Seeing the smile finally return to the princess's face, and the fear slowly fading from her eyes, Ritter dispersed the blood mist that had been soundproofing the room. The four giant crimson hands behind him also dissolved into nothingness.
Not that he'd ever planned to knock her unconscious the second she screamed. Absolutely not.
Arms crossed, Ritter slowly walked over.
He looked down at Poseidon, who was still sitting atop the giant clam bed.
…Hm.
Mountain view blocked.
He casually stepped back a little.
Ah, there it is.
Ritter knowingly asked, "Hey, little mermaid. Doesn't look like you're very happy living here. The whole palace is on lockdown outside, and you're hiding in here crying by yourself?"
Poseidon froze for a moment. She lowered her head instinctively, fingers twisting nervously in her skirt.
"I… I'm not unhappy… It's just… everyone is scared. The Sea Kings are suffering too… I… I don't know what to do…"
Her voice grew softer and softer, ending in a helpless choke.
"Oh?" Ritter raised a brow, sounding as casual as if he were discussing dinner plans.
Anyone who knew him well, however, would immediately realize something.
Ritter was about to start scheming.
"Why's everyone scared? And why are the Sea Kings suffering? Tell us. Maybe we can help."
A perfectly "kind" smile rested on his face.
Simple-hearted Poseidon stood no chance against someone like Ritter. He loved talking to innocent girls like this. People could lie with their mouths, after all. The only thing worth trusting was what you saw with your own eyes.
And with his self-proclaimed "child-reading technique," Ritter could tell immediately that Poseidon was genuinely pure-hearted. Add in Joy Boy's relentless clowning to cheer her up, and the two of them didn't exactly seem like bad people.
Under Ritter's seemingly casual guidance, Poseidon slowly revealed the nightmare haunting Fish-Man Island.
The coral forest outside was withering.
The giant protective bubble coating surrounding the island had become unstable.
The Sea Kings were restless, anxious, and in pain.
And then there was the prophecy. The prophecy that even she herself found frightening and impossible to understand.
"...The laughter of rubber... the hand of blood mist... they will bring change... but they may also bring destruction..."
As she repeated the prophecy, confusion filled her ice-blue eyes.
Once she finished speaking, she seemed to relax slightly. But then she suddenly looked up, her gaze darting between the faint blood mist still lingering around Ritter and Joy Boy, who was currently trying to tie his rubber ears into a knot.
The blurry figures from her dreams slowly overlapped with the two standing before her.
A powerful intuition surged through her heart.
She covered her mouth, eyes widening in shock as her voice trembled.
"It… it was you?! The people in my dream… it was you two!"
Ritter merely smiled ambiguously, neither confirming nor denying it. Instead, he continued pressing the conversation forward.
"So then, clever little princess, did you and your Sea King friends think of any way to solve all this? You can't hide in here forever. And surely you're not planning to leave everything to that stubborn old man outside. If you were willing to tell your father your thoughts, then deep down… you don't completely trust that old priest either, right? Right?"
Poseidon hesitated for only a moment before blurting it out.
Ritter internally grinned.
Hooked.
"We did! The Sea Kings told me… they can help build a ship! A really, really huge ship! Super huge! If… if something truly terrible happens… then maybe that ship could carry everyone away…"
She spread her hands wide, trying to describe the unimaginable scale of the vessel. Hope flickered faintly in her eyes.
Ritter's expression subtly changed.
A gigantic ship.
Built by Sea Kings.
A deep-sea ark large enough to carry all of Fish-Man Island.
One ancient name instantly flashed through his mind.
Noah.
He nearly blurted it out loud.
So in this era, the Ark Noah, the vessel that would one day carry the future hopes of Fish-Man Island, was still only an idea. It might not have even begun construction yet.
Poseidon didn't notice the subtle shift in Ritter's expression. She remained lost in her thoughts, her small face filled with pleading hope.
"Um… Mister Red Eyes… and Mister Rubber… could you take me outside? Just for a little while! I want to see the coral forest myself. I want to hear the Sea Kings directly…"
Her voice softened.
"Staying trapped in here… I can't do anything. I can only feel them becoming more and more miserable…"
It was a bold request.
Direct, reckless, and desperate.
A plea born from someone imprisoned for far too long, yearning for freedom and truth.
And the two people foretold in prophecy standing before her had given her the courage to ask.
The moment Joy Boy heard her request, he immediately stopped wrestling with his own rubber body and bounced over enthusiastically.
"Yeah! Let's take her out! Staying cooped up inside all day definitely makes you sick! We can sneak out! I know the way! Rubber…"
Before he could shout another ridiculous attack name, a small blood mist hand clamped over his mouth.
Ritter looked at the hopeful princess in front of him. Then he thought about the High Priest outside, working tirelessly day and night, treating the entire island like a battlefield.
A wicked grin slowly spread across Ritter's face.
Sneaking the Mermaid Princess out of Ryugu Palace during martial lockdown?
Now this…
This was going to be fun.
"Sure," Ritter agreed immediately, excitement practically dripping from his tone. "We'll take you out for a little trip. But listen carefully, little princess. Stay close. If that scary old priest catches us, we're absolutely blaming everything on you."
Poseidon froze for a second.
Then she nodded vigorously, her face lighting up with a radiant smile as warm and bright as sunlight breaking through the sea.
Ritter internally laughed.
High Priest.
High Priest!
You're still nowhere near my level.
Still, there was one problem.
Technically, it wasn't even much of a problem.
Back in the original timeline, Shirahoshi had hidden inside a shark's mouth when sneaking around. Ritter could also simply hide Poseidon inside his blood mist and make her invisible.
That part was easy.
But Ritter had a strange feeling.
If he tried that…
That old High Priest would definitely notice.
It was simply the intuition of the strong.
-------------------------------------
Hooked already? Let me know what grabbed you leave a review and fuel the journey forward! and if we hit every 250 Power Stones, a bonus chapter drops!
Things are just heating up. Read ahead in Unbound Evolution and stay ahead of the crowd.
[email protected]/_tey
Change @ to a.