Michael immediately teleported himself back to the New Sparta lake, finding himself at the wooden docks.
As soon as he arrived, he bent down and splashed his hands on the surface, indicating to Princess Octavia and the others about his intention to return to the Sunken Ship.
And while he was waiting for their response, his phone buzzed as a new notification arrived from a familiar number.
{Message from Lupan: Where you at man?! The Lunar Celebrations are going to start officially!}
It seemed that while he was away, things had progressed in the Werewolf Tribes.
According to Chief Lupan, during the start of the Lunar Celebrations, all of the tribes would gather at a single location to show their respects to both their fellow tribes and the moon itself.
Because of this event's importance, the different powers in New Sparta would also find themselves attending the ceremony. This included the different Beastfolks in the region as well as the human factions that they were allied with.
This would give the chance for all parties to mingle, discuss, and perhaps size each other up from the competition that was about to come.
It would be extremely helpful for Michael to be there to witness the ceremony first-hand.
However…
{Reply: Sorry, I won't be there during the ceremony. Don't worry. Sheina will fill me in on everything that happens. I have something important to do.}
His reply was sent just at the same time as the cephalopod Mermen arrived at the surface with a bubble for him to descend with.
"Welcome, sir Keo. To what do we owe the pleasure?"
Michael smiled. "I'm here to do what I've promised. I'm here to install another filter."
…
…
…
That was right. The 'busy' thing that would occupy him for a full day and cause him to miss the opening ceremony of the Lunar Celebrations was for the filter that Princess Octavia ordered.
"Thanks to your wondrous item, fishes and corals have been growing at an astonishing rate! We feel the waters getting clearer and clearer!"
"That's right. We no longer feel any sickness from the pollution!"
"But is this alright? Princess Octavia doesn't want you to feel burdened with creating the filters during your busy time. You can do them at any time you're free—"
Michael stopped him with a magnanimous-looking smile. "Oh, no worries. It's my pleasure!"
He wasn't lying. After all, installing another filter would net him a whopping one million Sand Dollars!
Right now, this was the fastest way that he could earn money. Sure, it was tedious and laborious, taking him a whole day's worth of work, but it was worth it in the end.
Selling phones would definitely be easier and faster, but he was hesitant to take more orders when he hadn't even delivered most of the shipment.
He was desperate for money, but not enough for him to breach his moral standards.
However, building the next filter was something that benefited both him and the Mermen immediately. Princess Octavia would get to expand her borders, and he'd be able to get more money to buy Mini Drones. It was win-win.
Soon, he arrived back in the comfort of the Sunken Ship.
A lot has changed since the last time he was here.
Instead of seeing the gaunt and derelict remains of a sunken ship wrecked in half at the bottom of the lake, he now saw a bustling collection of sea life and marine animals swimming around happily.
Bioluminescent and animated corals now grew about a hundred meters in radius around the Sunken Ship, which was previously completely desolate of life.
Schools of magically mutated fish scampered happily along the sea floor, their species varied and distinct from one another.'
With the surrounding waters of the Sunken Ship now effused with mana, any and all kinds of life were attracted to live in Princess Octavia's territory.
In fact, he even saw a few simple constructed dwellings around the ship, made out of corals, solidified sand, and seaweed.
Living inside these huts were Mermen of kinds he had yet to see before.
Their species were unlike the ones living in Princess Octavia's territory.
In short, they weren't cephalopods or invertebrates.
They were mammals.
Mermen with the conflated anatomy of humans and dolphins lived simply in the outskirts of the Sunken Ship, showing progress in the Octopus princess' political aspirations.
She was wresting public support from her brother and slowly growing hers.
"Michael!"
Swimming out of the wrecked Sunken Ship was a red-haired mermaid with a warm, welcoming look on her face.
"Hey Serena!"
The Mermaid Princess swam happily around Michael, her tail wagging like a puppy's.
"What are you here for? Isn't the Lunar Celebrations about to start?"
As an honorary Rebornian, she knew about Michael's alliance with the Brownbloods.
"Yeah, but I wanted to build the filter first. And it's not like I'll miss much. I'm always watching it through this."
He showed her his phone, its screen showing the video livestreaming app already opened.
Currently playing on the phone was shaky-cam footage of Sheina and the other Dragonborns sitting on ascending steps of chairs much like the viewing deck of a colosseum. They were currently surrounded by Brownblood Werewolves, who looked to be nervous compared to the lackadaisical and flippant attitudes of the Rebornians.
{Oh, hey miss Serena!} Zion greeted from the phone, his face taking up the entirety of the screen.
She waved her hand and greeted him back, before Sheina took control of the camera back and scolded the boy for being too rowdy.
{I'm sorry, Lord Michael, Miss Serena. We will do our best to behave and remain inconspicuous, isn't that right?}
Michael felt Sheina's cold glare from here.
"Alright, keep me posted," he said.
Then, he turned back to Serena. "Anyway, is Princess Octavia here?"
She shook her head. "You just missed her. She's actually attending the Lunar Celebrations, probably just to compete with our brother again."
It seemed that the Lunar Celebrations were truly jam-packed with important people. If a million Sand Dollars weren't on the line, he would have been there to witness it himself.