Chapter 14: Hello There!

"Hello there!"

"Oh my, it's really been quite a long time since we last met. Did you miss me?"

Herbert, completely unacquainted-like, walked up to the water sphere and sent a chat request to the mermaid young lady hiding inside.

Come on!

Chat with me!

"Hmm? Why aren't you talking? Are you shy?"

"Didn't we have a lovely chat yesterday? Have you already forgotten those wonderful moments?"

"Are you going to say you were sleeping?"

"Oh my, what time is it now? Time to get up!"

How can someone your age sleep so soundly?

Three or four hundred years old is exactly the age to hustle.

Get up and party!

???

Fu Leimei in the water was furious.

"I'm already ignoring you like this, can't you take a hint?"

This princess has already made her stance so clear, how can you still not see it, you guy!

Gurgle gurgle.

Some bubbles rose in the water sphere to express her protest, then she simply turned her back, changed the form of the water sphere, the water body taking on a frosted-glass texture, her figure inside only faintly visible.

Herbert chattered on to himself nonstop, constantly observing the water sphere where Fu Leimei was hiding.

Hiding?

Do you really think you can hide?

He took the sword at his waist, didn't even draw it, and simply poked the water sphere with the scabbard.

The water sphere looked fluid, but there was a thin membrane on its surface; no matter how he touched it, it wouldn't break, and it would rebound with a neutralizing force to cancel his power.

Receive, neutralize, do not release.

And Herbert's actual goal wasn't to forcibly drag her out of her hiding place — he didn't have that kind of strength yet.

But right now, strength wasn't needed either.

For the current situation, being annoying enough was sufficient.

For example, is the gap in strength between a mosquito and a human big?

Way too big.

The two simply aren't on the same scale; logically, there's no comparison at all.

But, that mosquito, so weak against humans that it can be crushed with a single finger, just happens to possess a maddeningly irritating ability.

It drives humans to the brink of madness, wailing and roaring through the night, breaking down in tears.

I, Herbert, am now one giant mosquito.

Skilled at poking people with a needle.

He poked the surface of the water sphere again and again with the scabbard, never tiring of it.

Poke.

Poke poke!

Poke poke poke poke…

While poking, his muttering never stopped either, continuously sending chat invitations to the mermaid princess.

Finally, under Herbert's unrelenting harassment, Fu Leimei, after holding out for ten minutes, finally gave in.

"Enough!"

Splash.

Fu Leimei poked her head out of the water sphere with an annoyed expression, glared at him with her bewitching beautiful eyes, and bared her teeth without a care for her image: "Will you ever stop!"

"Talk talk talk! Never shutting up, are you!"

"Poke poke poke! Never stopping, are you!"

"Is this fun!!?"

She watched Herbert nod with a smile and not a shred of shame, and felt the already taut string in her mind snap completely.

Snap!

"Ahhhhh—"

She could no longer hold back, clutched her head and let out a piercing shriek, the sound making fine ripples ripple across the water sphere's surface.

But just as the sound wave was about to reach a certain critical point, the originally piercing shriek vanished entirely, and the entire space fell into absolute dead silence in an instant.

Splash splash—

The water sphere floating in midair fell to the ground, like a water-filled balloon dropped from a height and bursting, the moment it touched the ground it exploded, surging violently outward.

And the mermaid hiding inside couldn't escape the fate either, crashing heavily to the ground like a dead fish.

Thud!

"…"

Fu Leimei glared furiously at Herbert, her mouth opening and closing, but unable to make any sound.

She tried to get up, but the moment she propped herself up she collapsed weakly, her gorgeous fish tail visibly drying out at a rapid pace.

The prison was absorbing magical power at a startling rate.

Judging by the current state, it wouldn't be long before she suffered harm!

!!!

Fu Leimei also realized this point, gritting her teeth as she stared at the young man with lowered head not far away.

A legendary sea siren should never have been this helpless; even without water, she could manipulate the water elements and magical power in the air to float in midair.

But this place was a prison tailor-made for every alien race.

Once magical fluctuations exceeding the limit were detected, the sealing formations buried inside the prison would activate.

That's right.

In a certain sense, the prisoners held in the alien prison could also be considered a type of sealed object.

They were powerful and dangerous—any single one of them pulled out would be enough to give other monasteries a hard time; only the Mist Monastery would dare to casually place them all together.

The audacity to do so came, on one hand, from having the Archbishop hold the line, judging that they couldn't stir up much trouble, and on the other hand, from relying on these sealing formations.

When the position of Warden was vacant, the formations would operate on their own at minimum capacity, without interfering too much with the prisoners.

But when a new Warden took office, control of the formations would naturally fall into his hands.

"..."

In the silent space, time slowly passed, and Fu Leimei's situation gradually grew worse and worse; her gorgeous long hair also began to turn dry and withered.

But she did not try to beg for mercy, simply lying on the ground in an undignified posture, staring expressionlessly at Herbert.

She had her own pride; she would not lower her proud head just because of this bit of torment.

And Herbert showed no reaction either, silently watching from beginning to end, the smile on his face unchanged.

After a few days of brief contact, Herbert had gained some understanding of these prisoners.

Although Valentina displayed an unfriendly attitude, her mouth full of verbal artistry, she was actually cold on the outside but warm on the inside, openly scolding him while secretly advising him.

She showed friendliness, so Herbert chose to treat her with friendliness as well.

Using feeding as a means to raise affection, using warm measures to become friends with her.

But Fu Leimei was different.

Although at their first meeting she had appeared extremely friendly, looking like an easygoing big sister, it was all an act.

Beneath her false sweet smile lurked killing intent, and her enchanting voice was full of malice; without wasting words trying to coax, she had gone straight for drowning him the moment they met.

She showed malice, so Herbert chose to respond with malice as well.

This time was a small punishment.

Just as Fu Leimei thought the formation would continue for a while longer and was preparing to formally consume her origin to keep resisting, Herbert raised his right hand, and the holy mark on the back of his hand emitted a brilliant Jin Guang.

Crack—

Accompanied by an illusory sound of crystal shattering, sound returned to this space once more, and magical power rushed in, filling the dried-up gap.

The instant she felt the magical power, Fu Leimei swept away her half-dead appearance, raised her hand and waved, and a large amount of water elements gathered; within a few breaths she had once again created a floating water sphere.

She placed her lower body inside the water sphere, her upper body exposed above the surface, squinting at the Warden whose smile remained unchanged.

"... Heh."

After a moment, Fu Leimei laughed and nodded at Herbert.

"You, are very good."

She drew in a breath, gritted her teeth, and forced the words out of her throat:

"Really... very good!"

And in response to her sarcasm, Herbert slightly bowed and replied with a smile:

"Thank you for the compliment; I also think I'm quite good."

(End of this chapter)