Chapter 145 The Brain Monster's Prison

The secret chamber where the Brain Monster was imprisoned was located directly beneath the Queen’s palace. Strictly speaking, it wasn't a prison, but a sturdy basement. Nasaton didn't have prisons; as an immigrant ship, the city only had confinement facilities similar to lockups, and their security was far from adequate. So, the Siren Queen had ordered the monster locked in her own basement. It was the most secure cage in the entire city—but obviously, it was too close to the Queen's bedroom, and that had fatal consequences.

Shakira was assigned to the team heading to the Brain Monster's secret chamber. She and Hao Ren took the lead, entering the dim tunnel first, and only signaled the others to come down after confirming that there were no enemies along the way. Vivian frowned slightly as she looked at the dark, cramped, old pipes and bubbling wall joints around her: "This place looks like it hasn't been used for many years, and the design doesn't seem like a normal corridor."

"This is a water pressure regulating pipe, originally not a secret chamber entrance," Shakira knew a bit about this place. "The real entrance to the secret chamber should be inside the palace, and this is just a place like a ventilation duct. No one should have entered or exited from here since those Water Revenants left."

Vivian suddenly felt a bit sentimental: "In name, the Brain Monster is 'imprisoned' here, but in reality, this place has become that guy's fortress, and the guards outside are the ones who have truly lost their freedom. Anything connected to the Dream Plane is truly impossible to guard against."

Shakira led the way while curiously looking back to ask, "What is the Dream Plane?"

"I'll give you a chance to see it someday," Hao Ren replied casually, while also being a bit curious, "By the way, what did you do in Nasaton before? How do you know the Queen's palace so well?"

Shakira gave a shy smile: "I used to be the Queen's guard... well, the outer kind, not comparable to the Queen's Guard. But when I was a guard, I was allowed to move around inside and outside the palace, so I know a bit about this place, and I'm also familiar with the sentry posts and such. SOMA was a technician responsible for maintaining the magic machinery of the palace, and she herself is a high-level water mage."

Lily twitched her ears: "Guards and repairmen? How were your messengers who went ashore chosen back then?"

Shakira shrugged: "Lots were drawn, random nominations, and volunteers. It was all a chaotic mess when we went ashore. I was confused for a long time after landing—because the orders we received when we set off were almost a complete mess."

Lily blurted out, "To be honest, you should have realized your Queen was crazy when she decided to draw lots to send people for such an important matter."

Hao Ren stroked his chin: "So, that means Crow 12345 could do this sort of thing at any time, right? It's said that she randomly created the new Aerym star by throwing dice."

"Do you think your God's brain is normal?"

As soon as Lily finished speaking, she immediately hugged her head and shrank behind Hao Ren, afraid of being struck by lightning as divine punishment, but after waiting for a long time, not even a spark was triggered. Hao Ren patted her head: "Don't be afraid, stating the facts won't trigger divine punishment."

This was the glorious tradition of Hao Ren's team: whoever doesn't get slandered is the odd one out.

While this team was groping forward in the dark and cramped "sewer," the other team above was blasting and exploding their way through the Queen's palace, with a momentum far exceeding Hao Ren's group underground.

With a loud "boom," a ball of scorching sulfur fire blasted away two hissing sentries, creating a large hole in the wall in the process. Hot currents spread through the surrounding water, filling the air with a pungent sulfur smell. Elizabeth held a ball of fire almost half her size in both hands, swinging it around with all her might, shouting as she smashed it: "Fighting in the water is too frustrating! The power isn't even a fraction of what it should be!"

Nangong Sanba used his crossbow to hold off the Siren sentries' attacks while glaring at the fireballs Elizabeth threw out: "You still think that's not powerful enough?!"

At this time, Elizabeth silently cast another super-large fireball. This time, she simply didn't throw it out. Instead, she held the fireball and charged directly into the enemy ranks, charging through the crowd like a guided missile, smashing everything within sight with a fireball: the fireballs created by demon magic had an incredibly hard, scorching iron core inside, so getting hit meant death. The power was terrifying. If human mages saw this fighting style, they would probably have a nervous breakdown. Even among demons, not many dared to fight like this. Only Elizabeth—this "frail and sickly" demon princess—had put all her combat points into magic, and as a result, she had managed to develop this strange but powerful magic control!

They were breaking through the Queen's Guard's last line of defense. After the alarm was raised, countless Queen's Guards swarmed to protect her, and the group didn't know how many enemies they had killed, or how many of them had been resurrected to fight again. Only Hasson and Bai Huo could deal with the Siren Guards' resurrection characteristic to some extent: the former knew the technique of quickly applying seals in battle, while the latter's天赋圣焰 (Heavenly Holy Flame) could severely damage souls.

But in any case, Izhaks' overwhelming combat power was still effective here. In the simple and brutal breakthrough operation, the room where the Queen was located was already close at hand, and Hasson could almost sense the terrifying pressure coming from behind the door in front of him—not a tangible magical fluctuation or anything else, but simply a veteran hunter's vigilance sounding the alarm.

Finally, as Izhaks smashed the last door in front of the bedroom with a punch, the surrounding Siren Guards scattered as if they had suddenly received an order, and ran away in the blink of an eye.

"Why did they run?" Nangong Sanba panted, and after confirming that the guards had really run away, he immediately became arrogant, nonchalantly putting the crossbow on his shoulder. "Tch, I thought they were so powerful, but they're just a bunch of rabble..."

May was healing the injury on Nangong Sanba's arm while muttering, "Can you stop acting tough right now?! Look at your injury!"

Izhaks was also stunned when he saw the guards retreating, and immediately reminded everyone in a loud voice: "Everyone be careful, something might be wrong."

Hasson silently recited a few spells in front of the palace gate that was already covered in cracks, and carefully pushed the door open after confirming that there were no traps or ambushes behind it.

The heavy palace gate shattered in response, slowly collapsing into pieces. Everyone immediately rushed into the palace, each holding weapons or preparing spells, fully alert.

The inner chamber was quiet. In the dim light, it could be seen that it was a magnificent and spacious room, furnished with various pieces of furniture and decorations whose purpose was unknown. The fierce battle that had erupted outside just now seemed to have had no effect on the inside at all; it was as quiet as usual, as if it were independent of the world.

A figure emerged from the shadows of the dim light. Hasson immediately raised his crossbow: "Attention!"

"You... have come..."

A hissing, echoing voice came from all around, and the figure swam into view. She was a mermaid-like Siren, with a dignified and graceful appearance and bright eyes.

While maintaining the water barrier around everyone, SOMA subconsciously called out, "Your Majesty..."

The Siren Queen floated quietly in the water, her posture showing some strange stiffness. She tilted her head and observed the enemies in front of her, showing no hostility at all, but rather pure curiosity: "You... abnormal, with unrecognizable aura..."

She stiffly raised her arm and pointed at Izhaks and his daughter: "You two, what are you?"

Hasson frowned tightly: "Wait... why do I feel like this Siren Queen is different from the other controlled Sirens?"

At the same time, hundreds of meters deep in the underground space directly below the Queen's bedroom, Hao Ren was also approaching the last isolation door.

A huge block of ice was slowly falling beside them, inside which were frozen two Siren guards with completely dark eyes. Vivian clapped her hands: "I feel like my ice seals are quite effective against the Sirens: at least they can't resurrect for a short time."

"The living conditions here are worse than expected," Hao Ren touched the heavy, dilapidated alloy isolation door in front of him, and then looked around. This was a cramped and oppressive place. No normal person would like to live here. "After the Brain Monster controlled Nasaton, it didn't even bother to get itself a better room. Looking at this place, I really feel like it's been imprisoned."

"Different worldview," Lily wagged her tail, "Hurry up and open it~~"

"Izhaks and the others don't have to worry about being mentally attacked when they go to deal with the Queen," Hao Ren smiled and reached for the gate. "But we have to be vigilant."

After the cutting beam passed, the secret chamber gate silently split in half.

Hao Ren saw that giant brain again: it was curled up in the center of the circular secret chamber, its skin undulating slightly in the water. The moment the door opened, the giant brain reacted. It immediately floated up, putting all its tentacles in front of it, making a defensive posture towards everyone.

Hao Ren frowned tightly: "Wait... why do I feel like this giant brain is different from the ones we've seen before?"