Starting from Zero Vol 4 Chapter 105

Before I can decide to ask her where we are, I saw my surroundings becoming brighter, as if the surface is below us! A giant, underwater city came into my view. There are all sorts of light sources among the buildings, illuminating the area.

Together with all the unknown yet beautiful fish crowds and glowing jellyfish around me, this place feels like a dream.

"Isn't it wonderful?" The Mermaid suddenly turned back and asked me.

"Huh? Oh! Yes, truly."
I admit I'm totally attracted by the scenery. Why is there something like this under the sea?

"This city won't survive for much longer."
She sounds...sad.

"But why? It's so beautiful."　　

"Our energy source is running out."

"Energy source? You mean, you need electricity?"
Funny. The company created a sea city that requires electric power?

But the Mermaid gave me a puzzled look. "Electricity? You mean lightning? Why would we need that?"　　

Okay...this means they don't know about electric. Maybe they use something else. The developers probably wouldn't place modern technology into this game. Maybe fire powders, or steam power, at best.

"Can you tell me about that 'running out' part?"

"It's our core energy source. It is failing, if we don't find something to replace it soon the city will stop functioning."

"That...isn't really enough explanation. Take me there. Maybe I can help."

"That would be perfect."
We continued towards the city.

When we're close enough I found out that this is not a city but a series of metropolises connected together. There are 13 half-sphere shaped dome structures, each protecting a city from the water. The Mermaid led me to one of the central ones.

When we approached the dome I saw a door. Well, at least I think it's door. The domes are transparent, while this "door" is blue, which really stands out.

The Mermaid swam straight through the door. I followed behind. Before I enter, I tried poking it with my hand. The inside is empty, I mean, there's no water inside!

"What are you waiting for? Come in." The Mermaid turned around and saw me still playing with the door. She went back and pulled me over. "If you help us solve our crisis, we can just give you some of these doors if you find them interesting."

"Oh!"
I kept following her while looking around at everything in curiosity like a country b.u.mpkin. All constructions here have round, smooth outlines. There are road lamps along the streets, poles with giant, white crystals on their tips. So the gentle light I saw from the outside came from them. Most buildings have pale yellow walls and pale blue doors. Colorful but pleasant to the eye.

There are pedestrians on the street. I only see young people or children. There's not a single elder for some reason. As King Conqueror said, they all have stunning looks. I don't feel special here but I'm sure I should never let Big Pot knows about this place or he'll just try to flirt with every Mermaid.

"Here." The leader stopped. "This is the energy tower of Atlantis."

The tower is at least 300 meters tall. It reaches all the way towards the dome. So this tower provides energy to support the domes and prevents water from coming inside. As I watched, I saw the tip of the tower blinking, and it sometimes gives out strange noises.

"Come on." She pulled me inside. There are four guards standing along the entrance but

they didn't say anything since their leader is here.

The object in the center immediately caught my attention. Actually it is the only object inside the tower. It's a...how do I describe it, an electric fork? There's a rectangle pedestal, about one meter tall, with a hollow on it. A water well-like structure is embedded inside it. A pitch black cylindrical object, 1 meter in diameter, is sticking out of the "well". Eight glowing sticks that look pretty much like fluorescent tubes are floating around it. They are slowly rotating, centered around the black stick. And it looks as if they may stop moving any time now.

"This is the 'crisis'?"

"That's right." She looks desperate. "This is the Magick Barrier Generator in Atlantis, which has been supporting all thirteen cities. It also provides us with everything else, protection, light, oxygen, food. Now it's about to stop moving. When that happens our cities will be completed immersed in water. Newborn Mermaids cannot breathe underwater in their starting years. If our next generation dies, our entire race will be no more. And Atlantis will stop existing."

"What's the cause? It has been well for many decades, if not longer, right?"

She pointed at the base of the cylinder, where another white crystal is located, bigger than any I saw outside.
"There, the energy crystal is depleted. It was violet once, the pale color indicates it won't last long. Recently, our barrier has begun to fade. Our demise will be any moment now."

"So...how should I help?"

" It's simple, really. Offer your energy crystal to us and everything will be solved!" She said that while floating about only one centimeter from me, looking at me with big, demanding eyes.

"I don't mean to be rude but, I don't have those things."

"Of course you do. I can feel it, there is one single energy crystal on your s.h.i.+p, a big one. That's why we attacked your s.h.i.+p in the first place."

"On my s.h.i.+p?" I searched around my brain. "Can you tell me where exactly? I must've forgotten."

"I...only have a vague idea. But I'm quite certain it's somewhere around the front deck of your vessel."

"Front deck...? The crystal cannon? It can't be..."

"Yes, or very close to it!" She began to use seduce tactic. "Pleeease, I'll give you anything in return! Pretty please!"

h.e.l.l no. Is this Mermaid trying propose--ahem!
"Too close!" I pushed her away from my face. "You don't have to do that. So what can you provide in exchange?"

"Exchange?" She stopped. Apparently she never considered it before.

Before she can give me an answer, someone else came in.
"Aldeina! Who is this?"
It's a Merman, also wearing armor. He's carrying a trident, must be another leader or someone with high rank.

"King Atlantis!"
The Mermaid went down on one knee. "This is a...friend, I found outside. He possesses the energy crystal we need, and we were talking about how to trade it."

"Oh? You have it?" I think his eyes are literally s.h.i.+ning. "My ears did not deceive me right?"

"Actually I'm not sure. Even if I have one...it is not as big as yours."

"Fret not!" His voice sounds too emotional for a king. "Size makes no difference now. It may be small but it will maintain our home for a while! Though it is true that the bigger is always the merrier."

I raised my hands. "About this, a tenth as big of yours."

"Good. Good! That will hold for at least another ten years! Haa-haha!" He stopped his laughter. "...You mentioned a trade, no?"

"Right. I know you need it but I didn't pick it up for free. I require something in return."
I do business, not charity. 　　

"Well...!" The king discussed something with the Mermaid and beckoned me. "Follow us."

We left the tower. After some walk we came to a warehouse-like structure, with two guards stationed in front of it. The king told them to push open the door and let us in.

It's quite big, with all kinds of stuff in it. But they are all covered under thick, black sailcloth. Maybe this is to protect the goods from humidity, since I don't think there is dust under the sea.
The king led me into the center. "This is what we can afford as exchange. Pick something you like."

"Alright, give me a moment."
I walked to a random section and uncovered the content. Then I'm...not sure how to react.
"Is this a motorbike?"
It does look like one, but something is different. From another look, I'd say this is a double motorboat! The vehicle has a beautiful, fish-shaped carve, seats, but without wheels. It's definitely a boat.
"Why do you even have these?"

He shrug. "They used to be for our naval forces, but..." He signaled Aldeina, who pulled out a pendant from in front of her chest. The pendant is actually a crystal. She pushed it into a slot on the motorboat. Whoom! Some water came from behind the boat.

It stopped as Aldeina un-plugged the crystal.
"See? They use energy crystals as power source. You know we don't even have much power left to support the city."

"I see."
I removed another cloth. There are a bunch of long, bar-like objects under it. Sticks?
"What are these?"

They both took a "stick" and held them up in front of them. Again, Aldeina put her crystal into a small slot on the stick. A semi-transparent blue barrier appeared between the two sticks.

I know this thing. This is the "door" through which we entered the city. It blocks water but doesn't affect individuals.

The king explained: "We used them as magic s.h.i.+elds before, as you can see, they also consume crystal energy."

"What's over there?" I walked somewhere else. "Weapons?"

"Oh, those are not weapons." The king walked to me and lifted the blanket himself. Gold. Blocks of gold. I'm not talking about gold bars, these things are as big as building bricks!
"Junks we collected from sunken s.h.i.+ps. They took too much s.p.a.ce so we melted them like this. Are they common on the land? Every time there's s.h.i.+p coming down, piles of trinkets or sculptures made from these materials will fill up the sea bottom. They're pollutions."

"You don't need them?" I pointed at the gold bricks, mouth agape.

"No. Why?" He looks puzzled. "We can't eat them. They're too soft to be used as weapons. And they're heavy too. We usually use them for construction. See our houses? One thing we like about it is that this thing never grows rust."

"Wait, all those walls, are gold??"
This is luxurious as s.h.i.+t!
"The roads are yellow, so you also use them to pave streets?"

"That's correct. Is it strange? Like I said, it's resistant to wear and rust, what else can we do?" 　　

"So you have a lot more of these?"

"Of course." Aldeina answered. "What you see here is only part of our yellow brick storage. There are more outside, our warehouse isn't big enough for them. For some reason all sea lives under the sea tend to avoid this material so we collect them here whenever possible to preserve our food supply. But these days we really don't have time to worry about such matter. We're running out s.p.a.ce as where to place these junk."

I looked at king Atlantis, drooling. "Can you ask someone to carry the blocks onto my s.h.i.+p? I've decided, I'll change the crystal for these!"

"Are you certain? You would want these 'junk'?" They are both shocked.

I just nod madly. "Yes, yes! The junk! Carry as much onto my s.h.i.+p if you want to rid of them."

"I can give you all the remaining ones. The only issue is whether your s.h.i.+p can hold them. They're heavy, if you hadn't known."

"Not a problem. I can just travel around if necessary."

"So, what about the crystal?"

"Oh, yes! Don't worry, it's yours now. You can ask your people to take it here when they return from moving the first load of bricks."

"It is settled!" He grasped my hands and shook. "Thank you my friend! You saved our city AND helped us clean up!"

"Ha har ha! Good doing business with you." We both laughed.

(Inside our minds)
King Atlantis: Fool. He gave us his energy crystal in exchange for a full house of garbage?　　
Me: Fool. One crystal for whole s.h.i.+pments of gold. I'll exchange all the gold into crystal pieces, and find Domergor to buy more crystals!
Let's seize the chance.
I quickly pulled the king. "As you said, that crystal can only last for a limited time. I can help you find more. Well maybe not as big as this one, but several smaller ones would suffice."

"You can?" King Atlantis became excited again. "Please do! We'll buy however many you can find! "

"Sure, I can help you. But, you see, I'm not the only one on the s.h.i.+p. I have helpers, and a whole s.h.i.+p of sailors, they're not free labor. "
Of course he knows I'm asking for payment.
"This storage holds everything we have. Take as you like, but please don't ask anything else."

"Oh don't worry, I won't ask too much. First, that fish, I mean boat. I want 200 of them."

"Not a problem. I give you 300."
He tried to give me more common stuff so I won't ask for precious ones.

"That s.h.i.+eld stick, one thousand." 　　

"Okay." He thought to himself. "The fool only asks for inexpensive merchandise. Now I don't have to worry about how to clean up our storage!" 　　

"That's it. About that yellow brick, I can get as many as I can right?"

"Yes. Considering your s.h.i.+p's size, we can provide you 10 full s.h.i.+pments!"

"Deal!" We shook hands again while wearing our own false smiles.

It's action time. First, the gold bricks. I tried to take them with my bracelet, but the system told me I can't put construction materials in there. So we'll have to carry them as is. Thank goodness they're not as heavy when moved in the water. Otherwise I don't think anyone can lift them easily..

King Atlantis summoned almost all Mermen in the cities to help carry them. I also asked Loong'er to help. She can move about ten of them each round.

Aldeina led us to where Bi-Lin is anch.o.r.ed. The other alliance s.h.i.+ps are already gone, of course. I saw Rose and the others moving around the rails calling me from far away. They've been looking for me it seems.
I summoned Phiona and asked her to fly up. Her flaming feathers are the best beacon.

"Over there!" Yuri saw me first.

I swam and climbed onto the s.h.i.+p, when Rose rushed to me and hugged me tight.
"Where were you?? And why were you not responding to my calls?" 　　

I just stroke her hair. Then I turned to Hawk. "Hawk, we got a good load of goods to carry around. Ask all sailors to get ready at the rear, near that hole."

"Hole?" Hawk scratched his head. "I was going to tell you something about that hole."

"Hm? Don't tell me something else broke on Bi-Lin?"

"Well, no. But..."