The dungeon prison.
Ilia, her eyes languid, coyly covered her cherry-red lips. Her captivating gaze believed that no male in this world could resist her charm.
However, the Black Bean and his companions in the prison remained as if petrified.
Under the prolonged silence,
Black Bean, holding his forehead with one hand, shook his small head like a rattle drum.
"Good for you, fair-skinned, beautiful, long-legged Ilia. I never imagined you'd be this kind of mermaid princess," Black Bean exclaimed, disbelief etched on his face. "I've roamed the martial world for so long, thinking I was quite something. But it turns out there are always stronger ones out there. You're the real freak."
"Hehe..."
Ilia smiled, pursing her lips, and asked in an innocent tone.
"How can you call me a freak?"
"Enough," Black Bean quickly interjected, seeing Ilia about to put on an act. "Do you believe I'll report your bad deeds to the boss?"
Ilia remained smiling, paying him no mind.
"Big sister Ilia, second brother Black Bean, shouldn't we be figuring out how to get out of here?" Kukah, clad only in his shorts, asked with a worried look in his eyes. "It's not good for us to be locked up here forever."
Too humid!
Although Kukah used to dwell underground, he had at least ensured excellent ventilation. Even in the depths, it was dry and comfortable.
He feared breaking out in a rash if he stayed in this godforsaken place for too long.
"Mmm~"
Ilia tilted her head, her fair finger gently resting on her cheek.
"Someone will come to rescue us."
If anyone else had said this, Black Bean and the others might not have paid it any mind, perhaps even suspecting the speaker of having delusions.
Chen Yu was not at the camp.
The entire force of the city-state had been led out by Black Bean. Even if Er Gou ran back to report, Kailin, who was in charge of the city-state, would be powerless to rescue them.
But these words came from Ilia.
"Ilia, are you serious?" Black Bean raised his eyebrows suspiciously. "Someone will really come to save us? The boss isn't even in the city-state."
"Who knows?"
Ilia smiled, spreading her hands lazily as she stretched.
"Probably."
...
...
...
Dong!!!
Booming—
Outside the majestic mountain stronghold, thousands of fish-men wielding knives and forks, clad in golden armor, bravely charged into the camp without regard for their lives.
Furthermore, three spatial arrays outside the stronghold continuously churned out fish-men warriors.
"Kill!!!"
The fighting spirit was sky-high.
Wave after wave of fish-men, brandishing their knives and forks, charged forward. As time passed, the energy shield protecting the stronghold began to show countless cracked fissures.
"Ancestor! The defense formation is about to break!"
The tiger-man, standing on the city wall of the camp, looked pleadingly at the black and white big cat lounging on a rattan chair.
The big cat casually picked up a stalk of sugarcane,
skillfully stripped off the leaves, broke the stalk, and put it into his mouth, crunching it with crisp sounds before spitting it out beside the rattan chair.
"Ancestor, you're still in the mood to eat."
"Are you talking to me?" The big cat, chewing on the sugarcane, glanced at the tiger-man. "No way, no way, you can't possibly be talking to me, can you?"
"Who else would I be talking to?"
"Fine."
The big cat responded with a hum, paying no further attention, and continued to chew the sugarcane, a look of disdain on his face.
"Pah~ What kind of rubbish is this? It's not tasty at all."
"Ancestor!!!"
The tiger-man standing outside had his face all scrunched up.
So anxious!
Just a while ago, people from the camp had suddenly reported that the camp was under enemy attack and that they were furiously charging towards it.
He hadn't taken it seriously.
Although this was a camp, after the cave plane had been fragmented, he had found a broken elemental energy sphere in a shattered plane.
Despite being broken, it could still be used.
Activating it could unleash an energy barrier that not even the full force of a peak Black Obsidian realm attack could shatter.
When his subordinates attacked,
he had thought it was the group of people they had captured earlier coming for revenge. He didn't care about those stinking fishes from the outer territories.
He didn't care how they attacked; if they could break the shield, he would consider himself defeated.
He had even thought,
when he was in a good mood, he would simply take over that city-state and become a city lord himself for a while.
Who would have thought?!
Expecting to watch the excitement from the city wall, he instead saw countless well-equipped fish-men. The weakest among those fish-men were estimated to be at the Gold realm.
With each charge, the energy shield could no longer withstand the assault.
An army of fish-men with such fine equipment and complete configuration was likely only found in the three great Merfolk Kingdoms throughout the entire cave world.
He was stunned!
He couldn't comprehend why a sacred land like that would bother a small fry like him.
Seeing that they could no longer hold on, he could only place his hope on the guest elder of his camp. At this moment, only this guest elder could save them.
"Stop barking like a dog, you're annoying."
The big cat, looking extremely impatient, casually tossed the sugarcane aside.
"If your camp is breaking, go defend it. Why are you calling out to me?"
"There are tens of thousands of fish-men outside. What can I use to defend it?" The tiger-man's face was full of anxiety. "You're the only repairman in our camp. If the sphere isn't repaired soon, it will shatter completely."
"That's your problem."
The big cat shrugged indifferently, his paws rummaging through the pile of sugarcane, searching for a desirable stalk for a long time without success.
He kicked the pile of sugarcane scattering it and then stretched on the chair.
"I need to go to sleep."
"You!!!" The tiger-man, who had always been submissive, suddenly gritted his teeth. "Do you really intend to abandon me and refuse to help me?"
"Pay me."
The big cat stretched out his hand without thinking.
"You want me to risk my life for you without paying? How shameless can you be? Buddy, you've already owed me my salary for several months, and you still expect me to work for you? You have an ugly face and an even uglier mind."
"You!!!"
"Stop stuttering there. If you want my help, pay me. If you don't have money, you can go wherever you want."
The big cat rolled his eyes with disdain, leaning back in the recliner, closing his eyes to rest, and snorted coldly.
"Get lost quickly. Seeing you makes me angry."
The big cat on the rattan chair grumbled. The tiger-man stood several meters away, his massive fists clenched as if they were sandbags. In the end, however, he could only turn around indignantly and leave.
The big cat, who had been closing his eyes, slightly lifted his eyelids.
Seeing that the tiger-man had left his courtyard, he let out a disdainful scoff.
"Before I came here, I was a national treasure. When have I ever suffered like this? Arriving at this damned place, I can't even eat a decent stalk of sugarcane. How truly unlucky."
"If it weren't for the fact that you look a bit like my former colleague, the Siberian tiger, I would have beaten you up long ago."
"And you dare to glare at me!"
"Who's the superior one here? Don't you have any self-awareness?"
"Damn it!"
Spitting in the direction of the tiger-man's retreating figure, the big cat grabbed another stalk of sugarcane and took a couple of bites.
"Pah, it's truly unpalatable."