CHAPTER 395: TURBULENT SEAS (2)

Members of the Aqualon royal family were always larger than ordinary merfolk, especially the queen. She was nearly four times the size of a normal Merfolk.

Her height was likely over eight meters—and that wasn’t even counting her massive, soft tail fins.

Right now, she was outside, looking down at Nicole like a giant gazing at a tiny, helpless creature.

Nicole maintained a faint smile. She lifted her head to look at the queen and spoke softly, "So this is the new way Merfolk speak? How interesting."

The queen looked at Nicole, her voice still as melodious and beautiful as ever: "Merfolk will swallow the continents, and you and your disciple will be the first gift I offer to the land."

But the words she spoke only induced terror. Even the smile on Nicole’s face faltered for a moment.

In her heart she kept wondering what on earth had happened.

Although the relationship between Humans and Merfolk was indeed fragile, they had still maintained outward peace. Over the years, Humans had always tried to show goodwill...

"Obviously you’re also wondering why, aren’t you?" The queen smiled, a mocking curl of her lips. "You selfish, filthy humans!"

The queen roared, her voice sending violent tremors across the water’s surface. Waves rolled outward endlessly, the entire space seeming to shake and nearly collapse from the force of her roar.

Nicole couldn’t help but cover her ears as fresh blood trickled from them, spilling between her fingers. She finally seemed to realize just how serious the situation was.

"You humans take the sea’s fish, build ships across every island, exploit the waters until they are nearly depleted. Unsatisfied with the continents, you even dream of polluting the sea!"

The queen spoke slowly, each word deliberate. Her enormous tail swept gently through the water, creating yet another powerful surge.

Nicole forced a stiff smile. "They’ve never touched Aqualon..."

But the queen burst into laughter. "Human, you are the ones who always misunderstand. The territory of the Merfolk is not limited to Aqualon. The entire ocean—wherever there is sea, that is the home of the Merfolk. You deliberately ignore this truth. The more I concede, the more you encroach. You think that with other races withdrawing from the stage, you finally have the chance to rise and claim dominion? A pitiful swarm of ants!"

Nicole found herself unable to speak for a moment. Lately, the noble council truly had approved and even expanded marine resource exploitation. Everyone knew it in their hearts, yet none had ever spoken it aloud.

Nicole couldn’t help recalling her conversation with the headmaster. He had only said that what must come would eventually come. The nobles who enjoyed the rapid rise of this era needed to witness the power of other forces to remember just how small Humans truly were.

But Nicole hadn’t expected everything to arrive so soon. It seemed the Merfolk’s sense of territory was far greater than anything they had imagined.

Nicole spoke softly, "This was the decision of the noble council. Lumina has no authority to intervene, and more importantly, my two students are innocent. They’re just first-year students who traveled a long way to get here. Besides, everything can still be salvaged..."

"No!"

The queen waved her hand, and the water instantly transformed into a massive blade, slashing directly at the enormous cage!

The golden bars trembled violently, the shock rippling everywhere. A thunderous, earth-shaking sound erupted as the entire space within the cage shook with unimaginable force.

Nicole’s eyes widened. She spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to her knees.

High above, the queen’s eyes gleamed faintly behind her mask as she looked down on Nicole with disdain. She spoke softly, "Elder Nicole, you were the one who willingly stepped into this place, believing nothing could hinder you. Then stay here and wait for your two students to be invited."

With those words, her body swiftly sank into the depths of the dark sea.

Nicole wiped the blood from her lips, her face twisted in pain, yet she still chuckled without the slightest concern. "Invited? I fear my two students will come even without an invitation."

At that moment, Nana had already slipped into the Merfolk royal palace, but she quickly realized this place was nothing like the one they had entered earlier that morning.

Before her stretched a wide corridor, with countless doors lining the walls on both sides.

Instinctively, Nana turned around to leave—she wanted to find the correct door. But the moment she turned back, the sight before her was no longer the open path outside. It was another long, wide corridor.

Nana reflexively grabbed the doorknob beside her, only to realize that even the doorknob had completely disappeared!

Her eyes widened. She quickly looked around, then chose to walk forward. With no exit in sight, she had no intention of stopping.

Yet no matter how far she walked, the corridor ahead remained endlessly long, stretching on as if it had no end. As she looked into the distance, all she could see were rows upon rows of doors connected without pause.

At last, her footsteps came to a stop.

Nana looked down at the floor and could still see a strand of her light brown hair resting exactly where she had dropped it. Clearly, no matter how long she walked, she could not escape this endless space...

Her gaze shifted to the doors. The architecture here was inlaid with gold and mother-of-pearl—simple, yet adorned with graceful merfolk weaving through patterns of pearls and gemstones.

It seemed she was being forced to open a door.

Once she made the decision, Nana did not hesitate.

She lifted her hand, gripped the doorknob, and the moment she turned it, the door swung open before her.

Inside was a fragment of nothingness suspended in the colors of the sky. Objects floated everywhere—books, various musical instruments, chairs and tables, even dolls.

Nana’s eyes halted on a brown teddy bear. In an instant, her gaze deepened, turning dark.

She might not remember other things, but she clearly remembered that teddy bear.

At five years old, she had once possessed something she loved—the teddy bear her mother had given her during their first meeting.

Her father had once promised her that as long as she excelled, and kept excelling, she would have the chance to see her mother—once every year, or perhaps even once every six months.

A noble family came with countless rules, struggles, and the constant demand for strength.

Nana had advantages from the moment she was born, but that did not mean life was easy within a clan filled with powerful individuals, malice lurking everywhere, ready to strike at any time.

But whenever she was with her mother, all of those things seemed to disappear.

Her mother’s embrace was the first sanctuary Nana ever longed for.

Everything changed when she turned seven.

She accidentally lost her teddy bear—no, to be precise, someone had stolen it. Her half-brother, born before her, the one once considered the most likely heir to the Aurellan family.