Chapter 40: Feigning Surrender and Reclaiming the Trump Card

As Dachun's thoughts raced frantically, the whale approached the rainbow stingray meat ahead, and the sonar triggered an alarm once again:

——Demon Alert Sonar Notification: You have been scanned and targeted by 10 magic sources. Threat level: Low!

Holy crap, this demon alert is so advanced!

Those are clearly the ten cannons lined up across the warship's gun deck, right?

So they saw this whale eat three high-end pieces of meat, calculated that it would definitely eat the fourth, and pre-targeted the meat like a bullseye! But with a threat level as low as this, does it even count as a magic cannon?

Alright, I'll just have to tough it out. If I suddenly back off now, it will look like I'm doing a terrible job impersonating a sea monster.

Without time to overthink, the whale swallowed it in one gulp. Before it even had a chance to dive, the magic cannons fired simultaneously. Ten streams of white light shone onto the whale, instantly forming a web-like sticky substance as a series of system notifications cascaded across the screen:

——Warning! You are subjected to the "Web of Magic" spell attack... Magic Resistance!
——Warning! ... Magic Resistance ...
——Warning! Web of Magic successful, received -91 spell damage!
——Warning! ... Magic Resistance ...

Holy crap! Dachun found it hard to believe. They actually used such high-end warship magic cannons to cast such a plain, unadorned spell?

Web of Magic was a very weak capture spell. It could catch birds or rats, or retrieve distant objects, but catching a rabbit in the wild for a picnic would already be a bit difficult. As for practical combat value... this was all it amounted to, even when fired from a cannon?

That said, he had to admit that this succession of magic resistances truly showcased the whale's astonishing strength. It felt as though it was born specifically to resist magic, didn't it?

In short, breaking free wouldn't take much effort!

However, this was a tactic devised by a super player after high-altitude reconnaissance, and it clearly aimed to capture the whale alive! So, what made them judge that a whale this massive could be captured by such a simple magic spell?

There was only one answer: they recognized this whale as the backdoor reward package designed into the game! At the same time, they must have figured the whale was severely injured and lacked the strength to break free.

Dachun made a decisive split-second judgment: don't break free yet, pretend to struggle and thrash about! Otherwise, if they saw the capture fail, they might resort to other methods and deal a fatal blow.

For now, he could only buy time until the whale digested the food and advanced, or contact the mermaid for a coordinated inside-and-outside operation.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, an ethereal, distant, and extremely anxious voice echoed in his soul space: "Warrior, what's wrong? Warrior, are you alright?"

The mermaid?! This voice was practically like a goddess!

Dachun instantly formulated a countermeasure: "I'm fine, I'm just executing a strategy. First, scream in panic to lull and deceive them into thinking I'm done for."

"Got it!"

The next moment, a piercing and terrified shriek truly rang out from the ship.

How cooperative and intelligent was she?

Simultaneously, the warship's magic cannons continued to output energy endlessly. Even though the whale kept triggering magic resistance, thick layers resembling silkworm cocoons kept wrapping around its body. At this point, Dachun genuinely felt it would be arduous to break free, which also gave him a true appreciation for the terrifying might of this warship. Perhaps this represented the current ceiling of combat power in this world.

Yet Dachun's line of thinking became even clearer: the adversary originally intended to capture and reclaim the whale, and upon seeing it consume four pieces of high-end ingredients consecutively, they were all the more reluctant to kill it—so, feign surrender!

Dachun stopped struggling, flipped his belly upward, and slowly floated toward the sea surface while pretending to be severely injured, exhausted, and drained of strength.

At the same time, he immediately contacted the mermaid: "Can you fake a surrender? That way, they will be fooled, and we'll have a chance to escape."

The mermaid responded with absolute determination: "The noble sea race would rather die than surrender! And I certainly won't engage in something as ridiculous as faking a surrender."

Uh? Fair enough, considering she was a high-end NPC; if she had agreed instantly, it would have been unbelievable instead.

Dachun shifted his approach to save her pride: "It was my phrasing that was off. Humans are the sort of creatures where the more subservient and humble your surrender is, the less they take you seriously. Conversely, the more arrogantly you offer a certain degree of grace in exchange, the more deeply grateful they become!"

The mermaid was astonished: "Is that so?"

Anyway, Dachun himself was like that—obsessed with saving face. The more unemployed and down-on-his-luck he was, the more he would put on an air of bureaucratic importance during a job interview—though it never succeeded. If that failed too, his only option was to eat his fill and run.

"Just arrogantly order them to halt, and at the same time withdraw these useless creatures to demonstrate their sincerity."

"Got it!"

The next moment, an impatient and haughty reprimand drifted from the ship: "Stop fighting, all of you stop! You useless pieces of trash, get lost..."

Not bad, not bad!

As they spoke, the churning battlefield of fish and dragons instantly grew calm, as flying fish, dolphins, and unnameable sea monsters crackling with electricity retreated one after another.

Very good! They had all escaped, but I cannot escape. I must put on a show so that they feel getting a buy-one-get-one-free deal is an absolute steal!

Dachun immediately shouted out: "I swear to guard the Daughter of the Sea with my life!"

Though he opened his mouth, all that came out were whale groans.

Did super players have a translation feature? They certainly did; after all, the whale was designed by their own people!

The mermaid cooperated even more: "This is my loyal warrior, none of you are permitted to harm him!"

Dachun continued his whale groans, reminding the other party to find a translator quickly: "I follow the Daughter of the Sea to the death!"

...

Inside the bridge of the Silver Queen.

Before Sariel could recover from the joy of successfully capturing the whale, he was instantly stunned and bewildered by the mermaid's even greater outburst!

"She's calling off her troops and stopping the fight. Does this mean she's conceding? She's conceding and surrendering!"

The butler, however, remained doubtful: "Has it really reached the surrender threshold yet? This whale keeps crying out. We could ask the development team to parse it; they have biological parameters set up, which might verify some useful information."

Sariel snorted coldly: "Give me results in three minutes!"

Soon, the butler brought back the findings: "My lord, the whale keeps shouting that it follows the Daughter of the Sea to the death!"

Sariel's brow twitched: "What do you make of this situation?"

The butler said in a deep voice: "The whale is extremely suspicious!"

Sariel instantly understood: "You mean, when the pre-god team designed the whale, they actually had their eyes on the mermaid I designed? They knew I gave the mermaid a generous personality, so they wanted to use the whale to extract resources from her, or perhaps even act as an interfering NPC to snatch the mermaid away?"

The butler nodded: "They claimed the whale was merely an aged, dying, disposable quest consumable, but they paired an aging mode with a demon alert, allowing the whale to evolve divine attributes and gain the qualification to connect with the mermaid—this isn't a foolish coincidence, it's a premeditated plot! However, it remains uncertain whether the whale has the strength to act as an interfering NPC, so my lord must exercise caution."

Sariel chuckled coldly: "They've got some nerve. If anything really goes wrong, they won't get a single penny of the trust fund their grandfather left them!"

...

Meanwhile, Dachun floated quietly on the sea surface, awaiting the other party's next move.

At that moment, the mermaid's voice came through: "Warrior, was declaring that you follow me to the death also part of your scheme?"

Uh, of course it wasn't a scheme; that part had to be sincere, otherwise why would she run off with me?

"Yes, I follow your noble self to the death."

The mermaid was quite gratified: "That's wonderful! Once I recover my strength, I will definitely bestow more blessings upon you."

——System Notification: You have gained the mermaid's appreciation, acquiring the blessing skill "Sea Race Elite Guard". You can now contact the mermaid near the shoreline and accept her deployment.

Ah, really? Was this definitely a blessing rather than acquiring a sugar daddy? Well, as long as communication was possible, it was fine.

Dachun felt an even greater need for her continued cooperation: "Since milady wishes to recover her strength, go ahead and arrogantly demand whatever medicinal herbs or food you need from them! Make the demands as luxurious as possible. The higher the demands, the more at ease they will feel, and the easier it will be to fool them."

The mermaid was astonished: "Is that really alright?"

"If they don't give it to you, call them cheapskates!"

Dachun didn't understand Sariel, but he roughly understood the mindset of that social stratum: they believed that as long as the price was high enough, there was no loyalty that couldn't be bought.

However, what if the mermaid really *did* get bought off? Regarding that issue...

As he pondered this, the haughty commanding voice of the mermaid rang out from the ship: "I'm hungry, bring me one hundred pearls immediately!"

Dachun snapped back to reality. Did mermaids eat pearls? Didn't that jaw strength mean she could chew directly on high-grade crystal ores? This put her on the exact same tier as dragons.

An announcement blared from the ship's loudspeaker immediately afterward: "Little Helen, darling, there aren't any pearls on the ship. We have to return to port for that, so please be patient."

So her name was Helen!

The mermaid immediately started berating them: "Cowardly cheapskates, you don't even dare to speak to me face-to-face! I hate this cage, let me out at once!"

The loudspeaker panicked: "I am not a cheapskate! I just don't want you to be displeased the moment you see me. Please wait a moment, darling, I'll arrange a luxurious palace for you when we reach port!"

At this, Dachun panicked. Were they really going to take her all the way to Silver City? I'm a busy man!

The mermaid's anxious voice came through: "What should I do? She's not falling for it!"

Holy crap! As a player, getting stuck like this was completely intolerable!

Dachun suggested: "It's normal for a warship not to have pearls. But they have magic crystal cannons. Can you eat magic crystals?"

"I'll give it a try!"

The mermaid let out a piercing, angry roar: "I'm hungry! I want to eat magic crystal ores! I can smell the scent of magic crystal stones, if you don't give them to me, I'll fight you to the death!"

The loudspeaker shouted in a rush: "Darling! We have plenty of magic crystals, they'll be delivered right away!"

Oh yeah! I knew how a player could possibly resist this scenario.

Amidst a loud clattering commotion from the ship, the mermaid said in pleasant surprise: "They really did send them over! And they're even high-purity purple magic crystals, which taste quite sweet!"

Dachun was equally delighted: "Now you can praise him for being obedient, but disparage the crystals a little bit."

The mermaid was amused: "Got it!"

The mermaid's haughty voice rang out, mingled with the sound of crunching: "Not bad, you're quite obedient. It's just that the crystals are a bit mediocre."

The loudspeaker sounded visibly relieved, letting out a massive sigh of relief: "As long as my dear little Helen is happy, I'll definitely give you the best magic crystals in the future!"

"What I love are pearls!"

"Alright, alright, absolutely! There are plenty more in the port!"

The mermaid asked again: "He wants to drag me back to port, what should I do?"

There was nothing to be done for now. Dachun could only pacify her: "He has already fallen for it; just let him serve you from now on! Once you recover your strength, you can be as free as you please."

The mermaid chuckled: "What a strange fool! Understood, I'm going to eat my magic crystals first..."

A fool? She sounded remarkably like a cat owner!

At that moment, Dachun also figured it out. The whale really *did* have to follow him swaggeringly all the way to Silver City—that way, Fafnir would think the whale had fallen into the hands of Silver City!

Originally, Fafnir knowing that he possessed the whale would have exposed his secret trump card, but now that this trump card was returning through this channel, nobody else would know the whale still belonged to him, save for himself and Eileen!

Once that thought clicked, the matter of the mermaid also fell into place. If the mermaid really was bought off, he would just act as a parasite and treat this second-ranked person in the world as a long-term meal ticket—the moment that dangerous thought arose, Dachun felt his entire body trembling with nervous tension...

In short, his main character was in the clear, leaving them to drag him back to port. He switched over to check on his alt character, which was still idling and making slow progress.

Since neither side required attention, he decided to catch up on some sleep to prepare for pulling an all-nighter, setting an alarm for the event: "Eileen, I'm going to rest, wake me up when we reach port."