Novel Full Chapter 1069: Arthur’s Scale
Chapter 1069: Arthur’s Scale
These harmless and innocent-looking Phantasm Fishes were actually capable of annihilating a large swarm of monsters in the blink of an eye.
Truly, one should never judge a book by its cover.
When Xu Feng first stumbled across them, he found them hilarious and cute.
After all, these fishes weren’t hostile to him and were neutral, so he wouldn’t have attacked them. He only fired his hydro cannons repeatedly against enemies that were clearly hostile to him.
As for those neutral in the Phantasm Sea, Xu Feng often chose to ignore them because of possible situations like this.
Just imagining the type of crisis that would befall him if he were to mess with them gave him some goosebumps.
He could tell his protective dome that enabled him to be submerged would be exterminated by the innocent-looking bubbles.
"Are these fishes going to target my warship by any chance?" Xu Feng asked in concern. Being surrounded by so many deadly yet harmless-looking fishes, he felt like he needed some clarification.
He watched as the fishes retreated where they came from, afraid that some of them would suddenly chuck a bubble at his warship.
"Haha, my children wouldn’t harm the Sea Traveler. Please be at ease with them." At this moment, a golden-like carp appeared in front of Xu Feng.
Their tail wagged a bit and they introduced themselves, "I’m Arthur, a Phantasm Fish and overseer of the Beacon Shrine."
"Are all the Abyssal Tide Beacons in the form of a shrine, Mister Arthur?" Initially taken by surprise, Xu Feng swiftly regulated his emotions and asked the important points.
"That I have no idea." In response, Arthur shook their fish head and explained, "I’m only the overseer of this Beacon Shrine. There are two more beacons and they are respectively overseen by others like me. The only thing I know is that they are also of the Phantasm Species born and developed intelligence under the effect of the Sea Heart."
"The effect of the Sea Heart..."
Upon hearing this familiar term again, Xu Feng realized there were more mysteries awaiting him.
Sometime later, Arthur easily phased through the barrier of his warship and glanced at the dormant Burpe.
"The Phantasm Spirit has not been seen in a long time. I thought it would take another century before I could see him again." Arthur said melancholy, his gaze staring at Burpe warmingly.
It appeared as if Arthur was reminiscing about an old friend whom he missed dearly.
Xu Feng didn’t interrupt his reminiscing and merely kept quiet on the side. He understood the kind of emotions Arthur must have been going through.
There were times when he would have a moment of silence and a melancholy phase. And to be interrupted during that kind of phase would instantly earn his ire.
Sometime later, Arthur turned to Xu Feng and asked, "Can you relay the events that led to this to me if you don’t mind?"
"Sure, it’s my pleasure." Xu Feng nodded and gladly complied with the request. Naturally, he made sure to omit crucial information. He wouldn’t go in-depth with the details, much less expose some of the confidential events.
Arthur became a patient listener and wagged its tail back and forth, almost as if he was intrigued by the events.
"Finally, we convinced Melora to let us have the required items to continue the journey." Xu Feng concluded his story.
"Yes, the prophecy." Arthur nodded their fish head and seemed agitated. "It’s my honor to encounter the Sea Traveler."
"It’s my pleasure as well." He responded and inquired when he could enter the shrine.
"To enter the shrine, the Sea Traveler simply needs to help my fellow Phantasm Fish in their predicament. They would be relatively short but repetitive." Arthur said.
As if afraid of having Xu Feng mistaken him for making things difficult, he explained, "The shrine opens based on merit and approval. Even though I can confirm Sir is the Sea Traveler, the shrine doesn’t recognize it yet. These are the rules of this Beacon Shrine."
"I see..." Although knowing that it wouldn’t be easy, he had hoped that relaying some of the events to Arthur could help smooth things out.
Just when Xu Feng was about to be disappointed and thought he had to spend a long time underwater, Arthur suddenly chuckled.
"Sea Traveler has granted my request, so you have already received 50% of the merit and approval," Arthur said and gestured with his tail, pointing at some of the habitat.
"With my approval, my fellow fishes would no longer avoid you. They will welcome you and be able to communicate with you."
Having said that, Arthur removed one of his scales and handed it to him.
System Notification: You have received Arthur’s Scale. The Scale is capable of communicating between intelligent Phantasm Species. Keep in mind that being able to communicate doesn’t mean there won’t be hostility.
Upon receiving the scale, a system prompt appeared and explained the detail of the item.
’Seems like the storytelling didn’t go to waste after all.’ Xu Feng grasped the Arthur’s Scale and gave his sincere thanks.
"How much merit and approval do I need in total to reach the remaining 50%?" He then inquired, clearly wanting to know the goal.
"That—I have no idea, Sea Traveler. Merit and approval gained are solely decided by the Beacon Shrine. But as I am the overseer, I naturally hold 50% and could grant you it right away." Arthur explained and hoped that Xu Feng could understand his difficulty.
Nodding in understanding, Xu Feng didn’t pursue the issue anymore and was about to control his warship to interact with the other Phantasm Fish.
"Sea Traveler, you can leave your warship here. The scale of mine enables you to swim underwater and receive oxygen." Arthur suddenly halted him and called out.
"Was there such a function?" Dumbfounded, Xu Feng inspected the scale but found no description of it.
"Ah, I need to activate the scale’s true power." Arthur laughed awkwardly. Sometimes, his scales were going to fall off by themselves, so naturally, the scales needed to be converted further to enable their actual uses.