Early the next morning, the protagonists in the portable hotel woke up.
The sunlight once again penetrated the seabed. Nobi Hiroshi yawned, stretching his body on the soft bed, a lingering scent on his lips.
He slept very well, having savored it almost all night, not even leaving it in his dreams.
"Shizuka, Sofia, time to wake up."
Shaking the shoulders of the two girls on either side, Nobi Hiroshi called out softly. After they woke up, he jumped out of bed and went to the private bathroom to wash up.
"Hiss~ That hurts…"
Taking a deep breath, Sofia lazily opened her eyes, her chest rising and falling.
A stinging pain came from her buds. She slowly got up, a subtle blush spreading across her face.
At the same time, the other girl in the bed also woke up, letting out a soft, nasal hum: "Ugh~ Is it morning already?"
With her shirt slipping off her shoulder, revealing her fair collarbone, Shizuka crawled out like a puppy, the thin blanket sliding from her head to her ankles.
"Ah~!!!"
A panicked Sofia let out a shriek; her jellyfish was still floating outside.
Even though she had witnessed Shizuka's horse-riding and slashing, the Merfolk was still a virgin, thin-skinned, and afraid of revealing too much.
She pulled down her shirt hem at light speed, covering the pitiful, chafed slime.
The surface was covered with crystal-clear water droplets. Perhaps the air at the bottom of the sea was humid; it was definitely not because it had just left her mouth.
Shizuka asked in confusion, "Morning, Sofia. Why are you so nervous?"
Tian Mei twisted her waist, her legs dangling to the ground, gently stepping.
Bending down to pick up her shoes, she wrapped her jade feet. Her socks had been blown away by the sea breeze last night, so she had to make do.
Anyway, she would turn into a fish tail later.
"It's nothing… It's nothing, Shizuka. Let's hurry out to eat. I want to show you my palace soon."
Sofia tilted her head, covering her chest with her hand, concealing the mysterious bulge.
"You're right, I'm hungry too. Then wait for me to finish washing up."
Jumping out of bed, Shizuka ran to the sink and covered Nobi Hiroshi's eyes with her hand. The two of them playfully messed around.
Sofia watched it all, her expression pouting, but it wasn't out of jealousy.
"Hiss, I hope this doesn't affect my swimming later. It's all that guy's fault!"
"He didn't even restore it after using it, leaving me in such a mess this early in the morning."
The aggrieved Merfolk stomped her foot and complained.
She looked up, saw Nobi Hiroshi waving at her, and then scurried over.
A good morning kiss could dispel unpleasant moods, and she was immediately full of energy after one.
The three of them left the room together, and by this time, everyone except Nobita was awake.
Doraemon looked at the men and women who had just walked out of their respective rooms and said, "Good morning, everyone. What would you like for breakfast?"
He took out the Gourmet Tablecloth again, and Gian was the first to rush to the dining table and order food.
"Duo La, Nobita isn't up yet. Do you want to go wake him up?"
Hiro at the table said to Doraemon.
"Honestly, that Nobita is sleeping in again. It's really unbearable."
Doraemon said, walking to Nobita's room door and opening it.
"Nobita, wake up quickly! We're about to set off!" Doraemon threw back the blanket and patted the still-sleeping Nobita.
However, at this moment, the bowl-cut-haired boy's expression was extremely pained. He clutched his pillow tightly, still mumbling in his sleep.
"No, Xiao Zhu, let me go. You'll flatten me. No!"
A loud shout startled Doraemon. Cold sweat streamed down Nobi Nobita's forehead.
He had just had a dream where he became a tank driver, and a tank weighing over three hundred catties ran directly over him, almost finishing him off.
To exaggerate, even steel bars might not hold up, let alone ordinary toothpicks.
"Nobita, what's wrong?" Doraemon walked forward with concern.
Nobita, having narrowly escaped death, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and said, "Nothing, Doraemon. I just had a nightmare."
"Hahaha, Nobita is really a coward, getting so scared even in his dreams."
Hearing the conversation from the room, Gian and Xiao Fu looked at each other and laughed.
Nobi Hiroshi, meanwhile, expressionlessly fed Sofia pumpkin porridge, while secretly comforting her wounded heart and treating her jellyfish's stubbornness.
"It's good that you're alright. Come out quickly, we still have to set off for the palace."
Doraemon stood at the door like a mother hen, supervising them to eat their fill before hitting the road.
After swimming for an hour, everyone followed Sofia to the edge of an underwater canyon.
Sofia pointed to the bottomless trench and said, "Our Merfolk palace is at the bottom of the trench. We'll be there with a little more effort."
"That's great! I wonder what kind of food Merfolk eat for lunch."
Gian muttered to himself.
The effect of the gadget seemed to be wearing off, so Nobi Hiroshi asked Doraemon to shine the Adaptation Lamp on them again. If they used it at the last minute, they might be crushed into meat paste by the pressure.
Waving their fish tails, they swam downwards, their expressions all excited.
No one noticed that hidden in the crevices of the rocks in this trench was a piece of alien technology.
An octopus-shaped reconnaissance drone, lurking in the darkness, waiting for prey, its mechanical electronic screen eye connected to the cosmic battleship in space.
The evil forces happened to encounter their target today and stealthily followed behind Hiro and the others.
"Reporting to Lord Torakis, we have discovered the Merfolk wearing the royal crown."
In space outside Earth, a Miscellaneous fish soldier sat at the control panel, reporting on his mission.
The large screen displayed images of Nobi Hiroshi and the others, with Sofia's crown being the most prominent. This was perhaps the Miscellaneous fish 's target.
Torakis excitedly slapped the table, staring wide-eyed at Sofia on the screen: "Find a way to stall them, and immediately send men to capture this princess!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Miscellaneous fish soldier pinched the microphone and issued the order.
The octopus reconnaissance drone began searching for a suitable animal, selecting a tiger eel, and coiling its tentacles around it.
The eel struggled in the crevice, but the octopus had no intention of letting it go, invading this poor marine creature with its tentacles.
Zzzzt —
The eel suffered an electric shock and rapidly expanded, quickly growing to a size of five or six meters.
Two strangely shaped horns grew on its head, undergoing alien mutation, and its teeth became incredibly sharp.
It smashed the drone with a flick of its tail and swam downwards with a ferocious gaze.
...
...
On the other side.
Not long after swimming into the canyon, Nobita felt very tired and simply lay on the ground to rest: "So… so tired. Please let me rest for a bit. I can't go on."
"Nobita, what's wrong with you? The girls aren't even tired, why are you, a man, tired?"
Gian turned to look at Nobita, who was lying on the ground weakly, and picked him up with one hand, as if he were a small chicken.
"No, I really can't swim anymore."
Nobita waved his hand with difficulty.
Gian carried Nobita, swimming forward effortlessly: "There's no helping you. Then I, this great lord, will carry you."
"Thanks, Gian."
Nobita, getting a breather, rested on Gian's shoulder, but his ears seemed to hear a strange sound.
The sound grew closer and closer. Nobita lifted his head for a look, and his face immediately turned pale.
"Gian… Gian!"
"Behind! There's a monster!"
Nobita pointed behind him and shouted, his terrified scream causing Hiro and the others in front to turn their heads.
They saw a giant yellow monster suddenly appear, resembling a monster from Ultraman, charging at them furiously.