The World Is Mine For The Taking

Chapter 957 - 146 - Slave Market Infiltration (3)

Well, she really did sound like she wanted it—like deep down, she genuinely wished to see me succeed, to watch me rise and conquer this entire world, to make it mine piece by piece. It made me wonder... how would someone like her, who had always been there on the sidelines, quietly watching, secretly rooting for me, actually feel if I finally pulled it off? If I actually achieved something that grand?

"But what would be in it for me, though?" I asked, my tone casual, though my eyes stayed sharp on her.

"This isn’t my body, so I can’t just give it to you," she said smoothly, tilting her head a little. "You’d need Su’s consent first. I can’t exactly let you have sex with me while using her body, can I?" There was a hint of mockery in her voice, but also something playful beneath it. "Well... if you managed to get to her, then maybe we could strike a deal. You’d get Su and me together. Don’t you like the sound of that? Two in one. You’d basically be getting two women in your harem at the same time."

Her words hit like a little spark in the back of my mind. I won’t lie... I liked the idea. It was tempting. Basically, she was offering herself up, but not at the expense of Su’s will. Even if I tried to romance Han and ended up having sex with her, it was still Su’s body, which meant I had to get Su’s consent first before moving forward. And yeah, that made sense. I liked the proposal, but if I was being honest with myself, it wasn’t something I really needed right now. It didn’t feel like enough to match what she wanted from me. Just giving herself wasn’t equal to the demand she was making.

I needed more. Much more than what she was currently offering.

"It seems like our body isn’t exactly enough for you, huh?" she teased, her lips curling into a sly smile that looked both amused and knowing. "Well, that’s fine. I didn’t expect you to agree right away. That’s why I’m going to offer you something else. How about our assistance with your infiltration mission? We’re slaves there, after all, and we’ve seen plenty. We know the terrain better than most, even in the deepest levels."

"Oh?" I raised a brow, leaning in slightly, testing her words. "So you’re offering me your assistance? Honestly, I feel like that’s something we really could use... but why do you think that alone would be enough to make me agree?"

"Level five," she answered, her tone dipping lower as if she was about to spill a secret. "That’s where we were locked up. And I think you’ll find something pretty... and I mean, really pretty interesting there to add to your little collection. Just the day before you bought me, I overheard the guards. They said they’d caught a mermaid."

My head tilted. "A mermaid?"

The word alone pulled me into memory. Mermaids. They were beings I only ever knew as myths back in my previous world. They were half-human, half-fish, and they were always described as living in the sea, in particular in the infamous Dark Ocean. That place wasn’t just dangerous. I heard it was a nightmare, a vast expanse of water where even the most skilled pirates had to tread carefully to survive. And yet, somehow, there were people crazy and talented enough to pull off something as insane as capturing a mermaid from there.

Catching a mermaid wasn’t some easy task, though. It was damn near impossible. That’s why selling one was ridiculously expensive, costing no less than a thousand gold coins just to buy a single mermaid slave. And still, it wasn’t like mermaids would ever willingly allow themselves to be captured alive either. No. The moment they were taken out of their waters, they’d unleash their deadly poison magic, killing everyone around them instantly—though the cost of it was their own life.

So yeah, capturing one alive was almost unheard of. Even then, when they eventually died, their bodies could be harvested. The poison would fade, and what was left could still be valuable. Mermaid blood, for example, was one of the main ingredients for—

"Not just any mermaid," Han cut in, pulling me back to her words. "They said she’s such a beautiful catch that some of the bandits wanted to take turns with her. Raping a mermaid... even famous pirates back in my days hadn’t done so. So naturally... they were too scared and really terrified she’d release her poison magic and kill them all in one go. However, do you wanna know why she hasn’t used it yet?"

I thought for a second, my gaze narrowing. "Considering that using it would kill her, my guess is she’s too important to throw her life away... or maybe she doesn’t even know how to use it yet. Or at all"

"You’re right with that assumption," she said, smirking like she was enjoying this little game. "She might just be the princess of the mermaid kingdom. Wouldn’t that be fun for you? Imagine it—having not only an elven princess in your harem but a mermaid princess too. Isn’t that something worth looking forward to?"

"And how the hell am I supposed to believe what you’re saying is true?" I asked flatly. "For all I know, this could just be a bluff. There might be no mermaid at all, and you’re just luring me into a trap."

"I don’t find any fun in boring tricks like that," she replied without missing a beat. "You already know that about me, don’t you?"

Well yeah... she wasn’t wrong. From what I’d seen of her, she really didn’t get her kicks out of doing mundane, predictable crap like that.

For now, I had to take her words as they were. If what she said was true, then there was a real chance I might gain something huge out of this.