Chapter 99: You All Need to Be Mentally Prepared
Su Xiao passed through the light membrane at the entrance. The moment before his body touched the seawater, the sea god statue hanging at his waist, about 10 centimeters in height, emitted a glowing white light that clung to Su Xiao's body, pushing the surrounding seawater away. More precisely, it alleviated the water pressure through continuous resonance.
By not coming into contact with the seawater, he naturally blocked the invasion of "Mental Beastification" and "Ocean's Resentful Wrath."
Beyond that, this glowing white light could also absorb oxygen from the surrounding seawater. Such comprehensive protection must have required a long time of research and development to achieve.
Su Xiao walked along the seabed, feeling some resistance as he moved, but it wasn't strong—it came from the enhancement effect of [Deep Sea Slumber (Immortal Rank · Pendant)].
Approaching a nearby wooden hut, Su Xiao spotted Bubu Wang and Baha. Each of them had a sea god statue, both found inside this room. They had already sacrificed Soul Coins and each gained 2 hours of underwater protection time.
They had just entered this world, and 420 Soul Coins were already spent.
"Boss, where are we going next?"
Baha hung the sea god statue on himself, wanting to try flying through the water.
"No specific target for now. Focus on exploration."
Su Xiao looked into the distance. The seabed wasn't completely dark; many glowing stones were scattered around. Further away, a cluster of light gathered, looking like some kind of underwater settlement.
Leading Bubu Wang and Baha, Su Xiao headed toward the light source. After walking for over ten minutes on the seabed, he saw where the light came from—a steep wall embedded with dozens of large glowing stones, deliberately placed to attract people here.
Su Xiao began swimming upward. After ascending about a hundred meters, the steep wall ended. On top of it was an inverted semicircular light membrane. He tried reaching his hand into the membrane, encountering immense resistance. He could force his way through, but it would cause violent energy fluctuations.
Su Xiao descended back down. Having the sea god statue on him was convenient like this—it was exceptionally useful. By adjusting the resonance frequency, he could change his gravity and buoyancy underwater.
Returning to the seabed, Su Xiao walked along the hundred-meter-high wall. After traveling a long distance, he saw an entrance shaped like a city gate ahead. The entrance was about 7 meters tall and 5 meters wide, with a layer of light membrane blocking the seawater from entering the walled area.
Several tall humanoid creatures with gills on the sides of their necks and behind their ears stood guard there. Their skin was pale white, without scales, with thick membranes that looked exceptionally tough.
These half-fish people—no, calling them Sea Clan was more accurate. The four Sea Clan members standing there didn't look at Su Xiao with vigilance but rather with delight—the kind of joyful gaze one only shows when seeing money.
Seeing this, Su Xiao guessed the general situation. He walked forward along a gravel path, and before the guards could speak, he asked:
"Do you need a doctor here? I'm a passing physician skilled in treating physical injuries or extending the duration of beastification. I also have some understanding of deep-sea curses—I can alleviate them, though not cure them."
Su Xiao wasn't boasting. In the secret chamber, he hadn't only obtained the Painter's Blood and the Mind Seal that boosted his sanity by 200 points.
The doctor who had helped the old knight become a seventh-stage beastifier and modified Lamp Sister, knowing his time was short, had recorded his lifelong knowledge about treating potential physical damage, delaying beastification outbreaks, and methods to slow down the deep-sea curse, i.e., "Ocean's Resentful Wrath," in books.
As an alchemist, Su Xiao found the knowledge in these books more valuable than the Painter's Blood and Mind Seal. Knowledge is power; knowledge is wealth.
Five minutes later, four burly Sea Clan members, each over 2.5 meters tall, surrounded Su Xiao and escorted him toward the center of the underwater city. Their expressions carried a hint of flattery. In the World of Paintings, being able to treat internal injuries and suppress the outbreaks of "Mental Beastification" and "Ocean's Resentful Wrath" to some extent made one a big shot wherever they went.
Su Xiao surveyed the underwater city's appearance. The outermost area had four high walls and an outer light membrane for defense. Inside the city, there was no seawater, so he could put away the sea god statue and breathe freely.
The streets and buildings here were all built from seabed rock, making the colors inevitably monotonous. Su Xiao soon noticed this was just the outer city's slums. After passing through a layer of inner city wall gates, the colors became more diverse, no longer just the bluish-gray of sea rock.
Various corals and large shells served as decorations, adding color to the buildings along the streets. Besides Sea Clan members, people of different human races began to appear on the streets. Even though this area was cleaner and tidier than the outer city, the people's gazes indicated this wasn't a peaceful place.
Through the Sea Clan member named Di Shuo beside him, Su Xiao gathered quite a bit of information. First, this was "Sanctuary City VI." The rules here were simple: except for a specific few, the residents' earnings and such had to be tributed partly to the Sea God. The Sea God was both the creator of everything and the protector of all.
As for the Sea God being the creator of everything, that could be taken as nonsense. If the Sea God were the creator, then what were the Scroll Fragments and the Painter for?
The claim of protecting everyone was also somewhat laughable. From the attitude of Sea Clan member Di Shuo, the beast disaster at the bottom of the sea was severe. If not for the seawater isolating each Sanctuary City and the water pressure killing beastified individuals, the situation at the seabed would have already exploded.
In total, there were seven Sanctuary Cities at the seabed. Besides these, there was one most prosperous Divine Grace City as the main city, the sacred place where the Sea God resided. When Sea Clan member Di Shuo mentioned this, he was especially longing for it, because the Sea Clan girls there were generally prettier, and the perks for working there were better.
As Su Xiao listened, he felt something was off. The situation at the seabed was very much like a scaled-down replica of a dynasty. The Sea God was the monarch, and the Divine Envoys governing the seven Sanctuary Cities were like the former independent ministers.
In this underwater kingdom, there were distinctions between paupers, citizens, and nobles. One's status was determined by their strength. The weak were paupers, and anything they obtained had to be tributed 70% to the Sea God.
Above that were citizens, who tributed 10% of their property to the Sea God.
Then came the nobles of the underwater kingdom, who paid no tribute. Not only that, but a small portion of what paupers and citizens tributed to the Sea God went to the nobles.
The purpose of this system was that the weak were squeezed more, but since they were weak, they couldn't resist. Once they gained some power to resist, they naturally rose from pauper to citizen, and their tribute rate immediately dropped to 10%.
Ask yourself: in this situation, would those who had gained some power resist the Sea God's oppression? Of course not. In this world where beast disasters raged and sea curses permeated every drop of seawater, it was enough that they and their families lived well.
As for the nobles above, they were all strong. Would they resist? Certainly not. When paupers and citizens paid tribute, the Sea God ate the meat, and the nobles drank the soup. They were the beneficiaries, so they wouldn't oppose the Sea God; instead, they would support him and stand by his side.
What about paupers who became beastified? The nobles existed precisely to deal with that. Moreover, here, when sanity reached zero, there was over a 50% chance of death, a big difference from the 100% beastification on land.
This system had two main purposes: first, to stabilize the Sea God's divine authority, and second, to select nobles. The nobles were all strong and beneficiaries; they would band together to hunt down beastified paupers and citizens.
"What a great day. Half an hour ago, two more people came to Sanctuary City VI. One is a ritualist, and the other wields a power called 'Dark Pattern.' With you being a doctor, the Divine Envoy will surely be pleased. The Divine Envoy will meet all three of you together."
Hearing Sea Clan member Di Shuo say this, Su Xiao felt a sense of unease. Before long, under the escort of the four Sea Clan members, he entered a two-story stone building, sat down in the reception room, and lit a cigarette.
Su Xiao lit a cigarette and looked at Zuiyasi and Wude sitting across from him, momentarily speechless.
The Sea Clan members left, closing the door behind them, leaving only two Sea Clan members outside. Su Xiao, Wude, and Zuiyasi had all come here voluntarily, so there was no need to put on a heavily guarded appearance. But they couldn't seem overly enthusiastic either, as that would lower their status. This kind of reception—welcoming yet granting some freedom—was the safest approach.
In the reception room, Zuiyasi, Wude, and Su Xiao all maintained calm expressions.
"Let's not hide anything anymore. Tell me, what dangers are you facing? You should have guessed mine—it's the Blazing Flame Lord."
Zuiyasi spoke first. Given how things had developed, they would need to cooperate closely from now on, so this had to be clarified now.
"As for me, there are five fragments of the Abyssal Jar scattered here. Once these five are gathered, the Abyssal Jar will be restored to its complete form."
Hearing Wude say this, Zuiyasi's cheek twitched. He had always held a reverent fear toward the Abyssal Jar; that thing was too sinister.
"Bai Ye, what's your danger?"
"Yeah, at this point, don't hold back."
Wude and Zuiyasi both looked at him with questioning eyes.
"There's no danger at all."
Su Xiao continued to rest with his eyes closed.
"We're all in the same boat now. Be honest."
Zuiyasi clearly didn't believe him, and Wude beside him felt the same.
"Oh? Are you sure we're in the same boat?"
"Of course, we're good brothers."
Zuiyasi tapped the spot over his heart with his index finger, meaning he was speaking from his conscience.
"My danger is... the Sun Bird · Taihakak."
Su Xiao spoke with a smile. These two were already thoroughly dragged into this. Want to run? They could, but only if they were willing to oppose the entire underwater kingdom. Besides, this was the seabed, where the Sun Bird · Taihakak wasn't invincible. Otherwise, Su Xiao would never have revealed this information.
"?"
"Cough~"
Wude and Zuiyasi both stared at Su Xiao. After a moment of bewilderment, they both fell into thought. This was the seabed.
"What do you think Sun Bird meat tastes like?"
Zuiyasi suddenly said this, making Bubu Wang's eyes light up. If he could eat a serving of braised Sun Bird, wouldn't his attributes skyrocket?
"Then let's continue cooperating."
Wude snapped his fingers, and the sound-isolating contract barrier around them disappeared. Wude's meaning was clear: the three of them would first deal with their respective troubles, then take on the Sea God together.
If it were just Su Xiao alone, the Sea God, having operated here for years, wouldn't be easy to handle. But now, with Su Xiao, Wude, and Zuiyasi all about to join the Sea God's camp, all they could do was wish the Sea God good luck.