Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1497: Chapter 224: Failure Before Success

He glanced over the sea surface, then saw an island close to the shore and quickly landed on it.

Then Mai Rada threw out the coordinates of the Unhuman Domain—of course, these were illegal coordinates acquired from the black market.

Accompanied by the activation of the coordinates, several black-robed figures soon emerged from the vortex——these were the core members of the Soth Divine Tribe, comrades who shared the same ideals with Mai Rada.

Three members from the Soth Divine Tribe emerged altogether… Mai Rada looked at the arrival of his three companions and said in a low voice, “The crystal bestowed by the Divine Lord has already given guidance… the target should be in the small town ahead.”

One of the divine tribe members suddenly asked in confusion: “This is the present world… How could the Nether King appear here?”

Mai Rada pondered and said: “Back when the Nether King appeared, he ended the war among the gods and shattered the Divine Domain… The Divine Domain split, and former oceans, lands, and the Underworld are still missing. Later, when Strange Beasts invaded, the already broken Divine Domain suffered even more. But the Nether King vanished without a trace… Perhaps, when the Divine Domain shattered, the Nether King unknowingly fell into the present world for some reason.”

This was the only possibility Mai Rada could think of—just as the shadow sealed within the stone wall said, he had not truly experienced the great war of the Age of Gods… He was merely a descendant of the survivors of the ancient battle, only striving to restore the glory of his ancestors… As a descendant of the great War God Ares among the ancient Greek Pantheon, how could he remain idle?

Through arduous effort, he managed through various means and clues to find that cave, discovering the shadow sealed within the stone wall underground—a divine being that survived generations of the Age of Gods… a true god!

The Dark Main God promised him that once he helped it escape from the stone wall, it would truly activate the War God ancestor’s bloodline within him, making him the reborn War God… a great deity!

“Indeed, finding the Nether King is most important!” The members of the Soth Divine Tribe nodded in agreement, ready to move.

Yet at this moment, Mai Rada suddenly waved a hand, then turned, saying indifferently, “It seems… we just arrived in the present world, and already we have someone here to welcome us—isn’t it time to come out?”

Mai Rada faced a large reef at the island’s edge, his voice low… He waited a moment, seeing no movement.

With a cold snort, Mai Rada waved his hand, and a powerful light shot out instantly, shattering the huge reef into pieces… Revealing three beautiful, naked women, who huddled together in terror, clearly shocked.

“Is this… a Siren?” A Soth Divine Tribe member noted some peculiar features on the three naked women and frowned: “There are actually Sirens still in the present world?”

Mai Rada shook his head, gazing coldly: “I don’t know, perhaps they are descendants of Sirens who secretly escaped here during the great war of the Age of Gods… Judging by their appearance, they probably haven’t reached adulthood.”

“How should we handle them?”

Mai Rada thought for a moment, “Legend says the Sirens’ ancestor was once a maid by the Queen of the Underworld… Technically, these Sirens count as distant relatives of our Soth Divine Tribe… Capture them for now, and when we reclaim the Divine Domain, grant them official Soth Divine Tribe status… We need our own people!”

“Understood.” A Soth Divine Tribe member nodded, then quickly approached the Siren sisters, who were curling up in fear.

They didn’t even know who these four black-robed people really were, instinctively feeling danger as one of them approached—a reminder of when their parents were killed by monster hunters, and they were hunted down, terrified.

The three Sirens screamed in unison, their greatest weapon as children: a voice that enchanted humans!

“Quite lively, though unfortunately not mature yet.” The Soth Divine Tribe member approaching them chuckled lightly, “This charming voice has no effect on me. Give up your resistance; we are not your enemies… but will be your companions.”

“Don’t… don’t come closer! We don’t know you!” They retreated in terror, trying to slip back into the sea, but another Soth Divine Tribe member blocked their path, confining them to the rock’s water groove, helpless.

“What pitiful children.” The Soth Divine Tribe member shook his head, “The Siren bloodline was once noble; who knew their descendants would fall to such a state… Come now, children, embrace us.”

The youngest Siren suddenly opened her mouth and spat out a water arrow, directly aimed at the Soth Divine Tribe member… This water arrow couldn’t harm him, but it did slash his clothing.

“I like lively children.” The Soth Divine Tribe member with torn clothing grinned coldly and, with a sudden move, remotely grabbed the Little Siren, capturing her by the throat, his smile deepening, “Because lively children are more fun to train—starting now, you’re under my care… I will train you into an excellent warrior!”

“Let… let me go… let me go!” The terrified Little Siren could only struggle frantically.

This Soth Divine Tribe member shook his head, “You are too weak. You should eat humans; human flesh and blood are your source of power… especially you; from now on, eat at least three humans a day.”

“I… I don’t want to, I don’t want to! Mr. Prin will get angry… let me go!” The Little Siren sniffled, “Let me go… Mr. Prin won’t let you off!”

“Mr. Prin?” The Soth Divine Tribe member immediately became curious: “Who is this, another Siren? Or your elder?”

The Little Siren clamped her mouth shut—only after receiving stern gazes from her two sisters did she realize she shouldn’t have mentioned Mr. Prin’s name.

“Hmph… not talking?” The Soth Divine Tribe member holding the Little Siren sneered, “Truly a disobedient child—I won’t hesitate to discipline you now… Teach you children should obey their elders.”

He continued to hold the Little Siren’s neck, lifting her high into the air.

The two other Sirens were filled with anger and grief, their faces full of hatred, wanting to help but were pinned down by another Soth Divine Tribe member behind them, “Quiet down… misbehave, and you’re next.”

The Siren sisters could only watch in despair as their youngest sister teetered between life and death.

“Still not talking? Then I’ll apply more force!” The Soth Divine Tribe member gripping the Little Siren sneered… But just then, a hand suddenly appeared and grabbed his arm. To his surprise, it was one of the leaders, Mai Rada.

Mai Rada spoke indifferently, “These children will be future members of the divine tribe. You can be strict, but don’t overdo it… It doesn’t matter who Prin is, don’t forget our true purpose here, don’t create unnecessary complications.”

“Alright.” He could only shrug, releasing his grip and tossing the Little Siren back to her sisters with a smug look: “From now on, I’m adopting you… little one.”

At this moment, a gray orb of light suddenly appeared above Mai Rada and the three Soth Divine Tribe members——the abruptly appearing gray orb immediately caught their attention.

The orb slowly descended, very gradually… Mai Rada and his companions watched in confusion, but as the orb neared the ground, Mai Rada suddenly realized, shouting: “Scatter!”

Boom——!!

The landing gray orb swelled instantly… Expanding, it formed a nearly ten-meter crater among the island’s reef clusters.

Mai Rada and his companions managed to dodge in time, though they were still affected by the blast, and the Soth Divine Tribe member who claimed to adopt the Little Siren had his robe entirely corroded, exposing his true form.

He was surprisingly a monstrous creature with a human upper body, a snake’s lower body, and gray, blotched skin, his face hideously ugly.

“It seems that she might be a descendant of Echidna, but it’s unclear exactly which lineage left this trace of blood. However, attempting to adopt these three, this tiny trace of bloodline is insufficient.”

A voice, neither warm nor cold, suddenly sounded.

Exposed, the human-bodied, snake-tailed Soth Divine Tribe turned towards the source of the voice. What they saw was a man dressed in a black suit, his eyes and nose concealed by a tall hat, standing with arms folded behind.

The human-bodied, snake-tailed Soth Divine Tribe snorted coldly: “Sneaky, ghostly fellow… Are you Mr. Prin, as these Little Sirens call you?”

Unexpectedly, the man in the black suit shook his head and said nothing.

“I don’t care who you are… Don’t put on ghostly airs in front of me!” The human-bodied, snake-tailed Soth Divine Tribe snorted again, and suddenly his neck elongated—a moment later, his head shot towards the man in the black suit!

“I don’t quite like… having living things close to me.” The man in the black suit shook his head slightly.

The elongated head… The face on the head, grotesque, froze instantly, completely stiff—his body ceased to move as well.

The human-bodied, snake-tailed Soth Divine Tribe at this moment looked bizarre, causing his companions to slightly change their expressions collectively… Mai Rada frowned and was about to act when the human-bodied, snake-tailed Soth Divine Tribe’s body suddenly turned into black ashes!

Mai Rada was taken aback, without much thought, he instinctively leaped off the island, diving headfirst into the sea… He didn’t even consider the reactions of his two companions!

At this point, seeing Mai Rada’s unhesitating escape, the two Soth Divine Tribes exchanged glances and quite tacitly fled in the other two directions.

Unfortunately, they were half a step too slow. Just as they started moving, two giant shadow arms extended from the ground, grabbing both of them… finally, the shadow arms dragged the two Soth Divine Tribes underground, vanishing from sight.

The seawater was beating against the shore rocks, waves splashing, splattering onto the faces of the three Siren sisters, bringing them back to their senses. They looked at the man in the black suit, feeling both respect and dread… more so fear.

“It’s over.” The man in the black suit turned around at this moment, “But living here, someday you will encounter other troubles… go to the depths of the sea, the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean, where there is a realm for you to live in.”

“Please wait!” The man in the black suit was about to leave when the youngest Siren hastily called out to him, “Are you… Mr. Prin?”

He didn’t stop, and as his voice slowly faded away, “I am not the Prin you know…”

The man in the black suit was now gone.

The little Siren looked utterly confused, and turning to her two elder sisters, she instinctively said, “But I saw it… It was clearly Mr. Prin’s appearance!”

“What do we do now?” The second sister of the Siren trio frowned, having not considered the youngest’s question.

The eldest Siren sister furrowed her brow, finally gritting her teeth and said, “He said that in the depths of the sea there’s a place suitable for us to live… shall we go have a look?”

“Can we trust him?” The second sister hesitated immediately.

The eldest sister glanced around and smiled bitterly, “He has no reason to lie to us… Those four mysterious beings from earlier were no match for him. If he wanted to harm us, we wouldn’t be able to resist at all.”

“Well… alright then, let’s go check out the place he mentioned.” The second sister finally agreed, then patted the youngest on the head, “Stop overthinking it, he isn’t Mr. Prin, you saw it wrong.”

“Is that so…” The youngest appeared puzzled, looking at her eldest sister, who nodded slightly, leaving her to rub her head, wondering if she truly saw wrong.

“Then… let’s set out now.” The eldest made a decisive move, “One of them escaped, who knows if they’ll come back… we can’t stay here any longer.”

“Wait!” The youngest hurriedly spoke, “I… I want to leave a word for Mr. Prin, saying we are leaving. After all, he has taken care of us for so long…”

“Alright, but be quick.” The eldest felt soft-hearted and agreed eventually.

Watching the little Siren using a small stone to engrave a picture on the rock, the eldest and second sisters suddenly exchanged a glance. The second whispered, “Eldest sister, I also saw…”

The eldest shook her head and covered her second sister’s mouth with a serious expression, “You all saw wrong.”

Soon after, the three Siren sisters submerged into the sea, embarking on a long journey to a mysterious place—in the depths of the ocean.

…

…

The waves washed ashore, and below a cliff on the sea’s edge, a figure scrambled into a cave at the base of the cliff… Mai Rada was breathing heavily, remembering the terrifying scene, his heart racing swiftly.

Suddenly, he reached for the gray crystal hidden in his clothing—the tool bestowed by the Dark Main God to find the ultimate weapon, the Nether King.

Seeing a sudden glimmer of starlight emerge from within the gray crystal at this moment.

“The crystal reacted, could it be…” Mai Rada frowned tightly, “Is he… the one?”

…

…

In an airtight house, the man in the black suit sat quietly on a chair in front of the fireplace, with his eyes closed, appearing as if he had fallen asleep.

Suddenly, a very slight sound came from the house.

It was a black cat that had somehow crept in from somewhere.

The black cat lightly jumped onto the man’s lap in the end… lying there, it too quietly fell asleep.