Ning Busan said, “Sheldon, I'll get you out of here.”
Sheldon pointed at the floor and said gloomily, “This is a high-tier magic array designed by humans. We can't get out at all.”
Carved into the floor was an ancient, complex magic array, woven from countless intricate runes and lines.
Grand Archmage Ning Busan barely batted an eye before dismantling the magic array in no time.
Sheldon stared, completely dumbfounded. “Ning Busan, you're amazing!”
But then he asked in confusion, “If you're so strong, how on earth did you get caught by humans?”
Ning Busan's expression instantly turned incredibly fierce.
He had absolutely no desire to bring up such an embarrassing past.
“I get it, I get it! Humans must have been too cunning!” Sheldon climbed up to the ceiling, picked the lock, and said to Ning Busan, “I'm going to rescue the other captured sea monsters. You should head back to the sea first.”
Fearing Sheldon would get himself killed, Ning Busan said, “I'd better go with you.”
The sea monsters were all locked up in a cramped cabin, which was filled with the sound of their weeping.
Once Sheldon let them out, he cursed viciously, “Damn humans! By the Sea God, I hope the human continent gets completely flooded one day!”
Ning Busan pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “Don't just go making impossible wishes like that!”
The Sea God had manually rejected Sheldon's wish.
But Ning Busan figured that sinking a pirate ship wouldn't be a problem.
Sailor Nisha ran into the captain's cabin in a panic, crying out in anguish, “Captain, those two mermen escaped!”
“Not only that, but the other sea monsters have been rescued too! All our hard work over the past half-month has gone down the drain! Captain, should we pursue them?”
Captain Ferrin frowned deeply. “Idiot, our location has already been compromised. Sea monsters hold the biggest grudges; they'll definitely find a way to retaliate. Saving our own skins is the priority. Head to Mist Bay at maximum speed.”
“Want to run? Do you think you can escape?”
Hearing the sinister voice, both of them whipped around, only to see Ning Busan.
Captain Ferrin gripped his trident weapon and said in a low voice, “You're the one behind the sea monsters' escape, aren't you? Do you really think you can take on all of us by yourself?”
Ning Busan cast a chilling glance at them, his eyes seeming to hold the vast mysteries of the universe. “There are jiaoren in the deep sea. Have you never heard of us?”
Captain Ferrin's face paled drastically. “You're not a merman—you're a jiaoren!”
Ning Busan parted his lips slightly and began to chant.
It was time to show his true strength!
Unlike the songs of mermen, which only possessed the power of enchantment, a jiaoren's song could summon all the forces of the ocean.
At first, the singing was as faint as silk, but it gradually coalesced into a powerful soundwave that penetrated the water and reached the deepest depths of the ocean.
Undercurrents began to swirl, forming a massive vortex. The sea suddenly churned, causing the pirate ship to rock violently.
The sailors on deck screamed in panic. The mages on board tried to use magic to calm the wind and waves, but to no avail.
Ning Busan continued to sing, his voice rising higher and carrying an irresistible majesty.
The ship's hull finally groaned under the immense strain, and the mast snapped in the howling wind.
The vortex grew stronger and stronger, the seawater acting like an invisible hand dragging the entire ship down to the seabed.
Ning Busan watched the pirates struggling in the water, his dark blue eyes completely devoid of warmth.
“In your next life, don't be fishmongers.”
Sheldon swam over, clapping enthusiastically. “Ning Busan, you're absolutely amazing! Who knows how much sea monster blood those pirates had on their hands? They've committed so many evil deeds; death is too good for them!”
Ning Busan cleared his throat. “Sheldon, my sense of direction isn't very good. Do you know exactly where we are right now?”
Sheldon said, “This is the boundary between the Sea of Mists and the Storm Fjord. I'll take you to find my boss. He can guide us through the habitat of the giant sea beasts and straight to the deep sea.”
“I can smell him. Boss is nearby!”
Ning Busan asked curiously, “Who is your boss?”
Sheldon gestured with his chin. “There, right behind you.”
Ning Busan turned around, his heart nearly leaping into his throat.
It was a head several times larger than the pirate ship. Its two eyes took up nearly a third of its face, with pupils of a dark blue-black that resembled a bottomless abyss.
How had an octopus this massive snuck up behind him without him noticing in the slightest?
Sheldon whistled excitedly. “Boss! What took you so long to find me?”
The octopus's scolding voice boomed like thunder. “When you were captured by humans, why didn't you think to leave a scent trail? I've been looking for you for half a month!”
Sheldon grumbled, aggrieved, “There were mages among those pirates, and they knew how to mask scents. What was I supposed to do?”
Ning Busan recalled the contents of the parchment scroll and recognized the octopus before him as a type of sea monster known as a “Deep Sea Lord.”
A Deep Sea Lord was an apex predator whose tentacles could secrete a paralyzing toxin. Their weakness was a fear of bright light, which prevented them from fighting above the surface.
How did a Deep Sea Lord and a merman, two completely unrelated types of sea monsters, end up hanging out together?
Sheldon introduced them, “Ning Busan, this is my boss, Echidna.”
“Boss, his name is Ning Busan. Don't look at him as just a merman pup; he's actually incredibly powerful. It's just that he can't find his way back to the deep sea, so let's escort him back.”
Echidna looked at Sheldon as if he were a fool. “He is a jiaoren pup, not one of your mermen.”
Sheldon was astonished. “But he looks so much like I did when I was little!”
“Mermen and jiaoren look very similar as pups, so it's normal that you couldn't tell them apart.” Echidna turned his gaze back to Ning Busan, his eyes filled with scrutiny.
“Jiaoren treasure their pups dearly. How did you end up here?”
Ning Busan spoke the simple truth: “I got lost.”
Echidna fell silent.
Getting lost all the way from the deep sea to here was clearly highly illogical.
Echidna tried a different question. “Which region of the deep sea is your home in?”
The land-dwelling jiaoren, Ning Busan: “...”
What, does the deep sea have a Sector A and Sector B or something?
“I don't remember,” Ning Busan said, turning to the easily fooled Sheldon. “Can I come visit your home?”
Sheldon asked incredulously, “You're not going home? Aren't you worried your mother will be anxious?”
Ning Busan: “...”
Echidna said, “He might not have a mother.”
If a jiaoren pup's parents were still alive, they would have turned the deep sea upside down long ago after their pup went missing.
Sheldon persisted, asking, “Ning Busan, what about your father then?”
Echidna reproached him, “Sheldon, stop asking. He probably doesn't have a father either.”
Sheldon's face filled with pity. “Ning Busan, you're so pitiful!”
Ning Busan couldn't bring himself to smile at all.
Neither of you spared my parents, did you?
Rate on N.U.
