'Not hungry at all too.'
Little Jellyfish happily waved its tentacles, truly very happy.
Just then, Little Jellyfish heard a sound coming from the side.
Little Jellyfish reflexively flailed its tentacle, then…
Little Jellyfish was so frightened that it dove directly into Asher's arms, trembling.
Freya and Felter: "?"
"What is this situation?"
Because Little Jellyfish was now awake, Freya finally dared to speak.
The scene before her filled Freya's mind with big question marks.
'Wait a minute?'
'Isn't there something wrong with this scene?'
'Little Jellyfish, a mutated Box Flower Jellyfish, was scared by a giant Box Flower Jellyfish, and then dove into Asher's arms?'
'Are the subject and object reversed here?'
It wasn't just Freya thinking this way.
The tentacles of the Tier 8, the guardian Box Flower Jellyfish responsible for protecting Little Jellyfish, were also frozen in mid-air.
Even though it couldn't speak, its stiff body language clearly revealed the despair and struggle within.
Asher patted Little Jellyfish.
Looking slightly embarrassed, he glanced at the enormous yet completely unaggressive Box Flower Jellyfish before him and smiled.
"Ah…"
"It's like this: when I met Little Jellyfish, it was supposedly rejected by its original group."
Yeah, at the time, he didn't even know Little Jellyfish was a Box Flower Jellyfish. But that's not important.
"When I encountered Little Jellyfish, its condition was already terrible."
"Couldn't get enough to eat, so hungry it almost ate itself."
With every sentence Asher spoke, the giant Box Flower Jellyfish grew even stiffer.
"Later I made a contract with Little Jellyfish, and fed it for a long time before its tentacles grew back."
"Now it can barely eat its fill."
Asher said with a smile.
The giant Box Flower Jellyfish couldn't even attack.
Asher smiled.
Freya silently gave Asher a thumbs-up beside him.
'Nicely done. Psychological warfare.'
What? Whether Asher was telling the truth… does that even matter?
Freya didn't really believe it, but as long as it worked on this enormous Box Flower Jellyfish, that was enough.
Saving their lives was the most important thing right now!
"I didn't lie, you know. Little Jellyfish can testify," Asher glanced at Freya and instantly guessed what she was thinking, and said lightly.
'Heh, do I really need to lie about something like this?'
"Gulu!"
'That's right!'
'Luckily I met my beastmaster.'
Little Jellyfish joyfully waved its tentacles, echoing Asher's words.
Past memories? Don't want to recall them. Forget them all.
The Tier 8 Box Flower Jellyfish seemed stunned by Asher's words.
Asher even had the illusion, if Box Flower Jellyfish had eyes, he'd probably see its huge eyes turn into cartoonish fried eggs.
The type with dramatic, teary puppy eyes.
It really had that exact vibe.
Asher saw this and coughed twice, trying to speak seriously to the massive Box Flower Jellyfish in front of him, "Can we have a proper conversation?"
"Peaceful, friendly, absolutely no attacking type."
Freya and Felter both stared intently at Asher, their eyes full of nervous anticipation.
No one knew whether it would agree or not…
"Gulu!"
'Talk!'
Little Jellyfish also waved its tentacles and called out in the direction of the Tier 8 Box Flower Jellyfish.
Tier 8 Box Flower Jellyfish: "..."
Silently retracted all those tentacles that looked like natural disasters.
Then a special tentacle, pure black in color, was extended before Asher.
Asher: "?"
He paused for just a moment before reacting.
He decisively lifted his foot and stepped onto the tentacle, walking upward as if climbing stairs.
"Eh?"
Freya instinctively tried to stop him, but then realized, 'This must be the Box Flower Jellyfish's way of expressing a willingness to have a proper talk with Asher.'
"But will it really be safe to go like this…", Freya still looked worried, frowning as she muttered.
Instead, Asher waved her off, "It's fine."
"This is a Tier 8 Box Flower Jellyfish, after all," Asher spoke calmly, "If it really wanted to attack, the only one of us who might escape is Brother Sterling."
It's not that Asher didn't believe in his own strength, it was just the truth.
Prince chuckled, scratching the back of his head, "I'm not really that amazing…"
"Damn it! That wasn't a compliment! Don't get excited all of a sudden," Felter rolled his eyes hard at his brother.
'What the? Can't tell good from bad?'
'You really think that is praise?'
'That is clearly highlighting how dangerous the Box Flower Jellyfish is.'
'Why is my brother so happy about it?'
"Alright, with Little Jellyfish here, as long as I don't do anything too suicidal, the Box Flower Jellyfish probably won't do anything to us."
As he said this, Asher paused, "...right?"
Freya: "..."
"Why add a filler word? Can't you speak more confidently!"
Asher spread his hands, "I'll try, I'll try. But you know, some things can't just be fixed by trying…"
Asher didn't finish, but gave Freya a look.
Yeah, just get the hint, no need to spell it out.
Freya stayed silent.
Got zero hint.
"I'll go talk. You guys stay put," Asher smiled and said no more.
He felt that he really needed to have a proper chat with the Box Flower Jellyfish.
Not for Little Jellyfish's sake. But to ask about that so-called mutant, to see if he could dig up any intel from the Box Flower Jellyfish.
So it wasn't suitable to bring others.
Luckily, of the other three, aside from Prince who seemed a bit eager to follow Asher up,
Freya and Felter both had a clear understanding of the massive power gap between themselves and the Tier 8 Box Flower Jellyfish.
They couldn't help Asher.
They might even drag him down without realizing it. Better to stay put and avoid unexpected accidents.
Once Asher stood firm, the Tier 8 Box Flower Jellyfish withdrew its tentacle on its own.
In the blink of an eye, Asher vanished from everyone's sight, achieving another kind of "face-to-face" feat with the Box Flower Jellyfish.
———
"Whew…", Asher let out a long breath, staring at the Box Flower Jellyfish in front of him, a bit solemn.
Because of how close he was, all Asher could see in his vision was dark blue and black. He couldn't even make out the full shape of the Box Flower Jellyfish before him.
Before Asher could open his mouth to speak, suddenly, a small jellyfish, at least small compared to the Tier 8 Box Flower Jellyfish, though still a size larger than Little Jellyfish, one that looked very similar to Little Jellyfish in appearance, appeared before Asher and Little Jellyfish.
Asher: "?"
Little Jellyfish excitedly waved its tentacles twice.
That pale blue, semi-transparent jellyfish with a tinge of black also excitedly waved its tentacles back.
"This is…"
A bold idea flashed through Asher's mind.
Asher opened up his talent skill.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Pet Beast: Box Flower Jellyfish]
[Attribute: Water + Poison]
[Breed: Advanced Transcendent Mid-tier]
[Level: Eighth Stage Advanced]
[Skills: Tsunami, Raging Waves, ... , Venom]
[Evolution Path: ——]
[Bloodline: Kun]
[Awakening Level: 39%]
[Special Buff: King's Guard] (Fights for the King, Unstoppable)
[Talent Skill: Doppelganger*] (Special status, fixed awakened ability)
[King, Truly a King!]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Inside the Tier 8 Box Flower Jellyfish's mind was a jumbled mess, like a chaotic paste of thoughts all tangled together.
But the most obvious, catchable emotion was its feeling toward Little Jellyfish.
Very positive.
Very excited.
Very favorable.
Asher eased up just a tiny bit.
Then grew even more curious about this Tier 8 Box Flower Jellyfish.
'Could it be that, beside the Box Flower Jellyfish acting as king, a guardian like this is always born?'
'What kind of mechanism is that? It sounds kind of interesting.'
Asher rubbed his chin, examining the little blue Box Flower Jellyfish up and down.
It was probably split off on purpose, to better interact with Little Jellyfish.
Asher had no intention of playing the evil mother-in-law.
He let go of Little Jellyfish.
Little Jellyfish's tentacles coiled twice around Asher's wrist and arm, then flew toward the small doppelganger Box Flower Jellyfish in front.
Doppelganger Box Flower Jellyfish: "!"
'A living King!'
'This is just too wonderful!'
Asher watched the scene and smirked.
But he didn't go forward and disturb them.
Instead, he released Angel.
Angel blinked its eyes.
"Record this?", Asher pointed at the interaction between Little Jellyfish and the doppelganger Box Flower Jellyfish, smiling as he spoke.
Angel stayed quiet.
Its large eyes spun chaotically.
It looked at Little Jellyfish one moment, then at Asher the next.
Although it was a giant electronic cigarette, Asher could actually see a somewhat serious expression in it.
Asher held a fist to his lips, coughing with a chuckle.
"So, do you, or maybe this guardian here, know anything about that mutant?", Asher asked seriously.
Hearing Asher's voice, the doppelganger Box Flower Jellyfish seemed to just realize, 'Oh, besides the King, there is a human nearby too.'
Doppelganger Box Flower Jellyfish: 'Can I ignore him? Please?'
Asher smiled.
Angel: ...
"Gulu!"
The Box Flower Jellyfish let out a long, deep, and melodious sound.
With his special talent skill that allowed him to understand the Tier 8 Box Flower Jellyfish, Asher began frowning slightly.
———
[Star City]
[National Research Institute]
"Mm…", Professor Hubert sat on the sofa, holding a double-walled glass cup. Inside floated red goji berries rising and sinking.
This was the scene Professor Desmond saw as he passed by, an odd picture.
An old man, a phone, and a thermal cup.
A giant question mark popped up over Professor Desmond's head.
"Huh?"
"Professor Hubert, what are you doing?", Professor Desmond asked, puzzled.
It didn't look like he was resting, and it didn't look like he was working.
Plus, Professor Hubert wasn't exactly known for being diligent. So Professor Desmond just felt something was off.
"It's just… I feel like something's off, you know?", Professor Hubert's hands were so red from holding the warm cup that he finally put it down, rubbing them up and down like a cat washing its face.
Once the heat in his hands faded, Professor Hubert picked up the cup again.
"Not long ago, the Ace Sterling reported a folded space incident, did you hear about that?", Professor Hubert asked.
Although this was reported directly to the Alliance Headquarters,
they still received bits and pieces of info.
After all, if they found remains of supernatural creatures or related artifacts inside that space, they would have to contact the institute for research.
Professor Desmond nodded, "I heard. So what?"
"That's not a good thing!", As he spoke, Professor Desmond also sat down in a single sofa beside Professor Hubert, "Ever since that visit from Eastern Nation, we've been pretty idle here at the institute, haven't we?"
Professor Desmond smacked his lips, looking just a little regretful.
Regretful they didn't get to play more.
He found it annoying at the time, but after those people left, he felt kind of bored.
It was more fun to mess around with others.
Professor Hubert gave him a look and said nothing.
Professor Desmond straightened up, not at all feeling his thoughts were off.
"I've got plenty of old friends in other countries too," Professor Hubert changed the topic.
Even more question marks popped up over Professor Desmond's head.
"Eastern Nation, Blue Nation, Silia, Nabak… about a dozen countries, big and small," Professor Hubert paused, then added, "Oh, and also the Imperial Spire. I've still got a few old friends there that I can chat with."
Professor Desmond: "?"
"Imperial Spire?"
"Seriously?"
Professor Desmond's eyes widened, staring in disbelief at Professor Hubert, like he just couldn't believe. Well, that Professor Hubert actually had friends from Imperial Spire?
"Can those people really be friends?"
"They even abandoned their own country."
Professor Desmond cried out in shock.
Professor Hubert calmly waved his hand, "They're not all like that. As much as I hate to admit it, some of them chose Imperial Spire because of the persecution they faced in their home country."
"To us, the Imperial Spire is a shit-stirring stick, but in the eyes of some people, it is their last safe haven."
Professor Desmond listened and fell into silence.
How to put it…
His feelings were just a little bit complicated, not easy to refute Professor Hubert's words.
Such is the reality.
"…Alright then," Professor Desmond nodded, feeling that his own thinking shouldn't be too feudal. Isn't it just the Imperial Spire… he can become friends with the people inside.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y