Chapter 509: 126. Xu
At this moment, Dragon Tail Island, under the simultaneous gaze of three Demigods, appeared exceptionally lively. However, for most beings, this lively atmosphere felt more like an unavoidable natural disaster, filled with destruction everywhere.
In the sky, every attack from the World Tree struck the ground, causing the earth to tremble violently.
The terrifying shockwave, even coming from afar, made the Mechanism carrying Tang Zeming Asuka, Gouwen, and others who had escaped from the Ideal Nation begin to shake violently.
Unlike the northern direction where Fisher and Hela were fleeing, they started to escape toward the closer ocean under Michael’s suggestion, later heading back around from another direction to land on Dragon Continent.
This was not without reason, as Archangel Michael had already discovered the sleeping Dragon God, Fei, at the northern end of Dragon Tail Island. According to the World Tree’s full efforts, the awakening of the Dragon God was inevitable.
To escape northward while avoiding the aftermath of the Demigods’ attacks, the Mechanism would have to operate at overload. This type of Mechanism was hastily manufactured in half an hour as a last-minute resort. Even with Michael’s expertise, its performance was quite limited, and it would likely run out of energy after a short while.
Running toward the ocean would allow them to avoid the factors related to the Dragon God as much as possible, and even if they fell into the water, there was a chance to survive, after all, they were not carrying anyone with a Mythical Rank like Fisher.
“Buzz buzz buzz!”
But even with such calculations, an accident still occurred.
Mikhail and Tang Zeming Asuka were at the forefront, but at the same time, they carried many beings from the Ideal Nation who had not been taken by the threads of death. They were completely unaware, simply at the mercy of fate.
When the first light sphere generated the shockwave of destruction, with a dazzling white light following it, many Mechanisms carrying passengers were instantly thrown into disarray by the impact.
Mechanisms closer to that light sphere, along with the unconscious passengers on them, were reduced to mush in their dreams, splashing into the ocean in bits.
Gouwen watched helplessly as many Mechanisms around him lost control and plummeted. As a doctor, his instinct to save people kicked in, and he turned around, instinctively feeling within his arms; he was ready to pull out his Fluid Sword to rescue them.
However, more tragic than Fisher’s completely spent Fluid Sword, his source Fluid Sword had simply vanished.
He had forgotten that he didn’t even have his weapon.
After a moment of stiff silence, Gouwen patted the Mechanism beneath him and shouted to Mikhail behind him, “Mikhail, didn’t David just say there’s an overload mode? Can you activate it? I’ll go down and save them!”
“Gouwen! The overload mode can’t fly far!”
“Have you forgotten I’m an Ocean Subhuman? Falling into the sea is like going home for me, hurry up! You guys go first; I’ll rescue them and catch up!”
Mikhail sighed and nodded. Then he turned to David beneath him and said, “David, I’m granting you the authority to activate the overload mode autonomously. You can activate it whenever you determine the Mechanism needs it.”
“Not a problem, Administrator. This option can significantly increase the Mechanism’s load and power. David will use it when appropriate.”
Mikhail and Tang Zeming Asuka were merely human bodies, and they could only flee with the Mechanism’s help. Let alone having to spare hands to save people; that was simply adding chaos.
Gouwen, who had a Fourteenth Rank, possessed body strength far exceeding theirs, and with the Ocean Subhuman status as a safety net, Mikhail could only assist him at the Mechanism level.
So, as Gouwen and Mikhail exchanged glances from afar, they temporarily parted ways in midair, with the two continuing to flee ahead while Gouwen went back to rescue those about to fall.
Behind him, many unconscious beings, having been separated from their Mechanisms due to the immense shockwave, could not afford to let their Mechanism operate at overload, as that would mean even if he saved them, they wouldn’t fly far.
Thus, the solution was for Gouwen to use the overloaded Mechanism to pick them back to their respective Mechanisms.
“David, don’t activate the overload for any Mechanism other than mine. Once I put those Subhumans back, you leave immediately.”
“Sir, please don’t instruct David how to work.”
Gouwen smiled helplessly, then half-squatted on the Mechanism beneath him, braving the wind as he flew toward the countless figures in the air.
One, two, three…
Actually, the total number still falling wasn’t much. Some had been shattered by the shockwave, but this small number created significant difficulties for Gouwen.
As he tossed the falling people back into the Mechanisms one by one, he neared the ground.
“Just one left, David!”
“Beep beep beep, detecting a distance of fifty meters… but there’s one bad news. Do you want to hear it?”
Gouwen, falling rapidly, was taken aback. He looked down at the Mechanism beneath him, incredulous as he questioned, “You’re not… out of energy, right?”
“Beep beep beep, hey, guess what, you’re right! But sadly, there’s no reward. Nice to meet you, sir; David looks forward to serving you again next time. Goodbye.”
“You…”
Gouwen’s face darkened instantly, and the next moment, the Mechanism beneath him lost all its light and began to plummet uncontrollably, flickering with failing arcs of electricity.
The main burden of the overload would lead to damage to the body; while the energy moonstone inside might still have some energy left, the rudimentary assembly likely caused the internal parts to be completely burnt out.
At this moment, as Gouwen descended uncontrollably, he saw just fifty meters from him the last silhouette and the Mechanism belonging to that Subhuman. After a brief pause, he gritted his teeth and accelerated again, reaching out for the body of that canine Subhuman.
Unable to grab his feet, Gouwen slightly adjusted his direction and suddenly seized his tail.
“Awhoo!!”
The Subhuman still dreaming was jolted awake by the pain, but before he could react, he felt an enormous force dragging him up and tossing him toward the standby Mechanism nearby.
That canine Subhuman, looking confused, was grabbed by a mechanical arm, bewildered as he observed the collapsing surroundings, and became increasingly distant from the coastline, seemingly unaware that he had only been drinking and had blacked out before waking up to find his home gone.
But this was no concern for Gouwen; he gritted his teeth, watching the increasingly close sea surface below, adjusted his falling posture, and smirked.
“Being a doctor isn’t easy, but fortunately, everything’s sorted out…”
“Splash!”
The next moment, he crashed into the sea like a cannonball, sending a water column dozens of meters high into the air.
Even as a Fourteenth Rank, he still suffered a tremendous impact from such a high-speed fall.
In an instant, Gouwen felt intense pain all over his body, and with a sweet taste in his throat, he spat out a mouthful of blood in the water.
Suffering from overwhelming pain, he convulsed slightly, his body relaxingly sinking, seemingly unable to move for the moment.
But not long after, a massive shadow suddenly approached slowly from the underwater direction toward Dragon Tail Island.
That enormous shadow was searching, and suddenly, it keenly spotted Gouwen floating in the water. The next moment, the colossal shadow surged toward Gouwen.
Feeling a disturbance in the water, he opened his eyes and saw that increasingly close giant shadow—it was a giant sea beast.
“Sea beast… not good!”
Suddenly, he regained some clarity and instinctively struggled in the water, seemingly wanting to flee, but at his injured state, he could hardly outrun the sea beast. Next, he was lifted by the giant creature, floating to the surface near the coast.
Gouwen lay on the back of the sea beast like a salted fish, floating above water. After a few seconds, he wiped his face and stood up.
“Gouwen!”
In the next second, illuminated by the light sphere above, a graceful figure suddenly appeared on the back of the sea beast.
It turned out to be a stunning female Whale Folk dressed in some kind of seaweed fabric. Her deep blue long hair flowed freely behind her, a natural style that did not conceal her beauty. At this moment, a hint of youth and innocence appeared on her face, with a gel-like substance visible under her clothing, seemingly some kind of healing medicine.
Even so, she appeared accustomed to it, slightly raising her head naturally, her lofty demeanor making her look like a unique jewel of the ocean or a majestic emperor reigning over the seas.
However, to Gouwen, the gaze seemed silly and foolish, almost adorable, but that was his wife…
Yes, the Whale Folk before him was Gouwen’s wife, Xu.
“Gouwen, are you okay?”
The dashing and captivating Xu looked worriedly at Gouwen and walked quickly toward him.
Before she could get close, Gouwen stood tall, glancing over at Xu hurrying toward him, then huffed, “You silly woman, why did you come when you’re still injured? Are you trying to cause trouble? Do you think your husband is in danger?”
Xu paused slightly in her stride, then raised an eyebrow, eyeing Gouwen closely up and down, as if meeting him for the first time today.
That gaze, who knew if she was doubting whether Gouwen had been possessed by someone else, daring to speak to her like this?
But in his confidence, Gouwen was completely oblivious. He stared angrily at Xu, pointing towards Dragon Tail Island and remarked, “Look at that situation over there, still so close! Don’t you remember how you were almost hit six months ago? Don’t you ever learn! Only because I am your husband am I willing to take such a great risk for revenge… But rest assured, that Sorobato has already been taken care of by me and another friend, easily.”
Recalling previous experiences, Gouwen couldn’t help but smile wryly, and upon confirming that this person in front of him was undoubtedly Gouwen, Xu raised her eyebrows and then expressionlessly folded her arms, watching Gouwen’s performance.
The endearing expression of his wife, after being away from the ocean for so long, made Gouwen long to see her, and bolstered by confidence, he lovingly reached out to pinch his wife’s delicate face.
“Squeeze squeeze.”
So tender it felt like water could be pressed out.
Unperturbed by Xu’s increasingly visible veins on her forehead, Gouwen satisfiedly withdrew his hand and waved it. “As long as you’re not seriously hurt, this time I’ll let it slide. Let’s hurry and leave; it’s not safe here. If…”
“Did you finish speaking?”
Just then, the expressionless Xu, still with her arms crossed, suddenly smiled and spoke coldly.
“Ah, I’m done, what’s up?”
In his confident state, Gouwen was completely unaware of the danger, even placing his hands on his hips in reply.
Xu’s forehead veins intensified; even the sea beast beneath her growled uneasily, as if cautioning Gouwen about something.
But Gouwen only found it noisy.
“Go away, don’t interrupt our conversation.”
He kicked the sea beast beneath him, saying.
Then, the sea beast buried its head in the water, like a dead island, becoming silent once more.
With a smile, Xu crossed her arms, suddenly turning kindly toward Gouwen and asking, “Now it’s my turn to ask you… I came ashore along the mark of our wedding token to find you, but can you tell me why I see you here when our wedding token is still on the beach? Where did that token go?”
Gouwen’s confident expression suddenly froze, and sweat unconsciously beaded on his forehead.
Yes, in reality, both Gouwen’s blade and Xu’s hairband contained imprints that allowed them to sense one another.
As a wandering doctor, Gouwen often traveled, while Xu frequently fought in the sea. They needed imprints to know each other’s locations, which also facilitated communication.
The object engraved with those imprints represented their faithful love, holding significant meaning to both of them—they needed to protect it as they would their marriage.
This was also why Gouwen had not been intimate with any other women nor had he been able to find that blade in four long days prior.
However, at this moment, the “peak” Gouwen was inexplicably confident. He placed his hands on his hips, casually laughing, “Oh, that blade? Haha, I accidentally lost it.”
Watching the self-assured Gouwen, Xu’s smile became even more enchanting.
She maintained her smile, silently raising her fists that had tightened to the brink of exploding.
A terrifying aura emanated from Xu. The next second, her demeanor shifted dramatically, her beautiful smile shattering into an explosion of rage like a volcanic eruption.
“Gouwen!! Have I given you too much face!?”
“Boom!”
The next second, the familiar iron fist full of Xu’s rage smashed onto Gouwen’s face with a terrifying sound of rushing wind.
“Buzz…”
In that instant, Gouwen’s facial muscles were grotesquely contorted by the immense force, and his brain went blank as he uncontrollably collapsed onto the back of the sea beast beneath him.
“Thud!”
Hearing the dull sound of impact, the sea beast carrying them let out a sigh under the water.
It wanted to speak up, but had done its best; after all, Gouwen was just too brave.
It was the new sea beast accompanying Xu and didn’t understand much about many things; it had a question.
That is, could Xu’s husband always be this bold?
Xu inhaled sharply in anger, as if a volcano about to erupt, desperate to yank Gouwen up again and hit him once more.
However, as Gouwen lay there, he suddenly twitched, then lazily opened his eyes, looking bewildered at the entirely enraged Xu before him.
His scalp tingled; he took a cold breath, covering his painfully throbbing head and muttered in confusion, “Wife? What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here? How can you ask me that? Am I here to add trouble for you? Is it perfectly fine to not be aware that our wedding token is lost!?”
Xu lifted Gouwen as though he were a small chick, her beautiful face carrying a lovely yet dangerous smile, terrifyingly potent compared to all the sea beasts combined.
Gouwin, shaken by her terrifying smile, instantly recalled the situation and hurriedly explained to Xu, “Wife!! Our wedding token was lost, taken by a… wuwuwu…”
“Yes, thank you for telling me this. Should I award you?”
“Hey… hey… the one over there… hey…”
Xu lifted Gouwen’s shirt, shaking him vigourously. At the same time, from the corner of his eye, he noticed several figures sprinting across the beach of Dragon Tail Island.
That silhouette felt like it was imprinted in Gouwen’s DNA, sending him into a fit of excitement as he pointed urgently at the shore, exclaiming, “Wife… wife… stop shaking, over there…”
“Over there?”
Xu clenched her teeth, turned her head to look at the beach, and saw a long-haired human woman, dressed in clean clothes, waving at Gouwen.
The woman’s smile was sunny, but because her hair was too long, Xu couldn’t see her entire face clearly; she just thought the girl looked delicate, radiating a strikingly rebellious aura.
Behind the woman were several other figures, but Xu didn’t have time to take a closer look; as soon as she saw that woman, her anger flared intensely.
She felt that their wedding token was with that woman.
“Look at you! Gouwen! How dare you give our wedding token to another woman!? What did you think? Don’t forget, for me, there is no divorce, just widowhood!”
“No, no, no…”
Gouwen’s mind was racing; originally, Xu wasn’t hard to communicate with. Although she was furious, she was not unreasonable; otherwise, Gouwen wouldn’t have been so enamored with her.
It was just because he had been affected earlier, with speech and actions becoming rather bold, completely provoking Xu.
Now, in her furious state, Xu wouldn’t hesitate to take action against Gouwen.
But adept at this matter, Gouwen quickly seized the opportunity; just as Xu raised her hand to strike him, he hurriedly spoke up in a rapid-fire explanation as if on a series of firecrackers.
“Wife, I didn’t intentionally lose the token! I hid in the Holy Realm for a long time to help you take revenge on Sorobato, but an accident happened. First, the Trans was intercepted; I didn’t reach the third day, but the seventh instead. After running around the Holy Realm and Tree Continent, I finally got to Dragon Tail Island and luckily found Sorobato’s lair where he was forging Sacred artifacts.
“Then, while I barely managed to kill him, I was also severely injured. I couldn’t fight back, and that human thief on the shore stole our token from me. I searched for her for four whole days, intending to get it back, but it seemed I was influenced by some Sacred artifact, and my brain got fried, making me forget about this… I really didn’t mean it; my feelings for you are as bright as the sun and the moon, without a second thought. If I purposely did this, heaven strike me… wuwuwu.”
But before he could finish, Xu clamped her hand over his mouth, then disdainfully threw him to the ground. She looked dangerously at Gouwen, stating, “Enough, be quiet. I already know it’s dangerous here; we must leave quickly. Whatever that human woman is saying, find a way to get our token back.”
Gouwen smiled bitterly, glancing at the human woman on the shore, and sure enough, she had a few pale and anxious Subhumans following her—apparently fleeing from something called the southeastern wind.
At this moment, Dragon Tail Island was about to be drowned by the powers of the two Demigods. Their urgent escape was completely understandable. But that leading human woman remained cheerful and smiling, as if nothing mattered, which was rather irritating.
What was her name again? Qin Shihuang? Ying Zheng?
Damn it, whatever her name is, she was simply a scoundrel, a thief!
Rolling up his sleeves in anger, Gouwen shouted toward the distant shore, “You, hand back what you stole from me!”
The woman cupped her hands like a trumpet in front of her mouth and shouted back to Gouwen, “Hello, hello, I can hear you! But Whale Folk sir, that’s not stealing; that thing was my medical fee!”
“You!”
“But don’t rush; I really came to return it. How about we do a trade? Could you give me a ride along with my siblings? It’s dangerous here!”
Upon hearing this, Gouwen was momentarily taken aback, then he glanced at the golden light rain gathering in the sky. The innate instinct of a doctor to save lives made him hesitate for a moment.
In the end, he looked at his wife beside him, then back at the other’s still optimistic and carefree smile, and could only say, “Alright, it’s a deal!”
Xu crossed her arms, allowing the sea beast to heed Gouwen’s command and head toward the shore, picking up the human woman and the several Subhumans behind her before the World Tree’s attack descended.
“Hello, hello, thank you so much~”
The several Subhumans appeared disoriented, as if they hadn’t yet recovered from the terror of the Demigods, while the human seemed curious and was looking around on the sea beast’s back.
She peeked here and there and even leaned over the surface of the water, seemingly comparing the giant sea beast’s size.
With narrowed eyes, Xu watched the human woman in front of her; perhaps due to the earlier events, she found this human incredibly displeasing.
She glanced at her innocent husband beside her and then coldly spoke for him, “Human, return what you took from my husband!”
The tremendous pressure startled the nearby Subhumans, fearing they would plunge from one burning pit only to fall into another freezing cave.
However, the human woman, unfazed, instead leaned forward, her eyes lighting up as if discovering something amusing.
Then, unexpectedly and familiarly, she approached, grasping both of their hands and shaking them while cheerfully exclaiming, “Hello, hello! I’ve heard your husband mention you; ah, it’s absolutely different from what I expected. You’re also a Whale Folk! How rare, how rare, haha…”
Xu felt a chill run down her spine and shook the human’s hand off, causing her to stumble back, but the woman didn’t seem to mind; she just sized Xu up, particularly her non-human parts.
“Insane.”
Xu said through gritted teeth, and at this point, she could roughly believe what Gouwen had said.
He had truly encountered a strange person, whose healing had resulted in them losing their wedding token.
Just seeing the human in front of her made Xu feel that this was precisely the type of person capable of doing such a thing.
Gouwen shrugged and approached to take back the golden dagger offered by the human woman. After examining it and finding no issues, he breathed a sigh of relief and returned to his wife’s side.
Xu’s expression was not pleasant at the moment, but just looking at her made Gouwen feel at ease.
After pausing for a moment, he suddenly opened his arms and tightly embraced Xu.
Xu was momentarily taken aback, sensing Gouwen nuzzle against her cheek, her gaze softening slightly, then she patted his back and grunted, “Don’t think this will make me forgive you.”
“It’s alright, as long as you’re okay.”
“… Degenerate.”
Xu pursed her lips, then opened her mouth and bit Gouwen’s ear and cheek, whispering softly.
Yes, Gouwen recognized this; it was her way of acting shy and being affectionate.
“Bang bang bang bang bang!”
Just then, during this long-awaited reunion moment, bursts of crisp sounds erupted abruptly on the back of the retreating sea beast, like firecrackers going off.
Gouwen and Xu both stiffened, turning to look, only to find those Subhumans who had come with the human woman were equally surprised.
“Clap clap clap!”
“Such a touching moment!”
The human woman looked at the couple, excitedly clapping her hands, and surprisingly, tears began to flow from her eyes, as if she couldn’t contain her emotions.
“……”
All aboard the sea beast stared at her, seeing her cry while excitedly applauding, until dozens of seconds passed before she wiped her tears and looked around, puzzled, asking, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you all moved? I’m shipping this couple from now on, wuwuwu.”
“……”
Xu sighed deeply and lightly kicked Gouwen’s calf. He helplessly pouted; although feeling irritated, both he and Xu were kind-hearted, otherwise, they wouldn’t have fought against Sorobato for the sake of the Subhumans living in the ocean.
At this moment, they certainly didn’t intend to abandon this human over something so trivial.
However, if they had known about the actions this human would take in the future, they surely would not hesitate to throw her overboard right then and there.
Xu and Gouwen decided to move away from Dragon Tail Island; considering the terrible noise there, Gouwen wouldn’t feel safe even if he were thousands of miles away. Just in time, they could also discuss what had happened during this time.
Trans, Angels, Elves… oh, and that Fisher.
Thinking of Fisher made Gouwen grit his teeth, undecided about how to deal with him.
Just imagining his future daughter being with such a person made him want to take a knife and stab him repeatedly!
Preferably, he would even like to slice off that excessively developed and muscular kidney!
As they moved farther away from Dragon Continent, Gouwen had to suppress his worries about returning to rescue Hela, as well as about Fisher, Michael, and Tang Zeming Asuka, who had left before.
The Mechanism he was riding had broken down, and there was currently no way to contact them. Thus, he could only focus on his wife beside him for the time being.
“How’s your body?”
As a doctor, Gouwen’s first concern for his wife was mostly like this.
Upon hearing this, Xu shifted her gaze away from the human woman, who had been speaking to the sea beast on the edge of the beast’s back in an attempt to communicate with it.
She looked at Gouwen and tilted her head, blinking at him.
Yes, Gouwen understood, which meant, “Can’t you check on your own?”
Gouwen smiled helplessly, having to resort to his curse. But as he looked, he was left dumbfounded, suddenly exclaiming loudly, “You… you’ve entered Mythical Rank!?”
“Why so surprised?”
Xu was startled by his loud reaction. She patted Gouwen on the shoulder and looked at her hands, saying, “Lying at home for a few months, don’t say, it feels quite good. I was so busy fighting before that I didn’t have the time to reflect. Now that I’ve thought well for a while, I reached Mythical Rank… oh, except having to listen to that Reaper’s chatter every day at home, I’ve had enough…”
The “Reaper” she was referring to was Ramastia; indeed, Xu had always called Him that.
But that wasn’t important…
At this moment, Gouwen instinctively swallowed hard, unable to believe his eyes as a bigger question filled his mind.
The question was: Since Xu had entered Mythical Rank, then reproduction had essentially become impossible…
So, where did that future daughter mentioned by Fisher come from?
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(This chapter ends)
