Chapter 257: 33. Attempt
After Aoxi left the room, Fisher opened the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans that he had been holding, preparing for the upcoming biological research on the Cangniao Tribe.
In fact, in the past, when Fisher conducted biological studies on individuals from the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans, there were generally three steps.
The first step was a basic description of their appearance. In ordinary academic research, this step usually requires repeatedly sampling many specimens from the population to determine their various physical values within a general range.
Originally, Fisher had experience in this area regarding the species from the Southern Continent, and with the help of Little Jack’s paper, this sampling process was generally omitted. However, for the Ocean Subhuman and the Northern Region Subhuman, it couldn’t be skipped, which is why the biological research progress for these subhumans was relatively slow.
It is worth mentioning that the Demon or Mythical Tribe seems to have a special characteristic; the process of studying them is more akin to studying individuals than races. According to Emhart, the characteristics of the seventy-two true demon kinds are vastly different and unique, yet Fisher was able to advance the biological research progress to over 50% by studying just Eil.
After completing external data research, the second step is to further study their physiological characteristics. Some subhumans may have unique traits compared to humans, while others may share similarities.
Focus should be increased on the different traits, while similar ones can be slightly overlooked.
For example, when studying Raphael, Fisher focused on her scales, tail, horns, and why steam would erupt from her body. In contrast, when studying Jasmine, Fisher paid more attention to how she employed blessings and curses, as well as how they affected her body.
The final step involves summarizing their biological and social characteristics. Sometimes, this yields significant additional knowledge about their culture and social structure, greatly enhancing the progress of both studies in the handbook.
If not considering strange in-depth studies, the general research process is that simple.
“This is eel rice; I don’t know what you want to eat, so…”
Before long, there was a knock at the door. Fisher opened it to reveal Aoxi, who was holding a plate in one hand.
“I’ve been curious ever since before; how do your wings hold these things? I really can’t imagine it.”
Compared to what they would eat at noon, Fisher seemed more interested in how this fellow used her wings to lift the two items. However, upon hearing Fisher’s question, Aoxi appeared quite puzzled. She walked to the inside of the room, placed the two plates on the table, and gently lifted her cloak to reveal herself to Fisher.
“The wings have two parts; you just need to use the top section, and I can control the feathers.”
As a member of the Cangniao Tribe, Aoxi does not have a human arm structure. Her arms are a pair of large wings covered with cyan long feathers. When not in use, such as now, she would fold her wings, and the folded upper half could be used like arms, where there is a claw-like structure.
Fisher reached out to touch the slightly warm feathers concealed under her cloak, noting that the feathers closer to her body were finer and sturdier, while the feathers on the back of the open wings were broad and soft. This structure made the wings of the Cangniao Tribe very convenient, as they could be used as arms when folded and as wings when spread.
Aside from her wings, her sailor suit-clad body appeared soft and fragrant, akin to an ordinary human, and one could see no trace of feathers until Fisher’s gaze returned from her wings; he could not help but notice parts of her body.
After several seconds of pause, an intensely stimulating heat began to pulse within Fisher, compelling him to reach out and embrace the woman before him.
But Aoxi was completely oblivious, as her gaze remained fixated on the eel rice on the table behind Fisher.
“Can I eat now?”
Upon hearing her voice, Fisher took a breath, distanced himself slightly from her, and nodded, saying, “Let’s eat first.”
After receiving Fisher’s permission, her eyes brightened, and she quickly rushed to the table, using the claws at the tips of her wings to grasp the fork and spoon, enjoying her lunch.
Fisher did not rush to eat but instead sat at the edge of the bed, rubbing his brow.
It seemed that after researching how Felis from the Lion Race possessed reproductive abilities, his body was becoming increasingly heated. Just as Fisher speculated, the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans’ enhancements to physical attributes would decrease as ranks increased, but only reproductive abilities would not.
If he maintained such a strong desire to study with Aoxi, he genuinely feared that he might lose control and do something excessive, and what if Alagina happened to return while he was in a frenzy?
Such a development would seem too bizarre.
“Fisher, aren’t you eating?”
“No, you eat first. I’ll go wash my face; I’m not hungry yet.”
Fisher avoided looking at Aoxi as she ate; he felt like a powder keg that could be ignited with just a spark. He stood up and walked toward the washroom, pouring cold water over his face in front of the mirror. As cold droplets fell from his stubbled face, he found some inner calm.
At this moment, he suddenly realized what Eil meant previously.
The Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans granted him extraordinary capabilities—both in terms of physical attributes and reproductive abilities. These enhancements did not yield benefits according to human thinking, and overly relying on human logic led to the current discomfort, which was why Eil suggested abandoning human lifestyles to better adapt to his bodily changes.
However, Fisher vaguely sensed an issue: would completely abandoning human thought processes to adapt to his bodily changes truly be feasible?
This concern might not be evident regarding the enhancements from the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans, but what about if the focus shifted to the Soul Supplement Handbook, Life Completion Manual, or any other unknown handbook?
In front of the mirror, he gently extended his hand. With the activation of his magical circuit, the magical circuit influenced by the Soul Supplement Handbook began to question Fisher regarding this issue as it gradually underwent changes.
The actions of Feilon and Erwind now appeared utterly terrifying, defying all existing moral and ethical orders. Did they become so mad right from the start? Had they completely forsaken human values since birth?
Fisher was uncertain of the answer to this question and was confused about how to resolve this contradiction expressed in the handbook.
He simply took out his Fluid Sword and morphed it into the shape of a razor, slowly cleaning the stubble that was poking out on his face. As his gaze followed the disappearing stubble, his heart began to gradually calm, as if the person being tormented by desire moments ago was not him.
“Ha.”
He let out a breath. After putting down the Fluid Sword and washing his face with cool water, he exited the washroom. The time he spent shaving was neither long nor short, just enough for Aoxi to finish her eel rice bought downstairs.
She had already eaten to her fill and was now sitting on the soft bed with the somewhat playful parrot-shaped steel knife in her arms, looking quite cheerful. Her legs were slightly swinging at the edge of the bed, a stark contrast to her demeanor before eating.
“Fisher.”
“Yes, let’s start the research.”
Aoxi turned to glance at Fisher, unsure of what she was looking at. It took several seconds for her to nod, moving a bit closer to her spot on the bed. Then she voluntarily unfastened her cloak. As the usual heavy cloak slipped away from her body, Aoxi’s sailor-suited form was revealed before Fisher for the first time.
It was clear that Aoxi’s attire beneath was rather light; while she wore a sailor suit, it was unlike the style worn by the other crew members of the Iceberg Queen. It appeared to be a different design from the Sardinia Kingdom, with shorter sleeves than usual, allowing her to stretch her wings more easily.
Underneath, she wore shorts, and unlike Raphael, whose dragon scales appeared just below the knee, Aoxi had soft, fluffy cyan feathers already creeping up her thighs, covered further by knee-high boots.
“Fisher, can I hold the steel knife?”
Fisher, who was still assessing Aoxi, was interrupted by her words. He looked up to see her lying on the bed, silently lifting the chubby parrot she raised, looking at Fisher as she spoke.
Fisher immediately noticed that she was feeling slightly nervous. Any subhuman woman tends to experience some level of nervousness when being studied. Let alone them; if one day Fisher heard a strange subhuman say they wanted to study him, he would likely feel somewhat uncomfortable too.
“Of course. By the way, can you take off your boots? I want to see the structure of your legs.”
She re-hugged the steel knife close to her chest without answering, allowing the steel knife itself to respond, “Sure. Okay.”
“Thank you.”
Fisher smiled slightly and unfastened the straps on her boots. As the boots fell away, he realized that they must have been specially designed for her, as they contained structures to secure her claws.
Aoxi’s feet were somewhat similar to those of a hawk, significantly more slender than human feet. Thus, ordinary boot designs were too large for her, requiring special molds fitted to her feet to allow her to use human-shaped shoes comfortably.
As soon as Fisher removed her boots, her originally flat feet curled up slightly, almost instinctively reaching for something. If one ignored the sharp claws that had grown on top, they could still be considered quite cute.
“By the way, you mentioned earlier that you grew up training under the Hammond Family. So you also grew up with Alagina?”
To ease her tension, Fisher began recording her external characteristics with pen and paper while starting a conversation to inquire about her background.
Aoxi cradled the steel knife, gently stroking its little head with her feathers, and nodded as she replied, “Yes, my mother was her mother’s guard, so I was brought to her side from a very young age. But in reality, I hardly interacted with her as a child; I spent most of my time in training. Occasionally, when I visited her, I would see her with her father. He was a very gentle uncle.”
“It wasn’t until her father passed away and my mother also died in battle that our bond became stronger. She had very few people she could trust, and I was one of the few. Many things I helped her with due to her mother’s supervision, always acting as her guard.”
“I had no goals; her goals became my own. But ever since leaving the Sardinia Kingdom, Alagina seems to have lost her sense of purpose, making me feel somewhat dispensable. Perhaps that’s why I have always struggled to fit in with them? I don’t know.”
Fisher continued documenting her data without pausing, not even lifting his head. He simply spoke, “It’s unrealistic for a person to be without goals. Even Alagina now has her own purpose; she wants to provide a good ending and life for the sisters who have sworn to follow her. And you are no different; you have your own goals, such as finding your father and building good relationships with the crew.”
“Any thought, any desire, is essentially your goal. Once you think and act on it, and accomplish it sequentially, you’ll have completed something remarkable. So, Aoxi, aside from wanting to build good relationships with the crew and finding your father, what else do you want?”
What do I want to do?
Aoxi raised the steel knife in her arms, gazing deeply at it, only to find it tilting its head towards Fisher beside her. She then turned her gaze to Fisher.
After staring silently at his profile for a moment, she placed the steel knife back into her arms and said, “Just… if I were to think about it for a moment, could I perhaps try to secretly date you today? I want to experience the feeling that Alagina went through because she was very happy, and I want to try too.”
Fisher’s pen recording the content suddenly trembled, and the words on the paper became elongated in a stiff line that fell to the edge of the page.
He gently raised his head, and his gaze met Aoxi, who lay still on the bed, painting the room’s atmosphere with a strange hue.
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(End of this chapter)
