Chapter 146: Danger

"Is there anything else you need? We have treasures like pearls and corals here."

"I’m not interested in those things..."

"I see... If you ever need anything in the future, don’t hesitate to find us, the Dragon Palace will always welcome you."

"Then let us hold a banquet—"

"No need, no need." Her Majesty had only just awoken, they still had to prepare for war against the forces of Chaos — there would be a mountain of things to handle, Ethan politely declined Mira’s offer.

"But just sending off our benefactors like this, we..."

"It’s fine, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future, it’s time for us to head back." It was getting late, they couldn’t stay in the Dragon Palace for long, although Mira felt regretful, she couldn’t force them to stay.

"Then I will escort you back."

"Sorry to trouble you," Ethan replied.

Ethan and the others packed their belongings and prepared to leave the Dragon Palace, they arrived at the palace gates, where several old turtles were already waiting for them. Several old turtles were already waiting.

Just as they were about to mount up, a voice called out behind them. "Please wait!"

The Queen emerged, leading a group of mermaids. "Please accept this."

She held out a necklace — crafted from gold and silver, with a massive pearl set at its center. It was clearly incredibly valuable at a glance.

[Unique — Necklace of the Sea Dragon]

[A treasure the Sea Dragon once gifted to the Mermaid Queen. Contains powerful water-attribute magic. Allows the wearer to manipulate water currents and enhances their charm.]

[Skill: Water Manipulation]

[Skill: Charm]

"This is too precious, I can’t accept it." Ethan declined, but the Queen insisted, she looked at him, then turned her gaze to Liora standing beside him.

"The forces of Chaos are a greedy bunch, they crave power, and the World Tree is an incredibly tempting target for them."

"You’re saying they’ll target Liora?"

"That possibility cannot be ruled out."

The World Tree was currently planted near Ethan’s cabin, which was the territory of the giant dragon, if any enemies invaded, the giant dragon would definitely step in to protect the World Tree, but it was better to be safe than sorry, to be on the safe side, it would be better to accept the necklace.

Ethan looked at the necklace in his hand and nodded.

The Queen smiled. "Remember — the ocean is forever your friend."

"Thank you, then, we shall take our leave."

Under the watchful eyes of the Queen and the other mermaids, Ethan and his group left the Dragon Palace, by the time they returned to the shore, it was already evening.

Mira stood on a reef, waving goodbye. "I will never forget you all."

"Haha, us too, I never expected I’d have the chance to visit the Dragon Palace." Zharok grinned, then added, "By the way, are there any ruins related to humans near the Dragon Palace? If there are, please let me know."

"Ruins? Lord Sea Dragon and the first Queen traveled to many places, but I don’t know if any of those places are related to humans."

"That’s a real pity."

"You’re welcome to come back and visit anytime." With that, Mira dove into the sea.

The whole underwater journey felt like a dream.

Ethan patted Liora’s head and turned to Zharok. "Let’s go back."

Riding the old turtles back, they returned to the coast, they boarded the carriage and headed toward the western hinterlands.

By the time they arrived, Rhazak and Rauk were already waiting.

"How was it? Did you find what you were looking for?"

"We did, and we even visited the Dragon Palace."

"Oh? The Dragon Palace? It seems you must have encountered a lot of interesting things."

"Interesting things... I don’t know if you’d consider them interesting, but do you want to hear about it?" As Ethan spoke, he took out some drinks and handed them to Rhazak and Rauk, he then recounted their underwater experiences in detail.

When he mentioned the creature that looked human but wasn’t, Rhazak cut in. "Are you talking about a Doppelganger?"

"A Doppelganger?" Zharok raised an eyebrow, it seemed he’d never heard the term before either.

Pearl explained. "A Doppelganger is a type of Minion of Chaos that looks exactly like a human, meow, they can speak human languages and emit a human aura, but they aren’t true humans — they’re entities similar to evil spirits, meow, they’re extremely cunning and used to infiltrate human society to spread the power of Chaos, meow~"

"You knew about this? Then why didn’t you say so earlier?"

"I was going to, meow, but then I figured it would be pointless to bring up, meow~"

"Why?"

Pearl poked its head out from Liora’s arms and said casually, "Doppelgangers can only parasitize humans, meow, now that humans have disappeared, they’ve lost their hosts and can’t stir up trouble anymore, meow~"

Doppelgangers were monsters that parasitized humans, without their hosts, they had naturally lost their power base.

Doppelgangers were monsters that parasitized humans, without their hosts, they had lost their power base.

"So you’re saying they aren’t dangerous?"

"They’re also products of Chaos, so they do possess a certain amount of strength, meow, but their true terror doesn’t lie in their power, meow~"

"Then what makes them terrifying?"

"They feed on fear, meow, if the people around them don’t feel fear, they’re no different from ordinary beastmen, meow~"

"Then we’ve got nothing to worry about." Beastmen were brave warriors — they didn’t frighten easily, Rhazak waved the concern away.

Zharok, however, raised a different point. "What about other races? If Doppelgangers can feed on their fear too, that could be very dangerous."

"About that... I heard Doppelgangers can only feed on human fear, meow, so it should be fine, meow~"

"You only heard?"

"From Lady Witch, meow, she exterminated one herself, meow~"

’That’s good.’ Ethan patted Pearl’s head and turned to Rhazak.

"That’s the whole story."

"If Doppelgangers really exist, that would be a decent opponent, I’d love to know how strong they get after feeding on fear." Truly a battle-hungry beastman.

Ethan smiled and stood up, the story was finished, time to take their leave.

"Seems your journey was quite fruitful, the Dragon Palace — I’d like to see it myself someday."

"Next time I get the chance, I’ll take you."

After saying their goodbyes to Rhazak and Rauk, Ethan boarded the carriage.

As Zharok drove, he asked, "Doppelgangers... if they really exist and they’ve mixed in with the elves, where would they be hiding?"

"I’d guess they’re with Marquis Karloitz, meow, he colludes with the Children of Chaos, and they’re followers of Chaos too, they should be connected to the Doppelgangers, meow~"

"Maybe the Children of Chaos are being controlled by the Doppelgangers." Ethan leaned back.

"But all of that has nothing to do with us. we’d better not go meddling in other people’s business."

Unless the Doppelgangers attacked them directly, there was no reason to pick a fight, they had plenty of their own work to handle without chasing unknown threats.

"Once we get back, let’s plant the Water Spirit Tree, I really want to know what kind of power it’ll bring to Liora."