The giant octopus had a story.
In just a short 200 days, it grew to a size that others could hardly reach. Within a mere three days of exposure to the leaked extraordinary energy in the relic, it transformed into a shocking behemoth. With its immense body and powerful tentacles, it dominated the ocean, unstoppable and overwhelming.
Until it encountered a peculiar individual.
This person was smaller and weaker than it, with the thickest part of her body not matching one of its arms. Yet, within this small frame, she harbored an unimaginable immense power. From birth until now, the king octopus, accustomed to dominating and defeating all who challenged it, faced its first defeat by society.
Its inexhaustible arms were chopped off one by one, causing such pain that it dared not regrow them. Forced into becoming a disabled giant octopus without arms, it was dizzy as its last tentacle was pulled and stuffed into a narrow space, feeling its insides being squeezed into a mass.
“Don’t stuff me anymore, I’m really going to get squashed.”
Zhao Xiaokui had no sympathy for the giant octopus’s inner thoughts. After stuffing most of it into the entrance, she enveloped herself with its tentacle, then gestured to Zhu Wei and the others by shaking the night vision bracelet on her wrist—an extraordinary device specially made by the Night Walkers. It had no offensive capabilities; its sole purpose was to transmit information across space.
Once the bound owner died, it would trigger an alarm.
Zhu Wei and the others instantly understood Zhao Xiaokui’s intention—
She would explore the path first, and if there was a deadly danger, the bracelet would send an alert. With her drawing attention, they could enter without delay.
The process of entering the relic made Zhao Xiaokui feel like she was inside a washing machine, rolling in all directions.
She suddenly understood why there was a motion sickness resistance training in the previous training programs—it was meant for this place.
For a moment, she even thought that she had completely severed ties with the other world. But quickly, the delicate but firm power of faith, like a kite string entwined around her, continuously flowed from the other world, providing her with strength.
Before entering the relic, Zhao Xiaokui had prepared herself mentally, believing she wouldn’t be surprised no matter what she encountered. However, when the giant octopus, used as a protective shield, fled, she saw the scene before her and she was left speechless.
What appeared in front of her was an underwater city.
But what astonished her wasn’t the city itself, but the mermaid statue rising high in the middle of the city.
This was a city belonging to mermaids.
Zhao Xiaokui stared directly at the mermaid statue, her mouth forming a large ‘O’ shape.
If it weren’t for the fact that the mermaid statue in the deep-sea world was male, and it was a female here, she might have thought she had traveled back in time.
After swimming around the mermaid city for a while, Zhao Xiaokui suddenly remembered her teammates. After glancing at the mermaid statue in the city, she swam back and extended her hand with the bracelet into the passage, sending a message of safety.
A moment later, ripples in the passage appeared. Zhu Wei and several other disoriented members were sent out.
“Oh my goodness… so dizzy… Why is this relic so far?”
A member with poor motion sickness resistance knelt on the ground, feeling woozy the moment he emerged.
Even Zhu Wei, despite his alert eyes scanning the surroundings, had a somewhat unpleasant expression on his stern face.
Zhao Xiaokui curiously asked, “Isn’t it typical for all relics to be disorienting like this?”
“Of course not,” Zhu Wei decisively negated. While assessing the city in front of him, he answered Zhao Xiaokui’s question, knowing she hadn’t visited many relics. “The disorientation felt when entering different relics varies. Generally, it’s believed that the farther the relic’s space is from our own, the stronger the disorientation. This relic is probably the farthest one I’ve encountered.”
“Wow… is that a mermaid? So, mermaids are real creatures, right?” exclaimed a team member, pointing at a mermaid statue not far away.
“Where? Where? Didn’t they say these cities sank from the land into the sea? Where did the mermaids come from?”
Zhu Wei and the others also noticed the mermaid statue nestled among many buildings.
They exchanged glances, each seeing surprise in the other’s eyes.
Zhu Wei decisively said, “Let’s go take a look. Stay vigilant; cultists are likely hiding in there.”
“Yes.”
The team members were already on high alert, and with Zhu Wei’s warning, they became even more vigilant, tightly gripping their weapons.
The group swam toward the direction of the Mermaid City. When they were about to enter the city, Zhao Xiaokui suddenly felt like they passed through a thin film, but others seemed not to notice this anomaly.
She spoke up, “Did any of you feel like we just passed through something?”
Zhu Wei asked, “What did you sense?”
Zhao Xiaokui said, “I felt like we just passed through a barrier.”
Zhu Wei signaled everyone to stop and reached toward the direction Zhao Xiaokui mentioned. He waved his hand but he didn’t feel anything.
Zhao Xiaokui also reached out, placing her hand where she sensed the barrier, feeling that thin film sensation again.
“It shouldn’t be a big problem; if we can pass through, that’s fine,” Zhu Wei didn’t dwell on it and decided to explore first.
As they entered the city, they landed on the ground, preparing to search from the outside in.
The Mermaid City’s architecture, overall, formed a shape resembling the Chinese character “米1mi“, with several main roads converging in front of the mermaid statue. Different buildings were distributed on either side of the roads. They started by exploring ordinary residences; the seaweed used to conceal entrances had long decayed, allowing them to easily inspect the relatively small rooms.
Their search was swift as they crossed into different rooms, exploring the entire street in no time.
After finishing with the residential areas, they moved on to various palaces. For safety reasons, during the initial exploration of a palace, the team did not split up. However, the first palace turned out to be empty, containing only a few rooms slightly larger than ordinary residences. To save time, Zhu Wei decided to divide the team into two, with Zhao Xiaokui leading half of the team, and each group simultaneously conducting searches.
As long as they maintained a certain distance, if one group encountered cultists and engaged in a battle, the other could provide effective support.
Zhao Xiaokui quickly led her team into a palace, simultaneously searching and examining the patterns on the palace’s architecture. Comparing it with her memories of the mermaid kingdom in the deep-sea world, though there were subtle differences, most parts were remarkably similar. Soon, Zhao Xiaokui deduced that this should be the residence of a minor priest.
As time decayed most valuable items, all they found were a few overturned cups and utensils used for rituals. Judging from the traces of dust distribution, cultists had likely been through this place.
After swiftly searching the palace, they retreated. Not seeing Zhu Wei, Zhao Xiaokui assumed they hadn’t finished their search yet and led her team to the next palace. However, after searching three minor priests’ palaces in a row without finding Zhu Wei’s group, she suddenly sensed that something was amiss.
“Have any of you seen Captain Zhu?” she asked.
The team members shook their heads.
After some thought, Zhao Xiaokui said, “Let’s go back and check.”
They returned to the first palace where the team had split up to search.
Upon entering, they saw Zhu Wei and several team members frantically attacking the air. When they noticed Zhao Xiaokui’s team, they urgently gestured for them to stay away.
“What’s going on?” Zhao Xiaokui asked.
Approaching the spot where Zhu Wei’s team was attacking, she extended her hand but found it passing through unimpeded.
As her hand passed through, the voices of Zhu Wei’s team also reached her.
“Don’t come over, something’s strange here. We’re trapped inside and can’t get out!”
Frowning, Zhao Xiaokui felt around the area they mentioned but sensed nothing. Finally, she pulled a knife from her leg, tossed it inside, let Zhu Wei pick it up, and handed it back to her. The tip of the knife directly met an invisible barrier, and the blade underwent a slight deformation. It was then that Zhao Xiaokui realized the existence of the unseen barrier.
She then had other team members come up and try, discovering that this barrier seemed completely imperceptible when standing outside, but once inside, they couldn’t break through no matter what.
Zhao Xiaokui said, “Since we’re not restricted outside, can you put the knife in my hand and see if I can bring it out?”
Zhu Wei placed the knife in her hand, and Zhao Xiaokui pulled it out effortlessly.
Her eyes lit up. If the dagger could be brought out, could a person as well?
Zhu Wei also thought of this. When she reached her hand inside, he directly grabbed her hand and successfully pulled him out.
Seeing this, others outside said, “Come on, hold onto me, I’ll pull you out.”
Then, one after another, there were sounds of heads hitting the invisible wall.
The team members who bumped their foreheads against the air wall, looked at Zhu Wei standing outside. They wore confused expressions.
Why could the captain come out, but they couldn’t?
Zhao Xiaokui reached out to a team member trapped inside and said, “Grab onto me and try?”
This time, the grabbed team member didn’t dare to directly walk out like before. Instead, they cautiously extended a foot, testing whether the barrier was still there.
“It’s gone!”
The team member who stepped out one by one wore a surprised expression.
Zhu Wei, witnessing this scene, couldn’t hide his astonishment. He quickly thought of something and asked, “Xiaokui, did you bring something with you?”
“Bring something?” Zhao Xiaokui searched her whole body for a moment, then reached into her neckline, pulling out a golden fish scale. “I brought this. Could it be its effect?”
Zhu Wei said, “Can you give me this thing first?”
Without hesitation, Zhao Xiaokui took off the fish scale and handed it to him.
Holding the fish scale, Zhu Wei reached out to another team member trapped inside, “Grab onto me and try?”
He successfully pulled the person out. The others gathered around, looking at the fish scale in Zhu Wei’s hand with amazement, asking, “What is this treasure? Is it the legendary exclusive prop?”
![[Western Fantasy] What Kind of Character Did the Devs Give Me Anyway?](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/冥河摆渡者.jpg "[Western Fantasy] What Kind of Character Did the Devs Give Me Anyway?")
