Merfolk Love Triangle

With the help of the merfolk, the ship moved at an incredible speed. Watching the fish tails constantly churning beneath the surface, the horizon in the distance began to brighten; another day was about to begin. Facing the dawn, the faint outlines of land slowly came into view. At this moment, the voice of the Mermaid Princess echoed in the minds of the group:

"The royal palace is not far. According to our intelligence, the princess of a neighboring kingdom will arrive at the port tomorrow under the protection of her guards, and William will be there to greet her. What we must do is intercept William at that opportunity and let me have a meeting with him."

The Mermaid Princess then shared some details about the prince. The prince of this kingdom was an only child, meaning it was certain that Prince William would be the next king. Within this surrounding region, this kingdom was considered quite powerful, while the neighboring country was merely a small nation. If not for the fact that the princess had once saved the prince, this wedding would never have been arranged, as there was a distinct hierarchy even between princes and princesses.

"Someone will come to meet us shortly, and after that, everything will depend on you." The Mermaid Princess's voice continued to resonate in their minds. Her tone was devoid of any emotion, so the group failed to notice the slight look of guilt on her face as she spoke of the contact waiting for them.

The ship pulled into a secluded stretch of coast, where a man was already waiting. Judging by his attire and demeanor, his status was not low. He looked at the Mermaid Princess—who had now transformed into a human—with a cold, indifferent expression. He said nothing, cast a chilly glance at Lu Li and the others, tossed them some clothing to change into, and then stood motionless.

Lu Li could sense that this man was somewhat similar to the Mermaid Princess in her current human form. It wasn't about his appearance, but a certain feeling—as if this man were also a merfolk who had transformed into a human.

The Mermaid Princess used her mental power to communicate something to her handmaiden. The mermaid, who had been glaring at Lu Li and the others with disdain, dove into the water and departed. The Mermaid Princess then went aside to change her clothes, as her own attire was far too ornate and likely to attract unwanted attention.

Once they had changed, the man led them a short distance away to where two carriages were waiting. Both coachmen kept their heads bowed, wearing expressions that suggested they saw and heard nothing. The Mermaid Princess rode with the man, while Lu Li and the other players took the second carriage. There was no conversation throughout the journey, though when they reached the port city and stepped down, the face of the man who had come to meet them turned even grimmer.

The man settled them into a secluded little courtyard and left immediately. The Mermaid Princess provided some explanation to Lu Li and the others: the man who had met them was a helper for the merfolk organization operating on land.

Merfolk possessed great strength in the water, but on land, their abilities were essentially crippled by the environment. Merfolk were generally attractive, and their bodies were excellent materials for witchcraft; whether sold to witches or human nobles, they fetched a high price. Consequently, humans had always risked their lives to capture them. Because of this, the label of "rare slave" had always been attached to merfolk in the eyes of human nobility. This label was, in fact, the greatest obstacle between the Mermaid Princess and Prince William—a prince holding a wedding with a slave was unthinkable.

Given the awkward situation of merfolk on land, the merfolk race had long ago bribed a number of humans to form an organization that handled all their affairs on the surface. Most of the organization's personnel were people with various ties to the merfolk, and many members were even half-breeds of human and merfolk descent. The reproductive isolation between humans and merfolk was not as strong as one might imagine; the offspring were essentially human in appearance, could live on land, and some even possessed decent magical talent.

The man from earlier was indeed a merfolk half-breed, which explained the strange feeling he gave Lu Li. Under normal circumstances, if one wanted to meet the prince, it wouldn't be too difficult to rely on that man's help. However, the Mermaid Princess was acting on her own, having even changed her species. The fact that he hadn't immediately notified the Merfolk Royal Family and had even come to meet them was already a mercy. Expecting further help from him was out of the question, so if the Mermaid Princess wanted to see the prince, she would now have to rely entirely on the players.

The Mermaid Princess had already gone to her room to rest, wanting to appear before Prince William in the best possible state. Lu Li and the others sat in the courtyard chatting; they had to wait until after dark to take action, and for now, they had to stay hidden in the courtyard to avoid alerting the enemy.

"Whether our mission succeeds or not, that man isn't going to have a good ending, is he..." Lu Li glanced at the room where the Mermaid Princess was resting and said, "What a truly cruel woman. Or perhaps love is just that terrifying—it makes people blind and stupid?"

"What does that have to do with us? We're just here to conduct research and complete the mission along the way." Hu Wenxu was using his newly acquired Coral Blade to slice a piece of flesh from his own body to feed the Meat Ganoderma. He said with excitement, "Still, that witch's species-transformation is really interesting. How does a mermaid with a fish tail turn into a human?"

"Bringing people of unknown identity into the port city without authorization—even if his status is decent, he'll face punishment. Then there's the pressure from the merfolk side, concealing the fact that the Mermaid Princess transformed into a human, and even smuggling her into a human city..." Lu Li ignored Hu Wenxu and said with a sigh, "Combined with that man's grim expression, I'm certain that guy made this irrational choice because of love. Love really is terrifying."

"The Mermaid Princess abandoned the race that raised her for it, spent a great price to become human, and at the same time, dragged the man who loved her into ruin. Yet that man, for the sake of a woman who ruined him, foolishly jumped into the pit and abandoned his own bright future." Lu Li lamented the magic of love.

"It's just a tacky love triangle. Who knows, there might be a fourth or fifth person involved later. Why is a man like you more gossipy than me?" Gao Xiaowen sneered. "Instead of having the leisure for this, you'd be better off thinking about how to complete this mission. I don't believe the prince has no guards protecting him."

"I'm just constantly exploring the fun in things. That approach of blindly completing missions is just too boring." Lu Li shrugged. Recalling the various traits and expressions of the Mermaid Princess, some interesting conjectures began to form in his mind.

Furthermore, Lu Li felt that this mission was a bit off. The mission objective was for the Mermaid Princess and the prince to hold their wedding, yet all their intelligence came from the Mermaid Princess herself. They knew absolutely nothing about the prince. Given the Mermaid Princess's current state of being lost in an ocean of love, Lu Li felt that her claim that "everything will be fine once I see the prince" might be a bit problematic...