Chapter 443: 60. White Tiger
“Um.”
After listening to Fisher recount everything he discussed with Duke of Peach, Hela stroked her chin, appearing deep in thought, which drew everyone’s attention to her face involuntarily.
Although she was often unreliable during the day, she was indeed a real mythical being, so she shouldn’t be vague about a decision that would determine the future.
However, several minutes passed, and they still hadn’t heard Hela make any decision. Fisher grew somewhat impatient and directly asked,
“So, what’s your opinion?”
“Ah, what opinion?”
Hela’s deep thinking was abruptly interrupted, and she looked at Fisher with confusion, seemingly not understanding what he was talking about.
Fisher took a deep breath in silence, his anger instantly rising a notch, but he managed to suppress his emotions and rubbed the center of his brow, saying,
“The invitation from the Elf Grand Duke. She wants us to enter the past barrier she created to see content and details that are invisible to her, to identify the traitor among the Elf Race. What do you think?”
“Ah, you all can make the decision. Why ask me?”
Hela blinked innocently, leaving Fisher speechless and not wanting to continue the conversation with her. Even Tang Zeming Asuka, who was beside him, let out a noticeable sigh and remarked,
“Just now, Hela, you looked so deep in thought. I thought you were considering Duke Peach’s request.”
“Ah, that.”
Upon this mention, Hela’s expression gradually returned to that of deep contemplation, frowning and rubbing her chin, expressing her distress,
“I do have some doubts. You see, I clearly ate a lot of peaches just now, and I was clearly feeling uncomfortable. I even deliberately faked my internal aura, making Gouwen, who’s a doctor, unable to discern anything, thus indicating that there was something wrong with my body, right? But why isn’t Fisher at all worried about me, a member of this team, after coming over? How did he figure out that I was fooling him? It really puzzles me.”
As Hela spoke, she noticed that the surroundings had fallen silent. She tilted her head and found that Fisher had already emotionlessly pulled everyone to the other side to discuss matters, completely ignoring her, probably having stopped listening halfway through what she said.
“Hmph!”
Seeing that, Hela froze for a moment, then puffed out her cheeks, placed her hands on her hips, and stared angrily at the distant Fisher, who was ignoring her.
Clearly, her appearance was stunning and mature, yet she pretended to act cute, as if noticing that Fisher’s peripheral vision was still looking this way, she resorted to such tactics.
Fisher took a quick glance and didn’t dare to look again, immediately retracting his gaze, too lazy to deal with that incompetent angel and instead turned to Gouwen beside him, asking,
“Gouwen, Duke Peach mentioned that six months ago you received an invitation from another Elf to enter the Royal Capital to treat the Elf King?”
Gouwen smiled wryly at hearing this and nodded in acknowledgment,
“I mentioned before that I diagnosed the Elf King’s illness. In fact, it has not just been six months; I have been diagnosing him for years. To be honest, the fact that the Elf King has survived to this day is already remarkable. He was marked for death several years ago. As a life so close to a demigod, death has various means to deal with him. I don’t know how he has managed to hold on until today. Even I could only provide some simple methods to alleviate his pain and couldn’t be of much help.”
Meanwhile, Tang Zeming Asuka glanced at Gouwen, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke up,
“Then Mr. Gouwen, have you seen any suspicious Elves in the Royal Capital? What about the Trans?”
“No, I need to maintain a great distance to diagnose the Elf King, and Lord Bai, who brought me into the Royal Capital, was always by my side. The treatment process was strictly monitored by the warriors within the Royal Capital, so there weren’t any leads worth sharing. Oh, but it seems that it is not entirely non-existent.”
As Gouwen spoke, he suddenly paused, as if recalling something, clapped his hands, and said,
“Elves have the habit of offering tributes, and the content of the offerings is generally regulated; the number of treasures and slaves is fixed. However, after the King’s lifespan began to dwindle, he would not personally count the exact numbers, so in reality, the number offered can vary without concern. But I’ve heard that the King particularly enjoys being offered slaves, thus the Elves rush to offer slaves to please the Elf King.”
Neceria, who had been silently holding a spear nearby, clicked her tongue at this and nodded, saying,
“Indeed, previously when my grandfather held the position of Prime in the Wutong Kingdom, the two lords of Wutong were very fond of doing this. When the slaves in the country were insufficient, they would even convert normal households into slave households for entertainment or tribute. My grandfather faced persecution for opposing them, and our entire clan was imprisoned at the borders of Wutong, under constant surveillance by border guards.”
“Is that so?”
Fisher nodded. Seeing how the Duke of Peach reacted upon seeing the three Trans persons from Wutong Kingdom, it was rational to deduce that the person who stole the Tears of the World Tree might also have been a slave, offered as a tribute by some Elf upon entering the Royal Capital.
Then, which Elf brought her into the Royal Capital? That Elf would most likely be the traitor among the Elf Race.
Otherwise, even Lord Bai, who had come to treat the Elf King, could not approach due to “etiquette,” making it impossible for other Elves to collude with the Trans person.
“I understand. I suggest we accept Duke Peach’s commission.”
He glanced at Mikhail and Gouwen beside him. He didn’t explicitly state it, but he had already informed them of the information regarding the theft of the Tears of the World Tree during the previous conversation with Duke Peach. What he was thinking now was how to extricate themselves properly, and it would be best to obtain the whereabouts of the Tears of the World Tree, for as per his deal with Pandora, they must help her find the Tears of the World Tree before she would honor her promise.
Fisher’s chance to escape from death was also present here.
The other two had no reason to refuse and nodded in agreement.
Instead, Hela, lying on the ground and shaking her legs, seemed to be contemplating the plump peaches on the tree. Suddenly, she said,
“How can that Duke Peach be certain that the Trans person can see the truth obscured by chaos in the past?”
“…”
Hela’s question did indeed make Fisher feel puzzled, but it was not unexplainable.
Duke Peach is a high-ranking Elf of Nineteen Rank; her understanding of fate exceeds ours. Perhaps, from her perspective, relying on the Trans person to subtract each other may just work?
Or maybe she honestly doesn’t know if the Trans person can see the past clearly, or if she can find this traitor and the Tears of the World Tree, but anyway, it doesn’t hurt to give it a try. For a Duke like her, the cost of trial and error is very low; even if it fails, it doesn’t matter.
However, before Fisher could answer Hela’s question, the space between the peach blossom grove was suddenly lifted, revealing an outer maid dressed in white.
As soon as Fisher’s eyes laid on her, they shrank slightly, and he quickly averted his gaze.
The reason was simple, as behind that maid followed dozens of beautiful women of various subhuman races, from young to slightly mature.
Their postures were graceful, each holding a small red box, which perfectly covered their scantily clad bodies and skin, yet could not hide their charm.
“Sir, the payment you and Duke Peach discussed earlier has been delivered. Tonight, a tent will be erected here for you to enjoy first, and you can take it after completing Duke Peach’s task tomorrow.”
Gouwen and Mikhail both opened their mouths in disbelief, rooted to the spot, and then turned to stare at Fisher with expressions of incredulity. Only Tang Zeming Asuka seemed unable to tolerate such defamation against her teacher, quickly rushing to Fisher’s side to explain for him, but was stopped by Fisher.
He sighed, looking towards Hela, who was covering her mouth while stifling laughter, and gritted his teeth to say,
“This is… out of necessity.”
It turned out that even in the Peach Blossom Spring, there was night, but it seemed to completely change according to Duke Peach’s whim. As the tent was erected, those subhuman beauties holding treasures walked into the tent, while the three men, Fisher and his team, remained seated like statues in the center of the tent, their faces very serious, causing Tang Zeming Asuka to think they looked like the fierce guardians in a temple.
Indeed, even for the serious teacher Fisher, it was truly challenging to portray the character of a pervert who loves subhuman women.
So she thought.
Neceria directly went to rest. She saw Fisher’s team accepting so many beauties and treasures; although she knew they had to weigh options, she was too lazy to stay and let her team deal with these beauties, like hot potatoes.
Meanwhile, Hela, munching on her peach, looked at the three serious gentlemen sitting upright in the room and couldn’t help but chuckle. Spitting out a peach pit, she clapped her hands and murmured,
“With so many beautiful subhuman women in front of you, you three are just sitting here? Don’t you want to try?”
Faced with this obviously provocative dark angel, the three men had different reactions.
Gouwen shook his head seriously, raising his hand to refuse,
“I’m already married.”
He had repeated this sentence countless times already.
Mikhail beside him pondered for a moment, also nodded, responding,
“I feel the same.”
Hela, chewing on her peach, tilted sideways to glance at Fisher, who was sitting beside Mikhail, deep in thought, hoping he would set an example, at least to show a semblance of interest.
Though Fisher appeared hesitant, in reality, countless ethereal subtitles had already emerged before his eyes, unknown to outsiders.
[Phoenix Race]
[Tree Continent Race (DLC Correction)], [Longevity Race], [Gift of Fate]
Fisher planned to start with Neceria, the Phoenix Race, but undoubtedly, gaining more research progress required deepening his relationship with her. The social research progress was okay; he could still inquire. However, biological research progress was impossible.
He had indeed studied Valentina’s body carefully, but she was not a complete Phoenix back then and thus wasn’t counted within the biological research progress of Phoenixes. Now his biological research progress was only around 12%, while his social research progress was slightly higher, roughly 17%, soon nearing the first stage.
Moreover, Fisher discovered something a bit absurd; logically speaking, his understanding of the Phoenix Race socially should not be so little. He had experienced the journey in the Northern Region and understood quite well about these beings with great attributes flowing in their blood. Similar situations existed with other races as well; like the Whale Folk, he was almost completely familiar with their lair, yet progress remained slow.
He slowly formulated a hypothesis: the social research progress indicated in the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans was actually a milestone-type progress bar rather than an accumulative type.
In other words, he might already know about 60-70% or even 80% of their research progress, but since he was unclear about 20-30%, he could never reach that 60-70% progress.
It was quite absurd, but it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
Although the current progress was a bit slow, as long as he understood the preceding social progress, the subsequent progress would be very fast.
Now he decided to focus on the so-called tags.
Fisher’s gaze slightly trembled as he looked at one of the tags of the Phoenix Race that he had never understood before: [Gift of Fate].
[Gift of Fate: These races possess a unique perception of fate, which may be innate or may only need an opportunity to reveal their unique perspective on this orderly world. Their abilities vary by rank, but undoubtedly, it means they have received a special gift from the God of Fate.]
[Included Races: Elf Race, Phoenix Race, White Tiger Race]
[Bind all the above races to unlock rewards]
Only three types?
Fisher had already bound to the Phoenix Race, and there should be quite a few women among the Elves, but the only one he had the chance to meet until now was Duke Peach. Even then, the possibility of researching them was low.
If that’s the case, it might be better to bind with Duke Peach directly tomorrow. Even if it was just to accumulate bonds, it wouldn’t matter. If he genuinely couldn’t research her, he could still learn about the social composition of the Elf Race through other channels to unlock the Elf Race’s social research reward.
So now, the challenge was to gather the last subhuman race.
Amidst the gazes of Hela and Tang Zeming Asuka, Fisher sighed, his sharp gaze sweeping across the beautiful subhuman women before him. Among them were those with goat horns, fluffy paws, and scales, but
Fisher remained silent for a moment, looked toward the waiting maid outside, gestured her over, and said,
“Is there anything you command?”
“I have additional requests regarding the payment.”
“Is it the dissatisfaction with these women? I understand. Please tell me your requests, and I’ll have them delivered promptly.”
“I want a White Tiger.”
