Upon hearing the words “Rock Demon brother,” Suo Lun could not help but tremble inwardly.
He had heard from his sister Suo Ning Bing that Suo Lun’s half-brother from the same father was called Rock Demon, the leader of the pirates, and that he looked extremely similar to himself.
Immediately, Suo Lun almost could not resist rushing out at once to see whether he truly resembled him.
The Sea Witch little princess called him brother. Could he be her blood brother?
“Hahahaha…” From far away, Suo Lun heard Rock Demon’s unrestrained, wild laughter. Judging purely by voice, he truly sounded nothing like himself.
“I heard our little Xue Er has also found her ideal husband, and likes him very much, even bringing him to the island?” Rock Demon laughed.
He called the little princess Little Xue Er. He did not know what her true name was.
“Do not speak nonsense. I brought him to see the mother queen. He wants to do business with the mother queen.” The little princess truly could not keep half a sentence to herself, and said directly.
However, Rock Demon did not take it seriously, and continued laughing, “Whatever the case, this is the first time our Princess Xue Er has been close to a man. Come, come, let me have a look!”
“Bang!” Immediately after, came the sound of a body heavily falling onto the deck.
Rock Demon impatiently rushed onto the great ship, and then Suo Lun heard footsteps drawing constantly nearer.
Immediately after, the cabin door was directly kicked open.
Beyond the cabin door, Suo Lun saw a tall, imposing man, holding the little princess and spinning her in place, yet his lightning-fast gaze turned towards Suo Lun.
Although he had already mentally prepared himself, upon seeing him, Suo Lun’s heart still quivered.
Indeed, he resembled him. About seventy percent similar.
Only, he was far more powerfully built and martially imposing, and his skin tone was darker.
Suo Lun resembled not only his father, but also inherited his mother’s feminine beauty. And the Rock Demon before him had completely inherited Suo Long’s genes.
But he truly did resemble him.
Rock Demon kept staring at Suo Lun, for several minutes at least.
An ordinary person stared at by such a gaze would likely truly feel their hair stand on end, because his gaze was truly incomparably sharp.
Moreover, his martial arts were very high, so when he looked at people, his entire body released an incomparably powerful aura, like a mountain, pressing down layer upon layer.
And Suo Lun, just like this, did not move a muscle as he met his gaze.
“Good…” Then, Rock Demon suddenly laughed heartily, and immediately after, his palm fiercely slapped Suo Lun’s shoulder, laughing loudly, “To be able to meet my gaze for so long, either your cultivation is extraordinary, or your heart is without selfishness.”
His hand was truly too heavy. Suo Lun’s half shoulder was nearly shattered by his slap.
“However, to become our little princess’s husband, are you prepared?” Rock Demon suddenly said.
“Brother, do not speak nonsense.” The little princess’s face instantly flushed red.
These past dozen or so days, she had come to speak with Suo Lun almost every day.
And Suo Lun also cherished her in his heart, completely treating her like a little girl of ten or so, telling her stories of this world, and of Earth.
What fairy tales, what Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Nights stories, slightly adapted, he would tell to this little princess of Rock Island.
Later on, even when it was time to sleep, the little princess was unwilling to leave, often falling asleep in Suo Lun’s room while listening.
In her heart, she had already come to see Suo Lun as someone very close to her. But as for any romantic feelings between men and women, she truly did not understand at all.
Suo Lun hurriedly said, “The little princess and I are completely innocent, without any private affection. I came for business.”
Rock Demon dotingly pinched the little princess’s face and said, “A girl grows up, and must marry in the end. Brother will certainly properly vet him for you!”
By this time, the little princess was already so shy her face was completely red. She turned away and said, “I am ignoring you. I am going to see the mother queen.”
Then, she said to Suo Lun, “Shen Lang, follow me.”
…
Walking out of the cabin and onto the deck, Suo Lun finally saw the legendary Rock Island for the first time.
At first glance, Suo Lun was completely stunned.
On the sea surface before him, ships were densely packed beyond counting, completely impossible to count how many there were.
And Rock Island was truly all rock.
This was an archipelago, completely impossible to count how many islands there were, perhaps no fewer than a thousand.
The large islands were several dozen square kilometres, while the small ones were merely several hundred metres in size. Some islands were relatively close to each other, connected in the air by suspension bridges.
And there were no houses on the islands, only caves, caves of every sort.
Caves were densely packed everywhere, and the Rock Clansmen lived in caves of every sort, just like swallows.
In the centre of the archipelago, there was a complete rocky island.
The entire island was one complete giant rock, approximately several hundred metres high, over a thousand metres in diameter.
Of course, this was not the most spectacular aspect. The most spectacular thing was that atop this central Rock Island, a palace complex had been directly carved out.
Yes, this palace was not built, but directly excavated.
The palace complex was three to four hundred metres from the sea surface, composed of several dozen castles and palaces, surrounded on the outside by a stone wall several dozen metres high.
Of course, this stone wall was also living rock that had been excavated.
Suo Lun was completely stunned. A palace complex of several hundred to a thousand mu, actually excavated alive from one complete giant rocky island.
This was truly the work of gods and spirits!
Suo Lun marvelled inwardly, could this have been excavated by the salt clansmen?
Such a heaven-shaking project, without several hundred thousand people excavating for several decades, could fundamentally not be completed.
“Beautiful, is it not…” The little princess said proudly, “Does your human kingdom have such a beautiful royal palace?”
Suo Lun shook his head and said, “No.”
The human kingdom truly did not have such miraculous architecture.
Then, Suo Lun could not help but ask, “Was this royal palace excavated by your salt clansmen?”
The little princess shook her head and said, “No, this was bestowed upon us by the Sea God. Precisely because of this, we Rock Clansmen generation after generation cannot leave Rock Island, even though there is nothing here, and we cannot grow grain.”
Bestowed by the Sea God?
The first thing Suo Lun thought of was relics of an ancient civilisation, just like the Blood Shore Lost City.
This Rock Island royal palace should also be a relic of an ancient civilisation.
“Then what do you do for drinking water?” Suo Lun asked.
Such an archipelago would be hard pressed to have fresh water. Even underground water would be salty.
The little princess said, “That was also bestowed by the Sea God!”
Hearing her matter-of-fact childish words, Suo Lun guessed that the fresh water here should also be a gift of an ancient civilisation.
It should be some special energy body, capable of purifying sea water, transforming it into fresh water.
“Come, I shall take you to see the mother queen now.” The little princess said, “When she sees the gift I brought, she will certainly, certainly be very excited.”
Then, the little princess took Suo Lun aboard a small boat, coming to the base of the central Rock Island.
The palace complex was several hundred metres overhead. Viewed up close, this Rock Island royal palace was even more stunning.
Very quickly, a huge iron cage slowly descended.
The iron door opened, and the little princess took Suo Lun into the iron cage, then the iron cage gradually rose.
This was the most primitive elevator!
After rising several hundred metres, the iron cage stopped. The iron door opened, and before them was an extended rock platform.
The little princess took Suo Lun out of the iron cage, arriving at the platform.
“Rumble…” Before them, a great door slowly opened.
The entire Rock Island royal palace was completely displayed before Suo Lun.
It could not be called magnificent, because there was only one colour.
But it was exquisitely carved. The entire royal palace was filled with a mysterious, fantastical atmosphere.
There were similar architectural complexes on Earth, Angkor Wat.
And the palace before him was ten times more mysterious than Angkor Wat, ten times more stunning.
Because it was several hundred metres in the air, and had been excavated from one enormous rocky island.
The entire royal palace was both several hundred metres high in the air, and wrapped in a stone wall several dozen metres thick, absolutely easy to defend and hard to attack.
To capture this royal palace, even if ten thousand, a hundred thousand died, it would not be enough.
Within the royal palace, everywhere were salt clansmen warriors standing ramrod straight, both men and women.
Moreover, throughout the royal palace, one could see a kind of sculpture everywhere, the mermaid skeleton.
That is, the head was a skeleton, but the body was a mermaid.
This should be the legendary Sea God. When Suo Lun had seen the flag on the magnificent great ship, he had thought this was the symbol of the Sea Witch little princess. Now it seemed he had been mistaken.
Because here, some sculptures had only skeletons, while some had only mermaids.
And more were sculptures that were half skeleton, half mermaid.
If he was not mistaken, the skeleton should represent the male, and the mermaid the female.
And the legendary Sea God was a being of both male and female.
…
Arriving before the largest palace.
The little princess said to Suo Lun, “Wait outside for a moment. I shall go in to see the mother queen now. In a moment, I shall bring you in.”
Then, she directly hugged a mirror and ran inside with excitement and joy, calling out as she ran, “Mother queen, mother queen…”
And Suo Lun stood waiting outside the palace.
He clearly felt that although the salt clansmen warriors around him did not turn their heads, all their gazes were upon him.
Because the little princess had never brought a man here before, let alone a man from the human kingdom.
While waiting outside, Suo Lun’s heart was filled with anticipation, and also filled with trepidation.
If nothing unexpected happened, the Rock Queen within the palace should be Rock Demon’s mother, and also Count Suo Long’s lover.
And he was now Suo Lun, Count Suo Long’s own son.
So, this feeling was somewhat strange.
A long time passed, almost a full hour.
Clearly, the Rock Queen’s questioning of the little princess was very detailed, perhaps asking about every single bit of her time with Suo Lun.
Suo Lun felt something amiss in his heart. This posture seemed as if he truly was a man selected by the little princess. Because whether it was Rock Demon or other salt clansmen warriors, the gazes they directed at him were all so strange.
Almost a full hour passed.
The little princess finally came out. For some reason, Suo Lun felt that her face seemed to have gained a touch of flush and shyness.
“Mother queen asks you to enter.” The little princess walked past Suo Lun and said in a low voice, then ran off like a little bird.
Suo Lun was taken aback, and the strange feeling in his heart grew stronger.
Taking a deep breath, he then walked into this enormous palace before him.
…
This palace was very spacious, a great hall of several thousand square metres, with a dome several dozen metres high.
The entire palace had only one throne, built of gold, with Sea God carvings upon it.
However, the first thing Suo Lun’s gaze fell upon was not the throne, but the Rock Queen!
At almost first glance, he was stunned by this beauty.
She resembled the little princess very much, almost exactly alike, but her entire being was more mature, filled with grace and nobility, shrouded in a mysterious yet powerful aura.
Her skin was likewise the colour of beeswax, her face likewise exquisite to the extreme, her eyes likewise like the ocean, like gems.
But that charm upon her body was something the little princess did not possess.
Her skin was still smooth as jade, but the years had settled upon her into an incomparably captivating temperament.
Her figure rose and fell like mountains and rivers, emitting a magical allure.
Suo Lun felt that the little princess was not the Sea Witch. The Rock Queen before him was the true Sea Witch.
He could not help but marvel, his old man Suo Long truly had been very charismatic back then, to have conquered even a goddess of this level.
This was a true goddess. Of course, perhaps twenty-eight years ago the Rock Queen had not yet possessed this special charm, and should have resembled the little princess more.
But even then, she had been at the level of a peerless beauty. At the time, the Rock Queen had not taken a fancy to King Ji Bian, but had taken a fancy to Count Suo Long.
So then, the Rock Queen before him was already in her forties.
But apart from temperament and charm, the years had left no trace upon her body. She was completely like a woman in her thirties.
“You are called Shen Lang?” The Rock Queen’s ocean-like eyes turned towards Suo Lun.
Suo Lun was taken aback, then instinctively shook his head.
Because these eyes released an incomparably powerful mental force, as if they could absolutely see through a person’s heart, making it impossible to speak half a lie.
The Rock Queen smiled slightly and said, “Whatever your name may be, are you willing to marry my daughter, Rock Xue Er?”
If Suo Lun remembered correctly, the Rock Queen’s childhood name should be Rock Chuo Er, and her daughter was called Rock Xue Er.
Suo Lun did not answer.
“You need not rush to answer me.” The Rock Queen said, “First tell me, how old are you?”
“Twenty-one.” Suo Lun said.
“Oh, younger than I imagined.” The Rock Queen said, “Then there is quite an age difference between you. Do you mind?”
Twenty-one and sixteen, there was indeed quite a difference, but it could not be called very great.
Suo Lun said, “The little princess is sixteen this year. She should not be in a hurry to marry.”
The Rock Queen was taken aback and said, “Xue Er has already told you that she is twenty-eight years old!”
The moment these words were spoken, Suo Lun was completely stunned!
What? What?
Twenty-eight years old?!
Yes, she had indeed gestured her age to Suo Lun, using her fingers to make two and eight. Suo Lun had always thought it was two times eight, so sixteen.
But he had not expected it to actually be twenty-eight?
Her temperament, and that air of innocence, completely seemed like that of a thirteen or fourteen year old.
“Yes, Xue Er is already twenty-eight years old, and my son Rock Demon is her twin brother.” The Rock Queen said, “Because when she was thirteen, she suffered an unexpected injury, so although her body continued to develop, her mind forever remained at thirteen.”
After speaking, the Rock Queen said solemnly, “Now, are you willing to marry her?”
Suo Lun was completely stunned!
Because this little princess, Rock Xue Er, was actually also… Suo Long’s daughter!