Chapter 336: Mermaids
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
[Screeching Naga Warrior] (Elite, Humanoid Creature)
Level: 77
HP: 77,000
Defense: 400
It’s attributes were similar to the Screeching Siren, and it was also capable of using {Sonic Screech}. However, it was a warrior type monster that can perform both ranged attacks and melee attacks, unlike the Screeching Siren that was poor in melee combat! This instantly gave Zhang Yang a small headache. But he took care of it swiftly.
Along the way, approaching slowly towards the center of the palace, any Naga monsters that appeared within Zhang Yang’s sight were all put down to the ground by his sword.
Normally, humanoid monsters dropped clothing ingredients, but Nagas were categorized as abnormal types! Instead of dropping clothes, they dropped {Clam Shells}, and Zhang Yang acquired quite a number of pearls from all the {Clam Shells} that he collected.
Half an hour later, he finally arrived at the front of the statue that is located in the middle of the palace. He finally got a good look at it. At the bottom of the statue was a large, round fountain. Although the palace was already abandoned for a very long time, the fountain was still functioning, the sound of water giving a soothing effect.
Splash!
A girl came out from the water in the fountain, silky long hair in black that censored her otherwise naked snow-white body! Her skin was like the finest jade ever, smooth and fine. Only two pieces of shell covered up her boobies like a bra, protecting the pair of significant existence that stood round and tall on her chest.
[Meryl] (Normal, Humanoid Creature)
Level: 70
HP: 7000
Defense: 70
She leaned by the base pool of the fountain, resting her face on her arm as if she was thinking of something.
There were also many female Nagas roaming around the surrounding of that fountain and they seemed to be guarding the place. It was most probably that they were trying to prevent Meryl from running off, because every one of the monsters looked sharp and vigilant, trying to look out for any suspicious activities around!
To save Meryl, Zhang Yang knew that he had to slay all the monsters in the surrounding!
Zhang Yang patted on Whitey’s head and charge onward to engage with those weaker monsters around. Because the skill {Sonic Screech} that these monsters had dragged out battles longer than they should have been, Zhang Yang could not efficiently slay the monsters, and so, it took him about an hour to clear all the monsters.
If he only opened up a path straight to the fountain without taking out all the monsters, he would definitely be swarmed up by the monsters when he is rescuing the NPC. By then, it would have become one against one hundred! Zhang Yang is skillful, but he knew he wasn’t capable of going against a bunch of Level 70+ monsters at the same instance, unless --- he had a full set of [Armor set] of Level 80 Violet-platinum grade equipment, he could cut corners!
In his previous life, Zhang Yang had experienced a few similar situations, and he had ran in blindly, without thinking about the consequences! With the experience of a veteran, he knew that he had to do this the hard way.
Slash!
Clearing up the surrounding of the fountain, Zhang Yang struck down the last Naga with his sword, and the monster dropped a piece of Black-Steel grade [Boots]! He could not help himself but to be shocked by it, a Black-Steel equipment, it’s been so long ever since he saw one!
After clearing all the monsters around the area, he could finally move on to rescuing the NPC.
Zhang Yang approached the fountain on Whitey, and saw that Meryl was resting by the pool of the fountain. But then, she was awoken by the heavy foot steps of Whitey, and with a face of confused expression, she raised her head up and looked around with her sharp eyes.
The moment she saw Zhang Yang and Whitey, Meryl began to panic, and instantly, she opened up her mouth and began to scream on a supersonic frequency, "Ah---".
Fortunately, the monsters in the surrounding had been cleared out by Zhang Yang, it was a wise move indeed. Her scream would have attracted all the monsters towards them!
Zhang Yang quickly tried to calm her down, "Don’t be scared, I’m not a bad person. I’ve been sent by your father to rescue you."
Meryl only glanced at Zhang Yang as she continued to scream at a deafening frequency.
Should he just pick this little girl up and run all the way back? Zhang Yang took a few steps forward, and Meryl quickly she swam to the middle of the fountain, terrified.
Splash!
The large tail of a fish broke through the surface of the water, the scales of the tail pinkish in colour, and the fish body was extremely beautiful, it was like anything he had ever seen!
Zhang Yang was left with his eyes and mouth opened wide, because, the fish tail is attached to the upper body of Meryl!
Meryl had finally exposed her true form in front of Zhang Yang, with her upper body being a very pretty human girl, while her lower body was the pinkish body of a fish!
--- A Mermaid!
Meryl was actually a beautiful mermaid!
Zhang Yang was confused by the situation, so what kind of transformation is this? What a twist!
Meryl stared at Zhang Yang in alarm, then she began to ask, "Who are you? The guards, there should be guards outside, what did you do to them?"
... Is Meryl really the daughter of that Krishan? Well, Meryl is a mermaid, she would be kin to those Nagas, Lobster Men and the other creatures of the sea.
And of course, Meryl might be a half-blooded mermaid or human or whatsoever, because her mother might have been a mermaid as well, with her father was a human.
"I’m Zhan Yu, an adventurer from the White Jade Castle. When I came across the Emerald Island, I was recruited by your father Krishan to locate you on purpose." Zhang Yang explained to Meryl. As for the Naga guards outside, he did not mention them at all. It was obvious that Meryl is related to these sea creatures. To inform her that he slaughtered them all... It’s better to bring that secret to his grave.
Meryl looked at Zhang Yang, and then she closed both of her eyes and shook her head gently, and said, "I can feel that what you are telling me is true. But Zhan Yu, I don’t want to go back to that so-called ‘home’ anymore, please take your leave!"
If he couldn’t bring Meryl back to Krishan, then Zhang Yang will never be able to complete his quest, and he will never get his hands on the 3rd piece of the shattered fragment of the key!
So Zhang Yang tried get a better understanding of the situation first, "Milady Meryl, can you tell me why wouldn’t you agree to go home?"
Meryl hesitated for a moment before she began to talk, "Alright, you seem like an upright person, so allow me to tell you a story."
She swam back to the side of the pool, pushed her hands against the side of the pool and leaned against the side of the pool. Then she rested her pretty chin on her arm as she slapped the water with her pinkish tail by the side of the pool, which was constructed with white jade stones.
"My mother, Siniia was a princess of the Merfolks race, and she was the most beautiful woman among all mermaids in the entire race! 17 years ago, as she swam up to the surface of a lake while a storm hit by, she was washed away by the wind and waves to a shore of an island, close to death! At that time, Krishan appeared and he saved my mother!"
Wasn’t this a fairy tail story where the prince rescued a mermaid princess, making a touching story that made people sing and cry over it? The only difference was that, Krishan is not a prince.
The water droplets on Meryl’s body began to dry up, as Zhang Yang stared, that pinkish fish tail of hers began to transform into two long snow-white legs. Of course, the ‘important’ part was covered up with a seashell.
She knelt down on the side of the pool and hugged her knees, then she continued to tell the story, "There is a rule for every single one of the Merfolks. If any of us is saved by human, we must fulfill one request of the human who save us. What Krishan requested was to take my mother as his wife! However, my mother had already fallen in love with someone else, and she had already pregnant with me in her womb!"
So now the story has twisted from a prince being not a prince in the story, and now being a bad person who tried to take away other people’s wife-to-be!
"My mother begged Krishan to pick another request , but Krishan would not listen! We had to keep the oaths and promises we swore, so my mother had no choice but to marry Krishan!"
Meryl spoke out with a heavy sense of sorrow.
So now Krishan became the ‘big bad boss’ all of a sudden. From the looks of it, to acquire the fragment of the key, Zhang Yang need not complete the quest that was given by Krishan. All he had to do was to wait for Krishan to turn into an ‘enemy’ against him and just slaughter him to get that fragment of the key!
"Zhang Yu, can you tell me, is it right or wrong to up hold one’s oath?" My mother insisted on upholding her oath, and she ended up living her remaining life in sorrow, washing her cheeks with her own tears everyday, and she passed away at an early age, just like that!" Meryl looked at Zhang Yang with her moist, pretty pair of eyes.
Zhang Yang gave some thoughts about it and said, "It depends on what kind of person are you holding your oath on for! If the person is decent, of course you must uphold your oath for that person! But if the person is bad, upholding the oath would only mean hurting yourself!"
Meryl pulled Zhang Yang’s arm over and begged, "So, please don’t take me back to that place! Krishan is not my father, but the murderer of my mother! He kept my mother locked in the manor and never let her venture out, because he was worried that my mother would escape!"
"After my mother passed away, his intentions were made clear, he wanted to make me his wife instead! I could only escape during the night and I managed to reach the Merfolks race and begged them to look for my real father to take me back!"
So the truth had been told! But Zhang Yang still had an unsolved question in his mind, so he asked, "If you are willing to go with the Merfolks race, then why did you leave a trail back there with the fragments of your necklaces, the pearls for me to follow?"
Meryl shook her head and said, "Those are not my doing, it should be one of the guards that were ordered by Krishan to follow me! He followed us all the way to the entrance of the cave, that was where he got caught by Gethelo and got imprisoned in a cell. But none of us had thought that he had actually left a trail that would lead you here!"
Just as Zhang Yang and Meryl were speaking, footsteps could be heard suddenly, it was Khrishan and five other elite-grade guards walking into the scene. They immediately surrounded Zhang Yang.
"Adventurer, good job. You have found my daughter for me! Take this, this is your handsome rewards!" Khrishan took out a bag of gold and threw it at Zhang Yang, "Now you may leave!"
Pak, the bag of gold reached Zhang Yang’s hands. It was bulgy and there was probably hundreds of gold coins in it.
‘Ding! You have completed a quest: The Missing Daughter, acquired 1,000,000 experience points!’
"Warrior, please don’t go!" Meryl had lost herself the moment she saw Khrishan, and she quickly sought aid from Zhang Yang in desperation, "Protect me until my real father arrives to get me! Wise, just adventurer, please, lend me your aid!"
‘Ding! Meryl has given you a quest: Buying Time, accept or decline?"
Accept.
[Delaying Time] (Difficulty: A-rank)
Description: Buy enough time until the Prince of the Merfolks arrives to aid! Tips: One of the statues within the fountain contains a secret passage, there are numerous traps along the passage, they should provide advantageous effects to your quest!
Completion: Make sure that Meryl is not taken away within 30 minutes 0/1
Zhang Yang reread the quest again and again, and then he whispered to Meryl, "Meryl, quickly, go to one of the statues located at the center of the fountain and look for a secret passage!"
"Alright." Meryl followed his instructions and swam back into the fountain pool, leaving a line of water line behind her. She swam to the center position of the fountain where the statues were located and began her search for the secret passage.
Khrishan was enraged, then he spoke, "Adventurer, are you trying to be funny with me?"
Zhang Yang pulled out his [Dark Enigmatic Sword] and pointed at Khrishan, "You low-life sadist, not only did you force another man’s wife to marry you, driving her to death, now you actually intend to marry her daughter! Bastards like you shouldn’t be left alive! Pui!"
"You bastard! How dare you curse me, the great Khrishan! Kill him, kill him now!" Khrishan raised up his hand and gave the order, and the five elite-grade guards immediately charged at Zhang Yang!