novelraw Chapter 8: Crab Lady
Chapter 8: Crab Lady
The night had grown deep. On the Lauren cruise ship, apart from a few crew members still on duty, most people had already fallen into a deep sleep. The ocean, tinted by the darkness, was so calm. The sea breeze howled under the night sky, and no one knew whether a shadow had fallen from the sea or the sky.
That shadow silently landed on the deck, swiftly moving along with the fierce sea wind, sneaking into the cabins on the ship.
The corridor of the cabins had also gone dark. Except for a few rooms where the lights were still on or low voices could be heard, everyone else was deeply asleep. The shadow quietly passed through the corridor, and under the emergency light, it cast a huge crab-shaped silhouette on the wall behind it.
That silhouette curiously looked around at the tightly shut cabin doors, seemingly wanting to see the interior layout and situation. But all the doors had thick curtains hanging inside, allowing only vague glimpses of the light within.
Because the ship had encountered waves, it tilted slightly. Yet the shadow stood firm like a mountain, stopping in front of a particular cabin door.
The shadow's body trembled slightly, struggling to breathe as if it had caught a delicious scent.
It was the smell of pearls!
The shadow leaned against the darkened door and repeatedly tried to look through the thick curtain to see the precious pearl inside. But without any clairvoyant ability, it was impossible to succeed.
The next second, the doorknob was turned, revealing the dim emergency light outside.
The shadow silently slipped through the door crack and immediately smelled the floral fragrance filling the room. The shadow awkwardly covered its nose, afraid that a sneeze might suddenly wake the sleeping occupant.Soon, the shadow saw the pearl on the table shining like the moon.
A treasure!
A sparkling treasure!
It must be very valuable!
The shadow quietly stretched out a hand, clutching the small pearl in its palm. The icy pearl made her reluctant to let go. She wanted to lift it up under the moonlight to examine its quality. But when she raised the pearl, what she saw was not the bright moonlight but a shadow-like expressionless Fischer.
“Waaaaah!! It's a sea ghost!!!”
The silhouette let out a strange shout made up of incomprehensible sounds, and the entire petite body instantly collapsed to the ground. The pearl in her hand slipped and rolled along the floor, hitting the wall.
The moment the pearl touched the wall, the small figure dashed backward with a speed beyond Fischer's imagination, almost reaching the door in the blink of an eye. But Fischer did not chase after her because at that moment, a phantom-like purple figure suddenly appeared at the door and effortlessly restrained the shadow.
“Waaah, let me go!”
“Fischer, look! It's a demi-human!”
“Don’t let her escape.”
The lights turned on. At this moment, Fischer, dressed in a white shirt, finally saw Renée holding a small humanoid girl in lace pajamas.
This humanoid creature looked like a human child about seven or eight years old, but her back was not like a human spine; it was covered by a complete shell resembling that of a crab.
The child's clothing was very peculiar, seeming woven from some aquatic plant leaves without any threads, yet exquisitely beautiful, making her look like an adorable doll.
At this moment, she was struggling wildly in Renée's hands but could only make useless efforts as her tiny limbs dangled in the air. Fischer also noticed that her left hand was still pinching a leather pouch, bulging with many items inside.
Yes, you heard correctly, she was pinching a leather pouch.
The demi-human in front of them had a full crab claw for her left hand, but her right hand was like a human’s, with round little fingers connected by webbing, which made Fischer, who had studied demi-humans for a long time, find this creature’s appearance very strange.
Renée smiled, turning the child over to reveal the fierce, struggling pink-haired girl in her arms. Her face was slightly chubby like a baby’s, her body wet but with no peeling skin, as if her skin structure was very different from humans.
Upon seeing the expressionless Fischer, she anxiously puffed out her cheeks. The next moment, countless bubbles came out of her mouth, seemingly trying to warn Fischer not to get close.
“Look, she’s blowing bubbles.”
“Be careful, those bubbles might be poisonous.”
But this utterly harmless act made Renée laugh. She curiously poked the demi-human’s cheek, making her spurt out even more bubbles in a panic.
Renée didn’t touch the bubbles but kept poking her face. She felt the demi-human’s cheeks were more elastic than human skin, soft and squishy, very pleasant to the touch.
This demi-human made no sound when walking. Even opening the door didn’t produce any noise. If Fischer hadn’t set up a layer of alert magic at the door out of caution, she might not have noticed the demi-human’s entry.
“Let me go! Let me go!”
The child babbled incoherently in a language Fischer had never heard before. Soon, she seemed to realize something and wildly shouted at Fischer, holding up the leather pouch with her crab claw.
“Is she trying to use something inside the pouch?”
Faced with Renée’s question, Fischer silently paused, then turned to close the door behind her and reactivated the protective magic. The magic shield protected from inside to outside, making it impossible for the creature to escape.
“Alright, put her down. Let’s see what she wants.”
Confirming that the child carried no weapons or items besides the leather pouch, Fischer told Renée to release her.
The crab-like demi-human soon landed on the floor and hurriedly rummaged through the pouch, revealing many glittering items.
There were human items like brooches, necklaces, and rings, as well as other crafts Fischer had never seen before. These objects were exquisitely made, rivaling human creations, but their shapes were so strange that human eyes could not appreciate them.
After searching for a long time, the child finally pulled out a small conch. It was quite heavy, requiring both hands to hold. Upon closer inspection, it was filled with a blue viscous liquid, sealed by an invisible force that kept it from spilling.
Suddenly, she brought the conch to her mouth and sucked in. The icy liquid slid down her throat. Just as Fischer, alert, thought she was preparing to attack or escape and was ready to strike her head with her staff, the liquid slowly spread through her blood vessels to her brain. Even her eyes began to emit a faint glow.
When she spoke again, her strange language seemed replaced by a magical force that allowed Fischer and Renée to understand her in Nary language, similar to when they encountered the Brain Demonkin on the Southern Continent. However, this time, the speaker had to drink a strange liquid first.
“Bold humans! I am Reina, the Ocean Emperor! The royal bloodline of the sea, possessing endless lifespan and enormous symbiotic sea beasts! I can command my beasts to devour your vessel with just a wave of my hand. If you know what’s good for you, release me immediately... and hand over that pearl as well!”
She stood with her hands on her hips, her crisp voice entering Fischer and Renée’s ears. Despite her petite body, she held her head high, ignoring her size, as if she had the aura to look down upon the world.
Seeing this ocean demi-human for the first time, Fischer was immediately drawn by the strange terms she mentioned. After pondering, Fischer carefully examined the pink-haired girl before him.
She was less than 1.4 meters tall. Her fair feet were covered by some transparent cover, and surprisingly, she left no footprints or water stains on the floor. It was unknown what material it was made of.
Seeing that the girl was intimidated, Reina sneered and waved her hand generously, saying,
“Since it’s your first time seeing my elegance, I’ll reluctantly let it slide. Next time, stay away from the sea nobles. Alright, I’m leaving now...”
As she spoke, she moved toward the pearl, but suddenly a redwood staff blocked her path, causing her body to stiffen.
Behind her, Fischer, expressionless like a demon, calmly said,
“Do you really think we’d be fooled by your pale lies?”
“Oh yes, this human loves cute demi-humans like you the most. He’ll definitely eat you up.”
Renée pinched the increasingly pale face of the crab girl, whispering mischievously in her ear, enjoying the spectacle.
The crab girl looked at Fischer’s approaching staff, frightened beyond belief, and trembled all over. She tried to push Renée’s hand off her face but failed no matter what.
She opened her mouth again, unsure what to say. Her big watery eyes glanced at Fischer before she weakly blew bubbles at him.
Fischer ignored her, reached out, grabbed the leather pouch she was pinching, and raised it high as she panicked and shouted. Opening it, Fischer found the space inside much larger than expected. There were various crafted items, shimmering pearls, shells, sea urchins, and even several lively fish swimming inside.
“Give it back! Give it back! That’s mine!”
“Weren’t all these things stolen by you? How can they suddenly be yours?”
Fischer ignored Reina’s protests as she jumped trying to reclaim her pouch. Suddenly, he thought the theft on Arajina’s ship might have been done by this ocean demi-human. Given her silent entrance and rapid escape speed, ordinary people wouldn’t catch her.
The key point was, who would expect a thief to sneak aboard a ship in the vast ocean?
Upon hearing the word “theft,” Reina’s face turned embarrassed and shy. Her small mouth puckered, and she stammered,
“You... you’re in cahoots with that female human from before... She put the things on the wall, so taking them isn’t stealing...”
Such twisted logic obviously didn’t convince even herself. Fischer sat down on the nearby sofa, holding her pouch. He didn’t really care about the pearl; he was suddenly very interested in this ocean demi-human who had appeared for the first time.
The strong thirst for knowledge stirred inside him, his fingers tapping on the table as he pondered something.
Only Renée, who knew Fischer well, realized he was up to no good again, probably thinking of how to trick this demi-human into falling into his trap for closer study.
“Do you want this pouch?”
Reina nodded, hesitated a bit, then said,
“I don’t want the pearl anymore! I’ll return those human things to you! Just give me back my pouch...”
“No, you can have the pearl and the pouch back... but in exchange, I want a basic understanding of you. I hope we both stay honest.”
Whether it was a threat or a deal was unclear. Reina glanced at the glowing pearl beside her and then at the pouch in Fischer’s hand...
But that pearl was really beautiful.
A bit of greed and compromise made her fall completely into Fischer’s trap.