金瓶梅第2部

As if to accentuate Krysaos' point, Catshit had grabbed onto Anaru's legs and lifted him above his head. Wonderboy had swum up to land two broad feet against the sahuagin's face. While being launched back-- real slow, due to the water resistance... Bob had grabbed the guy and piledrove his head into a rock.

He spun while he did it, too

That Bob-- good guy, he was.

Krysaos waved for the other sahuagin to continue, "You were saying, guy?"

The fish-man shook his head and bubbled a sigh, "I advise you nott to do anything *else* rassshh."

"And what's stoppin' me from..."

Krysaos hesitated.

He wasn't actually able to direct his crew with any kind of certainty... and that was something he didn't want to admit to openly.

The Coral Boys, as shown just in the past several seconds, would attack with little to no provocation and with zero warning.

If Krysaos ordered them specifically to *not* attack, they were more likely to only hear the word 'attack' and act immediately.

...He could probably tell them to wait, though. If luck was on his side, it'd give him and Tycon enough time to get what they came for... and hopefully something in the way of a reward for all their trouble.

Krysaos cleared his throat, "What's stopping me from letting my Coral Boys do whatever they want?"

The sahuagin looked over to the group of Coral Boys as they continued to pummel Anaru in amusing and creative ways... "Aaaas Anaru hass alluded to... our tribe is not welcommme... of human outsidersss... The general sssentiment... is that all humansss... are akin to the piratesss who rule over ussss..."

"Negative stereotyping," Tycon shook his head, "in this sun and age? Rather small-minded of your people."

"Sssuch judgments are unfortunattte," The sahuagin lamented... "Howeverrr... they exissst. Of thattt, you must accccept."

"We killed... like... all of the Black Crows at their base, nearby. You're free," Krysaos waved the sahuagin away. "Go on. Get outta here."

The sahuagin flared his gills and clicked in surprise... "I will.... reportttt this... If thisss is true... our tribe is deeply... indebted to you, Cccaptain..."

"Uggghhh," Krysaos rolled his eyes. "I don't wanna wait that lonnnng!!"

He turned to Tycon, "Whaddya think LT? Let's just kick this guy's arse and whoever else gets in our way?"

"I'd imagine fighting through the crowds of merfolk would take just as much time as waiting patiently for our sahuagin friend to report to his superiors."

"Yesss..." The sahuagin bowed his head, "Guard Leader Becky will be cccertain to accccomodate you..."

Krysaos felt a chill go down his back. He was probably sweating, too--- but he was in the ocean, so that wasn't exactly a thing he could tell.

"I... I don't really wanna deal with that girl."

Tycon placed his unbound hand on his chin-- he did that a lot when he was thinking, "Perhaps you can leverage the fact that Miss Mina requested your assistance, Captain."

"YEAH!" Krysaos shouted, "Let us in! We gotta see Mina!"

"...No sssuch sahuagin existsss... in the Amphitrite Reef Tribe..."

"You're LYIN'!!!" Krysaos shouted, "Why the hells would a RANDOM hot mermaid girl literally BEG ON HER KNEES for her to save your DUMBARSE tribe?!?!"

"She did not do that," Tycon scolded quietly. "And I'm not certain Miss Mina has... knees."

"Jus' let me have this one, LT," Krysaos groaned.

"Very well."

"Thattt..." The sahuagin hesitated, "Aas for why... I do notttt know... but I ssspeak the truth."

Tycon continued rubbing his chin... "Mina is a weapon spirit... so perhaps we should instead be inquiring about her... summoner."

"Alright, tough guy," Krysaos puffed his chest out and squared himself in front of the taller sahuagin. "You guys got a magic weapon. A big one."

"With respect, I question your diction on the matter, Brother-Captain," Tycon muttered.

"You havve businesses with the Priestesss Atlantea, Krysaosss?" The sahuagin tilted his head, "Of whattt nature?"

"Should be obvious, guy. I'm gonna save her from her--"

"The Priestess--" Tycon glared... "is the one who requested we deal with the Black Crow pirates. We act on her behalf."

"Is she hot?" Krysaos asked, "By human standards, anyroad?"

"Stars and stones, Captain," Tycon sighed... "Must you?"

"I mean-- it's not really important, but it should be fine if it's just asking, right?"

"I will sssumon the Priestesss immediately," The sahuagin nodded. "I will be able to better convinccce my peerss, if you are emissariesss of the Lake Goddessss..."

...

Tycondrius and Krysaos were summoned to meet the sahuagin Priestess... and were led through the deep ocean settlement by an armed escort.

They carried enchanted weaponry... barreled rifles of a sort, each loaded with a harpoon. Their designs were similar to Turathi hextech, their power source a glowing blue crystal at their bases.

It made him glad that Krysaos did not order an attack.

The Amphitrite Reef community wasn't a fifty or hundred-large tribe of sahuagin.

It was a sprawling city, rife with hundreds, if not thousands, of sentient sea-dwelling species.

The buildings' materials were made from white stone, sparkling gems, and were decorated by trimmings of colorful coral. They looked sturdy enough to stand against a siege... not that the ballista and trebuchet of the surface would be useful, as deep underwater as they were.

He imagined the sentient denizens of the ocean had different large-scale weapons of war.

Most of the citizens were sahuagin... and the ones that wandered into Tycon's view looked upon him and his companion with fear and trepidation.

Still... the city had turtle-men, fish-folk, tritons, scrags, and even a single sea giant going about their business peaceably. A human duo should not have been so... ill-received.

"Brother-Captain... we were told we are to meet with a Priestess of... the Lake Goddess?"

"Yeah," Krysaos shrugged. "Most folks down here pay respects to that ass-sucker sea god."

One of the armed escorts eyed Krysaos with suspicion. The Captain didn't seem to care that he could achieve half-a-dozen harpoons impaling his person in the blink of an eye.

...Or that the large sharks the sahuagin used as mounts could tear him apart in roughly the same period of time.