Chapter 2451: Aurora Poison Dragon

The Mermaid Queen was baffled.

She had suspected something was wrong with the marine race, but never imagined it would be this serious. Had the entire marine race been wiped out? Even the Four Dragon Kings were gone?

Zu'an was equally shocked, thinking that even if Mogard was powerful, he couldn't be *that* powerful. The marine race was, after all, an incredibly vast group. Could they really have been completely annihilated in just a few days?

Hearing their questions, the Peacock Princess waved her hand and said, "They're not dead, but they're not far from it."

"What exactly happened?" the Mermaid Queen pressed, growing more confused with every word the princess spoke.

The Peacock Princess then realized she had caused a misunderstanding and quickly began to explain.

After listening, both finally understood what had happened. It turned out that a strange illness had been spreading among the marine race recently. Victims suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, felt weak all over, and could only lie in bed, barely breathing.

Zu'an's brow furrowed slightly. "This doesn't sound like an illness; it sounds more like poisoning."

The Peacock Princess nodded. "At first, no one took it seriously, but when it spread throughout the Dragon Palace and the surrounding marine race in a short time, everyone realized it must be poisoning. Unfortunately, it was too late. Soon, most people collapsed. The doctors in the Dragon Palace couldn't even help themselves, let alone treat others. Only a very few lucky ones like us escaped."

"What about the Four Dragon Kings? Didn't they come out to take charge?" the Mermaid Queen couldn't help but ask.

The Peacock Princess shook her head slightly. "Initially, the North Sea Dragon King fell ill; he seemed to have fallen into an inexplicable coma. The other three Dragon Kings went to visit him and found nothing unusual, but soon after, they too fell into a coma. Rumors even started circulating in the Dragon Palace, claiming that recent events among the marine race had angered the Sea God, who was now inflicting divine punishment."

"Nonsense!" the Mermaid Queen said, somewhat angered. "We are the Sea God's protected people. How could she inflict such a vicious punishment upon us? Clearly, someone is hiding in the shadows, playing tricks and spreading all sorts of rumors."

At this, the few remaining marine warriors nearby echoed her sentiments, evidently also disbelieving that the Sea God would punish them in such a way.

"Why are you here, and who resealed the enchantment inside?" Zu'an asked curiously. He felt that too many things had happened to the marine race in the few days he had been away. Everything now seemed shrouded in mist, and he could only try to gather as much information as possible.

"These past few days, I was originally negotiating cooperation matters with the marine race," the Peacock Princess replied. "But then the Dragon Kings fell ill, and the marine race was afflicted with that strange illness, so the cooperation was delayed. I was initially helping with the treatment."

"However, as more and more people collapsed, there were even rumors that these misfortunes were brought upon the marine race because of their cooperation with us, and some even claimed that these diseases or poisons were brought by you, the mysterious one. I immediately realized that someone was manipulating all this and rushed here to inform you..."

"Who knew that upon arriving here, I found the seal below had already been repaired. Having no other choice, I had to turn back to find the formation masters of the Dragon Palace to unseal it. That's when I encountered this group of assassins. They seemed to have followed us, intending to silence us here." The Peacock Princess patted her chest. "Fortunately, you appeared in time, otherwise the consequences would have been unthinkable."

Zu'an's gaze fell upon the assassins, and he said coldly, "Speak. Who sent you?"

"Just kill us!" the assassins turned their heads away one by one. They were pinned to the ground by Zu'an's golden sword energy, their internal energy sealed, making even suicide impossible. However, those chosen to pursue the Peacock Princess and her group would not be pushovers.

Zu'an frowned slightly. After coming to this world, his identity as the master of the underworld seemed temporarily useless. He couldn't send them to hell for interrogation, so extracting confessions would be quite troublesome.

Just then, the Mermaid Queen stepped forward and said, "Leave them to me."

Zu'an was momentarily stunned. He watched as she gently plucked the strings of a musical instrument, and beautiful melodies enveloped the assassins. Then, smiling sweetly, she stood before them. "Do you wish to harm me?" she asked.

A bewildered look flashed in the assassins' eyes, followed by a hint of awe. They shook their heads like rattles. "No, absolutely not."

"Then do you wish to see me sad?" the Mermaid Queen asked softly, her expression particularly delicate and pitiful.

"No, we want you to be happy," the assassins quickly declared their affection.

"But I'm currently troubled by many doubts, and I can't be happy. Can you help me answer them?" The Mermaid Queen's eyes were beautiful and deep, radiating a sapphire-like glow.

"Yes, yes! Just ask whatever you wish, Queen!" the assassins answered, tripping over each other.

"Whose orders were you following for today's actions?" the Mermaid Queen asked with a sweet smile, her voice exceptionally gentle.

Seeing the assassins answer every question like obedient geese, everyone nearby, including Zu'an, was dumbfounded.

Legends among the marine race spoke of the Mermaid Queen's immense popularity due to her mastery of enchantment. Now, it was clear those legends were true.

The Peacock Princess had a strange expression, thinking that if she didn't know the woman was the Mermaid Queen, she would have thought she was from the Qingqiu Fox Clan; truly enchanting to the point of being deadly.

Zu'an also wore an amused expression. The Mermaid Queen usually presented a dignified and noble front to him; he hadn't expected her to possess such abilities.

However, he was certain that she had not used these methods on him at any point, leading him to believe she genuinely valued their relationship.

Soon, the Mermaid Queen elicited the answer. She couldn't help but glance back at Zu'an.

At this moment, Zu'an's eyes also lit up with a strange brilliance, for he had heard a familiar name—Aurora Poison Dragon!

So, it was the Aurora Poison Dragon behind all this. The Aurora Poison Dragon was already skilled in using poison, and this time, he had secretly set up a large plague poison array throughout the Dragon Palace. All its inhabitants were caught off guard and fell victim.

His poison array was exceedingly potent, and with a premeditated attack against an unsuspecting target, coupled with the East Sea Dragon King recently summoning high-ranking officials from various marine tribes for a meeting, he had almost wiped out the entire marine hierarchy in one fell swoop.

"That's not right," Zu'an said gravely. "The Four Dragon Kings' strength should make them immune to his poison array. If he were truly that powerful, wouldn't he be able to lord over the entire marine race?"

Hearing this, the Mermaid Queen quickly questioned the assassins further.

Most of the assassins were unaware, but one of the leaders replied, "The Aurora Poison Dragon pledged allegiance to King Unethical. He promised that the Aurora Poison Dragon would become the new king of the entire marine race, and that the Dragon Kings would simply become a thing of the past."

"King Unethical gave him a magical artifact called the Soul-Shattering Bell, which can induce a coma. He used this to control the Four Dragon Kings."

Everyone suddenly understood. No wonder the North Sea Dragon King was affected first; as a subordinate of the North Sea Dragon King, it would have been easiest for the Aurora Poison Dragon to act against him.

Then, using that as bait, he could make the unsuspecting three great Dragon Kings automatically walk into his trap.

Zu'an, however, felt a newfound respect. Mogard in this era was truly impressing him.