The Fishman pathogen, secretly introduced into the pool, took effect with incredible speed.
For a while, Byron truly couldn't distinguish which fish was "Hawkeye" James Kent. However, thanks to the potent resistance of a Third Order Transcendent, he was naturally the first to recover.
His skin was bloated and ghastly pale, yet his eyes were a deep crimson, as if on the verge of weeping tears of blood.
A few days prior, he had led The Golden Deer into the cultists' lair and, after "blindly eating fish," had become a large fish entirely at their mercy.
Then, during the "Fish-Eating Festival" that spanned several days, he watched helplessly as these deep-sea beings devoured nearly half his crew.
First Mate Claire, Navigator Bob, the elderly Sailor Chief Peter, Marica the "Gourmet" who cooked so exquisitely...
