Chapter 92.2: The Inkshadow
Yao Dangkong had no idea what had just happened.
But she could tell that Zhong Yin wanted those items.
Yao Dangkong had no idea why Zhong Yin wanted those items.
But she did know one thing:
She was no match for Zhong Yin.
Although Zhong Yin’s tone remained perfectly friendly, Yao Dangkong had no intention of gambling on her goodwill.
“I do. There’s also a framed picture. It was so pretty that I couldn’t bring myself to chop it up for firewood, so I hung it in my cabin. I’ll go get it.”
She hurried off and quickly returned with the picture.
“Thank you~”
Zhong Yin thanked her, then reached into her cloth pouch and took out half a strip of dried meat.
“Here. A little thank-you gift. Dried wild buffalo. It’s really tasty.”
Yao Dangkong could hardly believe it.
Honestly, even if Zhong Yin had pulled out a weapon and shouted, “This is a robbery!” she wouldn’t have been surprised.
That was simply the reality of Green Billow Star.
Even after Zhong Yin had warmly given her a dead Venom Snake, Yao Dangkong hadn’t lowered her guard.
The main reason she’d allowed Zhong Yin aboard was because she knew she couldn’t win against an entire group like this. It was better to cooperate than resist.
Yet Zhong Yin could easily have taken the painting by force.
Even without robbing her, it was only a painting. If Zhong Yin wanted it, she could simply keep it.
Instead…
She was offering something as precious as dried beef as a gift in return.
Yao Dangkong murmured,
“Y-You must have only just arrived…”
“You probably don’t realize how precious the meat of land animals is here on Green Billow Star.”
She swallowed involuntarily.
She wanted that dried meat so badly her mouth was watering.
Even so, she forced herself to push it back toward Zhong Yin.
“You should keep it. I’m afraid you’ll regret giving it away later.”
Of course Yao Dangkong desperately wanted to eat it.
But she was even more afraid that, once Zhong Yin realized how valuable dried beef was on Green Billow Star, she’d come to regret the trade—and end up resenting her.
“It’s okay. Once I’ve given it to you, it’s yours.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t regret it.”
Zhong Yin grinned from ear to ear.
Moments earlier, Our God had already delivered a divine oracle:
The value of the dried meat she’d given away would be credited back to her as five times its worth in contribution points.
So this is the kind of thing Our God likes…
Looking at the painting’s lush green meadow, Zhong Yin thought it didn’t seem all that difficult to paint.
She found herself wondering whether, after returning to the temple, she should sign up for an art class.
Ah…!
If only, when her family had enrolled her in art classes as a child, she’d learned landscape painting alongside all those anatomical diagrams of prey weak points.
At that moment, Cheng Qisheng was staring intently at the painting, or rather…
…at the faint fragrance clinging to it.
Yes.
A fragrance.
It felt similar to what she had sensed when she consumed the Language Rule, except incomparably weaker.
Perhaps only one hundred-millionth… no, one-billionth… of that intensity.
Yet despite how faint it was, both the robot vacuum and this painting carried the same scent.
She couldn’t absorb it directly.
Only by using one of her believers as a medium could she swallow it.
When Zhong Yin had patted the robot vacuum earlier, Cheng Qisheng had instinctively inhaled that wisp of “qi.”
She could clearly feel that her Door-Pushing Technique had improved ever so slightly after consuming it.
Compared to before, the maximum distance she could achieve had increased by another two or three meters.
Simply by consuming the “qi” attached to an object that had fallen through a space-time rift, the range of her teleportation ability increased by a few meters.
Moreover…
The body that had long been plagued by Mortal Body Syndrome also seemed to have improved, if only by the tiniest margin.
The change was minuscule, but ever since becoming a Transcendent, Cheng Qisheng had become extraordinarily sensitive to changes in her body.
She could still feel it.
If she had to quantify it…
It was like her speed had increased by about 0.000000001%.
Healing her body had become Cheng Qisheng’s greatest obsession.
She could barely contain her delight.
Were these wisps of “qi” something objects picked up while passing through space-time rifts?
And what if she consumed even more of it?
Studying the painting’s aura, Cheng Qisheng noticed something interesting.
Although the painting was much larger than the robot vacuum, it contained only about half as much “qi.”
The robot vacuum was clearly the smaller object.
So why had it accumulated more?
Could it have something to do with whether the object contained advanced technology?
And what about people who passed through space-time rifts? Would they carry more “qi”… or less?
With great care, Cheng Qisheng “consumed” the “qi” clinging to the painting, quietly savoring the subtle improvement in her condition.
She wanted more.
The Creator God of Blue Sea desired it.
The Creator God of Blue Sea would obtain it.
The whisper of a god brushed gently through Yao Dangkong’s hair.
Smiling, Zhong Yin asked,
“Could you tell me what the captain’s ship looked like—the one who rescued that alien?”
The moment Yao Dangkong heard the question, she immediately became guarded again, despite still carefully cradling the strip of dried meat in her hands.
“Why are you asking? I don’t betray my friends.”
Recalling the temple’s teachings, Zhong Yin reminded herself to keep smiling kindly.
She was even showing all eight of her front teeth.
That should look kind enough, right?
“Please don’t worry. We’re not bad people. We’d just like to meet the alien aboard his ship. If we happen to run into them someday, that would be wonderful.”
“You said yourself that the captain is a good person. If we know what his ship looks like, we can avoid any misunderstandings or conflicts if our paths cross.”
She pointed toward the other Blue Sea ships steadily sailing onward.
“If you’re still worried… how about traveling with us from now on?”
Cheng Qisheng quietly watched the exchange.
If Zhong Yin couldn’t persuade Yao Dangkong to reveal information about that captain on her own…
…then it would be time for Cheng Qisheng, the long-distance relay, to step in.
Blue Sea had no shortage of psychology experts standing by, ready to offer advice at a moment’s notice.
Just as the two were talking, Yao Dangkong abruptly shot to her feet, her expression turning grave as she stared into the distance.
Zhong Yin turned around as well.
Far ahead, a gigantic octopus sea monster—roughly thirty meters long—had appeared.
Even from this distance, they could make out that it was fighting more than a dozen Blue Sea residents aboard another ship.
Zhong Yin’s eyes instantly lit up.
Such a huge sea monster!
Fighting it had to be exhilarating!
Just imagine how much meat it would yield.
Maybe it’d even have a crystal!
“Hurry! Dangkong! Quick!”
Yao Dangkong was even faster than she was. She was already sprinting toward the wheelhouse.
“Right away! Right away!”
This octopus sea monster was far larger—and far more terrifying—than the one that had attacked her before.
They needed to get their ship out of this area as quickly as possible.
Yao Dangkong could understand why Zhong Yin had chosen to temporarily abandon her own ship.
Sea monsters usually left once they were full.
When that happened, Zhong Yin could always come back later and retrieve it.
Compared to a ship, your life was obviously more important.
Just as Yao Dangkong reached the wheelhouse, Zhong Yin hurried in after her.
“Quick, quick, quick! Let’s get over there! If we’re too late, they’ll finish it before we arrive!”
Yao Dangkong: “…”
For a moment, she wondered if there was something wrong with her hearing.
“…You mean we’re sailing toward the sea monster?”
“Of course!” Zhong Yin replied. “What else would we do?”
“…Run away?”
Zhong Yin looked at her in confusion.
Then she turned to look at the sea monster again.
It’s thirty meters long.
Not three hundred.
There are so many of us here.
What’s there to be afraid of?
Still, considering Yao Dangkong was a local and perhaps simply wasn’t fond of fighting, Zhong Yin decided she’d go back to her own ship and sail over by herself.
But before she could switch ships, the sea monster was already heading in their direction.
More accurately…
It was trying to flee.
The Blue Sea residents aboard the other ship had grabbed hold of its massive tentacles and refused to let go, so the octopus was dragging both the people and their ship along as it desperately tried to escape.
Zhong Yin’s eyes lit up with delight.
After judging the distance, she decided it was close enough.
Unable to wait any longer, she drew her blade and sprinted out.
Yao Dangkong’s face paled.
She instinctively reached out to pull Zhong Yin back, but Zhong Yin was simply too fast.
She couldn’t catch her.
As the sea monster drew nearer, the shouts of the Blue Sea residents became faintly audible.
Thanks to the universal translation blessing, Yao Dangkong could understand every word.
“Pull harder!! It’s trying to get away! Don’t let it escape!”
“Woohoo!! I’m coming to help!!”
“Don’t cut off its tentacles! If you sever them, it’ll get away! Drag it alongside the ship and kill it there!!”
To Yao Dangkong’s astonishment, the Blue Sea ships that had been sailing onward didn’t flee.
Instead…
Every single one began converging on the battle.
Every Blue Sea resident looked eager to join in.
The ship fighting the giant octopus grew more and more crowded as people poured aboard.
“I’m here! I’ll help!”
“Me too!”
“Make way! I’m pole-vaulting over!”
“No more people!! Our ship’s overloaded! Get off!”
“Can’t you find your own sea monster?! Stop stealing our prey!!”
Having pole-vaulted over at top speed, Zhong Yin was soon forced to pole-vault right back.
She sat back down on the deck, looking thoroughly dejected.
“Hmph. What’s so great about that? Green Billow Star is huge. It’s not like I won’t find another big sea monster.”
“Oh, Dangkong. Since they won’t let us join them, let’s go back to what we were talking about.”
Yao Dangkong: “…”
“…That captain’s name is Yuan Moshu. His ship is called the Inkshadow.”
Zhong Yin’s eyes lit up.
She remembered only saying a few words.
She hadn’t expected Yao Dangkong to be persuaded so easily.
To think that, on her very first outing, she’d successfully convinced a local—one who was obviously extremely cautious—to reveal information that Our God wanted.
Hahaha…
The first thing I’ll do when I get back is sign up for a public speaking class to improve even more.
Yao Dangkong described it in great detail.
“The Inkshadow is a three-masted square-rigged sailing ship. It has four decks, is about sixty meters long and fifteen meters wide.”
“It used to be a pirate ship. After Captain Yuan defeated its former captain, he kept using the vessel.”
“The green skull painted on the hull was made with a strange pigment that the pirate gang, the Green Skulls, salvaged from the sea. It can’t be removed, so the ship still looks exactly like a pirate ship.”
“But Captain Yuan really isn’t a pirate.”
“He’s a good man. He never attacks other ships unless provoked. If someone loses their ship, he’ll often take them in as a member of his crew…”
Yao Dangkong did everything she could to explain.
She even used the paper and pen Zhong Yin had brought over to sketch a picture of the Inkshadow.
Although the Inkshadow’s appearance often caused people to mistake it for a pirate ship, that did have one advantage:
Many pirate crews simply avoided targeting it.
Yao Dangkong herself had once considered disguising her own vessel as a pirate ship.
But now…
She had completely abandoned that idea.
Just from seeing how the people of Blue Sea got excited and charged into battle the moment they spotted a sea monster, she was genuinely afraid that, if they ever encountered the Inkshadow, they’d mistake it for a pirate ship and attack it on sight.
Then again…
Maybe not.
Green Billow Star was simply too vast.
Its seas were constantly changing, and Yao Dangkong herself hadn’t seen the Inkshadow in five years.
With Blue Sea’s mere hundred-odd ships, they probably wouldn’t run into it even once in ten years.
After studying Yao Dangkong’s sketch, Cheng Qisheng issued a divine oracle to every one of her believers.
“Find this ship.”
Across the boundless seas of Green Billow Star, aboard the tens of millions of vessels sailing its waters, every Blue Sea believer respectfully lowered their head.
“Yes, Our God.”
