Chapter 122: It

"Master~~ Master~~"

Hearing the goddess avatar, whom he had renamed "Little Xiao Lingdang" to distinguish her from the Weather Goddess, call him in an overly sugary voice, Feng Xue immediately ordered:

"Consolidate the Blood Eye's intelligence and provide the locations of the nearest shipyard, black market, and civilized island."

"Understood, Master! According to the Blood Eye's logbook, the closest location to our current position is the Aynan Archipelago, five hundred and sixty kilometers away, known in pirate circles as the 'Origin Place,' 'Landseekers' Kindergarten,' and 'Pirate Island,' controlled by the Landseekers Association, the Pirate Alliance, and the Bounty Hunters' Guild."

"Due to the mutual checks among the three factions, the black market and shipyard reputations remain reliable; additionally, according to Blood Eye's memories, the island's Bounty Hunters' Guild offers a service to claim bounties on your behalf, charging only a ten percent handling fee. Also, based on Blood Eye's memory data, the octopus-type phantom beast raised in the cabin can fetch a good price…"

As Little Xiao Lingdang's virtual projection explained, she simultaneously pulled up a 3D virtual screen, wielding a pointer like a high school female teacher, jabbing at the PPT made from Blood Eye's uploaded memories.

"Aynan Island? Sounds like a place with pure and simple folk customs!" Feng Xue remarked, shooting a challenging glance at Sara. Sara twisted her dog head, glanced at her master still grinning stupidly, and for a moment nearly experienced a system crash.

But AI's core logic prevented her from giving up; after a silent sigh, she finally found a point to make:

"Although this Weather Goddess avatar is indeed useful, I still advise you to maintain your agreement with me, because there is one problem it absolutely cannot solve for you."

"Oh? Do tell," Feng Xue said, though he suspected Sara was grasping at straws, he decided to hear her out.

Sara, however, looked utterly confident, lifting her dog head and saying:

"You're not human!"

"I…" Feng Xue nearly spat curses, then realized Sara's meaning, his expression turning slightly odd.

After delivering that bombshell, Sara immediately continued:

"In native societies, it might pass, but once you enter the territory of the Qidao Federation or the Sea People, your existence will become glaringly obvious. Although technological development across nations is somewhat distorted, nanite-based detection and scanning technologies are highly advanced. If you're exposed, regardless of whether you truly are or not, you'll be captured as one of the identities I previously speculated— and in this era saturated with nanites, as soon as you enter modern society, you'll be detected. By the way, here's a reference price—"

Here, Sara seemed to seize the initiative, making the dog circle Feng Xue slowly and deliberately:

"A pre-civilization living test subject: minimum bounty 50 million. A pre-civilization survivor: regardless of status, starting bid 200 million—this is the official bounty offered by the Sea People; black market prices from major factions are even higher. A weak divine avatar is also a favorite experimental subject for many research institutions. And that Weather Goddess? She can't fix any of this."

As she spoke, Sara seemed to want the dog to smile, but due to her domesticated AI's precision falling short, she could only make the dog snarl and bare its teeth grotesquely.

"Can you solve it, then?" Feng Xue, now realizing the gravity of the issue, admitted he could just flee blindly, but the resources of this world far surpassed those of the Folklore World—he couldn't bear to leave empty-handed.

"Yes. The nanite units of the Wild Wolf Flash individual possess a disguise protocol that can provide you with identity concealment. Though it cannot alter your biological classification data, it can block most detection systems. You should understand the difference between a person concealing their identity and a non-human humanoid entity. Moreover, the Wild Wolf Flash individual's nanite units have high priority—only exceptional-class or higher reconnaissance modules can detect you. This is already the core capability of a family ruling the Qidao Federation's island chain. Without me, you'll struggle to obtain technology of comparable level."

As she spoke, Sara's confidence grew steadily, while Phina, who had briefly shown signs of excitement, grew increasingly despondent.

"Hmm… your master's depressive state seems to have improved?"

Feng Xue wrestled internally but tried to joke aloud; Sara responded directly:

"Definitely. The side effects of the antidepressant are being metabolized; as time passes, your master's mental state will gradually improve. Renewing now grants you even more favorable terms."

"You sound exactly like a merchant trying to push expired products," Feng Xue said bluntly. Sara offered no rebuttal—

"You may think so. In truth, aside from personality flaws, your master is indeed a high-quality human female. I don't understand why you'd abandon this opportunity to obtain human status."

"Can we stop talking about human status?" Feng Xue finally understood why this dog kept reminding him he wasn't human—it had been waiting for this moment all along.

But the question is…

Could he risk it?

The answer was unquestionably no.

Though technology here was distorted, it was undeniably advanced, meaning even one person seeing through him could trigger a network-wide leak, making his secret common knowledge.

Looking down at the Silver Sail, Feng Xue suddenly realized—this ship probably couldn't be sold!

At least, carrying a hundred-ton Wang around is better than having to hunt for one when needed.

Thinking of this, Feng Xue gave the dog a meaningful look and nodded:

"You win!"

"Wise choice," Sara said, nodding in satisfaction. She found a comfortable spot on the deck and lay down. Feng Xue instructed Blood Eye and Little Xiao Lingdang to reconcile accounts, confirmed all data had been copied, then issued the command—

"Erase all memories from the past twenty days!"

If a normal person had been affected by 【Ghost-Mesmerized】, such an order would be ineffective, but humans in this world coexist with nanite units (Note ①), making precise memory manipulation possible.

Watching Blood Eye delete its own memories, Feng Xue glanced at Phina, then finally looked at the dog and said:

"Set sail! Destination: Aynan Island."

The dog twitched its ears twice, then replied:

"The smart sail can connect wirelessly—I'll activate verification. You link your authorization, then let the Weather Goddess avatar take control. As for the helm, that thing's just a manual override because these pirates had no reliable AI…"

(End of Chapter)