Chapter 281: Section 69: I am a Fishman
Cang Xu surmised that the Sea God’s temple was within this Sea Eye. To this, the Dragon-man youth expressed doubt, “According to the information you’ve obtained, although this group of Fishmen has a faith, what they believe in are gods like the Calm Pier God, Wave Churning God, Water Flower God, Fish God, and so on—there’s no mention of Mei Lan God.”
Cang Xu offered a slight smile, “Captain, you may not be quite familiar with this matter. Deities often have more than one identity, including others. It’s very possible Mei Lan God also has other divine names, such as Calm Pier God or Fish God.”
“There are two main reasons why deities have multiple divine names.”
“The first reason is that deities need an escape route. Take Mei Lan God, for instance, who has fallen into a deep slumber and is very weak. To recover Divine Power, He must rely on believers, but His sect is almost destroyed. What to do? At this time, if He has another identity, such as that of Fish God, then the believers of the Fish God would greatly aid His recovery. And if His enemies are unaware of this, they won’t be able to strike against Him.”
“The second reason is to emerge victorious in Divine Struggles. If a deity defeats another, killing them, they can seize the other’s Divine Office, Divine Name, Divine Authority, Divine Domain. Turn the pages of history and you’ll see many sects suddenly merging, which is one of the consequences of Divine Struggles. There are also gods who, despite victory and acquiring a new Divine Name and Divine Office, deliberately set it aside as a second identity, not incorporating it into their own Divinity.”
Cang Xu continued, “Over the past few years, every so often, Divine Envoys have descended from the sky to preach. Although the divine names they propagate do not include Mei Lan God, it does not mean He isn’t the beneficiary behind the scenes.”
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“The frequency of these Divine Envoys’ appearances is quite high, and they always appear when the Sea Eye emits a fountain-like waterspout. This is very peculiar.”
“Even though the Divine Envoys come from the sky, I believe that the temple must not be up there.”
“If it were high up, it should have been discovered long ago by other entities or powers due to its visibility from the air.”
“I believe there is a Half-plane here. Normally, the Half-plane is concealed by the Sea Eye’s mighty whirlpool and surging tides. Whenever the Sea Eye releases a fountain, the Half-plane shows a hint of itself, making it easier to communicate with the outside world. There might even be natural passages. These Divine Envoys probably come through such a passage.”
“They need to preach and the more followers they develop, the more it benefits the deity’s recovery.”
The Dragon-man youth nodded and then shook his head, “Your words are logical, but they are still your conjecture without evidence.”
“In fact, I have some,” said Cang Xu with a silent smile, “The scene of the Fishman village chief drinking the potion was witnessed by me, and I happen to recognize that pharmaceutical bottle.”
“The bottle is made of a pale yellow glass with a fine mouth and long neck.”
“This type of pharmaceutical bottle is quite common along the Empire’s coast, and New Moon Town is precisely in this area.”
“The owner of the seabed chamber is very likely one of the followers of the Evil God from New Moon Town who came to this Sea Eye.”
“Due to shared faith, the Evil God’s followers have helped these Fishmen, leaving behind potions.”
A glint sparkled in the eyes of the Dragon-man youth.
If this were the case, Cang Xu’s conjecture would very likely be the truth.
The potion bottle as evidence seemed slim, but actually, in the vast ocean, the chance of coincidentally seeing such a bottle at a specific time and place was very minute.
“I didn’t expect you to be so knowledgeable about potion bottles,” said the Dragon-man youth.
Cang Xu shook his head, “I learned about it during idle talk with Fat Tongue. Although he is a mere commoner, he is one of the elders of the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce, very sensitive to business-related matters and well-informed.”
After the old Scholar left, the Dragon-man youth fell into deep thought.
“What to do next?”
After this conversation, the Dragon-man youth also tended toward Cang Xu’s speculation.
Therefore, how to proceed next required deep and careful consideration.
For the enemy he currently faced was unprecedentedly strong. Let alone others, just what he knew included the seabed chamber’s owner—a Silver Level Mage.
Not only was he a Mage, but also an Undead Mage.
In addition to him, there were also the Evil God’s followers.
All these followers wielded more or less Divine Arts!
Whether it was Jia Sha on Mysterious Monster Island or Hao Fu, they had all given the Justice Pirate Group a full measure of the omnipotence and might of Divine Arts.
And this was the Main Temple.
The scale of the Evil God’s followers must be large, and there must be individuals of at least bishop level, even Archbishop!
If these were set aside, the vast number of Fishmen deep within the Sea Eye would also be a formidable barrier for the Dragon-man youth.
For the Justice Pirate Group to launch an all-out attack on these Fishmen would inevitably fail. Even attacking would be unlikely.
The Justice Pirate Group owned eleven pirate ships, all powered by demon energy, but they could only drift on the sea’s surface and were incapable of submarine warfare.
This time, the dragon-man youth could truly rely only on the Deep Sea Monster Fish.
“Even with the Deep Sea Monster Fish, a direct assault would be extremely unwise,” he mused.
“It would be best to infiltrate. The Deep Sea Monster Fish cannot afford to be exposed carelessly, we can arrange for it to stand by outside!”
The owner of the undersea chamber, that Undead Mage, had provided the dragon-man youth with an excellent example.
And what gave the youth even more confidence was the Pearl Bubble.
Using the Divine Artifact of the Mei Lan God to contend with His followers, this plan was quite good. It exploited the slumber of the deity.
“Before the real action, I need more information!”
Cang Xu was no longer suitable for gathering intelligence.
After all, he was only of Black Iron Level, too likely to be exposed when delving into the Sea Eye, and it was also very dangerous.
This time, the dragon-man youth decided to take action personally!
He quietly left the Justice, continuously diving deeper into the sea.
The sea was pitch-black, yet his dragon eyes could still barely make out some things.
The tough dragon scales protected the youth, completely withstanding the increasing water pressure.
Not all dragon-kin could breathe underwater, but the youth’s bloodline reached legendary status. Legend has it that the King of Flame Dragon could even swim in lava and breathe freely.
Soon after, the dragon-man youth easily arrived outside the Fishman village that Cang Xu had investigated.
Due to Cang Xu’s previous actions, the Fishman village was teeming with life, large groups of Fishmen congregating, defeating the shark schools, and even catching several in the process.
Seeing the Fishmen gather in such numbers, making it difficult to strike, the dragon-man youth immediately shifted his target.
After swimming for a short while, he arrived at another village.
After waiting quietly, he found a small patrol squad of Fishmen.
The squad consisted of three Fishmen.
The dragon-man youth suddenly burst from the coral, clawing out the heart of one Fishman in a single strike.
The remaining two Fishmen, furious and alarmed, jabbed their spears at the youth.
Both spears broke upon striking the dragon scales.
Seeing this, the remaining Fishmen were filled with horror. They threw away their broken spears and turned to flee, continuously shouting, “glraaa, wmllaa, mgwal!”
The dragon-man youth did not pursue them but casually waved his hand.
Combat Skill—Dragon Claw Strike.
Four claw marks swiftly hit the two Fishmen, cutting them into several pieces. The current was violently disturbed, sand stirred up, and a great amount of blood mixed with viscera quickly spread throughout the sea.
Of course, the dragon-man youth wouldn’t let it be. If the blood spread, it would surely attract many Fishmen with keen senses of smell and taste.
Blood Core!
With a thought from the dragon-man youth, a flash of blood erupted, rapidly expanding and then suddenly contracting back.
The pieces of Fishmen corpses, fragments of viscera, and spreading blood were all completely erased, transformed into essence of the bloodline, and funnelled into the depths of the Blood Core.
The dragon-man youth closed his eyes to sense for a few breaths, and then he began to transform.
The next moment, a Fishman youth made his appearance!