The seawater was icy cold, but it posed no obstacle to Yu Ling, who was now a merman. He avoided the battlegrounds and stealthily passed by the corpses of mermen and humans.
He could barely be considered the pinnacle of naval combat power, but even he couldn't withstand the siege of so many ships, so he had to focus his attention on the protagonist.
Within her naturally aquatic-friendly body, Yu Ling quickly mastered the supernatural powers originally belonging to the merfolk, causing the seawater at the bottom of the ship the protagonist was riding in to surge, forming a giant whirlpool that kept expanding.
"The wind is picking up? Why is the ship rocking?" The people in the cabin suddenly exclaimed and rushed to the deck to check. Yu Ling, who remained motionless in the whirlpool, quietly huddled in a corner, listening intently to the conversation inside.
"Could it be that some merfolk have slipped through the net and are trying to cause trouble?"
"Impossible! The outer ring is full of warriors' sailing ships. No merman could break through the encirclement and threaten His Majesty the King's safety."
The noblemen on deck were filled with questions, which soon attracted the king's attention. "What are you talking about? What are merfolk doing here?"
“Your Majesty, we only came out after we noticed the ship rocking. We didn’t see any merfolk. It looks like a wave is coming.”
"Perhaps Your Majesty should continue to search for that merman to deal with?"
"Hmm, that's a good idea. Bring that mermaid from the iron cage here," the king instructed the guard beside him.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Several guards obeyed the order, dragged a golden-haired merman from the iron cage in the cabin, threw it onto the deck, and then respectfully withdrew.
This golden-haired merman had emerald green eyes and was so beautiful that it was hard to tell if he was male or female. His beautiful golden tail was covered in blood and scales, and his wrists were chained behind his back. He was helplessly writhing at the feet of the group of people.
"You said merfolk can control water, right, Samish? Keep the sea calm around here, and listen to me..."
As he spoke, the handsome young king with thick brown hair drew a dagger and made only two light cuts on the merman's body. His skin, which was normally impervious to blades and spears, was instantly cleaved in two, and blood gushed out. The king continued his threatening words:
"Otherwise... I'll cut off your tongue, depriving you of your most prized singing voice. Or your bewitching eyes would also make a fine collectible."
The king ripped it off again, and a piece of the mermaid's tail was roughly torn off. Samish's beautiful face was contorted with pain as the attack engulfed his entire body. He howled in agony, his eyes filled with tears as he thrashed at his tail. But restrained by the iron chains and unable to resist, all his struggles were ultimately futile.
“You used to be very obedient, Samish, do you remember?” Feeling his authority challenged, the king swung his dagger again, the sharp blade plunging into the merman’s waist, flesh and blood ripped apart.
Drip...drip...the overflowing blood flowed across the deck, instantly staining the entire area red.
What a ruthless person, treating his savior... Enyu... Enjiao?
In short, he's a complete ingrate, what an ingrate! How did this world choose its protagonist?!
Yu Ling was observing everything happening on the ship with his divine sense. The wind-up time for water-based abilities was too long, which was very dangerous for him at the moment.
The enemy was well-prepared and outnumbered, making a comeback extremely difficult. However, if they were captured by humans, it would be a terrible situation. This king was clearly not someone to be trifled with; in his eyes, the lives of himself and the other merfolk were as insignificant as those of ordinary animals, and their treatment would be precarious.
The original owner was cold-hearted and knew very little about this human. The main reason why this original owner, who rarely used his brain, was regarded as the villain was probably because when he was still a prince, he fell into the water and was rescued. He then sent merfolk to drive him ashore with a vicious attitude, thus offending him.
The original owner was completely baffled as to how the war was lost. Merfolk had skin comparable to armor, sharp claws like blades, and were also highly poisonous. It was impossible for them to be killed so easily and nearly wiped out.
There's definitely something fishy going on here! Yu Ling analyzed that there must be some kind of superhuman being on the human side helping them.
While Yu Ling was observing from the bottom of the boat, the story on the boat continued.
"I used to love your tail. Don't force me to make you ugly. If you are no longer of any value to me, Samish, you will only have one option: to be thrown into the abyss to feed the monsters."
Originally intended to calm the stormy seas, the king was clearly addicted to playing with merfolk, or perhaps he was simply using it as an excuse to continue indulging his desire to torture them.
"Mmm... Ah! Ugh—"
Faced with the king's merciless methods, the tormented golden-haired merman Samish's voice broke and spilled out intermittently, but he remained steadfast in his refusal to yield.
"Tsk tsk, quite stubborn. The little mermaid is starting to resent me. How boring... Let's go find Pailiu." The king turned around and looked out at the entire ocean from the side of the ship.
The merman, carelessly abandoned on the deck, nearly fainted. He silently stroked his mangled tail, letting out a painful, silent roar.
"...It's all my fault. I trusted the humans' lies and harmed my people." The deed was done, and no matter how much Samishu regretted it, he could only let out muffled sobs.
It did look pitiful, but Yu Ling's opinion of this silly merman would not change because of it. Once everything was ready, she used her magic to stir up the seawater from the bottom of the ship. The originally slowly surging whirlpool started to run wildly, generating an amazing suction force that seemed to be pulling the entire ship to the bottom of the sea.
Under Yu Ling's secret instigation, the turbulence grew larger and larger, the ship rocked violently, and the nobles, who had no fighting ability, scrambled back to the cabin, while the king also fell on the deck and almost fell into the sea.
Terrified, he clung to the side of the boat, yelling, "Help! Come and protect my boat, you wizard! Damn it! Where are you, Pailiu?!"
"Quiet down! I clearly didn't observe this underwater vortex before. Who's behind this?"
The young man, wearing a hood and cloak, gave a low shout, grabbed his staff, rushed onto the deck, grabbed the king by the back of his collar and pulled him back until he threw him into the cabin. He kicked the cabin door shut, and after barely standing up, he went back to the side of the ship to check what was going on below.
"Your Majesty! Are you alright?"
"Cough cough cough, cough cough! This wretched wizard, how dare he treat a king so rudely! Cough cough..." The king was almost unable to breathe from being choked, but he didn't dare to say anything more harsh.
Only the wizard and a merman remained on the deck. Yu Ling finally poked his head out, and a mist of water condensed in front of him. Tentacles formed from seawater swung out from the bottom, and the entire ship immediately rose into the air.
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