Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 557 A Minor Accident

"You wait a moment."

Milo grabbed Rebecca, who was about to carry out her duty of justice.

"Did you see those women wearing shackles or chains? No, right? Is it possible that you thought you were saving people, but you were actually preventing them from reaching freedom?"

"What a joke, no one would really want to become that kind of thing." Perhaps it was the perspective provided by her spiritual vision that allowed Rebecca to see the sufficiently filthy side of those creatures, or perhaps it was one of the instincts of humans to reject the existence of other highly intelligent races. In any case, Rebecca seemed unable to accept the scene before her.

Even if those women were there voluntarily.

"Hey, who was it that called me someone without a sense of awe back then?" Milo sat leisurely on the railing, swinging his leather boots, calmly teasing Rebecca.

As the lights of the small boat gradually disappeared into the mist, Rebecca frowned and asked Milo, "What will happen to them?"

“They will interbreed with underwater races, giving birth to hybrids, contributing to the growth and expansion of their species. Not only human women, but human men will also bring the females back to land to mate and produce hybrid offspring. These offspring are indistinguishable from humans in their infancy and adolescence, only gradually revealing their alien form after adulthood, eventually becoming the immortal beings capable of surviving in the sea.” Milo explained what he knew to Rebecca in a relatively concise manner.

"Among these humans, regardless of gender, what drives them to do these things is the belief in eternal life. In their eyes, those immortals, though living underwater, are superior to humans. The underwater world is far larger than the land occupied by humans. I think you understand what I mean."

Rebecca still couldn't understand:
"But these believers who unite with them can never become those... themselves, right?"

“Deep Divers, that’s the name used to refer to these sea creatures in most of the rumors and a few books.” Milo then realized that he hadn’t mentioned the name of this aquatic race at all during their discussion. He then added, “That’s quite normal. Look at the religions on land, which one doesn’t tell its followers, ‘Work hard and you’ll be rich and powerful in your next life’?”

"In fact, most of the time it has nothing to do with awe. For weak souls, if their lives on land are bad enough, they will yearn for the underwater world. If the life of this generation is beyond saving, they will naturally place their hopes on their offspring, hoping that one day they can go to worship the ancient seabed that contains endless treasures. This is the most cowardly root of human nature. You may think you are saving them, but they will feel that you are preventing them from running towards truth and freedom."

Milo's words caused Rebecca to fall into a brief moment of contemplation.

...

At that moment, on the bow deck, the crew members were still loudly reciting their oaths.

And their voices gradually became louder and sharper, vaguely exceeding the range of human vocal cords. Gradually, Rebecca could no longer understand the words and syllables they were uttering.

She turned and looked at the figures standing in the mist.

The crew members from the Marsh family lay on the deck in strange postures, seemingly in ways that were difficult for ordinary people to understand, a way of expressing emotions. The sounds they made had completely changed from the clear and articulate human language of the beginning to meaningless long cries.

It's the kind of eerie sound you hear every time you wake up from a dream in the middle of the night, coming from a deep alleyway far away outside your house.

You can't tell whether it's a baby crying or the sound of some animal in heat.

...

"So the Marsh family...?" Rebecca suddenly realized something and turned to look at Milo: "Them?"

“They are the offspring of humans and Deep Ones.” Milo nodded. “Mixed species with sufficiently strong bloodlines will gradually show the appearance and traits of Deep Ones after reaching adulthood. It seems that these crew members have a good chance of becoming members of the immortal Deep One race, as long as they don’t encounter any accidents before they become fully adapted to underwater life.”

"So, when Allen said they could be useful, he meant that the Deep Ones here would accept human women offered by the Marsh family's offspring?" Rebecca could clearly feel the unfriendly gazes roaming over her from underwater. She disliked this strange feeling and looked at Milo, who remained calm throughout, asking:
"You don't feel anything at all, right?"

“Hmm—” Milo shrugged: “They don’t dare look at me, or they might not be able to see me, so it’s not very clear.”

...

Soon after, sounds of something emerging from the water could be heard from the surrounding deserted islands.

Those deep-diving beings hidden behind the mist came ashore to greet their servants. The small boat that had transported the women to the island soon drifted back.

From the ripples spreading across the water, it was clear that something was dragging the small boat forward from the bottom.

This time, the woman on the small boat was gone, replaced by several decaying boxes, which, if I'm not mistaken, contained treasure from the seabed, a "reward" from the deep-sea divers to their offspring.

...

Two young crew members from the Marsh family climbed down the rope ladder, intending to tie the ropes and pull the small boat back to the ship.

But they seemed to be stopped by a sound, so the crew members lay on the edge of the small boat, as close to the water as possible, and had a low conversation with the dark shadows underwater.

Rebecca can hear the conversations between the hybrids and the Deep Ones, but she cannot understand the language they are using.

...

However, the step of "conversation" does not seem to be part of the plan.

When Milo turned his gaze to Allen, Allen on the bow deck also gave him a blank look, indicating that he didn't know what was going on either.

In fact, the transaction should have ended at that point. Offering human servants in exchange for treasures from the seabed would allow the ship to leave the Deep Ones' territory without hindrance.

At least, that's how it's always been done.

Even hybrids who are offspring of Deep Ones do not fully master the languages ​​of the underwater races. Before they are fully transformed into Deep Ones, they are always treated as humans.

The Deep Ones have become accustomed to identifying themselves as a superior race.

As a result, if human ships that do not carry "tribute" accidentally enter this sea area and are not prepared to offer sacrifices, then the ship will most likely remain here forever, and the valuables on board will become "rewards" for the hybrids in the next encounter.

...

"What are they talking about?" Rebecca asked Milo in a low voice.

“I don’t understand.” Milo shook his head.

He only noticed that the deep-sea divers in the waters below the hull did not completely clear the way.

This suggests that they may not have been entirely satisfied with the service they received.

……

This strange silence lasted for about three to five minutes.

Then, the young bastard from the Marsh family climbed back onto the deck and whispered a few words in Captain Allen's ear.

A troubled expression immediately appeared on Allen's face.

He jogged from the bow to the upper deck at the stern, bypassed Rebecca, and whispered a few words in Milo's ear.

(End of this chapter)