54 Cat Dad is Invited
Chapter 54 – Cat Dad is Invited
The Strange Jade Plate was different from the ATM card that Otto had given him. Otto’s plate was a one-time use, and Xiaomao had already withdrawn the cash from the ATM card.
Now, Otto’s Jade Plate was just a normal jade. However, the key item emitted a golden aura, which attracted the attention of the mermen.
“BOB-BOB!”
The mermen stared at the jade plate with wide eyes. Some of them bowed their heads to Xiaomao.
Instantly, the mermen’s name changed from purple to grey, indicating that they were no longer hostile to Xiaomao, but they were not his friends.
DING
<The Mermen has recognized you as a friendly visitor. Current favorability: 1 Star>
This trick was never disclosed to the game community. However, it was recorded in the main scenario quest history after the related main scenario quest had been completed.
Xiaomao had read the scenario quest history for fun, treating it as a novel. He followed the predecessors and elite players’ journeys in what they did to unfold the mysteries of the game.
Here at this place, it was a hidden territory of a Chaos Demon Goddess, who called herself Chang’e.
Although the name of the goddess sounded similar to the Goddess of the Moon Chang’e, she was not the same person. In this game, she was a concubine of a mysterious entity, who was behind all Chaos Demon Gods and Chaos Demon Goddesses far in the late-game scenario stories.
The Chaos Demon Goddess dispatched her apostles here to set up a secret operation headquarters on this world. These apostles instead created a sanctuary and a shrine to worship Chang’e. However, because of the mermen’s forgetfulness and the mermaids’ clumsiness, they lost several artifacts of Chang’e in an accident.
One of the artifacts was none other than the bronze model, which Xiaomao had traded with the safe zone’s NPC.
Coincidentally, the NPC vendor was also an apostle of Chang’e, who was searching for the bronze model’s whereabouts.
This was the reason why Xiaomao never offended the NPC even though he had the 100% loot rate. Provoking an end-game boss would have spelled a disaster to his character and the long-term reputation with the mermen clan.
Still, by trading away the bronze model, Xiaomao earned the mysterious jade plate as a token of friendship. And by showing the plate to the mermen, they showed respect to the plate owner. All defensive mechanism of Chang’e Sanctuary was also disabled as long as Xiaomao maintained a good relationship with them.
There was also a secret mechanism here. Had Xiaomao come here with the bronze model, the mermen and all NPCs down here would have mistaken Xiaomao as a robber, and they would have killed him on sight and stripped away the bronze model. Then, he would have gotten nothing in return!
Xiaomao kept flashing the jade plate and descended. He landed on a platform in front of a jade mermaid statue, which stood tall in the middle of the lake.
The green light from the lake shone upon the life-size mermaid statue. Her beauty was superior to any real woman that Xiaomao had seen. When compared to Wei Zhi, the tracker girl couldn’t hold a candle to the mermaid’s charm.
The statue’s pretty face and perfect body were enough to captivate any man. Many gamers in Xiaomao’s previous life fell in love with Chang’e and joined the Chaos Demon Goddess’ faction because of her beauty.
Meanwhile, Xiaomao had seen the screenshots of the demon goddess’ real appearance, and he knew that the goddess already had a husband. He didn’t feel anything by looking at her statue.
Instead, Xiaomao glanced at the basket of fruits, that the statue was holding.
The fruits were not a part of the stone statue. They were real spirit fruits, which could increase any player’s spiritual roots like crystalized Qi items that Xiaomao had obtained from elite monsters.
Xiaomao was tempted to take them, but he reminded himself that it was also a trap of this place. The mermen worshiped the goddess, and the fruits were their offering. Had Xiaomao stolen them, he would have offended the native.
He looked down and inspected the foundation of this statue. It was made of square jade pieces like bricks. However, one of them was missing.
Xiaomao put the jade plate into the empty socket. He patted it several times to make it fit into the empty space.
RUMBLE
The lake trembled as if a mechanism of this dungeon had been activated.
Now that Xiaomao used the key item, he was no longer at the risk of being exposed to the server’s global announcement.
“BOB-BOB!”
“BOB-BOB!”
The mermen had been observing Xiaomao ever since he had landed near their favorite statue. Upon seeing that Xiaomao added another piece of jade to the foundation of the jade statue, they cheered.
RUMBLE
A wild mermaid appeared. She jumped out of the lake and hovered over the water, sizing up Xiaomao.
The woman had wavy green hair. Her fish scale matched her hair color, but her golden pupils and dark sclera looked the same as other corrupted followers of a chaos demon god.
The mermaid’s grace, face, and attractiveness were inferior to Chang’e. She wore a clam bikini, and her fish scales hid her womanhood. Nothing PG+ could be seen. Still, her luster and smooth white-jade skin and her ample bosom were erotic enough to make any man crazy.
Although the mermaid was attractive, Xiaomao’s fur and tail stood up in fright because of the mermaid’s purple name and her title.
Nameless Undine, the Apostle of Chang’e, Level (????)
The suffix of the NPC was clear. She was a follower of Chang’e, the Chaos Demon Goddess. Again, she was a dangerous roaming NPC with four digits in level.
DING
<Nameless Undine appreciates your contribution and your friendly gestures. Current Favorability: 0.5 Star>
Xiaomao was relieved, but he didn’t let down his guard. He lowered his head and bowed toward the apostle.
“A catopus? Where did you get the jade plate?” Asked Undine.
“From an apostle on the bridge, munya,” Xiaomao looked up, gazing at the bridge tower.
Undine also looked up. A few seconds later, the NPC vendor from the safe zone teleported here and floated on top of the lake. The vendor took off the hood robe and revealed herself.
She was another mermaid. Different from the nameless undine, she had long straight black hair, pale flawless skin, and round eyes. This woman, too, was a goddess-like beauty.
Nameless Nymph, Apostle of Chang’e, Level (????)
Although the two mermaids were important NPCs, none of them had a proper name as they were called by their race. Still, the suffix of these women and their levels made Xiaomao uncomfortable.
Deep down inside, Xiaomao had the urge to enslave them. However, he was aware that Providence Song might not be effective against purple-named NPCs or monsters.
The vendor NPC looked at the local undine. She brought out the bronze model of Chang’e.
The undine gasped in delight. She clapped her hands and praised the vendor.
“Good job finding that! Now, we only need to find the last one! Where did you get it?”
“I got it from that kitten. I gave him the plate, but he put it back to the statue instead of bringing it to you in the palace.”
The two floating mermaids gazed at Xiaomao. He gulped and lowered his eyes, trying his best not to look at their seductive bosom.
“You, the cat.”
“Yes, munya?” Xiaomao raised his head, but he averted his eyes, avoiding the jiggling white mountains.
Their bikinis were too lewd! Their clam bikinis were only big enough to cover their nipples!
“I see that you and I have many things in common. We are sea folks, and so are you. We hate dogs, and you seem to be fighting them for a while. And now, you have greatly contributed to the Temple of Chang’e.”
“I only return what I found to the rightful owner, munya.”
“Good.”
DING
<Nameless Nymph likes your honesty. Current Favorability: 1 Star.>
<Nameless Undine appreciates your contribution. Current Favorability: 1 Star.>
After their favorability reached 1 star, their names turned grey. Xiaomao was relieved that they wouldn’t randomly attack him in the future unless he did something wrong.
“Little cat, I think you earn the qualifications to join our ranks. How about it? Want to convert to our temple and become our lady’s follower?”
DING
<Nameless Undine has invited you to join the Mermaid Kingdom!>