My Goddess is Good at Pretending

Chapter 256: Suspicious Interstellar Merchant

"Scarlet, we will return to the Sacred Mountain. Stay in touch with us~" Miko waved her hand to everyone in the Mermaid Kingdom.

"Mm, we are eternally grateful for everything. Please allow us to escort you." Scarlet represented the mermaids and residents of the Mermaid Kingdom to express their gratitude to Goddess Ely’s fleet.

She and all the residents of the Mermaid Kingdom escorted all the warships near the sea surface.

The appearance of dozens of powerful warships and submarines from the bottom of the sea shocked hundreds of human experts on the eastern coast. They were present to watch the great clash between the Sacred Sakura Holy Land and the Ugrasta Sea Empire in the Mermaid Kingdom. Yet, nothing significant happened after the earlier underwater earthquake and small tsunami.

As the warship fleet approached the easternmost coastline, several human experts flew closer to send their greetings.

"Greetings, elites of Sacred Sakura. We are envoys from the Aubourus Empire and Human Alliance." One of the great elders represented the group of elders to send their greetings.

"Pleased to meet you, esteemed elders. I am the shrine priestess of Sacred Sakura. Is there anything we can help you with?" Miko answered the greeting politely.

"We would really appreciate it if you could elaborate to us about what just happened at the bottom of the sea. The Mermaid Kingdom is a new name for us, and it is located close to our mainland..." The representative elder asked for an explanation.

"Priestess Yun, please explain it to them. It would be best if you also built good relationships with humans since you will be neighbors. They are our allies, too." Miko beckoned to the nearby mermaid priestess to talk in her stead.

"Affirmative." Yun bowed respectfully. She finally understood why the Sacred Sakura’s priestess only invited her as the Mermaid Kingdom’s representative to the surface.

She took a step forward, then flew into the air to meet those human experts.

"My name is Yun, Mermaid Priestess, the loyal servant of the Almighty Goddess Ely." Yun gave a respectful greeting. She then explained briefly about what had just happened at the bottom of the sea.

About eighty kilometers east of the mainland’s easternmost coastline, the Mermaid Kingdom had just been built.

The eastern ocean would be cleared of slavery. The Ugrasta Sea Empire was no more. The battle between Sacred Sakura and the Mermaid Kingdom against the Ugrasta Sea Empire ended with a landslide victory.

After a brief explanation, Yun gave the official letter to the representatives of the Human Alliance and the Aubourus Empire. As a neighbor and ally, she had to ensure the human race would never try to attack the Mermaid Kingdom or play dirty toward them.

"Mermaids and their new nation, huh..." The representative elder read the letter and muttered softly.

He knew mermaids had been enslaved for a long time. When he thought about it, Sacred Sakura had also recently intervened to change the fate of the foxkins.

What just happened in the eastern ocean was Sacred Sakura freeing the people from slavery and simultaneously abolishing it, destroying the Ugrasta Sea Empire as a result.

Regardless, everything was good news since the Ugrasta Sea Empire was a threat to the Aubourus Empire. With the disappearance of a major threat and a new ally under Sacred Sakura’s protection, everyone could feel relieved and happy.

"Congratulations on the founding of the Mermaid Kingdom. We shall come to visit officially in seven days to greet the Mermaid Queen. Aubourus Empire and the Mermaid Kingdom must build a good relationship." The representative elder extended his hand for a handshake. Any faction under Sacred Sakura’s banner was an ally.

Unfortunately, Yun just put her hands together and smiled politely. She couldn’t accept a handshake, not from a man.

"Oh, right..." The representative elder scratched his head awkwardly, but he understood the reason.

He could tell a faint hint of trauma in this mermaid’s eyes. Despite her courtesy, she, or perhaps most mermaids, were traumatized because of men.

"We look forward to the official visit from the Aubourus Empire and the Human Alliance next week." Yun considered a few things and nodded in understanding.

She bid her farewell, then flew down. After saying goodbye to the shrine priestess, Dory, and the others, she threw herself into the sea. Her pair of legs transformed into a fishtail, and she swam back to Ningyo City.

The human experts then escorted Sacred Sakura’s warships to the shore. After exchanging some pleasantries, the Sacred Sakura’s fleet flew away at impressive speed, leaving the human experts behind.

"Those mermaids are so lucky to have Sacred Sakura’s protection."

"Well, they are enforcers of justice. Those mermaids were so smart as to ask the Sacred Sakura Holy Land for help to free them from the terrible slavery in the Ugrasta Sea Empire."

"The Ugrasta Sea Empire is no more, and we can also rest assured. The sea will be chaotic for the next few days, but everything will be fine since Sacred Sakura is the Mermaid Kingdom’s backer.

"Mermaid Kingdom contains many former enslaved people. So, we need to be careful with our attitude since they all have unusual temperaments due to their dark history."

"Yeah... The problem here is over. We need to return and report to our respective factions."

The human experts exchanged a few words before they dispersed back to their respective groups. They left the east coast to return to their respective factions.

---

"Master, ES Nirvana has returned to the planet’s orbit. Waiting for further orders." Xentia reported the situation to her master.

"Mm, good. Xenti, have you ever traveled outside this solar system? Or have you encountered alien entities in outer space?" Elysia glanced at the virtual screen, checking the outer space footage briefly.

The Elysium members and Miko’s disciples were also curious. After all, Xentia had the most extensive adventure experience among the other members.

"ES Nirvana has never left the solar system. The farthest point we have ever traveled is a star 150 million kilometers from Planet Quadtria. I have not encountered alien creatures in outer space. However, I have met the crafty human merchant organization twice in four years and two years ago. The Interstellar Pyroankor Corporation." Xentia showed the mentioned merchant on the virtual screen.

Amy’s attention was somewhat diverted because she was reading the chats from Heaven Rank members in her grimoire regarding the Sea God of Urga. However, the topic of conversation suddenly piqued her interest. "Huh!? Nirvana? What Nirvana are you talking about?"

"ES Nirvana, our super-class mother spaceship. Not the forbidden Nirvana Realm." Xentia stepped away from Amy.

"Interstellar Pyroankor Corporation? A civilization present in the vast universe. Do you know where they came from?" Elysia looked at the corporation’s logo. It depicted a large diamond above a flaming anchor.

She glanced at Amy, but this Agent of Heaven didn’t seem to know anything about that space corporation.

"We keep our secrets from each other. I only send my doll squad to do business with them. We never leaked any meaningful information. They are suspicious, but they have a lot of good stuff. I tried to hack them, but they warned me to do safe business sincerely. So, I didn’t do it." Xentia shook her head.

"Bussiness partner, hmm... Then, how did you meet them? Even your comrade Lyla just found out about this." Elena pointed her hand to the nearby dwarf.

"Mm, I never stay in outer space for long." Lyla waved her hands with a smile. She just found out about this even though she had worked with Xentia for years, but she didn’t mind it.

"I met them when my mining fleet was looking for stardust and other space resources. Their spaceship happened to pass by. If my estimation is correct, they will come to this galaxy again in a few weeks when winter ends." Xentia replied respectfully, but she occasionally observed Amy’s expression.

"Interstellar Pyroankor Corporation, huh... I have heard this name before, but I don’t know where or when. They are suspicious. I will investigate this soon." Amy tapped her chin, trying to recall something.

"Mm, please do that, Agent Amy. Please tell us the results of your investigation later. Looking at the goods and materials that our Xentia purchased from them, I wouldn’t be surprised if they came from the upper realm." Elysia checked several photos from the virtual scene and delegated the investigation task to her local guide.

"I’m sure this corporation is secretly looking for something in the lower realm. I doubt this corporation is an interstellar merchant. They encountered Xentia and played it safe as an impromptu merchant. The Divine World is not only limited by this planet, right?" Elena rested her cheek into her hands, feeling that everything was not as simple as it seemed.

"Err... yes. The Divine World is as wide as a solar system, with nine layers in total. Planet Quadtria is the only entrance to the Divine World." Amy nodded reflexively.

"Hmm? It is the only entrance, but we have encountered several exits and leeways. Those Gods and Immortals from the upper realm still can descend to the lower world in some special ways." Lifa stated the obvious.

Amy then added to that with her claim. The path to the Divine World was cut off or rather heavily restricted. Since the Divine World was so vast and could cover the entire solar system, there might still be some unknown gaps where some people could descend from the Divine World to the lower realm.

Elysia then closed the topic because she believed there was a great cause for such a situation.

They would learn everything gradually, but this merchant that Xentia encountered was indeed suspicious. Nevertheless, they would discover the truth soon.

As for now, they had to return to the Sacred Mountain to pick up Miko’s people for the joint training session.

---

One day passed since the Ugrasta Sea Empire was overthrown. One hundred selected warriors from the Mermaid Kingdom were invited to the Sacred Mountain by Miko’s disciples.

Around two thousand people gathered around Sacred Mountain, including Elysium members, Miko’s disciples, and Sacred Mountain’s forest dwellers. Then, the selected ones from the Blue Soul Fox Fleet, El-Fai Merchant Fleet, Temple of Law, and Elysion Church of the Chthonic World.

Miko opened the event with a formal speech and then a morning prayer. Everyone followed along with some praises to their Goddess Master.

"I hereby announce the opening of our joint training. Please enter the Enlightenment Pagoda. We will measure your qualification level in the great hall." Miko announced the opening of the joint training.

Everyone was excited and immediately entered the nearby three-story pagoda artifact floating in the air.

As the faithful servants of the Supreme Goddess Ely, they felt incredibly honored and proud to visit their Goddess’ divine artifact to seek some enlightenment and insight about cultivation and truth.