Chapter 28: The Punishment Task
[**Mission Failed, Generating Punishment Task…**]
[**Punishment Task Generated, Progress Updated…**]
[**An ancient entity has awakened from its slumber, and one of its tentacles has already reached into the real world. Cut it off!**]
[**Completing the task will be considered as clearing the mission, with double rewards. If not completed…**]
"Did we just mess up?" Lu Li showed a look of excitement, a strange sparkle in his eyes as he happily said, "I didn't know there was such an option. This is really interesting."
"The current situation is unusual. In the past, even if the mission failed, as long as you didn't die inside, it was just a matter of not gaining any rewards from that instance. In rare cases, the monsters would go berserk, and you just had to escape from them. But there would never be a punishment task." Hu Wenxu, though experienced, found himself at a loss for the current scenario.
"Turns out she was a mermaid. How delusional to think she could be with the prince." The old wizard sneered at the sight of the mermaid princess's corpse, causing the stunned prince to snap out of it. With a sorrowful expression, the prince said to the old wizard, "No matter what, she saved me. She died because of me. I owe her that. Show some respect to the deceased."
"Someone, give this lady a proper burial. After this, erect a statue for her by the sea." The prince issued his orders, then turned to Lu Li and his group, saying, "This farce ends here. I won't hold it against you for intercepting the convoy. Now leave."
With the mission failed, there was no benefit in further conflict with the prince. Lu Li and his two companions had no choice but to leave. On the way out, Hu Wenxu suddenly swung a coral knife at Gao Xiaowen, questioning her, "After thinking it over, the problem with this mission likely stems from that witch. And you must be one of her accomplices!"
"Or maybe you aren't even Gao Xiaowen at all." Hu Wenxu's knife cut through Gao Xiaowen's left sleeve, revealing a strange pattern made of black hair. Gao Xiaowen remained calm, taking a step back and saying coldly, "Does it really matter if I'm still Gao Xiaowen? We are constantly changing, accepting new things every moment. The 'you' of today is not the 'you' of yesterday. I'm just accelerating this change."
"The issue now is how to resolve that punishment task. And I can undoubtedly help you with that." Gao Xiaowen pointed out the key issue, "My deal with the witch is complete. The mermaid princess's fate was already sealed. With or without me, the result would be the same."
"The witch knew all along that the prince didn't love the mermaid princess. The moment the mermaid princess decided to undergo the transformation, her fate had only two possible outcomes. One is what we saw, with the mermaid princess committing suicide and the bubble of love bursting. The other is her choosing to kill the prince, sparing her life but still shattering the illusion of love."
"My role was merely to act as a medium, transmitting the energy from the burst bubble." Gao Xiaowen continued to explain, "Originally, mermaids were humans, but they heeded a great call and entered the sea. Later, these humans divided into two groups: one with human heads and fish bodies, and the other becoming fully fish-like monsters. The inhabitants of that fishing village are hybrids of those monsters."
"Over time, the mermaid lineage abandoned their worship of that great entity. But their royal family retained certain traits essential for the entity's reawakening. These traits have now been triggered by the mermaid princess's death."
"So what do we do now? Resurrect the mermaid princess?" Lu Li asked, intrigued.
"No need for that. The entity has only extended a tentacle into reality and hasn't fully awakened. It is still dreaming. There are three anchors holding it in our reality."
"One anchor is at the witch's ritual altar, along with the sacrifices. The second is the trait within the mermaid princess, which I have already delivered to the witch. The third is the monsters called the Deep Ones, separated from the mermaid lineage."
"Destroying each anchor weakens the entity's hold on reality. Otherwise, if we confront the witch directly, we'll just be devoured by the tentacle." Gao Xiaowen smiled, "Don't worry about me. I'm backed by another great entity. We used to cooperate with the witch, but that alliance is over. My mission now is to become a true player, so I must help you complete this task."
"I'll trust you for now. How much time do we have?" Hu Wenxu lowered the coral knife, a gleam of madness in his eyes. Learning so much at once had ignited his desire for research.
"Three days. The entity's tentacle is still adapting to the rules of our world. After three days, it will survive here even without the anchors. So we need to hurry to that fishing village. If we wait too long, we'll only face death. This entity is beyond our ability to confront."
"Then let's go. I couldn't dissect the mermaid earlier, but now we have those Deep Ones. They should make excellent subjects for study!" Hu Wenxu's research passion burned intensely. [TL: sike]
"How did a story about a mermaid princess turn into a battle against an evil witch?" Lu Li remarked, "The mermaid storyline has been completely dropped. I wonder what will happen to the prince now? Live happily ever after with the neighboring princess?" [TL: I also wonder about that]
"Can you stop thinking about useless things and focus on recovering? We need to deal with the Deep Ones. Those monsters are no joke." Gao Xiaowen frowned. Although Lu Li seemed easygoing, he was actually hard to control. She had received a mission from the great entity behind her to pass this game and reach the main space, and she couldn't let Lu Li ruin it.
"Don't worry, I'll cooperate fully." Lu Li said, seemingly noticing Gao Xiaowen's concerns. He smiled and added, "I never refuse such interesting matters."
After Lu Li and his companions left, the prince composed himself and headed to the port city to meet his bride. She was a beautiful lady, and thinking of the neighboring princess Sally, the prince recalled their encounter in that strange little fishing village…