Eventually, Michael’s rumination of a grim future was cut to an end when they finally reached the bottom of the lake.
Immediately, his eyes were filled with lights and colors coming from bioluminescent corals hanging from what could only be described as street lamps littering the lake floor. There were even some small glowing fishes swimming in their own separate stream, guiding Mermen and Mermaids alike towards their destination like road markings.
In the center of all this was a giant sunken ship made out of decaying wood, with its mast broken in half and a large hole in the middle, either made by a giant cannonball or more realistically, a leviathan shark’s bite.
His bubble entered familiar territory as it got led inside the Sunken Ship, attracting the attention of Mermen and Mermaids going about their day to day lives under the water.
This time though, there was a bit more reverence and respect in their gazes. At first he thought that his reputation as the esteemed professor’s protege finally got him some well-deserved admiration, but it turned out that their veneration was directed to the Mermaid beside him.
Serena curtly nodded her head at the passing Mermen, who reciprocated with extreme gratitude, some to the point of releasing ink, which was quite weird for him, but not so much in these parts.
Nobility has its perks, I guess.
Eventually, they reached a familiar throne room made from salvaged ship parts and makeshift shells. Despite that, these were no means rickety. It looked well-constructed as if it weren’t recycled in the first place.
"Student Keo... I was waiting for your visit..."
Michael looked up, only to see a Mermaid with an octopus for an upper body.
Once she greeted him, her eyes turned to the red-haired Mermaid beside him.
Immediately, Princess Octavia’s skin started to change into a myriad of colors, its dots merging and morphing to reflect the current turmoil in her emotions as she saw a familiar face.
"Serena."
"Octavia."
Even though the bottom of the lake was plenty cold enough, Michael felt an even colder sensation coming from these two.
One wouldn’t even think they were sisters to begin with.
"I sure hope whatever excuse you can come up with is enough of a reason for ignoring me," said Serena.
"My apologies, sister. I simply thought that the wellbeing of everyone else was more important than you. I shall take that into account in the future," Octavia replied with an imperceptible smile.
Serena could only grumble after that riposte.
"Anyway, let us not be rude in front of our guest," said Princess Octavia. "I take it that your business with the Antique went well?"
Michael, or ’Keo’, nodded. "Kinda. We retrieved the Antique, yes—"
"That is great news! I hope both you and the professor are working hard to decipher its contents."
He scratched his chin. "I don’t know yet. The professor had to leave because of some other matter. That’s the reason why I hadn’t returned to you so soon."
Princess Octavia frowned in disappointment. "And the Antique?"
"A colleague of his took it to deliver to him."
That was Katarina’s excuse, but he knew that the professor was actually in a comatose state and was unable to study the Antique. But of course, he wasn’t going to say that to Octavia.
"I see, that is a shame..."
Meanwhile, Serena couldn’t help but shake her head. "How rich. Now you’re involving yourself in human matters? I thought you wanted to find Mariana’s Jewel and rule over the entire world?"
Princess Octavia scowled at her. "I still do," she said. "But I know my limits. Finding the jewel is not for the short term. Right now, my priority is in the present—in New Sparta."
Then, her face changed, morphing into an amiable smile just as fast as she was changing her colors to suit the environment.
"And that is where you’ll come in, sister."
"Me?"
"Yes, you and your affinity to the surface world. See, our brother has big plans in New Sparta. He is planning on uniting everyone into a single banner—under his own. And I don’t want that."
Serena scoffed. "I’m not interested in dirtying my scales with politics, unlike you."
"But it does concern you, sister. To unite the Mermen, he is planning on solving the problems in the lake: the pollution, the lack of resources, everything.
He knows he can’t do it alone, so he has gone to ask for help from the human factions. My squids have already seen a few visitors here and there, exchanging Sand Dollars for Soo and everything else. I’m sure you’ve met them too."
Serena didn’t want to believe Octavia’s glib tongue. With her personality, she would surely say anything to advance her ambitions.
But she had to admit that she was right. The big transactions that she told Michael were from those human factions.
"And why does this concern me?" she asked the octopus princess.
"Because you’ve been trying to recommend your own human company to us, haven’t you? The Lebron....remourn...—-"
"Reborn," Serena corrected.
"Yes, Reborn. If our brother succeeds, this Reborn company of yours will have no space here in our waters. But if I succeed, I will make sure that they’d be treated with a modicum of respect."
Serena took a furtive glance towards Michael, who was expressionless as the two continued to converse.
"What do you want me to do?"
"It’s simple," said Princess Octavia. "As much as I hate to admit, your name and your face still holds a lot of sway amongst our people. Just give me your public nomination, and we can sway the opinions towards our side."
Just then, Serena thought of something better.
"Why not just have the Reborn company help with your campaign or whatever. They’ll help with cleaning up the waters and providing food for us."
Serena was confident that Michael had a solution for every single problem that the Mermen faced.
"We don’t need their help," said princess Octavia. "A human faction has already contacted me about a solution. They’ve assured me that they can solve the lake’s problem."
"How?" Serena asked.
"They will send Maugnetics every day to clean up the pollution," Octavia answered.
This wasn’t a bad solution, per se. But it wasn’t very sustainable. From her estimation, it would need about 10 Maugnetics or more working every day to clean up the lake to keep it fresh all the time.
"How about the food?"
"We’ve arranged a delivery that spans from the coast of the continent to here in New Sparta. Now, it will take a long time to establish this route, but once it’s secured, we’ll have plenty of resources coming straight from the sea."
Once again, that wasn’t a bad solution. It just wasn’t the perfect one.
And in her opinion, Michael and the Reborn company could simply do all that and more for a fraction of the effort! The Nation made in the middle of a desolate desert proved that point.
"Trust me, sister. You do not need their help. Reborn can provide us with everything we want. Isn’t that right?" Serena asked Michael.
"Yes, they can," he answered.
Princess Octavia frowned. "How would you know?"
Keo answered, "I know a lot about them."