Chapter 128
Chapter 128
Ning Wang had arrived a little early, and he had also gotten somewhat familiar with how merfolk magic worked.
When he saw Ning Shuo, he had already cast a spell beforehand so that the other NPCs wouldn’t be able to hear what they were saying.
That was also why Ning Shuo had felt safe enough to boldly call him Ningning when they met.
Ning Wang’s character setting was a true Sea King: both in terms of status and personality.
He was fickle in love, quick to lose interest in the old and chase the new, and whenever he saw someone beautiful, he liked to flirt.
So even though the Sea King shouldn’t like this Sea Queen,
with the Sea Queen’s face right there-one the Sea King truly found appealing-getting close to him wasn’t impossible.
After Ning Wang set Ning Shuo on the bed, he faced the strange looks from the gathered NPCs and pointed at the nearly invisible scrape on Ning Shuo’s face, one he’d accidentally gotten while crawling on the ground earlier. “What happened!? Such a beautiful face-if it gets scarred, what am I supposed to do!?”
“I don’t want to see this face ruined!”
Even though the Sea King and Sea Queen looked exactly alike, because of the System’s restrictions, they had no way of noticing it.
“Where’s the sea physician? Why isn’t he here yet? If he’s this slow again next time, he can stop being a sea physician!”
Ning Wang had clearly read all kinds of domineering-CEO novels and performed the classic domineering-CEO line of “If you can’t heal him, I won’t spare you” to perfection.
He had only just managed to smooth things over when more unwanted suitors appeared.
Several merfolk didn’t even wait to be announced before barging in and clinging to Ning Wang. “Your Majesty, why have you suddenly come to see the Sea Queen?”
“Don’t Your Majesty like having us sisters attend to you?”
Ning Shuo, who had just woken up and was still having medicine applied to his face, immediately sucked in a sharp breath, then abruptly held it back. With tearful eyes, he looked at Ning Wang in a half-refusing, half-inviting way, wearing a pitiful expression like he was enduring the pain but didn’t dare say more.
Maybe the Sea King wouldn’t be swayed, but Ning Wang was.
He coughed twice, brushed those merfolk aside, and lifted Ning Shuo’s chin with a smile. “I haven’t seen the Sea Queen in too long. Every time I see this face, it’s especially stunning.”
Ning Shuo lightly glanced at the other merfolk, who were obviously still eager to come closer, then reached out and grabbed the hand Ning Wang was using to lift his chin. He pressed it against the uninjured side of his face and said softly, “I’m already very happy that Your Majesty came to see me.”
In front of the Sea King, Ning Shuo wore an aggrieved expression; when he looked at the other merfolk, though, he threw them a provocative look.
Still the same Sea Queen fighting for favor, except his methods seemed to have improved quite a bit.
The merfolk all thought: What a hateful little green tea bitch!
Ning Wang kept up the act, sent the other merfolk out, and told them not to come back in. Then he poked Ning Shuo’s tail. “You’re hurting yourself again.”
It hadn’t felt like much when the sea physician was bandaging him just now, but when Ning Wang poked him like that, Ning Shuo suddenly found it very ticklish.
Ning Shuo controlled his tail and pulled it away. “That ‘again’ of yours is a little loaded. I get hurt often, but I don’t self-harm. Besides, wasn’t this all so I could see you, Sea King?”
The title “Sea King”-those who knew understood it meant “King of the Sea.” Those who didn’t might think Ning Wang kept a whole fish pond.
Which, in fact, he did.
Fish in the most literal sense.
Ning Wang raised a brow. “Likewise, Sea Queen.”
Getting back to business, after Ning Shuo explained his identity as the Murderer, Ning Wang looked thoughtful. “So that’s how it is. I was wondering why my condition as a Murderer this time was so simple.”
Ning Shuo frowned. “You’re a Murderer too?”
Was the System really being that kind?
Knowing what Ning Shuo was thinking, Ning Wang spread his hands. “It’s not kind at all. Your condition as a Murderer is to complete the Murder Case with a companion’s help, and as it happens, my condition is to complete the Murder Case independently.”
“Besides, bro, our original skills are heavily restricted underwater. If we want to kill a humanoid NPC, we can only rely on the merfolk’s power.”
Using his crash-course Merfolk Spell, Ning Wang checked Ning Shuo’s capabilities. “Bro, with the strength this body has, it’d be hard for you to kill anyone.”
Ning Wang could assist him-severely injure someone first, then let Ning Shuo deal the finishing blow-but they would need to find a reason for the Sea King to let the mascot-like Sea Queen kill.
If the reason wasn’t sufficient, the NPC would mutate before Ning Shuo even got the chance to finish it off. And if an NPC had already mutated, then killing it wouldn’t count as successfully killing a “person,” which meant it wouldn’t count as completing the Murder Case.
Besides, according to the Sea King’s character setting, he would never give a mascot the chance to kill. And according to the Sea Queen’s character setting, a Sea Queen who only knew how to fight for favor had no reason to kill either.
Ning Shuo frowned. “Then what if we go ashore and kill someone there?”
Ning Wang shook his head. “In this Script, merfolk and humans are enemies.”
As for what kind of grudge it was, they’d have to investigate the clues themselves.
Ning Shuo said, “It should be one-sided hatred from the merfolk toward humans.”
After all, if humans hated merfolk too, the base would have had no reason to send him to seek help from them.
Judging from the background story alone, Ning Shuo had thought this was just a simple Zombie Crisis.
Instead, there was even a mysterious merfolk race in the mix.
While Ning Shuo was lost in thought, Ning Wang wrapped his arms around him from behind and casually flipped through that Lovesick Diary.
As if he’d found something interesting, Ning Wang raised a brow, his voice tinged with laughter. “Bro, do you miss me that much?”
Ning Shuo answered perfunctorily, “One day apart feels like three years.”
Ning Wang could hear the brushing-off in his tone and frowned. “Bro, a lot of people are pursuing me in this Script.”
“Mm. Xie Ning has always been very charming.”
“…” Ning Wang got angry. “You’re supposed to be jealous right now.”
Ning Shuo looked puzzled. “Aren’t I jealous?”
But that reaction was way too flat!
Seeing his obvious displeasure, Ning Shuo couldn’t help laughing. He dropped the cool, composed front he had been keeping up, reached out to tug on Ning Wang’s sleeve, and said bluntly, “I remember there’s still a copy of Complete Guide to Male Virtue in your Backpack. Read it properly.”
He said to read it properly.
But after Ning Shuo’s confinement was lifted and the injury on his tail improved enough for him to go out, he found Ning Wang chatting and laughing with a beautiful merfolk.
If Ning Shuo thought that merfolk was beautiful, then Ning Wang most likely did too.
Tch.
…Not even half as good-looking as me.
Ning Wang was discussing something with that merfolk when, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a fish-tail silhouette rapidly approaching.
Ning Shuo took the last empty seat at the table, a scroll in hand. “Your Majesty, is there a problem with reading here?”
For one brief instant, it was like returning to a certain dusk: someone chatting, someone flipping through Which Matters More, Love or Friendship.
The scene was being reenacted, but the actors had switched places.
The beautiful merfolk saw that the Sea King’s eyes had already been drawn to the Sea Queen’s face, and tactfully took their leave. Propping up his chin with one hand, Ning Wang took out that Complete Guide to Male Virtue from his Backpack. “King, I was only asking that merfolk about news from the sea. If King disapproves, then have a look at this book. See which rule I’ve broken, and King may punish me however King sees fit.”
Ning Shuo took the Complete Guide to Male Virtue and handed over that Water Moon Mirror Fragment. “Back to the main point, Your Majesty. There’s a good chance the sea contains the Water Moon Mirror.”
As if responding to his words, a faint glow shimmered along the edge of the fragment.