The woman, upon seeing Xiao Xun, was overjoyed. "Your Highness Swain? You are here? This is truly wonderful! Please, you must help rescue our Prince Meistuo!"
Xiao Xun had forgotten the name. "Prince Meistuo?"
The woman nodded. "Yes, last year he sparred with you in the capital, ate the fish you roasted, and gave you an axe. Do you recall him?"
After her explanation, Xiao Xun nodded. "I do, but there were too many people then. How could I remember who was who? By the way, who are you?"
"My name is Meipusai'er."
Meipusai'er's face was filled with anxiety. "Can we talk later? Let's go save him first!"
"Save Meistuo? What… what happened?"
"Meistuo and I previously found some clues in the Shattered Isles, related to merfolk. We intended to raid the Deep Sea Legion's commander, An Chong, but we unexpectedly discovered those merfolk building a massive portal on an island, attempting to summon something..."
"Merfolk?" Tiesaihou, standing beside them, immediately showed interest. He seemed to harbor great animosity towards the merfolk.
Meipusai'er, overwhelmed with anxiety, finally noticed Tiesaihou's presence. She quickly stepped forward to bow and immediately requested his assistance.
"Merfolk building a portal… what are they summoning? Could they be summoning the Demon God Nero?" Xiao Xun furrowed his brows, concerned that the King of Fear might also be involved in this.
"No matter what those merfolk are summoning, it surely won't be anything good. Let's deal with them first. Where is that island located?" Tiesaihou looked at Meipusai'er.
"It's in the Sea of Vigilance, south of the Shattered Isles. The portal formation is hidden within a giant cave on the island. Meistuo and I descended for at least a thousand meters without seeing an end."
"A cave that leads to the seabed?" Xiao Xun's heart stirred.
The unusual activity of the merfolk at this time was likely related to the King of Greed. After all, Sailepesi had mentioned earlier that the King of Greed's Deep Sea Legion was preparing for action, and the merfolk might be one of the King of Greed's pawns.
"It's inside a cave?" Tiesaihou couldn't help but slightly frown upon hearing this.
As a master of telekinesis, he was not adept at fighting underwater, which was one of the reasons he disliked the merfolk.
"What is Meistuo's current situation?"
"I'm not sure. Those merfolk shouldn't have detected our presence, but there's another monster with many tentacles deep within that cave. They actually sensed our tracks, so Meistuo and I had no choice but to fight. We eliminated quite a few merfolk, and then An Chong appeared. We had to retreat, and Meistuo, to cover my escape from the cave, was captured by An Chong."
Suddenly, a dragon's roar echoed through the sky. A black dragon descended from the heavens, transforming into a golden-haired beauty in black armor upon landing.
She walked towards Xiao Xun with displeasure, gently pushing his shoulder. "Swain, you sure know how to run. You made me search everywhere."
Xiao Xun looked at the dragon princess with embarrassment. "I didn't know you were looking for me!"
"I don't care. You can't get rid of me now."
Xiao Xun didn't reply. Instead, he said to Meipusai'er, "Is that so… Those merfolk are likely plotting something with the Demon King. Do not underestimate them. I'll go scout the situation first. You go inform Delvana and Baiyang, and if possible, call Pisces."
Pei'er said, "You're going alone? That's too dangerous. I'll go with you!"
"It's fine. The gem Your Highness gave me allows me to use the spatial ring without any damage. I can use it to teleport directly there and teleport back if I encounter danger. It's very fast, and there won't be any risk."
"Alright then, be careful."
Seemingly recalling Xiao Xun's strength, Pei'er finally nodded.
"Don't worry, I'm just going to scout the situation."
Knowing the exact location of the island, Xiao Xun arrived instantly.
"So many merfolk?" Xiao Xun was startled by just a glance.
The island was densely packed with merfolk, who were busy constructing strange buildings.
"It doesn't look like a Dark Portal. What exactly are these merfolk doing?"
Xiao Xun couldn't help but frown. With so many merfolk, it would be difficult to pass through them to find the cave Meipusai'er mentioned.
"Are they all hiding in the cave?" Xiao Xun pondered inwardly, cautiously moving towards the cave in the center of the island.
The cave was also of considerable size. Its entrance had collapsed due to tidal erosion, appearing pitch black, as if it intended to devour everything.
"I wonder if An Chong is still here? Is it her true form or a clone?"
Xiao Xun felt a slight anticipation.
His strength should now be sufficient to contend with An Chong. It would be a good opportunity to meet the commander of the Deep Sea Legion.
He carefully stepped into the cave entrance. Merfolk with twisted tails were constantly moving in and out of the cave.
As he walked along the dark, winding cave, a strong smell of the sea hit him. He could clearly feel the path sloping downwards, with some sections having a steep gradient.
"Such a large space inside this cave. It must have been modified by the merfolk, or perhaps this cave was created by them originally."
Further down, there were fewer merfolk. The temperature also grew increasingly colder.
Dense tentacles completely blocked the path forward.
Even the merfolk passing through had to be thoroughly searched by these terrifying tentacles before they could pass through the gateway formed by the mass of tentacles.
"It's completely impossible to get through," Xiao Xun frowned at the sight.
According to Meipusai'er, she and Meistuo had only reached this area. They were discovered when they tried to pass through the tentacle gateway, and a fight ensued.
With their combined strength, defeating these tentacles wouldn't be difficult, but then An Chong appeared. The two of them were no match and had to flee. Meistuo, who had inexplicably become noble at some point, voluntarily stayed behind to cover Meipusai'er's escape.
As Xiao Xun pondered how to get past this point, the formation of the tentacles ahead shifted. A team of burly merfolk warriors swam out from the depths of the cave.
Behind these merfolk warriors were some graceful sea sirens.
They did not detect Xiao Xun's presence and continued to lead the merfolk forward, their target seemingly being the magic formation nearing completion above.
Xiao Xun seized the opportunity and passed through the blockade formed by the tentacles.
However, before he could feel relieved, he discovered that the cave had reached its end after not advancing much further. Before him was a portal, from which the merfolk were emerging.
"These merfolk are truly cautious."
Xiao Xun was utterly speechless. Once this portal was used, he would surely be detected.
However, if he left now, this trip would have been in vain.
After much hesitation, Xiao Xun finally decided to enter the portal to investigate.