Chapter 1 A Glimmer of Light

A glimmer of light gradually approached, and everyone gathered at the front of the water bubble, curiously watching the distant scenery. When pairs of extraordinary eyes adapted to the surrounding environment, the mysterious wonders of the deep sea were finally revealed to the visitors from the land.

Lily and Elizabeth couldn't help but let out a suppressed gasp: "Wow—"

The flat, white sandy seabed stretched out endlessly, with numerous glowing spherical devices suspended in the water, forming strips of light like roads. And in the center surrounded by these lights was a massive city.

The city was oval-shaped, its appearance resembling layers of magnificent seashells stacked upon each other. Towering, luminous walls surrounded the city's perimeter, forged from a light-white artificial material and inlaid with light-green crystal decorations. At intervals along the walls, semi-circular shields tilted inwards, casting a faint light that extended and merged into a shell-like shield, covering the entire city. Inside the city walls, numerous tower-like structures of varying heights could be seen. These "towers" were elegantly shaped like artistically exaggerated shellfish, each topped with a large, glowing pearl that illuminated the city as bright as day, revealing every detail of the surrounding waters.

Those seeing the deep-sea city for the first time marveled at such a spectacle existing beneath the waves, but Hao Ren, as if seized by a professional habit, subconsciously began analyzing the city's structure: "A completely enclosed structure, those metal shields and barriers entirely cover Nasaton, this seems..."

"What is it?" Vivian asked from the side.

"It doesn't seem like a normal city," Hao Ren shook his head slightly. "Being so enclosed means the city is difficult to expand. Any construction would require dismantling the old walls, or they planned the entire city's eternal form from the beginning, never intending to expand it. The sirens aren't afraid of water, their city is filled with it, so why use this barrier to completely encase Nasaton?"

"To defend against enemies?" Vivian frowned. "In ancient times, there were many such completely enclosed city-states, and the 'divine cities' built by the Others always used shields to protect themselves entirely. Of course, modern humans no longer use city walls to protect themselves."

"Even city walls aren't this tightly sealed, and do a group of deep-sea overlords need to defend against enemies?" Hao Ren retorted. "What surface race can even reach this place? And what small creature that can reach this place could threaten the sirens?"

"We'll figure it out once we're inside," Izhaks interrupted their discussion. "We're almost at the seabed."

Hao Ren nodded, taking out several life-sustaining collars from his dimensional pocket and handing them out one by one: "Put these on, just in case. The sirens of Nasaton won't welcome us."

Then he looked up at Hasse and the others, "Do you three need one? These things let you breathe underwater. If something unexpected happens, Shaqira and Soma might not have time to protect you."

"Hunters have deep-water capabilities," Hasse waved his hand. "I'm not used to these things."

Hao Ren shrugged and called "Roll" over to put a collar on her. He suddenly wondered if he should have brought the silly cat along: although she had eaten the Golden Apple, and theoretically should have some powers, this one... could she really be of any use? She hasn't even seen as much of the world as Doudou.

But thinking about it, if they encountered danger, he could just toss the silly cat through the portal back to the Petrified World Tree, or simply throw her into his dimensional pocket to wait it out, so he stopped worrying about it.

"Roll" happily touched the new collar around her neck. She thought it was a gift for her. Looking at her expression, Hao Ren knew he would never get the collar back. The cat girl even rubbed against Hao Ren's arm: "Big cat, you're wearing a collar too? You know this is fun too? Are you going to walk me from now on?"

Hao Ren indicated that he didn't have time to discuss worldviews with the cat, and pushed her away: "Remember what I told you before we left. We're going on an adventure, so be obedient and watch what we do. If you can't, I'll throw you back."

The cat girl nodded quickly, indicating that she understood.

The water bubble slowed down, slowly approaching the mysterious deep-sea city, and hovered near the lights around Nasaton. Then the bubble silently shattered, and seawater filled the space, blocked by everyone's shields or magical effects. Shaqira quietly swam towards a large black rock nearby, beckoning everyone to come over. Through magical effects, she enabled the team to talk underwater: "See those glowing lights ahead? They are the boundary of our city's wilderness. Usually, many sirens come out here to relax... but now there's no one."

"There's a tense and oppressive atmosphere here, I can smell some negative things," Izhaks frowned. "Perhaps your Queen has forbidden ordinary sirens from going out."

Lily craned her neck and looked around for a long time, suddenly pointing to the high sky directly above Nasaton: "What's that?!"

Hao Ren looked in the direction Lily was pointing and found a faint, translucent blue membrane high above the city. Outside that membrane was an unprecedentedly large vortex—the vortex was semi-transparent, like some kind of projection. However, the data terminal, after remote sensing, indicated that the phantom vortex was gradually becoming solid. It might have been open for a month, and it probably wouldn't be long before it was completely solid.

The size of the vortex was almost the same as the city below. Hao Ren stared in shock at the bizarre sight, unable to imagine what it was for, but it was clear that only a madman would create such a thing in their own home!

"That... that's the location of the Great Barrier!" Shaqira was also startled by the sight of the vortex, and even couldn't help but spit out a string of bubbles as she spoke. "There's a space gate outside the Great Barrier?!"

"Your general mentioned a great vortex before she fainted, probably referring to this," Bai Huo suddenly said from behind. She had tried to remain silent throughout the journey to maintain her "normal hunter" attitude, but seeing the great vortex, she couldn't help but speak. "This thing... what are you planning to do?!"

"How would we know," Soma recovered from her shock. "No, we must enter the city immediately. That great vortex requires the magic power of countless people. Her Majesty the Queen must have drawn a lot of energy from this planet... no, even worse..."

"Okay, so who has a plan?" Izhaks asked in a deep voice. "Nasaton should be heavily guarded now. We need to enter the city silently, and then quickly control the siren queen without alarming the guards. If possible, we should also control all her close retainers. We also need to prevent them from launching some doomsday device in desperation, such as detonating that great vortex. I can feel that the power in that vortex is no less than the forbidden spell that tore the Demon King City from the Obsidian Plains. If it explodes, we might not survive, and it won't even give us time to react."

"Also, we need to control that giant brain," Hao Ren reminded. "That's the most important thing. The siren queen is just a puppet, and there are countless puppets like her."

Hasse had been listening indifferently, but after hearing that these Others really wanted to stop the crisis, he joined the discussion: "The safest plan is to control them both at the same time, or even more directly, kill the brain instantly and capture the queen alive. I heard Shaqira say that you fought that giant brain before? Do you know what it is? How strong is it?"

"A monster from... another planet, floating and moving, its speed is equivalent to the human limit, with a dozen tentacles. It has great physical strength and can use the tentacles to cast spatial spells, but the most troublesome thing is its mental control. It can make even people with extremely strong willpower waver, and the longer the battle, the deeper the influence," Hao Ren carefully chose his words. "I only killed one... something like an avatar, I don't know how powerful its main body is."

Hasse listened silently, and finally nodded: "It seems that a head-on confrontation would be troublesome. If we can sneak attack, we should sneak attack."

"The biggest problem now is how to enter the city," Hao Ren sighed, looked up at Nasaton, and then turned to Shaqira. "We can only rely on you."