The ground shook. Looking at the monster charging towards them, Gian screamed repeatedly: "Help! What is that thing?"
His fish tail straightened in fear. He instinctively dropped Nobita from his shoulder and ran to a safe place.
"Gian, don't leave me!"
Nobita fell to the ground, crawling and grabbing the ground, watching the frantically fleeing Gian, while also shouting Doraemon's name.
"What a terrifying creature. It should be a moray eel, but this size is too big."
Xiao Fu looked at the monster getting closer to him with a shocked expression.
"Now isn't the time to discuss such things, is it? I think it's the true eel."
Nobi Hiroshi stood calmly in place, shouting at the stunned Doraemon: "Doraemon, quickly take out some powerful gadgets!"
"I… I got it…"
"Hundred-Shot-Hundred-Hit Missile!"
After rummaging, Doraemon pulled out a mini-missile from his pocket. Although it was only palm-sized, its explosive power was no less than a cannon.
Seeing this, Nobi Hiroshi quickly used Instant Travel to bring Nobita over.
"Boom~"
The canyon wall collapsed, and the swirling currents blew everyone away, their faces hitting the ground, getting a free mud mask.
The roar of the explosion spread far, and the moray eel was directly pulverized.
"Ptui~"
Nobi Hiroshi spat out the mud in his mouth, stood up again, and wiped off the mud from his face.
Then, Nobita's voice came to his ears.
"Phew, thank you, Hiro."
Nobi Nobita slumped to the ground, his trembling body faintly showing signs of lingering fear.
If he hadn't been moved out of the explosion's range, he probably would have gone to meet the Buddha.
His heart was filled with gratitude, but he still cared about the matter of his "future wife."
"You're welcome."
Nobi Hiroshi replied indifferently, then turned to Sofia and asked, "Sofia, are you alright? So there are monsters in the sea. Did you often encounter them before?"
"No, I've never encountered a monster like this before. I don't know what's going on."
Sofia patted the mud off her face, looked at the nearby crater, and fell into deep thought.
Besides the Merfolk, they hadn't encountered any other hidden creatures on Earth for the past few millennia. What exactly was going on with this mutated eel?
Ordinary hormones wouldn't cause this; it felt like its genes had been stimulated by some kind of technology.
"Is this your first time encountering something like this too?" Hearing that, Nobi Hiroshi skeptically pinched his chin, a bad premonition brewing in his heart.
"You scared me to death! I thought it was some formidable monster, but it turned out to be so vulnerable."
"Exactly, Fat Tiger! What's there to be afraid of with a monster like that? Hehehe~"
Fat Tiger and Xiao Fu, having breathed a sigh of relief, discussed their thrilling experience and began to verbally attack the already dead eel.
I ran ≠ I'm scared.
"Tch~"
Doraemon beside him scoffed and continued to swim forward.
They were about to reach the exit of the canyon, and everyone was in high spirits.
Suddenly, a pit appeared on the ground ahead. Doraemon didn't pay much attention and swam directly over it, pressing down on something that was sticking its head out.
"You hard, blue pufferfish, why are you blocking my way and stepping on my head!"
A small Merfolk, no more than a meter tall, emerged from the hole. He looked very young, with spiky yellow hair like a pineapple.
Doraemon was startled at first, then stared at this yellow-haired fellow who strongly resembled a porcupine fish. His face flushed again, and he roared at him, "I'm not a pufferfish! I'm a cat! And you look more like a pufferfish than I do!"
"I don't care if you're a cat or a pufferfish! Quickly tell me what you're doing here!"
The small spiky pufferfish demanded, puffing up.
His unfriendly gaze swept backward, past Nobi Hiroshi and the others, finally landing on Sofia, and he opened his small mouth in surprise.
"Xiao Hali!"
At this moment, Sofia also noticed him and quickly swam over.
"Princess, this is wonderful! You're safe! We've been so worried these past few days not seeing you."
The spiky pufferfish-pineapple-Merfolk, called Xiao Hali, joyfully swam closer, accompanied by two guards who respectfully chorused, "Greetings, Princess."
"So, Sofia knows him. I thought it was another enemy."
Nobi Hiroshi watched quietly, noticing two small fish-shaped submarines also swimming out of the cave, looking very advanced.
This indicated that the Merfolk were indeed from outer space, possessing impressive technological capabilities, very different from the fairy tales he had imagined.
"Everyone, this is Xiao Hali. He is the captain of the Royal Guard."
"Xiao Hali, these are my new friends. You can't call people pufferfish anymore."
Sofia pointed at Doraemon and then at Nobi Hiroshi behind her, introducing them one by one.
The yellow-haired little fish stared with a scrutinizing gaze, but finally conceded, "Since they are friends of the Princess, it's naturally fine. However, don't let me catch you doing anything improper."
With a soft hum, Xiao Hali waved his hand. The two submarines descended, and he motioned for Nobi Hiroshi and the others to board, heading towards the Merfolk's land.
"Tch, what's there to be proud of? That pineapple-headed guy is really annoying."
"Exactly! He acts like we're some kind of villains. If he wasn't someone Sofia knew, I'd have taught him a lesson."
Hunching over, Fat Tiger and Xiao Fu complained about Xiao Hali's tone of voice just now.
The space inside the submarine was too small. Sitting in the back, they couldn't even straighten their backs. It was truly a pity for a big guy like Fat Tiger to be squatting on the floor.
"Alright, alright. After all, he's the captain of the defense team, so being cautious is normal, right?"
Doraemon said understandingly, his eyes fixed on the view outside the window with anticipation.
Leaving the canyon, the submarine rapidly proceeded towards an underwater ruin not far ahead, resembling a Roman Colosseum.
And not far behind, Space Scum's subordinates also arrived at the location: "Hehehe! We've found you!"
They let out strange smiles from the corners of their mouths, tailing the Merfolk's submarine.
...
...
"Sofia, we should be arriving soon, right?"
Gazing at the inverted, dilapidated stone pillars of the Colosseum, Nobi Hiroshi, in front of Xiao Hali, put his arm around Sofia's trembling shoulders.
"Mm, it's just inside the tunnel."
The girl shyly lowered her head, her eyes darting around. The two guards nearby were stunned; the Princess was actually willing to be taken advantage of by an outsider right in front of them.
"You brat, take your hand off her!"
Xiao Hali, unable to bear it any longer, swam over and slapped the 'salty pig hand' off Sofia's shoulder.
However, just as he reached them, his entire fish body became immobile.
"Pineapple-head, why are you so agitated? Princess Sofia didn't even tell you to interfere."
"Besides, the space in here is so small, there's nowhere else for my hand to go."
Nobi Hiroshi smiled sweetly, his palm continuously pressing and sliding on the girl's fair, tender arm.
"You stinky fish, what did you do to me?"
Xiao Hali, unable to move, cried out in surprise. The two guards also came over, raising their weapons.
"Stand down!"
Sofia's beautiful eyes widened, her voice rising slightly, and she pinched her own fair thigh, resisting the strange yet pleasing sensation.
"Yes... yes..."
The two guards wisely retreated. Xiao Hali was even more speechless, never expecting the Princess to conspire with an outsider to bully him.
"Alright, Hiroshi, stop teasing Xiao Hali," Sofia tugged at the young man's sleeve, then looked at Xiao Hali, "Xiao Hali, let me tell you, Hiroshi is not a Merfolk; he is a very important person to me. You are not allowed to be unreasonable in the future."
"What!"
Xiao Hali, whose body had regained movement, instantly fell to the ground, raising his head to look at Nobi Hiroshi in disbelief.
His own Princess, after a few days' absence, had actually been seduced by this pretty boy!
And he wasn't even a fish; he was a human, whom he viewed with prejudice!
"Princess, how can this be? Those humans will only..."
"Shut up, Xiao Hali! Hiroshi and the others are different, do you understand? I don't want you to say similar things again."
Xiao Hali's words were cut short by Sofia's slightly angry tone.
The temperament the young girl displayed at this moment was completely unlike her usual gentle and easily bullied demeanor.
Nobi Hiroshi immediately perked up. Perhaps... being trampled underfoot by a strong Merfolk wouldn't be bad at all.
"I... I understand."
Xiao Hali dejectedly swam to a corner, emo, daring not to speak his anger at Sofia's words.
He was just the captain of the defense team; it was indeed not appropriate for him to interfere with the Princess's affairs.
However, to protect the young and naive Princess, this matter was not over! He couldn't let that hateful human pretty boy succeed!
Princess Sofia was the next queen of the Merfolk kingdom. If she were to be abducted, the consequences would be unimaginable.
If he wanted to prevent this from happening, only one person could do it—the current Queen, who was Sofia's grandmother.