Chapter 573 (2/2)

Shaqira was not the least bit embarrassed. “Yes, since we didn’t know how to explain, we just went with what we understood. How would I know that the surface races would interpret it that way.”

Vivian was trying to decipher the whole mumbo-jumbo on her head. Looking up at Shaqira, “Where did the Siren Queen find out about the prophecy? Did she only tell you what to say to the surface races and nothing else?”

Shaqira shook her head. “I don’t know. The Queen must have her own reasons. She arranged the rest as well. We are mere servants, we shouldn’t be asking too many questions.”

Hao Ren shrugged. There you go, a typical lackadaisical siren.

Even Nangong Wuyue was speechless towards her own kin. Her voice was rather stiff, “So, why did the royal guards suddenly want to bring you back? How did you know that they were here to arrest you instead of take you home? Weren’t you waiting for news to return?”

“At the very beginning, we didn’t suspect anything when someone was taken back.” Fear suddenly appeared on Shaqira’s face. “But things started to go wrong very quickly: The Queen was taking people back by force. We had already been on land for 100 years, and some of our friends had already gotten so used to living on land. They even had families here. They weren’t willing to go back, yet they were forcibly taken away by the Queen’s guards. This was not the same as what we were told. Supposedly, we could act on our own accord once we got on land, and we could pick the time once we completed our mission and received the summons. No one said anything about being dragged home.”

As Shaqira continued, she shook the tip of her tail. “A few of our friends then started to alert the rest. We aren’t sure of the source of the message though. Maybe it was one of the Queen’s guards who said that the Queen had undergone a massive change. She wanted to open a Gate of Return ahead of time and the captured sirens were being used as sacrifice or fuel… It was just so surreal that I immediately ran. Even then, I almost got caught. Just how unlucky am I? Who did I offend?”

Hao Ren immediately frowned when he heard this.

Something big had truly happened in the deep. He heard from Vivian before that the sirens were a peaceful race without quarrel with other races, and Shaqira was pretty much the embodiment of that trait. Yet, the Queen, the prophecy and the arrest as well as capture of their kin did not ring “peaceful” and “without quarrel” to him.

Lily thought for a bit before she asked, “How was your queen previously? Was there anything weird about her when she asked you to go to shore?”

“The Queen was a very wonderful person; a very wise one.” Shaqira rubbed her face. “However, I do remember a few things that were rather weird… The Queen had suddenly ordered the dispatch of messengers without much forewarning. And in the days after the dispatch, she was almost manic. She locked herself in her castle. Her closest confidantes said that she was thinking, and up until the time the last batch left, she never did once step out of the castle… Ugh… why am I telling you this?”

Hao Ren pushed himself forward. “This is important! Maybe we can help you solve this issue. We may be able to help not only you, but also your captured kin.”

Vivian also joined in, “That’s right. Just look around. We have many races here, and we’ll be glad to lend a hand. Tell us everything you know. What unusual actions did the Queen take when she ordered the dispatch… Or, were there any odd happenings in the city you lived in? These are all important.”

Shaqira blinked as she looked at the weirdos around her. She then decided that she would cooperate. She tried to jog her memory once again, and remembered a very important detail. “Oh right! I don’t know if this has to do with anything, but before the Queen ordered the dispatch, we had captured a weird-looking sea monster. The Queen only started to act all weird after the capture.”

“Sea monster?” Hao Ren eyes met with Vivian’s. “What kind of sea monster?”

“It was a blob of oddly-shaped red flesh with tentacles.” Shaqira tried to draw the shape of the monster in the air. “It looked almost like a swollen brain.”