The Game of Global Mining

Chun felt quite overwhelmed. He suddenly remembered a joke: A guy having too many girlfriends ends up arranging overlapping dates...

Truth be told, he was experiencing this headache firsthand now, having too many secrets to keep.

Upon careful thought, the mermaids and Naga are archenemies, not governed by the merfolk, so the Sea God’s Personal Guard might not be so friendly. Better check on it first.

"Aileen, how’s the soul of that Naga Demon Mage?"

Aileen replied solemnly, "Locked in the pirate ship’s treasure hold, it’s quite dangerous!"

I have a clock! Last time I dove into her consciousness using a time freeze with the clock, but it wasn’t very effective, how about this time?

"I’ll go take a look!"

Liya smiled as well, "Wow, you have so many fun things, I’ve never seen a Naga in person, I want to go too."

Hey, you’re 23, stop pretending to be a little girl!

Chun laughed, "Alright, alright, let’s go together."

So the group headed to the pirate ship, and Xina even brought a kitchen basket full of bread.

Liya said with interest, "Not bad, it feels more advanced than the Oak Ark."

Chun exclaimed, "Then can you sail a ship?"

Liya laughed, "A City Beauty must know how to sail, otherwise, she wouldn’t get the admiration of the sailors."

Admiration of the sailors?

Chun suddenly felt like gossiping: "I heard there’s someone named Black Pearl at sea, she’s an idol among the sailors and pirates?"

Liya was momentarily stunned, "That depends on how you compare! In terms of sailing technique and combat at sea, she’s the strongest, but she doesn’t know magic, and her ship, Black Pearl, is not as advanced as the ships of the Five City Beauties, nor does she have a noble birth. But from the perspective of the lower class, all these shortcomings are her strengths, and her actual fan base can’t really be counted. Overall, she’s quite remarkable, and I even envy her a lot. She’s rich and free!"

Oh~ What a high evaluation, Chun couldn’t help feeling flattered, taking pride in being close to Aziza! Unlike Aileen, who only uses two words to evaluate someone.

Chun couldn’t help but join the conversation, "Actually, she has her difficulties too, after all, pirates aren’t necessarily obedient."

Liya laughed, "Seems like the rumors about your close ties with the pirates are true, does that mean you and she get along well?"

Uh... no, apart from Aziza, I really don’t have much interaction with pirates...

Chun decided to change the topic: "Anyway, I’ve already been judged by Bronze City for colluding with pirates, so I really hope all the pirates get along with me and then we could use them for our rebellion against the Empire."

Liya clapped her hands, "Yes, the Empire’s biggest fear is actually cutting off the shipping routes, and deploying the navy for long-term pursuit is very costly, so —"

A hoarse voice came from below deck: "— so, the value of our Naga clan comes out!"

Holy Shit!!

Chun was shocked, "She can actually hear us talking down there?"

Aileen was astonished, "She hasn’t made a sound since she got here."

Liya was surprised, "The key is, she’s locked in the vault, and the door there should be very thick, how did her voice get through?"

The hoarse voice said, "This is just a trivial ability of mine, Master, I’ve been waiting for you!"

Holy shit! This is more straightforward than the fake Tifa, is she this quick to adapt? The merfolk hate this clan because of betrayal!

Chun continued asking the 23-year-old goddess. As a goddess, her knowledge was shallow. As a City Beauty, she had seen a lot.

"Are Naga always this... reliable?"

Liya said, "I’ve heard the Fourth Prince adopted some Naga, and they are quite reliable in getting things done."

Uh, this Naga is the Fourth Prince’s... Wait, can you not mention the Fourth Prince? You’re blood relatives and he’s such a bastard~~

The hoarse voice’s emotions fluctuated instantly, "Unless the master personally kills me, I will always be loyal to the master!"

Ah, yes, during that battle, she was actually injured by the Fourth Prince by mistake!

At this moment, Chun and his party arrived at the cargo hold’s treasure room door. Through the heavy transparent crystal stone observation window on the door, they could see the Naga coiled in the center of the treasure room, her six arms interlocked to form a very strange but oddly harmonious three-ring gesture.

The view inside the room began to shake, and her voice came out again, "Master! Please allow me to serve you!"

Uh...

Just after dealing with the fake Tifa incident, and Sister Bai’s unstable behavior became steady, now faced with this willing allegiance, it’s too easy; rejecting feels wrong, accepting feels uneasy, how can I be at peace?

Seeing Chun’s dilemma, Liya suddenly laughed, "Her voice resonance penetrating ability is really interesting, how about this—"

Liya took a piece of bread from the basket and tore it into dozens of pieces, "Test her, I’ll tear the bread into pieces on the ground, can she tell how many pieces in total? If she gets it right, then she’ll earn her way out."

Ah, that’s right! Admission test, not based on the leader’s personal preference or intelligence. At the very least, even if she betrays, it’s not my fault for being blind and unwise! It’s comforting to think about it that way.

For her, it’s not about fooling a foolish master, but earning something hard-won based on her abilities—this kind of passing the assessment mindset is quite fulfilling, brings a lot of dignity and pride, and Chun could really relate.

Chun immediately agreed, "Okay! Did you hear the test question?"

The Naga said, "I’m ready!"

Liya then threw the broken pieces of bread on the floor, which to Chun sounded as quiet as a whisper.

The Naga replied, "If we don’t count the tiny crumbs, there are 17 small pieces in total!"

The group counted on the floor, 17 pieces! It really was!

Liya led them in applause, "Amazing! I couldn’t even hear it."

Chun was also speechless with satisfaction, "I’m very glad you can join our team!"

The Naga’s hoarse voice carried a slight tone of pride, "Thank you, Master, actually, Master doesn’t need to open the door, whenever needed, I shall fight."

Ah, quite high in emotional intelligence, dispelling those little doubts in my heart! But, while she can make such a request, I can’t really follow through.

Chun chuckled, "Rest assured, I recognize you, I trust you!"

The Naga said, "Master, you can understand that I don’t want to go out performing menial tasks! My previous master would call me out for trivial chores, which really disrupted my concentration."

Holy Shit!? This reason... I can’t help but agree!

Chun felt even more relieved, "Then, we won’t disturb you, you can practice with peace of mind."

"Alright, Master!"

With that said, a sonic wave vibrated from the ground, and the 17 pieces of bread jumped up and accurately returned to Xina’s basket.

Holy Shit!

Liya was even more amazed, "Incredible, even the spell for telekinesis cannot achieve this across such a thick door."

Though it’s related to sonic waves, the flair is undeniable, truly deserving of the title of Demon Skill Mage!