Chapter 67: Go Die, Player 9

Hearing Vico speak with a rare, gritting edge of genuine emotion, it was clear he had grown utterly disappointed in Arthur.

And naturally so—how could such an oaf ever be fit to rule?

Yet Xi Ning merely raised an eyebrow, offering no response. The male lead aura was far too potent; had she taken the bait, she would only have played right into its momentum.

Nereus arrived and immediately began offering apologies, claiming his wayward daughter must have been bewitched and addled by Arthur, begging for forgiveness while requesting that Atlantis dispatch troops to drag Mera back.

After letting out a soft sigh, Xi Ning put on the mask of benevolence. "Your Majesty Nereus, I have given this much thought. Since your beloved daughter and Arthur are in love, I intend to grant them my blessing. I am calling off the engagement!"

Nereus froze. He had expected King Orm to fly into a towering rage and immediately deploy his armies to hunt the pair down, not gracefully bow out of the betrothal. But breaking the engagement meant destroying the alliance!

With a troubled and pained expression, Xi Ning said, "Although Arthur is a bastard, he still carries my mother's blood, and he ought to take responsibility for Princess Mera. Therefore, for the sake of my mother and for the reputation of Princess Mera, I officially annul the engagement!" With that, she gestured to a nearby guard, signaling for the formal declaration of annulment to be broadcasted.

Turning back to Nereus with a pleasant smile, she continued, "We are still family. As the father of my sister-in-law, you remain my elder. I wish the two of them a harmonious marriage and a swift blessing of children. If there is nothing else... see our guest out!"

According to the original plot, after Mera truly became queen, she remained shackled to that tattooed brute, enduring a turbulent cycle of scorching passion and bitter estrangement so frequent they practically needed a permanent reservation at the divorce registry.

It was far better to let those two star-crossed fools be, lest the original host be painted as the villain trying to wreck a match made in heaven. Xi Ning declared that she refused to carry that burden!

Ignoring the guards who had stepped forward with outstretched hands in a polite gesture of dismissal, Nereus remained firmly rooted to the spot. "Mera is wearing a tracking device. I wish to borrow the scanning equipment of Atlantis."

"Denied!" Xi Ning refused flatly, a handsome scowl settling across the host's face. "Escort our guest out!"

How utterly shameless. Your daughter elopes with Arthur, you no longer have any ties of betrothal to the host, and yet you still have the nerve to come asking for favors. Why didn't you just ask to take Atlantis as a dowry for your daughter while you were at it?

"Does Your Majesty truly have no interest in seeing where they went and what they are doing?"

"No interest. Escort him out!"

"They are currently searching for the lost trident—"

"The trident belongs to Arthur. Escort him out!"

Nereus stood speechless.

Why was this King Orm suddenly impervious to reason? He simply refused to believe the man could be so magnanimous.

Struggling to keep his composure, Nereus tried a different angle. "If Arthur retrieves the trident, he won't just be the King of Atlantis—he will become the true King of the Oceans!"

In the original timeline, Arthur did indeed become the King of the Oceans, yet he still slinked off to while away his time in dive bars. The original host was placed under house arrest, while Mera ascended as Queen of Atlantis. Because Arthur could not be bothered with the burdens of statecraft, Mera took over the administration of the realm, eventually seizing the throne outright—after all, she was the King's wife and had borne him children.

At this thought, Xi Ning chuckled coldly and rose to her feet. "Let me tell you something, old man! I have known all along that you used Mera to seduce Arthur so that no matter which of us won, she would end up the Queen of Atlantis!"

Nereus was struck dumb. *How could he possibly know?*

Furious at having torn away Nereus's hypocritical facade, Xi Ning let loose the rest of her grievances. "And since Arthur lacks any capability to govern Atlantis, you planned to let Mera rule in his stead. That is why you favored my good-for-nothing brother all along, isn't it?"

This time, Vico was stunned. He had merely been following the late queen's final testament to place Arthur on the throne, never intending to hand Atlantis over on a silver platter to outsiders.

Radiating the haughty nobility of the royal bloodline, Xi Ning slowly seated herself once more. "I am going to issue a decree: the throne of Atlantis, whether held by a king or a queen, shall be inherited solely by those of direct Atlantean royal blood! Anyone who dares defy this automatically forfeits all claims to the crown. You and your daughter can give up that dream once and for all!"

Perched upon her throne, she cast a sidelong glance of absolute disdain. "May you take your leave now, Your Majesty Nereus?"

Nereus's face drained of color, cycling between pale and ashen before he whipped his cloak around and stormed out.

With hesitant steps, Vico stepped forward. "Your Majesty, is it true? Was Nereus plotting to let Mera usurp Atlantis?"

Gently sinking back into her seat, Xi Ning asked mildly, "You spent three days with Arthur. What is your impression of him? Am I ready to abdicate yet?"

Vico blinked, momentarily at a loss for words, before murmuring, "As Your Majesty noted... he has grown accustomed to a wild, undisciplined life and cannot settle his mind overnight. But I will guide him properly!"

To reach this juncture and still believe that a tattooed, empty-headed swaggerer could shoulder the fate of Atlantis—she truly had to hand it to the sheer power of the plot armor.

"Very well, then!" Maintaining her gentle, amiable smile, Xi Ning instructed, "Go after him and bring him back. Train him well. Do not let down my expectations, my mother's expectations, or the expectations of the people of Atlantis."

Vico naturally bowed in assent.

After a moment of thought, Xi Ning said, "I must leave the city for a short while."

"Where are you going?" Vico asked.

"To the Trench." Xi Ning had already made up her mind; she had to visit the resting place of the trident. If the host could secure the trident first, the trajectory of the world's protagonist would inevitably shift. It was worth a try, at the very least.

Vico looked horrified. "That place is far too dangerous. Your Majesty cannot go."

Naturally, her destination wasn't merely about the trident; she had other grounds to present. "I wish to recover my mother's remains, and furthermore, it is rumored that—"

Xi Ning hooked a finger, gesturing for Vico to draw closer. Whispering softly into his ear, she said, "My mother is still alive."

Upon hearing this, Vico straightened up immediately and declared, "This subordinate is willing to follow you unto death!"

Good grief. The mere mention that the former queen might still be alive—true or false—was enough to make him willing to march into the most lethal abyss just to throw his life away alongside the host.

"No, you will not come with me!" Xi Ning stated firmly, offering a reason Vico could not refuse. "Your task is to bring my brother back as swiftly as possible, before he falls any further under the spell of that siren, Mera."

At that moment, a guard brought forward a document. After scanning the pages, Xi Ning affixed her signature. "This document formalizes what I mentioned earlier: only those of genuine Atlantean royal blood may inherit the crown."

Atlantis had always passed its crown down through unbroken lines of royal blood, right until the anomaly of Arthur, who had permitted Mera to claim the throne. Because Arthur had not yet been crowned King of the Oceans, and Mera had not yet seized her opportunity—the two of them currently bickering on a cargo plane hurtling toward the desert—this decree could be passed into immediate, legal effect.

Turning her sharp gaze back to Vico, Xi Ning warned, "Advisor, remember this: only those of royal Atlantean blood shall inherit the throne! While I live, I shall keep watch. This journey is fraught with mortal peril, and should the worst befall me, I charge you to guard this seat. You are the only one I trust."

Compared to a mentor who would cast aside a mother's dying wish at the sight of a pretty face, completely disregarding hardship and duty just to trail after some little vixen on a desert sightseeing expedition, the original host was exhausting herself to the bone. They were worlds apart. Yet why on earth did Vico still insist that such a hopeless clod was destined by fate?