Chapter 269: 45. The Secret of the Sardinian People
Just as Fisher told the Mechanism about his research completion on the Cloud Cat Breed, he suddenly heard a series of thuds coming from the hall below, seemingly from the hotel staff that the Mechanism had controlled earlier.
“Alright, Mr. Fisher, I can start processing the scene now. By the way, it seems that those workers from the Nali Exploration Company were wearing some high-level magic that hasn’t been used. If you want, you can take them all; I can use other Mechanisms to forge magical items.”
Forging magical items?
So amazing?
Before Fisher could open his mouth to inquire, he suddenly noticed that a mass of small mechanical entities, like a layer of black tide, had crawled out from every corner of the room. To his astonishment, these machines quickly gathered the blood and pieces of flesh scattered on the ground and pieced together the skin to gradually form expressionless, vacant humanoids.
Looking at their appearance, they bore a striking resemblance to the deceased staff members of the Exploration Company and members of the Nali Overseas Intelligence Bureau.
“Although there are still many differences in detail, Miya does not recognize the people sent by Nali, which is enough. As for the distant Nali people, once Erwind is dead, the magic used for communication will also lose its effectiveness; in the end, they will attribute the casualties to the Sardinian Kingdom and Miya.”
After saying this, the Mechanism slowly floated next to Fisher and handed him several shimmering magical rings. Fisher did not check the specific engravings on the rings but casually put them into his pocket. He then approached the group of mechanical “simulated Nali people,” observed them for a while, but found no flaws.
However, just as he was marveling at the sight below, he suddenly noticed that one of the humanoids draped in the skin of a Nali Overseas Intelligence Bureau agent seemed to have an activated magic rune attached to its hand; at this moment, layers of residual waves of world echoes were faintly vibrating above.
This meant that the Nali Intelligence Bureau, or more accurately, Erwind, had sent some message back.
Fisher’s expression changed, and he said to the Mechanism, “No, this magic has already been activated. A message was sent back to Nali before this magic rune could fail.”
The Mechanism’s shaking form paused for a moment. It immediately flew next to Fisher and scrutinized the humanoid wrapped in human skin, but seemingly due to its entirely mechanical composition, it could not detect that the magic had been activated.
The Mechanism did not comment, but Fisher seemed to realize what Erwind intended to do. He rubbed his brow in frustration and sighed, “This bastard. He knows about you and me on the island and knows that we are likely to reach a cooperation. To avoid being trapped in a situation where we are both hunting him down, he must report my movements back to the Nali headquarters through the puppet he possesses.”
“…”
The light on the Mechanism flickered, and after several seconds of analysis in its database, it awkwardly asked Fisher, “The Fate Lord did not specifically tell me about your grievances with Nali, and I have yet to update my information database. Do you know how serious the consequences would be if Nali knew where you are, Mr. Fisher?”
The Nali Intelligence Bureau, due to its special function, usually handled cases that were highly related to the state. Many high-level cases in the past required the decision-making of the heads of Parliament and the King.
But given the current situation of Nali, their reporting target would only be the newly crowned, rising Empress Elizabeth, and it could be feared that by this afternoon, news of his dalliance with a group of female pirates on Pat Sulshen Island would land on Elizabeth’s desk.
Thinking of this, Fisher suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold creep up his spine because he knew very well that Elizabeth would spare no expense to find him.
“At least not yet.”
Saying this with a tough exterior, Fisher couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty.
Well, for now, it has been fine; he just didn’t know how things would be afterwards.
“That’s good to hear, Mr. Fisher.”
The Mechanism couldn’t grasp the emotions hidden in Fisher’s words, but Fisher had not intended to involve the Creation Society in too many of his matters, even if they had shown some goodwill.
After concluding this conversation, the humanoids disguised as “Nali people” under the Mechanism’s command gradually began to appear more lively, each moving to sit down properly around the room. The previous attack and the gruesome bloodstains seemed to have never happened, and even the scent in the room was completely cleared away.
Any possible traces left in the room were swept away, and their natural movements made the entire chamber lively again, making Fisher and the Mechanism hovering in mid-air appear as if two transparent bystanders watching a perfect performance.
Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans, huh…
Fisher silently recorded the bizarre scene before him, then turned to the Mechanism and asked, “By the way, how should I contact you when I get to the Northern Region? Or will you know as soon as I set foot on land?”
“No, if it were before the battle with the Life Lord, I might still be able to do that, but I lost too many Mechanisms in the battle with him. And right now, I can’t create new Mechanisms temporarily, as I have exhausted all the materials needed for making them, and there is no way to replenish them in the short term.”
“However, once you get to the Northern Region, you can use this beacon card to contact me. It will guide you to the nearest Mechanism, and I will sense your consciousness then. No need to worry.”
As the Mechanism spoke, it manipulated the Cloud Cat Breed Alinur behind it to hand Fisher a metal card. The upper part of the card still bore no light, but like the card it had given itself earlier, it would activate simply by pressing the card’s surface.
“Understood.”
“Okay, then see you in the Northern Region, Mr. Fisher. After that, I still have to take this group of Cloud Cat Breeds back to their tribe. It’s a troublesome task, so you should finish your business and leave here quickly; the staff below will soon regain consciousness.”
The Mechanism shook its body slightly, its round, bead-like body moving in a comical manner. After Fisher nodded in response, it flew back into the embrace of the Cloud Cat Breed Alinur and quietly left the room.
In the room, Fisher originally wanted to open the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans to confirm the rewards he had just acquired through the research on the Cloud Cat Breed, but upon sensing the presence of the “Nali people” nearby, he suddenly remembered the Mechanism’s earlier advice about keeping the Supplement Handbook hidden, so he decided to leave the room and exit the hotel.
Outside the hotel was eerily quiet; the group of Cloud Cat Breeds and the Mechanism had seemingly vanished, while the staff below that had lost consciousness had yet to awaken, still lying sprawled in the hotel lobby. According to the Mechanism, once they woke up, they would have a segment of memory added to replace what they had lost.
Fisher thus pushed the door open and walked out of the hotel, then wrapped himself in Aoxi’s cloak, quickly entering a deserted alley nearby. After blindly wandering through several streets, he leaned against a wall in an empty alley, opening the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans in his arms.
As usual, several lines of ethereal text appeared before his eyes:
[Phase One Rewards for Cloud Cat Breed Biological Research Unlocked]
[Constitution +2, Cold Resistance +10, Snow Mountain Affinity]
[Snow Mountain Affinity: Your attraction towards the Phoenix Race and the Snow Mountain Affiliated Races has been slightly enhanced. Go and research more Snow Mountain Sub-Humans! (Sihasihah)]
[Snow Mountain Affiliated Race Research Bonus: When you meet the next Snow Mountain Affiliated Race Sub-Human, you will receive an additional reminder; the rewards from your next research on the Snow Mountain Affiliated Races will increase by 20%.]
Previously, Fisher would have directly skipped the constitution increase that had no noticeable change, but unexpectedly, as the ethereal text lit up this time, he suddenly felt a scorching heat enveloping his whole body, as if countless erupting volcanoes were releasing heat within him.
He took a deep breath, leaning against the wall’s edge, as his muscles tensed inch by inch with the passing of that burning sensation, feeling the volcanic force surging within him; he gently closed his eyes. Only after a long time did he slowly exhale a breath of hot air, relaxing.
“Ah, ah, ah, Fisher! Did you leave me in the fire? You ungrateful bastard, you filthy human! Just because I told you a few truths doesn’t mean—hey, you’re right here! Wait, what exactly happened? Why do I—what’s wrong with you?”
“…Shut up.”
At that moment, Emhart, who had been knocked unconscious by the Mechanism, suddenly burst out of Fisher’s pocket, cursing while turning around to search for Fisher’s figure, only to find that he had just flown out from Fisher himself.
At this moment, steam thick with heat was continuously emitting from Fisher’s body, waking Emhart, who had been leaning against him.
“Oh, no, something’s wrong. How does your body feel stronger again? I’ve never seen such a rapid increase in rank before. You, no matter where, fit the characteristics of the Dragon Race perfectly: desire for reproduction, body strength…”
Fisher looked at his palm, gently stretching it. As that tingling sensation faded, he increasingly felt his body become light and powerful, similar to the first time he obtained a physical enhancement from the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans.
If before, Fisher had a constitution level equivalent to the lowest tier of the seventh rank Dragon Race, now he had almost reached the average constitution of an adult Dragon Race, which is level eight, having just recently transitioned out of the beginning level of the extraordinary stage.
As Emhart scrutinized Fisher’s now stronger physique, glancing this way and that, to avoid him asking numerous questions about the events when he lost consciousness, Fisher quickly took out the Cangniao Tribe’s insignia he had just acquired and held it in front of him, saying, “Can you recognize the text on this thing?”
“What? Are you kidding? Who am I? I am the great Sir Book Emhart! There’s no text I can’t recognize… Wait, let me see, this is the ancient insignia of the Cangniao Tribe! Where did you get this? This thing was a treasure conferred by the Phoenix King to those six races, proof of their allegiance! Let me see what’s written on it! I can’t hold back, come closer!”
Sure enough, once Fisher showed the inscription written in ancient script, Emhart’s singular eye lit up like a streetlamp in Nali at night, tossing aside all previous events and eagerly skimming through the contents.
As an artifact meant for recording content, reading and documenting unknown knowledge came as a natural instinct for Emhart.
After all, he didn’t need to eat or drink like other beings and thus had little interest in such matters.
Meanwhile, a now relaxed Fisher tucked the supplement handbook back into his arms, hurrying alongside Emhart towards the location where Alagina and Aoxi were while listening to him recite the contents on the insignia of the Cangniao Tribe.
“Ahem, this records some events where the Cangniao Tribe followed the Phoenix Race to defeat enemies and receive titles. It turns out there was a ranking among the six tribes that were conferred back then, with the Cangniao Tribe ranked first… Then, they were sent together with the Troll Race by the Phoenix King to assist her child who enjoyed fighting the most, the Ice Prince.”
“Ah, the Ice Prince’s fief is at the southernmost tip of the Northern Region. It seems it was to prevent the Chaos Race’s invasion? Strange, did the Chaos Race come from the sea back then?”
Listening to Emhart’s recount, Fisher suddenly halted.
“Troll Race?”
“That’s right, the Troll Race. Hmm, nowadays, very few humans probably ever hear that term. Their numbers are so scarce that they can be compared to the already extinct Phoenix Race. However, in some North Region paleographies I’ve documented, there seem to be many humans who entered the snowy mountains and claimed to have seen traces of so-called ‘snowmen.’ I don’t know if that is the Troll Race.”
Actually, Fisher wasn’t puzzled because it was his first time hearing that term; earlier, when he encountered Eil, she had mentioned this subhuman race. Moreover, given the characteristics of the great demon Eil, subhuman races that appeared in her conversations were generally the stronger type.
In reality, he suddenly had a little spark of inspiration.
He remembered that when studying the Lion Race earlier, it had a label called [Yin and Yang Reversal], which explained why females were often stronger than males. The Troll Race also possessed this label.
The problem is that the territory assigned to the Troll Race just happened to be within the current borders of the Sardinian Kingdom, where the phenomenon of females being larger and stronger than males had occurred for generations, thus forming the customs of female superiority that Fisher observed now.
So is there a possibility that the residents of the Sardinian Kingdom are all descendants of humans and trolls, and due to the trolls’ higher rank, as long as they produce offspring with humans, they would retain the traits of their troll ancestors?
Fisher opened his mouth, suddenly feeling that this conclusion was highly likely. It seemed he had uncovered a secret about the Sardinian people that had been completely forgotten by history.
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(End of Chapter)
