 2

"Sea Monsters! Enemy attack!"

Linn heard the increasingly noisy sounds, flashed away from the breath of life, and rushed out of the lord's wooden house.

"What's going on?!"

"It's from the seaside! Something has crawled up!"

Clay, Ocean, Elise, and others reacted quickly, all grabbing their weapons and rushing out.

Elise, who had just promoted, was particularly swift. She grabbed her longbow and quiver, her emerald eyes sharp as a hawk's in the night, and they all rushed toward the coastline.

By the cold moonlight, everyone saw a hair-raising scene—dozens of ugly creatures, as if crawled out of a nightmare, were continuously pouring out of the seawater, roaring as they charged toward the camp!

They moved by leaping with strong, frog-like hind limbs, their movements swift. Their dark green skin glistened wetly, and their huge, bulging eyes and split mouths emitted "hiss-ha, hiss-ha" strange noises, full of primitive killing desire.

"It's the 'Bone Saw Fish Beasts'! Low-level seabed predators!" Ocean, who was well-informed, immediately shouted hoarsely, his face solemn. "Watch out for the spikes on their backs and their teeth; they are poisonous! Although not fatal, they will cause wounds to fester and be hard to heal!"

These Bone Saw Fish Beasts were almost at the bottom of the food chain in the vast and dangerous Storm Sea Region and were one of the unranked Sea Monster tribes.

They had low intelligence and hunted only by instinct, usually not daring to attack large-scale settlements.

However, this was not the time for long-term thinking.

The number of Bone Saw Fish Beasts exceeded forty. They had easily torn through the simple wooden fences on the outskirts of the camp, which were mainly used to guard against wild beasts, and poured in like overflowing sewage, engaging in a melee with the hastily resisting soldiers and panicked Slaves.

Screams, the clashing of weapons, and the roars of monsters instantly rang out all at once!

"Don't panic! Form ranks! Spearmen to the front! Stop them!" Linn forced himself to calm down, his voice infused with Mental Energy, clearly spreading across the chaotic battlefield. "Carl, take your men and stabilize the left flank! Angus, Hogan, hold the right side! Clay, lead the First Squad to fight them head-on! Morton, organize the Slaves to retreat backward and pick up anything that can serve as a weapon!"

The First Squad led by Clay was the best equipped. Although caught off guard, they were well-trained and quickly assembled. Their spears were like a forest, forming a tight phalanx, struggling to keep the lunging fish monsters outside the line of defense.

Elise leaped onto the harbor watchtower, her bowstring vibrating repeatedly.

After being promoted to Bronze High Rank, her arrow speed was faster, her power greater, and her accuracy significantly improved.

Arrow after arrow shot out like vipers, specifically targeting the fish monsters' huge, eyelid-less eyes and fragile throats.

Ocean Jack roared, "What kind of rank are you to dare act presumptuously in front of my lord!" His Silver Elementary Battle Qi erupted, the pale blue light particularly eye-catching in the night.

He brandished his long spear, charging into the monster horde like a whirlwind. Wherever the cold light of the spear tip swept, a fish beast was sure to be severely injured or killed, temporarily curbing the momentum of the monster charge.

Linn wandered behind the battle formation, stabilizing the overall situation and preparing to provide support at any time.

The battle was exceptionally fierce.

The strength of the fish monsters far exceeded that of ordinary humans; their claws and teeth were sharp, and they were fearless of death.

Although the soldiers resisted desperately, people continued to fall.

Several Slaves who were resting at the edge of the camp and the sentries who first encountered the attack had already fallen in pools of blood.

Part of the temporarily built fences and a watchtower that had not yet been fully completed were also knocked down or destroyed by the Bone Saw Fish Beasts during the chaos.

Just when the front line was barely stabilized and the fish monsters' offensive seemed to be contained, an exceptionally sharp, commanding hiss came from the seaside.

Everyone looked toward the sound and saw a strong fish monster, significantly larger than the other Bone Saw Fish Beasts, with a darker, almost ink-green color, slowly crawling onto the shore, surrounded by a group of ordinary fish monsters.

Its bulging eyes flashed with a more cunning and cruel light than its peers, staring fixedly at the frantically slaughtering Ocean Jack and Linn, who was commanding from the rear.

"A Level 3 Sea Monster!" Elise sensed the aura emitted by that Sea Monster. "It's equivalent to a human Silver Elementary! It's the leader of this group of fish monsters!"

A Level 3 Sea Monster already possessed a certain degree of intelligence.

This Level 3 Sea Monster leader let out a roar, brandishing its exceptionally thick forelimbs, whose claws were like obsidian daggers, and personally joined the battle.

Its target was clear—Linn in the rear.

"Protect the lord!" Clay and Ocean shouted almost simultaneously.

Ocean roared and met it head-on. His long spear collided fiercely with the Sea Monster leader's sharp claws, emitting a loud sound like metal clashing! Sparks flew! Ocean was shaken back half a step, his expression changing slightly; the strength of this Sea Monster was actually faintly above his own!

Clay also wanted to step forward to support, but he was tightly entangled by several other fearless fish monsters.

The Sea Monster leader forced Ocean back, its hind limbs exerting force suddenly, and like a cannonball leaving the chamber, it leaped over the chaotic battle group, its claws aiming directly at Linn's face!

The speed was astonishingly fast, with a fishy wind blowing in his face!

At the critical moment!

"Whoosh—!"

An arrow infused with natural magic, at a speed surpassing any previous arrow, hit the joint of the Sea Monster leader's right forelimb, which it had just raised and was preparing to swing down, with pinpoint accuracy!

It was Elise! She had seized the tiny opening revealed when the Sea Monster leader was attacking with full force!

"Pfft!"

The arrow embedded deeply, and ink-green blood sprayed out.

The Sea Monster leader let out a hiss of pain and rage, its movements inevitably showing a moment of stagnation.

It was this momentary stagnation that decided the battle!

Linn's spell was already complete.

"Flame Arrow!"

A huge fireball rapidly smashed toward the injured joint of the Bone Saw Fish Beast leader.

"Boom!!"

The internally exploding fire energy instantly destroyed this main attack limb of its!

Accompanied by an extremely shrill scream, the Sea Monster leader's right forelimb was almost blown off, with only a little skin and flesh connecting it, hanging down powerlessly.

Under the heavy injury, its ferocity flared up, and the remaining left claw still frantically grasped toward Linn.

But a silver figure had already blocked in front of Linn again!

"Your opponent is me! Scum!" Ocean Jack seized the opportunity, pushing his Battle Qi to the limit. His long spear drew a perfect arc, and taking advantage of the moment when the Sea Monster leader was wide open due to severe pain and loss of balance, he fiercely slashed into its neck!

"Crack!" An ear-piercing sound of bone shattering rang out.

The Sea Monster leader's huge body stiffened suddenly, its pair of bulging eyes full of cruelty and violence rapidly losing their luster, and it collapsed heavily like a falling mountain, ink-green blood quickly staining the land beneath it red.

The leader's death plunged the remaining fish monsters into chaos.

They lost their command, their attacks were no longer orderly, and their roars were filled with fear.

"Kill! Leave none alive!" Linn ordered sternly.

The soldiers, who had completely stabilized, launched a counterattack, annihilating the remaining twenty-plus fish monsters as easily as chopping melons and vegetables.

When the last fish monster was stabbed to death on the beach, the east was already glowing with the white of dawn.

—————

The battle was over.

On the edge of the camp and the beach, more than forty fish monster corpses were left behind, and a foul, fishy smell permeated the morning air.

However, the price of victory was heavy.

After counting, fifteen Slaves and five ordinary soldiers had died in the attack, and nearly thirty others were injured.

Some defensive facilities and pier facilities were destroyed, and the peace that had just been established was completely broken.

Linn's expression was solemn as he walked to the corpse of the Level 3 Sea Monster leader.

"My lord, although this thing is disgusting, there are some things on its body that should be worth some money," Ocean said, using the tip of his knife to pry open the Sea Monster leader's broken limbs. "Look at its claws; they are very hard and sharp, making them good Materials for making daggers or arrowheads. And this skin, although poor in quality, can also be used to make some simple leather armor after tanning. Most importantly, we can get a Level 3 Magic Crystal."

Linn nodded and instructed Morton: "Find a few bold and careful people to collect all the valuable Materials from these fish monsters, especially the Magic Crystal in the head of this leader."

"Young Master!" Elise jumped down from the high platform: "Can the Materials from these Saw-toothed Fish Monsters be given to me? I can use them to make a more powerful longbow."

Linn looked at the Elementary longbow in Elise's hand, which was already on the verge of breaking.

"Of course, your increase in strength is also an improvement to the territory's defensive power."

"Thank you, Young Master." Elise began to step forward to collect the Materials.

He looked around at the people who had experienced a bloody battle, their faces full of exhaustion and sorrow, and then looked out at the boundless sea, which seemed calm but hid countless dangers, his voice clearly spreading throughout the camp:

"Everyone has seen it! This is the Storm Sea Region! This is the reality we face! If we want to survive here and live well, we must become stronger! From today on, reinforcing the defensive fortifications is the top priority! Training, construction, development! We will make any enemy who dares to violate Iron Sand Island never return!"

His words were like war drums, beating in everyone's heart.

The fear had not dissipated, but a more firm determination to fight for survival began to ignite in the eyes of the survivors.