Chapter 35

Chapter 35

After buying his milk tea, Phelos informed Noi about the shooting of “Prince of the Sea” scheduled for the next day, reminding him not to get too engrossed in playing and forget, and also reminding the merfolk chief about the construction starting tomorrow.

But seeing the perfunctory manner of the father-son duo, Phelos realized their hearts had already been captured by the snacks, so he let them be.

“Blaise, you take care of hosting them. Give them the script and remind them about tomorrow’s schedule.”

As it turned out, Phelos's foresight was spot on.

The group of merfolk ate all night long, and in the morning, Noi arrived at the worksite carrying a huge bucket of cheese taro milk tea, barely making it on time.

“I’m not late, am I, Lord burp?” Noi belched, a sign that even at level 125, non-stop eating all night could still lead to overindulgence.

But the stomach that held the cheese taro milk tea was in a different dimension from his other stomachs, so he felt finishing this cup wouldn’t be much of a problem.

Besides, the sacrifices of Cheese Sister, Taro Sister, Milk Brother, and Black Tea Brother had to be honored. Not drinking it would be too disrespectful, wouldn’t it?!

No, absolutely not! Letting their sacrifices go in vain was out of the question!

“Gulp gulp gulp—” Noi, with determined effort, sucked in his belly and finished the heavily loaded milk tea.

“This…” Photographer Toniel’s perception of merfolk shattered. The legendary, beautiful, and affluent merfolk revealing such a cheap side was unthinkable to him.

"Did you get that on camera?" Phelos asked with a mix of delight and a threatening expression that read 'you'd better have captured that or else.'

Toniel dared not say otherwise. As a high-level wind mage, he was the most suitable candidate for the photographer (camera) role.

For this film (promotional video), Phelos had specifically allowed him to return to his own body. Now, Toniel was still undead but, in some sense, more like a Lich.

Though he had lost his freedom, his merged state had evolved!

"Yes, yes, Director Lord, I've been on the job the whole time!"

Phelos immediately started reviewing the footage Toniel had just captured.

The youthful Noi, bathed in the soft golden light of the morning sun, approached from a distance. The morning breeze lifted his long hair. As he drew nearer, his magnified, stunning visage seemed almost ready to break through the screen. A shy, slight smile accompanied by a modest dip of his head created a beauty so overwhelming it could short-circuit the brain.

Then, the young man carefully sipped through a straw, the sunlight and breeze, his quivering long eyelashes, all converging into a scene too serene to disrupt.

But what followed was the astonishing speed at which the milk tea disappeared, as if fast-forwarded ten times.

His handsome cheeks quickly sucked in the milk tea from a bucket as big as an adult man's head.

Drank. It. All.

The cameraman, likely shocked, lingered on the massive milk tea bucket for several seconds, zooming in for a close-up.

The legendary, lavishly wealthy merfolk, rumored to sleep on beds of pearls and dine under gold-plated covers, revealed a blissful, contented smile over just a bucket of milk tea.

With a bit of cheese milk cap on his lips, he even stuck out his tongue to lick it off!

"Excellent!" Phelos was pleased, announcing a special addition to Noi's lunch as a reward. "Add a fried chicken leg to Noi's lunch box." A hit product was born! Once the film aired, this cheese taro milk tea would be an instant sell-out!

Noi: "!!!"

Toniel: "!!!"

Both were wide-eyed in shock, but for entirely different reasons.

Noi: Good heavens! More chicken legs? Love it, love it, I'd shoot ten thousand more scenes for this!

Toniel: What just happened?

The stagehand immediately took note of the command.

Seeing Toneyr still looking bewildered, Felos patiently explained, "Look at this video segment. Does Noemi appear impactful?"

Toneyr nodded frantically. Mermaids, known to be among the four most stunning races alongside elves, angels, and succubi, captivated even Toneyr, who prided himself on having seen many beauties, the moment Noemi appeared.

Toneyr, a man of simple tastes and nouveau riche aesthetics, found the composition, colors, and the captivating Noemi in the video astonishingly beautiful.

It wasn't that Toneyr had suddenly become discerning; rather, he was completely drawn into Noemi's artistic world. The impact captured by the camera was his own astonishment!

"So, after watching it, what do you feel?"

Feel?

Confronted with Felos's question, Toneyr dared not bluff, nor speak recklessly, and honestly admitted, "Shocked. He's a merman, after all. How could he exhibit such expressions?"

"Is it visually appealing?"

Toneyr, a bit embarrassed, scratched his face and said, "Beautiful." Noemi drinking milk tea didn’t lose his composure; instead, his focus intriguingly made one wonder, "What is captivating him so much? Would I feel closer to him if I tried that drink too?" A curious, somewhat fawning thought.

Downing a 3L milk tea in three seconds is indeed shocking, but it's the stark contrast and the final look of satisfaction and happiness that sparks the urge, "If a merman loves it so much, it must taste incredible. Damn, I want to try it too."

The color scheme of the cheese taro milk tea was sophisticated. The tea's color added a Morandi-like gray tone to the overall palette, the restrained colors highlighting Noemi's own temperament, assertive yet not overpowering.

The angle of the milk tea cup was also fortunate, fully revealing the shop's name and logo.

"The Prince of the Sea" was essentially a promotional film. Felos was already quite satisfied with such a quality in the first segment of shooting!

"Noemi, go change your clothes. Makeup artist, come over and do his makeup."

Noemi had excellent natural attributes, being a legendary character of level 125, so staying up all night was nothing to him. In fact, after spending a pleasant evening, his spirit and skin were in great condition!

The makeup artist's role was quite limited; Felos took this time to discuss the role with him.

"The Prince of the Sea" wasn’t difficult to shoot. Technically, it only required a slight modification of the existing memory magic and perception magic to create a level 50 camera capable of integrated filming, sound capture, and holography.

The projector was even less challenging, only reaching level 40 due to Felos's addition of several encryption programs to the alchemical product.

"I know you didn't look at the script yesterday, but there's still time to go through it now."

Felos's frankness made Noemi guiltily scratch his hair, then he hurriedly skimmed through the script, reading ten lines at a glance.

"The filming base isn't set up yet. We'll shoot the underwater scenes last. For now, let's focus on this middle part."

"The Prince of the Sea" has a straightforward plot, which can be summarized as follows:

In the deep sea lived a noble merman prince, always listening to his mother's tales of human world adventures. But as a minor, he couldn't leave the ocean, eagerly waiting to embark on his own adventures in the human world upon coming of age.

One day, as he was playing with moon halo dolphins in the sea, he sensed hundreds of magical fluctuations from afar.

It was a dragon attacking a human prince's ship.

Brave knights engaged in fierce battle with the dragon, but even with a 100-to-1 advantage, the overwhelming strength was still on the dragon's side.

As the great ship was about to sink, the merman prince recalled his mother's stories of heroes bravely fighting dragons to rescue princesses, eventually living happily ever after.

Fired up, the merman prince rushed to battle the dragon. After three days and nights, the dragon sank to the seabed, and the prince emerged victorious.

But the prince, barely winning with home-field advantage, was gravely injured.

The least injured human prince, under the protection of many royal knights, waited for rescue, escaping the perilous waters.

The prince fell deeply in love with the merman. Knowing he couldn't possess a free merman forever, he cherished every fleeting moment of happiness.

Every day, the prince professed his intense love to the comatose merman and offered a hefty reward for the Pope of the Temple of Light to heal his beloved. Moved by the prince's sincerity, the Pope sent the Holy Maiden of Light to treat the merman.

At this time, the prince's fiancée, learning of the strange merman he had brought back, stormed into the palace in a furious rage.

During their argument, the merman slowly opened his eyes amid the Holy Maiden's healing.

His clear blue eyes, still slightly hazy and confused, gently looked towards the Holy Maiden, "Hello, who might you be?"

"Hello, my name is Joan, 19 years old, a level 66 priest, and my bank balance is... please marry me!" In that moment, Joan even had the names of their 100th child planned out.

Hearing the commotion, the prince, leaving his fiancée, rushed over. Before he could rejoice, he was infuriated by Joan's words, contorting his features and throwing down the gauntlet to challenge her.

"So you're that little—" The fiancée, finally meeting her rival, felt awkward at the sight of the prince's face. Wanting not to seem too forward, she decided to wait another second before falling for him.

The human prince, the Holy Maiden of Light, the heir to the dukedom, the imperial knight commander... even the initial dragon were all embroiled in a love-hate saga.

After a series of events, the merman prince, entangled in a complex love web, declared on his adult birthday, "My home is quite spacious. Why don't you all come live with me?"

And so, everyone lived happily ever after.

A joyous and congratulatory occasion indeed!

Felos considered both drama and comedy, eventually opting for a universally appealing 'favorite-of-all' (romantic battleground) theme.

Of course, these absurd romantic entanglements served merely as a topic to stir the pot.

With eight main factions - the brooding human prince, the saintly Holy Maiden, the haughty duchess, the silent yet reassuring knight commander...

With so many factions, surely one must stand for true love!

Since there's a 'best', that damned competitive spirit will keep the interest alive and kicking.

All those close-ups characteristic of Lanceville, wouldn't they just take off and win big?!

A note from the author:

Felos: If sweet and savory tofu can cause a stir, I refuse to believe eight factions won't tear the house down!