Perspective: Kamiraku Yuin

Location: City of Erahai

Once Fir and the others had left, our actions became much easier. Although Jinghui still had much to learn, Kuroe's abilities were indeed reliable. Less than ten minutes into our separate operations, we had already gathered some useful intelligence.

"Kamiraku, this city is called Erahai, situated more than 1900 meters below sea level. It is a city of the outer Aquatic Tribe, established for 459 years," Kuroe reported from a corner in the street.

"Ah, that's good to know," I nodded in agreement.

The city remained in daylight all day, relying not on direct light sources but on the gems embedded in the buildings to emit light. It seemed that these gems were quite abundant underwater.

"My findings aren't particularly abundant," I chuckled while squatting in front of an Aquatic Tribe member we had just captured.

It had taken us quite an effort to find this dim corner, and interrogating someone here was no easy task. With so many Aquatic Tribe members, we had to be careful not to be discovered.

Fortunately, once the Aquatic Tribe had assumed a humanoid form, they tended to avoid dark places. Otherwise, even our current location wouldn't be safe.

With that said, I brandished my knife at the Aquatic Tribe member I had bound on the ground. As I made a move, the individual immediately awakened, their eyes filled with fear.

"Ah!" they exclaimed, staring at me fearfully.

Such splendid eyes~

The individual was a shrimp person, with a layer of soft armor on their body, which we had already removed with a knife. They were a patrolling Aquatic Tribe member we had knocked unconscious and brought back to question; surely, as a guard, they would know valuable information.

The Aquatic Tribe member had realized their predicament, and their eyes held not only fear but also anger.

"Ah, according to my understanding, Aquatic Tribe members like you are very afraid of death. Your eyes, are you perhaps considering dying in defiance?" I smiled, slightly turning the handle of the knife.

"I dare not... Please stop, what do you want from us!" the individual's expression contorted in pain, asking in a strained voice.

"Well, we simply want to know if all the buildings in this city are the same. Are there any other passages we can use to enter?"

"You think..."

"Not willing to talk, huh?" I cut off their imminent passionate speech and proceeded to stab twice with the knife.

However, this shrimp person was quite something; no matter how I stabbed, it wouldn't bleed, making it easier for cleanup.

"Tell me! If you release me, I'll tell you everything!" the shrimp person quickly spoke through gritted teeth.

Ah, it seemed like the Aquatic Tribe had even less backbone than I had imagined. I wonder how they train their soldiers. Well, Aquatic Tribe probably didn't have many enemies, so lacking backbone might not be much of an issue after all.

"Our city of Erahai was established hundreds of years ago. In truth, most buildings allow free passage, it's just that the gateway to the human world requires documentation. You see, if humans were to find out about this passage, our Aquatic Tribe would be in great danger!"

"Oh, I see. But why bother creating a passage to the surface? We're doing just fine down here," Kuroe beside me was really getting into the role, completely immersing herself in the character.

"You don't understand. It's so troublesome to build a city, and maintaining enchantments is also very costly. With more and more Aquatic Tribe members entering the city now, it's faster to just occupy human territories. Previously, we couldn't go to the human world due to some kind of contract. However, the dragon clan recently sent a message to our Sea King, saying that humans have broken the rules, so we don't need to worry about that contract anymore. And that's when our Sea King started planning to take over human cities. I must say, humans really have weak combat power, yet they cling to such good land. Why not give it to our Aquatic Tribe?"

"I see, the Sea King is indeed quite ruthless," I nodded, then continued to ask.

"Besides getting documents, is there any other way to enter the portal?"

"Well... getting the documents doesn't take long. You just need to go and get them. Even though merfolk have the weakest fighting abilities, seeing how strong you two are, those in charge won't dare say anything. You don't need to worry at all."

"Is that so?"

Kuroe pursed her lips, discontentedly saying, "But this isn't right. We just want to go to the human world to have fun. Are there any other ways? Speak up!"

"Well... actually... you could try the underground passage. It was constructed during the city's construction and was modeled after ancient human architecture, hence the underground waterways. I'm not sure if they've been blocked off or not, but you can check it out. Of course, it's still better to get..."

Before finishing his sentence, I exerted force on my hand, twisting the shrimp's head, bringing its HP bar down to zero.

Then it slowly turned into black powder, dispersing on the ground.

Special Skill: Erase Traces LV5

When attacking an opponent and instantly reducing their HP by more than half, resulting in their death, you can turn their body into black powder. Activation probability 15%/30%/50%/75%/100%.

Well, this skill I chose earlier is quite handy, especially when I don't know how to deal with bodies. Kicking the black powder aside, I turned to Kuroe and them.

"We've got the intelligence we needed. You heard it too – their target is the human city. We don't have time to waste. Find the entrance to the underground passage, then we'll go in together. Understood?"

"Got it!"

After that, the three of us split up and once again merged into the Aquatic Tribe crowd.

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Perspective: Aliyah Location: Lekai Sea City

"This is so cramped..."

I was in agony at that moment. Why did I have to eavesdrop from this confined space?

It was all Oyado's idea, really annoying. She thought she could squeeze into places just because she was small and slender.

"You need to slow down..."

"Shh!"

Oyado made a hand gesture and then pointed downwards.

I moved over painfully and looked down through the crack in the roof.

"Rest here, our leader will come to see you soon!"

A guard from the Aquatic Tribe led the human traitors into a room and then left.

"Aliyah, do you want to play an interesting game?" Oyado suddenly asked.