Chapter 157: 93. The Chosen One (7000+)
While Fisher and Trandal were chatting, Lady Martha downstairs was comfortably sitting on a lounge chair, listening to the wonderful songs coming from the radio.
Lady Martha preferred the classical music of Nali, especially while cooking or knitting; without music, it seemed that even her movements would slow down. This habit was formed when she was young.
“Hmmm.”
Martha closed her eyes, enjoying the rhythm of the radio as she swayed in her chair. Just as she began to feel tired and wanted to doze off, a small knock suddenly came from the door.
“Knock, knock.”
But the sound was very soft, and it wasn’t until several knocks later that Martha was jolted awake and sat up to look in the direction of the door.
Who could it be at this hour?
Another one of Fisher’s friends?
Martha picked up the blanket that had been draped over her and slowly walked to the door. When she opened it, she was surprised to see a cute girl with pink hair standing outside, wearing a small dress.
The girl was quite adorable, but her expression was very anxious. She pressed her lips together, her eyes red, and her chubby little face was soft and pretty, just like cotton candy, as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment.
When Lady Martha opened the door, the girl was startled. She carefully clutched her dress, opened her mouth, but couldn’t find the words, seeming to be organizing her thoughts.
Martha was extremely moved by the girl’s cute, shy appearance. She particularly loved children, and every time she saw other kids around that age, she would imagine them as the children of her deceased sons or Fisher’s.
“Oh, poor thing, how did you end up here? Did you get lost, or are you looking for someone?”
“My name is Rena. I’m looking for Fisher because my mom asked me to find him.”
Hmm?
Your mom asked you to find him?
Lady Martha opened her mouth and then carefully examined the girl’s hair and appearance. She became even more shocked.
Something’s not right. This girl looks neither like Renee nor any other lady she has met. So, whose daughter is Fisher’s?
Of course, this was just Lady Martha’s suspicion; she didn’t dare to confirm it and could only lead Rena into the room.
“Oh my goodness, hold on a moment. Come in first. I need to ask that young man if he might have done something bad one evening several years ago when he was drunk. Young people can be like that; one of my neighbors did the same.”
Lady Martha held the little Rena’s hand and walked into the room, mumbling some unintelligible words.
“Fisher!”
When they reached the stairs, she called out Fisher’s name.
“What is it?”
“There’s a little girl here. Her mom said to find you! You need to come see if she looks like you…”
“What?”
When the door above opened, and two gentlemen walked out with a hint of alcohol on their breath, Fisher and Trandal were quickly drawn to the little girl beside Lady Martha.
“Rena?”
As soon as he saw the girl’s appearance, Fisher exclaimed in surprise. The girl now completely resembled a human, without the crab features she had before, suggesting she was still under the blessings of Ramastia.
Seeing Fisher, Rena’s previously tense expression slowly morphed into one of grievance. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she rushed towards Fisher from beside Martha, crying,
“Fisher, sob… Daddy… Daddy…”
Her words were unclear. Fisher was momentarily taken aback as she threw herself into his arms. Rena clutched the fabric of his suit tightly and buried her head into his chest, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes, wanting to say something but unable to articulate it because she was crying.
Martha and Trandal looked at Fisher in utter surprise. He, however, was frowning as he held the small Rena tightly in his arms and explained to them,
“This is a friend’s child. Something might have happened at home, so she came to find me. I’ll talk to Elizabeth about your situation later. You should wait for news.”
The second half of the sentence was directed at Trandal. Their conversation was nearly finished, and Fisher would discuss this matter with Elizabeth when she returned.
“If you don’t explain to me, we probably wouldn’t dare ask for your help because Princess Elizabeth would probably tear you apart alive over this ‘illegitimate daughter’ before she even hears you speak.”
Trandal made a joke, glancing at the little Rena resting on Fisher’s shoulder. He had to admit that she was indeed very cute, but with tears streaming down her face, she looked pitiful.
“Don’t worry. However, I need you to help follow up on that letter. Let me know about any developments, especially concerning Prince Dexter.”
“Sure, I’ll ask the party leader to keep an eye on it. Getting to do this little task in exchange for your help will probably wake up laughing in their sleep. Goodbye, Lady Martha.”
Trandal prepared to leave, gave Lady Martha a greeting, and after a moment of realization due to her age, she finally responded “goodbye,” processing that the child was not Fisher’s child.
Fisher did not intend to see him off. After explaining the situation to Martha once more, he took Rena back to his room.
He set her on the couch and took a handkerchief to wipe her tears before asking,
“What’s wrong, Rena?”
At this question, the freshly wiped eyes filled with even more tears that wouldn’t stop. She didn’t wipe her tears away but looked at Fisher and said in a slurred voice,
“Sob… So many humans, I don’t know why, so many humans are searching for us by the river, saying they want to take us back for money because we are Ocean Subhumans. Dad got caught trying to let Mom and me escape. We wanted to contact the royal family, but Mom got hurt, and the royal family’s place is too far for me to go.”
“So I came to find you. I heard others talking about your name. I had to walk a long way to get here.”
She covered her face, crying endlessly. Fisher frowned upon hearing this.
For money?
If that’s the case, the people searching for them must be human bounty hunters. These individuals likely lived by taking orders from the black market or elsewhere, willing to do anything for money. Many of them were probably fugitives or people just released from prison, likely desperate criminals.
By the way, those who had been lurking in the wild, waiting behind the “Sekorima,” were also part of this group, but they were relatively kind. Most bounty hunters, however, were the lowest of the low, armed with firearms, ready to exchange heads for bounties based on their orders.
Someone put a bounty on Ocean Subhumans in the black market, and since the price was substantial, it had attracted many bounty hunters to catch Ocean Subhumans near the Coco River.
But now was not the time to dwell on that. Fisher glanced at the sky outside, then stood up, took his staff and Fluid Sword, and said to Rena,
“I understand. First, take me to your mother. I’ll get the situation, then we can go rescue your father.”
Rena nodded, biting her lip tightly and desperately grabbing onto Fisher’s sleeve, seemingly at a loss, pinning all her hope on him.
The Coco River was the closest to the ocean, and the riverbed was shallow, so many complex pipelines had been constructed beneath the ground nearby. Some of these connected to the sewers, while many were inactive, remnants of ill-planned projects from different periods.
As night fell, many people lit lamps in the sewers, carefully searching every inch of the pipelines as if unearthing countless pieces of gold.
It was no wonder; a new, large order had recently opened in the black market, exposing the lair of these bounty hunters.
Previously, one lucky person who brought back news of Ocean Subhumans around the Coco River was rewarded with twenty thousand euros. The buyer there placed another order, offering one hundred and fifty thousand euros for returning an Ocean Subhuman. Thus, almost every bounty hunter in Saint Nali set off to search for treasure around the Coco River in pursuit of the money.
A regular subhuman was worth several thousand euros in the slave market. Now, capturing one would yield one hundred and fifty thousand, equivalent to several Dragon Race members’ worth.
Moreover, these Ocean Subhumans weren’t as hard to catch as the Dragon Race. Other lucky teams had already captured an Ocean Subhuman resembling a lobster, and it was said that two more had escaped, with the remaining bounty hunters scrambling for that three hundred thousand euros.
“Mag, keep an eye below. They can’t have gone far, especially not with a child.”
“Bullshit. It’s already been hours. Who knows how deep they’re hiding? If they go any deeper, they’ll end up in Snakehead Street, where all the hunters are searching. We won’t even get a chance to drink soup.”
Four fully armed hunters, holding knives and firearms, walked through the sewer, whispering to each other while moving forward.
Upon hearing the voice of the hunter called Mag behind him, the leader chuckled and turned around to remove his mask that concealed his face to shield against the stench.
“Hey, this is why I can be the boss and you can’t. Didn’t I shoot that escaping subhuman before? Unlike those idiots, I shot not real gunpowder, but a marking powder that leaves a trace.”
“The subhuman that escaped had a hard shell. I knew those fools’ firearms could never bring her down, so it’s all about patience; we’ll just track where she goes to heal. This three hundred thousand euros will still belong to my buddies.”
He chuckled slyly, casually tossing a stone which quickly suspended in mid-air, flashing a strange fluorescent glow that swept over the pipeline walls.
In the next second, a surprising thing happened. Underneath the fluorescent light, a deep purple mark began to appear gradually on the wall, extending straight toward the end of the pipeline.
“Did you think I was just running with you for no reason? You really think I’m stupid? I’ve been following the traces all along, so learn from me, boys.”
“Oh my god, Mother God bless, you’re simply the smartest bounty hunter in the world!”
“Boss, I love you.”
The hunters behind him looked at the gradually spreading trace on the pipeline walls and couldn’t help but express their admiration.
The boss smiled slightly, put his mask back on, and instructed his brothers to be quiet because, judging by the trace, the last two subhumans were nearby.
The four of them tightened their grip on their firearms and, following the glow of the stone, quietly advanced deeper into the pipeline until they stopped before a massive tunnel draining into the Coco River. The water flow was rapid, and it was about a meter deep, causing them to halt in their tracks without rashly moving forward.
“Boss, should we go down?”
Upon hearing the inquiry from the man behind him, the leading man gently gestured for silence and then threw the stone, which hovered in mid-air, glowing again. This time, however, the shimmering purple light was not on the surrounding walls but rather on the constantly flowing water below.
“There they are, underneath the water!”
The boss’s pupils constricted as he immediately raised his firearm and shot below,
“Bang!”
“They’re right beneath!”
After firing, a giant blue crab suddenly emerged from under the water, and on top of the crab sat a woman dressed in some kind of seaweed garment, clutching her abdomen in pain, visibly bleeding pale blue blood.
This woman had long pink hair and bore a resemblance to Rena, about six parts similar, except that the crab features on her body were much larger and stronger, and her face began to sprout deep blue markings.
“Ugh!”
She gritted her teeth and patted the massive blue crab beneath her. The crab suddenly lifted its body, and a jet of water, composed of bubbles and flow, shot upwards towards the hunters above.
The rings on the hunters’ hands suddenly shone with light, and as this glow lit up, ethereal threads shot out from the rings, pulling them down from the pipeline as they simultaneously opened fire at the subhuman and the crab below.
The gunfire sparked off the massive crab, producing a few sparks as if fireworks were igniting, though they didn’t penetrate, it seemed to cause the giant crab immense pain.
“Whoosh!”
” Harlu…”
The woman on the crab swayed precariously, nearly falling due to her numerous injuries, most of which were from bullet wounds, and at this moment she was on her last legs. Just when she wanted to command the crab to take her away, countless ethereal threads had already entangled her and the crab beneath.
“Let go of me!”
“Hey, that crab below isn’t a subhuman, why is there only one?”
“How would I know? The other one was hiding under this one and didn’t get tagged. I don’t know where it ran off to.”
Seeing that the subhuman below could no longer resist, the bounty hunter leader let out a sigh and jumped down, illuminating the struggling female subhuman entangled in the threads with his light. He then curled his lips in distaste and said,
“Forget it, let’s just take this one back, that crab is too big to carry away.”
“Don’t kill Harlu!”
As his men were about to move, a childish voice rang out from above them, but before they could look up, a figure suddenly leaped down from above the pipeline. In mid-air, a blade like a tail, the Fluid Sword, swept toward the ethereal threads above.
He severed some of the threads, but even more shot out from different hunters.
“Buzz, buzz~”
Simultaneously, countless shining blades like bees shot from the other hand of that figure, interrupting the hunters attempting to draw their guns.
Just one brief encounter, and the moment that figure stood atop the giant crab, the four hunters had already collapsed simultaneously into the water.
The figure was Fisher.
“Wait! Brother! Wait a minute!”
In the water, one of the hunters hurriedly raised a hand in surrender and awkwardly stood up from the bottom, quickly negotiating with Fisher,
“Brother, being a hunter is all about the money! If you let us keep the discovery of these two subhumans, we’ll give up just like that. How about we split the bounty? You get one hundred and fifty thousand euros, and the four of us split the rest!”
They thought Fisher was a bounty hunter who had rushed over. Seeing that all four of them were no match for Fisher, the leader made a snap decision and quickly tried to deescalate the situation.
Fisher glanced at him, not intending to move against them, simply saying,
“You can leave now. You won’t be taking these two subhumans with you today.”
The boss was slightly taken aback but still managed a forced smile. He slowly raised his hand and signaled to his companions, then began to back away cautiously.
“Fine, fine, life is more important than anything. Whatever you say goes, we’ll just leave through the backwaterway.”
Fisher quietly watched them, making no unnecessary moves.
As the man walked, he spoke while throwing the lamp into the water, which gradually obscured the leader’s face in darkness.
“Brother, to be honest, these two subhumans are our discovery. I’m doing my best to split it with you, but who would’ve thought you’d be so greedy, trying to take all three hundred thousand euros for yourself? Do you know that amount is life-changing for us?”
“Be careful!”
Suddenly, Rena’s warning came from above, but before her voice reached them, Fisher had already reacted.
Behind him, a hunter produced a tiny firearm aimed at Fisher, and as the gunshot rang out, Fisher had already dodged.
However, another muscular man shouted loudly, lunging up on the crab to tightly hold Fisher, preventing him from making unnecessary moves.
The entangled female subhuman on the crab emitted muffled sounds, using her feet to tap on the crab beneath. The giant crab shook slightly, causing her to nearly topple over. Sure enough, the next moment, several bullets shot toward the direction they had been standing in.
“Kill this son of a bitch! Get the money back!”
The lead man suddenly stood up from the water, waving his gun toward the direction of the crab, while the hulking man grappling Fisher shouted through clenched teeth,
“Don’t mind me! Shoot! Bring the money back to my family!”
But in his grasp, Fisher’s gaze grew colder.
These guys want to take action to bring the money back!
Realizing this, Fisher decided to stop holding back.
He suddenly elbowed the man behind him in the stomach, an immense force blasting out from Fisher, causing the man to spit out a mouthful of blood, letting go of his grip.
“Bang, bang!”
In the surrounding pipeline, gunfire erupted continuously. Fisher took advantage of the situation, using the now-softening man as a human shield. Countless bullets struck his body, causing him to tremble. Before long, he fell silent.
The hunters, eyes reddened, wanted to continue shooting, but Fisher remained calm and softly turned to the female subhuman behind him and said,
“Lower your head.”
“Eh?”
Upon hearing this, the female subhuman instinctively complied. The next moment, Fisher violently hurled the corpse he had just used as a shield, while the Fluid Sword in his right hand spun like a rotating turbine, slashing through everything around him.
“Clang!”
The spinning blade left a deep, continuous scar on the wall, slicing through the bodies of the hunters as if they were nothing.
As Fisher indifferently retrieved the Fluid Sword, the hunters looked at him in disbelief, but soon could only see their lower halves standing in the water as their upper bodies uncontrollably toppled into the depths.
They were cleanly severed, not even giving a whimper.
Fisher’s face remained cold as he wiped his face. A small bloodstain had been left by a ricochet bullet, though it wasn’t serious.
Behind him, the pink-haired crab woman stared in shock at the half-submerged human bodies in the water, her face pale with fear.
As the hunters died, the threads binding her and the giant crab Harlu slowly vanished.
Fortunately, upon arriving in the human world, she had taken a voice-changing conch beforehand. If she hadn’t understood this human’s words and just stood still, she might have been cut down!
“Mom!”
Seeing that things had calmed down, Rena jumped down from above, splashing into the water and swimming toward the giant crab Harlu, throwing herself into the arms of the female crab.
“Rena, thank goodness you’re okay.”
The female crab also shed tears, constantly kissing Rena’s forehead.
Fisher did not interrupt this touching reunion; instead, he silently sheathed his Fluid Sword and crouched down to look at the giant crab Harlu that was supporting them.
The crab seemed to have grown several times larger, its overall color a blue-green.
Harlu’s two big eyes looked at the human also gazing back at it, and then it made a soft bubble sound.
“Glug, glug.”
“Harlu is thanking you.”
Fisher turned to see the female crab giving him a grateful smile. She raised her left claw toward him, bowed slightly, and introduced herself.
“You must be Mr. Fisher, whom Rena often mentions. I am Rena’s mother, Bai Mu. Thank you so much for rescuing us. I apologize for my husband doubting your intentions toward Rena earlier.”
“No problem.”
The crab woman had a very beautiful appearance, and her crab features were identical to Rena’s, but her body was marked with numerous injuries, still bleeding profusely, causing her complexion to be extremely pale.
Fisher released a healing spell toward her. His staff’s healing spell could only stop her bleeding and wouldn’t completely heal her, but it was enough for now.
“Thank you.”
“Tap, tap.”
Just as Bai Mu was about to say something, footsteps echoed from above the pipeline, indicating that more hunters were approaching.
Bai Mu’s expression changed, and Fisher spoke,
“This isn’t a good place to talk. We need to get out of here; it won’t be long before we’re discovered. Can you call Ramastia to help you disguise yourselves?”
Bai Mu looked at Rena, who still appeared human, and shook her head helplessly.
“It’s too far from the seabed here for prayers to reach Lord Ramastia. We received our blessings before coming ashore. Now my husband and child are both injured, and if the blessings are lifted, we revert to our original forms, we can’t change back for now. Otherwise, you should take Rena away first; I and Harlu can go back to the sea.”
“But what about Daddy? Daddy was captured by them. He…”
Bai Mu gritted her teeth, but there was no better option. Their own safety was at stake, let alone saving Rena’s father, Ling Jiu.
Fisher suddenly remembered that even ordinary whale folks couldn’t summon Ramastia at will, only Jasmine and her mother could do that.
But the issue was that Saint Nali University was very far from here, and it would be impossible to take Bai Mu, who would expose her crab-like features.
“There are gunshots over there. Let’s move!”
As the footsteps from above approached, Fisher furrowed his brows and suddenly glanced at the Fluid Sword in his right hand, contemplating something.
If this sword wasn’t an item that should have been in Rena’s bag, then who could have slipped it to him without him noticing?
Fisher recalled how those Ocean Subhumans prayed and, gripping the Fluid Sword, he plunged it into the water, quietly uttering,
“Source of life, ruler of the ocean, God of All Forms Ramastia, I call your name and pray for you to help the sea creatures behind us through this crisis.”
After the prayer, the sewer remained very quiet, and nothing happened.
“Lord Ramastia can’t hear us. We are too far from the seabed.”
“Glug, glug.”
But just as Rena spoke next, Harlu beneath them suddenly stood up. Fisher gazed through its massive body and saw the water surface below bubbling continuously, as if boiling the entire surface.
“Lord Ramastia?”
Bai Mu and Rena exclaimed in shock, and amidst their astonished gazes, the water’s surface suddenly rose, forming a gigantic water snake that coiled around Harlu and the people on top of it.
Fisher never expected that he could indeed summon Ramastia through the water flow! Is it possible that he has been chosen for some reason?
“Splosh!”
As Fisher sighed in relief and looked up, the water snake opened its mouth, unleashing a stream of water like a waterfall upon Fisher, soaking him completely.
“…”
Fisher closed his eyes, speechless as he wiped the water streaming down his face, looking up at the enormous water snake, devoid of features but clearly Ramastia’s form. For some reason, at this moment, he detected a sense of vindictive satisfaction radiating from the snake.
What grudge could it possibly hold against him?
Aside from capturing it in magic once and researching Jasmine a bit, he hadn’t done anything particularly outrageous. Was it worth this kind of revenge?
Rena and Bai Mu behind him covered their mouths, not daring to speak, as today had brought too many unimaginable events for them.
After spraying Fisher with water, Ramastia finally felt comfortable, swiftly carrying out its tasks without dragging its feet.
The massive snake, composed of flowing water, suddenly tightened, morphing them all into a water sphere. After a few seconds, that water sphere gradually transformed back into calm water, and once the water settled, the giant crab and the figures were no longer visible in the drainage pipe.
In the upper pipeline, several hunters finally descended with lamps, only to see a tranquil water surface dotted with the remains of several bodies, the upper halves decapitated.
“What happened?”
The hunters exclaimed in astonishment, but the sewer was silent, and no one answered their questions.
