The Shino Trench was only an insignificant one among all trenches scattered about the Whalebone Sea. Mermaids built a city here because of the rich resources in the area as well as a special spiral shell valuable to their development.
Angor only heard about this city for the first time since none of the maps he saw before mentioned it. In fact, he traveled via this path when leaving the Land of Revelation last time, by which time he had no idea that there was an underwater paradise right below him.
“Let’s dive. Master told me that a team of Ashen Traders will arrive at Lloyds these days,” Brulee told Angor.
Without wasting any time, Angor went into the water at once. Then he returned outside again when he saw the owl wasn’t following him.
“I can’t swim.” Brulee gave him a sad look.
Angor used his Purification Field to cover the owl up before heading below once again.
At first, the bird looked around curiously at the various creatures and colorful sights. But soon, it became too dark to see anything, and Brulee pleaded with Angor so that it could get a light source.
“Aren’t owls supposed to see better in the dark?” Angor gave Brulee a funny look.
“Well, I can’t see in COMPLETE darkness, thank you very much! And I’m not a common owl! I need my glasses to see in darker places, but you broke it!”
“Miss Eureka asked you to come with me because you know this place as well as the one who’s going to give us the goods, right?”
“I’ve been to Lloyds twice, once with my master and once with Mister Red. They both used plane passageways to directly get to the city.”
“You’re complaining that I’m too weak to use a plane passageway?”
“No-no! I mean, it’s fine, taking a tour in the water. But you know, birds aren’t fit for swimming.”
Toby suddenly dashed out of the Purification Field, cruised around, and returned inside with a proud look while shaking several water drops onto Brulee.
“Yup, there are exceptions.” Brulee looked away.
Angor agreed to create some light since he needed it to see his way, but instead of using a cantrip, he asked Toby to carry a Luminous Stone lamp.
Toby looked pleased with his new job and was about to show off to Brulee again, but Angor stopped him.
After diving for several dozen kilometers, they saw an abyss-like trench on the seabed.
“That’s where Lloyds is?” Angor would like to know the exact direction he had to go. After exploring the great trench in the Sea of Purification, he knew that wandering aimlessly would take a ton of time.
“Just go where it’s wider. Their workers will often gather shells all around the place. We might run into them on our way.”
Angor nodded and headed into the giant fissure. Even though the Shino Trench was smaller than the one he saw before, he still felt tiny and a bit helpless when facing such a giant jaw of mother nature.
The lamp couldn’t help them see very far now. Brulee was getting a bit terrified of the looming darkness. While listening to the sound of deadly current and water pressure outside the barrier, it couldn’t help but think what would become of it if the protection failed.
When they suddenly heard a faint melody reaching their ears, Brulee froze up like a statue.
“Is-is-is it a ghost?”
Angor sensed the alluring aura carried by the song and shook his head. “It’s a mermaid. You’re right, we don’t have to move too far to find them.”
Following the voice and using Toby’s gravity power to help, they soon found their target.
It was a young mermaid scavenging for shells along the trench walls. She saw Toby’s lamp and ignored it because she believed it was an angler fish. Then she grew terrified when noticing that it was something bigger that was approaching her.
But she soon calmed down when she saw that it was only a human plus two birds. Her seniors had been telling her that the human flesh tasted good, so she couldn’t help but lick her lips upon seeing “delicious snack” coming. She wasn’t strong enough to ensnare sailors from traveling ships yet. But since a human came willingly...
Her tiny brain was not enough to figure out why a human would show up here in the first place.
Before she could start hunting, Angor’s Hand of Spell grasped her in place.
The mermaid bared her sharp teeth at Angor, trying to look as dangerous as she could be.
“I think she just saw you as food.” Brulee gave the mermaid a sympathetic look.
Angor displayed his aura, which easily forced the mermaid to submit.
“Take me to Lloyds.”
The mermaid responded by saying some incomprehensible phrases with a confused look.
“I haven’t learned the Discern Language yet. Can you translate?” Angor looked at the owl.
“Are you expecting a bird to speak fish?!”
“Sigh... Why did you come with me again?”
There was no way Angor had the time to search aimlessly, so he thought about another idea. By lifting a hand, he sent a trace of nightmare energy through the mermaid’s forehead.
The mermaid’s eyes widened in fear as if she saw the greatest enemy in her life. She started struggling in Angor’s restriction.
Angor canceled his Hand of Spell to release her so that he could casually follow behind the escaping mermaid.
That nightmare illusion was meant to scare the mermaid while blocking a small part of her memories. Out of instinct, she would try to reach the safest spot, and in this case, it would be her home.
Angor didn’t need much effort to keep up with the mermaid, so he had time to chat with Brulee and find out more about the city they were visiting.
A gray object suddenly fell out from a backpack of the mermaid ahead, and Angor quickly caught it in his hand.
“Oh! Can I have it? I do need a bite right now!” Brulee saw the shell and showed a delighted look.
Angor checked the shell in his hand and grinned.
“Since when did Mermaid Shells get treated as common treats?”
“Oops, heh heh. You know what this is, Mister Padt?”
They both knew the true value of a Mermaid Shell, which meant Brulee wasn’t getting this one.
But to its surprise, Angor tossed the shell to it without a second thought.
“Uhh, Mister Padt? Do you not know what this thing does?”
“Of course I do.”
Mermaid Shell was a particular cooking material that helped soothe one’s mind and spirit. Back at Phantom Island, Greya produced a serving of “Mermaid Shell Soup” that helped Angor gain a little bit extra spiritual power level without leaving any side effects.
Although this was only made possible by Greya’s skills, along with many other costly materials. Besides, one could only enjoy the benefit once.
One such shell could probably sell for a few hundred magic crystals at Fey Continent, but Angor had no use for it since his random products could get him way more money than that.
Brulee, however, couldn’t understand why Angor was being so generous.
“You know it’s good stuff and still gave it to me? I see! You want to be friendly so that I’ll say nice things about you to my master?” The owl puffed up its breast feathers. “I’m the most faithful familiar, and I’ll not selfishly indulge you! Unless you help me with something else...”
Angor simply stopped the bird from talking. “Shut it, or I’ll throw you into the water.”
Brulee saw Angor meant those words and quickly slumped down.
Come on. Is he really giving it to me for free then?