Chapter 124.2 Merfolk Shore
If Wen Shi hadn’t been to Sunset Town, he might have overlooked this inconspicuous turtle. However, due to his numerous interactions with turtlekin, he immediately noticed that the limbs peeking from the shell didn’t match a regular turtle’s. They resembled human limbs more closely.
“Turtlekin?”
Wen Shi had speculated before if the true spirit was influenced by merfolk evolution, leading to the creation of a beastkin realm. While he wasn’t implying a connection between these two places, at least it indicated that turtlekin had visited Merfolk Shore.
He began purposefully searching the bookshelves, pulling out enrollment brochures to verify that the off-campus recruiting office didn’t include Sunset Town in its locations.
The turtlekin in the photo seemed like a casual addition to the scene. While they appeared to be roaming at sea, there was no hint of any deeper involvement with the principal’s family.
The secret within the album might be more than one.
After some thought, Wen Shi continued to inspect the album. The cover’s thickness wasn’t consistent. He lightly scraped a fingernail against it, only to find a hidden letter beneath the outer cover.
“Tsk.” A human-like expression appeared on the cat’s face.
The album was covered in dust. If the principal had flipped through it just a couple more times, he would have found this letter much earlier.
The letter was written in segments, resembling diary entries from different time periods:
Lately, there have been numerous disappearances along the shoreline. Even as the police are investigating, I know that the merfolk have resurfaced. I remember when I was young, my grandfather used to tell me about the long period of bloody conflicts between the merfolk and the inhabitants along the shore. After both sides were severely harmed, the merfolk retreated to the sea—
It was a war for survival. My grandfather participated in that extermination. The merfolk swore to wipe out all coastal inhabitants before disappearing-
Another person has gone missing, and this time it’s my younger brother. I’ve made up my mind, I’m determined to exterminate this species at any cost.
The lines were hastily and forcefully written, with some parts of the handwriting even tearing through the paper, revealing the writer’s deep hatred.
These creatures are cunning. Capturing them isn’t easy, because merfolk have a way with their voices, they know how to confuse people-
Maybe I can try to mute their voices, but I lack the skill to prepare the right concoction. I’ll have to find a doctor at the hospital-
The doctor’s son was eaten by a merfolk, he also despises them. He said ordinary medicine won’t work, we need to resort to more extreme measures.
There were more words behind the letter, even more hastily written:
I’m starting to regret. I thought I was thorough, importing fresh water from outside for the residents, fostering arts as a new economic source. But I never anticipated that contamination wouldn’t bring just death-
One merfolk couldn’t be killed no matter how hard we tried. The families of the victims came up with a crazy idea, to cook and eat it. But just before the plan could be executed, someone went mad and wanted to protect the merfolk, claiming it was pitiful. More and more residents joined in-
Before the eruption of violent conflict escalated, I secretly dismembered this merfolk into four parts. I sealed the severed remains at four different spots inside the institute. As a precaution, I informed my children of the sealing locations, so that the next generation could be vigilant and inspect them at any time. While dismembering the merfolk, I noticed a horrifying scar on its chest.
The last line bore traces of blood, the strokes weak and feeble, indicating that the writer’s health was clearly deteriorating during this time:
May the Lord forgive us our sins.
Wen Shi read through the entire content without any ripples of emotion. He organized the timeline, realizing that the older generation hunted merfolk for revenge. However, when it came to the principal, his motives were evidently different. The torn-up medical report might have marked the beginning of his irreversible path.
In order to obtain a healthy body, the principal extracted the Merfolk King’s heart.
But the principal only had half a heart. The whereabouts of the other half remained unknown.
The people living along the shore relied on contaminants to deal with merfolk. For other ordinary marine creatures to inflict harm on the Merfolk King and leave a deep scar on its chest was nearly impossible.
Unless…
He himself had left that scar.
The mission only required speculating who had hidden the other half of the heart. If it were someone else, they might hesitate for a moment, as the act of self-extraction was quite extreme.
However, the thought that the Merfolk King might have interacted with turtlekin made it seem so normal to Wen Shi!
“F—ck.” The black cat suddenly exhaled an expletive.
Don’t get close to the Merfolk King, it’ll bring you misfortune.
Upon closer consideration, this hardly sounded like something a tour guide who disregarded fate would say. It sounded more like the turtlekin’s way of handling things.
Wen Shi reasonably suspected that when the turtlekin swam to this part of the sea, it unexpectedly encountered the Merfolk King.
The turtlekin probably chose to take a detour immediately, but just like when it first saw the tour guide at the train station, perhaps due to its peculiar appearance or a rebellious attitude akin to the tour guide’s, the Merfolk King forcefully chose to engage.
The details of the incident were unknown, but the outcome was quite predictable. After the turtlekin returned to Sunset Town, it spread topics of the Merfolk King’s misfortune everywhere.
The end of the Crimson Sunset Expedition was Sunset Town. For someone as stingy as the tour guide, she couldn’t possibly have privately visited Merfolk Shore. It was likely she heard this statement from the turtlekin as well.
The conclusions Wen Shi drew from these speculations weren’t a hundred percent certain, but the clues within the album’s letters were enough to prove that the Merfolk King had hidden half of its heart himself.
He decisively provided the answer to the game.
“Are you certain that it’s the Merfolk King?”
“Yes.”
The mission countdown paused.
The next moment, the game’s prompt sound rang out once again.
【Side Quest—Lost Heart Completed】
【One hundred years ago, the Merfolk King encountered the turtlekin. The turtlekin’s persistent mutterings about going back to find the fire pit successfully attracted the Merfolk King’s attention.
Faced with this peculiar-looking creature, the Merfolk King used its singing to bewitch it. Learning that the turtlekin was skilled in fortune-telling, the Merfolk King, on a whim, asked it to predict if revenge against humans would succeed.
Upon learning of the impending failure, the enraged Merfolk King intended to eat the turtlekin. The awakened turtlekin immediately provided a solution: “As long as the green hills remain, there’s no worry about firewood shortage.” When in dire straits, one could consider severing half of the heart to make a comeback.】
【Quest Reward: You can activate the hidden map under the lake separately, with a chance to find the half of the heart hidden by the merfolk.】
“……”
If there was a chance in the future, Wen Shi would certainly advise the turtlekin against giving further suggestions.
Suddenly, he checked his attribute panel. Ji Yuanzhi said he had a complete Apostle-to-High Priest route, but he didn’t know if his other followers had the same opportunity.
【Followers: 258】
After news spread about the consequences of betraying King Aasa, Wen Shi’s followers increased rather than decreased.
He opened the detailed list and tried tapping a couple of times. There was no response when he touched the names of Mingzhu Academy’s students, but the turtlekin listed below could be further clicked.
【Follower – Turtlekin Promotion Route: National Teacher】
【This brother may not be present in the martial world, but legends about him are widespread throughout the martial world. Across different dimensions, after achieving the ‘Master of Fate’ title in at least three different instances, one can transition towards becoming a National Teacher.】
NPCs related to Sunset Town often use outdated internet terms, which were once learned by the true spirit from his father. Unfortunately, there was no opportunity later to enrich the vocabulary.
【Who says a country can only have one National Teacher? Your National Teachers might be spread far and wide.】
【After promoting to National Teacher, you can activate bloodline talents.】
【Click for details below↓】
……
The apostle’s promotion route had confidentiality settings. Wen Shi couldn’t view the details of Ji Yuanzhi and others. But it was probably for the best.
He started tapping frantically on the【King】section.
He was the King, so he should have some kind of route to conquer the world.
【King: King of Wusa Kingdom. All roads lead to Rome, and you were born in Rome. No need for promotion, please actively develop your followers.】
“……” Don’t force a polite kitty to use foul language.
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Thank you for the chapters!
Wait so Wen Shi can upgrade the turtlekin as followers?
This translation is so good, I can’t stop reading. Thank you so much for the wonderful quality of your work!