Chapter 72: Necklace
The sky outside the ship was dimly lit, and both Rena and Renee in the room were fast asleep, while Fisher was still scribbling with a quill pen on a draft, organizing the information he had obtained from Rena, and also drawing a scaled-down full-body picture of a crab subhuman, studying the strange clothing she wore.
According to Rena, her clothing was made by a subhuman known as the jellyfish type, which lived at the very top of the sea vortex, being completely transparent, producing clothing that was both beautiful and durable.
There were countless subhumans below, but the information obtained from Rena was only this much, and he could not get more.
Fisher rubbed his brow but did not feel particularly tired because, according to Rena’s descriptions of the underwater subhuman ecosystem, there were no subhumans with strong offensive capabilities; the only somewhat special group was the royal family she mentioned. So, could it be possible that the “Child of the Sea” is one of the royalty from below?
What left Fisher feeling curious was the existence called “Ramastia,” which the ocean subhumans worshipped. What kind of being could be referred to as a god by these creatures? Could it be some kind of higher form of life?
For some unknown reason, Fisher remembered the gigantic eyes he encountered on the Southern Continent, a being that had a strong connection to the soul of life.
But there were no other thoughts for the moment. Fisher leaned back in his seat just as he saw Renee walking out of the room.
“Good morning! Didn’t you sleep at all last night?”
Yesterday, Rena had dozed off while talking, and Fisher had wanted to ask her some questions, but she had unsuspectingly fallen asleep in Renee’s arms, looking just like a child.
“Yep, I organized the information obtained yesterday. It’s my first time encountering subhumans from the ocean, so I recorded a bit more.”
Renee walked over to Fisher’s side, this time not teasing him, just reaching out her soft hand to gently massage near his temples.
“As expected of you, never tired when it comes to exploring the things you want to know. I truly admire that about you. In fact, I admire everything about you~”
It was hard to tell if she was teasing or speaking the truth. Fisher comfortably closed his eyes, enjoying Renee’s massage. The gentle and enchanting scent on her made Fisher, who was not even tired, suddenly feel like he wanted to take a break, just staying in her embrace.
“What do you plan to do with that child?”
“Let her go soon. And give her the promised pearl since it was a gift from that female captain.”
“How heartless! Someone gave you a gift with good intentions.”
“You’d be quite happy if I gave that pearl to Rena, right?”
Renee did not like the gift the captain had given to Fisher from the beginning. Even though she didn’t show it, Fisher sensed it. After spending a considerable amount of time together, he had a certain understanding of Renee.
But faced with Fisher’s direct words, Renee mischievously pointed to her lips without answering,
“Am I really that happy?”
“…”
After a period of quiet, Fisher guessed she was probably quite happy since she continued to massage him without stopping.
In this seemingly frozen moment, a small figure quietly emerged from Renee’s room. Carrying a small leather bag, Rena stealthily crept along the wall, cautiously glancing at Fisher by the window. Just as she was about to reach for the doorknob, Fisher’s calm voice rang out.
“Where are you going?”
“Ah! I… I want to… eat something. I’m so hungry, hehe.”
Seeing that her attempt to escape had been discovered, the crab subhuman named Rena frantically shook her pincers, looking innocently which made Renee find it quite funny.
“Eat breakfast before leaving. I won’t go back on my word; if I say I’ll let you go, I will keep my promise.”
Fisher stood up from Renee’s gentle warmth. If he stayed in her embrace too long, he would likely be charmed by this sorceress, unwilling to let her leave his side. He got up to call for a waiter to bring some breakfast, planning to let Rena eat before she left.
Rena recalled the delicious food from last night, her throat unconsciously swallowing a few times, but she still pretended not to care and crossed her arms.
“Alright then, I guess I’ll reluctantly stay to eat something.”
What a fool, easily swayed by some food; that’s a bit lacking in principle.
At the dining table, Renee casually drank some milk then just held her cheeks watching Rena gorge herself, looking like a mother watching her child grow. Fisher began to doubt if what she said last night about wanting a child was true.
“Here, take this.”
Fisher handed Rena the pearl from yesterday as payment for the information exchange. Rena seemed surprised that this human would actually give her the pearl. She stared blankly for quite a while before finally putting it into her pocket.
It seemed humans were probably good people.
But Fisher seemed to see through her thoughts and picked up the newspaper beside him without looking up and said,
“But as a piece of advice, I still recommend you stay away from the surface. If you get caught by other humans, you won’t have it as good as you do here. Being locked up for life is the best outcome; more likely, they would disassemble various parts of you for research, and if they couldn’t figure it out, they’d sell those cut-off parts in the seafood market.”
These extremely terrifying words made Rena’s face go white. Renee beside her also chuckled and nodded, reaching out to pat her white head.
“By the way, why did Rena come all the way to the surface? Just to see what’s up here?”
“Actually, I want to become a merchant!”
“A merchant?”
Renee and Fisher’s eyes shifted to the petite crab subhuman, making her shyly raise the bag in her hand.
“I plan to collect a lot of things that can’t be seen in the sea and sell them to others, like Hayasou or Bailu. That way, I can earn a lot of money to buy delicious food.”
Hayasou and Bailu were probably her friends, both subhumans from the sea.
This little girl surprisingly had a knack for business. If she weren’t a subhuman, Saint Nali would likely be her best place, given that Nali now was deeply intertwined with wealth.
“Your sources of goods shouldn’t be through stealing; stealing gets you caught and dealt with.”
“But I have no capital!”
Rena said bashfully, but it seemed she had taken Fisher’s advice to heart. “I know, I won’t steal from others anymore.”
Fisher nodded. Seeing she had eaten enough, he turned his gaze to the ocean outside. How to send her back was still a question. It seemed he could only trouble Renee, making it discreet so she wouldn’t be discovered by other humans.
“Little Rena, how will you get back? Swim?”
“I called my friends to pick me up. They should be arriving soon.”
“Friends?”
Fisher turned to look at the sea beside the cruise ship. He didn’t know when a gigantic blue crab appeared there, floating on the surface, only its massive shell visible, gazing at Fisher’s room.
“What a big crab! It must be delicious!”
“You’re not allowed to eat Haru! He’s our family friend; if he gets eaten, my dad will definitely beat me! Then he would have no one to take him to work!”
So this kind of thing can also be used as a means of transportation!
Fisher was quite enlightened and realized that the underwater subhuman settlements had many more things Rena hadn’t told him. However, for an eight-year-old child, she had already said enough last night. One couldn’t be too demanding; the eight-year-olds from Saint Nali still played marbles by the roadside every day.
“Alright, I’ve said enough. You can go now. Remember to have less contact with humans; it’s for your own good.”
“Ah, I forgot to ask your names!”
“…Fisher.”
“My name is Renee.”
Renee patted her head, making her squint her eyes comfortably.
“Hehe, Fisher and Renee, nice to meet you! The Great Emperor of the Ocean, Rena, is going back now! Goodbye!”
After saying her farewells to Fisher and Renee, she was taken to the surface by Renee. Fisher watched as her petite figure hopped onto the back of the huge floating crab, fastening the strap tied to it around her body before waving to Fisher’s room. The crab then bent down and quickly dove from the surface, disappearing from Fisher’s view.
Fisher took a sip of coffee, but out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed a necklace made of blue crystal placed on the table. Given the exquisite craftsmanship, it should be a creation of humans.
Wait, could this be something stolen from Captain Alagina? Did she think that she and Alagina were in cahoots and returned the stolen necklace to him as a thank you for the delicious meal yesterday?
Fisher’s gaze settled on the necklace, hesitating for a moment before concealing it in his clothes before Renee returned, to avoid her asking numerous questions and repeating the story of giving the pearl.
Just to be safe.
The cruise ship continued its journey. In the remaining days, apart from the ocean, they would often encounter other cargo ships and warships, no longer the same tranquility as before, because they were about to reach the gem of human civilization, Saint Nali.
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(End of chapter)
