Seb, plucking weeds in her field, nced at the four merman soldiers guarding my colonist''s house. I had deliberately ordered the man to stay here for an obvious reason. And because I want everything to be effective, I still ask him to work as usual.


    I found Gwen lying down with apressed forehead as I entered the house. In the end, that woman fell ill.


    Re''i sat next to Gwen, holding her hand tightly. The king''s wide smile made me ufortable.


    He''s the one who wanted Gwen for himself.


    Feeling more and more emotional by the sight, I decided to teleport to the merman troop walking to the northeast with my other colonists.


    "You can really walk well, despite getting gunshot wounds, huh? I''ve had it before. It hurts so bad." Leva asked Miro, who was walking next to her. "You are tougher than your brother."


    "Well, I heard you hit him in the head time and time again. I think I''d have the same fate if I had those attacks." Miro replied while chuckling. His eyes still continued to stare in amazement at the leader of the merman army, whose armor was almost the same as Re''i''s, but with less decoration.


    Manu looked around, then scratched his head. "It''s very strange. There are a lot of them, but we can''tmunicate with them. Then, how do theymunicate onnd like this?"


    "I saw some of them make mouth movements." Eric tried to exin. "Maybe they have a specialmunication device that sends signals from armor to armor when they''re not in the water."


    Miro chuckled again. "Oh, you guys have no idea how great the technology of these mermans is..."


    Leva quickened her pace, and Miro spread her arms in disappointment.


    "She doesn''t want to hear stories that give her a headache." Manu shrugged. "Don''t be offended. That''s just how she is."


    "Well, I''d love to hear your story," Eric responded.


    Since I''ve studied most of the data from the mermans, I decided to use the fast-forward feature. As usual, everything shed rapidly, and as the afternoon approached, auto-pause was triggered.


    A group of Biruhud birds was already starting to lunge towards the group in the distance.


    "Attack them the best way you know, but focus on ranged attacks." I gave orders to their leader. Luckily, since the mermans had be part of my colony temporarily, I could control them. "Just don''t go near the birds, even when they''re dead. They can transmit dangerous diseases."


    I pressed the y button, then the squad leader gave a hand signal while opening his mouth, seemingly giving amand.


    The rifle holders came forward and lined up neatly. When their leader pointed at the birds, they fired the weapons.


    Not the bullets that came out of the muzzles of the rifles, but the high-speed spray of water. There are no explosions but loud hisses. The waters pierced through the birds brutally, spurting fresh blood into the air, crushing their heads and limbs. In just an instant, the birds fell, without even having time to scream.


    The pool of blood grew wider. The giant birds that numbered around twenty were now lying in the meadow.


    Holy shit. It hadn''t been a minute since the mermans had fired their weapons.


    My colonists watched the scene in amazement, but I could also see the look of fear on their faces. Only Miro is different. His tears started to fall.


    "Great. Really great. Maybe God made me stay in your tribe so I can see this miracle." The man''s voice was getting hoarse.


    The mermans continued on their way as if what they had just done was nothing.


    ***


    Night hase. I ordered the group to rest. My colonists started making the bonfire while the half-fish creatures sat down and took out shiny silver box-shaped packages from their metal backpacks.


    When the packages were opened, I saw a kind of pink gooey that looked slimy.


    Rex, who was sleeping, immediately straightened up, sniffed, and then ran away.


    "Hey, where are you going, Rex?" Miro was chasing the white dog.


    The gooey was basically odorless, but it seemed Rex sensed something with his keen sense of smell.


    The mermans took off their helmets and started eating the gooey. I got goosebumps when I saw them do it.


    Whatever it was, it looked very disgusting.


    One female mermans came up to my colonists and handed them the gooey. My people seemed to be trying to hide their disgusted expressions, but I still ordered Leva to ept it as a kind gesture.


    "T-thank you." Leva grimaced stiffly and epted the ''gift.''


    Seeing that, Miro, who just came back, gave some jerky pieces to the merman. The half-fish did ept it, but she looked confused and examined the thin, dark food. Then, she started biting one of them.


    Her eyes widen slightly, and nods at my colonists. She then bowed respectfully and left. Apparently, she enjoyed the food. The proof is, she shared it with her friends.


    "Let me taste this thing first." Miro plucked the gooey from Leva''s hand, then put it in his mouth while the others waited in anticipation.


    The big tall man froze while chewing, then his face contorted like someone who ate something very sour.


    "Shit, we can''t throw it away." Miro looks very tormented. "I will eat it all up. With my body''s toughness and my immunity to disease, I can withstand the bad effects of this thing."


    All my colonists grimaced. Miro was devouring the gooey like he hadn''t eaten in days, even though his face showed otherwise.


    Suddenly one of the mermans ran towards the leader, who was in the middle of the army. The armor of the merman waspletely jet ck since he had just done stealth to check the surroundings of the ce. After he pressed the button on his bracelet to bring the armor back to its original state, I could see a panicked expression on his face.


    I was curious, so I used the rey feature and followed the merman, who now looked like he was running backward. Quite a long time passed, we finally arrived at a ce quite far from the resting location.


    There are campgrounds with tents that seem impermanent. Several people were seen standing guard by the bonfire.


    Did their guardian spirit not know of my group''s arrival?


    My attention is drawn to the center of the encampment. There was a silhouette of an object that was fifteen meters in size.


    The object was made of metal, had two legs and arms. And in the object''s hand was a giant firearm mounted.


    A mech?


    [An error urred]