[Daily Mission: "Fishing Brings Surprises" (Challenge) has been completed.]
"You two flew here from outside Ragunna, right?"
On a gondola fishing boat, Noah pulled the unconscious Galbrena up and placed her on the other side of the boat. He then spoke to the lion-headed, goat-horned, snake-bodied Tacet Discord floating in the air.
"What is wrong with this unlucky kid?"
"Hmm?"
The Chimera looked at Noah in surprise. It did not answer right away and instead asked back,
"Why are you not afraid of me?"
As soon as it spoke, it saw the young man in front of it actually smile.
A Tacet Discord was asking a Tacet Discord killing machine why he was not afraid of it.
Noah naturally knew the Chimera.
As the first creation of Leviathan, this Maodie had hissed at Leviathan the moment it was created and was locked away for several hundred years. Because of that, it held a deep grudge against Leviathan.
Sixteen years ago, the Chimera met Angel, who was being swallowed by the Dark Tide in Murmurstown—Angelwho later became Galbrena—and only then did it escape confinement.
"Maodie, answer my question first. Then I will answer yours."
"Hmph. You dare to bargain? What nerve." The Chimera gave a disdainful smile.
"Looks like I need to teach you a lesson first so you learn to listen obediently."
Half a minute later.
A blue goat-horn basketball spun freely in Noah's hands, constantly making intimate contact with the gondola under his feet.
Bounce, land, bounce again.
"I will talk! I will say everything! Stop already!"
The Chimera felt extremely wronged.
If it used its full power on this gondola, the boat would be destroyed and Galbrena would fall into the sea. But if it did not use its full power, it simply could not beat the person in front of it.
"I was hungry for too long, so I ate part of Galbrena's soul frequency. Her mind could not withstand the impact, so she fell unconscious."
"So that is what happened."
Noah released the Chimera and looked at Galbrena, who was still unconscious and occasionally coughing up seawater. He could not help feeling a little awkward.
The Galbrena in the original story had never been this miserable.
It must have been because he had wiped out the surrounding Tacet Discords too cleanly earlier. Galbrena's speed at killing them could not keep up with the Chimera's eating speed, which led to the current situation.
"Wait here. My main body will come join you soon and take you to kill some Tacet Discords so you can recover."
"What do you mean? You are only a clone right now?" the Chimera cried out in shock.
"Yes."
Looking at the still-unconscious Galbrena, Noah rubbed his hands, feeling great joy in his heart.
A Calamity-class powerhouse who acted alone, unbound by rules, had a sense of justice, and loved hunting Tacet Discords just like him.
This was simply his destined teammate!
Galbrena, please be sure to join my team!
"This direction is closest to my teleport anchor. There are also three Tacet Discords along the way. I will send them to you as a pre-meal dessert first."
Finally the gondola reached the shore. Noah jumped off first and charged out. Not long after, he returned carrying three half-dead Vitreum Dancer Tacet Discords and tossed them in front of the Chimera.
"Eat."
The moment the words left his mouth, the Chimera opened its mouth. The three Vitreum Dancer Tacet Discords instantly turned into frequency and were sucked in, disappearing without a trace.
"Not even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth." It glanced at Galbrena not far away and added,
"At least twenty more would be needed to barely make up for the soul she lost earlier—are you mute? Why are you not speaking?"
"I found that some things are different from what I thought."
Noah stared silently at the empty ground, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Maodie, where is my Echo?"
"What child?"
"Echo! My Echo! Where did the Vitreum Dancer Echo go?"
Hearing Noah's questioning, the Chimera looked completely baffled.
"I ate the entire Tacet Discord. How could there be any Echo left?"
Noah was so angry he laughed, but he still held onto one last hope.
"Maodie, tell me. For Tacet Discords like this, how many can your stomach handle in one day?"
"That depends on my mood."
Even though the nickname "Maodie" was strange, the Chimera did not mind and simply treated it as some kind of local affectionate term. It explained to Noah,
"For Tacet Discords like this, when I am in a good mood, I can keep eating all day."
"What if you are in a bad mood?"
"Then my appetite doubles."
The proud words had just left its mouth when the Chimera saw uncontrollable killing intent explode in Noah's eyes.
"Cough, cough!"
On the gondola, Galbrena coughed violently and spat out several mouthfuls of seawater. Her hazy consciousness gradually cleared.
"Where is this?"
Her blurred vision slowly focused. The faces of one person and one lion entered her eyes.
Noah: "You are awake?"
Chimera: "Congratulations on meeting a good person. This guy said he will take you to kill Tacet Discords."
Noah: "I did not!"
...
Porto-Veno Castle.
"So this is the Civilization Casket bestowed by the Sentinel."
Cantarella examined the exquisite object in her hands, her gaze deeply drawn to it.
This was the Civilization Casket belonging to Rinascita. Its importance was no less than the imperial jade seal of Huanglong.
"The Sentinel said to hand the Civilization Casket to the next Main Seat of the Order."
Cartethyia rested her cheeks in both hands, her brows slightly furrowed.
"But among those candidates, I only know Phoebe. I do not know any of the others. Handing it over like this makes me feel uneasy. What do you think?"
"You might as well ask Noah."
Cantarella gently placed the Civilization Casket back on the table and offered a suggestion to Cartethyia.
"From our experience in the Inverted High Tower last time, I found that he seems to know things from birth. He always knows which direction to go and always finds the best solution when something happens."
"You are right!"
Cartethyia's eyes lit up at once.
"In Septimont the Laureate was the same. His judgment never went wrong. If he is the one who chooses the person, even if that person is not the Main Seat, the Sentinel will definitely approve."
"Call him to Porto-Veno Castle. We can discuss it together."
"Alright!"
Cartethyia no longer hesitated. She opened her terminal and sent a photo of the Civilization Casket to Noah.
[Cartethyia: Laureate, do you have time? I want to see you.]
[Noah: Tomorrow. I am busy today.]
"Ah—"
Seeing the reply, Cartethyia immediately let out a wail and collapsed sideways onto the soft sofa, resting her head on Cantarella's white-stockinged thigh.
"The Laureate does not want to see me today."
"..." Cantarella tugged at the corner of her mouth.
Was there some kind of monster in the Fisalia Family's Porto-Veno Castle? That person always had an excuse not to come.
...
Bang! A gunshot rang out.
Slurp! A swallowing sound followed.
Crack! A heart broke.
Noah's main body was leading Galbrena and the Chimera in killing wild Tacet Discords.
Every time a Tacet Discord entered the Chimera's stomach, his heart ached as if it were bleeding.
If that Tacet Discord had turned into an Echo, would it have been a double-crit +10% skill damage +10% attack +10% resonance efficiency five-effective Echo?
"It has been a long time since I killed this happily."
"It has been a long time since I ate this satisfyingly."
Galbrena and the Chimera were in high spirits and quickly walked up to Noah.
[Limited Banner "From the Ashes" and "Light and Shadow Twins" have been activated.]
As Noah's main body approached Galbrena, her banner information also appeared at the bottom of his vision.
Should he pull for Galbrena?
If it had been the old Noah, he would have carefully analyzed the character's strength and the advantages and disadvantages of a fire team before deciding whether to pull.
But the current Noah did not need any of that analysis to make up his mind—
No pull! He would rather die than pull!
Galbrena's current resonance ability was similar to Phrolova's. The difference was that Phrolova was bound to The Lost Beyond, while Galbrena was bound to the Chimera and various other Tacet Discords.
Pulling for Galbrena would either give him the Chimera or create an extra Chimera.
Neither result was something he could accept.
"I know you, Mr. Noah."
Galbrena spoke solemnly.
"I have watched the clips of you splitting the sky with one sword and wiping out most of the Dark Tide creations. You are a very powerful person."
"To be honest, I have also been secretly searching for your whereabouts, but I never succeeded. I think our goals are roughly the same."
"So even though this is our first meeting, I still have an unreasonable request—"
Seeing her serious attitude, Noah's expression also grew solemn.
"What unreasonable request? Speak."
"Mr. Noah, please be sure to join my team!"
"..."
Noah fell silent for a long time and could not say a single word.
Lady, please do not repay kindness with enmity. Thank you.
Before meeting Galbrena, he had actually been looking forward to recruiting her as his teammate.
After meeting Galbrena, he no longer thought that way.
This was not a teammate. This was clearly a Threnodian sent to eat his resources and drag down his growth.
"Um…"
Finally, under Galbrena's expectant gaze, Noah opened his mouth.
"I am quite familiar with the boss of the Black Shores. How about I specially recruit you into the Black Shores as a Bloom Bearer?"