Chapter 16: Gifts and Annoying Socializing

Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Gifts and Annoying Socializing

First was Underwater Breathing.

He activated Ben Bo’Erba, focusing all his attention on sensing his body’s Transformations.

The path air took as it entered his body, the method of exchange, the filtration mechanism, and the process of his skin absorbing dissolved gases from the Water—all of it appeared clearly in his perception.

A few Runes could form the core of Underwater Breathing.

Next was Dark Vision. In his perspective, light and shadow shifted into an alternating mosaic of brightness and obscurity. For certain visuals, his senses would heighten to extract information...

To Chen Shang, being able to explain Mythical Characters using Runes was incredibly thrilling!

For several days straight, he drew and revised, revised and drew. He would finish a draft only to scrap it and start over. The room was littered with crumpled wads of wastepaper, and the desk was completely covered with dense Rune Diagrams.

These Runes not only had to function individually but also needed to combine seamlessly together. It was an immense challenge.

"Lord Chen Shang! Lord Chen Shang!"

An unknown amount of time had passed when a clamor of shouts rang out from outside. Chen Shang frowned. He wondered if his senior sister was making a move. He tucked the diagrams into his robes and pushed the door open.

A group of Mermaids was approaching from the waterway.

Leading them was that aged Merfolk Elder. Behind the Elder followed over a dozen robust Mermaids; some carried chests on their shoulders, others hauled racks, and some held trays.

The chests were filled with colorful items: Gemstones, seashells, pearls, coral, and a few other trinkets he couldn’t name.

The most outrageous part was that at the very back of the procession followed several beautiful young Mermaids. They had dark red hair woven into delicate braids and wore ornaments crafted from shells. Upon seeing Chen Shang, they lowered their heads, revealing bashful expressions.

Chen Shang’s face darkened.

The Merfolk Elder stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

"My Lord, this is a small token of appreciation from our tribe. Please accept it."

It waved a hand, and the Mermaids placed the items one by one in front of Chen Shang. The Gemstones sparkled in the sunlight, the patterns on the seashells were as intricate as the starry sky, the pearls were the size of fists, and the coral looked like burning branches.

Then there were those few young Mermaids, keeping their heads down, their fish Tails swaying gently on the Water’s surface.

Chen Shang was speechless. Gemstones? Seashells? Pearls? These things might be valuable in the mortal realm, but in the Wizard World, they were just a pile of pretty rocks.

He wondered what he was supposed to do with them. Take them back as souvenirs?

As for the young Mermaids, he would find them too clumsy even to be his assistants. They didn’t even recognize Runes, and he’d be afraid they would drop his equipment if they tried to move it.

Taking a deep breath, he tried his best to make his tone sound polite.

"Elder, I have no use for these items. Please take them back."

The Merfolk Elder froze, its expression shifting from respect to unease.

"My Lord... are you dissatisfied with all of it?"

Looking at its expression, Chen Shang suddenly felt the urge to laugh.

"It’s not that I’m dissatisfied; I genuinely have no use for them. Please take them back!"

The Merfolk Elder panicked even more. It turned around and babbled something to the Mermaids behind it. Then, a young Mermaid ran over from the back of the line, holding an object in its hands, and presented it to the Elder.

The Elder took the object and offered it to Chen Shang.

"My Lord, this is a treasure of our tribe... a Sound Transmission Shell."

"A Sound Transmission Shell?" Chen Shang took it. The conch was about the size of a palm, its shell a deep Blue with spiral patterns on its surface.

"Yes. If you place it in Water, it can transmit sound to a very distant place."

Chen Shang rubbed his fingers over the shell. The glowing patterns were slightly warm, and he caught a fluctuation of Energy.

He noted that it was an Extraordinary Item. Now that was more like it!

"This will do. As for the rest, take them back."

The Merfolk Elder opened its mouth to speak but ultimately just waved a hand. The other Mermaids carried the items away one by one.

Most of the procession departed, but the Elder stayed behind. It stood in place, rubbing its hands together, looking as though it wanted to say something but was holding back.

Chen Shang looked at it. "Is there something else, Elder?"

The Elder hesitated, took two steps closer, and lowered its voice.

"My Lord... there is a matter I would like to ask for your leniency on."

"What is it?"

"The new rules set by the Wizard Alliance... could some parts of them be... changed?"

Chen Shang raised an eyebrow. "For example?"

The Elder took a deep breath, as if making a great resolution. "For example... the rule that... different tribes are not allowed to wage war... and... slaves and royalty sitting at the same table to discuss matters..."

It flung its arms about, as if accusing someone of a heinous crime.

"My Lord, did you know? Those with Blue hair are royalty, red hair are nobles, brown hair are commoners, and purple hair are slaves. This is the rule of our tribe. Now, to suddenly have the purple-haired sit together with the Blue-haired to discuss matters... how, how can this be allowed?"

Chen Shang was taken aback. "What is the difference between Blue hair and purple hair?"

The Elder widened its eyes as if hearing an unfathomable question. "It’s the difference between Blue and purple hair! The Blue-haired are born royalty, and the purple-haired are born slaves. What other difference is needed?"

Chen Shang fell silent.

Blue hair and purple hair—in the eyes of a Wizard, this was nothing more than the dominant expression of certain Life Information. It could be a genetic fragment or a type of pigmentation... A quick test could analyze the difference in a matter of minutes.

But in the eyes of these Mermaids, it was a perfectly justified status symbol that had continued for countless years, absolutely unalterable.

No Wizard would be idle enough to meddle in such affairs.

Chen Shang asked casually, "What do the purple-haired Mermaids usually do?"

The Elder paused for a moment before answering, "Foraging, planting, building... During times of war, they are also on the front lines. They possess great strength and endurance. In short, they do all the lowly work."

Chen Shang grew curious. "Then why don’t they rebel?"

The Elder looked even more astounded. "Rebel? Rebel against what? How could slaves possibly rebel?"

Chen Shang was speechless. Did the Mermaids not even possess the concept of rebellion? The producers had no say in the distribution of resources, serving as both the labor force and cannon fodder. No wonder such a situation had formed.

And now, Wizards had suddenly placed them at the same discussion table as the royalty, nobility, and commoners. It would be strange if this didn’t cause an upheaval.

He suddenly began to understand why so many races viewed Wizards as the "Light of Civilization."

Those purple-haired Mermaids were condemned to be slaves from birth.

The Wizards arrived and essentially did nothing but make them sit together for discussions. Yet to the Blue-haired royalty, this was an absolute catastrophe, while to the purple-haired slaves, it was an opportunity to rise up and become masters of their own fate.

If one day, a purple-haired Mermaid became a Wizard... Chen Shang imagined the scene, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

However, living organisms inherently contained vast amounts of Life Information and evolutionary systems of this world. In the eyes of a Wizard, the purple-haired Mermaids might even hold more research value than the Blue-haired ones. So how could they tolerate them slaughtering each other?

"Elder, these rules were set by the Pan-Wizard Alliance. I cannot change them."

The Elder’s face immediately fell. "Then... could you not just turn a blind eye?"

Chen Shang shook his head.

The Elder fell silent and bowed to Chen Shang.

"Forgive my intrusion, My Lord."

Then, with a flick of its Tail, it disappeared into the Water.