The upper body human, lower body fish, is called a mermaid.
Then what about a fish head on a humanoid body?
【Race: Murloc】
Its eyes bulged outward like murky glass spheres, its body covered in irregular, mosaic-like scales, and behind its ears were three bright red gill slits opening and closing rhythmically with each breath.
In its webbed hands, it carried a crude weapon resembling a trident. Clearly, these beings possessed no small amount of intelligence—the traps outside were most likely their handiwork.
Three Diving Pujis were surrounded by a group of such murlocs in the middle of a grand hall.
After detecting them, Lin Jun did not order the Pujis to flee. Exchanging the lives of 2.5 Pujis for more information was well worth it.
Strangely, though they had surrounded the Pujis, the murlocs did not attack. They only glared with their dead fish eyes, as if waiting for something.
Come to think of it, the three stone platforms beneath the statue were probably an altar. Were they waiting for an auspicious hour to begin a sacrifice?
One Puji per platform, just right…Lin Jun didn’t intend to have these Pujis self-destruct. This ruin, claimed as territory by the murlocs, had certain exploration value. If the Pujis blew themselves up recklessly, it might cause a collapse.
And clearing rubble underwater was far more troublesome than on land.
In his senses, another murloc appeared at the edge of the hall, arriving late.
The other murlocs immediately parted to open a path.
A much older individual, its body folds many times more wrinkled than the others, slowly swam forward. Unlike the others who carried tridents, this one held a staff—
A murloc spellcaster!
The intelligence of these creatures was actually this high!
Lin Jun quickly pulled up its panel, surprised to see even a name.
【Name: Gugulu】
【Level: LV35】
【Fixed State: Nephryla’s Blessing (Sage)】
【Skills: Water Magic LV7, Psychic Magic LV6, Mana Storage LV6…】
【Title: Sage (Intelligence Attribute Doubled)】
A Sage!
And what was this Nephryla’s Blessing? Could Xiao Hei be given one too?
This was the second “Blessing” Lin Jun had seen. The last one was the “Church Blessing” on Inanna.
But compared to that, which only provided Light Affinity LV4 and Light Magic LV4, this one directly bestowed the Sage title. Clearly much stronger.
So who was this Nephryla? Stronger than the church?
Uh… a god?
The moment the thought surfaced, Lin Jun almost cut off his link with the three Pujis, never to descend again.
Because gods… were too strange. Completely in the realm of the unknown. Lin Jun wanted no part in that, at least not now.
But he forcibly held back the impulse. It was just a blessing, after all…
Even Inanna, blessed by the church, wasn’t under constant surveillance. Surely this murloc hiding in the dungeon wasn’t being watched all the time either.
And besides, Nephryla hadn’t even been confirmed to be a god yet.
“Outsider, I do not know why you have entered this place. What is it you seek?”
!!!
The elder murloc Gugulu’s staff shone with magical light.
Telepathy?
Lin Jun was surprised by the spell.
Different from the murloc’s hideous appearance, the voice carried through telepathy was gentle and full of wisdom.
If one ignored its identity as a murloc, just listening to the voice would make Lin Jun imagine a silver-haired old scholar in a library.
So this was the “Sage”!
Would his own voice change like this if he gained that title?
That this sharp old thing guessed the Pujis could speak did not surprise Lin Jun—after all, the very first test to enter had been opening a mechanism door.
After a moment’s thought, Lin Jun gave up on playing dumb and answered:
“I mean no offense. Entering here was an accident.
I am searching the depths for possible rifts. Do you have any clues?”
If they could communicate, then they could cooperate. In this, these murlocs were even easier to approach than the tree demons.
Back then, the tree demons had old grudges with Xiao Hei. But the murlocs before him had no enmity with him at all.
And regarding the rifts, their interests should align. As long as this murloc leader wasn’t an idiot wearing the [Sage] title, he should understand the stakes.
Sure enough, Gugulu replied: “A rift? There was one, but it disappeared long ago.”
If it appeared and then vanished, that probably referred to the time of the Magic Tide.
“There is none now?
Even a small one could count, perhaps just the size of a handspan.
Have you noticed any places where the water flow behaved strangely, or other anomalies?”
At this, Gugulu turned toward a larger murloc beside him.
The two exchanged several “gugulu” sounds—perhaps their language?
If they had a language, then dissecting a murloc corpse might grant “Murloc Common Tongue LV1”?
A few minutes later, Gugulu said: “At least within our range of activity, we have found nothing.”
“May I ask, roughly how far does your range extend?”
“From this building outward, most of the seabed.” Gugulu didn’t hide it.
That was quite a large area.
To be honest, after searching so long, Lin Jun already felt the seventh floor likely had no rifts. But it was better to be safe.
“In that case, I’ll go look elsewhere.”
The Pujis attempted to leave, and the murlocs did not hinder them.
“Wait,” Gugulu suddenly said through telepathy. “Let them help search for the rift as well.”
At his signal, three murlocs—including the larger one from earlier—followed along. Lin Jun did not refuse.
Once outside the ruins, the three murlocs swam ahead, fully displaying their underwater survival skills.
They maintained a triangular formation, weaving skillfully through undercurrents, navigating paths with precision.
When stray monsters lunged from rock crevices or sandbanks, their tridents struck faster than the roars could sound.
When facing tougher predators, they abruptly shifted their swimming rhythm, throwing off pursuit.
And for the truly dangerous beasts, they concealed themselves in water plants or hid among ruins and rocks, waiting until danger passed.
Although there was little exchange, the murlocs protected the Pujis well.
The three Pujis hardly even had a chance to use their skills. Following behind gave Lin Jun the same sense of safety he’d felt on the sixth floor, traveling under the tree demons’ protection.
After more than ten hours of exploration, Lin Jun had practically scoured the seabed—and indeed found no rift.
Watching the three murlocs return into the ruins, the great doors slowly closing, Lin Jun couldn’t shake a strange feeling.
How to put it—
They were simply too friendly.
If it had been him, seeing outsiders invade his home, even stripping and tossing them out would have been showing restraint.
Yet these murlocs had even helped search for rifts.
The reason clearly lay with the elder Gugulu. The murlocs obviously obeyed him. His friendliness must have had some purpose.
Still, it wasn’t a bad thing.
Perhaps he should talk more with them next time. Maybe even ask about the ruins and their faith?
…
…
…
The three Diving Pujis never resurfaced. Without [Mana Storage], an entire day of searching had drained all their energy.
In fact, if the murlocs hadn’t helped save their strength, they would have starved much sooner.
Not far from the ruins, the three Diving Pujis ceased functioning, vanishing into the mycelial network.
Before long, a murloc found the three corpses, not yet eaten, and carried them all back into the ruins.