Chapter 2125: Who Should We Really Trust?

Shark-Diao's face lit up with joy. Clearly, obtaining this intelligence had earned him praise, and the subsequent reward would undoubtedly be substantial.

Zu An was not surprised by this outcome. To the fake Dragon King, Shang Hongyu was the sole weakness who knew his identity, and thus, he would inevitably want to eliminate her swiftly.

Soon, led by the hulking Shark-Diao, he reached the deepest part of the conch-shaped building. After passing through multiple layers of guards, they arrived before a massive magic array.

Zu An observed it for a moment and recognized it as a teleportation array capable of transporting someone over a very long distance. However, this effect was likely achieved by harnessing the power of water elements and being surrounded by the vast ocean. On land, the range of this teleportation array would be limited.

"Please, sir," Shark-Diao said respectfully. "This teleportation array can transport you directly to the Dragon Palace. Someone will receive you there; I won't be going inside."

Zu An nodded and stepped onto the teleportation array. He watched as the subordinates carried large chunks of primeval stones and filled them into the grooves around the array. As the last stone was inserted, a blue pattern quickly began to glow across the entire ground. Like a charging device, the array patterns lit up in circles from the outside in. When the entire array was fully illuminated, space distorted, and Zu An vanished.

Not long after, Zu An reappeared on another array platform. His surroundings were no longer Shark-Diao's group, and the environment had drastically changed.

"The power of space..." Zu An mused, quietly recalling the sensation. He realized he had only encountered this kind of spatial power when passing through the tunnels of secret realms; such teleportation arrays were rare among the human and demon races. The Sea Race truly held many secrets.

"Are you the gentleman who brought news of the Queen? Please follow us; the Dragon King requests your presence," two attendants said, bowing to him from outside the array.

Zu An sized up the two. Aside from blue, fin-like ornaments near their ears, they were indistinguishable from humans. Both also possessed considerable cultivation, indicating the Dragon King held him in high regard.

He nodded, signaling them to lead the way, while secretly surveying his surroundings. Although Shang Hongyu had previously given him a general description of the Dragon Palace, seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't help but be astonished.

In his previous life, he had visited several underwater-themed parks, but usually, he viewed them through massive glass panels. Only occasionally did a small glass tunnel give the illusion of walking on the real seabed. But now, he was genuinely walking on the seabed. He had assumed that the Dragon Palace would be encased in a massive glass dome or similar structure, separating it from the seawater, creating a dry interior no different from the world outside. To his surprise, however, there was no glass dome; the entire Dragon Palace was submerged in water! He himself was also in the seawater!

Logically, at such depths, ordinary people would be crushed into a pulp by the immense water pressure. Even without the pressure, the seawater itself would make breathing impossible. Of course, Zu An's current strength meant he wasn't afraid of these conditions. However, he distinctly felt no pressure at all. Even an ordinary person here could move about as if on dry land, completely unaffected.

He focused his gaze into the distance, and his vast divine sense began to probe the surroundings. Only then did he realize that while there was no glass dome, a very large magic array enveloped the entire Dragon Palace. Within the Dragon Palace, various complex magic arrays shimmered everywhere, many of their profound and ingenious aspects filling him with admiration.

Along the way, beautiful coral reefs were everywhere. The corals on them swayed constantly, as if beckoning the colorful fish schools that swam past. From time to time, jellyfish slowly drifted around, expanding and contracting. Each jellyfish emitted a faint glow, like illuminating lanterns. Zu An was a little surprised; using jellyfish as streetlights was quite ingenious.

Of course, the jellyfish alone were far from enough to illuminate the entire Dragon Palace. A bright beam of sunlight shone in from directly above, making the entire Dragon Palace as bright as day. Zu An knew very well that the Dragon Palace was countless thousands of fathoms beneath the sea. At this depth, sunlight could absolutely not penetrate; normally, it should be pitch black. Some special magic array must have drawn the sunlight here.

Soon, a long staircase appeared ahead, made of a material similar to white jade and exquisitely carved. Along the way, the pillars were adorned with pearls as large as footballs, scattering the light from above and illuminating the surroundings. Zu An's eyelids twitched. The Sea Race's resources were truly abundant; their palaces were far more opulent than those of the human or demon races.

At the end of the staircase stood a magnificent and beautiful palace. Its details were vastly different from human and demon palaces, largely reflecting the Sea Race's style. There were carvings of dragons, mermaids, and many other marine races, some of which Zu An didn't even recognize. But what caught Zu An's attention even more was that the entire palace was built from crystal, semi-transparent throughout. Under the sunlight, it emitted a shimmering glow, truly a magnificent work of art. Zu An praised silently, realizing why the Dragon Palace was also called the Crystal Palace.

Before he knew it, he had been led to a grand hall deep within the Dragon Palace. The soldiers at the entrance were not the shrimp and crab soldiers he had seen before, but a line of seahorse guards and a line of strange-fish guards. Unlike the seahorses in popular imagination, these seahorse soldiers were enormous and exuded a sense of deadly seriousness. The strange-fish guards, on the other hand, had human torsos and fish tails. Each held a trident and watched him warily. Zu An had initially worried these were merfolk, but seeing how ugly they were, they clearly weren't; they must have been some unknown strange fish species of the Sea Race.

Each of these guards possessed ninth-grade cultivation, which left Zu An somewhat speechless. One should know that while ninth-grade cultivators were not uncommon among humans and demons, even the most elite soldiers did not reach this level; fifth or sixth grade was already the peak. Those soldiers, combined with various war arrays, could already unleash immense power. How much more so with these ninth-grade soldiers? If the Sea Race weren't bound to water, the human and demon races would probably have been conquered long ago.

Then, two strange-fish soldiers blocked Zu An's path. They took out a crystal ball and scanned Zu An's body up and down before nodding to the nearby soldiers and clearing the way. Zu An glanced at the crystal ball, deducing it was likely used to check for dangerous weapons. After all, those entering and exiting the Dragon Palace were important figures, and a direct body search would be awkward for everyone.

Next, Zu An was led into a grand hall. A burly man sat high above him on a colossal throne shaped like an open clam shell, scrutinizing him from above. Seeing his familiar appearance, the two horns on his forehead, and his kingly aura, it was clearly the fake Dragon King.

Although Zu An had already learned the truth from the Mermaid Queen beforehand, seeing him now, he still couldn't find the slightest flaw. How did this imposter manage it? For a moment, he even felt the impulse to capture the opponent. However, he ultimately suppressed this thought. The powerful aura emanating from the fake Dragon King was identical to that of the real Dragon King, leading him to believe his strength would not be inferior.

On both sides of the hall were many Sea Race ministers, generals, and others. It was evident that at least all of them were Grandmaster level, with quite a few Great Grandmasters among them. The Sea Race indeed had experts like clouds. If he acted directly now, it would be tantamount to a direct conflict with the Sea Race. Crucially, there were still many Sea Race members who were kept in the dark. Fighting them to the death would then be a meaningless battle.

As Zu An was deep in thought, the fake Dragon King on the throne spoke: "Oh, a human. To dare come to the Dragon Palace with mere Grandmaster cultivation, your courage is not small."

Normally, Zu An had no elemental energy fluctuations around him. In front of Shark-Diao earlier, he didn't need to worry; Shark-Diao would simply assume his cultivation was too high to be detected. But if he remained like this in front of the Dragon King and the many Sea Race members, it would be a big problem. After all, it was impossible for an ordinary person with no cultivation to come here. But if no one in the Dragon Palace could detect his cultivation, wouldn't they consider him unfathomable? It would easily arouse unnecessary suspicion from the opponent. So, Zu An deliberately simulated the elemental energy fluctuations of a Grandmaster, which, as expected, saved him a lot of trouble.

Zu An smiled faintly: "I am not here to be an enemy of the Dragon Palace. What difference does my cultivation make, high or low?"

"You do have some guts," the fake Dragon King snorted, taking an item from a nearby box. "Where did you get this item?"

It was clearly Shang Hongyu's hairpin that Zu An had brought earlier.

"Naturally, I obtained it from the Mermaid Queen," Zu An replied.

"How dare you! What did you do to the Queen?" a minister shouted from below the throne.

Zu An glanced at him. He had a horn on his head, distinct draconic features, and bore a third resemblance to the Dragon King. He was probably the Dragon King's brother. Seeing his obvious concern and anxiety, Zu An's expression became somewhat strange, thinking, "Is he in love with his sister-in-law?" This fellow's elemental energy fluctuations indicated cultivation at the peak of the Great Grandmaster realm. After transforming into his true form, his combat power would likely increase even further.

Zu An replied, "That statement confuses me a bit. Wasn't she on the wanted list? And it seemed she was no longer the Queen, right? Even if something was done to her, it would have been in accordance with the wanted order, wouldn't it?"

This reply immediately drew angry glares from everyone in the hall.

Rage points from Ao Yong +444444444...Rage points from Chancellor Turtle +444444444...From...

Seeing a long string of rage points flood the backend system, Zu An remained completely unfazed, instead quickly searching for a specific name. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he spotted an entry: Rage points from Dragon King Ao Zhan +444444444...

Seeing this entry, a chill instantly ran down his spine, leaving him completely unsettled. What in the world was going on? This was clearly the true Dragon King! He had deliberately spoken that way to provoke the Dragon King into anger, hoping to see what kind of entity was impersonating him. The Keyboard System collected power generated from intense fluctuations in a being's soul and had never made a mistake in identity verification over the years. But who would have thought that the name displayed by the Rage Points system was none other than Dragon King Ao Zhan!

But if he was the true Dragon King, then everything Shang Hongyu had said would be false, wouldn't it? Thinking of their daily interactions, their intimate ambiguity, and her elegant yet captivatingly beautiful face, Zu An suddenly felt a terrifying chill for a moment. These past days, because he had first encountered Shang Hongyu and given her relationship with Shang Liuyu, he had subconsciously trusted her. He had therefore assumed by default that something was wrong with the Dragon King: that a mysterious entity had impersonated him, occupied the Dragon Palace, and issued wanted orders everywhere to hunt Shang Hongyu, the only insider.

But what if it was the other way around? If the Dragon King was real and hadn't been impersonated by anyone, then his pursuit and wanted order for the Mermaid Queen could only mean that Shang Hongyu herself was the problem! He thought of the past days, how Shang Hongyu seemed to flirt with him, sometimes subtly, sometimes not, and how, even at the beginning in the tavern, she had actively approached him. Could this be the truth? But what about the patrolling Yakshas shrouded in black energy he had seen before? Could it be a play Shang Hongyu directed herself? But how would she have known his whereabouts? And coincidentally arranged everything so perfectly for the pursuit scene to unfold before him? In an instant, too many possibilities surfaced in his mind. Even though he was used to weathering storms, he broke out in a cold sweat.

At this moment, the Dragon King on the throne smiled chillingly: "She is, after all, the Queen of our Sea Race. What exactly did you do to her?"

Zu An could even feel the palpable killing intent from the other party, wondering if the Dragon King genuinely feared he had bullied his wife. With myriad thoughts swirling in his mind and uncertain who the problematic party truly was, he was temporarily unwilling to hastily make an enemy. "I didn't do anything much," he said. "I just happened to encounter the severely injured Queen, captured her with a magic array, and then came to the Dragon Palace to report it. Everything I did was clearly according to the wanted order. Are the Sea Race all people who break their promises like this?"

"Impudent!" many Sea Race ministers nearby shouted, righteously indignant and glaring at him.

Zu An was no longer in the mood to check the rage points in the background. Instead, he continued to ponder recent events. Shang Hongyu had behaved so naturally. If all of that was just her acting, then her acting skills were simply too good. One should know that with his current experience, it was quite difficult to deceive him. Moreover, having spent days together, even sleeping in each other's arms, he hadn't detected any traces of that black energy on her.

Wait a minute... There were traces, but he had attributed them to her injuries. What if she was just using her injuries as a cover?

At this moment, the Dragon King on the throne raised a hand, stopping his subordinates' scolding. "This human has a point," he said. "Let's not let others look down on our Sea Race." Then he looked at Zu An: "You actually captured the Mermaid Queen; that truly surprises me. Where is she now?"

"What about the promised reward?" Zu An asked, putting on an eager, money-hungry expression, as if to say, "Who can't play the part?"

The Dragon King waved a hand, and soon a team of guards carried out over a dozen chests. He waved his hand, and all the treasure chests opened. Inside, they shone brilliantly, filled with primeval stones of the highest quality, jewels, and various magical artifacts.

"Tell me the Queen's whereabouts, and all these are yours," the Dragon King said, staring intently at Zu An with his bulging eyes. "Furthermore, I will keep my promise and take you as my disciple. From now on, in this Dragon Palace, and indeed throughout the entire Sea Race, no one will dare to slight you."

Seeing the treasures covering the floor, Zu An thought to himself that Shang Hongyu was quite valuable. He suddenly asked, "May I ask, why does the Dragon King want to capture the Queen?" He needed more information to make an accurate judgment.

"How dare you!" shouted the mustachioed turtle standing beside the Dragon King upon hearing this.

At this moment, the Dragon King looked at Zu An: "Why are you concerned about this issue?" A faint killing intent flickered in his eyes, as if he would strike him down on the spot if a single word was amiss.

"Mainly, I'm worried about earning the reward but not living to spend it," Zu An replied. "The one being wanted is, after all, the Mermaid Queen. What if I accidentally get caught up in some secret between you and your wife, and then get silenced? That wouldn't be worth it."

Hearing his words, a ripple of soft laughter spread through the hall, and the atmosphere was no longer as solemn as it had been.

"This human is really timid."

"Actually, you can't blame him. It's only natural for him to worry about such things."

The Dragon King's expression indeed softened somewhat. "You don't need to worry about that," he said. "In front of so many princes and ministers, would I go back on my word? Where would the Sea Race's face be then? Now, can you bring the Queen here?"