Princess Octavia was intrigued. The professor’s protege was endorsing a human company? As far as she knew, nerds like him spent most of their time burying their heads in books and scrolls. The professor certainly did so.
The fact that a man of his caliber, recluse, spoke such high regard to a company meant that it was probably worth giving a chance.
"Can this Reborn company really help us?" she asked them both.
Serena nodded. "Yes, they can."
The octopus princess thought about it for a second before shaking her head. "It’s too late. We’ve already made an arrangement with another company."
"How much?" Michael asked her.
"Huh?"
"How much Sand Dollars were you willing to give this company?"
Without thinking about it much, Princess Octavia blurted out the real number. "10 million Sand Dollars. That’s the start. We have to pay them a subsequent one million Sand Dollars each month for the maintenance of the lake."
Serena took a deep breath. That was not cheap, even for a royal like Octavia especially since she’d be shouldering most of that cost alone.
But it would be worth it though. After all, if she succeeded, she’d have the entirety of the New Sparta lake under her ambitious tentacles. Not only that, but it was also a great start if she wanted to expand her influence even further than the lake, possibly using it as a foothold in Atlantis.
Still, it was a risk—a sizable one. She was basically putting it all on the line with the hopes of overturning her brother in this underwater political race.
If she lost... she didn’t even want to think about that. She’d absolutely have to kiss her ambitions of ruling over Atlantis goodbye, at least not without Mariana’s Jewel.
"Other companies have put in their bids, but their price was too high for me. So, I had to get the lowest one."
Then, Princess Octavia turned to her sister. "But maybe you can make a generous donation to my campaign, sister. With your help, we can afford one of those Legacies, or even that Aubert company. Add another 20 million and we can call it—"
After hearing those staggering numbers, Michael immediately stepped forward.
"Ahem... I’m pretty sure that the Reborn company can do it much cheaper."
Intrigued, the princess asked. "How much?"
"A million Sand Dollars. No more fees after that."
This certainly took the octopus princess’ attention. Her skin briefly shimmered into a reddish hue at the opportunity, before it quickly cooled down with a pale blue.
This was... too good to be true. Who wouldn’t want to spend a fraction of the price for the same outcome? If she only spent a million for this Lake Renovation project, then she could use that money on other avenues and secure her campaign against her brother. It would increase her success by almost 50%!
However, the only problem with that was the outcome. With such a low price, could this Reborn company truly fix the problems in their lake, or would they simply give a false promise and leave once they got their money?
"That doesn’t seem realistic," she said skeptically.
Did I set the price too low? Michael asked himself.
To be honest, he would have accepted 10,000 Sand Dollars and he would have been satisfied. In fact, he reckoned that the whole project could be paid with gold coins! Not to devalue that currency, but in the world of Maugnetics, gold coins were practically useless.
"It’s a low price because the Reborn company values cooperation more than monetary value. They don’t want to just work with you in this project alone, but others in the future as well. Think of it as a gesture of faith."
Princess Octavia stayed silent, the skin of her everchanging octopus tentacles betraying the current turmoil in her mind. Michael could see her eyes starting to calculate the risk and rewards of this choice.
He wanted to help her out.
"Just see if it works first. The Reborn company will work on the project and you can pay the money after they’re done."
The octopus princess squinted her eyes at him. "You sure make a lot of decisions about this company..."
Michael sighed and performed a slight bow. "I haven’t been honest, princess. The truth is that I was part of the Reborn company even before I became the professor’s protege. Princess Serena and I knew each other long before this, and my aim in going to this lake was to speak with her."
Silence reigned in the throne room of the Sunken Ship, only broken by bubbles as Mermen swam around them.
"Alright," Princess Octavia nodded. "I was starting to suspect something was going on between the two of you."
"Does this mean you’re going to work with the Reborn company?" Serena asked excitedly.
"In the meantime," Octavia corrected. "I will see first if their work is sufficient. If not, then forgive me for calling upon the other company and letting them finish the job."
Michael nodded. That was understandable.
"Follow me. I’ll let you see the problems that are plaguing our lake."
...
...
...
Princess Octavia led Michael and Serena out of the Sunken Ship and out into the open waters.
It seemed that that region of the water was where Octavia’s camp resided, which made sense. Almost all of the Mermen he saw were of the invertebrate kind—octopus, squids, and other such marine animals.
Once they left the confines of the Sunken Ship, Michael immediately felt the solitary coldness of water. Without the bright bioluminescent corals and fishes to substitute the light of the sun, the only thing they could see was darkness, and the distant luster of another territory far away.
"Why does it look so...dead... here?" he said, his voice echoing from the dark depths.
"My influence only spreads as far as the Sunken Ship," Octavia replied. "The liveliness you see there, the corals, the fishes, and everything within the ecosystem, must be maintained with a lot of resources. It already takes a lot of money to fund the Sunken Ship, much more if I had to expand here."
Michael looked back at the fading lonely visage of the Sunken Ship amidst nothing but darkness.
"Marine life should be able to sustain themselves without intervention," he said.
"In the seven seas, yes. Life finds a way even in the most extreme circumstances there. But it seems, that doesn’t apply here."
"You don’t know?"
"We have no idea," she said dejectedly. "Perhaps, because it is a man-made lake, the god’s influence doesn’t spread here."
Even though Michael had interacted with several goddesses, two to be exact, he didn’t believe that they were the cause of the lake’s problem.
ChatJK5, can you analyze—
[Already done. The water does not contain the necessary phytoplanktons to start the marine food chain.]
Phytoplanktons were the cornerstone of marine life. Without them, the oceanic ecosystem would experience a mass extinction, much like what was happening here in the lake.
Mermen eat fish. Fishes eat krill. And krill eats phytoplanktons.
The only reason why Mermen wasn’t having much trouble with food was because they could consume nutrients from the surface. But not fishes, which explained their distinct lack here in the depths.