To expand the dynasty, Han Chen needs to control the very water that has swallowed the world. Xara's new predictive powers have pinpointed a unique signature in the "Sunken District"—a submerged luxury hotel where a rare hybrid has been spotted.
Chapter 16: The Siren of the Depths
The storm outside was a physical weight, waves the size of cathedrals battering the lower levels of the Jade Emperor Tower. Inside the command center, Xara Vance stood before a shimmering blue map of the flooded city. Her violet eyes pulsed with data, her silver hair fanned out like a halo.
"There," Xara pointed to a flickering red dot three miles south. "The Grand Atlantis Spire. It's almost entirely submerged, but my Hive\_Mind is picking up a high-frequency bio-signal. It's not a monster, Han. It's a Mermaid-Variant Mutant."
Han Chen stood behind her, his hand resting on her pregnant hip. He could feel the child inside her—a heart beating with the rhythm of a super-computer. "A Mermaid? I thought they were myths."
"In this world, myths are just mutations we haven't categorized yet," Xara whispered, turning to look at him. "She has the ability to 'Sing' to the sea beasts. If you claim her, the Krakens won't be a threat anymore. They'll be your hunting dogs."
The Descent
Han didn't take a boat. Using his Hydro-Kinesis, he created a pressurized bubble of air around himself and Lin Mei.
They descended into the abyss. The world turned a dark, crushing indigo. Bioluminescent jellyfish the size of cars floated past them. As they reached the Grand Atlantis Spire, they saw her.
She was trapped in a massive, reinforced plexiglass cage suspended in the hotel's former ballroom. Her lower body was a shimmering, iridescent tail of deep sapphire scales, while her upper body was that of a stunning woman with skin like moonlight and hair that flowed like liquid silver.
[DING! TARGET DETECTED.]
[NAME: MIRELLA (RANK: SIREN QUEEN / LAST OF THE ABYSSAL TRIBE)]
[STATUS: CAPTIVE / EXHAUSTED / FERTILITY: DIVINE (AQUATIC)]
[COMPATIBILITY: 99% — SPECIAL TRAIT: BEAST_MISTRESS]
Surrounding the cage were "Deep-Divers"—heavily armored mercenaries using mechanical suits to harvest her "Siren Tears," which were being bottled as a high-grade mana fuel.
The Rescue
"Mei, clear the divers," Han commanded, his voice vibrating through the water.
Lin Mei's eyes glowed golden. Her Vanguard\_Aegis flared, creating a shimmering bubble of protection around her. She launched herself through the water like a torpedo. Her laser-blade didn't just cut; it vaporized the water around it, creating steam explosions that shattered the mercenaries' suits.
Han moved toward the cage. He raised his hand, and the water pressure around the plexiglass tripled. CRACK. The cage shattered.
Mirella drifted out, her gills fluttering as she gasped for the oxygenated water. She looked at Han with a mixture of terror and awe. She had spent months as a battery for men; she had never seen a human who moved through the deep as if he owned it.
Han grabbed her, his arm wrapping around her slender, scaly waist. Even underwater, his Pheromone\_Control was a suffocating force. He pressed his forehead against hers, sending a direct telepathic burst through the System.
"I am Han Chen. I am the sea's new master. Join my lineage, and I will give you the world above the waves."
The First Bond of the Deep
Mirella's sapphire tail coiled around Han's legs, her webbed fingers reaching out to touch his glowing chest. She felt the heat of his Level 3 Divine System—a heat that shouldn't exist in the freezing depths.
She let out a low, haunting melody that vibrated in Han's very bones. It was a song of surrender.
[NOTIFICATION: SIREN QUEEN MIRELLA HAS ACCEPTED THE PRELIMINARY BOND.]
Han didn't wait to return to the tower. Inside the air bubble, the water receded, leaving them in a pocket of dry, pressurized space. He pushed Mirella against the wreckage of a marble pillar. Her skin was cool and slippery, smelling of sea-salt and ancient magic.
"You have a beautiful voice, Mirella," Han whispered, his hand sliding down the shimmering scales of her hip to where her human anatomy met her aquatic form. "Let's see if you can scream as beautifully as you sing."
The intimacy was unlike anything Han had experienced. Mirella's body was incredibly sensitive, her skin humming with electrical pulses every time Han touched her. As he claimed her in the dark, silent heart of the sunken hotel, her Siren song shifted—becoming a naughty, rhythmic pulse that echoed for miles.
Outside the bubble, hundreds of sea monsters—from Great Whites to Giant Squids—stopped their hunting. They gathered around the ruins of the hotel, circling in a trance, drawn to the power of their Queen being bonded to a God.
[DING! FOURTH CONSORT ACQUIRED!]
[REWARD: AQUATIC_DOMINION — You can now breathe and fight underwater indefinitely.]
[SEED PLANTED: MIRELLA. GESTATION: 30 DAYS.]
When they finally ascended, Han wasn't just returning with a woman. He was returning with the keys to the ocean floor.
Progress Report
* Consorts: 4 (Lin Mei, Su Lan, Xara Vance, Mirella).
* Lineage: 4 Divine Heirs in progress.
* New Power: Complete control over sea beasts within a 5-mile radius.