**Chapter 487: 104. The Ocean**
At this moment, time was being dragged back several hours to when the setting sun was just about to touch the ground. Fisher, who had just parted ways with Gouwen, was leading the continuously singing camel in search of a location to advance to a mythical being.
However, he was somewhat worried about what was happening with Gouwen, so he did not leave his current location immediately.
Given that the matter at hand was related to a mythical being, it was clearly dangerous, so he lingered around for a long while not far from the coastline.
As nearly two hours passed and it remained silent over there, Fisher understood Gouwen’s thoughts well.
He did not wish to intervene in this matter.
In that case, Fisher could only silently wish for him or thought he might wait until he had advanced to mythical status before coming back to see if he could help; he felt this process wouldn’t take too long.
In any case, it was already nighttime, and he could no longer delay.
Thus, with his decision made, Fisher made his way along the uneven cliffs to the inner side of Dragon Tail Island, and soon entered a seemingly very quiet forest.
Originally, Fisher had planned to find a cave, but he suddenly remembered Gouwen had said that Fei often returned to Dragon Tail Island from the crevices of the spirit realm to sleep, and probably he would just dig a hole to rest. Who could know which of the land’s caves might connect to it? If he struck gold and got dug into a box, it wouldn’t be fun.
That said, Fei was a twenty-ranked dragon god, even on the surface he might be able to sense him; it was just covering one’s ears while stealing a bell, seeking psychological comfort.
Thinking this, he casually found a relatively quiet spot, leaving the camel he was holding and the seemingly half-finished crown that was on him in the woods. Then he walked forward alone for several hundred meters, finally determining the place for the “crossing of calamities.”
He first took out the Fluid Sword hidden in his bosom, then took out the teardrop-like structure that Renee had given him for breaking through the Holy Grail constructs.
The method Ch taught him was: create a wound that links to his own wound, and then he would know the method to advance.
Looking at the teardrop in his hand, which shimmered with a mystical purple light, Fisher hesitated for a moment, as he indeed felt suspicious about Ch’s intentions; it was impossible to believe just because he looked exactly like Renee. In comparison, he was even more willing to trust that scummy angel, Hela.
However, when he truly looked at the purple teardrop emitting strange waves, he did feel a unique resonance, as if it were some kind of unspoken proof that what Ch said was true.
It was as if this thing pointed to a place he couldn’t reach.
“…”
Fisher paused for a moment, then gently used the Fluid Sword to draw a small cut in his palm.
In the next second, something miraculous happened.
The moment the wound appeared, blood from Fisher’s palm began to gather in a mist-like form, spiraling up and intertwining with the purple substance in his hand.
At the moment they touched, Fisher’s body trembled, as if he felt some kind of calling, and soon after, he no longer hesitated and fully grasped the purple teardrop with his injured palm.
“Buzz, buzz, buzz!”
At the moment of contact, everything about Fisher seemed to be completely overwhelmed by blackness.
He felt as though he was once again, over and over again, falling into endless descent, surrounded by the harsh ringing of noise, continuously plummeting in infinite darkness.
Yet to him, this feeling seemed of little consequence.
He even felt a familiarity and a certain intimacy that surprised even himself.
As this feeling of shock arose, Fisher’s sense of falling vanished in an instant.
He found himself barefoot, standing solidly on a patch of somewhat wet, uneven rocks.
“Splash, splash, splash.”
In the eternal blackness where he could hardly see his own hand, the rhythmic sound of ancient waves that he had heard several times was pounding against the rocks he stood on.
He seemed to have arrived at the center of an extremely vast ocean, with only this lonely island in the entire magnificent sea, and seemingly only he was present.
Where is this?
Fisher finally thought no longer in a daze.
In his anxious breaths, the cold spread like a virus.
His body suddenly became somewhat stiff, as if he could not stand, precariously about to fall into the ocean.
For some reason, he just knew that if he fell into the ocean, he would instantly merge into it, as if scattered foam.
But in this chilling darkness, from the distant horizon, from the silent ocean, a huge celestial body with a bright glow miraculously rose.
“Buzz, buzz, buzz.”
That celestial body seemed to have been born from the black ocean, still carrying some dark tide. It slowly rose from the horizon until it floated in mid-air, suspended at the position Fisher was most familiar with—the moon that had illuminated the ground since his birth.
“The moon.”
In that originally gentle moonlight, everything that had just happened felt like an illusion, and Fisher’s mind suddenly became clear. He looked around and found he seemed to be standing on the small island in the East Ocean, the first sight after leaving the Northern Region and not far from the Pirate Haven, but compared to the high noon of that time, it seemed to be night here.
The atmosphere around him suddenly warmed up, and Fisher let out a sigh as he surveyed his surroundings.
“Fisher, Fisher.”
A voice he knew all too well came from behind him again.
He turned back in shock and, sure enough, saw the lady wearing the familiar black gauzy dress standing gracefully at the center of the island, in the place where the cold moonlight stood.
“Renee.”
Fisher’s heart stirred at once, and his feet moved uncontrollably toward her. At this moment, he was utterly certain that the person before him was Renee and not Ch.
“Fisher, you wouldn’t have gone looking for other women again, would you?”
Renee, with her hands on her stomach, looked at Fisher with a smile and suddenly said this, causing him to freeze in place, as if struck by lightning, and he didn’t dare to move forward any longer.
He suspected that Renee might just be holding a hatchet, waiting to chop him down the moment he approached.
“No, Renee. That…”
Fisher’s complexion changed slightly; he wanted to say something, but the black lady in front of him covered her mouth and smiled, saying,
“Pfft, are all men who feel guilty idiots? Or is it that women’s intuition is too accurate?”
“You…”
“She is in the future. She herself said she couldn’t oversee the past; she doesn’t know what you did or didn’t do, idiot.”
“…”
The figure of that “Renee” slowly blurred, becoming as elusive as moonlight blooming in a kaleidoscope, until the familiar “∞” symbol filled his vision and she gradually returned to her original form.
“Fisher, I am [Authority], the manifestation of her power, the essence of her being that cannot be killed.”
“Authority, huh.”
Renee smiled and moved to Fisher’s side, gently sitting on the white sandy ground, looking at the pitch-black ocean before them,
“Curious about what Authority is?”
“A little.”
“Actually, this is just the term used [here], just like [Chaos] is a made-up word, created to describe certain inherent qualities possessed by certain existences. You can see it as a suitable description for the powers of deities. What I symbolize is [Infinity], representing [Unmeasurable Magnitudes] and [Endless Repetition and Cycle].”
No wonder that Renee had such immense magical power. Even when she suppressed her true self and transformed into a sorceress, the nature representing her power still replicated on her.
“How about it? Do you have a deeper understanding of her? She believes that the less you know, the safer you are. She wishes she could spend her life by your side as an ordinary, bad sorceress, living like an ordinary person without threat. Unfortunately, that is just her wish.”
Fisher sat beside her and asked,
“You mean the less I know, the more dangerous it is?”
She smiled and turned to him, shaking her head,
“I don’t know, after all, I am just an authority. I am not her, nor do I know her thoughts. I can only feel her attachment to you, and you seeing me is entirely due to your uniqueness and the goals you wish to achieve.”
“Uniqueness? I don’t feel it at all.”
This was the second time Fisher had heard that word. The first time was yesterday, from an elf who looked exactly like Renee and this authority standing before him.
She used an example to describe her uniqueness, but Fisher did not feel this concretely; he felt he was just a little more durable and there was nothing particularly special about it.
If he were really that special, why would he fall into madness while reading the Soul Supplement Handbook?
Upon hearing this, the authority did not say much but merely explained,
“Gold does not know it is gold; it only shines brilliantly in the eyes of greedy prospectors. To me and certain beings, you are just like that.”
Fisher squinted, faintly guessing something, and speculated at her,
“Certain beings… you mean, [Chaos]?”
“[Chaos] sounds too derogatory. Like [Authority], it is also a made-up term. If one were to draw a line, I am also part of [Chaos]. Do you think I am scary?”
The authority playfully blinked at Fisher beside her. No wonder this girl was the essence of Renee; she was very much like her in personality.
To be honest, he was feeling a bit confused about these few figures; Ch looked like this, the authority also looked like this, and Renee looked even more like this.
What was this?
Dating one person but sharing three?
“No, you’re not scary. But is this really important? Also, I’m here to advance to a mythical rank; why are you telling me all this?”
“Because you are about to enter the mythical rank, that’s why I’m telling you these things!”
Upon hearing Fisher say that she was “not scary,” the authority blushed and touched her cheek, looking shy. However, the next moment, her purple eyes glared, and she began poking Fisher’s waist, but upon discovering he was not ticklish at all, she sulkedly withdrew her finger.
Pouting, she gazed at the ocean before them and said,
“You don’t understand, Fisher. The certain beings I’m talking about are ones beyond your imagination. I was once a part of Him.”
“What does that mean?”
Fisher raised an eyebrow, looking at the authority beside him, hoping for her explanation. She simply smiled slightly and reached her hand forward, slowly sinking it into the deep, dark surface of the ocean, bringing a handful of seawater to her face, then started singing to Fisher,
“[You are a happy fisherman living on a lonely island, possessing a precious gift you were born with but remain unaware of.]”
“[You do not know that before you, the ocean’s depths and secrets are laid bare; you do not know that in front of you, the ocean’s words and emotions are so intimate.]”
“[You have lifted a wave of warmth from the ocean, glimpsing the profound connection between you and the sea, yet mistakenly believing that is the entire ocean.]”
“[You do not know that before the tsunami arrives, the ocean has already found you; you do not know that before you recognized the ocean, the ocean has already discovered you.]”
“[At this moment, you standing on land are stationary.]”
“[Either you walk toward the ocean, or the ocean will come to you.]”
In that poetic and melodic language, the figure of the authority in front of him suddenly became so blurred and indescribable. He just realized that he didn’t know when he had returned to reality, and his hand was tightly grasping the matter left by Renee, and from that matter, endless, spinning, reincarnating ∞ symbols were flowing out.
The dense symbols, like trails of ants, quickly filled his entire right hand. But that wasn’t enough; from the symbols on his body, an unsettling black substance was seeping out bit by bit, as if there were eyes blinking above, which made Fisher’s scalp tingle.
“Damn it.”
Fisher felt his whole body go soft, and the black mud spreading from him increased, until the added weight of the black mud pressed him firmly in place, slowly wrapping around him.
“Hum~ hum~ hum~”
In the distance, that singing camel seemed to sense the oddness of the situation, hurriedly running over, but upon seeing Fisher’s pitiful state, it froze in place, frightened.
“Camel…”
Fisher gritted his teeth and opened his mouth, but the next second, the camel seemed to act as if it hadn’t seen him, turning its head away and humming as it quickly disappeared from Fisher’s view.
In the instant Fisher was covered in black matter, his face turned grim, and he kindly greeted the camel,
“Your mother.”
The next second, everything about him was completely engulfed in blackness.
**[End of Chapter]**
