The Amazing Joni's
CHAPTER 26: TWENTY-SIX

The landing was simple. Right in the middle of the ocean. Not on the surface, but in the salty ocean water. Sem slid first towards the bottom, followed by Nin. Me and Deni were behind. The portal is closing.

Water bubbles appear to be moving towards the surface. Little fish are running around happily. Sounds of some bubbles bursting and ripples of water. We perfectly landed on the bottom of the sea. Deni's assumption about not being able to breathe is not proven. We can breathe very well here. No one held their breath. It's just that, the movement of the body on the seabed feels slowed because of the pressure of water. Especially the strong sea floor. Our feet landed in Posidonia, like plants in the Mediterranean sea. Being a sign, this ocean is completely clean from pollution.

“That's what, Jon?” Deni pointed, asking. As usual, he was always stunned by the new scenery around.

“Looks it was Kelp, Den. Nutrient rich seaweed. Just look, lots of fish around.” When I finished answering, Deni was already busy looking at the other corner of the ocean. Wild eyes.

Right now the whole eye was busy staring around. There is one thing we do not realize. The shape of the face changed. But it was forgotten for a moment, because the sight before the eyes was too alluring. Small fish chase each other adorable, colorful, seaweed waving, sea coral that mountains into a fish nest, and water bubbles that rise to the surface in sequence. There's no breeze here, minimal sunlight. Just from a distance of 50 meters, everything looks dim. The four of us kept walking.

An hour later, the view changed. No more coral and seaweed. The village residents decorate in front of the eyes, vaguely. House with square checkered shape. The simple size. Some residents passed outside the house. No one ignored our presence. Like in the Tropical Rainforest country, they were also unaware that Deni and I were players. The village is huge, no matter what its name. Connect again with other villages. It looks more like a city. The buildings look the same, the color is blurry.

“Is there also a store here, Sem? We haven't had lunch.” Deni held his stomach.

“This country is not in my memory, Den. We had to ask the locals.” She answered, her head turned. Looking for someone to ask.

“It looks like there's someone to talk to.” Nin pointed to one of the residents' houses. The house with a fenced-in courtyard was bright, with lights on both sides of the courtyard. The sunlight in this place is minimal. At night they light the lights. The energy source in the ocean is very limited.

The foursome moved closer to the residents who were relaxing with their babies in a sling, enjoying the atmosphere of the ocean. The inhabitants here have bodies similar to humans. There's only one difference. There's some kind of gills that are scratched in the cheeks and jaws. And that's what we didn't realize, our faces also changed like theirs. Has gills.

“Jon, since when-?” Not yet finished Deni commented, had been dragged by Nin who invited to get acquainted with the locals.

“So you guys are new here?” The residents asked. He is the father of the baby in his carrier.

“True. We are looking for a government building.” Shem who answered.

“Jon!” Deni keeps on acting. I nudged, intercepted him talking.

“You're straight only. Maybe two kilos from here you'll find the building.” The residents turned out to be friendly. The baby in his carrier was yawning, sleepy. So adorable.

Not wanting to interrupt, we plan to continue the journey. But suddenly the lamp that illuminated the courtyard of the house was extinguished. Followed by lights in the homes of other residents. And street lights. Our steps stopped.

“Sials. The government is not! What are they planning!? No use!” There was a sound from one of the houses that was cursing.

Shem raised a hand. Wondering. What was?

“This is a frequent occurrence. Almost every day.” The residents who were still near us sighed with concern.

“What's the problem?” Nin approached, stroking the baby in the sling.

“You must have realized. This place has minimal sunlight. In the deepest sea. The lighting is very important here. But lately, the city's lighting system has been disrupted. Government reasons they lack energy.” The resident explained, along with stroking his tiny baby.

“What is electricity? Isn't electricity and water one of the deadly weapons of mass murder?” Deni was confused, his forehead shriveling.

“No. The energy of the lights in this place is not from electricity. But from pearls taken from pearl shells. I don't know how to explain that energy conversion process, maybe you know better. They reasoned pearl shells were now hard to find, so the source of illumination energy was limited. Whereas a few days ago, the fisherman at our place found several hundred kilos of pearl oysters. Very abundant. Government lied about the shell.” The residents were silent for a moment. His face was very upset.

“They must be planning something on a large scale.” Sem holds his chin.

“True. We have to hurry.” Nin added.

Everybody nods. He left after saying goodbye to the people.

The water flow felt to make a heavier step. A voice accompanied the steps. Solar light is powerless to touch the bottom of the surface. Seaweed waving as if to understand, saying the word congratulations fight. Two kilos is like a three kilo trip. A heavy step.

“Kalian. Don't you realize what I've long realized?” Deni continued his sentence that was not asked when he was still with the residents earlier. Everyone looked up, looking at Deni's face. “Look at your faces.”

Stare at each other, lyrics. Suddenly, all simultaneously aware. There are different structures in our faces.

“What is this?” Nin touched his cheek.

“It looks like these gills. Just like the residents we met earlier.” Shem also felt the gills.

“It's disgusting, Jon. Don't I feel amused. Look, your gills are.” Deni stared at the jeri, his body like wriggling.

I haven't commented on the face yet. Something came towards us. Something with a large amount. Huddled.

“What is a herd of sardines?” Deni changed the question.

“It's bad. Nin can you explain?” She looked towards Nin. The weapon that had been tucked away clearly had long-range binoculars. Nin could see the horde coming.

“It's not sardines. It's a giant herd of sea horses. There was a soldier on his back with a rope of control. They make sea horses mount animals. They are also armed. Spear pointy.” Nin watched the aim of his weapon binoculars.

“You take a position, Nin. Joni, Deni, you two get ready. It will be a big battle.” Shem has drawn his bow. Nin stayed away, taking a position as a sniper. Deni wants to draw a sword. Wait, Deni's sword has vanished with the portal that Rem made while in the Tropical Rain Forest country. Sem hasn't replaced it. He only had to put up the horses. While I also draw a fist.

“Didn't it look like a herd of sardines?” Deni looked ahead. Probing.

“It was indeed a seahorse, Den. They look small because the distance is still far.” Sem preparing to aim.

“Why sea horses can be that much.” Deni kept asking.

“That's because their males also give birth.” I'm the one who answered. Deni. His face was broken, confused.

“Be prepared!” Shem exclaiming.

The herd of seahorses was getting closer. The soldiers are driving them. Seahorses are usually only small, this time it looks like a strong and mighty warhorse. They are also excellent swimmers.

The three of us stared intently at the silhouette in front that looked like a herd of sardines. The vanguard threw its spear. Thousands of spears came rushing towards us. The total number of these seahorses might be tens of thousands. A very large number of troops. It is also a sign that there is something big behind the conspiracy of illumination energy issues in the country.

“Sem!” I'm turning. Without having to be commanded, Sem took off one arrow. Bouncy, splitting into tens, hundreds, to thousands. The arrow collided with the spear released by the seahorse warrior. Falling irregularly on the sea floor. So far, Sem's arrows are still able to compensate. But with their distance getting closer, Sem arrows are like ordinary arrows, do not have time to split into many.

A bullet slid overhead. Unseen, but the roar of the wind was felt. Nin is in action. The bullet targeted a herd of front-row sea horsemen. Inevitably, the soldier who was in a straight line crossed by the bullet fell. Until finally the bullet ran out of thrust in the rider seahorses are umpteenth. There were dozens of soldiers whose bodies had already disappeared. But that was nothing with the number of those who were still tens of thousands.

Nin is not finished. Again, a bullet went off. This time at a narrow angle. The bullet fell right in front of the first row of seahorse riders. The first line stopped. The bullet was emitting smoke. Poison, that's Nin's next plan. The smoke spread widely to some of the sea horse riders, those who were directly affected fell. Disappear. But because it's on the ocean floor, the smoke doesn't last long. Fades away.

“Good, Nin.” Deni exclaimed, clenching his hands. There was nothing he could do, his sword was nothing.

One loud punch roared. There could be hundreds of seahorse riders bouncing around. These gloves are very helpful. The bodies of those who had fallen from the animals disappeared. Some other herds managed to get closer. A short distance fight soon ensued. I don't know what the name of his martial arts, the important thing is to hit it, the important thing is to kick it. Shem used his bow as a sword. I hit hard, some soldiers bounced. But this underwater current slightly suppressed the blow of the wind pressure I was emitting. While Deni fight as much as possible. Seized the spear of the seahorse, smashed it. From a distance Nin also helped, around us many of the seahorse riders who fell down not because of a blow, but because of a deadly bullet.

The fight continues. It was actually easy to defeat one of these two sea-riding warriors. But their numbers are superior. We're overwhelmed. Deni was already complaining, sighing. They have no end.

“You have something even greater, Jon?” Deni asked. These people will keep us busy until nightfall. There is no end.

“How, Sem?” I can't think either. They attack from all sides. Sem was also too busy with his affairs, the bow was not very effective as an opponent assassin. Just hurt, then solved with a regular blow.

“We have to go. Hiding!” Nin suddenly appeared in our midst.

“What about these? Look, just stepping is hard. They play keroyokan.” Deni voice raucous. Exhaustion.

“I've brought help here. Sem you take care of them so we can run from here now.” Nin pulled my arm, taking a run. Sem nodded, throwing his arrows up vertically. An arrow that could split into thousands would be a distraction. Sem got rid of the sea horsemen who tried to attack Deni. Pulling his arm, ran after me and Nin. Thousands of arrows temporarily occupied them. Although some other soldiers had chased, but was blocked by toxic smoke from Nin's bullets.

“We go in there.” Nin pointed to a coral that had a cave mouth. The mouth of the cave was covered by multilayered seaweed, camouflaged. From the crevices, we could still watch the sea horsemen searching for confusion. The four of them hiding in that narrow place felt stuffy.

“What do you mean by that help?” Sem asked. Trying to catch the breath.

“They will be here soon.” Nin also gasped, regulating the breath.

“Help?” Aren't the four of us on this mission?” Deni was confused again.

The ceiling of the ocean we were in was suddenly filled with killer sharks. They are five times larger than the largest shark in the human world. Sharks numbering no less than hundreds of it attacked the herd of sea horsemen. Take it all as lunch. Some of them managed to save themselves. Running flushed.

“So that's what you call help, Nin? Horrifically. How did you invite them.” I asked.

“I saw them through long-distance binoculars. It was as if they were looking for food. I shot one of them, made the other angry. Make them chase here.” Nin explained.

“That's a brilliant idea.” Deni gave a thumbs up, praising.

Nin blushed. Face reddened. Currently one obstacle is successfully faced, but when in front of the government building later. The battle will be much greater than the battle with only the rider of the seahorses.

Non-rigid. The killer shark is gone. Leave the sound of water ripples in the distance. We came out of the narrow rock cave taking turns. One crack of sunlight hit the face. Feels soft. This may be the only sunlight that gets to the bottom.

The journey we continue to make. Occasionally meet with local people. Unsmile. Friendliest. The problem of the gills has been forgotten. All have such faces, even babies in a sling. Nothing is strange.

Half an hour. We're still crossing residential housing. The buildings look the same. Plaid with gray color. Some buildings look mossy. We don't know what the locals do, but the first resident we talked to said some of them became fishermen. The fishermen are now in front of us. Catching small fish.

“Are they not worried about shark attacks like that?” Deni asked, whispering.

“They are experienced, Den. Sharks also will not attack if not disturbed.” Sem answered.

The fishermen were cleaning up the nets and catch fish, it looked like they were going home. There are five of them.

“Yo.” One of them raised his hand, saying hello.

The four of us walked closer. These fishermen were not at all surprised by our presence. In fact, since the beginning of our arrival to this place, our clothes are very striking, in contrast to the clothes of locals who only dress normally. Not a battle outfit, a suit of armor like the one I was wearing.

“Where are you going?” Another fisherman greeted.

“Guilding government.” She answered briefly.

“Gosh! What do you guys want? It's the most dangerous place in the entire ocean. The government is designing a weapon of interstate destruction. In the near future, wars will be between countries will happen soon.” The other fisherman added, his face looking anxious.

“Antar countries?” I asked. It's a serious matter.

‘Ya, interstate. They will attack other countries. The government of this country is authoritarian. They cannot be disturbed in any way. Anyone who utters a single word of protest will be roasted to ashes.”

“Truly cruel.” Nin lowered his head, his hands clenched even stronger. Finally, his teeth rolled together.

“Have you ever heard of pearl mussels?” The fisherman asked.

“Yes. The resident we met in the estate said the only energy to make this underwater light is with the energy extracted from the pearl shell.” Sem nodded. We have already explained about the pearl oysters a few sat ago.

“They say if the current stock of pearl shells in the ocean is very rare. Every day we see it in abundance. Modern fishermen who are actually royal guards dredge the wealth of pearl shells in the ocean. They forbid fishermen like us to take clams.”

“If they keep looking for that pearl oyster. Shouldn't his energy still be used as illumination?”

“That's just an unreasonable excuse. All the residents know it. They gathered the pearls to replenish the energy of a deadly weapon. For interstate war.”

“Do other countries already know about this weapon?” I'm getting anxious.

“Sweetest. Seems not. Only this country has that weapon.” All the fishermen looked down, concerned. War is not a good thing. The impact is the population itself. While the ruler just glued to show off weapons.

“Now how, Jon?” She asked, all eyes turned to me.

“Of course. We're gonna stop him. Together.” I tried to take off a smile, even though this actually felt like it would be difficult. What if the weapon is already filled with energy? What if they've fired it? We have to hurry.

“Hey, you're not crazy, are you?” How could kids like you stop that ridiculous plan? If this entire city of its people were united though, it would not be able to defeat a government that had hundreds of thousands of soldiers.” Fishermen are pessimistic.

“And we have power over hundreds of thousands of warriors.” Deni made the fisherman silent.

We moved from that place. The fishermen just kept quiet. Little hope was in their hearts. They have long wanted the authoritarian government overthrown. She leads in front. Runs.

“Where are we now, Sem?” I asked, while running.

“We have to find a store. Deni needs his sword.” Shem answered. His voice sounded slow, blocked by the flow of water.

“But where? Along the way there are only houses. No different building so far.” Nin looked left-right. There is no building that looks different. From earlier only the houses in the form of boxes decorate the side of the path. The road that sometimes had to make us paddle with the small fish.

“That's important now we just keep going forward. There might be a shop down there. If there really isn't, I don't mind having to snatch the opponent's weapon again.” Deni spelled out step Sem. They both this time were leading in front. Nin and I were watching behind. Looking around, it was possible that there was a shop by the roadside selling swords .

And of course lunch.