Chapter 131.1 Merfolk Shore
As the world advised Wen Shi to call it a night, his relaxed expression abruptly turned serious. Without warning, he stiffened, his attention snapping forward.
An illusion?
Just now, he caught what seemed like the distant growl of a leopard.
Oddly, the sound didn’t resonate through his ears. Rather, it boomed from the depths of his mind.
The faculty dormitory building was quite far, making it impossible for Arlon’s psychic growl to reach here. However, owing to their summoning bond, Arlon and Wen Shi shared a subtle mental connection. Every now and then, Wen Shi would detect the spiritual entity’s movements.
Jian Qingrong: “It could be the commotion from a battle.”
Wen Shi gave a nod.
The campus air, which was already humid, had now become so saturated that breathing it in felt almost suffocating.
The temperature around him dropped rapidly. Even though he wasn’t on-site, he could imagine how intense the battle was on the other side.
Wen Shi: “Big Brother said he’d take care of the Exhibition Hall.”
Forcing the Merfolk King to awaken prematurely, once the Merfolk King chose to consume Mr. Ruan to boost its power, they could move in ahead of schedule. With Arlon assisting the NPC from the side, suspicions of relying too much on others to progress could be avoided.
“Things should go smoother than expected.”
There were some hidden sources of assistance.
For example, even though the Chubby Guy always dreamed of inheriting his fortune, the overall goal of the Merfolk Faction aligned with theirs–eliminating the principal.
Wen Shi prayed to the moon, “Hope Mr. Ruan proves capable.”
At least for now, they needed to devour the Merfolk King quickly.
Due to doubts about the game’s quality, just as he relaxed for a moment, Wen Shi suddenly attempted to summon the game in his mind.
“If Mr. Ruan succeeds in devouring, you won’t categorize Mr. Ruan as the new Merfolk King, right?”
After a while, when Wen Shi had given up waiting for a response, a chilly voice rang out, “Player 460872.”
“Hmm?”
“The game prohibits nesting dolls.”
“…Oh.”
•
While Wen Shi and the game were mutually criticizing each other’s character, the faculty dormitory was a scene of others fleeing for their lives.
Having spent half a lifetime obsessively searching for genuine merfolk meat to eat, when three merfolk appeared simultaneously, an endless chill ran through them.
About to die, about to die, about to die.
A single thought looped incessantly in their minds. One of them stumbled and rushed downstairs, while shouting, “Th principal, hurry, go find the principal!”
The principal was their anchor.
However, these people didn’t know that the principal wasn’t trustworthy.
The principal was a typical two-faced person, with a cold and skeptical personality.
Among the upper echelons of the school, except for Lily, who occasionally had a secret connection with him for the sake of merfolk meat, only Mr. Qi, from a family that had been teaching at Mingzhu Academy for generations, earned some trust. The principal treated everyone equally, guarding against them all in secret. Recently, due to the incident of Mr. Ruan being ‘assaulted at night,’ the principal reluctantly delegated some tasks to him.
This vigilance was effective. Years ago, the principal had secretly captured a genuine merfolk, using merfolk flesh to further bind the higher-ups.
Unfortunately, he was too stingy. Consuming a large amount of fully-cooked merfolk meat could greatly enhance physical strength. If the principal had been more generous, he could have easily devised emergency strategies, so that even in his absence, the staff could manage to deal with merfolk for a while.
Someone looked back while running and was surprised to find that these merfolk weren’t charging towards them. Instead, two of them were ganging up on one.
As he involuntarily slowed his pace and rubbed his eyes, he realized that among the two merfolk, one was almost just a head, with the other half of its body entirely composed of condensed water mist.
In midair, the combatants didn’t exhibit the typical animosity of life-or-death struggles. One was expressionless, the other utterly incredulous.
“Why betray?” Amidst their struggle, the merfolk who had been wounded by Wen Shi’s swordmanship angrily questioned.
Severely injured, he was no match for Mr. Ruan. In a matter of moments, several more gashes appeared on his body.
In the instant of a close-range attack, Mr. Ruan finally replied coldly, “The one who first betrayed was never me.”
In fact, from the moment the merfolk saw Mr. Ruan covered in blood, it had a rough idea. Its inherent loyalty attribute prompted it to feel a trace of sadness, yet it persistently tried to persuade him to prioritize the bigger picture, all for the return of the King.
Fortunately, Wen Shi wasn’t present. Otherwise, he would surely be astonished by the true believers’ way of thinking. Compared to Wusa Kingdom and the merfolk, there suddenly arose a glimmer of humanity.
The powerful leopard stood not too near, not too far away, using its psychic power to disrupt whenever the Merfolk King attempted to intervene.
The sheer power of the spiritual entity alone couldn’t take down the Merfolk King, but the leopard was far more agile, adept at causing disruptions and positioning tricks.
The merfolk’s attack style was always brutal and direct. Mr. Ruan accurately seized the time when the Merfolk King was distracted, delivering a painful blow to its former companion. The scales on the Merfolk King’s tail, marked with bloody traces from severe injuries, were penetrated by countless sharp strands that churned in its flesh.
The severely injured merfolk stared at him, weakly speaking, “Then let the King devour me, while you all join forces against the academy.”
The tendons in the merfolk’s tail were all snapped. Mr. Ruan shook his head, “Not enough.”
It was too weakened. Even devouring it wouldn’t yield significant results.
Not far away, the amber eyes of the leopard held a mocking glint. It had long grasped a truth–betrayal required a reason to be more thorough.
In a different scenario, Mr. Ruan would have chosen to understand his severely injured companion’s decision to be consumed by the Merfolk King. Now, he could cast aside the merfolk’s nature, comfortably taking the stance of a victim. Even Arlon’s earlier fabricated claim about the principal sensing the Merfolk King’s believers through his heart was dismissed as an excuse.
Even if the king declined, he could still lead the merfolk clan towards prosperity.
Ignoring the comrade who could no longer stay suspended in midair, Mr. Ruan turned his gaze to the Merfolk King.
The Merfolk King’s expression turned grim. After a few rounds, it had gained a certain understanding of the leopard’s role in controlling the field without directly attacking.
After a brief standoff, its demeanor grew tranquil and serene. A faint layer of ice-blue scales emerged on its pale face, thin as cicada wings. They overlapped, nearly indistinguishable from its skin at first glance.
Accompanying the movement of its mouth, a lamenting melody filled the air.
The Merfolk King possessed a rare and unique talent–it could sing as long as it had a tongue. After obtaining the heart, the Wandering Corpse also inherited this ability, which could make any living being feel physically weak throughout their entire body.
The genuine singing voice was far mightier than the【Heavenly Melody】.
Notes flowed around in a slow yet rapid contradictory state. The faculty members, running ragged, unconsciously halted their steps, feeling an illusion of their hearts breaking.
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