Yes, Madam Prime Minister

"Wait, what was it that made me grow a beard and age before?" Ronan asked, now that he had returned to his original appearance.

“Berserk mode plus parasite, I’ve made some adjustments to the fusion,” Dinia replied.

Ronan could only say that she truly deserved to be called the number one female magician on the continent; she was indeed quite something.

“You’ve almost adapted, it’s time to speed things up,” Dinia said.

The three quickened their pace.

As the three of them sped up, three long red mushroom-shaped trails appeared on the sea behind them. From a distance, they looked like three big red pens drawing three thick red lines on the sea.

As time passed, Ronan began to feel his legs getting heavier. Dinia released a massive amount of mushrooms while running, but showed no signs of weakness. Her condition was exactly the same as before.

That saying is indeed true; people cannot be generalized.

Finally, just as Ronan had to start catching his breath, the three of them saw a glimmer of light in the distance.

Most of the Haidi people live in small fishing boats. With so many small boats sailing at night, it is absolutely impossible for the lead boat not to have a light on.

At the same time that Ronan discovered the Heidi fleet, the Heidi also discovered Ronan and his group.

Soon, a small boat came towards Ronan from the opposite direction.

A small fishing boat that can only carry five or six people, with a man standing at the bow.

Only one ship arrived, which was clearly there to negotiate.

“Madam, could you please stop for a moment?” Ronan asked.

"Okay." Dinya

After a while, the other ship approached to within five or six meters.

With a wave of her hand, a large number of mushrooms appeared beneath the three of them, twisting together to form a hollow floating board. However, even when the mushrooms were twisted together, they still slowly leaked water, so Dinia needed to constantly replenish the mushrooms in order to keep the three of them afloat on the sea.

At this moment, Ronan also got a clear look at the man at the bow of the ship.

Like other Seaflies, he had bright, dark eyes that seemed to hold water, thick eyebrows, resolute features, a missing corner of his right ear, slightly high cheekbones, a short beard on his chin, an exceptionally tall stature, bulging muscles, and a string of colorful seashells around his neck.

There's no mistake, this man is Donska.

He is a member of the Seaflir Priests of Wright City, the next High Priest of Ronan, and the person he unexpectedly met on the coastal street of White Star City.

"I didn't expect it to be you, Lord Ronan."

"Donska remarked with emotion."

"There's nothing to say, you have to go back." Ronan's attitude was firm.

Chapter Nineteen: Tears, Death, Underwater Ruins

With a thud, the tall and strong Donska knelt down heavily, slamming his forehead against the bow of the boat, making the entire small boat tremble.

“Please let us leave,” Donska shouted.

"I really don't understand, have I been bad to you? How dare you do this?"

Ronan clenched his fist and questioned them. He had never sympathized with the Haidi people, nor had he given them any preferential treatment as a disadvantaged group, but he did his best to give them the opportunity to live a better life.

“No, you’ve been very kind to us.” Donska looked up. “But…”

"But what? You don't mean to talk to me about freedom, do you?" Ronan sneered.

“Freedom? If we are free, then we will probably be in even worse shape. That’s what you said.” Donska said helplessly. “But all the good things we have are built on you, Lord Ronan. One day you will leave. I may be able to live a relatively happy life, but what about my descendants? We can’t expect Wright City to produce another good person like you.”

“Damn, I’m only twenty-five.” Ronan cursed.

Donska sighed, “Yes, you’re twenty-five. You’re still young. This place doesn’t belong to you.”

"When did I say I was leaving?" Ronan questioned.

“You always praise Wright City as a great place, saying you want to stay here for the rest of your life. You’ve said it so many times, just like I always praise my wife’s fried fish. I’ve praised it so many times that the more I praise it, the more tired I am of it.”

Donska used his own family situation as a clumsy analogy.

Ronan was amused by his clumsy analogy, laughing so hard he almost shed tears.

Ronan let out a long breath, his voice lowering slightly, "If we turn back now, I can still clean up the mess. But when we get back, be prepared to suffer a lot."

Donska, a grown man, actually cried. He suddenly pulled out a sharp fish-cleaning knife and was about to stab his own neck when Dinia raised her hand in an instant. Suddenly, a "hand" made of countless tiny mushrooms twisted and intertwined grew from Donska's shoulder and grabbed his wrist. Even though Donska used his other hand to push hard, and the veins on his arms were about to pop out of his skin, the tip of the knife still could not go any further.

Donska looked at Ronan and said, "Let me die. If I die, you won't have to take responsibility."

"I'm the idiot! I actually thought you weren't an idiot!" Ronan was so angry he wanted to stab this piece of trash to death.

Seeing that Ronan wouldn't agree and that his suicide attempt had been prevented, Donska released one hand, drew the pistol from his waist, and fired a shot at Dinia.

With a muffled thud, the musket bullet struck the thick mushroom barrier.

Dinia's face remained expressionless, but Agustina was furious. "Damn it!" she roared, and at the same time, a flaming arrow shot straight towards Donska's head.

Ronan instantly summoned a shield in front of Donska, blocking the attack.

Agustina looked at Ronan in surprise, about to speak, when Dinia raised her hand to stop her from speaking.

In that brief moment, Donska suddenly released his grip on the knife, released the pistol with his other hand, caught the fish-gutting knife, and stabbed himself in the throat.

The other members of the Seapiper priesthood, also from Wright, did not hesitate to stab themselves to death.

They had long been prepared to die; in order not to make things difficult for Ronan, they had to die.

Seeing this, Ronan scratched his head in frustration. What was the point of dying like this?

"Do we need to slow down?" Dinia asked.

Ronan smiled wryly, "It's not that bad. Although I can't compare to you, madam, I'm also someone who came through the war."

“Then let’s keep chasing,” Dinia said.

The three set off again to catch up with the Heidi people's fleet.

As they passed Dongska's ship, Dinia threw a mushroom onto it, which then attached itself to the ship. "I can locate this mushroom. If the ship doesn't capsize, I can bring their bodies back."

“Thank you,” Ronan said, recalling his shield as he did so.

Dinia smiled. "You forgot, I'm the mayor of Wright City."

Donska's death did not delay them much; the three soon saw the distant lights of the lead ship approaching the fleet again.

To the three's surprise, there was a whirlpool in the distance, and the Haidi people's large and small ships all headed towards the whirlpool without hesitation, with the people on board jumping into the whirlpool one after another.

With a series of splashes, it was as if nets of shrimp were being dumped directly into the sea, and in the blink of an eye, the boat was empty.

"Could that be the place where we can teleport?" Agustina asked.

“No need to doubt, it definitely is,” Ronan said with certainty.

"How deep is it at the deepest point here?" Dinia asked Ronan.

“It’s very shallow here, maybe two hundred meters or so,” Ronan replied.

This area is not too far from the coastline, and according to records, it is the shallowest part of the sea.

“Tina, I’ll throw you onto the boat later. You can stay on the boat.” After saying that, Dinia turned to Ronan, “Can you dive down?”

“No problem,” Ronan said.

He was already quite skilled at diving, and as a magician he could use magic as his body's energy source, so diving two hundred meters barehanded was no problem for him.

The three traveled a while longer at sea, reaching the edge of the whirlpool where the Seapiper fleet was located. Dinia threw Agustina onto the ship, and at the same time, a mushroom sprouted from her hand. She then plucked it and handed it to Ronan, saying, "Eat this to replenish your magic."

Ronan took the mushroom and swallowed it in one gulp, instantly feeling much better.

Dinia threw off her coat and plunged into the whirlpool, Ronan following closely behind.

This whirlpool is indeed strange; it's a whirlpool on the surface of the sea, but once inside, the whirlpool disappears.

The two continued to dive deeper and deeper.

After descending to a depth of about 100 meters, the two discovered that below them was a raised platform. On the platform were a plaza with obvious signs of human intervention and stone buildings resembling altars and temples. However, there was no one on the platform, only a soft white light flashing at a fixed frequency on the surface of the platform, but this white light was gradually dimming.

Unsurprisingly, the Seaflies were transported to other places through this place.

Ronan and Dinia couldn't help but speed up their descent.

Soon, the two landed on the platform, and a sudden suction force caused their consciousness to vanish abruptly, as if everything went black.

When the light returned, the two found themselves no longer in the sea, nor on land, but in a huge man-made cave.

The ceiling of the crypt was inlaid with huge white discs, and the light projected onto the dark crypt floor created circular bright spots at intervals.

The cave floor is flat and the surrounding area is very spacious. Huge stone pillars, seven or eight meters high, are arranged on both sides. The walls on both sides are also carved with unintelligible reliefs. The reliefs are simple and ancient in style, with many images, divided into sections, which seem to record various myths and legends belonging to the Haidi people.

Ronan and Dinia had no interest in looking at the reliefs; there were numerous water-stained footprints on the ground stretching forward, indicating that the Seapipers had just passed through.

The goal is just ahead.

Chapter Twenty: Boots Off, Gentleman, Magical Mech?

Ronan and Dinia were both soaked to the bone, their boots filled with seawater. As they walked through the empty cave, in addition to the sound of their shoes hitting the ground, there was also the squelching sound of their shoes inside.

Dinia suddenly stopped, sat down on the ground, and pulled off her black knee-high riding boots. The black stockings that covered her long legs were completely soaked with seawater. The black stockings, which were not very transparent before, were now like thin black silk that was semi-transparent. At the same time, the wet black stockings had a sheen under the light, as if they had been coated with transparent glitter.

The only discordant element in this aesthetically pleasing scene of taking off boots is the small, curled seaweed stuck to the black stockings.

Dinia picked up the boots she had taken off, turned them upside down, and shook them violently to pour out all the water.

Then he took off the other one and poured water out.

Afterwards, I put my boots back on and stepped on the floor. Although it was still wet and uncomfortable, it was at least a little better than before.

“I’m sorry, this woman has taken up so much time,” Dinia said.

Ronan's eyes didn't move, only his mouth moved. "It's alright. As a gentleman, I understand a lady's need for comfort."

"A gentleman? Would a gentleman stare at a woman's breasts?" Dinia retorted to Ronan.

Actually, Ronan wasn't very interested. He liked looking at legs, especially legs covered in pantyhose. But after Dinya's clothes got wet, her outline was fully revealed, full and proud without any sagging.

He didn't want to see it, but it was just too big.

Ronan was momentarily embarrassed.

Seeing Ronan's embarrassment, Dinia smiled for the first time, a smile that resembled that of a young woman. "Actually, I'm just like those women. When people look at me, I feel both disgust and pride. That's just how people are. I'm not a statue that needs to be worshipped with false rituals, you understand?"

"Those women could not utter such philosophical words as you, madam."

Ronan praised it.

"You always say things that have no practical meaning to avoid my questions. Every time I start to think you're a good person, you have to tell me with your words and actions that you're the kind of person I really dislike. Forget it, let's deal with this first."

Dinia spoke with a sense of helplessness.

“Yes, ma’am.” Ronan replied without hesitation as always.

The two set off again.

As they walked, the two were sometimes in darkness and sometimes in light, projected by the disc's light. Each time they reached a bright spot, Ronan could see a brief glimpse of what was happening: beneath Dinya's short petticoat and above her thigh boots, the lower half of her thigh, the knee, and the upper half of her calf, were covered in wet black stockings that stretched and contracted with each step, constantly shifting between slightly sheer and transparent.

Although the cave was spacious, the two remained vigilant and did not move quickly.

Several minutes later, Dinia suddenly stopped. "They're here, magician, and something unknown."

Ronan immediately took up his sword and shield, assuming a fighting stance.

Soon, the sound of heavy objects stomping on the ground could be heard from afar, thump, thump, thump.

A massive, dark silhouette emerged from the darkness, gradually becoming clearer in the soft white light. Finally, Ronan and Dinia could see what was coming.

Leading the way was a massive knight, over three meters tall, clad in full plate armor. Only the eye guards of his helmet emitted a fiery red light. He wielded a giant axe in one hand and a long spear in the other.

Behind this large tin can are three even larger ones.

People in this world might use the word "puppet" to describe it, but Ronan would only use the word "mecha".

These three large creatures are humanoid in shape, with some external damage, looking as if they have been weathered by time. Their texture is somewhere between stone and metal, and their entire bodies are covered in thick armor with an ancient design. Only the joints are threaded metal components that clearly allow for flexible rotation.

The left hand is shaped like a human hand, and the right hand is shaped like a three-bladed mixing blade.

It's both fantastical and sci-fi, resembling some kind of ancient weapon.

“They’re up to no good,” Ronan said.

“You are the ones who have come,” said the leading knight.

"Your Excellency the Mayor?" Ronan asked, recognizing the voice of Mayor Allais.

Mayor Alles pointed his spear at Ronan. "I should have guessed it was you, Ronan. You have such a clear understanding of the situation here, and every step you take is precise, swift, and hits the nail on the head. Who else could it be but our 'Sea Fox'?"