Chapter 430: The Sea and the Cat

It was Thursday. Waking up early in the morning, Xia De received a letter from Miss Galina. The witch asked him to go to her manor to see her this afternoon, without fail, absolutely, and without refusal.

Xia De knew she wanted to ask about Cold Water Harbor, so he yawned and put the letter aside, enjoying a quiet breakfast at home with his cat.

After eating, Xia De changed his clothes and prepared to go out. He took a towel and signaled the cat, who was watching pigeons on the windowsill with great interest, to come over:

"Mia, do you want to see the sea and the lighthouse?"

"Meow?"

This cat probably couldn't understand the "sea" and "lighthouse" in the Delarion common language. But seeing Xia De calling it, it still ran over happily.

So two hours later, Xia De was holding the cat, standing in front of the lighthouse guarded by old Mr. Edmund, and looking at the sparkling, surging sea in the distance from the sea cliff with Mia, who had widened its eyes.

The appearance of this cat with its mouth open and eyes wide was really ridiculous.

Today was a good day. Under the azure sky, although the sea was not calm, the sparkling waves were much friendlier than the red ocean. Standing on the sea cliff blowing the sea breeze at the end of summer, basking in the warm sun, and listening to the deafening sound of surging waves, the scene at this moment made Xia De, who came to Cold Water Harbor this time, really feel like he was on vacation.

The pet cat Mia, born in Tobesk, was probably seeing the sea for the first time. When Xia De turned it from a ragdoll back into a real cat at the edge of the sea cliff behind the lighthouse, the cat's whole body puffed up and it shrank into Xia De's arms.

But after confirming that the sound of the waves would not hurt it, Little Mia shrank into Xia De's arms and looked around, and even became interested in the seagulls flying in the sky. The sea breeze made its soft short hair stick to its body, and the bright sun shone on the orange cat, making its orange and white hair shine as if it were glowing.

Of course, Xia De sincerely hoped that the seagulls circling above the lighthouse would not have the habit of defecating indiscriminately... Judging from the traces on the ground nearby, these seagulls were even more impolite than he thought.

On such a good day, Mr. Edmund hung a "gone fishing" sign on the door under the lighthouse and was not at home. Xia De was not in a hurry to find him on the nearby beach, but held the cat and enjoyed the sea view.

He had already heard from Miss Aurora about the end of the Cold Water Harbor big event. The local fish-man secret sect forces were almost completely wiped out, and the few surviving fish-men once again, like their ancestors, lurked in the city in human form, waiting for the next conspiracy thousands of years later.

The accidental appearance of the "God-Caller" made the battle early yesterday morning end faster than planned, and in the eyes of the people of Cold Water Harbor, yesterday morning was just an abnormal movement of the monsoon and an increase in the city's pollutant emissions, causing changes in the sky and sea color in a small area for a short time.

This did not have much impact on the lives of ordinary people.

As for the victims who stepped into the sea under the influence of the mermaid's curse during the Sea Return Ceremony. Although the official statistics had not ended yet, according to the witch's calculation, the total number would not exceed 600, which included fishing boats that capsized in the outer sea without returning to the port in time.

Compared with the scale of this incident, this sacrifice was completely within an acceptable range.

"This world is really dangerous for ordinary people."

Holding the cat and watching the cruise ship passing by in the distance, Xia De sighed in his heart.

If events related to mystery didn't happen around them, ordinary people would probably never understand how dangerous the world was. And once related to relics, Ringed Shushi, or cults, the survival rate of ordinary people was actually very low.

This point could be seen from the girl Sophie Dace's family to the painter Mr. Freeman who collected oil paintings, from the summer God-Descending in Tobesk to the shadow of Cold Water Harbor.

The Orthodox Church was currently working with the Cold Water Harbor City Hall to carry out related aftermath work. And the Ringed Shushi who gathered in this seaport city because of the fish-men were also leaving in an orderly manner. The witch seemed to have released news locally that the second Chosen One had left Cold Water Harbor. Now, the traffic arteries around Cold Water Harbor were the places that should be focused on and investigated.

The red ocean retreated, the fish-man ruins in the deep sea abyss disappeared, and the giant mermaid corpse split into four pieces melted into the sea. In general, the cult incident that occurred at the end of the summer of 1853 in Cold Water Harbor ended with a relatively perfect result.

What people were most curious about now was the whereabouts of the 13th-level Ringed Shushi "God-Caller". The church believed that this Ringed Shushi obtained a method to treat himself in the fish-man's temple and recovered from the injuries he suffered when calling the god in Tobesk.

Therefore, the church was convinced that he would not leave the Old Continent for the New Continent. Although they didn't know which side the "God-Caller" belonged to, judging from his movement trajectory, this 13th-level Ringed Shushi was also interested in the 13 Chosen Ones in the prophecy of the 【Whispering Poetry】.

From this point of view, the church's deduction should be correct. It was just that they wanted to find Xia De, which would probably take some time. It was not a simple matter to connect the detective of St. Deran Square in Tobesk with the 13th-level Ringed Shushi fishing in Cold Water Harbor.

Xia De held the cat and thought about things. He didn't watch the sea view for long before Mr. Edmund, carrying a fishing rod, a water bucket in one hand, and a metal toolbox that could be used as a stool in the other, climbed up from the small path under the sea cliff.

His harvest today was quite good. Without the influence of abnormal sea tides, this old gentleman living by the sea showed astonishing fishing skills.

Approaching the lighthouse, he found that there were guests visiting. When Xia De turned around holding the cat, the old man showed a surprised expression on his face:

"Do I need to remind you that you are not wearing a mask on your face?"

"Do I need a mask? There are probably not many acquaintances that Old Dad John knows in Tobesk who can introduce business, and even fewer who can know the 【Light-Guiding Cultivation Society】. Combined with my height and build, you only need a few letters to easily judge who I am."

Xia De shrugged. He thought of this point when he ran to the lighthouse in the rain, but for that drop of divinity, it was worth it.

"No, actually I didn't have any intention of finding John to ask. Whether you are Hamilton of Lei Jiede or not, it doesn't matter to me."

The old man continued to climb upward with difficulty, carrying the water bucket and metal box. Xia De greeted him, put the cat on his shoulder, and helped Mr. Edmund carry the water bucket. Inside the iron water bucket, four fish with whiskers were swimming now. The clear water reflected the sunlight, allowing Xia De to see all the body details of these aquatic creatures.

Mia was very interested in these fish.

"The Cultivation Society has no interest in the secrets of trading partners, as long as you don't hinder us. Rest assured, young man, I won't mention your affairs to anyone, nor do I want to know what relationship you have with that God-Caller."

Arriving at the lighthouse with difficulty, the old man rummaged for keys in the brown vest full of pockets he wore while fishing. Just as he opened the door under the lighthouse, the cat locked in the lighthouse rushed out immediately.

"Meow~"

The Mia cat, which was originally well-behaved, immediately "roared". And that cat, which was much larger than Mia, actually took a step back because of this "roar", looking like it was frightened by Mia.

Xia De touched Mia and let it be quiet for a while.

Entering the lighthouse with Mr. Edmund, the old man tidied up his fishing gear before sitting down with Xia De to talk:

"The Cultivation Society is an organization formed to deal with the end of the world. As long as you don't hinder us from collecting and preserving information about civilization, and you don't have any ideas about destroying the world, then we can become friends. As for secrets, oh, young man, which Ringed Shushi doesn't have secrets? Even if you opened your mouth now and said you were the God-Caller, I wouldn't be surprised at all."

Xia De summoned his fate ring behind him:

"It's a pity, I am not."

"It is indeed a pity."

Mr. Edmund sighed regretfully:

"Originally I was looking forward to you being one, so I could have one more 13th-level trading partner."

He pulled the gas valve by the wall and warmed up hot water on the small fire stove.

"However, I do know that 13th-level Ringed Shushi. If there is a chance, I can introduce him to buy things here."

Xia De said. Seeing that the old man was noncommittal, he reached into his pocket and took out the leather book 【Mysteries of the Ocean】 that was absolutely impossible to stuff into his pocket without leaving a trace:

"This is the thing I promised you, the secret code of the Scarlet Secret Sect. After I entered the city that night, I found a node of the Sea Return Ceremony and attacked them with the help of friends, and got this."

He handed the book to Mr. Edmund. After the latter took it, he first got up and took out a paper bag containing paper money from the desk and returned it to Xia De, before sitting down and rubbing the book cover with his hands.

"This wouldn't be human skin, would it?"

Xia De asked with some worry.

"Of course not, this is the skin of a male gilded seahorse. There is a very small amount of gold in the feces of this magical creature. Although the amount is very small, raising gilded seahorses is one of the few ways in the material world to convert other substances into gold with almost no cost."

The old man explained, and the conversion of gold made Xia De think of the famous relic 【Philosopher's Stone】.

Mr. Edmund placed the big book on his lap, carefully opened it, and checked the chapters at will. Xia De amused himself by looking at the decorations inside the lighthouse.

This book was written in fish-man language and used fish-man language from more than one era. Xia De could understand all the content, while Mr. Edmund could only understand part of it. ===== CHAPTER 431 =====