Chapter 217: Harpies

Compared to Liuli’s agility, the giant octopus zombie’s fighting style was much more wild and chaotic.

Wu Qingsong couldn’t control it precisely and could only give it broad commands. As a result, it swam back into the sea and attacked everything around it madly.

Many fishmen were grabbed by its tentacles and easily torn to pieces. One tentacle could simultaneously crush three or four fishmen. Within seconds, the sea behind the raft was filled with blood.

“Get ashore quickly!” Wu Qingsong shouted to everyone while carefully lifting the wooden board carrying Bernar with Daryl.

Despite cushioning him with lots of clothes, Bernar’s body still suffered greatly from the impact when the raft hit the shore, causing him to spit up blood again.

Ram and Daryl were anxious, but as soon as they stepped off the raft, they were surrounded by a large group of penguin soldiers, all holding weapons and standing just over a meter tall.

“We are friends! Friends! Do you understand?” 

Wu Qingsong tried to communicate, but it was clearly a lost cause. The penguins didn’t immediately attack them, but neither did they let them onto the island or help with their injured companion.

Ram and Daryl were frantic. 

At this moment, Red Moon spoke up, “Can I try?”

“You understand their language?” Wu Qingsong asked anxiously.

“Of course not, but they might understand body language and expressions,” Red Moon replied. “Don’t be too hasty. Making too many sudden movements might have the opposite effect.”

Wu Qingsong had no choice but to let her try.

So, Red Moon tried to communicate with a particularly tall penguin person who had a colorful crest on its head.

She kept repeating the word “friend” in a gentle voice, using hand gestures to mimic the boat, the octopus man, and other things. She even pointed at Liuli, who was still having a great time fighting the mantis shrimp in the distance, and the giant octopus corpse that was serving as a meat grinder in the sea, continually repeating the word “friend.” Then, she pointed to Ram, who had an injured arm, and Bernar, who was unconscious on the wooden plank, and started repeating the word “help.”

Whether the penguin person truly understood her or because she used her ability, a few minutes later, the penguin person finally began to call out loudly into the air. Soon, several beastmen with wings, who looked very pretty and were even smaller than the penguin people, flew over.

These creatures could produce more varied and complex sounds than the penguin people, but they still couldn’t understand Red Moon’s words. 

However, as soon as Liuli killed the second mantis shrimp, the attitude of the winged people and the penguin people towards them completely changed. Quickly, they made way and allowed them to carry Bernar up the naturally formed stone steps along the rocky shore to a safe place.

“Ram, Ren Moon, try to continue communicating with them and ask for their help in treating Bernar. Ling, let’s go help Liuli.”

“What about us, sir?” Beck asked reluctantly.

“You? You stay here and help out.” Wu Qingsong said.

Wu Qingsong and Ling returned to the seaside. By this time, Liuli had already begun to fight a giant octopus. However, this creature was much more agile than the mantis shrimp. Although its armor might not be as strong as the mantis shrimp’s, its attack methods and range were much greater, and it didn’t have the vulnerability of being unable to fight back once someone jumped on its back.

“Liuli, come back!” Wu Qingsong shouted.

The battlefield was filled with violent and angry soul fragments. For a creature like the giant octopus, which had extremely strong physical strength but very fragile mental strength, facing it head-on was just foolish.

The harpies were screeching incessantly overhead, though Wu Qingsong couldn’t understand what they were saying. He quickly poured a bunch of soul fragments towards the giant octopuses. The scene from before repeated itself. The giant octopuses thrashed about wildly at the shore, spilling black poisonous juice that darkened a large swath of the sea. The penguin people and harpies retreated further from the coast in fright.

The mantis shrimp that Liuli had blinded was still struggling in the water. Wu Qingsong casually sent some soul fragments its way, and soon, it too thrashed about in its death throes.

The harpies were chattering in surprise. Meanwhile, the fishmen started retreating to the deep sea. At the same time, a massive wave, like a tsunami, rose not far from the shore.

“Retreat! Retreat!” 

Wu Qingsong hurriedly pulled Liuli and Ling, sprinting towards the shore. At this moment, the winged people also gathered and summoned wind to counter the giant wave.

The seawater churned violently, spraying like rain under the force of the wind. But the power of the wave was eventually neutralized by the wind, preventing it from sweeping away everything on the shore like they had seen before.

The penguin people suddenly let out joyful cries, and the harpies overhead also started making a racket. Wu Qingsong looked back and saw that the fishmen were finally retreating.

Liuli reverted to her normal form and then promptly fell asleep in Wu Qingsong’s arms. He picked her up and slowly made his way back to their previous spot.

The attitudes of the penguin people, harpies, and winged people toward them improved significantly. Although they still couldn’t understand each other’s languages, at least there was no longer any concern about misunderstandings.

A winged person flew down from the cliff toward them. Wu Qingsong was surprised to find that aside from her sharp claws and wings that replaced her arms, she not only looked like a young, beautiful woman, but her feather-covered body also had an excellent figure.

This wasn’t scientific at all. What was the point of a bird having breasts?

“A harpy?” Red Moon said softly behind him, slightly surprised.

“A harpy?” 

Wu Qingsong looked again at the creature hovering in front of them. In many games he played in his previous world, harpies were always depicted as evil and ugly magical beings. But this one before him looked more like an angel without arms. It was hard to associate her with the hideous creatures from those games.

“Hon… honorable vis… visitors from afar,” the harpy spoke in broken but recognizable official continental language. “Her Majesty… the Queen in… invites you… to her palace.”

This made Wu Qingsong overjoyed. Until now, apart from the Crimson Demon Lord with whom he had a mental battle, the insectoids and fishmen were intelligent beings with whom he couldn’t communicate at all. This made him worry about how to communicate with the bird people. But now, it seemed they were indeed higher intelligent beings.

As long as they could communicate, many issues would certainly be resolved.