novelraw Chapter 128: Fish in the Sea
Chapter 128: Fish in the Sea
The ghost ship was very stable, so no one experienced seasickness. After the meal, Loren sat at the edge of the deck and started fishing.
They were now far from the shore, so the fish he caught were most likely inedible, but fishing wasn't solely about eating anyway.
Loren hadn't had the chance to fish in his previous life. The rivers he remembered had all turned into stinking ditches, so coming here was a way to indulge a bit.
While waiting for a bite, Loren wasn't idle. He opened the Magic Book and began studying. This time, he was studying the Magic Book of the Church of the God of Vows and Wind. It contained some water magic, which was quite useful at sea.
"Whoa, got one."
Feeling the bite, Loren closed the Magic Book and focused on fighting the fish.
"What a huge fish... give me a hand!"
The fishing rod was bent to its limit, but the fish was still struggling, until Anna helped Loren pull on the rod together.
Anna's strength far exceeded Loren's. With her help, Loren finally saw the fish's true form.
At the other end of the fishing line was a humanoid creature covered in fluorescent tentacles, with eyes all over its head. The hook was stuck between its teeth."The rod's yours now, goodbye forever."
Loren hugged Anna and suddenly let go. The fishing rod directly fell into the water.
Loren couldn't even name this thing. He had encountered it before. It wasn't extremely dangerous, but it was still better to stay far away. Fishing in the sea was truly a mistake.
"Let's just go back inside the cabin..."
"What you just caught is edible. Throwing it away like that is a bit wasteful."
Mara's reminder instead sent a chill down Loren's spine.
"I don't know whether to praise you as a true gourmet or tease you for being really hungry. You keep it and eat it yourself."
Since Mara was a wanted criminal, she rarely went ashore. She stayed at sea for months at a time, so it was normal for her to try eating everything in the ocean. As long as it didn't kill her, it was food.
Thus, she had already been contaminated to a certain degree. Right now, she could still maintain a human form. By the time the game's plot began, Mara wouldn't have much of a human form left. It was only because Loren had played the game extensively that he could recognize her.
Mara didn't take Loren's teasing to heart. She was also fishing by the ship's side, but her method was completely different from Loren's. She directly used a harpoon gun. At sea, this was the correct way to fish.
There were too many monsters here. In a hurry, even an American-style landing net wouldn't be useful.
Loren's actions had clearly angered that monster. It was still attacking the ship. Before the ship could shake it off, Mara hit it with her harpoon gun.
Then, Loren watched as Mara pulled it up and began her formal meal. Sailors were wise and knew how to prepare their catch. Mara cut off the monster's tentacles and threw them into the sea, then dug out its internal organs and venom glands. Finally, she plucked out its eyes one by one, ate them, and spat out the inedible eyeball crystals.
Loren was grateful he had sent the children into the cabin, preventing them from seeing this scene.
At that moment, Loren decided. To avoid seeing any more bizarre scenes, he wasn't planning to leave the cabin.
There were lights inside the cabin, so lighting wasn't a major concern. It was just that the light was green, giving off an eerie feeling.
But compared to Mara eating, this light was nothing.
"Master Mentor..."
As Loren lay on the bed, Naclis stood by the bedside, looking somewhat restrained. She wanted to speak but didn't dare.
"What's wrong?"
Loren sat up, pressed Naclis onto the bed, laid her down, rested her head on his lap, and gently stroked Naclis's hair.
This action was most effective at relaxing Naclis. Under Loren's stroking, Naclis calmed down considerably.
"Nightmares again?"
"Mhm."
Actually, Naclis had been having frequent nightmares recently. She just felt that with outsiders in the house, it wasn't very convenient for her to go to Loren to sleep together, and she couldn't bring herself to act spoiled like Anna.
Silver strands of hair slipped through Loren's fingers, the sensation utterly delightful. Loren's reflection appeared in Naclis's golden pupils.
"This time was different from before..."
Previously, Naclis mostly dreamed of being chased by Angels. But after dreaming of being abandoned by Loren this time, she suddenly felt the old nightmares weren't that scary anymore.
"Sister, I never thought you were so good at acting spoiled too."
Anna suddenly sat down on Loren's other side, directly wrapping her arms around Loren's neck.
Loren directly tapped Anna on the head but didn't say anything. At times like this, companionship was more effective than any words.
Naclis had always lacked a sense of security. Even though she was grown up, she was still like a child. Only by Loren's side did she truly feel at ease.
"Can you save a spot for me?"
Scarlett asked weakly. She also wanted to join, but there was no space left around Loren.
"I think you should let your children be a bit more independent. They can't rely on you forever, right?"
The jealous words circled in Laila's throat a few times, and when they came out, they had turned into a lecture. But the jealousy in her words couldn't be hidden, especially since Anna stuck her tongue out at her.
"They're still young. We'll talk about it later. I can take care of them for as long as I can."
Loren's attitude towards the children was simple, just two phrases:
"The child is still young, let's wait until she grows up" and "The child has never suffered since she was little, so she can't handle hardship now."
"Just keep spoiling them then."
Laila sat down on another bed in a huff, simultaneously trying to convince herself that these people might all be her children in the future...
Inside the cabin, Mirrorheart also found herself with rare leisure time. She usually had little free time. Now that they were traveling, she didn't need to cook, didn't need to clean, and it wasn't convenient to help Loren either. So, she took out a notebook and started writing and drawing.
"..."
Loren felt it was the things Mirrorheart drew that had corrupted Anna. Fortunately, Mirrorheart still understood boundaries. The more normal works were placed on the bookshelf, while certain gore-oriented things were hidden by Mirrorheart in more secretive places.
If Anna became assimilated by Mirrorheart too, Loren truly couldn't handle it.
However, Anna's self-healing ability was also very strong. She might actually be capable of doing the same things as Mirrorheart...
Loren shook his head, tossing this terrifying thought out of his mind, and began focusing on studying the Magic Book.
In the peaceful atmosphere, Naclis gradually fell asleep.
Until evening, a loud shout from the deck woke Naclis. It was Mara's voice:
"Master Mentor, come quick and see, I caught a Merfolk!"
"Holy crap!"
Mara's discovery genuinely startled Loren. He hadn't expected Mara to actually manage to catch a Merfolk.
After gently helping Naclis up, Loren hurriedly ran towards the deck. One must know that Mara held a deep grudge against the Merfolk, and the Merfolk were considered the most normal creatures in this sea. So, eating Merfolk didn't carry the risk of poisoning or contamination.
Merfolk had always been Mara's favorite food. Loren was afraid that for every second he was late, the Merfolk would be several pounds lighter.