Chapter 275: 51. Cangniao Tribe Second Stage Reward (Combination)
When Fisher returned from outside the hotel, he happened to run into Captain Alagina and the crew returning. Many crew members smiled and greeted him when they saw Fisher, and the strange sense of politeness and ambiguity made Fisher increasingly suspicious that they might have heard some noises from his room in the afternoon.
Fisher turned to ask Emhart, but he just rolled his eyes with an expression that said, “I don’t even want to talk about you.”
“I didn’t hear anything. It’s just that the damn bed was about to fall apart from your shaking! I couldn’t take it anymore and ran out into the hallway. That silly Cangniao still stayed at the door listening; I really can’t deal with it.”
“…”
Fisher fell silent for a second and suddenly felt a bit regretful; he should have restrained himself a bit if he’d known.
But the problem is that one cannot be soft-hearted when dealing with the women of the Sardinia Kingdom, and for some reason, Alagina seemed to prefer to be treated roughly, which was a conclusion Fisher had reached through practice.
“By the way, Old Jack, there’s something I want to discuss with you.”
Just as Alagina and the other crew members were about to enter the hotel, Fisher recalled something and quickly called Old Jack, who was walking in front of Alagina, to his side and told him about his plans.
Afterward, Fisher was about to leave the Iceberg Queen and set off on his journey to the Northern Region. He would have to deal with Erwind and enter the Frost Parasol Tree to look for clues about Renee, so it was not feasible to take Old Jack and Isabel along; temporarily leaving them in Alagina’s care was the most suitable action.
Old Jack glanced at Fisher in front of him and nodded knowingly. He said, “I know; I saw long ago that you wouldn’t be staying on the ship for long. I have no problem with that, but you need to pay attention to Princess Isabel whom you brought; once you leave, there will be no one to take care of her.”
“She has grown up and has expressed her views about her future. I believe she can manage this time on the ship well. Of course, I will also ask Alagina to look after her more. After that, when we go to the Pirate Cove…”
Fisher originally wanted to remind Old Jack that Alagina might often work with the Black Chieftain Arid to search for the legendary Storm Sea, especially considering that Old Jack had three little girls with him. This situation should be clarified with Old Jack beforehand so he could make the final decision; if he didn’t want to follow Alagina into danger, Fisher wouldn’t mind taking him to the Northern Region or some other place to settle down first.
But unexpectedly, right as he was about to mention this, Old Jack seemed to already know what Fisher was going to say and spoke first, “You’re thinking about cooperating with the Black Chieftain, right? Paz told me about this; don’t worry, I’ll be staying at Pirate Cove and won’t venture into the Deep Sea with that bunch of pirates. This old body of mine isn’t suited for such dangerous things anymore. Paz said she bought a shop at Pirate Cove, and I can take Kalma and the others there to open a restaurant serving Nali dishes. Hehe, or I could return to my old profession and open a tavern, which wouldn’t be bad either.”
Hearing this, Fisher’s expression turned a bit strange. He looked at Old Jack, who was serious at the moment, and then glanced past him at Paz, who was waiting for them to finish their conversation at the tavern door.
Paz noticed Fisher looking at her, so she smiled and winked at him, then took a puff from the cigarette she had just bought on the island, looking very content.
Wait, when did Old Jack acquire a shop from the First Mate of the Iceberg Queen?
How come he knew nothing about it? He thought there wasn’t even a hint of their relationship yet.
Old Jack had no expression, but in Fisher’s eyes, he seemed to exude an air of unfathomability. His strange gaze left Old Jack speechless, and he could only cross his arms and say, “It’s just a partnership for opening a shop, you know. Pirates drift at sea for years. Originally, her buying that house at Pirate Cove was just to have a place to settle when she retires. Now it just happens to work out; I can put my remaining energy to use there.”
“Well, okay then.”
Regardless of whether Old Jack’s relationship with Paz was truly as pure as he claimed, as long as he was clear about it himself, Fisher respected his thoughts.
He took out a paper airplane made of magic materials he had bought earlier and handed it to Old Jack, saying, “You can use this to contact me if there are any issues in the future. Just place any letters you need to send on it. I’ve reinforced this magic; it can cover the distance between Pirate Cove and the Northern Region without any problems.”
After accepting Fisher’s messenger, Old Jack nodded, exchanged a few parting words with Fisher, and then turned to go back to the hotel with Paz. Watching their shoulders brush against each other as they walked deeper into the hotel, Fisher was utterly perplexed about their relationship.
Could this be the trending way for elderly people to date?
Fisher shook his head in confusion and headed upstairs with Emhart. He unexpectedly saw Aoxi again in the place where he had seen her before; she stood at the edge of the wooden railing on the second floor, having draped the cloak that Fisher had previously worn over her shoulders again. However, this time, the cloak did not wrap her up like a ball.
In front of her, the usually closed cloak had opened a reasonably wide gap, revealing her soft body wrapped in a white sailor suit. Her cute face had also confidently popped out from the cloak, looking warmly at Fisher as he walked up the stairs.
“Fisher.”
“Fool. Fool.”
Upon seeing Fisher, the Steel Knife resting on her shoulder chimed in at the same time. Seeing the Steel Knife perched on her shoulder, Emhart floated up from Fisher’s shoulder, feeling uncomfortable after a while and floated to perch on Fisher’s head. Just as he was about to settle down, Fisher grabbed him and tossed him down, infuriating him so much that he gritted his teeth.
“You finished talking with Alagina? Where is she?”
Looking at Aoxi’s cheerful demeanor, Fisher subconsciously glanced at Alagina’s room. After confirming that the door was closed, he smiled and leaned against the edge of the corridor railing, speaking to Aoxi.
“Yeah, I talked with Alagina about a lot. We both now know what each other’s thoughts are like, which helps me a lot. Thank you, Fisher. She’s in her room waiting for you to return.”
“That’s good then.”
Just as Fisher was satisfactorily nodding his head and preparing to leave, Aoxi suddenly called out to him, “Wait, Fisher.”
Fisher paused briefly, turned back to look at her.
He saw Aoxi’s wings slightly spread behind her, seemingly symbolizing her nervousness and excitement. Her little face was flushed, and her steps were a bit shy, yet despite this, she still gazed at Fisher.
“I have… a little gift to give you as a thank you for helping me.”
“You already gave me a thank you; remember? You let me study you, and that was enough.”
“Then this is an additional thank you.”
“Thank you?”
Fisher looked perplexedly at Aoxi as she explored under her cloak. As her wings moved, he finally saw an unmistakable wooden shape beneath her cloak. The moment that basket-like object appeared, a sense of foreboding surged in Fisher’s heart.
It couldn’t be.
This thing couldn’t be…
“Yeah. It is… this. I want to give it to Fisher.”
In the next second, Aoxi shook her cloak twice, revealing a wooden basket she had once shown to Fisher, in which a round bird egg lay peacefully, covered by a pink towel, so Fisher could not see if there were any previous water stains on it this time.
“Actually, the eggs that Fisher had eaten with the crew on the ship earlier were mine, but, but, but don’t worry, this isn’t a real egg! Inside… there’s no little Cangniao; it’s just that if I don’t release it for a long time, my body will feel quite uncomfortable.”
Aoxi did not realize that Fisher had heard the entire process of her laying the egg, nor did she know that Fisher already knew the bird eggs eaten by the crew on the ship were laid by her. This made Fisher extremely embarrassed as he looked at the small wooden basket she had presented; he was in a dilemma about whether to accept it or not.
But seeing Aoxi’s expectant face, after hesitating for a moment, Fisher gently extended his hand and accepted the wooden basket containing her egg.
“Thank you.”
As Fisher accepted the egg she offered, Aoxi’s face brightened with a beautiful smile, which complemented her soft features, making her demeanor appear exceedingly bright compared to her previous self.
She seemed to recall something, quickly shaking her head as she explained to Fisher while pointing at the egg in his arms, “Actually, my father once told me that in the Cangniao colony beyond the snow mountains, Cangniao usually buries the eggs they lay as a memorial or places them on altars. But there are special circumstances; when Cangniao meets a friend they particularly want to thank and to show loyalty, they will give these eggs as gifts.”
“Although I’m not a legitimate member of the snowy mountain Cangniao tribe, I still remember what my father said. I hope Fisher doesn’t mind; it may look a little strange, but it’s really very… very delicious.”
No, this isn’t about whether it tastes good or not.
Fisher opened his mouth; he gazed down at the egg enclosed in the basket and suddenly understood something. According to the customs of the Cangniao, Aoxi had no need to give these laid eggs to the ship’s cooks, but she chose to do so regardless, indicating that she indeed regarded those crew members as friends and family, even though she had never spoken to them.
Aoxi was Alagina’s most loyal guard, and always had been.
[Cangniao Biological Research Progress: 34%]
[Cangniao Social Research Progress: 55%]
[Bonus for Research on the Snow Mountain Clan: 20%]
[Cangniao Social Research Progress has reached 50%, unlocking the second stage reward!]
[Constitution +6, Spirit Realm Pollution Resistance +3.6, Bloody Death Remonstrance]
At that moment, after hearing Aoxi’s revelation about the Cangniao tribe customs, the ethereal text in the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans finally lit up again, completing the second stage social research reward that Fisher had failed to achieve last time.
Amidst the numerous golden lights visible only to Fisher, a phantom scroll suddenly appeared before him. The scroll didn’t materialize in front of his eyes; it merely unfolded, revealing its contents.
The second stage rewards of the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans typically included a tangible item, such as the [Veil of the Fabricator] obtained from Renee, or the [Feimabaha Dragon Court Clue] from Raphael.
The Cangniao tribe was no exception, but this time the item given was very special. It was neither a scroll nor a treasure; rather, it was a piece of tattered cloth that seemed to have been roughly torn from the collar, on which two lines of sharp and chaotic ancient northern text were inscribed in bright red blood. Although Fisher could not understand them, the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans kindly provided a translation.
[There’s a change inside the Parasol Tree; please do not listen to the summons and return, Prince.]
At the bottom of that ethereal scroll, there was also a description of the item provided by the Handbook.
[Bloodied Death Remonstrance: The arrogant Ice Prince failed to heed the death remonstrance from his most loyal subordinate inside the Parasol Tree, and he paid an extremely painful price for it.]
Fisher’s gaze swept over the text recorded on that ethereal fabric as he quickly extracted the information provided by the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans.
Firstly, considering the source of the reward came from the Cangniao and historical significance, this death remonstrance was likely a warning sent to the Ice Prince by the Cangniao under his command.
If Fisher guessed correctly, it seemed that the Frost Parasol Tree issued three summonses to the Phoenix Son and the Phoenix people outside after all. But in reality, something had gone wrong inside the Parasol Tree. When the three Phoenix Sons returned to the Parasol Tree with other tribesmen, they paid for it with their lives. It was precisely because of this incident that the Phoenix tribe became silent and vanished.
In fact, in terms of life rank, although the Phoenix tribe is not a mythical being, they should exist around the 14th rank, which means they are very close to the real mythical beings.
Currently, Fisher knows of three races with the lowest ranks above the mythical beings, specifically the Demon race (the real 72 demons), the Angel race, and the Chaos race, so it’s hard to say whether the Phoenix King and the three Phoenix Sons belong to the mythical rank.
Moreover, none of these three mythical races had any records indicating they intervened in the Northern Region during the time the Phoenix vanished, so Fisher suspected that it was very likely that the Phoenix truly perished due to internal strife, just as Emhart had said.
Thinking of this, Fisher silently dispelled the information and rewards provided by the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans. He picked up the basket he held in his hand and thanked Aoxi again, saying, “Thank you, Aoxi.”
“I should be the one thanking you. Well, I’ll take my leave now. Um, goodnight.”
After saying these words, she lowered her head a little and ran off in the opposite direction down the corridor without looking back, leaving Fisher and Emhart, who had returned to his shoulder, staring blankly at the egg in his hand.
Emhart was the first to ask, his tone curious, “By the way, is this thing tasty?”
“It’s just like a chicken egg. If you ignore the psychological factor, that is. Why are you asking this?”
“I’ve recorded many renowned culinary experts among your kind. They often write about the dishes they have tasted, and I’ve read about them but have never been able to taste such flavors. I know I’m curious about that kind of taste, so I just wanted to ask.”
“Later, I can help you inscribe a magic that will share my feelings with you.”
“Really?!”
“That’s just a guess; I can’t be sure if it will work. After all, you don’t have a brain like we do.”
“…Why do I feel like you’re insulting me?”
Fisher carried the wooden basket towards Alagina’s room and knocked on the door. A voice responded from inside, “Fisher?”
“It’s me.”
“The door isn’t locked.”
He pushed the door open, and the moment he saw the scene inside, his body reacted instantly. He immediately squeezed Fisher’s shoulder, interrupting Emhart’s intended words.
“Ow! My eyes! My eyes! What’s going on?! Don’t cover my eyes!”
Fisher tightly covered Emhart’s eyes as he scanned the mist-filled room. In the center of the room stood a wooden tub, where Alagina was soaking in hot water, looking surprisingly at Fisher, whose gaze was now fixated on her with increasing intensity.
“Fisher?”
Sensing Fisher’s strong desire, Alagina did not know what she was thinking, and her earlobes began to turn slightly red.
Fisher quietly placed the basket he was holding down on the floor, then turned his head and sent Emhart out of the room, who was now floating at the door.
“What are you doing?!”
“Today you go sleep outside with Old Jack, if he’s not with Paz tonight, then he will take you to the ship to find that book you haven’t read.”
Just as Emhart was about to curse Fisher, he heard his words and was left speechless, the insults becoming a dry and meaningless question, “…What about you?”
Fisher’s figure completely blocked the scene of the room behind the door. He glanced at Emhart and simply explained as he closed the door.
“Bathing, sleeping.”
“…”
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(End of this chapter)
