I'm doing bidirectional science popularization in American comics

However, this also has some advantages; at least Depp won't get bored.

Mera pretended to be focused on driving the scorpionfish, but she had already secretly switched to autopilot mode.

She would steal glances at Depp every now and then, her heart pounding wildly.

Mera let out a sigh of relief and asked, "Um... Depp, did you come to Xebel for fun or is there something else?"

"Look, look, this little girl is absolutely bewitched by you!" the siren symbiote said. "He doesn't even know your purpose, yet he foolishly brings you home. If you don't go for it, are you even a man?"

"I am your father!"

Depp was so angry his head was spinning, and he shouted instinctively.

"what?"

Mera was taken aback for a moment, then blushed slightly and said, "What...what are you saying!"

Upon hearing this, Depp immediately changed his tune, saying, "I meant... I want to see your father, I want to meet your father."

Upon hearing this, Mera's eyes flashed with disappointment. She said, "I see. Then I'll take you to see him directly. If you go by yourself, you'll most likely be turned away."

“That’s wonderful, thank you so much, Mera,” Depp said.

The siren symbiote continued to tease Depp: "Tsk tsk tsk, did you notice that girl's face suddenly turn red? Right the moment you said you were her father."

"What do you mean?"

Depp asked in his mind, but this time he remained silent.

"You didn't even notice? This girl is obviously a masochist!" the siren symbiote said excitedly. "Looks like this girl is past the age of crying when she's scolded."

“Yes, Mera is not young anymore,” Depp said matter-of-factly.

But the siren symbiote said in a tone that was both mature and lewd: "Mera is now at the age where she's being scolded for being 'watery'."

Upon hearing this, Depp couldn't hold back any longer and yelled, "Are you fucking crazy?"

Mera, who was secretly watching Depp, bit her lip upon hearing this, and a blush returned to her cheeks.

"See, see! I told you she was a masochist!" the siren symbiote exclaimed in Depp's mind, spitting as it spoke. "This girl is also a sea creature," tsk tsk tsk, even more watery now!

Depp was completely exasperated with the Siren Symbiote this time, and he simply stopped replying.

It didn't give the siren symbiote a chance to continue speaking.

Then, Depp awkwardly said to Mera, "Um... I wasn't talking about you, don't mind me."

Mera smiled and said, "It's alright, it's alright, I don't mind."

Soon, the Kingdom of Zebel was not far away.

No updates today, taking a break.

Please take a day off to rest.

Chapter 281 Zebel Grand Tournament

"Tsk tsk tsk, do you know what 'don't mind' means?"

The siren symbiote spoke to itself.

Depp pretended not to hear and ignored the guy.

"Don't mind, that means go all out, kid!" the siren symbiote said, spitting as she spoke. "She's hinting at you!"

Depp took a deep breath and said to the siren symbiote, "If you keep doing this, I'll lock you up when we get back and never take you out to play again. And... I'll take all your candy away too!"

"Damn it, you're inhuman! How could you do something like this to my sister!"

After saying one sentence, the siren symbiote finally fell silent.

It seems that solitary confinement and the confiscation of snacks are still quite terrifying for her.

After all, Depp probably wouldn't actually kill himself and be roasted into a fish fillet.

However, when it comes to solitary confinement and confiscating snacks, Depp usually keeps his word.

As we followed Mera into Zebel, everyone we passed smiled and nodded in greeting.

Many people even offered their own food to Mera.

In this rather martial country, Princess Mera seems to be exceptionally popular.

In contrast, Mera's sister, Sirens, is much less popular.

Depp speculated that this was probably due to the difference between Mera's gentle nature and the Sirens' purple hair.

In Zebel, fiery red hair is the orthodox color, while the sirens' long purple hair is heretical.

After entering the territory of the city-state of Zebel, Mera and Depp left the spaceship.

In the waters of Zebel, there is a tradition that the use of underwater spacecraft is prohibited.

Furthermore, Mera used her water control abilities to create an air ring around Depp so that he could breathe freely underwater.

After all, the siren symbiote's Trench-like appearance would seem strange to the Zebel people and even King Nereus.

Zebel's main city is similar to Atlantis, and most pedestrians on the road carry weapons.

The martial spirit here has made everyone ready for battle.

And because of the Zebel people's violent temper, you can see people fighting all over the streets.

For example, not long after Depp and his group entered the main city under Mera's guidance, they saw two burly red-haired men wrestling with each other using their respective harpoons.

It has to be said that Mera seems to be an anomaly here; she is too gentle.

Mera stepped in front of Depp and said to him, "Um... they're just exchanging combat tips and sparring."

Mera thought to herself, "Thank goodness Depp is a landman, he definitely can't understand Zebel's language, otherwise we would have been exposed."

She had been communicating with Depp in a local language, so she was unaware that Depp possessed a system—a universal translator—that could understand almost any language.

For example, right now, thanks to the system's translation, Depp is hearing the conversation between the two guys that Mera was blocking.

"You son of a bitch, what are you looking at?"

"Look at you!"

"If you look at me again, I'll fucking kill you!"

"Come on, who's afraid of who? You're not even as good as my son!"

"Um...do you need me to help them separate?"

"Depp asked."

Mera waved her hand and said, "The guards will be back soon... Never mind, I'll do it."

After saying that, Mera waved her hands, and the powerful current of water immediately separated the two people.

After the two parted ways, upon seeing Mera standing to the side, they immediately seemed to have forgotten their previous struggle and happily said to her, "Princess Mera! I never expected to see you, it's made my whole day so wonderful!"

Upon hearing this, Mera said with a hint of anger in her eyes, "You're not allowed to fight all the time anymore. Living in the same sea, we should coexist peacefully and help each other, shouldn't we?"

"We understand, and this will definitely not happen again!"

No, there will never be a next time!

After Depp and Mera walked away, the two who had just been fighting huddled together, talking amongst themselves:

"I must say, Princess Mera is truly beautiful."

"Yeah, I wonder which awful brat will benefit from this!"

"It is said that... the king intends to arrange a marriage between Princess Mera and Orm of Atlantis, and perhaps Princess Mera will become the queen of Atlantis."

"However, I do think that the guy next to Princess Mera just now looked quite handsome. I wonder if he is Princess Mera's sweetheart."

After a while, members of the Zebel Guard, dressed in armor and carrying ancient tridents, arrived and asked the two, "I just received a report that there's a fight here. Did you see it?"

The two looked at each other, put their arms around each other's shoulders, and said, "No way! We've been here the whole time and haven't seen anyone fighting."

Upon hearing this, the guards patrolled the area again before finally leaving.

As they left, the guard muttered, "Damn it, if I find out who's been messing with me, I'll stab them to death!"

Meanwhile, Mera led Depp straight to King Nereus's palace.

Inside the palace, King Nereus, having just received his daughter's message, donned Depp's attire and sat in the underwater palace awaiting Mera's arrival.

For King Nereus, Mera and the Sirens were the things he valued most.

Nereus looked at the documents in his hand, pondering the grand tournament that was to be held two days later.

All Zebel and even Atlanteans can register for this tournament, but King Nereus is still debating the winner's reward.

Soon, the guards came running to deliver the message.

"Your Majesty, Princess Mera is requesting an audience before the palace."

Upon hearing this, Nereus immediately put down the documents in his hand and said, "Then what are you waiting for? Let her in quickly."

In the past, Mera could enter the palace, or even Nereus's study, without needing the guards' permission; she could pass through freely.

The reason the guards came to deliver the message today was because Mera was accompanied by Depp, a complete stranger whom none of the guards recognized.

The guard said, "But Your Majesty, Princess Mera is accompanied by a strange man who appears to be a landman. May they come in together?"

A stranger on land?

Nereus was puzzled by this, but after thinking about it, he immediately understood.

If Mera had told her from the beginning that she was going to bring a land dweller to meet her, she would have refused without hesitation.

Although King Nereus did not harbor the same extreme hatred for land dwellers as Orm did at the beginning, he did not have any good feelings towards them either.

They even wanted to conquer land and expand Zebel's territory.

Nereus thought for a moment and said, "Let them all come in."

"Yes!"

The guards left the palace and brought Depp and Mera before Zebel.