Chapter 2149: Seen Through
Shortly after, Zu An and Ka Qier met face to face. When Ka Qier heard that the 'Fake Dragon King' had already obtained the crown’s whereabouts, he was immediately overjoyed. “Alright, I’ll immediately fetch people to seize the crown back.”
“Wait.” Zu An stopped him. “Don’t we still need Shang Liuyu? Wouldn’t you be exposed right here and now if you went to get the crown immediately? Now that I’ve obtained her trust, we’ll just keep the crown with her so that she still won't find out about our plans.”
“Excellent!” Ka Qier gave him a thumbs up. He felt more and more that this plan was wonderful. He quickly agreed.
Zu An then found a chance to bring Shang Liuyu with him to pick up the crown. With him taking the lead in the Dragon Palace, many things became much easier.
Along the way, Shang Liuyu glanced at Zu An several times. He couldn't help but touch his face a bit from all the staring, asking, “What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”
Shang Liuyu shook her head. “No, I just feel as if you don’t seem to be quite the same as before.”
“How so?” Zu An was alarmed.
Could there be some details that I maybe missed?
“You always used to use all sorts of pretexts to take advantage of me whenever you met me in private, but you’re now much more disciplined,” Shang Liuyu said coldly.
Zu An was stunned.
This Dragon King really deserves to get beaten up.
As such, he replied with a smile, “Then could it be that you want me to do something to you?”
Shang Liuyu frowned and took a step back. “I thought that maybe you changed, but you’re still so irredeemable.”
Zu An was speechless. He replied helplessly, “I didn’t actually do anything, right? Now that so many things have happened, how could I still be in the mood to constantly think about those things?”
Shang Liuyu harrumphed and muttered, “But it seemed as if you were definitely in the mood last night.”
You have successfully trolled Shang Liuyu for +22 +22 +22...
Zu An was speechless.
It seemed Shang Liuyu was still quite upset that she couldn't sleep from all the noise last night.
Meanwhile, the two of them had unknowingly already arrived at the ocean outside. Shang Liuyu took out the ocarina at her waist and gently blew into it. A rhythmic melody quickly filled the air. Zu An was surprised. This frequency already exceeded the realm of what normal people could hear. Perhaps only the Ocean races had this level of talent.
A while later, there was a response from the distance.
“That’s... a whale?” Zu An exclaimed in surprise. It was a sound he had frequently heard when he was browsing videos in the past.
Soon after, a several-hundred-meter long whale approached closer and closer. Then, it cheerfully swam around the two of them.
Shang Liuyu smiled and intimately stroked its head. The giant whale seemed to enjoy it a lot, and a happy expression appeared on its face.
Zu An also felt warm inside when he saw this loving scene. Not all creatures among the Ocean races had high intelligence; there were many ordinary sea creatures as well. They couldn’t turn into human shape and could only rely on their bloodline power to gradually strengthen themselves.
“Alright, I came to fetch the item,” Shang Liuyu said as she patted the whale's jaw. The whale opened its mouth in response and spat out a beautiful case.
Zu An noticed that there were quite a few formations applied to the case. There were ones that were for protection, and others that were for blocking out the outside world’s energies. He couldn't help but feel amazed.
Shang Liuyu really is smart. With the crown in the whale’s belly, it’d constantly be on the move and wouldn’t have a set location. Even if Ka Qier and the others flipped the entire Dragon Palace or even the Mermaid race's territory upside down, they still wouldn’t be able to find it!
Shang Liuyu opened the case with a special technique, then brought it up to Zu An and said, “It’s time for the Crown of the Ocean Deity to return to its rightful owner.”
Zu An was surprised. He had thought it would be called the Crown of the Dragon King, but it was actually called the Crown of the Ocean Deity.
Could it really be related to a deity?
His reaction wasn't surprising, as the crown in the case really was extraordinary. If one just looked in from outside, the Crown of the Ocean Deity was extremely simple, only a golden circle. At the very front was a trident symbol, which just barely made it look like a crown. But the entire thing seemed to contain endless magical power. It gave off a mysterious pressure just from sitting in place.
A divine artifact!
Zu An sensed that this object seemed to have an aura similar to the ones present in the Sun Slaying Bow and Human Emperor Seal. He have thought that it was nothing more than a symbolic crown. Who would’ve thought that it would actually be a powerful divine artifact!
“Put it on and give it a try.” Shang Liuyu had a mysterious look in her eyes as she said, “If you had carried this with you, you probably wouldn’t have been defeated by those alien monsters so easily.”
“Who could have even predicted that there would be anything in this world that could hurt me back then?” Zu An said with an awkward laugh. At the same time, he cursed the Dragon King for letting the thing in his pants control his head.
He reached out to take the Crown of the Ocean Deity. He could still have to use it in the future; it was best to get used to it now so there wouldn’t be any slip-ups later. But as soon as he touched it, the crown suddenly trembled. An invisible ripple spread out, as if it was resisting Zu An’s touch.
Shang Liuyu’s expression immediately changed. In reality, she had always felt as if something wasn’t right. Even though her big sister had always said that this brother-in-law was real and she hadn’t sensed anything strange either, she had just felt a strange sense of unease.
If big sis is also fooling me...
She didn’t know where that thought came from, but she had been horrified as soon as it emerged. She'd tried to erase it several times. If that really was the case, that would just be way too disappointing. But the more she tried to not think about it, the clearer it became.
That was why she had decided to carry out one final test when she came for the crown.
I really hope it’s not what I think.
When she thought about her big sister’s recent experiences, Shang Liuyu had continued to pray.
But reality was cruel. The Crown of the Ocean Deity was rejecting this man! The alien monsters didn’t know it, but the Crown of the Ocean Deity could only be used by the Ocean races. The rejection of the crown just now explained everything!
Her expression immediately changed. She closed the case again, then quickly flew backward. She didn’t even ask who the other person was, because that was already meaningless.
She thought about how her big sister had been with this fake Dragon King day after day, how she'd thought he was real and offered up everything to him. She still vividly remembered her big sis’ joyous expression. If her sister found out that this wasn’t the real Dragon King, just how cruel would that be?
Still, she had to tell her big sister the truth. She couldn't let this imposter continue to fool her.
I also need to protect this Crown of the Ocean Deity!
The enemy really created an extremely sinister plot!
She was extremely upset right now.
Why wasn’t I more on guard if I was suspicious? I just had to believe in a fluke.
If the Crown of the Ocean Deity entered the hands of those alien monsters, not even dying ten thousand times over would atone for her crimes.
Her lower body suddenly turned into an ocean-blue fish tail. With a sway, she quickly swam into the sea. The Mermaid race excelled in speed. She hoped that she could rely on that to escape.
Just then, her red lips parted slightly. A beautiful and moving song spread through the sea. Soon after, countless sea creatures swam over. There were giant whales, ferocious sharks, and even many octopuses with countless tentacles. They gathered together to block the path behind Shang Liuyu and buy her some time.
But Shang Liuyu felt incredibly cold, because she discovered that it was all meaningless. The imposter was already blocking her path. She didn’t try to summon more creatures to help her. That would only make them sacrifice their lives meaninglessly.
She gritted her teeth, then reached out her hand to grab the Crown of the Ocean Deity. She wanted to borrow the power of the divine artifact to stop this imposter. But she knew that with her cultivation, there was no way for her to control such a divine artifact. If she forced its use, that would only result in her own destruction. Yet with how things stood, she could only take the gamble.
As if sensing the resolution in her eyes, Zu An was horrified and thrust out his finger to stop her.
Shang Liuyu’s eyes were full of despair.
Is the difference really that great, that there’s not even the slightest chance...