Chapter 675: Damn, I've Become a Stand-in

"Master..."

Melody wanted to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but she was currently being pinned down by two Merfolk guards and couldn't even rub her eyes.

"It's me. I've come to save you, and to take over all the Merfolk while I'm at it."

With that, Loren turned around to face the crowd below the execution platform.

He spread his arms wide, as if embracing the world, and then deactivated the Hermit card's invisibility.

"My dear believers, I am the Perpetual Observer. I have returned!"

Loren's sudden appearance left the believers stunned. They had just been waiting for their execution, and now someone claiming to be the Perpetual Observer had appeared out of nowhere. They simply couldn't process it.

"Wait... could he be that fake Observer Melody mentioned?"

It wasn't until someone in the crowd said this that the crowd stirred once more.

"Right... wasn't Melody sentenced to execution for exactly that? Daring to find someone to impersonate the Observer, truly deserving of death..."

Curses like these began spreading through the crowd, but Loren wasn't anxious. He simply waited in silence.

He actually found these brainless Merfolk somewhat irritating, but for the sake of stability, he still refrained from killing anyone in front of so many people.

He should at least play the part of the Perpetual Observer they remembered.

The executioners beside him were at a loss, unsure whether to continue the execution or deal with Loren first, so they looked toward the elders.

Just then, the elders suddenly stood up.

"The elders are about to make their decision..."

The moment the elders rose, the crowd instantly fell silent. These elders commanded immense prestige.

Before the Merfolk could even begin to think about anything else, the elders suddenly knelt down:

"Lord Observer, after tens of thousands of years, you have finally returned...

"Now, please lead us back beneath the sunlight!"

Everything happened too suddenly. People's minds simply couldn't keep up.

"That is precisely why I have returned!"

Loren picked up the thread and launched into an impassioned speech.

The suddenness of the situation wasn't a problem. Loren had the Sun Card, and its effect would make all of this seem reasonable.

"Tens of thousands of years ago, the gods betrayed me and killed the Dawn Princess. From that moment, the world began to crumble! All living things began to wail!

"And I fell into a deep slumber. I heard your prayers, your weeping, and finally, I awakened!"

As Loren spoke, the people quieted down. The Sun Card began its work, stripping away their capacity for thought, and they gradually began to believe Loren's words.

Everything Loren said was true. It was just that these Merfolk had been brainwashed by the elders and couldn't distinguish truth from lies. Loren had to use the Sun Card to give them a push.

"I know that during my absence, you have suffered terribly, hunted by the Church until you were forced to hide in the deep sea. The vast majority of you will spend your entire lives without ever seeing the sun even once.

"The warmth of the sun is something you can only hear about in stories. Something we should have been able to enjoy at any moment has now become an unattainable luxury."

Loren's tone grew more agitated as he spoke. Even he felt he had a talent for the arts:

"Those humans hunt and kill our kin at will. Whether they are Church followers, pirates, or merchants, they all hunt us.

"We have been reduced to merchandise in their eyes. Do you know how much a single Merfolk sells for out there? Five hundred thousand gold!"

This price was invented by Loren. He had no idea how much a Merfolk actually sold for, and the Merfolk themselves had no clue about the value of currency from the outside world. Loren simply needed the number to seem enormous.

Moreover, Loren had been saying "we" the entire time, binding himself together with the Merfolk. Only this way could his words be more inflammatory.

"In their eyes, we are ingredients, monsters, tonics... anything but lives deserving of equal treatment.

"They can kill us at will, simply because they have faith! Are you willing to accept this?

"The followers of the Orthodox Gods have their gods. Even pirates have the Sea God... but I was absent all this time, unable to protect you, and let you suffer..."

As Loren's tears fell, the Merfolk began weeping one after another. Loren's sorrow had infected them.

Loren suddenly wiped away his tears, his tone growing resolute:

"Now, everything is different, because I have returned.

"Those who bullied us must be struck back. What was taken from us must be reclaimed. The pain and humiliation we have endured must be repaid a hundredfold!

"Call upon your god. I am the Perpetual Observer! I have returned!"

As Loren's words fell, the elders' corpses took the lead in cheering:

"Perpetual Observer! Perpetual Observer!"

These few cheers set off a thousand waves. The Merfolk began cheering Loren's holy name like mad, as if they were fanatical believers.

Just then, a discordant voice suddenly rang out from the crowd:

"What proof do you have that you are the Perpetual Observer? Do you have any evidence?"

The ones speaking were two young Merfolk. Though they appeared calm on the surface, Loren could still sense their panic.

They were the other two elders. Because they knew exactly what had happened, they hadn't been beguiled.

"Whether it's the Merfolk Princess or the elders, everyone who can hear the divine oracle has said I am the Perpetual Observer. What further proof is needed?

"And you, who question me, what evidence do you have to prove that I am not the Perpetual Observer?"

"The one who called you the Perpetual Observer was the former Merfolk Princess. She was your follower, so her words carry no credibility. She was sentenced to death for precisely this reason.

"And at first, the elders didn't acknowledge your identity either. They suddenly changed their stance, which is highly suspicious.

"I have reason to suspect that you coerced or bribed the elders into changing their testimony, or even that you killed them outright, and that the ones standing here now are corpses controlled by your necromancy."

Necromancy wasn't skilled at disguise, so it wasn't surprising that the corpses could be identified as not being alive. After all, they had no vital essence.

At this moment, Reflection Naclis was right behind them, flashing Loren a peace sign. With a single glance from Loren, Reflection Naclis could decapitate them without them even noticing.

The two elders were well aware of this, which was why the fear radiating from them as they spoke was so intense that Loren could sense it from far away.

From the moment Loren appeared, they knew that another elder had betrayed them. Given that elder's style, if they didn't do something, they would surely die. That was why they had taken this gamble.

If they could rally others to their side, there would still be a chance to survive.

Having lived for so long, their intuition was keen. They had been able to sense that they were about to die, and their current gamble was a bet that Loren wouldn't dare kill them openly.

Faced with a challenge, Loren never defended himself. He simply countered with an accusation:

"When our Merfolk were being bullied, you stood by and did nothing. You might have even spoken on behalf of the humans.

"Now that our Merfolk are finally about to strike back, you step forward to stop us. What are your intentions?"