Chapter 199 135. Royal Library
Looking at the floating illusory text before him, Fisher gathered several important pieces of information.
The subhuman who left this crown is a very capable whale folk, and she is a female, as the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans refers to her with the pronoun “she.” This arrogant whale folk once challenged a deity, though it remains unclear whether she ultimately won or lost.
Could this whale folk, the god of destruction, be…
Jasmine’s mother?
Fisher glanced at Jasmine, who was harmlessly holding the golden crown and examining it. He increasingly felt that the suitable candidate must be her mother, as the characteristics and experiences Jasmine had previously told him about her mother align closely with this god of destruction.
Her mother had once been to land, otherwise she wouldn’t have lent a weapon to a human. Additionally, the only deity known to the whale folk is Ramastia, and the Supplement Handbook states that this whale folk challenged the gods. Jasmine also said that her mother is the only whale folk who has faced Ramastia directly.
So, this whale folk who left all these traces is actually Jasmine’s mother, the legendary “Ocean Emperor”?
No wonder her mother chose such a flashy title in her youth; just as described in the handbook, Jasmine’s mother was a whale folk who became quite arrogant due to her extraordinary strength.
“Jasmine, is it possible that the traces left here are from your mother? After all, your mother has been to Saint Nali and even lent out her weapon.”
“Well? It’s possible, but if it were my mother, there should be her name on these items. She always boldly etched her name on things she owned in her youth.”
“Wait, what is your mother’s name?”
“Her name is Xu. Most whale folk names are given by Ramastia, and I’ve heard that many ancestors of other ocean subhumans are like that as well…”
Fisher and Jasmine searched the leftover golden armor and crown but didn’t find any traces left by the whale folk.
It could be that she had left some traces before, as the current armor and crown are in such a ruined state that even their original form is only barely maintained. Even if she left a mark, they couldn’t find it now.
Jasmine wasn’t sure if these were indeed her mother Xu’s belongings, so they could only reach a tentative conclusion.
After a few more minutes of searching with no new discoveries, Fisher decided to continue moving toward Nali Lake, after all, Anna and Xiatu were still in the water.
Fisher put down the golden armor in his hands and checked the whale folk society research progress in the handbook.
[Whale Folk Society Research Progress: 24%]
[Unlocked Stage Rewards: Reproductive Ability +2, Lifespan +2]
No, can you stop increasing the reproductive ability? Given the current situation, Fisher felt it was a bit uncontrollable. If it were to increase further, he worried that little Fisher would declare independence to pursue his own happiness.
Of course, protests were futile. Essentially, this boost is for his own good. It should be that way.
He sighed in the water, waved his hand to disperse the illusory text floating from the Supplement Handbook, then pulled Anna along to follow Jasmine onward.
The further they swam, the dimmer the fluorescence on the stone walls became, and the passage of the cave grew increasingly narrow. By the time they reached the exit, Xiatu had to rely on Jasmine to push her out of the cave with her hands. She was very worried about damaging the bubble over her head, so she held on tightly, waiting for Jasmine to exert her strength.
“Hey, heave-ho.”
Jasmine was concerned about hurting Xiatu and strained mightily to push her out of the underground cave. Outside was a wider expanse of dark water, roughly ten meters from the water’s surface. Looking up through the water’s surface, the stars and moon in the sky were so bright, as if winking at them.
“We’re here; this should be Nali Lake.”
Fisher had been here a few times, once with Elizabeth during her twentieth birthday, which was celebrated here. She had specifically invited Fisher to attend her birthday banquet, where he met many influential figures from various fields and visited the museum.
Although he didn’t particularly like the atmosphere at the time, Fisher had a decent memory and recalled the general situation here, so he quickly swam closer to the water’s surface to find the direction of the library and museum.
He didn’t surface, as there were usually patrolling guards around. Instead, Fisher swam toward a general direction after identifying it.
The kingdom’s library and museum were enormous, and in the nightfall, those two particularly ornate massive buildings stood like two imposing giants to the north of Nali Lake, still quite distant from the private estate of Godlin. Standing on Godlin’s balcony, one could only faintly see two small black dots across the shore.
Hmm, when Fisher attended Elizabeth’s birthday party, this was the situation.
It was also at that party that Fisher discovered a side of Elizabeth that was not known to others.
Back then, Elizabeth asked Fisher to help her unwrap gifts from others. She never anticipated that her classmate Kase, whom she’d privately tormented and who secretly had a crush on Fisher, would send her a “gift” that Fisher discovered.
Kase sent Elizabeth a small postcard filled with the words “I’m sorry,” written in her blood, representing her profound regret.
Only then did Fisher realize that Elizabeth had bullied Kase behind his back.
At the time, Fisher didn’t explode; it wasn’t until he left Nali Lake and a few days later sought out Kase that he found out she had withdrawn from the Royal Academy. Even after going to Saint Nali to look for her, she was unresponsive. Later on, her entire family moved away from Saint Nali.
Kase’s neighbor informed Fisher that Kase had lost dozens of pounds after dropping out, transforming from that lively classmate into a listless shell of a person. Fisher didn’t know exactly what Elizabeth did to her, but he could infer that the methods were quite terrifying.
That was indeed the direct reason Fisher decided to distance himself from Elizabeth.
Nearly a decade had passed. Fisher had heard that Kase was doing well in a small city near Nali and that Elizabeth had apologized to her, allowing this story to come to a close.
Thinking back on this story, Fisher and his group were getting closer to the library. The lights along the shore were bright, and on either side of the white stone-paved walkway stood well-equipped royal soldiers. The only good news was that the royal museum was at the other end of the road; the library they were visiting stood directly on the lakeshore.
The library had a balcony facing Nali Lake. Fisher and his group landed directly from here. He entered the library’s balcony first, gently pushed the door, and it opened without obstruction, revealing a dark corridor inside.
“We’re here; this is the entrance to Blake’s treasury.”
This was said to Anna. As he spoke, he turned back and lightly snapped his fingers, causing the magic runes behind Anna and Xiatu to extinguish and disappear, and the bubbles over their heads to pop with a soft “pop.”
Anna took a deep breath of fresh air, shook off the water from her body, then looked at the dark corridor inside.
Fisher and Jasmine had already stepped in, while Xiatu was still behind shaking off water. Her horse had too much fur, requiring several shakes, and she was careful not to make too much noise.
“Do you know how to enter specifically?”
Fisher didn’t turn back, instead pointing to his head as he said, “I don’t know; let’s gamble on this head of mine. If it can’t be solved, we’ll all be in trouble.”
“How can you be so casual?”
Anna caught up with Fisher’s pace, only to see him raise his index finger and turn back, signaling her to be quiet. Once Anna’s breathing calmed a bit, he continued, “This is the only way. Actually, for me, opening or not opening the treasury doesn’t matter much anymore; Blake is bound to come here to find Jasmine. Whether I obtain the evidence or not isn’t as straightforward as just killing him. The reason I want to open this treasury is that there might be clues about Aunt Jasmine inside, and…”
In the darkness, Fisher’s gaze fixed directly on Anna, “To fulfill the deal between you and me. So, don’t rush me; I’m doing my utmost to help you, understand?”
Anna bit her lip. Although Fisher’s words were somewhat harsh, for some reason, the unease in her heart was silently soothed.
Behind her, Xiatu had also mostly dried off the water and walked into the library’s dark corridor. Thus, Anna had to remain silent and continue following Fisher.
Along the way, Fisher and Jasmine swept through the surrounding lounges and restrooms. When they reached the end of the corridor, a small door suddenly appeared in Fisher’s line of sight.
He slowly pushed open the door, and a faint aroma of books wafted along with the night breeze.
A massive room, three stories high, appeared before Fisher. The entire building was surrounded by a closed wooden structure, representing the traditional Nali architectural style, likely favored during the reign of Godlin V, perhaps reflecting the historical continuity of how Blake chose to build the library.
However, upon looking up at that moment, the ceiling on the top floor was no longer wooden but comprised of crystal glass, which had only been widely used in architecture for the past century, quite similar to what Fisher saw in the healing room’s secret chamber.
From here, peering through the glass at the sky, he could faintly see bright stars, though the large, cold moon was regrettably out of view.
The entire three-story Royal Library was dark; as it was a royal private library, guards were generally not stationed inside, and security soldiers were primarily concentrated around the museum. Perhaps they thought the treasures collected in the museums were more precious than these dusty books?
Therefore, it was no surprise that the entrance to Blake’s treasury was within this massive library, and the entrance was likely on the first floor.
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(End of Chapter)
