There was something wrong with Murloc’s corpse.
Chloe blinked and looked toward the murloc.
Its body was swollen and pale, covered in a fine layer of scales.
The torso was bloated, yet its limbs were thin and disproportionately frail.
“What do you mean exactly?”
“Do you remember the details Erwin mentioned? The murloc tried to dodge when it saw their bows and arrows. It was only hit because the arrows were too fast and they attacked by surprise.”
Chloe tilted her head, not sensing anything unusual.
Wasn’t it normal to dodge when faced with danger?
“But murlocs live in the sea. I specifically asked the Sirens about it, there are no bows and arrows underwater.”
“You’re saying they’ve already had contact with humans?”
“Yes. The design and structure of a bow and arrow wouldn’t naturally be associated with a ranged weapon the first time someone saw it. The murlocs must have encountered such things somewhere before. Pirates generally don’t use bows and arrows either, they’re difficult to preserve at sea and are usually only found on land.”
Hughes spread out a sea chart.
“The Empire has never had any reports of contact with murlocs. The northern White Raven Principality’s sea routes are also under the Empire’s control. The fact that murlocs recognize bows and arrows suggests that they must have had legitimate combat experience on land. If we rule out the Empire...”
Chloe’s gaze followed Hughes’ finger as it moved across the map, finally settling on the lower right corner.
“The Martha Archipelago, Gem Bay. There are many large islands over there where bows and arrows are in use. Perhaps the connection between murlocs and pirates runs deeper than we imagined.”
“You’re suggesting they might be working with the pirates?”
“That’s one possible explanation. But why would pirates attack us? We can offer them valuable explosives production capacity. If that so-called Pirate King had even a shred of sense, he wouldn’t dare lay a hand on us.”
Hughes furrowed his brow.
This was the biggest mystery at the moment, what exactly had happened with the pirates for them to suddenly vanish without a trace?
Even though Castel Island was remote, there were occasionally passing ships on the Storm Ocean.
Yet recently, all of them had disappeared.
It was as if the entire Castel had been transported to another world, completely cut off from the outside.
“In any case, let’s dissect that corpse and see what we can find. Do you know how to perform a dissection?”
“I am a nun, after all, I have some knowledge of medicine. Leave it to me.”
Hughes looked into her amber-red eyes and nodded.
What followed exceeded everyone’s expectations.
More and more murlocs began to appear along the coast.
Three patrol squads encountered them consecutively.
The first two squads faced lone murlocs, but the third ran into an entire team,nover a dozen of them.
After the patrol squads sounded the alarm, the Sirens quickly arrived at the scene. Even so, some were injured.
The soldiers were equipped with half-plate armor, providing decent protection without compromising mobility too much.
One of the murlocs from the squad was responsible for the injury.
The encounter had been sudden, both sides were momentarily stunned before immediately engaging in combat.
The murlocs outnumbered the humans two to one and were physically larger, but they weren’t particularly fast.
After a brief exchange, the patrol squad managed to retreat, even rescuing their wounded comrade in the process.
The injured soldier was named Zoro. Hughes personally went to visit him.
A murloc’s trident had struck him under the ribs.
The half-plate armor blocked most of the damage, but a gap in the metal still allowed for a deep gash.
Fortunately, the wound wasn’t too severe. With some rest and proper care, Zorro would recover.
The incident quickly spread across the island.
The Sirens had been deployed urgently, and there wasn’t time for them to conceal their presence, many islanders saw them.
This sudden exposure was unexpected.
Hughes hadn’t had time to arrange for any propaganda or public relations, yet, surprisingly, the islanders seemed to accept the Sirens rather quickly.
The island wasn’t large, and many knew Zoro personally.
The fact that the Sirens had saved his life soon spread through the island, thanks to his friends and neighbors.
The Sirens were responsible for rescuing patrol squads in trouble.
Once people understood this, they felt more grateful toward the Sirens.
Who knew when they might need help themselves?
Because of this, even without Hughes pushing public sentiment, the islanders grew to accept the Sirens’ presence.
Some even became devoted followers, believing the Sirens were the true saviors of Castel and voluntarily spread tales of their past deeds.
This was somewhat unexpected for Hughes, but soon he didn’t have the luxury of worrying about such things.
It wasn’t just murlocs appearing near the coast, someone had spotted a sea urchin monster surfacing from the water.
Even though it was just a distant glimpse, it sounded a dire alarm for Hughes.
The island’s fortifications hadn’t even begun proper construction yet, if the sea urchin monster rampaged ashore, it would be nearly impossible to stop.
“We don’t have time to hesitate anymore. We’ll have to abandon the outer beaches and focus on defending the island’s core zone,” Hughes said briskly as he paced toward Alexei.
Alexei’s expression was grim.
Just yesterday, when they had gathered to discuss the situation, they hadn’t expected it to deteriorate this quickly.
Now, it seemed that full-scale war was imminent, and the first batch of bunkers had only just begun construction.
“How long will it take to finish?”
“If the construction team works on it, the fastest we could do it is five days, that’s just enough for the concrete to set. If the Sirens assist, we might be able to shorten that time further,” Alexei suggested after some thought.
Concrete needed time to cure, but Fossil to Mud didn’t.
If the Sirens could handle the foundation work, the construction team could focus on the upper structures, saving them the wait time for the concrete to harden.
Upon hearing this, Hughes activated his Mind Link.
『Una, you’re aware of the situation by now, right? How far along is the construction on your end?』
『Lord Hughes, the central furnace construction is complete. If we abandon the outer beaches, then our part of the work is basically done.』
The Sirens’ workload had originally been quite heavy, primarily focused on the Network Path Project.
The initial plan required all the outer fortifications to be interconnected.
If they abandoned the beaches, most of those paths could be halted, freeing up manpower for ground support.
『Then join the construction team immediately. We must complete the first round of fortifications as soon as possible.』
『Ah, we… we’re going to appear directly on the surface?』
Una’s voice was noticeably tense.