Night falls.
A giant merchant ship, over 500 meters long and nearly 70 meters wide, lay coiled like a dragon upon the Dusk Sea.
This giant merchant ship was named “the Sardine.”
Despite the night, the Sardine was brightly lit. Countless humans, vampires, mermen, and members of other races flocked to it.
They all wore hoods to hide their forms as they moved about the giant ship, using gold coins to purchase the goods they desired—ranging from Abyss minerals and materials to hallucinogenic drugs, and even humans and vampires who had been branded as slaves and stripped of their transcendent powers.
In the highest cabin of the Sardine, a thin, short merman with a shark's head sat upon a golden chair in the center.
Though he looked weak, he exuded the aura of a superior, causing all the other mermen in the cabin to lower their heads, exposing their vulnerable necks to him.
This was the mermen's sign of submission.
With a “clank,” the cabin door swung open. A powerfully built merman, standing four meters tall, ducked his head as he entered. He bowed to the shark-headed merman and said respectfully:
“Boss Gareth, that human baron is waiting outside.”
“Let him in,” the Mad Shark King, Gareth, said as he straightened up.
“Yes.”
Soon, a human man wearing a black hood walked in. Not only was his body hidden, but he also wore a mask, revealing nothing about himself to the mermen in the cabin.
Gareth didn't care. He simply raised his eyes slightly and said:
“You say you have intelligence worth ten thousand gold coins to share with me?”
“Yes, esteemed Mad Shark King of the Dusk Sea.”
The man bowed to Gareth and said:
“I have received word that someone intends to act against you. They are organizing the forces of Stormveil City and the surrounding towns and villages to launch an expedition against you.”
“What? You say the humans are coming to sea to attack the boss? Hahaha! You must be insane!”
“Exactly! Those humans who cower on land dare to come to the Dusk Sea to attack the boss? This must be an excuse cooked up just to beg the boss for money!”
Loud laughter and blatant mockery erupted from the mermen in the cabin.
Humans coming to sea to hunt mermen?
It was simply hilarious!
Forget the fact that Stormveil City only had one Gold rank bloodline warrior with unhealed old injuries—even if a Diamond rank bloodline warrior came, the mermen wouldn't be afraid!
If things went south, they could just jump into the water and flee back to the deep sea. Even a Diamond rank human powerhouse would find it extremely difficult to track mermen in the deep sea, let alone kill them.
Facing the ridicule of the surrounding mermen, the man under the hood's expression darkened, and his voice carried the irritation of being mocked:
“Every word I say is true! If you don't believe me, then pretend I was never here! When the expeditionary force strikes the Sardine, you'll realize the importance of the intelligence I brought you!”
Hearing the hooded man's words, a hot-tempered merman suddenly stood up. “Are you cursing the Sardine—”
Before the merman could finish, Gareth, sitting on the golden chair, raised a hand to stop him.
Silence quickly returned to the cabin.
Gareth stared at the hooded man, a hissing sound coming from his gills. After a moment, he spoke:
“Tell me the intel. If it's verified as valid, I'm willing to pay the reward you want.”
“But if this is a story you've made up, then...”
A ferocious glint flashed in Gareth's shark eyes. “You will learn the consequences.”
“O-Of course!” Sensing the ferocity in Gareth's eyes, the hooded man broke into a cold sweat. He braced himself and said, “I certainly wouldn't bring you false news to deceive you!”
Ten minutes later, the hooded man laid out everything he had learned in the Stormveil City council hall.
After Gareth finished listening, the dorsal fin on his head twitched slightly. After a long silence, he said:
“Someone, take him down to collect a thousand gold coins!”
“B-Boss? One... one thousand gold coins?” one of the mermen asked, stunned.
“Yes, one thousand gold coins.” Gareth sensed the joy the man couldn't hide even under his hood and added:
“A thousand gold coins is just a down payment. If I verify that the intel is true, I will pay you another four thousand!”
“Yes, yes! Thank you, Lord Mad Shark King!” Hearing this, the hooded man was overjoyed and quickly bowed to Gareth in gratitude.
Once a merman led the hooded man away, one of the Mad Shark King's confidants, a conch merman, stepped forward and asked:
“Boss, do you believe that human's words?”
Gareth nodded. “The details are sufficient, and his story didn't contradict itself when I questioned him again. It should be true.”
The conch merman asked, “Then... what should we do?”
“What to do? It's simple. On the surface, we'll act as if we know nothing.” Gareth sneered, a ruthless light flashing in his eyes.
“Secretly, summon all the brothers immediately and have them return to the Sardine in secret. When the humans arrive, we'll hit them head-on and give them a crushing blow!”
The conch merman hesitated for half a second. “Boss... that human expeditionary force has a Gold rank priest, and they've gathered most of the combat power along the Heron Empire's coast.”
“If we fight them head-on, even if we win, we'll suffer heavy casualties...”
“Most of the combat power?” Gareth sneered and shook his head.
“Heron and Nightmare are at war. The warband warriors along the coast were mobilized by the Heron Emperor to fight in the north long ago.”
“All that's left in the south are a few small warband squads.”
“Aside from that Gold rank priest who just arrived in Stormveil City, their so-called expeditionary force doesn't even have a single Gold rank combatant!”
“They dare to come and hunt me with that kind of strength? I'll show them exactly what a chasm-like difference in power looks like!”
“No matter how many of them there are, in the face of absolute power, they'll be nothing but scraps for me to tear apart!”
The conch merman realized that his boss had already thought of this.
Gareth continued:
“Besides, doesn't that kid from the capital hold a Royal Decree?”
“That's a token personally bestowed by the Heron Emperor. If I kill him and seize the decree, then resell it to the vampires of the Nightmare empire... they won't be stingy with the price in the slightest!”
“Brilliant, Boss!” Hearing this, the conch merman was completely won over, instantly admiring Gareth's supreme wisdom.
Gareth's mouth pulled back to reveal his sharp shark teeth, and he let out a low grunt of satisfaction, as if everything was within his grasp.
...
Night fell.
Eldenborg.
“Young Master, among those being monitored, Baron Portia, Baron Blake, Mayor Walker, and Village Chief Fletcher were seen going out at night.”
Inside the Rose Cathedral, a Falcon warrior reported to Leon.
“I see. Continue the surveillance,” Leon nodded.
The Falcon warrior acknowledged and withdrew.
“They couldn't even wait for a single night to pass...”
Leon shook his head slightly.
Although not every baron or mayor who went out at night was necessarily in league with the Mad Shark King, going out late at night was certainly highly suspicious.
Leon didn't want to wrong an innocent person, but he also didn't want to let a traitorous noble escape.
So, Leon decided that after the expedition against the Mad Shark King, he would invite these barons and mayors to the cathedral for some tea. At the same time, he would send people to investigate their estates.
If they possessed unexplained wealth beyond what their status as a baron should allow, and they couldn't explain where it came from, then there would be nothing more to say—he would simply have them executed.
Even if the wealth didn't come from colluding with the Mad Shark King, it would still be money squeezed from the commoners or obtained through bullying. Killing them would be no loss.
“Leon, priest.”
Just then, Leon heard Alicia's voice.
Turning around, he saw Alicia standing at the cathedral entrance, wearing pink pajamas and clutching a teddy bear pillow.
“Why aren't you asleep yet?” Leon asked with a smile.
Alicia walked forward, stuffed the teddy bear pillow into Leon's arms, and said:
“Leon, priest, I, want to, sleep, with, you.”
Rate on N.U.
