Chapter 166: Putting on an Act

A minute later, Su Mu woke up, completely refreshed. Aside from his soaking wet clothes, it was as if nothing had happened.

"Mr. Su, aren't you going to sleep?" Mu Qing asked in mild surprise. "It's alright, get some rest. I drank a Transcendent Potion and recovered my stamina. I can keep watch here."

"I'm awake," Su Mu said, rising slowly to his feet. He fished his Tinted Glasses out of his Sheepskin Bag and slid them on.

Pushing aside her bewilderment, Mu Qing said seriously, "Mr. Su, I thought it over carefully while you were resting. I think our top priority is to return to the Imperial Palace and regroup with the other nightmare apostles. We need more hands! Our trip out to sea proved that the sea god's familiar isn't invincible. The others are so terrified partly because the sea monsters are impossible to kill.

"Since you can kill the sea monsters, Mr. Su, I'm sure more people would be willing to sail out if you rallied them."

"Exactly!" Lu Dongliang's eyes lit up. "Even if those cowards still don't dare venture into the Black Fog, they'll definitely be willing to fight the sea monsters with us!

"The sea monsters are everyone's common enemy. If they stay here, they'll just have to face more and more of them anyway. For their own survival, they'll absolutely join us."

"A fine proposal," Su Mu said with a nod. He seemed to agree, but a mysterious glint flashed behind his Tinted Glasses.

Soon after, the group made their way back to the Sea Kingdom's crude Imperial Palace.

"You actually came back?" That was the first thing Minister of Finance Pang Yang said when he saw them. His surprise quickly gave way to a sneer. "What, did you suffer a setback at sea and decide to give up? I told you long ago to just stay in the Sea Kingdom, but you young people insist on not turning back until hitting the south wall."

Yang Dongqing bristled instantly. "Who said we're giving up?"

"Do you think we're gutless cowards like you?" Lu Dongliang snapped from the side. "Let me tell you the truth—if the sea god's familiar hadn't run so fast, Mr. Su would have already killed it."

Pang Yang froze, eyeing him with suspicion. "Kill the sea god's familiar? You have to be joking. The sea god's familiar is just like the sea monsters—it can't die."

"I'm not wasting my breath on you," Lu Dongliang growled. "Where's Hu Jie? Get him out here, and call all the other nightmare apostles while you're at it. Mr. Su is going to make a big move! Even if you don't believe me, are you going to doubt Mr. Su, the man who came back from the Black Fog?"

Pang Yang's eyes flickered. He cast a glance at the elegantly composed Su Mu, eventually swallowed whatever he was going to say, and left to fetch Hu Jie.

It wasn't long before the King's banquet hall was packed. Over twenty people had gathered, including not only the newly arrived nightmare apostles, but also the veterans who had stayed behind to take up official posts in the Sea Kingdom.

Only when everyone was fully assembled did King Hu Jie finally make his belated entrance.

"Mr. Su, thank goodness! You're still alive!" Hu Jie exclaimed, looking over the unscathed Su Mu and his companions with genuine emotion. "I honestly thought our last meeting was going to be our final goodbye."

Lu Dongliang's face darkened. "Watch what you say! Spit it out, you jinx!"

Despite being the King and being publicly berated, Hu Jie didn't take offense. Instead, he smiled and apologized profusely. "My apologies. I'm not the best with my words. I was just overwhelmed with excitement seeing all of you back safely.

"By the way, Mr. Su, I just heard from Pang Yang that you nearly killed the sea god's familiar. Is that really true? Please don't misunderstand, I don't mean to question you, but the implications are massive. I have to confirm it."

Su Mu looked at the thrilled King, a faint, unreadable smile on his lips. "It's true. I command a Law known as the Eye of Annihilation, which allows me to obliterate enemies at the atomic level. Those sea monsters—including the sea god's familiar—are only relatively immortal. Once erased at the atomic level, they die just like anything else. The others can vouch for this."

"Mr. Su is telling the truth," Lu Dongliang said, puffing out his chest. "I saw him slaughter countless sea monsters with my own two eyes, along with over a dozen mountain-sized leviathans. In the end, he even defeated the sea god's familiar! The only shame is that the bastard managed to slip away." He spoke with immense pride, as if participating in the battle was a badge of honor.

Mu Qing and Yang Dongqing quickly voiced their agreement as well.

This staggering news went off like a bomb in the banquet hall!

Everyone's immediate reaction was sheer disbelief, as though they had just heard something that defied all logic.

For countless years, the undead sirens had never once been truly killed. Now, to hear that someone could not only slaughter them but even defeat the sea god's familiar—it was genuinely hard to believe.

The hall erupted into frantic chatter as the old and new nightmare apostles discussed the revelation. Some voiced doubts, while others were practically beside themselves with ecstasy.

"Mr. Su, if what you say is true, the fate of the entire Sea Kingdom could be rewritten because of you!" Hu Jie cried, his face flushed with wild joy.

"What do you mean, if?" Lu Dongliang glared at the King. "We saw it with our own eyes. Do you think we're all just making it up?"

Hu Jie waved his hands in frantic apology. "No, I didn't mean it like that! It's just hard to take in all at once. Those are the undead sirens! You newcomers might not fully grasp it, but we veterans have fought the undead sirens countless times over the years. We don't even know how many people we've lost, yet not a single undead siren has ever died!"

"Alright, alright, enough of your rambling," Lu Dongliang said, stepping forward. His fierce eyes swept across the gathered crowd. "Let me spell it out for you. Mr. Su came back here to recruit. We need more hands to corner the sea god's familiar. As long as we don't let that piece of trash slip away, Mr. Su can kill it."

"Everyone," Mu Qing added, stepping up beside him. "I know you don't want to follow us into the Black Fog. It's dangerous, and we aren't going to force you to come. But when it comes to dealing with the sea god's familiar, our interests are completely aligned.

"If you want to live peacefully here in the Sea Kingdom, the sea god's familiar has to die. Otherwise, as the sea monsters keep multiplying, you'll never have enough souls to feed them!"

The stakes were so simple and clear that, even without the two pointing them out, everyone in the room fully understood. Yet no one immediately stepped forward to answer the call. Deep down, they still couldn't quite bring themselves to believe it.

The idea that the undead sirens were unkillable was far too deeply rooted in their minds. Unless they saw it with their own eyes, they were never going to believe it.

"Old Hu, don't you have a few undead sirens locked up in the dungeon?" Pang Yang suddenly chimed in. "Why don't we bring one up and let Mr. Su give us a demonstration?"

Realization dawned on Hu Jie's face. "Right, right! I specifically captured a few of them and locked them in the dungeon to study the sea monsters' secret of immortality. Guards! Bring a sea monster up here!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Two soldiers clad in silver armor hurried to the dungeon. It wasn't long before they returned, hauling a fully enclosed iron crate that stood taller than a man.