Cathulhu Online, MUNYA!

Chapter 55 – Cat Dad and Mermaid Kingdom

'An invitation from the start?'

Xiaomao weighed the pros and cons of joining the Mermaid Kingdom.

The Mermaid Kingdom belonged to Chang'e, and Chang'e was a Chaos Demon Goddess.

At a glance, Chaos Demons were the villains of the game while the Pangu Church should be on the goodies. PKers, corrupted NPCs, and many monsters sided with Chaos Demon God while Pangu Church sought to cleanse the impurity of the land.

That was the plot of the game.

In fact, the majority of Chaos Demon God's followers were indeed the villains in the game story.

Players often confused Chang'e with the evil Chaos Demon God Faction due to Pangu Church's propaganda. The church branded all of them as a threat to humanity and the world, and they had to be destroyed.

But in reality, the Mermaid Kingdom's scenario stories revolved around saving the world and protecting innocent NPCs from Pangu Church, even though they were framed as the bad guys.

Mermaid Kingdom's citizens worshiped Chaos Demon Goddess Chang'e. However, they were not on the same side as the Chaos Demon God Faction, who distributed corrupted spirit stones to monsters, dungeons, and towns.

Cernun, the crocodile that Slave One had befriended, also had an amicable relationship with Chang'e as he served her husband. Both of them worked together to suppress a calamitous monster below the island chain without harming the mainland cities, towns, and the people.

Cernun and the Mermaid Kingdom's population generally hated criminals, player killers, and evildoers. Although they sometimes attacked regular players to protect their territory, they never went out to hunt down Pangu worshipers.

On the other hand, Chaos Demon God Faction welcomed people of all origins and past. Their apostles sought nothing more but chaos and the destruction of the Pangu Church Faction. However, sometimes, their interests conflicted with the Mermaid Kingdom. As a result, small skirmishes between two factions were common, but players from both sides never committed to an all-out war.

Joining the Mermaid Kingdom was equivalent to joining one of many Chaos Demon Factions, and this decision might affect the main scenario quests forever.

The Pros - Many benefits awaited Xiaomao here. Becoming a citizen of the Mermaid Kingdom would make Xiaomao's gaming life a lot easier as the mermaid towns were isolated from players! All quests and rewards waited there for Xiaomao to monopolize, and nobody could contest him for underwater dungeons.

Fish, rich dungeons, scenario quests, spirit fruits, a beautiful environment, and strong allies were this faction's main attraction. Of course, Xiaomao had no interest in a relationship and the possibility of establishing a mermaid harem in-game, but he might welcome them as his work slaves.

The Cons - Joining the mermaid's faction would automatically put Xiaomao against Pangu Church. All bishops and high-ranking priests of the Pangu Church would notice Xiaomao's new status, and they would attack him on sight! Thus, moving around in big cities in the future would be problematic and troublesome.

Edgy, corny, and dangerous protagonist-like lifestyle awaited Xiaomao. He might have to live like a hidden superhero while being hunted down by the people that he was protecting.

Everything sounded complicated, yet, Xiaomao replied without hesitation!

After all, he came here with determination.

He came here to protect Cernun!

Far in the future, the game would extend to reality. Monsters, cultivators, and aliens would invade the world, and the awakened superheroes would be in charge of fending off the invaders!

One of the terrifying invaders was none other than the calamitous monster that Cernun and the mermaids had been suppressing!

Cernun's survival was related to a turning point event in real life. For the sake of protecting his parents, this crocodile dragon must survive!

To save Cernun, Xiaomao had to work together with the Mermaid Kingdom and protect the island chain from the Pangu Church!

"Sea folks should mingle with sea folks, munya! I'll happily work with you, munya!"

As soon as Xiaomao said that, all mermen's names turned green. They were no longer hostile to Xiaomao, and they would treat him as comrades in the future.

DING

<You have accepted Nameless Undine's invitation!>

<Your enthusiasm delighted Nameless Undine. Current Favorability: 2 Stars.>

<Nameless Nymph approves of your decision. Current Favorability: 2 Stars.>

"I'm glad that you've made the right decision. But before you can become our official citizen of our kingdom, you need to improve your strength. Otherwise, you won't fit in our culture and survive in our kingdom's harsh environment."

Undine inserted her fingers into her bosom cleavage and pulled out a shining pearl.

It was a spirit stone!

"First off, you must at least have a dantian. Currently, your spiritual root is nonexistent, and you haven't awakened your dantian yet. To create a dantian, you'll need a spirit stone like this and strong spiritual roots."

Ding

<A new quest has been initiated.>

…

Faction Quest: Joining Mermaid Kingdom

The Mermaid Kingdom is one of the prominent countries in this world. 95% of their population lives in the sea while the rest has occupied an island to live on land. Their territory covers 40% of the seafloor and the chained island north of Seaside Town.

Joining this faction will benefit you in many ways. However, becoming an official citizen of their nation isn't easy. As Nameless Undine has said – You need a dantian and a proper spiritual root.

Quest Objective: Increase one of your spiritual roots to over 1,000 and awaken a dantian by using a spirit stone.

Quest Reward: Mermaid Kingdom Official Citizenship, Friendly Relationship with the Mermen and the Mermaids.

Failure Condition: You join another faction while the quest is active.

Failure Penalty: The Mermaid Kingdom will be permanently hostile to you.

[?????? Instinct]: You must join this faction at all costs! Your life depends on it!

…

Even without the mysterious instinct's information, Xiaomao had planned to join this faction anyway.

"Of course, I have one, munya!"

Xiaomao showed the spirit stone that he had acquired from the game moderator. He continued to laugh as the game developers allowed him to bypass several quests to get this far.

Unfortunately, the undine shook her head.

"Your spiritual roots are still weak, though."

Spiritual Roots played an important factor in the dantian awakening ritual. Similar to the attribute awakening, a player needed at least 1,000 points in any spiritual root to awaken a dantian.

However, each character could awaken their spiritual roots once. It would be ideal to increase many spiritual roots to 1,000 to get the best benefit.

Xiaomao widely grinned. He searched the inventory menu and brought out a hundred black stones.

They were all corrupted spirit stones that Xiaomao had obtained from elite monsters!

Xiaomao turned to the nymph, who was the local vendor of Gnoll Dungeon's safe zone.

"Can I exchange these stones into spirit fruits like the fruits in the basket, munya?"

The nymph stared at the black stones with round eyes. She repeatedly nodded.

"What a coincidence! We're looking for those evil spirit stones to cleanse them. With these, we can create a counter curse array to repel the Curse of Nian! Oh, excuse me. Of course, we will gladly trade spirit fruits for those stones."

DING

A shop menu appeared in front of Xiaomao. The vendor's list now looked different.

…

Nymph's Private Store – Item List

G1 Water Fruit x 10 (999 in Stock): 1 Corrupted Spirit Stone

G1 Dark Fruit x 10 (999 in Stock): 1 Corrupted Spirit Stone

G1 Light Fruit x 10 (999 in Stock): 1 Corrupted Spirit Stone

G2 Water Fruit x 1 (999 in Stock): 1 Corrupted Spirit Stone

G2 Dark Fruit x 1 (999 in Stock): 1 Corrupted Spirit Stone

G2 Light Fruit x 1 (999 in Stock): 1 Corrupted Spirit Stone

G3 Water Fruit x 1 (600 in Stock): 10 Corrupted Spirit Stone

G3 Dark Fruit x 1 (673 in Stock): 10 Corrupted Spirit Stone

G3 Light Fruit x 1 (655 in Stock): 10 Corrupted Spirit Stone

…

Xiaomao laughed as he had been waiting to purchase items from the Nymph's hidden shop.

In his previous life, he heard that the shop existed, but all shopkeepers were so elusive that nobody could meet them. However, a few top players revealed that these shopkeepers were, in fact, the wandering vendors in a dungeon's safe zone. To trade with them, players had to be in the same faction as the shopkeeper's faction!

The merchandises of these hidden shops were spiritual fruits, crystalized Qi, or attribute potions, which increased a character status attribute permanently.

As for Nymph's shop, the main attraction was water, light, and dark fruits, and she demanded corrupted spirit stones as a currency. For now, he could purchase up to the grade 3 fruits as he was not an official citizen of Mermaid Kingdom yet.

G1 stood for Grade 1. All items could increase spiritual roots to 50 at the maximum.

G2 was the second tier of the items. It could increase a player's spiritual root beyond 50, but they couldn't go higher than 150.

G3 was the stronger grade. Instead of 150, 300 was the new cap.

However, the higher the tier, the more expensive they were. Xiaomao needed a lot of corrupted spirit stones to buy items from this shop.

As Xiaomao only had 100 corrupted spirit stones on him, he purchased 85 G2 Water Fruits, 50 G1 Water Fruits, 50 G1 Light Fruits, and 40 G1 Darkness Fruit.

Unfortunately, his satiety bar was full. He couldn't eat these fruits unless he was hungry. Thus, he kept them in his inventory for now.

DING

<Nameless Nymph finds you adorable and helpful. Current Favorability: 3 Stars.>

<You are eligible to ask Nameless Nymph for a date to improve your relationship.>

<Tips: Gifts can boost NPC Favorability.>

<Tips: Opposite gender NPCs might invite you to a date if their favorability toward you is 3 stars or higher.>

Nymph beamed Xiaomao with a bright smile. She carried the black stones and filled them in her backpack. After she had tidied up everything, she dove into the green lake and disappeared.

Undine gazed at Xiaomao. As he couldn't awaken his dantian any time soon, she excused herself and left.

DING

<You may return here after you have completed all the qualifications.>

Although Xiaomao couldn't complete the awakening ritual today, it was enough to befriend the mermen, mermaids, and water spirits here.

Xiaomao put all items in his inventory and brought out a sword. He flew deeper into the mermen's territory.

Under the Gnoll Dungeon hid underground caves and waterways. Strange green water sometimes flowed into the lake, and clear seawater gushed into the area.

Xiaomao followed his memory. He dove into a hollowed waterway path and entered a dark maze.

On the way into the maze, Xiaomao noticed a trap door, which Xiaomao had unlocked with the jade plate earlier. Currently, it was slowly closing.

Xiaomao entered that trap door right away!

DING

<You have discovered Wood Ant Nest!>