Seeing his suggestion rejected by Fang Er, and observing the intoxicated expressions of the mermaids after drinking the water, Li Tai immediately declared.
"Then this king shall also go search for clues!"
With that, he drove off in his gold mining ship, leaving Fang Er and Li Ke to guard the mermaids by the now dry Taijin Lake.
Fang Er paid it little mind, assuming Li Tai had simply left because he harbored reservations about the mermaids.
Glancing around the environment, he suddenly noticed a suspicious area. He then handed the mermaids over to Li Ke's care and departed.
Li Ke watched the backs of the two men as they left, shaking his head in disdain.
"Tch! Cowards!"
He glanced back at the mermaids, threateningly brandishing the Type 30 sniper rifle.
"What are you looking at! Look again and I'll blow your heads off with a shot!"
The mermaids, having witnessed the Fei Yi being severed in two, instinctively flinched at the sight of the Type 30 sniper rifle.
Li Ke felt smug!
But just ten minutes later, he began to sense something was amiss!
Damn it!
Why were the mermaids' faces becoming increasingly flushed!
Moreover, their fishtails, which had initially maintained a gentle luster, had also changed.
Much mucus dripped from their fishtails onto the ground, quickly wetting a large area.
Holy crap, won't they dehydrate and die if they do this?
They hadn't drunk that much water earlier, had they?
No!
The water!
Thinking of Li Tai's hasty departure, he seemed to understand something.
Son of a bitch!
Did this scoundrel drug the mermaids!
The moment this thought arose, he saw one of the mermaids rush towards him like an arrow.
He quickly chambered a round in the Type 30 sniper rifle, but before he could complete the action, the gun was swatted away by a mermaid's tail.
Then, three more mermaids charged forward, each grabbing an arm and a leg, collectively bringing him down to the ground.
After that, another mermaid, grinning and revealing rows of sharp teeth, flushed crimson, swam towards him.
Though they had human bodies and fish tails, these mermaids moved with remarkable agility, their tails undulating like snakes as they walked.
Li Ke desperately wanted to yell for Fang Er to come back and save him.
But the moment he opened his mouth, it was stuffed shut!
And it was stuffed with his own shoe, the very one he had used to stuff Susu's mouth earlier!
"Mmmph.........."
His eyes widened in terror as he struggled, but it was all to no avail.
The strength of these mermaids was no less than that of an adult man.
Then, he felt his clothes being unfastened..............
Meanwhile, Fang Er was busily excavating an area with an excavator.
Moments before, he had spotted a slight elevation in the ground through his binoculars.
It wasn't a natural rise, but rather looked as if something was buried beneath it.
He recalled that the main body of the spatial gate controlled by the three-eyed alien was buried underground, resembling an altar.
Perhaps this raised area was the top of that altar.
Clump by clump, the soil and sand were dug up and piled aside by the excavator.
The raised area gradually revealed its true appearance.
However, upon seeing it clearly, Fang Er was disappointed and shook his head.
It seemed he had guessed wrong. This was merely the corpse of a ferocious beast, and the raised area was its head..........
Putting away the excavator, he drove his gold mining ship back.
From a distance, he noticed something was amiss.
Damn it, why were all the mermaids gathered together?
And the body of the mermaid in the center seemed to be continuously undulating............
Rising and falling, the frequency was rapid.
What was she doing?
And where was Li Ke?
Why couldn't he see him?
"Sir, I have a discovery!"
He intended to rush back, but Wang Xuance's voice came through the intercom.
Considering Li Ke's combat skills and the weapons he carried, he should be fine.
Perhaps he was just scared off by the mermaids' terrifying teeth?
And went after Li Tai?
This seemed to be the only plausible explanation, so Fang Er directly inquired about Wang Xuance's location and headed there.
When he arrived, Su Dingfang, Ge Luoyang, and others were also present.
They were all bent over, digging at something on the ground with their daggers.
"What have you found?"
Upon seeing this, Fang Er jumped off the gold mining ship and walked over quickly.
Wang Xuance pointed to the ground and said, "Sir, we've found a skeleton here. It's definitely human bones!"
Fang Er was startled and hurried closer. Xue Rengui and Su Dingfang quickly made way.
A skeleton was half-buried in the ground, its upper body exposed, while its lower half had just been dug out, the soil still moist.
Judging by the skeletal structure, Wang Xuance was correct; this appeared to be a human skeleton, not the bones of a humanoid beast.
However, after staring at it for a while, Fang Er immediately arrived at a different conclusion.
This was indeed human bone, but absolutely not the bone of an Earthling!
This was because at the center of the forehead, there was a small hole that looked like it had been gnawed by insects.
But upon closer inspection, the edges of the small hole were very smooth, not at all like something formed after birth!
This could only mean one thing: this hole had existed when the skeleton's owner was still alive.
Coupled with the three-eyed blue-skinned alien they had seen before, the origin of this skeleton was no longer a mystery.
"Dig!"
Fang Er gave the order and waved to release four excavators.
By now, whether he was telekinetically moving objects or suddenly making things disappear, Wang Xuance and the others had become accustomed to it.
Without further thought, they each jumped onto an excavator and began to excavate the area where the skeleton was located.
While the work here was proceeding at full swing, Li Tai returned to his original positions with Fang Er and Li Ke after wandering around with empty hands.
From a distance, like Fang Er, he noticed the strange scene.
The mermaids were gathered together, with one in the center appearing to be doing something, her body rising and falling.
He just couldn't see Li Ke or Fang Er.
The difference was, Fang Er had no idea what the mermaids were doing.
But Li Tai was different!
With just one glance, he guessed what was happening. Thinking of the tampering he had done with the water kettle earlier, his face immediately turned ashen!
"Damn it!"
"Could it be that the Duke has been.........."