Louis

Meanwhile, on an unremarkable little island east of the Ilusia Kingdom.

This island, too, belonged to none of the World Government Member States. It was a typical lawless zone.

In the island's most prosperous district stood a lavish mansion, utterly out of place amid the surrounding squalor.

Inside the mansion was a room steeped in nouveau riche taste, its walls covered in tacky oil paintings and its surfaces piled with crafts that looked expensive but possessed no beauty whatsoever.

A fat, potbellied middle-aged man was suddenly gripped by an inexplicable unease, as though something terrible was about to happen.

He paced anxiously across the room's thick carpet, unable to pinpoint the source of his dread.

"Master, are you tired? Would you like to rest for a while?"

A soft, seductive voice sounded beside his ear.

The middle-aged man looked down at his fourteenth wife, whom he had recently purchased for a fortune—a beautiful, fully grown mermaid.

She had thick, seaweed-like hair, half-exposed pale breasts, and a stunningly voluptuous figure. Dressed in nothing but a thin layer of gauze, her fair skin showed enticingly beneath it, while the webbing on her delicate feet added an exotic touch.

She gazed up at him meekly, her eyes full of concern.

The mermaid's alluring presence instantly dispelled his unease and ignited his most primal desires.

Breathing heavily, he shoved his costly slave wife onto the soft carpet, heedless of the others still in the room—several expressionless, fully armed bodyguards standing by the closed doors.

The bodyguards had long since grown accustomed to this sight. Instead, their eyes lit up as they greedily stared at the exquisite naked body on the floor.

Once their master had tired of the previous thirteen "mistresses," he had handed them over to his personal guards to enjoy. Each man