On the vast sea, one ship after another is cutting through the water and speeding forward.
They sailed toward the place in the South China Sea that shimmered with sky-blue light.
"Gold Coin No. 9, Gold Coin No. 8, and Gold Coin No. 7, these three large merchant ships provided by our commercial churches are full of people going treasure hunting. The other ships of various kinds clearly belong to different churches. Look, that ship with garlands and vines should belong to the Church of Life. Don't underestimate that small boat; it should belong to the Church of Eternity. It's very spacious inside! And that one with so many strange decorations should belong to the Church of Creation..."
A man dressed in gold and silver, who looked like a big boss, began to give a long and detailed introduction on Gold Coin No. 9.
He was surrounded by many passengers, listening intently; some were ordinary people, while others were secretly favored by the gods.
"The reason this treasure was discovered is because a fisherman who had been blown far away by the wind and waves found that the sea surface was emitting blue light waves after the storm subsided, and he could vaguely see a huge underwater city hidden on the seabed! In the meantime, fishermen here have occasionally caught some priceless treasures, and some have even found a perfectly preserved flag, which is the flag of Phoenix, the pirate queen who dominated the South China Sea five hundred years ago!"
"Pirate Queen? How does she compare to the Sea Rose of our South China Sea?" someone asked curiously.
"Hmph, are you joking? What's so special about Sea Rose? That pirate queen dared to openly enter the palaces of various empires to rob treasures, make the king wash her feet, and have the prince sleep with her. What do you think?"
"Wow, she's ruthless. I've also heard that this pirate queen has several princes as lovers."
"Yes, that's why the Sea Rose, which is making such a fuss in the South China Sea, can't compare to them at all!"
"Yes, she only knows how to swagger around in the South China Sea. Would she dare to go on land?"
"Cough cough!"
"Ahem, shh—"
Suddenly, people around started coughing. Accompanied by a deafening whistle, a huge ship passed by the Gold Coin 9. The flag on the bow fluttered in the sea breeze, depicting a blue rose formed by the waves.
A female pirate with fiery red, wavy hair stood on the deck, her expression defiant, looking at the people who had just spoken with a half-smile.
The men's expressions changed, and they hurriedly hid in the cabin, even losing one of their shoes.
The remaining people could only watch silently as the pirate ship sailed away, watching the fiery red gradually disappear from sight, before awkwardly returning to their cabins.
"This pirate Edith is quite easy to find, so why isn't Patrick here? Is he trying to find another Edith first?"
Leaning against the railing, still staring at the long-disappeared pirate ship, was a young man dressed in a pure white velvet robe and a dark shirt and trousers. He had short gray hair and clear sky-blue eyes.
A black cat followed at his feet, wearing a small feather hat and a green gemstone necklace.
The ship was getting closer and closer to the blue light wave, as if it would soon reach its destination, while the many small black dots that appeared and disappeared around it were other ships that had come to search for treasure, just like them.
"Phil, have you seen the fish?"
"Huh? Where?"
"there--"
Under the sunlight, waves suddenly appeared not far away, and several shimmering fish tails leaped out of the sea, splashing up pearl-like water droplets.
"Mermaids!" Phil Gray exclaimed in surprise. There were so many! He wished he had a camera; he would definitely capture this beautiful sight.
"This fish doesn't taste very good." Night lost interest and was about to yawn and go back to sleep when suddenly his pupils dilated. "Oh, something interesting seems to be coming!"
"What's the meaning?"
Before he could finish asking, he saw more fish tails swaying on the surface of the sea, as if they were trying to stir up a storm. Then, the Gold Coin No. 9 he was in suddenly began to shake violently.
Phil Gray scooped up the night and held it in his arms, then observed the surrounding movements.
Beneath the boat were several enormous fish tails, which were very beautiful, but also like hard pendulums, slamming into the hull with each swing.
The owners of the fish tails also revealed their upper bodies. They had exquisite features, both male and female, and where their ears should have been, they had sky-blue fins. They looked at the ship with cold eyes.
Those who came out to investigate were dumbfounded, captivated by the mermaids' beauty while simultaneously terrified. Why were these mermaids attacking their ship?
"Get your ship out of here! Or die!"
One of the mermaids spoke haltingly in human language, her voice echoing across the sea like ripples on water.
"What? My God, how come there's a mermaid blocking our way?"
"Leave here? But we have to get to that underwater city!"
"Come on, that's underwater. We can't go down there. We've already seen the excitement, even the mermaids. Let's turn back and leave," someone said, getting scared.
"Is it only stopping our ship? I saw many other ships just passed by," someone complained.
"The other ships probably didn't escape either. I think I just saw Gold Coin 7 capsize!"
People were in a state of panic; those who wanted to leave were clamoring to go, while those who wanted to stay refused to compromise.
But there was no time for them to discuss it; the mermaids swung their tails, determined to leave the ship there.
There were also many divinely favored beings on the ship, and they all made their moves, each displaying their unique abilities, but they seemed to be no match for these mermaids.
“No wonder Eli once said these mermaids were amazing, almost all of them were top-notch!” Phil Gray exclaimed.
"Of course, the sea goddess said that such beautiful creatures deserve her gaze! But I think their flesh is just average!"
Phil Gray gave a slight smirk. "You've eaten this before? It's at least half a person, isn't it?"
"Ahem, it took a bite, so it's not really human anymore, just a fish that's half humanoid. They don't have human thinking, and they're actually quite ferocious. Do you want to help?"
"No, most of them are ordinary people, and even the chosen ones are of very low level. If they stay, they might just perish at sea. Let them leave."
"That makes sense. This also helps to weed out some people who aren't qualified to get the treasure. These mermaids did a pretty good job."
Phil Gray smiled and patted its head.
"Actually, I think they want to monopolize this treasure, after all, they have the advantage of living in the sea."
Seeing that no one could do anything to these mermaids, the captain of Gold Coin Nine was about to activate the ship's combat system when he was stopped by another leader of the Commercial Church.
He shook his head: "We are no match for them. Let's give up. If we anger them, we'll only lose our ship and all our lives. It's not worth it."
The captain could only begin an announcement to the entire ship: "The ship is about to return, please prepare accordingly."
The person in charge snatched the communication stone from the captain's cabin again: "If there are still passengers who intend to go to the seabed, they can come to the captain's cabin and buy equipment from me, but only those favored by the gods, because it requires divine power to drive it, and the price is fifty blue crystals."
The captain's eyes widened: "Fifty blue crystals? Are you crazy?"
"Shh, keep your voice down!" The person in charge removed the communication stone, a faint smile on his face.
This condition effectively excluded most passengers, causing a group of ordinary, poor passengers to grumble and complain, but there was nothing they could do.
"Equipment for going to the ocean depths? The Commercial Church actually prepared this?" Phil Gray exclaimed.
"That could buy so many dried fish! I can protect you with the power of the Dark Night, allowing you to walk and breathe freely in the water. Don't waste your money." The little mustache of the Dark Night twitched, and he said indignantly.
"Thank you, shall we go now?"
Phil Gray watched as the ship was about to capsize, while those people were still haggling in the captain's cabin. He didn't want to stay any longer; they had already reached their destination.
"Um!"
A man and a cat leaped into the sea and swam toward the submerged city.
The claws of darkness gripped Phil Gray's back tightly, their bodies enveloped in a layer of dark divine power that completely isolated them from the seawater.
Mermaids spotted them and tried to catch up, but the black cat only glanced back at them, and the mermaids felt a chill. Their bodies were so terrified that they couldn't move an inch and could only watch helplessly as the two of them swam into the underwater city.
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