The Almighty Ring

Jiang Fei tried to exaggerate and as a result, the patrolman and the Inspector started to believe Jiang Fei’s position. As it was something of great importance, the Inspector dared not to make any decision about it. In the end, he decided to take Jiang Fei to meet someone of higher ranks!

The place where King Elric had sent Jiang Fei was part of the Naga territory, but it was only habited by Seafolks other than the Nagas. The Naga themselves would not stay at such a place.

The Inspector and the patrolman led Jiang Fei into the cone shell. The insides of the cone shell were just like any other office building. The only difference was the method of going up. Since everyone was swimming, there was no need for stairs. The Inspector led Jiang Fei across the building and into a backdoor where after a thorough frisk, he was allowed to use the Teleportation Circle. Jiang Fei went through the portal and was surprised to see a whole new world, one that was unknown to the Merfolk.

It was truly an underwater city, brimming with life. Like Shanghai, the place was bustling with Seafolk. There were shops, office buildings, and NPCs swimming in an orderly manner. The Seafolk that were living in this city consists of many different species. There were fish, crabs, lobsters, squid, sea horses, and other kinds of humanoid sea creatures.

“Dear Inquisitor, follow me if you will,” said the Inspector as he invited Jiang Fei to follow him. Even though he did not provide any proof of his identity nor his claims to have information about the Merfolk, it was not up to the Inspector’s decision to deny him entry.

Jiang Fei obediently followed the Inspector and cruised through the busy city. In no time at all, Jiang Fei arrived at a huge building made from corals and sea anemone.

“Please wait here, I will report your presence to the Commissioner of the city. If you are what you said you were, you will be invited by the Commissioner,” said the Inspector.

“Commissioner, you say?” said Jiang Fei. The person that the Inspector mentioned should be someone prominent and powerful like King Elric.

Five minutes later, the Inspector came back with a smile on his face.

“Dear Inquisitor, the Commissioner has agreed to meet you,” said the Inspector. Deep down, Jiang Fei was relieved that he had managed to even fool the highest ranking official in the city.

“Please, lead the way,” said Jiang Fei with respect.

“I will be happy to,” said the Inspector, in a similar fashion.

Unlike the dull structure of the cone shell outside, the inside of the coral building was vibrant. It was so colorful that Jiang Fei felt like it was made with pastel color and crayon! As expected of the Seafolk. They had lived in the ocean since the dawn of time. It was nothing but a small feat to decorate the building of the Commissioner to look like a painting from the renaissance period!

The Inspector knocked on a door and when a reply was heard, the Inspector turned to Jiang Fei and nodded.

“Welcome. Please come in,” said a beautiful sweet voice.

Lady Mirage (Naga, Lower Overlord)

Level: 90

Health Points: 100%

Note: Commissioner of the Gold Watercity.

“A lady commissioner!”

Jiang Fei was genuinely taken aback when he saw a female Naga sitting behind a desk, gesturing him to come in. Despite having three pairs of arms and lower half of a snake, she was extremely beautiful in nature. Her complexion was kind and mature that Jiang Fei could even look past the fact that she had six arms!

This was where Jiang Fei had little to no understanding of the Naga culture. If Isabella was still alive and well, she would explain to Jiang Fei that the Naga was once a race that lived in the surface world. They were once part of the High Elves. However, they had betrayed the Moon God’s beliefs and denounced their faith in Him. As a result, the Moon God placed a powerful curse on them and chased them into the sea.

The Moon God who had cursed them was not the feminine Moon God that the Dragon God had managed to court. It was the Moon God that lived as one of the Primordial Celestials.

Due to the power of the curse, the Naga gained an unnatural strength. As a race, they had to fight for their survival. When they were cast into the sea, they needed to compete with the Merfolk for territorial dominance. As a result, the great war between the Merfolk and the Naga started and has not yet seen its end. The Merfolk hated the Naga as they saw them as invaders, try to claim their beloved ocean.

Due to the curse, male Nagas were born with strength in exchange for their intelligence. They lacked the mastery of magic control but had beastly strength to compensate. Only a few had managed to raise the rank to be one of the governing officials while most of the officials were female. As a result of that, the Naga race was built on a society where the females took all the major roles in governance.

Since Isabella was not around to explain that to Jiang Fei, he had approached the Commissioner with genuine surprise. He had no idea that almost all the high ranking officials were females!

“Lady Commissioner, the Inquisitor of the Nephilim has arrived,” said the Inspector as he bowed respectfully.

“Thank you, Inspector. Mr. Inquisitor, would you please come closer?” said Lady Mirage. However, once Jiang Fei took two steps closer to her, the look in her eyes changed instantly. The effect of Romeo had affected Mirage.

She jumped up from her seat and swam towards Jiang Fei to welcome him in.

“I’ve been waiting for you. Someone! Please get this man a seat!” cried Lady Mirage as her professional demeanor was gone. Lady Mirage had instantly gained Friendly Reputation Level with Jiang Fei from Romeo and after that, the Blessing of the Dragon God granted another 5,000 Reputation Points, pushing the Reputation level further up to Approved and almost reaching Respect.

“Thank you, Lady Commissioner,” said Jiang Fei as he took a seat offered by the Inspector.

“So, Elite Explorer of the Nephilim, I heard that you have information about the Merfolk to offer,” said Mirage as she leaned against the desk.

“That is true,” said Jiang Fei.

“Could you please tell me about it?” said Mirage.

“I’m sorry, Lady Commissioner. The information at hand is too… important that I must talk to your leader!” said Jiang Fei as he put on a sad face. Even though he was already inside the Gold Watercity, which was considered as the capital of the entire Naga territory, it was still not the core! He needed to be next to the palace, or whatever building that the leader of the Naga was staying to gain access to the Holy Altar.

“Oh my. It seems to me that you wish an audience with the Queen herself!” said Mirage.

“That is correct. I need to speak with the Queen,” said Jiang Fei.

“I’m afraid I cannot allow that. See… you are an outsider, after all…” said Mirage with a broken heart. As expected, even though with Approved Reputation level, no random stranger could just simply talk to the Queen of the Nagas.

“I see…” said Jiang Fei with a solemn expression. He thought that he could at least persuade the female Commissioner to allow him since… she was already at Approved Reputation level.

“Well… I’m not saying it’s impossible. Perhaps if you could do something for me…” said Mirage.

“Please allow me. I shall abide by your request!” said Jiang Fei without hesitation.

“I could use your help in eliminating bandits outside Gold Watercity,” said Mirage.

“Ding! Mirage has a quest for you: Eliminating the Bandits! Would you accept it?”

Jiang Fei understood what he needed to do when the quest notification popped up on his feed. In order to persuade Mirage to allow him to talk to the Queen, he needed to complete a few quests in order to raise his Reputation level!

“Very well. I shall see this through,” said Jiang Fei.

If he was talking to a male Commissioner, he would take a much longer time to gain his trust. Thank god that the Commissioner was a female. That way, he would only need to complete a few quests! By the time he was done, if the Commissioner was not married, he could easily sway her heart to follow his every command!

“I bid thee the best of luck, Mr. Inquisitor,” said Mirage as she waved goodbye in a rather seductive manner.

“Lady Commissioner, I shall complete your request in the fastest speed possible,” said Jiang Fei as he bowed before he left.