YA Ch10: The Fish King

Lu Yu lay down in the game pod, curiously looking around.

Inside the game pod was a structure similar to a massage chair, made of a special material resembling hard foam, capable of completely enveloping a person.

Currently, holographic games mainly rely on brain-implanted neural interfaces for connection. However, for safety reasons, these neural interfaces cannot transmit all five senses, so the game pod and helmet provide external support.

“Why did you choose Dongdong’s world?” Ming Yan lightly asked Lao Yang, who was checking the equipment next door.

“Just going in to have a look, not doing an in-depth exploration,” Lao Yang reassured Ming Yan before turning around to fasten Lu Yu’s seatbelt.

Seeing Ming Yan adjusting his breathing and obviously nervous, Lu Yu shouted from the game pod to him, “Don’t be afraid, your hubby will protect you.”

Ming Yan opened his eyes, seeing two paws and a big head sticking out from the edge of the pod. He couldn’t help but smile briefly before quickly putting on a stern face, “What nonsense are you talking? Sit tight, we’re about to start.”

With Lu Xiaoyu’s antics, the tension disappeared. Ming Yan just had a conditioned reflex; the safety measures of the game pod were too reminiscent of a roller coaster.

Seeing them like this, Yang Chen grimaced, then forcefully tightened Lu Yu’s seatbelt.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you as a safety officer, trying to kill the passengers? I’m going to file a complaint,” Lu Yu said, kicking out at him.

Lao Yang dodged, “Haha, you can’t kick me.”

Before Lu Yu could make another move, the glass cover of the game pod came down, and a mechanical voice sounded:

“Oxygen levels inside the pod are normal. Temperature is normal. In case of emergency, press the red button on the left side to force eject.”

Lu Yu fastened the light-blocking visor of his helmet. After three beeps, the scene before his eyes suddenly changed.

In the pitch-black darkness, a few characters in Song font appeared:

[Chapter 1250 of “Fish King,” Extra Chapter: Revisiting the Old Capital]

Then, like the lights coming on in a theater after a movie, a few beams of light illuminated the space.

“This welcome screen is too perfunctory; it looks like it just pulled a webpage from a novel site,” Lu Yu muttered, twitching his mouth. This wasn’t cool at all; it was completely different from what he had imagined, and how did it jump straight to chapter 1250?

“This is just for testing; only a few extra chapters were made,” Lao Yang’s voice echoed in the space. Shortly after, a system-modeled version of Lao Yang appeared before Lu Yu, “Dongdong’s data is fully set up; no need to start from the beginning.”

Just then, Ming Yan and Zhao Yanqing also entered.

Lu Yu quickly walked over to Ming Yan, circling around him, “So handsome.”

The system-modeled characters had an 80% resemblance to their real selves but leaned more towards a 3D animated appearance, differing somewhat from their real looks. Ming Yan’s features were already quite defined, and after modeling, they became even clearer, looking like a character drawn by the highest-level game artist, which was incredibly beautiful.

Ming Yan also looked up at Lu Yu. Seeing him moving around like an NPC, he helplessly grabbed his wrist and said, “Stand still, it’s about to start.”

In the system, Lu Yu no longer had dark circles, and his slightly sagging cheeks were now tight, paired with those lively eyes, truly resembling his eighteen-year-old self. Facing eighteen-year-old Lu Xiaoyu, Ming Yan always felt more patient.

President Zhao was still fascinated with his modeled body when Lao Yang already selected a system-provided wig, put it on, and shouted, “Let’s go!”

Everyone’s vision blurred, and they found themselves standing in a dilapidated city.

The sky was gray with no birds in sight, and the towering modern city buildings looked like a yellowed old photograph with a sepia filter. The buildings were half-collapsed, and the streets and shops were empty. Only a nearby artificial lake was crystal clear, its ripples indicating vibrant life.

Lu Yu had no idea what he would face; he hadn’t finished writing “The Fish King” before crossing over, so he naturally didn’t know the contents of the extra chapters. But Lu Dongdong’s world was certainly not peaceful. He made a protective gesture behind Ming Yan, looking around, “Be careful…”

Before he could finish speaking, the ground split open with a thunderous crack, shaking violently. A four-eyed, eight-legged monster burst out from the fissure, charging directly at Lao Yang and President Zhao.

“F*ck…” Yang Chen cursed incoherently, causing President Zhao to turn pale and freeze in fear.

Lu Yu took a running leap, spreading his arms to tackle the two men to the ground, narrowly avoiding the monster’s claw. The sharp claw pierced two meters deep into the concrete floor. If it had hit President Zhao, he would have been ejected from the game instantly.

“Stay alert, you two.” Lu Yu shouted at them, not bothering to help the esteemed investor up, and instead got up and ran towards Ming Yan, afraid the monster might turn around and harm him.

Yang Chen scrambled to his feet and pulled President Zhao along as he ran towards Ming Yan.

“Don’t run around.” Zhao Yanqing couldn’t dodge in time and was dragged along by Lao Yang.

“We have to follow them; I don’t have a weapon!” Yang Chen said as he ran.

Lu Yu had just reached Ming Yan, gasping for breath with his hands on his knees. “Damn, this body is too weak; just a few steps and I’m winded…”

Before he finished speaking, the monster suddenly turned around, letting out a sharp screech and spitting out a burst of flames at them.

“Ahhh!” Lao Yang dragged President Zhao down at Ming Yan’s feet.

Ming Yan raised his hand, his right palm glowing as a jade-like white pencil appeared. He clumsily drew in the air, quickly sketching a transparent wall.

“Boom!” The flames hit the wall and went no further.

The monster let out an unwilling shriek and increased the intensity of the flames.

“This monster is kinda dumb, doesn’t know how to go around.” Lao Yang, lying on the ground, seized the opportunity to make a sarcastic remark.

“What is this?!” President Zhao got up, covered in dirt, looking very distressed.

But Lu Yu’s eyes lit up. “What is this?”

Ming Yan spread his hand to show the pencil. “This is all thanks to you, um, Lu Dayu. You set this up. What you gave me is a ‘Ma Liang’s brush,’ which allows me to freely modify and add drawings here…”

As he spoke, the flames burned through the transparent wall. Ming Yan hurriedly drew another one to patch it up, but the flames surged again, and the wall wouldn’t hold for long.

“I don’t know what he set for himself,” Ming Yan said while drawing. “The wall’s damage will soon exceed my drawing speed. Stay close to me!”

The three of them huddled around Ming Yan, who began drawing on the ground.

Lu Yu thought for a moment. “I think I know what he would set.”

He stood up, raised his hand, palm down, and shouted, “Keyboard, come!”

A streak of light shot into his palm, transforming into a pitch-black keyboard.

Ming Yan: “…”

Lao Yang: “How melodramatic.”

President Zhao: “He’s crazy.”

“Boom!” At that moment, the flames broke through the wall, rushing towards them.

Lu Yu felt the scorching heat wave, and before he could react, a magic carpet suddenly appeared beneath them, a result of Ming Yan’s last stroke.

Without hesitation, Lu Yu quickly typed on the keyboard: “Magic carpet can fly.”

“Whoosh—” The magic carpet shot out like an arrow, carrying the four of them away.

“Ahhh!” Lao Yang and President Zhao couldn’t help but scream.

Ming Yan added a rein to the carpet, holding it with one hand and grabbing Lu Yu’s clothes with the other.

The other two only managed to grab the large tassels on the carpet’s corners, being pulled along at high speed. The monster chased after them, spewing countless fireballs like cannonballs.

Yang Chen screamed, shouting at Lu Yu, “Ahhh… Lu Yu, ahhh… think of something, ahhh…”

“Ouch, I’m burned!” President Zhao screamed as a fireball grazed his butt.

Lu Yu quickly typed on the keyboard, trying several sentences like [Monster disappears] and [Building collapses to block the monster], but they didn’t work. However, [Ming Yan’s rein can control the magic carpet] did work. He roughly figured out how the keyboard worked: adding logical, complete sentences to achieve effects, like adding scenes to a story.

To deal with the monster, he needed to know its specific name, defining it to that individual monster, but Lu Yu didn’t know what it was called.

Holding his breath, he quickly typed a line:

[When Lu Yu is in danger, the Fish King Lu Dongdong appears in time, saving Lu Yu, Ming Yan, and the others who were passing by on the flying carpet.]

Pressing enter, Lu Yu distinctly felt a strange spatial fluctuation around him.

The sound of a pleasant stream filled the air as if space had been torn open, releasing a spring of water. Accompanying the spring was a giant merman.

The merman, bare-chested, had perfectly shaped abs hidden beneath long, sea-blue hair. His star-studded sapphire blue tail slowly swayed in the floating water, the translucent membrane at the tip shimmering with rainbow hues in the sunlight, making for a breathtaking sight.

The summoned merman was stunned for a moment. Seeing the scene before him, he flicked his fingers towards the hideous monster charging at them.

Then, like ingredients in a blender, the monster instantly shattered into pieces, turning to dust and vanishing.

The magic carpet landed, and President Zhao stumbled off to the side, vomiting.

Yang Chen lay limp on the carpet, not moving.

Lu Yu quickly grabbed Ming Yan, checking on him. “Are you hurt?”

Ming Yan looked a bit pale. “I’m fine; I just don’t like roller coasters.”

The giant merman shrank to human size, slowly landed, and grew legs, walking over slowly.

After vomiting, President Zhao stood up, saw the non-human Lu Dongdong, and backed away in fear.

Lu Yu quickly covered Ming Yan’s eyes and shouted at Lu Dongdong, “Put on some clothes!”

The handsome Fish King paused, conjured a set of clothes from somewhere, put them on, and ran over happily. The elegant and mysterious atmosphere of his entrance was utterly ruined.

“Father, why are you in my world?” Lu Dongdong asked with a smile.

“Just passing through.” Lu Yu didn’t say much.

Lu Dongdong nodded, didn’t ask further, and calmly said, “This place is very dangerous.”

Then, he looked at the white pencil in Ming Yan’s hand and paused slightly: “I can sense that this pencil is very powerful and can manipulate the rules of this world.”

President Zhao watched from the side, his heart racing with fear: “Is he going to kill and steal the treasure? Ming Yan, don’t talk to him; let’s get out of here!”

The beautiful man transformed from the merman smiled and suddenly extended his hand with sharp nails in front of Ming Yan.

The dangerous and powerful Fish King, the ruler of this world, said in a bewitching voice, “Daddy, I want a sapphire ring. Can you draw one for me?”