Melusine (also rendered as Mélusine) originates from Celtic (near-France) folk legends as a fairy-like figure.
It is said Melusine was the daughter of the water nymph Pressina and a human man. Pressina demanded that the man swear not to enter the birthing chamber while she gave birth — but he eventually broke his promise and offended her.
When Melusine grew up and learned of her father's broken vow, she grew angry and attacked the castle where he lived, imprisoning him in a cavern. But instead of being pleased, her mother cursed her for taking revenge on her own.
From then on, every Saturday Melusine's lower half turned into a snake. And if her lover ever saw her like this, the curse would intensify, transforming her entirely into a serpent — or even into a dragon that soared away.
Aquariums these days are always coming up with fresh gimmicks, and this kind of folklore-themed "water world" had become quite popular. The Kuroshio Aquarium's "Melusine Theme" was even more unique than the usual mermaid myths, catching everyone's attention.
No wonder Shirou couldn't get tickets even booking just a day in advance.
Everyone was here to see the pretty girls.
"So why are you three here at this exact place too?" Shirou asked.
As the din of visitors surrounded them, Mai Sakurazaka casually replied, "Boss's orders. We've got a big client here. Sanwu went ahead to meet them, and I just tagged along."
She didn't elaborate further — client privacy was important too.
This city happened to house Huanya Group, which was one of Su Enxi's businesses. Chu Tianjiao's chauffeur job came from Huanya as part of the cooperative arrangement between Su Enxi's side and Angre's Secret Party.
This time, Angre had taken out the Secret Party's long-hidden sample of the Black King's flesh to hand off to their partner through Chu Tianjiao. The little devil boss was taking it very seriously, so the trio had rushed here for this mission.
"Well, guess you really do have good timing." Shirou thought, with the typhoon incoming, they sure always managed to arrive at just the right moment.
"Notice anything unusual in the aquarium yet?" he asked.
Nono scanned the area and shook her head. "Nothing obvious. Just regular visitors all around."
"If visitors are normal, then we need to look at the staff," Mai shrugged.
Shirou made the call. "Let's sweep all the exhibits first. If the visitors are clear, we'll shift tactics."
The three quickly made a circuit of the place, but came up empty and regrouped. Then, using Mai's Meishou (Dark Reflection) kotodama, they slipped away from the crowds like smoke and entered the "Staff Only" zones.
But even after searching the control room, employee break room, warehouse, machine room, and water treatment center, they still found nothing substantial.
They gathered in a locker room — apparently where the Melusine performers changed into their diving suits. Mai leaned against the wall, clearly exhausted from dragging the other two around under her kotodama.
"Maybe we picked the wrong target?" she sighed.
Shirou didn't answer at first. He spread out a map of the aquarium he'd picked up. "We've covered all this — but look. See this big blank space in the center?"
Mai glanced over. "That's just the seawater tank, isn't it?"
"Exactly. But don't you think it's far too big? Even if you're maintaining an ecosystem, the cost of sustaining such a massive water volume would skyrocket."
He explained how a proper aquarium would use complex filtration and circulation to minimize water and salt consumption. This one seemed suspiciously wasteful.
Nono immediately caught on. "They're hiding something in the water?"
But how would they get in?
All three of them glanced at the diving equipment in the locker room at the same time.
———
"That damn Shirou, what is it with his ridiculous luck? Another girl by his side?"
Summeri grumbled as she trailed them yet again, arriving at the diving entrance.
She completely ignored the wetsuits and gear, diving straight into the vast aquarium water like a bullet.
For a dragon king, entering the water was just like returning home — she didn't need human tools, and she swam even faster than a swordfish.
The blue water rushed past her as she observed the underwater scenery… which, honestly, didn't impress her much. Beautiful or ugly, it was all ordinary to a dragon. Even the ocean was nothing more than a warm cradle for dragon eggs.
And compared to the sea, this aquarium's low density of life was laughable. To her, it was like a hiker looking at a fake rock in a park.
Then she caught the scent of blood.
"Hm?"
A dead servant with dragon wings and a serpent's tail drifted toward her.
Summeri let out a mocking chuckle. Facing a dragon king and not running away? Bold.
But as she got closer, she saw it was already dead.
Its ugly, bloated body looked strangely familiar. Then she slapped her forehead. "It looks just like those Melusine performers."
So they weren't just human divers — they were actually breeding these creatures here!
She had to admit, humans were creative. Using experiments to make this half-dragon, half-serpent hybrid dead servant was certainly… something.
Following the trail of blood, she slipped past thick alloy columns and finally looked up to see the entrance hidden in the massive body of water — ah, so the secret facility really was submerged, and you had to swim up from below to enter!
Summeri picked up her speed. Shirou and the others were probably under attack. She couldn't let them just die down here.
But reality turned out to be quite different from what she imagined.
Crash!
A massive iceberg slammed down from above, sending huge waves and currents surging through the water.
Damn, ice!
Summeri narrowly dodged a face full of ice by twisting her head and body like a streamlined marlin.
When she burst through the surface, she saw Shirou standing on a vast sheet of ice, Duanlongtai partially released to create the frozen platform. Beside him, Nono and Mai were already standing on the ice stripping off their diving gear.
The alarms blared around them. In the corners, several filters and drains opened, and swarms of slender, silver-blue scaled little fish poured out in shimmering streams, like flowing starlight.
Summeri recognized them at a glance — a dragon subspecies, the Kishiryū Dokue (Ghost Fang Dragon Vipers).
(End of Chapter)
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