Chapter 724: 24. Angel
As Fisher watched Heidi Lin’s figure slowly turn to ashes and disappear in front of him, he knew her vast powers and understood that the demise of one incarnation would not affect anything at all. Yet, when she looked at him with unfocused eyes, her speech slurred due to the blood spilling from her mouth, Fisher still felt a moment of heartache.
He gazed at the body beneath him turning to ashes, but his eyes inevitably rose to the still impassive Hamon Hamon, who stood amidst the dimness and devastation and looked back at him. Fisher silently stood up and said after a long pause,
“Heow was killed by her. It seems you’re next.”
But Hamon Hamon remained unperturbed; he shook his head and asked Fisher,
“When I invited Mr. Fisher here, I made my rewards clear. I am willing to relinquish my authority, and for deities, losing authority means extinction if they do not have the unimaginable power of the Ocean.”
“You are prepared to die, so you are not afraid of the Ocean?”
“Precisely.”
“Whoosh!”
Fisher squinted his eyes, a flash of silver light flickered, and the blade of the Fluid Sword in his hand quickly retracted back into its hilt. He turned to look at Renee, who still seemed somewhat shaken behind him, and said,
“I’m truly more and more curious about your purpose in inviting me here, or is it that you, like the Ocean, have come for the precious qualities within me?”
“It’s related, but it’s not about wanting to possess it. Even if I captured you here, I couldn’t take you out; it’s something even the Ocean can’t accomplish. Furthermore, even if I did manage to take you out, I wouldn’t escape the Ocean’s reckoning. The barrier is not a prison; it’s the strongest and most reliable guarantee in this world. Escaping would be a dead end for the beings of this world, let alone running away with a precious quality like yours.”
Listening to Hamon Hamon’s explanation, Renee finally pulled her attention back from her daze. She couldn’t help but think of the earlier plan of sneaking away with Fisher and leaving this world behind. Now it seemed that plan was indeed too naive.
“So, there’s no need to worry. I have no malice towards you.”
Hamon Hamon turned away to examine the surrounding damage. The refuge had just experienced an impact from pollution in the Spirit Realm. Although it had been calmed, the damage was irreparable. The reality that had been eroded by pollution still bore countless scars, and the place Hamon Hamon intended to lead Fisher to was evidently of great importance to him, thus the inspection was necessary.
Fisher lowered his head and picked up a banknote drifting from somewhere, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it on the ground before walking back toward Renee, concerned, and asking,
“Are you okay, Renee? Did she do anything when we were separated? You don’t look well.”
“Uh, she said that Infinite Authority was originally hers. Perhaps she’s targeting me to regain her authority? But I sealed off the access to authority, so she didn’t succeed. Still, I felt like she took something from me during our contact. Thankfully, you arrived in time.”
Renee and the earlier Heidi Lin were both incarnations of deities, but the scale of their battles was not large, and the powers they used were nowhere near that of the deities.
There was a reason for Renee’s condition; she had previously mentioned that her main body had to stay near the barrier, and not only that, but her own power had to be invested in certain matters, thus Renee couldn’t utilize her main body’s strength, making her appear like an ordinary sorceress, perhaps even a bit stronger than an ordinary sorceress.
But Fisher had completely not anticipated that Heidi Lin was even weaker than Renee.
No matter how bad it seemed, from what Ramastia had conveyed and the tragic state of Heow before his death, the level of the Ocean was unfathomable, yet her incarnation was truly just an ordinary human like Heidi Lin.
What could be the reason for this?
Fisher’s heart had a faint inkling, yet there was too little evidence for him to be sure. At this moment, Emhart, cradled in Fisher’s arms, squeezed out with lingering fear, looking at Renee and Fisher, he exclaimed,
“Did she… leave?”
“Yes.”
“My goodness, that murderous Baemon scared me to death! Isn’t that fellow terrifying? Just look, even Renee’s face is pale. You don’t know, earlier I told Fisher she was horrifying, but he didn’t believe me. He was completely blinded by her beauty, and now he realizes… oof!”
Fisher pinched Emhart’s squeaky voice, raised his gaze, and carefully scrutinized Renee, indeed noticing a trace of something off on her face, just as Emhart mentioned.
That once teasing violet gaze seemed to dodge his gaze for some unknown reason, and her fair complexion involuntarily blushed a shade of pink under Fisher’s examining eyes, prompting him to ask with even more concern,
“What’s wrong? Not feeling well?”
“…”
Renee pressed her lips together, and upon hearing this, she quickly shook her head, saying,
“No, I’m perfectly fine.”
Actually, she was just a little bit hungry.
Thinking carefully, wasn’t the intense feeling of soul that the Ocean’s incarnation, Heidi Lin, had shown him, that fiery sensation, precisely Fisher’s? She hadn’t felt it beforehand, but now, under her scrutinizing gaze, Fisher’s captivating aura was like an enticing mountain of gold before her, waiting for her to dig in—just waiting for her to lift her pickaxe and mine it.
No, wait!
Renee suddenly realized.
That fellow had showcased Fisher’s soul’s fervor; wasn’t that just the remnants of someone else’s meal? When did this happen? Did she seriously not get anything at all?
Moreover, when did that person establish such an unclear relationship with Fisher?
The strong jealousy and indignation of questioning instantly suppressed the hunger within her, and thus, to Fisher’s eyes, he saw a spectacle he couldn’t comprehend.
He noticed that Renee, who had just been looking a bit off and seemed to have something on her mind, suddenly blinked and froze in place. Then the strange expressions on her face quickly receded like a tide, but what remained was not a friendly smile but a cold smirk.
Fisher sensed something was amiss and was about to change the topic when he heard Renee’s question, reminiscent of a guillotine.
“The Ocean’s incarnation just told me you have a connection with her?”
“… Yes, once.”
“Once?”
Renee looked skeptical, her posture now relaxed. She floated up with her arms crossed, replaying every move Fisher had made just moments ago with her words,
“Isn’t it strange? Who saw her get pierced by Hamon Hamon and still couldn’t help but run over? Didn’t you know that was just her incarnation? It’s not her main body; dying wouldn’t do anything—at most, just a slight loss of awareness.”
Will there be any damage?
Fisher’s eyes slightly flickered, but he remained calm in the face of Renee, saying,
“I wasn’t concerned about her. It’s just that I had a clear opportunity to learn more information from her, yet she left just like that. Her intentions are still unclear, but I can only ascertain they are related to you. You know, even with your incarnation, I wouldn’t want you to suffer even a little harm.”
“Well…” Renee’s gaze dodged for a moment, her arm’s fingers instinctively tapping away; “Don’t change the subject. When did you know her? Did you have any soul connection—um, that kind of relationship?”
“…”
“Speak.”
Is this really something that can be shared?
“Ten thousand years ago, when I traveled back to the Holy Realm.”
After a pause, Fisher confessed candidly.
“I can testify to that!”
At that moment, Gouwen, the doctor behind them, heard their conversation and quickly approached with righteous fervor, seemingly wanting to serve as an impartial witness.
Renee glanced at Gouwen, then looked back at Fisher and said,
“Weren’t you warned not to flirt around before I sent you back? You were being chased by Death and yet had such a relationship with another female, especially someone related to the Ocean?”
“It’s not like that. I—”
Thinking back, he truly did not have such intentions when he went. The whole time, he was being attacked by Hela, leading to his reformation attempt backfiring.
However, Gouwen still wanted to seize the opportunity to share about “Fisher’s Judgment for Evil from Ten Thousand Years Ago”; he had a lot to say as the person who was present at the first scene.
He wanted to report, to expose Fisher’s sordid relationship with Hela beneath the moonlight, condemning him for unexplainable crimes.
But Renee glanced around the increasingly bright space and decided to refrain for now.
After all, there were more pressing matters at hand; she didn’t like discussing such private matters in front of others.
Even in front of a woman who was quite close to Fisher, she knew how to hold back, let alone in the presence of Gouwen, in Hamon Hamon’s territory.
She pouted, extended her hand to quietly tweak at Fisher’s kidney, right at the spot where her mark had exploded upon returning; she wasn’t sure how she managed to hit that precise spot.
Fisher looked at Renee innocently, but she shot him a glare, signaling “we’ll settle this later.”
Then, Renee straightened up and, before Gouwen could speak freely, she said,
“Alright, let’s go see what’s going on with Hamon Hamon. He could even harm the Ocean’s incarnation; if he hasn’t colluded with the Ocean, then he truly is bold enough.”
Gouwen was momentarily dumbfounded. He blinked, watching Renee float past him, truly doubting whether she had lost her mind.
Here I have an exclusive scoop! He was ready to detail Fisher’s crimes, yet you just let it go?
Gouwen suddenly felt as if he had swallowed a fly, even feeling like he was the one deceived by Fisher, now looking at him with anger for his flirtations outside…
Alright, alright, you’re not in a hurry, but why should I not worry for Jasmine?
Fisher glanced at Gouwen, who was thumping his chest with frustration. Despite his older age, as a devoted whale man, he clearly lacked experience in these matters.
This wasn’t about the past; he would still face something ahead soon, simply dodging one calamity for now.
After all, he was the one who had been chaotic, chased by Death. He deserved it.
But speaking of which, now that Gouwen was here, where did David run off to? He had just re-emerged after the pollution created by Hela was removed and hadn’t been seen since.
He turned back to ask Gouwen, only to receive a feeble answer of “ahead.”
Fisher followed the floating Renee ahead, recalling something and asking her,
“The pollution in the Spirit Realm that her incarnation caused…”
“!”
The moment this was mentioned, Renee’s face turned remarkably flushed,
“Don’t say anymore!”
“?”
Fisher raised an eyebrow, while Renee turned her head, eyeing him up and down, but for some unknown reason, her gaze kept darting downward.
“… Hmph!”
Her lips trembled, hesitating to speak as her floating speed increased.
The energy in the refuge gradually restored, and the originally dim environment became brightened by the ceiling lights.
It was because of this that the true state of the area where they had descended from above revealed itself.
It turned out this was an area before a large black door, with basically nothing placed, just thick cables lying on the ground flowing out from that black door.
At this moment, that door, about ten meters tall, was slightly ajar; Hamon Hamon must have gone to check that place just now, and David was presumably among them.
Fisher led Renee and Gouwen toward the large door. He cautiously peered inside and, upon seeing David staring intently at something, fully entered.
“David?”
“…”
Fisher called out to David, yet he seemed focused on the scenery before him with no response, forcing Fisher to suppress his voice temporarily and examine the environment inside the door.
He found the air inside fresh, reminiscent of a post-rain forest, invigorating.
Indeed, the environment supported this; the area was filled with an array of colorful, thin mists. Through the smoke, Fisher saw large patches of a black organic substance of various colors clinging to the ground and walls…
That black material slowly wriggled, making Fisher feel like it was some living creature, yet he couldn’t quite say what.
On the other hand, the medically knowledgeable Gouwen frowned and crouched down to examine the black material on the ground and walls, quietly murmuring,
“It’s some kind of mycelium…”
“Mycelium?”
“Ah, and it’s alive…”
Gouwen took a pinch of the clinging dark mycelium powder and, along with Fisher and Renee, looked up at the vast space beyond the black door.
They saw a number of small bulbous formations rising and falling from the ground, each varying in size—some as tall as a person.
Since the area was expansive, amidst the pervasive mist, further undiscerned black mycelium bulges lurked in the shadows.
David, floating in mid-air, looked at these various mycelium formations, and his arms and body began to quiver nervously…
Fisher noticed his abnormality and came to his side, asking,
“Have you discovered something, David?”
It seemed Fisher’s question snapped the artificial intelligence out of its daze. David turned his head, his expression suddenly filled with a hint of shock and disbelief.
He shook his head at Fisher and said,
“Nothing, Mr. Fisher… but just now, that deity Hamon Hamon told me that these… are what He referred to as… the living angels.”
(End of Chapter)
