CHAPTER 473: CHAPTER 329: THE FATHER LEAVES AND THE SON LAUGHS

Xu Gu entered the royal palace.

The royal palace was even more luxurious than he had imagined.

Despite Atlantis being merely a city, a secret realm, its internal area was extremely vast, one could say limitless, a world unto itself.

This royal palace, as the center of Atlantis, was once the palace of the Sea God.

Naturally, it was sufficiently luxurious.

At the same time, it was also full of the characteristics of Sea City.

Even Xu Gu felt that it was an eye-opening experience.

"Greetings, Young Master Xu!"

Along the way, all the commoners and those from the lower strata showed Xu Gu the highest reverence.

This reverence was heartfelt.

However, as they delved deeper and encountered increasingly powerful members of the Mermaid Clan with higher statuses, this reverence was merely a pretense and meant nothing else.

"My father and the other ministers are in the main hall, but my father’s health is deteriorating, and he can hardly stay conscious. We may be somewhat neglectful in receiving Young Master Xu, please forgive us."

A mermaid with peach blossom eyes, noble and elegant demeanor, and an excellent figure walked up to them.

With her appearance, all the other mermaids around her seemed to lose their luster.

As if pearls and jade paled in comparison to the bright moon, dull and unimpressive.

This woman was none other than Princess Vanessa, who had recently made Saint Zhou take action to stop Xu Gu and sought to take over the forces under the Fourth Prince’s pardon.

After all, Xu Gu was about to assume the position of Regent King, and he needed the higher-ups of the Mermaid Clan and those princes and princesses to witness it.

It was a declaration of Xu Gu’s identity.

"I understand." Xu Gu took another glance at Vanessa, not because of her appearance, but because he could sense that this woman seemed to be seducing him.

Of course, this wasn’t narcissism.

He had seen too many stunning women.

When this Vanessa looked at him, her eyes were enticingly soft, and her delicate fair body kept leaning towards him, subtly revealing her beauty and figure.

Her ambivalent stance was perfectly played.

Of course, Xu Gu could still discern that Vanessa’s attitude was not often displayed. Even though she tried to disguise it, some of her behaviors were still somewhat deliberate and stiff, as if it was her first time seducing someone.

He could even see the contempt hidden deep in Vanessa’s eyes.

And the aloof arrogance that she could hardly conceal.

He couldn’t help but scoff inwardly.

"The old King is dying and won’t last much longer. She wants to use the master’s power to secure the throne," said the Elf Queen incisively.

"Her ambition goes beyond that." Xu Gu’s expression remained the same, but his thoughts were amused.

If he really helped this woman ascend to the throne of the Mermaid King, it would not be long before she would turn her back on him and ’disappear’ him.

To completely take control of the power!

"Could she possibly escape from the master’s grasp?" The Elf Queen chuckled, "She’s just walking into the net."

Xu Gu gathered his thoughts and without chatting more with the Elf Queen in the Battle Space, he looked at Vanessa and said:

"Lead the way. Let’s meet the King quickly so as not to keep everyone waiting."

"Of course." Vanessa maintained a low profile, speaking very gently: "However, flying is prohibited within the royal palace, so I’m afraid it will be a bit troublesome for Young Master Xu."

Following that,

Xu Gu and his entourage took a chariot pulled by a sea horse Mechanical Monster, rushing to the royal palace’s main hall.

However, it wasn’t long before a sudden boom indicated trouble.

A monstrous snake fell from the sky, massive as a mountain, with one head and two bodies, spewing poisonous water from its mouth, possessing deadly poison and extremely strong corrosive properties.

It could easily kill and corrode a regular Divine General to ashes.

Some top talents would have difficulty dealing with it.

"Damn it!"

Vanessa was taken aback and panicked: "How could such a monster appear here!"

"It’s one of the Fourth Prince’s closest confidants!" whispered one of Vanessa’s retinue to her.

If one looked carefully, one could see that on the head of the monstrous snake, there were several strange, faceless figures standing, obviously in disguise, with very heavy Evil Qi.

"What!? Block them quickly!" Vanessa’s face changed drastically as she hurriedly ordered the guards: "What are you doing? Protect Young Master Xu!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

But as soon as her words were spoken,

the guards were already smashed into pieces by the tail of the giant snake.

The monstrous snake directly lunged at Xu Gu.

The assassins on the head of the snake had eyes filled with the intent to kill and madness as they said, "Off you go!"

Such drastic changes directly made some of the accompanying high-ranking officials and stunningly beautiful mermaid maids despair.

It seemed as though the scene of Xu Gu being killed on the spot was already visible.

However,

Xu Gu simply slapped down with his palm, Gang Wind intertwining, like a bone-scraping knife.

The strange snake and the few assassins were blasted into pieces.

Simple, decisive, domineering.

Fierce!

"Gulp."

Everyone present swallowed hard, greatly shocked, then their eyes lit up with excitement, admiring Xu Gu even more.

They had not seen Xu Gu’s majestic figure slaughtering all around at the Inner City gate, only heard about it.

They say seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times. Now seeing his tremendous and formidable might, these mermaid nobles admired and looked up to Xu Gu even more.

Even their tails went limp.

Xu Gu calmly glanced at Vanessa: "Let’s go."

"Okay." Vanessa swallowed hard.

She too was terrified by Xu Gu’s power.

At the same time, her heart started to waver.

This assassination, it was her arrangement, mainly to gauge Xu Gu’s strength.

To plan ahead for her upcoming schemes.

But not having tried would have been better, this attempt made her want to retreat.

Too frightening!

"Princess, that enchantress has gained the support of the Saintess of the Witch Clan, and her power has inflated immensely. We have no way out; we must get control over Xu Gu. Success or failure hinges on this!"

Vanessa’s confidant secretly messaged her; "Don’t worry, everything is arranged properly. Now that he’s entered our territory, do you think he can turn the tables?"

Vanessa’s eyes flickered, and in the end, she became resolute.

Making up her mind.

Inside the main hall,

all the high-ranking officials had arrived.

All were waiting for Xu Gu.

In the middle on the ice bed, the old King’s skin was parched, his breath weak, his eyes tightly closed, sunk in deep sleep.

Clearly, there wasn’t much time left.

To the left and right of the ice bed, stood two special figures.

One was the old King’s son, that is, Prince Owen, and the burly figure of Prince Song who was the complete opposite, Owen appeared very gentle and refined. It was even easy for people to feel that this man was too weak, somewhat like a pretty boy.

The other figure was like a Fairy descending from heaven, as if the most splendid Treasure between heaven and earth, capable of overshadowing everything else.

It was the Elf Queen—Liu Ying.

Dressed in a white long gown, concealing her mermaid tail, she was very gentle and shy, pure and out of this world, making others feel ashamed in comparison.

Even some high-ranking officials of the Mermaid Clan couldn’t help but fix their gazes on her, revealing a covetous demeanor.

"Greetings to Master Xu!"

With Xu Gu’s arrival, everyone reverently said.

"Greetings to Master Xu Gu~" Liu Ying’s voice was the weakest, like a fairy whispering in one’s ear, warming the heart.

Xu Gu nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping around in search of the Queen of Naga.

The second key to the Divine Treasure held by the Queen of Naga must be acquired.

As his grasp on Authority deepened, he increasingly understood the true value of the War God’s left behind treasures.

It could resolve the short lifespan detriment of the Chosen One from the Human Clan!

The Elf Queen, however, focused her attention on the old King, jeering out loud: "The irony of a father’s departure and a son’s delight. This ice bed will only hasten his death, not slow the passage of his life."

Without thinking, it was clear that someone had poisoned the old King, leaving him bedridden, waiting for death.

The act wasn’t very shrewd.

Yet, the old King’s Queen and children all chose to turn a blind eye.

"It’s the same with power struggles." Xu Gu was not surprised.

The rule within Atlantis was enough for them to take risks, not to mention that Atlantis had already re-emerged, the Sea God would return, and the revival of the Mermaid Clan was merely a matter of Time.

In such a scenario, to enact the farce of a father’s departure and a son’s delight, was all too normal.

Xu Gu did not retract his gaze, continuing his search among the attendees.

"There’s no need to look any further. It was their Queen." Ao Moyun said with a sneer.

"It should be her." The Demon Dragon King also said.

It smelled the scent of the Witch Clan’s Saintess, Lin Xuanji, on Liu Ying.