Chapter 186: Welcome To The Splash Zone?
Chapter 186: Welcome To The Splash Zone?
I pulled back from the kiss, breaking away from an embrace I felt like I was drowning in. Forcing a warm, reassuring smile, I looked down at the woman currently doing everything in her power to please Owen and his aggressively perverted habits.
When Opal and I had first married, she gave me the full rundown on this overly bubbly creature. While Ariel was undeniably a joy-maker and the natural center of attention in any room, she was also a ruthless status climber. Like the other Seven Sea Songs—an elite circle that included my own wife, Opal—Ariel ultimately wanted to reign as the next Atlantis Blue.
The name Atlantis Blue wasn't actually the true legal name of the monarch. It was a noble, hereditary Mermaid title passed down to each successive leader, much like how Nuo Fu simply referred to himself as The Emperor.
Mermaid biology carried its own bizarre set of evolutionary rules. Whenever they mated with Elven, Eastern, Western, or even half-human men, their genetics uniquely produced only Mermaid daughters. These offspring were Fish Lamia, closely resembling the likes of Ariel, Opal, and May. The primary aesthetic distinction between individuals was their vibrant hair color, which spanned a striking spectrum of blues, whites, blondes, reds, greens, blacks, oranges, pinks, and teals.
In their human forms, most Mermaids stood close to six feet tall, possessing striking blue eyes, the naturally alluring charm of Water Nymphs, and distinct, voluptuous D-cup figures. In their aquatic forms, however, every last one of them featured a lower half covered in radiant pink scales.
Traditionally, they wore colorful shell bras paired with vibrant tie skirts designed to easily accommodate their tail transformations. They strictly avoided traditional footwear, preferring to go entirely barefoot or wear loose, minimalist sandals that could be kicked off at a moment's notice.
"Owe-kins? What is wrong, honey?" Ariel asked, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness.
I gently traced her cheek, subtly testing how my touch affected her anatomy while checking her reaction. I needed a plausible excuse to stop the aggressive assault of her lips.
"Ariel, honey, I just wanted to hold you and watch the view go by," I murmured softly. "This moment should be peaceful and loving. Tonight, we can let it all go, right? Besides, I made up another fun game for us to play later. It's called Hide and Seek. It’s going to make you laugh, cry, and feel so excited, hehe."
Yeah, I’m going to go hide, and I’m going to make damn sure this woman never finds me. I thought grimly. I was smart enough to utilize my Hidden Gu; once activated, she wouldn't stand a chance of tracking me down.
Ariel’s eyes lit up instantly. She was exactly the type of woman who would willingly play along with all of Owen's perversions, operating under the delusion that Owen was just a mindless simp wrapped around her finger. To her credit, she did have the real Owen wrapped tight; even Leandra lost ground when compared to this devastating water succubus.
She nodded eagerly. As I studied her, it seemed my casual touch wasn't actually causing her any discomfort.
Come to think of it...
I glanced over my shoulder and caught May West staring at me, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks. A cold wave of dread washed over me. Was the protective marking Opal had left on me completely gone? Or was it just temporarily hidden by my damn Fate Spider, Puck?
Panicking, I cast a mental transmission over to Opal, terrified that my hunch was right. If it was, the grand City of Atlantis was about to become my sunken graveyard.
[My wife Opal, do you still sense my mark? Because I don't think the other Mermaids can perceive it at all... This... This might be really bad, honey. Just nod your head if you can still feel it on me.]
Opal’s expression tightened instantly. She offered a stiff, formal nod. The look on her face suggested that someone had just strapped a million gold pieces to my torso alongside a massive sign reading: Come get me for free wealth.
[Opal, can you help me abort the mission?] I pleaded internally. [Maybe tell them King Owen had to rush back to the Balder Kingdom for urgent state matters?]
Opal offered a deeply apologetic smile, her head giving a microscopic, definitive shake in the negative. Damnit.
A Nereid maid—a delicate Water Nymph—interrupted my spiraling thoughts, stepping forward with a silver tray. She poured surface-world white wine into polished shell cups and served the gathering.
We crowded against the front-facing balcony of the second floor, watching as the massive entity known as Bubbles sank deeper and deeper into the ocean. At first, when Bubbles submerged into the clear, tropical sea, I had assumed water would completely surround us. I was entirely wrong. The pristine white stone Temple riding on the whale's back was actually a sophisticated type of deep-sea airship. Both the vessel and Bubbles himself actively repelled the ocean, forcing the water away from the hull. The creature essentially flew within its own localized gravity bubble—and now, finally,
I understood the literal origin of the whale's name.
The ride was mind-blowing. We were dropping like a stone, yet there wasn't a single splash or whisper of wind. The massive dome of compressed air held the ocean back, creating a perfectly clear, panoramic window into an alien world.
Sunlight fractured through the crystalline tropical water above, casting shimmering, shifting spiderwebs of gold and turquoise across the white stone deck. The upper layers of the sea were a hyper-saturated paradise. Massive schools of Sapphire Glass-Tetras drifted past our protective bubble, their translucent bodies catching the light like millions of living, floating jewels. They parted around our gravity shield in a synchronized, blinding wave of iridescent blue, only to snap back together the moment we passed.
As our descent accelerated, the bright turquoise faded into a deep, heavy twilight violet. The temperature outside plummeted, but inside the bubble, it remained perfectly warm. Bizarre, alien flora clung to the jagged underwater trenches below us. I watched as fields of Lunar Anemones rippled in the deep currents, their long, tendril-like stalks glowing with a pale, bioluminescent milk-white light that pulsed like a slow heartbeat.
Suddenly, the schools of smaller fish scattered into the dark as a true monster of the deep emerged from a shadow. It was a Starlight Leviathan—a colossal, eel-like apex predator stretching easily two hundred feet long. Its dark, obsidian hide was patterned with brilliant, glowing spots that mimicked a starry night sky. The creature drifted lazily just fifty yards from our rail, its massive, golden eyes locked onto Bubbles. The sheer aura of power radiating from the beast made my skin prickle, but Bubbles didn't even flinch. The whale simply pushed forward, its gravity bubble warping the water around the leviathan until the massive predator slipped back into the trenches.
Further down, a pack of massive, Demonic Great White Sharks tore through the deep, aggressively chasing what looked like prehistoric tuna. Their eyes glowed with a faint, demonic crimson light, a stark contrast to the shifting, bioluminescent landscape.
The entire journey to the capital was slated to take exactly two hours. The City of Atlantis relied on an ancient, high-grade teleportation band installed near its magical barriers, constructed in an ancient era long before the current Queen Atlantis Blue was even born.
Leaning against the forward rail of the second-floor balcony, I nursed my shell cup of white wine, taking slow, deliberate sips to pass the time.
Beside me, Ariel was now cradling Sky Blue, positioning the infant so I could admire our new baby girl. I had just named her myself, offering a silent, internal apology to the real Owen for giving his daughter the surname Sky—seeing as it was my own last name. Oops.
To my right stood May West, quietly sipping an amber liquid I had never encountered before. My well-versed, alcoholic nose picked up a smooth, velvety sweetness paired with a heavy, intoxicating aroma—a scent profile completely foreign to both Earth and Myst. When May noticed me leaning over to observe the supernatural liquid, her lips curled into a knowing smile.
"Oh, Owen, you haven't tried this during your previous two visits, right?" May asked smoothly. "This is our exclusive, Mermaid-only wine called Sunken Cinnamon Lily. As wonderful as it tastes, human men should never attempt to drink more than a sip or two. Otherwise... you might find yourself desperate to find a Mermaid to love, haha."
To demonstrate her point, she provocatively downed another few sips, proving the potent brew had absolutely no negative effect on her unique physiology. The aroma was incredibly alluring, triggering my curiosity.
"Lady West, what exactly is it made of?" I asked.
"Call me May," she corrected gently, her tone purring. "It's brewed from an exotic, amber-petaled flower that blooms exclusively inside the rotting hulls of sunken shipwrecks. Since we lack the standard breweries of the surface world, and our biology differs drastically, we make do with the deep-sea flora and ingredients available to us."
She slowly rubbed the smooth rim of the shell cup against her lower lip, lingering there before taking a small, audible sip. Her piercing blue eyes locked onto mine, heavy with unspoken intent.
"I actually have another full bottle of it downstairs in the storage hold, packed with the supplies heading to the Atlantis homeland," she murmured softly. "Would you care to come downstairs and share a drink?"
I was genuinely tempted. My body possessed a near-total resistance to natural toxins, meaning a localized aphrodisiac shouldn't be able to compromise my system. But as I glanced over to Ariel to gauge her reaction, I nearly choked on my wine.
Ariel had gone completely topless, casually breast-feeding Sky Blue right from the tap. Seeing my wide-eyed stare, she let out a sultry laugh, playfully shaking her free, engorged nipple right at my face.
"Owe-kins, forget that bottle downstairs! You definitely want a taste of Mermaid milk instead," Ariel teased, her voice echoing across the deck. "It's just as healthy for your body as Mermaid Tears. Go ahead, honey, take a bite! There are only women up here anyway, haha."
Opal rolled her eyes, suppressing a loud laugh. She kept her distance and ignored the display, fully aware that I had no intention of nursing from Ariel’s breast in public.
"I, uh... I think I'll actually take May up on her offer to try that new wine," I stammered, clearing my throat. "I've never had it before. I'll be back soon, love muffin."
Ariel was well aware of the precise chemical properties of Sunken Cinnamon Lily wine. She didn't have a single worry about foreign Mermaids taking advantage of her Owe-kins; only pure-blooded Mermaids—not Nereids or Sirens—possessed the specific biology required to trigger the drink's true response. If anything, she assumed the wine would simply put her Owen in heat, ensuring he would come sprinting back up the stairs to seek her out for a quickie. She hid her sly, triumphant smile behind her hand.
Just as I turned to follow the red-headed Mermaid, Frigg’s voice echoed sharply within my mind.
[Do you want me to shadow you?]
[No need,] I replied mentally, letting out a silent sigh. [I'm literally just fleeing from the threat of Mermaid breast milk.]
Frigg let out an internal, mocking laugh as she watched me make a swift beeline for the lower staircase.
Just as I was following May, I noticed the whale had leveled out its trajectory. Bubbles was currently navigating into a staggering, four-hundred-foot-high deep-sea kelp forest of gargantuan proportions. Towering, emerald-green stalks of abyssal kelp swayed lazily in the slow currents, their massive leaves thick and leathery. Strands of glowing, neon-orange coral wrapped around the base of the kelp like climbing ivy, casting an eerie, warm glow through the shadows of the forest. The surrounding sea life grew increasingly exotic and alien; schools of small, winged rays that looked like aquatic butterflies glided between the giant leaves, their wings trailing ribbons of sparkling, silver light.
Before I could lose myself in the view, May's soft, cool hand slipped into mine, firmly guiding me down into the belly of the vessel.
Ten minutes later, May and I were sitting side-by-side on a plush, waterproof sofa-daybed tucked away within the quiet confines of the first-floor resting chambers.
She uncorked the fresh bottle, pouring the amber liquid into a single, shared shell cup. To prove her intentions, she took the first drawn-out sip herself.
"Here, Owen," she whispered, her voice dropping an octave as she handed it over. "Just so you know I am being entirely sincere with you, and that I'm not playing any real tricks on you, haha."
Sip.
The moment the liquid hit my tongue, a smooth, velvety sweetness washed over my palate, immediately followed by a sharp, tingling heat that radiated down my throat.
Before I could set the cup down, May gently pried it from my grasp. She dragged her soft, delicate fingers deliberately across the back of my hand, a teasing, prolonged contact that made her intentions unmistakably clear. She was actively seducing me.
Sip.
May’s intense blue eyes bored straight into my single exposed sapphire eye. She sipped the drink with agonizing slowness, her gaze never wavering as she handed the cup back to me.
As I took another swallow, she reached up and single-handedly untied the high bun keeping her hair pinned up. The vibrant red locks tumbled sensationally over her bare shoulders, her lush red lips parting slightly as she exhaled a warm breath.
Sip.
I hadn't noticed the subtle shift in my internal chemistry. My core body temperature was rising rapidly, a systemic heat I foolishly attributed to May's striking charms and undeniably hot body.
With a fluid, practiced motion, she reached behind her back and unclipped her colorful shell bra, letting it clatter to the floorboards. Next, her fingers found the side-tie of her vibrant skirt. She unknotted the fabric and let it slide away, revealing that Mermaids eschewed undergarments entirely. Her fully exposed, flawless human form was laid bare before me.
Reclining gracefully onto her side across the daybed, she looked up at me, her voice dropping into a husky, demanding purr.
"Owen... do you find me sexy and attractive? I certainly think so," she teased, her eyes dropping down. "Because it looks like that spear in your pants is desperate to harpoon me."
I followed her gaze downward. Sure enough, I was rock hard, straining violently against the fabric of my trousers.
Before my rational mind could intervene, my mouth seemed to operate entirely on its own, blurting out my raw, unvarnished thoughts.
"May... can I make love to you?" I rumbled, my voice thick with sudden, overwhelming lust. "I want to cum deep inside your belly and make Mermaid babies with you."
I was completely oblivious to the fact that the Sunken Cinnamon Lily wine was a potent, specialized aphrodisiac combined with a low-grade truth serum. Its unique magical properties were engineered to completely bypass standard toxin resistances, systematically forcing a human male's primal desires to lock onto Mermaids—and only Mermaids—to the exclusion of all other living races.
May’s hands immediately flew to my waist, deftly unbuckling my heavy leather belt. Her eyes flared with an intense, unbridled desire.
"King Owen... please, do exactly as you like with me," she whispered breathlessly, her fingers working open my trousers. "Let's make beautiful Mermaids together, haha."
In that chaotic moment, I genuinely felt like the real Owen. My primal, base instincts were screaming at me to fill this woman to the brim with my hot essence, and I found May West to be utterly intoxicating.
As May caught her first full glimpse of the massive submarine I was smuggling beneath my clothes, her confident smile faltered for a fraction of a second, her eyes widening in sheer shock. I let out a feral grin, crawling over the mattress to position myself between her long, slender legs.
"May, welcome to the splash zone," I growled.
Mwah.
I captured her lips in a bruising, possessive kiss. The moment our bodies aligned, I realized firsthand that Mermaids possessed a highly efficient, natural internal lubrication. There was absolutely no need to waste time going slow or easing into it. However, my wine-addled mind completely failed to calculate a critical piece of information: despite her worldly demeanor, May West was actually an old virgin.
Slap. Slap.
The rhythmic sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the cabin as my hips swung forward, continuously thrusting my full, straining length deep into her tight, untamed depths. May gasped against my mouth, her fingers digging into my shoulders as she silently cast a continuous stream of localized healing magic on her own anatomy. The soothing magic cleared away the initial sting, allowing our frantic, desperate rhythm to intensify by tenfold.
The sheer physical pleasure of mating with a Mermaid was overwhelmingly intense, completely obliterating my track of time. Within minutes, driven by the mounting friction, I ground my hips forward, burying my harpoon to the absolute absolute root of her core.
Without giving her a single word of warning, I unleashed the full, unbridled strength of my Pure Yang and Nether-Ice Bodies directly into her womb, a massive torrent of superheated, highly concentrated essence. I didn't stop moving, maintaining a brutal, heavy pumping motion even as the fluid left my body.
The moment my hot semen splattered against the sensitive, interior folds of her flesh, an intense, icy sensation traveled backward, crawling directly up my superheated erection and flooding my groin. May’s entire body went completely rigid. She dissolved into violent, uncontrollable tremors, her anatomy locking up in a massive, prolonged seizure brought on by the devastating climax I had just forced through her system.
I had joked about a literal splash zone, but as her body buckled under the intensity of the orgasm, a massive, unprecedented flood of natural moisture leaked from her core, completely soaking the daybed beneath us. Still, I kept pinning her down, maintaining the heavy, relentless rhythm for what felt like an eternity.
Nearly half an hour later, the intoxicating effects of the wine finally began to recede from my system. I looked down, panting heavily, studying the sweaty, heavily flushed Mermaid beneath me. Her slender arms were still wrapped tightly around my neck, her breathing shallow.
"Thank you, May, for making love to me, haha," I murmured, leaning down to plant a soft kiss on her damp forehead. "I think I better let you up now, before my wife—or wives—come downstairs looking for either of us."
She offered a weak, genuinely enamored smile, her fingers tenderly tracing the line of my cheek. Before letting me pull away, she tightened her long, powerful legs around my waist one final time, locking me inside her.
"In the past, I honestly didn't like you," May admitted softly, her blue eyes searching mine. "But this time... I found myself completely desperate for you. With Ariel already established as your official Mermaid Mate, I truly didn't understand how or why you and I could successfully mate like this. But... there is an ancient Mermaid legend. A fairy tale about a legendary man who was entirely unbound by our Mermaid Curse. In the old texts, he is called Neptune."
She paused, her gaze intensifying. "Perhaps... you are his true reincarnation?"
As I slowly slid out of her tight embrace, May immediately channeled her innate Water element magic, sending a localized wave of pristine energy over our bodies and the soaked sofa, instantly cleansing away every trace of sweat and fluids.
"Like the Eastern Neptune Ocean?" I asked, adjusting my clothes as I helped May stand and piece her attire back together. "That specific Neptune?"
May offered a firm, definitive nod as she tied her skirt back into place. "Yes, exactly that one. The legends explicitly state that he possesses the unique divine right to mate with all Mermaids, as every last one of them naturally belongs to his harem as his wives. We even guard an ancient, sacred treasure in the deep that can only be claimed by Neptune himself. If... if you can truly prove to the elders that you are the Neptune the Mermaids have been waiting for, you should absolutely claim your birthright, Owen."
An internal wave of guilt hit me. I absolutely hated the fact that I had arrived in this world under Owen's identity, but given how many damn wives I had already stolen from the poor bastard, I practically owed it to him to turn his legal name into a living, breathing legend.
If I can help the real Owen find true Divinity through my actions, then I can finally feel a bit better about the situation in my heart, right? I reasoned.
May smiled warmly, her demeanor completely transformed as she looked up at me. "Owen, for the next two weeks of our journey, you can count on me entirely. Come mate with me whenever you wish. I will help you navigate the capital in any way I can."
I offered a firm nod, a wave of relief washing over me. Not only would her cooperation give me a perfect, ironclad excuse to actively avoid Ariel's suffocating advances, but I had also officially secured a high-ranking, loyal inside woman.
"Then I'm counting on you, May West," I replied, sealing our new alliance with a confident smirk.