Atlantis?
The expressions on the faces of Shangguan Bing Xue and Bai Zemin froze when they heard that word; no, more than a word, a name.
There were many legends and all kinds of theories, as well as countless myths running through each letter of the name Atlantis. Some said that Atlantis had once been an island with great military might, others said that in reality Atlantis or also known as Lost City had once been the city where the gods dwelled because it was rich with divine treasures and high technology.
No one knew what the reality of Atlantis was. However, it was true that over the years the mystery behind this name had withstood the erosion of time, and generation after generation, it made itself known.
Despite being only a myth, despite being supposedly just a city or island that had sunk into the bottom of the ocean, Atlantis was undoubtedly a place that many had tried to find throughout the ages, but at the end of their lives, all these adventurers left empty-handed carrying nothing but disappointment in their hearts.
Little did two young adults who had not even finished their studies like Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue expect to hear from the mouth of a mermaid princess that the legendary Atlantis was actually not just a false myth but a reality that existed into the seas.
Still feeling stupefied, Bai Zemin nodded towards the mermaid princess and said in a flat voice:
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Seventh Princess….. My name is Bai Zemin. A medical student and formerly an employee of a mechanic shop. My father used to work as a truck driver and my mother as an English teacher in primary level education. My birthplace is China, 20 years old, blood type A positive."
"…"
"…"
Shangguan Bing Xue and Xian Mei'er looked at Bai Zemin with wide eyes without saying a word. The first one was so dumbfounded that she had to use every bit of willpower she had not to laugh out loud not out of mockery but because of how Bai Zemin was able to say such words with a serious face. Meanwhile, the second one had no idea what the human on the bridge was even saying.
"I understand about a medical student but…. What is a mechanic shop?" Xian Mei'er tilted her head, extremely confused. She looked at Bai Zemin and asked, "Also, although I know that English is a language you humans know, I don't know what a truck is. About the blood type, my blood is pure royal blood but I don't know more than that."
"…"
This time it was Bai Zemin's turn to be a bit speechless.
Could it be that this mermaid princess is secretly an airhead? Such a thought was naturally born in Bai Zemin's heart before he dismissed it.
Sea creatures and humans lived different lives since forever and were only now beginning to gradually connect under the influence of constant evolution. Therefore, regardless of how intelligent the sea princess might be, it was only natural that she did not know basic and unimportant things about mankind.
In fact, Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue could see how the deep blue pearl that was embedded in the forehead of the mermaid princess Xian Mei'er would light up every time she said a word. It was clear from the constant flow of mana from the surroundings and the circulation of magic power that the reason they were able to communicate with her was thanks to that pearl.
"Oh, curious about this?" Xian Mei'er touched her forehead and said casually, "This is a treasure which sea creatures with intelligence can receive from the Lost City vault. It's just that in the past, there was only an intelligent being born among our sea race once every 100 years so when the evolution process began everything turned a bit messy."
It was as if the sea princess had suddenly dropped her caution against the two humans on the bridge. However, it was clear from the way she kept her physical distance with the giant leviathan near her that she was actually not as unguarded as she might appear at first glance.
Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue looked at each other and both saw the same sparkle in the other's gaze. However, just when the two were hoping to get more information from the princess's mouth, Xian Mei'er suddenly decided to stop the conversation there.
Instead, she looked at Bai Zemin and said with a smile, "Human leader. How about in exchange for holding this bridge steady for you and preventing the sea creatures in the area from attacking your troops in the moving process, you hand over that Soul Stone you obtained earlier to me?"
The expression on the face of Bai Zemin changed slightly when he heard this and his voice turned a tone colder as he slowly said, "Seventh Princess, don't make jokes. I think you should be aware of the value that a Soul Stone coming from a Third Order living being has in this stage."
Hand over the Third Order Soul Stone? If someone wanted to take a treasure of such magnitude and importance out of his hands, then they would first have to meet face to face with Bai Zemin's greatsword.
He was definitely not willing to give up the Soul Stone. He had countless uses for it and this was only the second Third Order Soul Stone he obtained so far.
Xian Mei'er frowned slightly and said softly, "I thought the bridge was important to you? I guess it's not so much if you're not willing to hand over that Soul Stone."
"… Are you threatening me?"
Bai Zemin's voice turned dangerously cold as he said those words and unconsciously tightened his grip on his weapon.
Shangguan Bing Xue reached out her hand and placed it over his as she frowned tightly. She was fully aware that although Bai Zemin might appear kind in many situations and even fairly just and cruel to others and to himself, in reality, he was tremendously proud. If there was one thing that a man whose heart was filled to the brim with pride would never allow, it was threats; and Bai Zemin was precisely that kind of man.
However, in this kind of circumstance, it was true that Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue were at a disadvantage. After all, the sea princess could simply sink underwater and destroy the bridge from below.
If something like that were to happen, then both Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue could only find a place to cry since they would not only lose the bridge but it would also be impossible for them to take revenge on Xian Mei'er unless they were both willing to take the risk of being devoured by some creature under the unknown waters after submerging and losing a great deal of their overall strength.
"Threaten? Of course not. Why do you utter such an unpleasant word?" Xian Mei'er smiled slightly, seemingly oblivious to the slight murderous intent in Bai Zemin's gaze. She looked him straight in the eyes and said in an honest voice, "Human leader…. No, Bai Zemin. Bai Zemin, just like your human race, my sea race is also experiencing difficulties at this moment. In fact, it could be said that the situation of the sea race is even worse than that of the human race from a certain point of view."
Although Bai Zemin had no idea what Xian Mei'er was going for, he listened her as he took a deep breath and calmed down. He gently touched with his other hand the top of Shangguan Bing Xue's hand that was still resting on his right hand to indicate to her that he was fine now.
"Our sea race is separated into several kingdoms and within those kingdoms, there are many princes and princesses…. In addition, unlike you humans, the lowest soldiers of the sea race have no sense of intelligence so they are difficult to control. Even within my family's realm, I am no more than princess number seven and often get attacked by my brothers and sisters in an attempt to eliminate a possible competitor. As much as I try to explain to them that I am not interested in the throne of Lost City, none of them believe me."
Xian Mei'er shook her head and sighed. The princess looked tired as she said in a soft voice:
"Unlike the other princes and princesses, my only goal is to try to find a way to stop my people from killing each other just for food. But such a thing is not at all easy when I only control a small portion of water that compared to the vast sea is no different than a small pond."
"Is that why you formed an alliance with the zombie leader and the beast leader? For food?" Bai Zemin suddenly felt that he had caught something big but just as he was about to catch it, it disappeared. It was a rare flash of inspiration that appeared out of nowhere and just as quickly as it appeared it disappeared, leaving him extremely frustrated in his heart.
"That's right." The mermaid princess did not hide anything as she nodded. "With 20,000,000 zombies, I thought I could feed my 500,000 subordinates without a problem for at least 2-3 months…. But it turned out I was naive."
At the end of her monologue, Xian Mei'er had a bitter smile on her face which made her look pitiful and gave her another kind of beauty that encouraged men to hug and comfort her.
At first, the Seventh Princess who had been branded as a fool by everyone and was even pushed aside by her father thought she had found an opportunity to let her subordinates not have to kill each other. However, instead of getting what was expected, what Xian Mei'er ended up getting in return for forming an alliance with the zombies and beasts was the loss of just under 490,000 of her initial 500,000 or so soldiers.
One needed to know that those 500,000 soldiers were all that Xian Mei'er had as the Seventh Princess. Now, she had basically lost everything and this coupled with the pain of losing so many of her people in just one night, naturally devastated her even though she did not show it on the surface.
Bai Zemin fell into deep contemplation after hearing the words of the mermaid princess. No one knew what he was thinking.
Shangguan Bing Xue seized the opportunity and interjected, "My name is Shangguan Bing Xue. Second in command of the Transcendent faction under the leadership of the man beside me. Regarding the bridge, since what you want is only the zombie corpses, then how about we hand over all the corpses that belong to us according to the previous agreement, except for the Soul Stones?"
Bai Zemin raised his head slightly and noticed that the gaze of Xian Mei'er lit up slightly when she heard Shangguan Bing Xue's proposal.
Indeed, the mermaid princess nodded without hesitation and said quickly, "You got a deal. I will see to it that this bridge stands at least until the time you pass along with your people and I will also make sure that the surrounding sea creatures do not attack during that time. In return, the corpses of the 20,000,000 zombies from blood to the smallest of fingernails belong to my race."
"Then we have a deal." Shangguan Bing Xue smiled faintly.
Although there were some Second Order zombies among the zombies and their bodies could be considered treasures, the truth was that neither Bai Zemin nor anyone in their faction had a high enough level of blacksmithing to create some kind of weaponry using corpses that did not differ much from those of a human. Therefore, keeping those with them was a waste anyway; however, to the mermaid princess and her race, those corpses were a valuable food treasure.
It was a win-win situation no matter which way you looked at it since the Soul Stones of the corpses that were within the limit of the previous agreement would still belong to Bai Zemin's faction.
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