What You Want

"I think we should have a proper talk..." Princess Ariel of the merfolk did not know why she hadn't revealed her fish tail, instead wearing a long, tube-style skirt to conceal it.

They were currently in Ariel's palace beneath the heart of the island's lake. The palace appeared to be constructed from ice, crystal clear, yet strangely, there was no sensation of cold inside. The surroundings were decorated with what looked like seaweed and seashells, making for quite a pleasant sight. Furthermore, Lu Li and the others seemed unaffected by the seawater here; they could move, breathe, and speak freely, and their clothes didn't even get wet.

The four of them were standing not far from the mermaid princess. At this moment, aside from the young man who had been meditating with his eyes closed, the man in his thirties and the woman who had arrived later were looking at Lu Li with strange expressions.

The mermaid princess had suggested they change clothes, but in reality, only Lu Li and the woman who arrived later had done so. The woman was now wearing a pale blue gown that was clearly a high-end item, while Lu Li was currently dressed in an exquisite white floral princess dress, calmly enduring the gazes of the two people beside him.

"Alright, you said you needed our help, so may I ask what you need us to do?" Lu Li asked with interest, curiously lifting his foot to test whether the princess dress restricted his movement.

"Please, help me. I must be with William!" The mermaid princess's face was filled with anguish as she swam back and forth. "I was the one who saved William; it couldn't possibly be that princess from the neighboring country. But according to rumors, William seems to believe that princess is the one who saved him. That neighboring princess is impersonating me, and she must have some ulterior motive. I must go and notify William!"

"So you want us to go and notify Prince William?" Lu Li's question was met with a negative response. The mermaid princess shook her head and smiled bitterly. "William won't trust you. On the contrary, you might be mistaken for spies sent by another country and be executed."

"Only... only if I appear before William will he believe it. He will surely remember me!" The mermaid princess recalled that kiss beneath the water and the way their eyes had met. Although Prince William had been dizzy from oxygen deprivation at the time, she was certain that if she appeared before him again, he would definitely recognize her!

"I would like to ask you to go to this place. A powerful witch lives there. Legend has it that she possesses superb shapeshifting dark magic and can transform species. I want to ask you to help me persuade the witch to help me take on a human form." The mermaid princess said earnestly, "Although that existence said you don't need to be paid, if you can get this done quickly, I will still give you a generous reward!"

The notification panels of the four players present flashed simultaneously:

[Quest Accepted: Seek the Witch.]

[Quest Description: How can you fall in love when you're different species? Prince William isn't into non-human girls, so the first step to marriage is to change your species!]

[Quest Requirements: Find the Master of Transformation - The Mysterious Witch, complete her requests, and obtain the qualification for transformation.]

[Quest Hint: The Mysterious Witch is very powerful, certainly not someone you can defeat right now, so please complete the witch's requests with peace of mind...]

[Quest Reward: The poor child, the mermaid princess, has already paid, but love makes one blind. Upon completing the quest, you will receive one random magical or witchcraft item.]

"I trust you all understand now. My attendants will bring a boat over shortly to send you off. The map to the witch's location and some supplies will be placed on the boat. I hope you can be quick; William's wedding is not far off." The mermaid princess said, "I won't disturb you any further. I shall take my leave now. I look forward to your success!"

The mermaid princess swam away and retreated into the rear hall of the palace, leaving the four players behind. The woman who had arrived later cleared her throat, then put on a sweet smile and said, "We are teammates for this dungeon, so let's introduce ourselves. After all, we'll be fighting side by side from now on!"

"I'll go first. My name is Gao Xiaowen. I've reinforced the Implant Path and have an active melee attack skill." The woman tucked her hair behind her ears, looking like a mature urban woman. The young man who had been meditating remained expressionless, simply spitting out a few words before falling silent: "Hu Wenxu, Alienation Path, three skills!"

"Xu Haoran, Inner Demon Path. I currently have two skills, one of which is a detection skill!" The man in his thirties said with a cold, detached expression. "This is the data I just scanned on the mermaid. I'll share it with you!"

"Thank you so much. The beginner's test dungeon came with built-in information reading, so it's really hard to get used to not having it in the official dungeon," Gao Xiaowen said with a smile, then looked at the data shared by Xu Haoran:

[Mermaid (?)]

[Physical Assessment: 2.88; Life Energy Derivative: 0.5]

[Soul Assessment: 2.39; Spiritual Energy Derivative: 1.86, Oceanic Magic: 4.44]

[Category: Physical Mutation Type.]

[Origin: Received a great calling, entered the sea, symbiotically bonded with fish, and became a half-human, half-fish existence with excellent quasi-magical abilities...]

[Special Abilities: (1) Water Flow Surge: Living in the sea for years grants them excellent speed in water. They can also sense the mysterious power within the seawater, absorb oceanic magic, and possess decent ocean-based spells. (2) Heavenly Sound: The mermaid's vocal cords have a special structure, allowing them to unleash a special enchanting sound through magic. (3) (?)]

[Weakness: Fish cannot live without water. There are actually other weaknesses, but your detection level is too low...]

[Monster Evaluation: What a peculiar mermaid. You players probably couldn't even defeat her...]

"Her level is higher than mine, so it's not bad that the detection skill could read this much information!" Gao Xiaowen's expression was a bit grave. The mermaid princess's strength was quite formidable. Although her data only exceeded theirs by a little, the most lethal aspect was actually her spellcasting ability.

A player's strength comes from basic reinforcement and skills. In the early stages, players use skills very rigidly, far inferior to the natives of these dungeon worlds who possess spellcasting abilities. They can release various learned spells through magic, while players, aside from their hard-to-control reinforcement abilities, have fixed skills and really have no advantage.

"It's your turn to introduce yourself. Say a few words!" Gao Xiaowen looked at Lu Li's princess dress and said with a strange expression.

"Just call me Strange Light. I'm a newbie. I've reinforced the Implant Path, and my ability is physical control. I only have half a skill called Touch of Fear, which allows me to make any creature I touch feel fear. However, because the module is incomplete, this skill activates quite slowly. As for my interests, I'm interested in all interesting things. Don't you think it's fun to wear girls' clothes occasionally?" Lu Li's face was full of sincerity; he might as well have had "I'm a newbie" carved onto his forehead...