Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

After following the mermaid captain out of the submersible, they began swimming through the water.

One advantage of undersea civilizations was that their cities could more easily expand in the “vertical dimension.”

Swimming up and down was always easier than flying.

So although submersibles had designated routes through the city, there was no need to lay out special “roads” for swimming “pedestrians.”

There was plenty of space.

The three of them swam swiftly underwater, and Lin Yu got a better view of the entire city of Baobol.

Merfolk who looked beautiful and tall by human standards passed back and forth, most carrying things they had bought or holding delicious ingredients. The Tide Summoning Festival, a holiday centered on feasting and trade, had clearly breathed a great deal of life into the city.

Of course, most of the merfolk swimming around outside had multicolored tails.

“Everyone’s shopping. Things really are cheap right now, and there are plenty of good products from other kingdoms,” the mermaid captain said enthusiastically. “Of course... you’ll also see lots of merfolk preparing the branch venues. Even though everyone’s here for the main venue, we can’t let the branch venues bring shame on us merfolk.”

As they talked and swam, they drew closer to the teleportation array.

Even without the mermaid captain’s explanation, Lin Yu could recognize the teleportation array from a distance. A huge, silver-white, ring-shaped structure with an opening at the top stood among a cluster of cylindrical buildings, making it conspicuous.

The long lines of merfolk, humans, and Sea People there only confirmed Lin Yu’s guess.

“There are so many people!”

Pure Abyss really did have an extraordinary population density. Even accounting for Baobol’s enormous size and the Tide Summoning Festival being its grandest holiday, the densely packed crowds still made Lin Yu feel as if he had arrived at a popular tourist attraction during a holiday.

There were more people waiting in line at this teleporter than there were people on the entire Sixth Island!

The total number of merfolk, humans, and Sea People in Baobol right now might even exceed the population of the entire Misty Islands realm.

April sighed too. “I hate waiting in line most of all...”

Despite that, the three of them joined the back of the line.

“Don’t worry. It looks like a lot of people, but they let them in wave by wave, and thousands can go through at once. It actually moves pretty quickly.”

As the mermaid captain spoke, he craned his neck. “It’s a shame you two lost your identity documents. With your family backgrounds, you might have been able to use the VIP entrance. Want to go ask and see?”

As he spoke, he looked toward the line on the other side, which was noticeably shorter.

The merfolk waiting there had tails of very pure colors.

April shook her head. “No need. We’ll just wait here.”

After all, they really didn’t have any identity documents.

But even though the two of them had resigned themselves to patiently waiting in line, their attempt to do so ran into trouble.

“Woo! Woo!”

A piercing alarm sounded as two enormous, golden, spherical submersibles ignored the designated routes and descended straight down from the surface.

“What’s going on?”

Lin Yu frowned.

April took a look and quietly explained, “They’re merfolk royalty!”

The mermaid captain immediately turned solemn. “It must be the lord of Baobol. He should be heading to the Sea Demon capital to celebrate the Tide Summoning Festival too. But why is he taking the teleportation array? He should be traveling by submersible!”

“Who knows? Maybe he just felt like it.”

April looked at the glittering golden spheres as she spoke.

The doors underneath the golden submersibles opened. Two lines of merfolk guards emerged, their tails a pure but rather muted color. Then, surrounded by silver-tailed merfolk carrying metal spears, three merfolk with glittering golden tails swam out.

They were probably the local lord and his two family members. The largest was the lord, a smaller one was his child, and the medium-sized one was either his adult child or his wife.

After all, Lin Yu couldn’t tell a merfolk’s sex by its appearance. The species was somewhat androgynous overall.

He still didn’t know whether the mermaid captain was male or female.

“Move aside! The teleportation array is temporarily closed!”

“This area may not be used until Prince Kede has passed through!”

A silver-tailed mermaid called out loudly. His voice formed tangible ripples that traveled through the water and echoed in front of the teleporter.

The other merfolk heard the order and promptly opened a path.

The mermaid captain pulled Lin Yu and April back as well.

“Now that’s what you get with a real feudal kingdom. They’re a lot more brazen than those capitalists in Sleepless City who call themselves ‘nobles.’”

Lin Yu grumbled inwardly, but quietly moved out of the way.

The other merfolk had no objections, though a few Sea People and humans looked a little indignant.

“What kind of sense does that make? It was almost our turn!”

Lin Yu heard a few complaints mixed into the crowd. They had clearly been spoken by humans.

After all, the sound and habits of human speech were quite different from those of merfolk.

The voices weren’t loud, but Lin Yu caught them in the silence.

And Lin Yu wasn’t the only one who heard the complaints.

Prince Kede, who was making his way through the crowd toward the teleporter, stopped moving his broad golden tail fin.

“I heard someone seems to have a problem with me.”

His voice rang out, and Kede’s gaze swept over the crowd. “It is only right that I, whose bloodline is noble, enjoy more privileges than you. I bear greater responsibilities and oversee more duties. My ancestors built this teleporter and all the shipping routes in the city, and they have continued to be maintained because of me. Allowing you to use them is already a privilege. You should be grateful!”

“Apparently, you aren’t grateful to me...”

A smaller golden-tailed mermaid beside him interrupted Kede.

“Father, let’s go. I can’t wait to use the teleporter. Why waste your breath on these low-blooded commoners and outsiders?”

Prince Kede smiled faintly. “You’re right, my child. I shouldn’t waste my breath. Still, it’s important to educate them. Let me show you how to handle a situation like this. I hereby announce that because of the ignorant remarks made by someone among you just now, taxes throughout Baobol will increase by five percentage points next quarter, and taxes on everyone present today will increase by seven percentage points.”

“Especially the humans and Sea People who have come to Baobol today. Whether you’ve come to live here or do business, I’ll raise your taxes by ten percentage points from now on.”

As he spoke, he turned to the silver-tailed merfolk beside him. “Read out the announcement, record these people’s identities, and prepare to enforce it.”

With that, Prince Kede prepared to move on.

But...

A sigh came from the crowd behind him.

“Some clueless bumpkin who’s never even been to the Central Sea, yet he’s here swaggering around like he owns the place.”