Little Maro cocked an eyebrow with a saucy air, eager to share the astonishing tale of the day:
"The ship I serve on is a large merchant vessel that was specially ordered by officials to handle affairs on our Maro Island.
And during the voyage, we encountered a huge incident.
We saw a luxury cruise ship from the Golden Flower Bird Kingdom billowing thick smoke...
Can you believe it?
That steel behemoth, unbelievably, broke in half like a rag and was discarded atop the vast sea."
Sure enough, the ship from the Golden Flower Bird Kingdom must be the one from the promotional video, where the foreign girl, the Flower Witch, met her doom.
"Did you discover anything?"
Chen Qi, dragging his face into a curious expression that screamed 'I don't know a thing,' asked.
Lowering his voice, Little Maro continued mysteriously:
"Although the ship was split in two, there were quite a few survivors on the wreck.
Our captain, being kind-hearted, asked for a little money and some supplies and then rescued the crew from above.
And from these survivors, we learned that they had encountered a terrifying monster, no less dominant than the nearshore overlord!!!"
"And that's not all. Besides, according to the survivors, they also saw a young girl with petals all over her body, incredibly beautiful, walking on the sea!
That young lady, she actually fought against the pitch-black monster that destroyed the steel giant!
Finally, as people succumbed to terror, both figures utterly vanished from sight."
"Oh? Do you know where the young lady, or that monster, went?"
Chen Qi inquired.
Scratching his head, Little Maro replied:
"How could I possibly know, but Miss Pelu, the gold-medal editor of the White Dove Times, has already interrogated those survivors.
It's highly likely that the legendary Witch has reappeared!
Unfortunately, as Miss Pelu is urgently chasing the story of the Deep Sea Hunter's treasure and the Witch, I wasn't even able to get an autograph."
Chen Qi asked:
"Is that all?"
"Yeah, shocking, isn't it!"
Is that all...
Chen Qi offered a polite smile.
Overall, these were all details he already knew.
The only useful tidbit was that the Witch who encountered the shipwreck was currently active quite close to him.
That's not shocking! Could you encounter such major events? Seeing Chen Qi unimpressed, Little Maro said discontentedly:
"Alright, as per our agreement, now it's my turn to ask you questions.
I have two questions!"
"Ask."
Little Maro looked down, scanned the surroundings, and with added mystery, asked:
"Did you come across any pirate ships today at sea, like those from the Black Whale Group?"
The Black Whale Group!
A simple name, yet it unleashed a tidal wave of emotions in Chen Qi's heart.
Why would he be asked about the Black Whale Group?
He didn't respond immediately, instead gazing towards the distant lighthouse.
If something unexpected occurred, the lighthouse keeper should be able to help him with quite a few issues.
Feeling secure about his location, Chen Qi answered:
"No, how could a small chef in a tiny boat like mine encounter pirate ships and still be alive?"
Little Maro sized up Chen Qi, thought for a bit, and then said:
"True, you look rather weak. Now, the second question."
"Ask."
"You must know about me, Little Maro, right?
Though I'm from Maro Town, my father always sent me away, so I'm not too familiar with the locals my age.
So, I want to ask, do you know if there is any young person in Maro Town who has contracted the Sea Beast disease?"
At the moment the question was posed, a gentle sea breeze blew through both their hair.
Chen Qi's gaze turned somewhat frosty.
Bad luck, the sole young fortunate one in Maro Town to suffer from the Sea Beast disease was him.
The other party, it seemed, was aiming for him.
Yet judging by the current situation, it appeared someone else had tasked Little Maro with gathering information.
So, there are enemies of his on this ship...
The Black Whale Group's men, they move that fast?
The wind is pretty cold, thought Little Maro, feeling an odd chill on his back, and continued:
"Do you know? Frankly, you give off the impression of someone frail with the Sea Beast disease..."
As Little Maro spoke, he abruptly stopped and looked down at Chen Qi.
Chen Qi, having said nothing in response, walked into the cabin and came out with a fishing rod.
Swallowing hard, Little Maro asked:
"What do you need the fishing rod for?"
"Fishing."
Chen Qi replied, waving the fishing rod around.
Little Maro laughed:
"Hahaha, fishing? The ship is sailing, and there are no fish around for you to catch..."
"Eh?"
In the next instant, Little Maro realized that with what seemed like a random flick of the rod, Chen Qi had somehow tangled the fishing line around his neck.
Chen Qi gave a sharp tug on the rod, pulling 'Little Maro' off the large ship before him.
Bang!
Little Maro plunged into the seawater, still clad in his heavy armor, instantly beginning to play joyfully in the water.
From his movements, he seemed quite thrilled.
Chen Qi silently reached out, kindly pulled Little Maro up from the water onto his boat, then asked with concern:
"Are you okay?"
Little Maro coughed twice and glared at Chen Qi with a fiercely resentful look:
"You lack martial morality, sneak attacking me."
"How could I sneak attack you? It was just a careless mistake while fishing."
Chen Qi said this, grabbed Little Maro's leg, dragged him into his boat house, and shut the boat door.
Then, he looked outside from the window, where Little Maro had just been standing, there was no one, and for the time being, no one seemed to care about the matter.
Little Maro lay on the ground, spitting out the seawater in his mouth.
He then raised his head, and asked again with some confusion,
"Did you really just accidentally hook me while fishing?"
This beloved son of the Mayor of Maro Town really isn't a fool... Chen Qi secretly complained in his heart.
"Yes, but I have a few questions for you.
Why did you ask about the Sea Beast patients?"
Without a doubt, Little Maro had already become suspicious of him.
If this Little Maro were an ally of the Black Whale Group, he would have gone to call his comrades by now.
Little Maro looked at Chen Qi's kind expression and began to speak,
"It's nothing, I just encountered a Hunter with a mechanical arm on the ship.
He told me that in their company in Moonstone City, a young man infected with the Sea Beast disease had stolen a large sum of their money and ran away.
And this person is from Maro Town, so they came to Maro Town to get the money.
If anyone can give him information, they can get a share of the money."
Little Maro got up, dusting off his hands,
"Although I don't lack money, I've never really earned money myself, so I thought maybe I could make some this time.
So, do you know? I'll give you some too. You look like you're in need of money."
A Hunter with a mechanical arm was looking for me, not the Black-eyed Captain and Little Crow, Chen Qi's thoughts flooded.
And if it were those two, they would likely have used a more violent approach.
There was no one with a mechanical arm on the Sawshark.
"It's someone from another organization..."
Chen Qi recalled the original owner's memories once more.
He had fallen ill, gone to work in Moonstone City, and then was lured by so-called relatives into a human trafficking crime gang called 'Black Rabbit'.
If the Black Whale Group wanted to find out about him, they'd undoubtedly go through this 'Black Rabbit' gang.
In the Black Rabbit gang, there was indeed a First Order Transcendent with a mechanical arm.
This was a wanted criminal in Moonstone City, known as 'Iron Hand,' who was involved in human trafficking and had a bounty of two hundred thousand Shell Coins on his head.
Chen Qi organized his thoughts; he wasn't as panicked as he had imagined.
First, with his current strength, a First Order Transcendent with a mechanical arm wouldn't be able to deal with him.
Second, the Black Whale Group didn't know what he had taken from the Deep Sea Hunter's treasury and wouldn't kill him outright; they would try to catch him alive as much as possible.
Third, in addition to the Lighthouse Keeper of Maro Town with a guaranteed Third Rank strength, there was also Teacher An, a graduate of the Royal University.
Chen Qi looked again towards the distant Lighthouse.
All over the Moonstone Islands, there were many Transcendents who hated pirates.
If the Sawshark appeared in these waters, even if they turned and fled immediately, they might not live to return.
Chen Qi turned to Little Maro and asked,
"Do you know where that Hunter with a mechanical arm that you mentioned went? Is he still on that ship?"
In his memory, that Hunter with a mechanical arm was a criminal with a bounty of two hundred thousand Shell Coins.
He could get rid of the other party directly by reporting him.
Little Maro replied,
"He jumped off the ship when it was slowing down."
"Jumped off the ship?"
Chen Qi was stunned.
Little Maro explained,
"Yes, because large ships need to display their flag when they approach the Lighthouse, we had to stop for a short while. He took that opportunity to jump ship.
We stopped for quite a long time.
By now, he's probably already on Maro Island. If he finds the money thief himself, we might not get any reward."
"Indeed."
Chen Qi looked at Little Maro, who seemed to still have no suspicion towards him.
He finally understood why the other had never passed even the simplest round of exams.
At that moment, Little Maro's eyes sparkled.
He suddenly realized that the man in front of him seemed to be a Transcendent!
Little Maro became excited, speaking quickly,
"I can tell by your aura that you are a Transcendent too.
I came back this time specifically to go to the crack, to a rift called 'Monster Kitchen,' but so far, I've only found three other people.
That rift is pretty dangerous, E-rank for sure, but I have a feeling it could be D-rank level, so I was hoping to gather five people.
With my keen eye, I noticed the way you handle your fishing rod, you've got some skill.
All in all, the more people the better. Aren't you interested in joining us?"
"..."
Chen Qi didn't know what to say for a moment.
Sorry, but I've already soloed that rift...
The cooldown for the Monster Kitchen rift was at least three days.
"Next time for sure."
After giving a few non-committal responses, Chen Qi walked out of the boat house with Little Maro.
His small craft, alongside the large merchant ship and numerous fishing boats, gradually made their way into the harbor.
Just like coming home from work or school, returning to port was always a comforting moment.
At the dock, people waited anxiously, looking forward to the return of their family members.
"You old thing, you're finally back! It rained again today, I thought you might have drowned."
"You're back, what's that, you caught a shark!"
"Haha! Bro, how was it, didn't catch any fish? No worries, come have a drink with me first!"
In the remaining light of day, the scene in front of him was exceptionally heartwarming.
And in the distance, Chen Qi saw the Mayor of Maro Town and An, who were handling various trivial matters of Maro Town.
Teacher An, who was processing documents, stopped her movements; she smelled a familiar scent.
The sea breeze gentled, and she lifted her head, smiled, and waved at Chen Qi,
"Welcome back!"