The king's plea lingered in the chamber, carrying the full weight of both a father and a ruler.
Ritter did not answer immediately. He lightly tapped the table with his fingers, crimson eyes drifting to the side.
Joy Boy was currently trying to "pull" a pearl out of a clam shell using his rubber fingers. Instead, the entire clam snapped into the air. He panicked, stretched both arms out to catch it, and shouted at the same time,
"Hey! Don't run away!"
Ritter looked back at the king and spoke calmly.
"So you want us to investigate the truth and meet the princess? Fine. But from the looks of it, your High Priest isn't going to cooperate easily."
"If possible, please stay in the palace for now. I will do everything I can to persuade him," the king replied with the same humble sincerity as before.
And just as expected, the following days became tense.
The king himself no longer appeared before them directly, but the entire Ryugu Palace began operating at full speed.
The movements of Ritter's group were strictly limited to the guest quarters. No matter where they went, elite guards followed close behind under the excuse of "escort duty."
The High Priest had mobilized every palace guard loyal to him. Layers upon layers of security surrounded the area, nearly watching them every second.
His organizational ability was astonishing.
He truly lived up to the title of High Priest.
Squads of soldiers carrying specialized weapons forged from coral and seashells patrolled day and night. Their eyes were sharp, their discipline flawless.
Emergency evacuation drills began throughout Fish-Man Island. Supplies were moved into hidden coral caverns. Shelters were constructed in an orderly fashion. The elderly and children were quietly relocated while the strongest palace guards stood watch at the outermost defensive lines.
The entire island was preparing for the worst-case scenario against the "Shadow of Destruction" from the prophecy.
The High Priest's actions made his stance crystal clear:
He did not need outside "hope."
He trusted only himself and the power of Fish-Man Island.
And ever since then, he had not returned to his own chambers even once, remaining constantly at the front lines.
"Tch. That old man really gets things done," Ritter muttered while leaning against the guest room window, watching the heavily fortified patrols outside.
For Fish-Man Island, having someone like the High Priest was both a blessing and a curse.
Joy Boy, meanwhile, looked like a rubber monkey trapped in a cage.
"This is soooo boring, Ritter! Weren't we supposed to help? Why are we the ones getting locked up now? That princess sounds really pitiful. Let's go play with her!"
"Play?" Ritter raised a brow. "Didn't you hear them? Right now we're apparently the 'Shadow of Destruction.' Getting close to the princess is practically a capital crime."
"But the Sea Kings are our friends!" Joy Boy protested confidently. "They were so worried! The princess definitely needs help! Besides, that High Priest has to be wrong! I'm the most handsome guy on the sea. There's no way I'd destroy a city!"
The vice-captain, who had been quietly sitting nearby nibbling on snacks like a tiny hamster, suddenly paused.
Her icy blue eyes turned toward Joy Boy.
Then she gently shook her head.
Neither Ritter nor Joy Boy were the type to obediently follow rules.
"Rubber-head," Ritter suddenly asked while watching the tense defenses outside, "you bored?"
"Bored to death!" Joy Boy collapsed across the chair like a rubber fish that had lost all purpose in life.
Ritter smirked faintly.
"Want to see what this imprisoned princess actually looks like?"
"Yeah! Let's go!"
Late that night, deep within Ryugu Palace.
The princess's chambers were heavily guarded. But under Ritter's nearly invisible blood mist, the guards' senses and vision became subtly distorted and delayed.
As for Joy Boy, he fully utilized the advantages of his rubber body.
"Rubber Worm Crawl!"
Ritter blinked.
"…Wait. Rubber what?"
Joy Boy flattened himself into a paper-thin strip and began wriggling forward like an actual worm, hugging the shadows of the ornate pillars as he silently "flowed" across the corridor.
Whenever they encountered an open area with nowhere to hide, he would whisper:
"Rubber Slingshot!"
Then launch himself like a pebble toward the next piece of cover.
Ritter stared blankly.
"With skills like this, you could succeed at literally anything…"
The worst part was that Joy Boy actually had combos.
Every movement linked seamlessly into the next.
When he landed, his rubber feet absorbed every sound perfectly.
Completely unreasonable.
Absolutely absurd.
And somehow… weirdly effective.
At last, they bypassed every visible and hidden guard and arrived before the massive doors of the princess's chambers.
For Ritter, the doors were gigantic.
For Joy Boy, they were just the right size.
Ritter's blood mist formed a key that slipped into the lock and twisted softly.
The doors silently opened a crack.
The room inside was eerily quiet.
At the deepest part of the chamber sat a "small" figure atop an enormous clam-shaped bed.
She had long flowing hair, pale skin, and a shimmering pink fish tail that reflected faint rainbow light.
At the moment, she was hugging her knees tightly, burying her face against them while her shoulders trembled softly.
This was the Mermaid Princess, Poseidon.
The instant she heard the door open, she looked up in terror. Her icy blue eyes widened as she instinctively prepared to scream.
Blood mist instantly spread through the room.
"Shhh!"
Joy Boy reacted at lightning speed.
His rubber arm shot outward, but instead of covering her mouth, he grabbed a decorative conch shell from a nearby table and stuffed it into his own mouth.
Ritter immediately wanted to yell:
You idiot, why are you stuffing it into your own mouth?!
Joy Boy puffed his cheeks and tried blowing it.
Nothing happened.
He blew harder.
His entire body inflated like a balloon.
The ridiculous sight completely interrupted Poseidon's scream.
She stared wide-eyed at the strange man with a conch shell jammed in his mouth and cheeks swollen like a pufferfish.
Then Joy Boy pulled the shell out with a loud pop. His rubber face instantly snapped back into place as he flashed a huge grin.
"Don't be scared! We're not bad guys! The Sea Kings asked us to come!"
Poseidon covered her mouth in shock.
"Amazing! That move was incredible!"
The moment someone praised him, Joy Boy immediately launched into an improvised performance.
He stretched his arms out like noodles and spun them rapidly above his head.
"Rubber Windmill!"
Then he tied his legs into knots and hopped around on one foot.
"Rubber Jump Rope!"
He even reshaped his face into bizarre forms to imitate deep-sea fish.
"Look! I'm an anglerfish! I'm a giant-mouth fish!"
Every movement was chaotic, childish, and completely fueled by imagination and rubber-like elasticity.
And every action came with his signature Nika-style laughter, the kind that felt capable of blowing away any darkness in the world.
At first, Princess Poseidon clutched her skirt tightly, her entire body stiff with fear.
But as she watched Joy Boy completely throw away his dignity just to make her laugh, watched his impossible rubber body twist into one ridiculous shape after another, the terror in her eyes slowly began to fade.
Curiosity replaced it.
Then Joy Boy tried twisting himself into a giant pretzel.
Unfortunately, he lost his balance halfway through.
He bounced wildly across the smooth floor like a colorful rubber ball before slamming flat against the wall with a loud smack and slowly sliding downward.
"Pfft!"
A tiny laugh escaped Poseidon's lips.
Soft, but unmistakably real.
She quickly covered her mouth, but her icy blue eyes had already curved into crescents, sparkling with long-forgotten joy like shattered starlight.
She looked at Joy Boy scratching his head and laughing foolishly after peeling himself off the wall.
Then she looked toward the doorway at the red-eyed man wrapped in faint blood mist, arms folded with an expression that clearly said:
"This idiot is absolutely not my companion."
And beside him stood the quiet silver-haired girl.
For the first time in a long while, the fear inside the princess's heart quietly began to melt away beneath the absurd elasticity and ridiculous warmth of these unexpected intruders.
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