Saul didn’t linger at the seabed for long. When he returned to Royer’s side, he had already composed himself.

“See, mermaids really aren’t interesting at all,” Royer laughed, thinking Saul’s expressionless face was due to disappointment after seeing the mermaid colony. “You must have seen that mermaid called Coral, right? But that kind of atavistic mermaid is just an exception among exceptions. Moreover, Alfonso has done dissection experiments—atavistic mermaids actually have worse adaptability to pollution than the mutant mermaids we create. They’re just pretty but useless trash. Of course, if you really like them, I can have Alfonso give you an atavistic mermaid, one that’s not sick.”

Saul didn’t respond, instead pointing downward and asking, “Can I take one back to study?”

Royer was indifferent. “Who would care if there’s one less fish in the sea?”

That was as good as agreement.

Saul planned to select one to take with him before leaving.

While observing the lazy mermaids below, he continued discussing Red Sea Tree matters with Royer.

After all, Royer was only interested in Red Sea Trees.

“If there were no Red Sea Trees, how much would black tide pollution affect the coastal residents? How wide would the range be?”

Saul had seen the Borderland swallowed by black tides in the golden pages’ preview.

It could literally be said that no one survived.

So how much would the pollution’s power decrease after being diluted by the ocean?

Royer didn’t immediately answer Saul. “Well, there are too many influencing factors. I’d need to calculate it. But I can lend you the historical records to look at—the Tribunal was established around that time period too. Of course, many things aren’t exactly the same as now, so it can only serve as reference.”

Saul nodded. He naturally understood these principles.

“Actually, the Tribunal’s transformation of Red Sea Trees wasn’t fundamentally to protect coastal residents,” Royer suddenly said seriously. “Can you guess who we’re truly trying to protect by expending manpower, resources, and vast magical resources to turn Nephret’s southeastern coast into a red sea?”

Saul originally wanted to say it was to protect the Tribunal’s wizards, but suddenly had a flash of inspiration and blurted out, “Protect Nephret Continent?”

“Smart!” Royer clapped his hands. “After the Abyssal Eye appeared, it devoured an entire continent. At that time, the remaining fifth-rank wizards on Nephret and Iskaper directly drove the two continents away from the Abyssal Eye just to extend their miserable lives. It’s just that the wizards on Iskaper were better at escaping, which is why Iskaper is now positioned between Stat Continent and Nephret Continent, well protected.”

Royer sneered.

“Now all the fifth-ranks are dead, and the mutations are gone. Fourth-rank wizards can’t move continents either, so they can only stay here and wait to die.”

“Is the Tribunal also waiting to die?” Saul didn’t believe that.

People waiting to die wouldn’t make so many moves.

Royer looked up at Saul, clearly having inside information, but he had no intention of telling Saul.

“If you join the Tribunal, you might become one of the few who know the truth,” Royer tempted Saul. “You know, for wizards, knowledge is sometimes more important than magical power.”

Saul smiled without speaking.

His identity was special, his position special. If he claimed to join the Tribunal, the Stargate Council would definitely be the first to turn around and hunt him down.

Even Master Gorsa couldn’t protect him.

Royer obviously wouldn’t consider so much for Saul. Seeing that Saul didn’t take a stance, his enthusiasm from their earlier conversation faded considerably.

“Think it over carefully. Soaking in this sea for too long isn’t comfortable either. Let’s go back.”

After speaking, Royer floated toward the surface.

Saul immediately followed.

Although Royer hadn’t emphasized that Saul couldn’t stay alone in the sea, Saul was still very self-aware.

In his current state, he was an honored guest at best, a prisoner at worst.

He seemed freer than in Sky City, but actually had to be careful with every step.

The closer they got to the surface, the more Saul thought, I still need to advance to fourth-rank. As long as someone is pressing down on you from above, there will always be times when you can’t help yourself.

Thinking about the people he’d met these past days, Saul couldn’t immediately think of who could become his third target.

Life in the Tribunal was too stable, and stable fate lines couldn’t provide much power of fate.

The only somewhat interesting ones now were the mermaid Coral and the puppet emperor Sander.

But both of these had actually weak strength and could easily die.

Although Saul could switch targets if they died, it would ultimately be troublesome.

And he didn’t really want to stay in Nephret either.

Returning to the surface, the two cleaned off excess seawater and stains.

“Honestly, if treating mermaids wasn’t the Chief’s order, I’d want to drag you to my laboratory right now.”

Looking at the mermaid Saul was carrying, Royer frowned with disgust. “Once you cure their disease, I’ll suggest to the Chief that we conduct a new round of modifications on the mermaids, maximizing their reproduction rate. That way, no matter how many die, we won’t feel bad about it, and you and Alfonso can free up energy to do some truly useful experimental research.”

Royer fundamentally disliked mermaids, considering experiments on mermaids a waste of time.

But he couldn’t change Frim’s decision, so he could only complain verbally.

He used to mainly complain to Alfonso.

Now his complaint targets included Saul as well.

Saul didn’t refuse. “Once I complete my current task, I’ll definitely visit your laboratory.”

After today’s visit to the Red Sea Trees, he had some preliminary ideas for modification plans.

It’s just that he didn’t have time now to complete the subsequent deductions for these ideas, so he could only bury the inspiration in his heart.

Leaving the Red Sea, Saul and Royer parted ways.

He brought the mermaid he’d randomly picked up from the seabed back to his temporary palace residence, while Royer was called away halfway by a message.

He left in a hurry, and it was unclear what had happened.

For the next three days, Saul conducted research on treating pollution in his room, and Kate gained a mermaid playmate.

It’s just that this playmate had too low intelligence, doing nothing but eating and sleeping every day.

What the mermaids ate were stem blocks from Red Sea Trees that stored pollution. The stem blocks also contained special substances made from blood extracted from Sander’s body.

This special substance was to mermaids what catnip was to cats—fatally attractive. Even though eating Red Sea Tree stem blocks made the mermaids very uncomfortable afterward, they couldn’t resist the temptation.

Kate originally wanted to taste the stem blocks, but was stopped by Saul.

“Actually, you don’t need to worry about my body,” Kate said. Having spent time with Saul, he’d discovered that this guy always went soft on people he acknowledged.

“Rather than experimenting with treatment plans on these mermaids who can’t express themselves, why not test them on me? I can give you more accurate feedback on the experimental conditions.”

With his ugly face, Kate spoke matter-of-factly, not caring at all that he might end up on an experiment table because of this.

[Actually, we can also enter the mermaid’s body!]

Inspired, Herman also contributed ideas for Saul’s treatment research.

After a moment’s consideration, Saul knew their suggestions made sense. Experiments with feedback were always more accurate.

But just as he was preparing to import consciousness bodies from the diary, someone knocked on his palace residence’s main door again.

“Lord Saul, His Majesty Alexandra requests your presence for a discussion.”

(End of Chapter)

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