Douluo Continent: On Becoming a God Through Science

Chapter 166 is another instance of playing with children.

You Chen naturally understood Lina's thoughts.

Compared to her sister, Regent is indeed more stubborn and foolish.

Normally, You Chen wouldn't bother with such an incomprehensible woman.

However, he had promised Lina beforehand.

Seeing that Lina and Liya were both very dedicated to him, and that Liya had also shown considerable management skills, You Chen decided to intervene.

If her sister were to run off and die out there, it's obvious that Liya's work enthusiasm and loyalty would drop, a situation that You Chen certainly doesn't want to see.

However, You Chen still planned to try Regent first.

In order to achieve this goal, You Chen deliberately spread rumors, making Li Jing aware of the fact that he had taught Li Ya the supreme spiritual secret technique.

Lijing was completely unaware that all her reactions were being observed by Youchen's divine sense.

Fortunately, although Regent clearly showed her resentment and unwillingness, she did not generate a task on Youchen's panel.

Lina, who witnessed the whole process, was terrified, though she didn't know what You Chen was thinking.

"Master, that child is just a little slow-witted. At most, he only thought about running away. He never intended to do anything detrimental to you!"

Lina hurriedly contacted You Chen, her voice frantic and anxious: "As long as Master is willing to forgive Lijing's disrespect, I'm willing to do anything!"

You Chen looked at Lina, who had poked her head out from her spirit ring with a pleading expression, and was speechless.

Seeing the other person's inexplicably flushed face, You Chen recalled that he had forgotten to turn off the power to Lina when he was disciplining Poseidon, and immediately understood what was going on.

Looking at Lina's expression, which was clearly fearful yet also contained a hint of anticipation, You Chen really didn't know how to comment.

Are you sure you want to make a deal, or are you asking for benefits?

Besides, he hasn't even said what he's going to do to Regent yet, has he? Didn't he already promise to solve the problem of Regent trying to run away? Why would he still have this worry?

but……

You Chen glanced at Lina's stunningly beautiful face and the luscious look on it. There was no reason to let such a delicious meal slip by.

Even though his physical aptitude had improved, You Chen still preferred research to improving his physical body.

This physical cultivation was too repetitive, and even You Chen found it somewhat boring.

Using this kind of thing as a break from the monotonous life of cultivation is a good choice.

It's also a good opportunity to release the blood rush that inevitably occurs during the expansion of physical strength.

You Chen immediately took out Lina's juvenile body from the refrigerator and said, "I told you about the issue of reshaping the body before, right? Actually, the process is much simpler when you have the original body. Even now, you can briefly return to your original body. It's just that you can't go too far away from me, and you'll need a longer rest afterwards."

Upon hearing this good news, Lina's eyes lit up immediately.

With You Chen's approval, it flew out of the soul ring and directly merged into its original physical body.

It must be said that the Douluo world is a very magical world, where the influence of the realm of idealism can be clearly seen.

In the original story, after Xiao Wu's soul entered the body of the juvenile rabbit, it quickly expanded back into human form.

And Lina is pretty much the same now.

The body, which originally looked like a five or six-year-old loli, underwent a freakish growth after the soul was injected into it, instantly growing back to its original three-meter length.

"I...I really turned back!?"

Lina flapped her tail, wiggled her head, looked left and right, and after confirming the feel of the fish several times, she finally let out a joyful cheer.

"That's great! Thank you, Master!"

Lina showed no awareness of being a nearly 600,000-year-old woman. She jumped onto You Chen like a little girl, happily wrapping her fish tail around his waist and rubbing her collagen-rich cheeks against his chest.

This was also the first time You Chen had observed the mermaid's body structure up close.

To be honest, You Chen was really curious about the differences between mermaids and humans in that area.

Noticing You Chen's gaze, Lina recalled her earlier words, her pretty face flushed red, but she didn't hide it. Instead, she deliberately or unintentionally struck a somewhat alluring pose that accentuated her figure.

"Master~~~"

Lina clung to You Chen, her eyes filled with seductive allure, and her voice was as soft as water droplets.

To be honest, You Chen didn't know why the sea princess had suddenly become aroused with him.

If we really want to analyze it in detail, it's probably because they were conquered by You Chen's strength, grateful for You Chen's keeping of his promise, had a Stockholm syndrome that made them dependent on You Chen, were attracted by You Chen's otherworldly appearance, or a combination of the above.

Just as men can fall in love at first sight with a beautiful woman without knowing her at all, it is also common for women, who are more driven by feelings, to be attracted to and conquered by a strong and charming man without much interaction.

However, there's no need to do such unromantic analysis right now.

You Chen has come to Douluo Continent and has already tasted fox spirits and dragon girls, but this is his first time with a mermaid...

However, that doesn't detract from its charm.

You Chen smiled faintly and gently patted the part where Lina's human body and fish tail connected, as if he had touched some sensitive spot, which made the mermaid queen shudder again.

Then, he brought his cheek closer and whispered, "I have a plan, and I hope you'll cooperate with me, Nana."

"I'll do whatever you say..."

Lina's ears turned bright red, and her voice became soft and sweet.

Even though she was greatly shocked after hearing the details of You Chen's "plan," she still nodded shyly in the end.

"I only agreed because I had no choice but to, so that Master could forgive Regent. Yes, it was all for Regent's sake."

Lina silently hypnotized herself in this way.

……

On this day, Regent strolled through the passageways of the Crystal Palace again.

With a sour face that made the patrolling sea spirit beasts shudder, she silently observed the patrol routes of the surrounding spirit beasts, clearly familiarizing herself with and planning her own escape route and timing.

"Mother, Liya, you've both disappointed me so much!"

Regent crossed her arms, recalling the surprise of her mother's reappearance a month ago, and the shock she felt when her mother spoke to her afterwards.

"Lijing, after I pleaded with my master, he agreed to protect the mermaid race. So what if that captive is the high priest? We never clearly formed a defensive alliance, and most importantly... even the high priest himself was defeated. How do you plan to resist? Even for my sake, please show the master the respect you deserve. Don't put me in a difficult position."

Regent couldn't understand why her mother had given in so easily. Was it because she had been promised the chance to be resurrected? Was it really worth abandoning her dignity for just that? What about the merfolk's past principles?

Moreover, who knows, that promise might just be an empty promise to deceive the merfolk into serving them!

However... Regent ultimately didn't want to put her mother in too much of a difficult position.

So after that, at least on the surface, Lijing suppressed her dissatisfaction and resentment towards You Chen, took the initiative to apologize, and greeted You Chen with respect whenever they met afterward.

But this does not mean that she has given up the idea of ​​escaping the man's control.

Instead of rashly approaching her former servants or the sea spirit beasts under her command, she immediately went to her beloved younger sister.

However, after seeing how devoted Liya was to You Chen, and even offered many cruel suggestions regarding the interrogation of Poseidon, Lijing backed down.

She realized that she had never truly understood her sister, and from now on, she felt that she would never understand her again.

She abandoned the idea of ​​persuading her sister to run away together.

Just as Regent was preparing to conspire with several familiar sea spirit beasts to escape, news came from the Crystal Palace that You Chen had stepped in and dealt with the three 100,000-year-old spirit beasts that were trying to invade.

Seeing the soul beasts who seemed to have forgotten that many of their kin had died tragically at You Chen's hands just a month ago, and were now celebrating You Chen's power and thanking him for his protection, Li Jing felt a chill run down her spine...

She realized that probably no one would truly support her.

Because both the former and current Sea Princesses, as legitimate members of the Sea Princess lineage, support You Chen, and You Chen himself possesses unparalleled power.

She possesses neither any noble cause nor the means to offer other sea spirit beasts any benefits or protection that would tempt them.

Perhaps there are indeed people in the vast sea spirit beast group who share her hatred of the enemy, but Lijing knows that she does not have the insight to see that way and cannot bear the risk of being reported to You Chen.

She... had no choice but to escape alone.

She wanted to escape this place that felt completely foreign to her.

Having made up her mind, Regent continued to scout and plan her escape route in the Crystal Palace as always.

"Um?"

Suddenly, a look of joy appeared on Regent's face.

As she walked, the surrounding sounds gradually diminished.

She realized that she had reached a point where the patrol personnel were not present.

She silently noted down the time and approximate location, then continued walking forward.

She needed to carefully investigate the exact size and extent of the gaps in this patrol route.

This is the only way to connect it with her other route plans.

To Regent's surprise, after walking through several branch passages, she still didn't see any patrolling personnel, and the sound of patrolling footsteps gradually faded away.

Even if the patrol route planning was flawed, these gaps are far too obvious! Who arranged this patrol plan?

Although she had already decided to leave Crystal Palace, Regent still felt a bit of a sense of ownership and couldn't help but feel some resentment in her heart.

Continuing the investigation with these lingering emotions, suddenly, some indescribable sounds reached my ears.

Although Regent was inexperienced, she was not so ignorant as to not even know what the sound was.

"So that's how it is!?"

Upon hearing this voice, Regent's face first flushed red, then turned to anger.

She has figured out why there are no patrols in this area.

Nine times out of ten, it was a sea spirit beast that deliberately distracted the other patrol personnel to make it easier for itself to do this.

Lijing raised an eyebrow, and suddenly a brilliant idea flashed in her mind.

"Perhaps I can use this as leverage against these two people who are disrupting public order and morality, and get them to assist me afterwards."

So, Regent concealed her presence even more and silently swam toward the room from which the sound was coming from.

However, what puzzled Regent was that the water supply in the corridor where the room was located had been completely drained, creating an environment similar to an underground prison, where there was air but it was slightly damp.

Although Regent found it strange, she didn't dwell on it too much.

Although sea spirit beasts prefer to live in water, they are not immediately unable to move without water. In fact, a large number of sea spirit beasts can live on land for short periods of time.

It's even possible that the water drained from this area, including this room, was deliberately removed for some special purpose... like humans playing in the bathroom.

Regent didn't care what this guy who abused his power was up to; all she cared about now was whether she could catch them red-handed.

Trying to minimize the sound generated from the water into the air, we continued forward.

The room wasn't completely closed, which is why such a clear sound could be heard.

She pressed herself against the crack in the door, and then stared wide-eyed in shock.

"W-what!?"

Although the sound of panting was somewhat familiar to Regent, she didn't even consider that possibility.

But reality slapped her hard in the face.

"How is this possible? Isn't Mother a spirit? Why, why could she do this kind of thing with that man?!"

Regent covered her mouth, trying her best not to scream in surprise.

Seeing her usually dignified and loving mother reveal such a beastly and wanton posture, for some reason, Regent felt that she couldn't take her eyes off her, as if her eyes were being sucked in.

Mermaids are a typical matriarchal society. If female mermaids are top-tier soul beasts, then male mermaids may only be considered high-level soul beasts.

Firstly, they lack the powerful support abilities of the female mermaid, and secondly, their combat abilities are inferior to those of the female mermaid. They only have a slight advantage in physical strength, but even this advantage is not necessarily comparable to that of the seven vassal clans. Overall, they can only be considered high-level soul beasts.

Although Lijing and Liya had met their father, they didn't have any feelings for him. At their current age, that biological father was probably long gone.

In Regent's simple belief, females should dominate males.

In particular, the most powerful mother in the Sea Princess lineage to date is the epitome of female, a woman who will dominate the world and make all men submit!

Now, this mother, whom she believes should dominate all men, is like a promiscuous woman, displaying her delusions and being casually violated.

After staring at it for quite a while, Regent finally snapped out of it.

Her muddled mind finally regained some rationality.

Regent immediately realized that her attempt to blackmail him was doomed to fail.

She couldn't help but start pondering the question that had been lingering since the beginning. Her mother's posture clearly indicated she possessed a physical body; could it be that her mother wasn't dead at all? If so, why was she bowing and scraping before this man?

Regent was deeply shocked; she couldn't understand it.

Just then, as if timed perfectly, the two people in the room stopped their throbbing and began to be tender and talk.

"Lina, don't worry. Although Regent is a bit feisty, she is still your daughter, and I treat her like my own daughter. Even though she's always plotting to run away, in my eyes it's just children playing with adults. How could I blame her?"

You Chen revealed a gentle expression, as if he had truly become a kind father.

"Hmm~"

Lina let out a sweet murmur, clinging to You Chen, her eyes filled with tenderness and affection, and said in a soft voice, "Darling, as expected~ you're the best~ you successfully eliminated all those spies on Seagod Island~ and no one suspected anything~ there was no turmoil~"

Lijing was deeply shocked by the sight of the "harmonious couple," feeling as if her worldview had collapsed.

Poseidon Island, spies, elimination—

Countless thoughts flashed through Regent's mind, and she finally came to a conclusion.

"Is this all a play, a play to eliminate dissidents?"

Regent felt her brain turn into mush again.

Suddenly, You Chen looked up and met Li Jing's eyes, which were peering through the crack in the door: "What's wrong? You've been spying for so long, aren't you going to come in and greet your respected mother?"

Lijing's face turned pale instantly. She realized that if it were just an ordinary sea spirit beast abusing its power, it would be one thing, but with You Chen's abilities, how could he not have noticed her presence?

Regent desperately wanted to run away.

But her sense of justice compelled her to take a deep breath and push open the door.

She immediately questioned, "Mother, so it was all a lie? What are you planning? Even if they really are spies, they're still our compatriots! Couldn't you have used other methods?!"

"Huh?"

Lina looked dazed and confused, offering no response.

This is obviously a lie.

Regent is currently emotionally agitated and rather foolish, so she may not be able to react quickly enough.

But once she calmed down, she easily realized a problem—since You Chen had already discovered her, was it possible that their conversation just now was actually an act?

But now, Lina's expression, as if she'd been completely overturned by the car and had lost all ability to think, made her words seem credible, turning into something like "speaking the truth after drinking."

With Regent's intelligence, she either wouldn't realize something was wrong after calming down, or if she did, she would only get to this level of understanding at most.

Yes, Lina was acting, but putting on this silly act in front of her daughter, and the uncontrollable blush on her face was an instinctive reaction.

At this moment, You Chen seized the opportunity to speak, smiling slightly, "Didn't you already guess it?"

Seeing that her mother could not answer, Lijing turned to look at You Chen. Even though she tried to avoid looking at him, she still couldn't help but see You Chen's perfectly sculpted upper body.

Although he was naked, You Chen exuded a sacred and majestic aura.

Regent felt increasingly bewildered, but she eventually dismissed the strange thought, clenched her fists, and said, "You want to... seize control of the sea from Seagod Island? This...this is absurd! You, you don't intend to replace Seagod, do you—"

As soon as Regent uttered the words, her pupils contracted, and she immediately fell silent.

She then remembered the words this man had once said, words she had initially taken as a joke and scoffed at.

"He truly aims to become a god."

Then, the mother's decision to seek refuge with the family and cooperate with them becomes easier to understand.

Lijing was extremely clear-headed, knowing that Lina was about to face the calamity of 600,000, a calamity she might not be able to overcome.

In this situation, it doesn't seem strange to choose a man with a very high probability of becoming a new god and gamble on the possibility of him becoming a god and leading her to ascension.

Although her mother had never shown such a tendency before, given Liya's previous experience, Lijing no longer believed that her perception and judgment of her relatives were absolutely correct.

Perhaps... this really is the truth?

Lina felt incredibly conflicted and angry... yet also somewhat relieved.

At least, the mermaid race was not forced to submit, but rather made its own choice after weighing the options of the previous sea princess.

Just like the ancient demonic great white shark clan offered their loyalty to the sea god.

That was the Sea Princess's decision regarding future policy as the clan leader, and it was not something she should have interfered with.

Since that's the case... then there's no need to dwell on it anymore.

But this was still a huge shock, and Regent was overwhelmed with mixed feelings and her emotions were extremely complicated.

"Does my sister, as the next Sea Princess, know the truth? Perhaps she does, which is why she didn't end up like me. Heh, now it seems I, kept in the dark, really am just like a clown..."

Having gotten the answer she wanted, Regent left the room dejectedly.

After a while, Lina's voice finally rang out in the room.

She wrapped her arms around You Chen's neck and said gratefully, "Master, thank you for putting on this show for Li Jing. I think this way, she won't have any unnecessary psychological burdens anymore and will be able to live a normal life here..."

You Chen smiled faintly, gently kneading Lina's body a few times, and said, "This is something I promised you in the first place. Besides, isn't it quite interesting?"

As he spoke, You Chen lifted Lina's thick fishtail with one hand, eliciting a slightly flustered cry from Lina.

"However, since you've offered to pay me, I won't refuse. Next, it's time for the final payment."

The gate slammed shut under the impact of You Chen's materialized spiritual power, and a real battle ensued.

After an unknown amount of time, the exhausted Lina finally detached from her physical body and returned to Youchen's soul ring.

You Chen put away Lina's physical body again, stretched, and felt refreshed despite the long battle.

He licked his lips and couldn't help but admire himself.

After a brief period of entertainment, You Chen resumed his immersive cultivation.

However, this time, the cultivation had not lasted long before new visitors arrived.

The visitor is the representative of Seagod Island—Sea Dragon Douluo.

(End of this chapter)