Chương 409: Chapter : 409

Several rugged, completely exhausted fishermen sat on the wooden planks. They looked terrible. Their clothes were torn and covered in salt. Their faces were weathered from the sun. They sat in a circle. They were trying to repair a massive, broken fishing net. Princess Iris stepped forward. She offered a polite, respectful bow.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," Princess Iris greeted them warmly.

"I am Princess Iris Belmontia. We are conducting an official investigation. We would like to ask you a few questions about the ocean." The fishermen stopped pulling the net. They looked up at the elite girls in their dark blue uniforms. They looked at the silver rapier on Iris's hip. The sailors looked incredibly terrified. They shrank back. They did not want to talk. An old fisherman with a thick white beard stood up slowly. His hands shook slightly. He took off his stained hat.

"We do not want any trouble, Your Highness," the old fisherman said. His voice was raspy and tired.

"We are just simple sailors. We do not have any money to give you. The ocean has taken everything from us." Sayma pushed her glasses up. She offered a gentle smile.

"We are not here to collect taxes. We are here to help you. We want to know why your boats are sitting empty. The local markets are running out of food. Why have you stopped fishing in the deep waters?" The old sailor stared at them. He looked around the docks to make sure no one else was listening. He looked deeply afraid.

"We cannot go into the deep waters," the old fisherman whispered. His eyes filled with pure terror.

"It is a death sentence. The ocean is cursed. A monster has claimed the reef. If we sail past the shallow water, we will never come back." Zinia frowned.

"A monster? What kind of monster?" A younger sailor sat on a wooden crate. He grabbed his own hair. He looked traumatized.

"It is the Titanoboa," the young sailor cried out. His voice cracked with fear.

"It is real. The ancient stories are totally real. The massive sea serpent woke up." The entire 13th Unit went completely silent. They stared at the scared sailors. Ken stopped chewing his candy. He leaned back against a large wooden piling. He slouched his shoulders. He crossed one foot over the other. He listened to the conversation with lazy, half-closed eyes.

"A sea serpent," Ken thought to himself casually.

"That sounds incredibly annoying. Snakes are bad enough on land. A giant snake in the water sounds like a massive cardio workout. I really hope we do not have to fight a wet snake." Sayma opened her notebook. She clicked her pen.

"The Titanoboa is an ancient myth. The history books say it is a colossal snake that slumbers at the bottom of the ocean for centuries. Are you absolutely certain this is what you saw?" The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"I saw it with my own two eyes!" the young sailor yelled frantically. Tears streamed down his dirty face.

"We were sailing past the eastern reef. The water was perfectly calm. Then, the ocean started to bubble. The water turned black. A shadow rose from the bottom of the sea." The old fisherman placed a comforting hand on the young man's shoulder. The old man looked at Princess Iris.

"It was massive, Your Highness," the old fisherman explained grimly.

"It was larger than any ship in our fleet. It had thick, dark green scales. Its eyes burned like bright yellow lanterns under the water. It erupted from the surface. It did not even slow down. It slammed directly into my brother's boat." The sailors shivered at the terrible memory.

"The beast crushed the solid wood like it was made of fragile paper," the old man continued. His voice shook with grief.

"The ship splintered into a million pieces. The monster dragged the entire vessel down into the dark water. We heard the men screaming. We watched dozens of good men drown in the waves. We could not do anything to save them. We just turned our boat around and ran away." Risa covered her mouth with her hands. Her green eyes filled with tears.

"That is so sad. Those poor sailors." Naomi clenched her fists. Her green eyes flashed with intense, protective anger.

"A colossal sea serpent is destroying your ships. It is actively drowning innocent people. This is a massive crisis." Laxmi punched her open palm.

"We need to go out there right now! We need to roast that giant snake! I will boil the ocean if I have to!"

"Statistically speaking," Ira stated in her flat, robotic voice.

"Engaging a colossal, mythological apex predator in its natural aquatic environment reduces our combat efficiency by seventy percent. Water severely limits physical mobility." Luna yawned loudly. She rubbed her eyes.

"I agree with Ira. Fighting in the water sounds incredibly tiring. My clothes will get totally soaked. Can we just ask the snake to go back to sleep?" Ken leaned against his wooden piling. He crossed his arms over his chest. He looked at the terrified fishermen. He gave them a goofy, relaxed smile.

"Hey, guys," Ken asked casually. He completely ignored the serious mood.

"Did you try giving it a snack? Maybe the giant snake is just really hungry. If you throw a large pizza into the ocean, maybe it will eat the pizza and leave your boats alone. Food solves a lot of problems. It always calms me down." The fishermen stared at Ken in pure confusion. They could not believe a Royal servant was making silly jokes about pizza. Naomi turned her head. She smiled a very warm, amused smile. She shook her head at her goofy friend.

"Ken, the giant sea monster does not want a pizza," Naomi chuckled softly. She did not scold him.

"It wants to eat boats. Please try to stay focused."

"I am just offering alternative diplomatic solutions," Ken defended himself lazily. He popped another strawberry candy into his mouth.

"Diplomacy is very important. Fighting requires too much running." Princess Iris turned her attention back to the old fisherman. Her violet eyes were full of deep sympathy. She wanted to help these people. She wanted to stop the monster.

"I am so incredibly sorry for your loss," Princess Iris said gently.

"But I do not understand something. If this massive beast is actively destroying your fleet, why did you not call for help? The capital city has massive naval forces. The 3rd Prince controls an entire fleet of warships. Why did you not ask the government to slay the monster?" The old fisherman looked confused. He wiped salt from his weathered face.

"We did ask for help, Your Highness," the old fisherman answered honestly.

"We did exactly what we were supposed to do. The very first day the monster attacked, we ran straight to the wealthy local lords. We told the lords everything." The 13th Unit listened very closely. Sayma wrote every single word down in her notebook.