After listening to their words, Bai Lixin looked at the dark tunnel and did not see any split turtles catching up.

He then looked at the two elderly mermen who had already shaken hands and made up. The two were smiling happily as they arm wrestled, as if they had already forgotten the argument they had just had.

This small world of mermen had not yet been invaded by the split turtles, but the middle sea area, which was once a safe zone, was no longer safe.

“What kind of monster was that?” One merman asked, “What are we going to eat if we run out of food in a few moments? The lantern beast we caught two days ago is almost finished, and without food, we’ll all go hungry.”

“It’s our first time seeing them,” the two young mermen looked at each other, “but they seemed to have no intention of attacking us.”

“Even if they don’t mean to attack us, that’s our food and they’re taking it from us!” A mermaid shouted, with a wailing little merman in her arms.

Panic had crept into everyone’s hearts and Bai Lixin watched the squabbling merfolk silently.

There are thousands of creatures living in the sea, forming an ecosystem of their own. Merfolk eat other creatures, and some creatures prey on merfolk.

Some creatures live on fresh meat, others on carrion.

The whale swallows all things, but when the whale falls, all things are born.

The endless cycle of life is an ancient principle that allows life to survive.

Split turtles create more than just despair and panic for the dying; they destroy the very fabric of the sea.

They are eating away at the nutrient system of marine life, and a missing link could easily break and destroy the entire sea and ocean.

“Don’t panic yet,” Green Hair’s voice was high, reassuring the merfolk, “we’ll go and hunt another prey.”

The fat merman’s face hardened a little, but he still nodded, “Yeah. There’s always food to be hunted. ”

“Hey, stop arguing; it’s not easy for these kids. They haven’t had a break for a while and are just from the South Seas. One of them is even burnt. Our youngsters are strong, but they can’t be overworked. ”

An aged voice rang out, and Bai Lixin looked over to see that it was the scarred merman.

The scarred merman’s eyes were clear and it looked like he had regained his senses.

“Who said that the lantern beast was almost done? Isn’t there almost half of it left? That’s enough for two more days. ”

The mermaid, who had just shouted, blushed a little and shrank back with a flick of her tail, saying nothing more.

The bald merman, “The crucial question now is to find out what kind of creature it is, whether it is harmful to our community, and whether it is a threat. If they pose a threat to us, we have to consider the matter of relocation. ”

“I know a little about those creatures.” Bai Lixin spoke up, “Would you like to hear about it?”

One of the mermen who had gone hunting with them looked at Bai Lixin and suddenly thought of something.

“I remember. Today in the South Sea area, next to the electric eel monster, this merman seemed to be carrying that kind of creature in his hand!”

At these words, dozens of eyes looked at Bai Lixin in unison.

Bai Lixin looked normal and said lightly, “Didn’t I say that I was here to see what was causing migration and turmoil among the sea creatures? Those creatures are called split turtles, and they are the source of this turmoil.”

“It first appeared in the mysterious North Sea area. I caught one and was studying their habits. There are a few things that you should keep in mind, but those split turtles should not be easily offended. ”

Bai Lixin’s voice was not loud, but it reached the ears of every merfolk. Even the sleeping little merfolk woke up from their sleep and looked at this strange-looking creature curiously.

When they heard the words “Northern Sea Area”, all the merfolk let out a cold breath.

The Northern Sea area was a forbidden area for all sea creatures because of the mystery and danger of the creatures there.

Bai Lixin took the fish tendrils off his shoulders and found a rock to sit on, polishing them as he slowly spoke.

“This creature is not very dangerous individually, and they cannot attack. So, if you encounter one, there is no need to panic.”

“I haven’t found a way to kill the split turtle so far. Even those ancient gods in the Northern Sea area can’t do anything to them.”

“The reason why I say it can’t be killed is because once a split turtle dies, it is like a newborn. Every time they die, they will immediately divide; one becomes two, two becomes four, infinitely. The most divisions I have ever seen was 11, one split turtle became 2048.”

“Killing them will only make them stronger. So remember, when you come across such creatures, as long as they don’t pester you, don’t actively provoke them. And don’t rush to attack them if they pester you.”

The electric eel’s tendons were as thick as a thumb. Bai Lixin’s fingers fiddled with them a few times, and he found that they were much more flexible and resilient than the lantern beast’s tendons.

The fish tendon was still too thick for a spring and needed to be processed.

He carefully scraped the fascia from the surface of the fish tendon, and while doing so, continued, “So far, I’ve also been looking for a way to kill them.”

“I’ve tried freezing, electrocuting, and roasting it in fire, but either way, none of that has worked.”

“I have a question,” a timid merman raised his hand, “This is the bottom of the sea, where did the fire come from?”

Bai Lixin raised his eyes and said, “Oh, it’s the lava fields in the South Sea. I threw the split turtle into the lava cave.”

Hearing the word “lava”, the mermen gasped again.

Bai Lixin, “As I said earlier, the split turtle split 11 times, and it was from there. The lava killed it and it split rapidly, dying and splitting, from one at the beginning to 2,048 later, until it finally gave up on itself and chose to self-destruct. ”

“The only way to stop the split turtles, for now, is to make them give up of their own accord.”

The young merman asked again, “How do you know that they have split so many times?”

“Oh,” Bai Lixin pointed to his head and said without blushing, “I know they split so many times because the God of the sea told me. Didn’t I say that the god of the sea sent me?”

Fat Merman, “So even the Sea God doesn’t know how to kill them?”

Bai Lixin continued to make things up, “Yeah, no idea.”

Gasps came out of the merfolk once again.

“Then throw them into the lava. Don’t they end up dying after splitting so much? That would always kill them, right?”

“No, we can’t do that, oh.” Bai Lixin smiled and shook his head, “I tortured that split turtle many times before, and its own will to live had been worn down. I was just lucky that it chose not to continue splitting. ”

“Every time they die they come back to life doubled. 1 split turtle in the lava quickly becomes over 2,000. What if there were 10 of them? What about a hundred going in? Not all the split turtles would give up and die. Once those split turtles exceed the volume of the lava itself, they could leave the lava without any problems by manoeuvring. Then the split turtles that stay in the lava will continue to split again, and those split turtles will become a complete source of life and will soon take over every corner of this sea and even the ocean.”

The merfolk immediately got a mental image of what Bai Lixin was trying to say. Their faces went white, and the one who had asked the question had a moment of fear.

That thing was abnormal. Normal creatures reproduce by mating to create new life, but split turtles do it through death.

The more they die, the more they live.

So the lava would be a haven for the split turtles.

Shit, what kind of monster was that?

Another small knife landed on the fish tendon as he talked, and Bai Lixin looked over to see that it was the scarred merman’s.

The scarred merman took the knife and helped Bai Lixin scrape the tendons. His eyes were very serious. He was no longer young and small wrinkles could be seen on the corners of his tiny eyes. The skin on his body was also showing varying degrees of wrinkles and roughness.

He was indeed much thinner compared to the young Green Hair and the fat merman.

But his arms and chest were covered with thick muscles, traces left over from the obscenity of his robust muscles. Through these muscles, one could see how strong this merman was in his youth.

But the hero was dying.

This may be the dilemma and embarrassment that every life faces.

Bai Lixin, “One more thing: the split turtle’s tracking target is……”

He glanced at the scarred merman who was carefully scraping his fascia and continued, after a slight pause in his voice, “A life that will die soon.”

The scarred merman’s knife paused, and quickly returned to normal, scraping the fascia again.

“They can sense the aura of death, and both the dead and the dying can be their targets. Of course, it can’t be ruled out that a certain split turtle veered off and followed me by mistake. I don’t think I have the aura of death on me, but that split turtle just followed me. So you don’t have to be too frightened if a split turtle follows you. ”

“Once you’re prey to a split turtle, you need to keep moving. Split turtles don’t catch creatures on the move. The moment this creature falls to the ground and comes to rest is when the split turtles pour out.”

“I don’t know much, so that’s all I can tell you.” Bai Lixin had already scraped about ten meters of tendon. The dagger spun a few times in his hand with a nimble flick of his fingers, then his hand rose and quickly cut the section of stripped tendon.

After polishing for a while to make sure the tendons were clean of burrs and friction, Bai Lixin got a crossbow that had already been polished and connected the tendon that would act as a spring.

His movements were so skillful that in three or two strokes, a beautifully crafted crossbow was ready.

“I’m going to try the effect of this crossbow. Do you guys want to go and watch?”

With a flick of his tail, Bai Lixin got up and swam off towards the training ground.

The crowd looked at each other and sprang forward, wishing to stick onto Bai Lixin for fear of missing a single moment of excitement.

Bai Lixin placed an arrow made of fish bones on the freshly made crossbow and shot out an arrow while deliberately ignoring the current.

The arrow flew through the water and a semi-vacuum of white light formed around the arrowhead in the current.

Before the merfolk could react to what was flying past, the arrow lodged solidly into the rock, submerging two-thirds of its body.

“Wow!” A merman shouted, “Holy shit, how did that happen? It’s so much better just by changing the tendons?”

The surrounding merfolk bustled around and surrounded Bai Lixin in a group.

Each merman had a look of excitement on their faces, and Bai Lixin handed the crossbow to the eager scarred merman beside him, “Do you want to try it?”

What’s the point of asking?

The scarred merman took it without saying a word. He skillfully loaded the arrow and released it, which once again penetrated two-thirds of the rock.

A gasp erupted from the group of merfolk.

Two-thirds of the attack strength exceeded the attack strength of many adult mermen.

The scarred merman looked at the crossbow in his hand excitedly, his palms trembling slightly and his eyes filled with shock.

Bai Lixin, “Good, the electric eel’s tendrils do work well.”

He thought for a moment and looked at the swarm of merfolk that had gathered around him and warned, “My purpose in giving you this technology is not to kill indiscriminately. I hope you understand.”

“The merfolk have never won by sheer force in the face of huge sea monsters. Now that the seabed is in turmoil and the safest mid-sea area is not safe anymore, this crossbow is meant for your defence, not for the indiscriminate killing of other sea creatures.”

As soon as Bai Lixin’s words left his mouth, whispers began to rise among the merfolk.

The bald merman laughed, “Don’t worry about that. Indiscriminate killing won’t do us any good. We know the food chain too. Indiscriminate killing leads to a decrease in other creatures, which might indirectly affect our survival. ”

“Yeah, and besides, killing that many marine animals is disadvantageous as we can’t eat that many. It would muddy up the surrounding waters and attract a lot of plankton.”

“But this crossbow is really cool, it’s so much more powerful than a harpoon.”

“Mom, can I join the hunt with this crossbow?”

“No! Hunting is a recreational activity for adults, so wait until you’re older before you join. In the meantime, you can practice catching small fish, shrimp, and snakes in the mid-sea area. ”

The scarred merman’s face changed slightly at the mention of the “Middle Sea” area.

The merfolk had gathered here, making the practice area seem very narrow. The scarred merman cleared his throat and said in a loud voice, “Don’t go to the Middle Sea area for now either. It has also become unsafe for a while and no merman should leave here unless necessary.”

“I agree with this approach as well.” Bai Lixin nodded, “It would be best to arrange for suitable merfolk to leave the tunnels each day, as once a dead object hits the ground, it will attract the attention of the split turtle. Future food would be best from smaller creatures, or creatures that can be easily disposed of.”

The crowd of merfolk looked at each other. The excitement from seeing their new weapon had been extinguished at this point.

“But we can’t live here all the time. We’re fine, but these kids have to move around. There is simply not enough exercise for them in this narrow area. Should we make them swim up and down?”

The bald merman gave Bai Lixin an embarrassed look and said, “For the sake of the children and the future of this ocean, don’t these split turtles need to be addressed? Apart from us merfolk, only the ancient gods of the Northern Sea area can think. So it’s only up to us to protect this sea.”

An inexplicable sense of mission suddenly rose from the hearts of the merfolk.

“Bai Lixin, I hope you can help us.  Although I don’t know if we will succeed, if we don’t do something, we will only fail. ” An elderly merman looked at Bai Lixin with his cloudy eyes and said, “The sea is our home; we can live, but the future of our children should not be ruined. Is there anything we can do?”

Bai Lixin stared at the merfolk in awe, suddenly feeling touched.

It may be that the legacy of life is made extraordinarily valuable because of the protection involved. In the face of danger, they become a giant tower holding up the suffering so that future generations won’t suffer the pain of the present generation.

Bai Lixin, “A way will be found.”

And it had to be found as soon as possible.

There was not much time left for him.

[Ding! Congratulations, player, for triggering the hidden quest: The Merfolk’s Trust!]

[For the sake of the future of the merfolk, please help the merfolk drive away the split turtles, a ravenous predator that is destroying the sea. You will receive extra performance points for completing this quest, and you will also receive the hidden item [The Merfolk’s Gift] after completing the quest.]

[The trigger condition for this task was to gain the absolute trust of the Merfolk. Congratulations to the player.]

The system suddenly beeped in his mind.

Bai Lixin was slightly stunned. Was there even a hidden task?

[Task bar]

Gold? He had never seen this color before.

The normal color displayed for the main tasks was red, and would turn green when the tasks were completed.

The hidden tasks in the first two copies were blue.

What did this golden color represent?

The escape system probably saw Bai Lixin’s confusion, and it explained very proactively: [The color represents the rarity of the task and also the difficulty.]

 

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