Chapter 44: Ancient Texts, Poneglyphs
"A bottle in the sea? What's that?"
"It's... something... the World Government... doesn't want to see..."
Speaking was still stuttered, but compared to just now, it was slightly smoother. The innate adaptability of the Lunarian race was helping her body break down the toxins inside.
By the looks of it, those toxins would be fully decomposed by her body before long.
Amphelite, having been constantly on the run, had little time to pay attention to wanted posters and news on the sea. The situation of the Lunarian race was different from pirates.
When pirates defeated opponents, they could sometimes hand them over to the Marines through middlemen in the Underworld to exchange for their bounties.
Although a hefty intermediary fee would be taken, it was still one of the ways pirates made a profit.
If a Lunarian did that, there was a high probability they would be reported directly.
The composition of the Underworld was extremely complex. Loyalty and honor were almost nonexistent there, and it was filled with various information brokers. Naturally, Lunarians wouldn't contact such a group of people.
Therefore, bounties were like uncashable checks to Lunarians, so they naturally didn't pay attention to such matters.
Amphelite could only judge that Nereus and the World Government were at odds.
Regardless of what he thought of her, handing over something the World Government loathed to a hostile force stronger than herself was beneficial to her.
In her current state, she couldn't even handle those CP9 agents, let alone someone like Nereus who could instantly kill them.
"Earlier... being chased by those guys... I threw the thing... into the sea..."
"That won't be easy to find..."
Hearing Amphelite recount what happened earlier, Nereus glanced at the vast, boundless ocean below.
Even though the battle had just ended, the remaining traces had already been swallowed by the ocean. Looking for a small bottle in a place like this was no different from finding a needle in a haystack.
But since it was something the World Government didn't want to see, Nereus was interested.
"Let's give it a try. Hopefully, there are more obedient children in this sea area. Can you fly on your own now?"
"Body... still can't move. Still need some... time..."
Amphelite tried flapping her wings, but she still couldn't move.
"Your racial talent is truly outstanding. For such a troublesome condition, needing only a little time is impressive. What are your plans for later? Want to consider coming with me?"
"With... you? Why?"
"You are a Lunarian. A fully grown Lunarian won't be weak. And there is no possibility of reconciliation between Lunarians and the World Government.
I'm at odds with the World Government too. In this situation, we share the same stance. So, I invite you to join to increase the combat power of our faction. Isn't that very reasonable?"
Nereus held nothing back, speaking very straightforwardly. After all, the World Government's attitude toward Lunarians was genocide. The once glorious "Kingdom of Gods" had long perished, leaving only fleeing remnants.
Under these circumstances, it was impossible for Lunarians to join the current World Government's camp. They were natural allies.
"You can take your time to consider. If you're not interested, I can also find you a safe place to live. At least you won't have to hide like this.
As for now... let's find that thing you mentioned first."
Saying this, Nereus lowered his altitude, arriving near the sea surface. However, he didn't dive down to search himself. Instead, he stood on the water's surface and gently closed his eyes, as if communicating with something.
Before long, the nearby sea seemed to start boiling. White splashes rose from the surface as various fish leaped out of the water, some carrying strange objects in their mouths.
"A school of fish... So you are a Fish-man..."
Glancing at Nereus's legs, Amphelite realized his race. As long as one understood the characteristics of other races, reaching this conclusion wasn't difficult.
Communicating with fish was originally a talent of the Merfolk race, but male merfolk, no matter how old, would not split their tails; their lower bodies would only be fish tails.
Besides merfolk, only a small number of Fish-man individuals could achieve similar feats.
[Amphe, Fish-men who can communicate with fish—or more accurately, marine life—are very rare. Only a few kind-hearted Fish-men can do this.]
This was knowledge her family had taught her in the past. She didn't expect to actually meet such a Fish-man.
However, communication was one thing; the intelligence of many fish wasn't high. Even with Nereus's ability to hear the Voice of All Things, allowing him to communicate with a larger number of fish, only a portion responded to him.
These fish brought Nereus all sorts of things: broken porcelain shards, oddly shaped conch shells, dagger sheaths... Occasionally, a few bottles appeared, but none were the one Amphelite had thrown away.
"Chwee-ee—"
After a while, a pod of dolphins leaped out of the water. One pink dolphin, holding a bottle in its beak, came to Nereus's side.
"That's... the one!"
The appearance of the dolphins scared away the fish originally gathered there. To ordinary sea fish, these dolphins were top-tier predators and quite dangerous.
"Thanks a lot. Remember to stay away from humans in the future; don't get caught."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Nereus sent the dolphin pod away and brought the bottle to Amphelite.
"Can I see what's inside?"
"Of course."
The bottle mouth had been sealed with wax for waterproofing. Judging by the signs of aging on it, this bottle probably hadn't been opened for a while.
When Nereus opened it, inside was a piece of parchment. It was unknown what material it was made of, but the leather paper remained intact, and the writing on it was clear.
However, the bizarre symbols were obviously not the script currently used on the sea.
"Those are... Poneglyph texts. It says..."
"The dark demon devoured the world; the Sun God's Drums of Liberation dispel the darkness. Abandon everything, with a heart free of fear, break the horns outside the chessboard..."
Just as Amphelite wanted to explain the content to Nereus, she found that Nereus had already read it out himself.
"You... you can... read Ancient Texts?"
"Spent some time learning it. Looks like I didn't translate it wrong? Pity it's this kind of allegory again. What these ancient texts say is never straightforward enough."
Overall, these texts were like zipped files. According to Nereus's own translation, it roughly recorded some method targeting the World Government.
"You should be right. But I don't recognize those characters; I just memorized the translation."
Amphelite's articulation gradually became clearer. It seemed the drug's effects were fading. Her brow was filled with surprise; she couldn't understand why Nereus would know this script.
After all, the method of translating this script had been lost even within their clan. The remaining survivors were merely memorizing the translated text by rote.
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