Chapter 57: Chapter 40: Feigned Surrender, Regaining the Trump Card
As Chun’s mind quickly turned, the whale approached the rainbow ray fish meat ahead, and the sonar alarm sounded again:
——Demonic caution sonar alert: You are locked on by 10 magic power sources, threat level: Low!
Holy shit, this demonic caution is so advanced!
It’s clearly those ten cannons arranged in a row in the battleship’s cannon bay, right?
So they saw this whale eat three pieces of high-end meat and figured the whale would definitely eat a fourth piece, so they aimed the meat as a target in advance! But still, isn’t the threat level too low for magic cannons?
Then just take it head-on, if I suddenly give up, I wouldn’t be convincing as a sea monster.
No time to think further, the whale swallowed it in one bite. Before it could dive, the magic cannons fired simultaneously, ten beams of white light shone on the whale, forming a web-like adhesive, and a series of system alerts scrolled across the screen:
——Warning! You are under "Magic Net Binding" spell attack... Magic Resistance!
——Warning!... Magic Resistance...
——Warning! Magic Net Binding successful, took spell damage -91!
——Warning!... Magic Resistance...
Holy shit! Chun was in disbelief, using such advanced warship magic cannons for such an unassuming spell?
Magic Net Binding is a very weak capture spell, good for catching birds and mice or retrieving objects from afar, but in the wild, it’s difficult to even catch a rabbit for a picnic. As for actual combat value... even using cannons to shoot it, it’s just this?
But I have to admit, this series of magic resistances really showed Chun the astonishing power of the whale. It seems it was born to resist magic?
In any case, breaking free isn’t difficult!
But this is a strategy devised by top players after high-altitude reconnaissance, clearly intended to capture the whale alive! So, what led them to believe such a large whale could be caught with such a simple magic?
There’s only one answer: they identified this whale as a designed backdoor gift pack! And they probably also thought the whale was too injured to break free?
Chun made a decisive decision, not to break free yet, but to pretend to struggle and thrash! Otherwise, if they see the capture fail, they might try something else to kill me.
For now, just stall for time until the whale digests the food and evolves, or contact the mermaids for inside-outside cooperation?
Just as he thought this, a distant and anxious voice echoed from the soul space: "Warrior, what’s wrong? Are you alright?"
Mermaid!? This voice is like a goddess!
Chun instantly had a plan: "I’m fine, I’m using strategy, please cry out in an anxious manner to deceive the enemy, make them think I’m not doing well."
"Got it!"
The next moment, a shrill, terrified scream indeed came from the ship.
Very cooperative, very smart?
Meanwhile, the warship’s magic cannons continued to fire relentlessly, and although the whale kept resisting magic, it was surrounded by a thick layer like a cocoon, and by then Chun truly felt it was difficult to break free. This really gave him an understanding of the terrifying power of the warship, perhaps the current world’s combat power ceiling.
But Chun’s thoughts became clearer: they originally intended to catch the whale for recovery, and seeing it consume four pieces of high-end ingredients makes them even more reluctant to kill—so, feign surrender!
Chun stopped struggling, turned over his belly, pretended to be seriously injured and exhausted, and slowly floated to the surface.
Simultaneously, he immediately contacted the mermaid: "Can you pretend to surrender? That way, the opponent will be deceived, and we’ll have a chance to escape."
The mermaid resolutely countered: "The noble Sea Race would rather die than surrender! And would never pretend to surrender, it’s laughable."
Uh? Right, after all, it’s a high-end NPC, if they agreed immediately it would be incredible.
Chun changed his approach to save her face: "It was my poor choice of words. Humans are the kind that the more you bow and scrape to them, the more they won’t take you seriously. On the contrary, the more proudly you grant them some level of courteous exchange, the more they’ll be extremely grateful!"
The mermaid was surprised: "Is that so?"
Anyway, Chun himself is like that, the more he loses face, the more he pretends to be dignified in interviews—even though he wasn’t successful. If this doesn’t succeed either, there’s nothing left but to run after a full meal.
"Command them to stop arrogantly, while withdrawing these useless fellows to show sincerity."
"Understood!"
The next moment, an annoyed and haughty voice came from the ship: "Stop firing, all of you useless people get lost..."
Not bad, not bad!
As if speaking, the battlefield of fish and dragons suddenly fell silent, with all sorts of flying fish, dolphins, and even unidentifiable sea monsters retreating.
Great! They’ve all retreated, but I can’t run, I have to show them they’re getting a buy-one-get-one-free deal!
Chun immediately declared loudly: "I will defend the Daughter of the Sea to the death!"
Though he spoke, it was a sound of a whale’s hum.
Does the super player have a translator? They must, since they designed the whale!
The mermaid cooperatively added: "This is my loyal warrior, you are not allowed to harm it!"
Chun continued to hum a whale song, reminding the other side to find a translator quickly: "Follow the Daughter of the Sea to death!"
...
In the cockpit of the Silver Queen.
Sariel hadn’t recovered from the joy of capturing the whale when she was completely stunned by the even greater delight of the mermaid!
"She stopped attacking, she’s surrendered, hasn’t she? She admitted defeat and surrendered!"
The steward appeared puzzled: "Isn’t it not yet at the surrender threshold? The whale keeps calling, perhaps the development team can analyze it, they have biological settings, maybe it can verify useful information."
Sariel snorted coldly, "Give me the result in 3 minutes!"
Soon, the butler brought the result: "My lord, the whale keeps shouting a vow of allegiance to the Daughter of the Sea!"
Sariel’s eyebrow twitched, "What do you make of this situation?"
The butler replied gravely, "The whale is very suspicious!"
Sariel immediately understood, "So you’re saying that the Divine Team had their sights on the mermaid I designed while designing the whale. They knew I designed the mermaid to be generous, so they wanted to use the whale to extract resources from her, perhaps even acting as an intervening NPC to steal the mermaid?"
The butler nodded, "They claim the whale is just an aging, dying disposable quest material, but they’ve set up a combination of old age mode and demon alert, allowing the whale to evolve to have divine attributes, qualifying it to connect with the mermaid—this isn’t a foolish accident, but a premeditated plan! But whether the whale has the strength to act as an intervening NPC is still uncertain, so you must be cautious, my lord."
Sariel sneered, "Their nerve is impressive. If something really happens, he won’t get a cent from the trust fund his grandpa left for him!"
...
At this moment, Chun floated quietly on the sea surface, waiting for the other party’s next reaction.
Just then, the mermaid’s voice came, "Warrior, is your vow to follow me unto death also a scheme?"
Uh, definitely not a scheme, it has to be sincere, otherwise, why would they follow me?
"Yes, I vow to follow you, the noble one, unto death."
The mermaid was very pleased, "That’s great! Once my strength is restored, I’ll surely give you more blessings."
— System prompt: You’ve received the mermaid’s appreciation and obtained the blessing skill "Sea Race Personal Guard." You can connect with the mermaid by the sea and accept her assignments.
Ah, really? Is this truly a blessing and not just becoming a dad? Anyway, as long as we can connect, it’s fine.
Chun needed her to continue cooperating: "Since you need to restore your strength, proudly ask them for all kinds of medicinal herbs and food you need, the more luxurious the better! The higher the demands, the more reassured they will be, and the easier to deceive."
The mermaid was surprised, "Really? Can I?"
"If they don’t give, just call them cheapskates!"
Chun didn’t know much about Sariel but had a general understanding of this class’s mentality: they believe as long as the offer is high enough, no loyalty can’t be bought.
But what if the mermaid actually gets bought? This question...
While pondering, the proud commanding voice of the mermaid came from the ship, "I’m hungry, quickly bring me 100 pearls!"
Chun snapped back to reality. Does the mermaid eat pearls? Doesn’t that mean she could chew through advanced crystal ore? That would put her on the same level as the giant dragon.
The ship then broadcasted, "Helen, my little darling, there are no pearls on board, we’ll have to return to the port. Please wait a moment patiently."
So her name is Helen!
The mermaid immediately cursed, "Cowardly cheapskates, not even daring to speak to me directly! I hate this cage, let me out now!"
The speaker urgently cried out, "I’m not a cheapskate! I just don’t want you to be unhappy when you see me. Please, little darling, wait a moment. When we reach the port, I’ll arrange a luxurious palace for you!"
This made Chun anxious, are we really going all the way to Silver City? I’m very busy!
The mermaid’s anxious voice came, "What do we do? He’s not falling for it!"
Holy shit! As a player, not falling for it is unacceptable!
Chun said, "It’s normal for a warship not to have pearls. But there’s magic crystal artillery, can you eat magic crystal?"
"I’ll try!"
The mermaid shrieked angrily, "I’m hungry! I want to eat magic crystal ore! I can smell the crystal stone, if you don’t give it to me, I’ll fight you!"
The speaker hastily shouted, "Darling! There are indeed plenty of magic crystals, they’re coming right away!"
Oh yeah! See, how could a player withstand this situation?
Amidst the clattering noises from the ship, the mermaid was overjoyed, "They really sent it, and it’s incredibly sweet high-purity purple magic crystal!"
Chun was also delighted, "Now you can compliment him for being obedient, but belittle the crystal stone a bit."
The mermaid chuckled, "Got it!"
The mermaid’s proud, crunching voice sounded, "Not bad, you’re very obedient. But the crystal stone is somewhat average."
The speaker seemed relieved, letting out a sigh, "As long as dear Helen, my little darling, is happy. In the future, I’ll surely get you the best magic crystals!"
"What I love is the pearls!"
"Alright, alright, certainly! There are more in the port!"
The mermaid asked again, "He wants to take me back to the port, what should I do?"
There’s no way around it now. Chun could only comfort her, "He’s already been fooled, just let him serve you in the future! Once your strength is restored, you can be as free as you like."
The mermaid laughed, "What a strange fool! Got it, I’ll eat the magic crystal first..."
A fool? Sounds just like a cat slave!
At that moment, Chun figured it out too: the whale really did need to follow him openly to Silver City—this way, Fafnir would think the whale fell into Silver City’s hands!
Originally, Fafnir knowing I had a whale exposed my secret trump card, but now this card has returned to me, and aside from Aileen and myself, no one else knows the whale still belongs to me!
Once this thought was clear, the mermaid’s situation also became clear. If the mermaid truly got bought, then I would just become a parasite, using this world’s second person as a long-term meal ticket—once this dangerous thought emerged, Chun felt a shiver of tension all over...
In any case, the main character is fine, let them drag back to the sea port. Switching to check the alternate character, still hanging idle, progress is slow.
Since everything’s fine, let’s continue napping and prepare for an all-nighter, setting up an event wake-up alarm: "Aileen, I’m going to rest. Wake me when we reach the port."