Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

The aircraft switched to a low-altitude, quiet flight mode, which slowed it down considerably, giving people more time to observe the town.

The town is not large, with the sea on one side and wetlands on the other. The soil, which is high in salinity and rich in water, has only a few low yellow shrubs scattered around. In the higher part of the town, but a little further away, you can see fortress-like buildings with high walls standing alone, with the Iberian flag flying on them.

"Ok?"

On the way to the town, Skadi, who had been gazing absently at the sea, seemed to sense something. She turned her head toward the town and looked at each building with a slightly puzzled expression.

"What's wrong, Skadi?"

Specter noticed Skadi's reaction and asked.

Skadi replied, "I don't know if it's just my imagination, but it seems like there are some of our companions in this town."

Goredia opened her eyes: "A survivor?"

Skadi nodded: "Possibly. Since the Iberian authorities have confirmed the presence of Terrorfish in this area, it wouldn't be surprising if other Deepsea Hunters appeared here. After all, the three of us survived, so there's no reason why others can't."

Upon hearing these words, Tomat also said, "Then you should go find your companions first. Anyway, you're all in the same place. There's no rush to catch the Terrorfish. Once you land, you can each do your own thing."

At this point, Tomat remembered something important.

Although Grand Inquisitor Dario invited him to Granfalo, he seemed to make no mention of where they would meet.

Tomat hadn't made a point of remembering the other's presence, so he naturally didn't know where he was—it seemed he could only try to sense the presence while searching for Dario to join him.

[Event] Fool's Tale: Chapter Seven - The Way I Once Hoped

"Seventeen years have passed since we first discovered the deep-sea bishop here, and the incursions of the terror fish have never ceased."

"But the situation in Granfalo has never been more dire than it is now; the dinosaurs appearing on the coast are changing...or rather, evolving at an alarming rate."

"Now that their gods have long since fallen silent, only deliberately guided external stimuli can cause them to undergo significant changes."

"Therefore, it can be concluded that the remnants of the deep sea faith are still active in Granfalo, and there may be a new bishop influencing the sea descendants."

"But Granfalo must not fall. The secret that this city guards, the last eye of Iberia... must not be harmed. It is the last hope of us Iberians."

"It's ironic that we prospered because of the Agors' technology, then fell into decline because of their actions, and now we have to rely on their technology again."

A robust old man holding a lantern stood on the watchtower of the Punisher's Fortress near Granfallow.

His white beard and aged face were glistening with dew in the morning mist. He stood straight, as unwavering as a statue.

The old man's eyes were still sharp as he gazed at the coast of Gran Farrow.

He turned around and looked at another man behind him, dressed similarly—Dario, the Grand Inquisitor who had appeared in Saltwind City.

The old man continued his story, but his tone had shifted from calm narration to a slightly questioning one.

“Dario, I’m getting old. Some things haven’t changed, but when faced with new attempts or situations that have never been done before, I can’t help but be a bit long-winded—or wary.”

“I know better than anyone that you understand the importance of the Eye of Iberia, just as I do, and that the secret of the Golden Fleet is hidden in this sea. That’s why I’m puzzled by your decision made in your personal capacity.”

"'Tomat'—is he really someone worth 'inviting'?"

Dalio paused for a moment, then calmly said:

"I think everything that happened in Saltwind City is enough to answer that question."

The old man replied, “He is capable enough. His reputation—or rather, his infamy—is already well-known. 'He can solve problems' is a question that needs no further questioning. Logically speaking, asking him for help is indeed a reasonable choice. And there is no need to worry about the so-called 'secret' being discovered, because he probably doesn’t care about the existence of the Terrorfish and the Sea Child at all.”

The old man abruptly changed the subject: "Then what about 'emotionally'?"

Dario calmly stated, "The Grand Inquisitor should not harbor personal biases; everything should be done to uphold the purity and glory of Iberia."

The old man smiled and said, "Just as you invited him here in your personal capacity, if I were to set aside my identity as an Iberian saint and ask you about your decision in the name of 'the old man who once guided you,' what kind of answer would you give me?"

A fleeting hesitation crossed Dario's mind as he hung the lantern at his waist, then said with a hint of helplessness:

"He can do the things we want to do but can't."

“We have given up many things in many situations where we were powerless, and most of those were not situations where we had to choose one or the other.”

"We chose the 'more necessary thing' simply because we were too powerless to do both."

Those who fail to control the situation are forced to make choices due to the status quo, while also facing the test of 'being able to stay true to their beliefs'.

"Some people broke down, some persevered, and some sacrificed themselves. These different outcomes all occurred in the same kind of event—something that could have been resolved smoothly as long as there was enough power."

“I do not hold contempt or doubt for the sacrifices of our predecessors, nor do I define their strength as ‘weak’. I simply feel that if we can avoid those unnecessary trade-offs, why continue to cling to ‘great sacrifices’ and refuse better ways of handling things?”

After hearing this answer, the old man pondered for a moment, then slowly said:

“Dario, do you see in him the person you once aspired to be? Just like the young judge beside you now.”

Silence represents acknowledgment.

Almost all the judges initially swore an oath to defend Iberia with great enthusiasm.

They all wanted to become powerful enough to defeat any evil, so that no one would be hurt, their problems would be perfectly solved, or they were prepared to make a glorious sacrifice, regarding the decision to "give up their own lives" in desperate situations as an honor worth aspiring to.

But they later realized that they could not become such powerful beings. Evil was rampant, and life was fleeting. The will to pass on the torch would also face all kinds of tormenting tests.

Even the act of "sacrifice," which was once fantasized about as an honor, is experienced in a completely different way when actually faced with it.

Because sometimes they not only have to decide whether to sacrifice themselves, but also whether to sacrifice others—and the party being sacrificed often doesn't see it as a great act.

After all, it was merely an act of abandonment forced upon them by circumstances beyond their control.

The abandoned do not feel honor; they feel only confusion, pain, helplessness, and hatred.

They will only die because of decisions made by others, decisions for which they themselves do not even understand.

Even if a relatively good result is achieved, the judges will still be confused.

It prevented the harm from spreading further, but it also made so many people unwillingly pay with their lives. It made us realize the inadequacy of our strength and understand how naive and childish we were to regard the sacrifice of the small to save the big as an honor.

Of course, Dario had experienced far too many things like this while fighting for Iberia, and so had the old man before him.

Even though they were unwilling, they had no choice but to persist. It wasn't that they didn't want things to be better, but that this was the only way they could do it.

The old man countered, "Do you intend to rely on the power of outsiders?"

Dario did not answer directly: "Although Granfalo suffered heavy losses as much as other places infested with dinosaurs, we defended the purity and honor of Iberia and did not allow outsiders who were capable of solving the problem to get involved. In the past, we struggled to solve the problem ourselves because others could not help us, but now, I cannot use that idea to evade the sacrifices that could have been avoided."

The old man continued to press on unhurriedly: "You understand what it means to let outsiders intervene in national affairs. You've saved some people and done a good job in the present, but for the whole of Iberia, can this be considered 'done well'?"

Faced with this question, one they had always used to weigh the "necessity of sacrifice," Dario's answer remained remarkably firm:

"That's why I invited him, because I know very well that he has no interest in getting involved in state affairs and will not use it as a bargaining chip for personal gain."

Dario was certain that Tomat had no interest in that.

A person obsessed with power and intrigue would not have taken those actions in Saltwind City.

"...So, he's not the villain of rumors, but a true saint, a powerful being whose motives cannot be judged by worldly interests?"

"A strong person that one aspires to become?"

At the same time, the faint hum of the engine reached their ears, and the two devout Iberian warriors looked up, their eyes meeting those of Tomat, who flashed past inside the vehicle.

[Event] Fool's Day Stories: Chapter Eight: Highly Intelligent Marine Animals

The vehicle slowly landed in the open area. As it slowed down and reduced noise as it approached, the people living on the outskirts of the town did not find anything strange about these people who had entered the town.

However, for the small town of Granfalo, the appearance of new faces is surprising enough.

The residents here are mainly Liberians. Apart from the young people and women, most of the middle-aged people are burly men, and it is clear that they were all manual laborers who had endured the sun and rain at the port.

However, these seemingly rude people did not immediately step forward to question the unfamiliar faces upon seeing them in the city. Instead, they watched Tomat and his group from a distance with wary eyes.

Clearly, they weren't identifying faces, but rather observing features—whether they had animal ears, tails, or horns.

Seemingly realizing that only Tomat among the group had a tail similar to Felin's, while the other three had no distinguishing features, the people's guarded gaze turned into panic. They then quickly averted their eyes and returned to their respective homes.

Within minutes, the small street on the edge of the town that the four of them had stepped onto had become an empty alley with only the salty sea breeze blowing through it.

"Let's part ways here. Didn't you say your companions were here?"

At the first fork in the road, Tomat seemed to sense something, then turned in a direction that did not lead deeper into the town, and proposed the idea of ​​splitting up.

The remaining three nodded, and Goredia even reminded her two colleagues, "Most of the townspeople in Iberia are not very friendly to the Agors, so try to keep a low profile and avoid causing any trouble."

In the past, Goredia would not have cared about other people's opinions, especially the foolish gazes of those who made judgments based on ignorance. She would not even bother to avoid or clarify them, and would simply focus on doing what she was supposed to do.

However, he has now been influenced by Tomat to some extent and has chosen a more conservative approach.

Ghost Shark turned its head and slightly raised its head. Sensing the gaze of others, Ghost Shark happened to meet a peeping tom on the second floor of a nearby building.

Seeing the other person hastily draw the curtains, she said with a contemptuous smile, "What a pointless feud. If it weren't for us, the whole of Iberia wouldn't have had the chance to survive in the Great Tranquility."

Tomat remained silent, but did not leave immediately. He and Skadi were exchanging brief words, seemingly sensing something unusual.

"Can you feel it?"

"Yes, they're everywhere, but mainly on the ground."

Their conversation caught the attention of Goreia and Specter, but before they could ask, Tomateskati spoke up:

"Can you feel it? There's a strange aura around us, not just in the scattered individuals along the coast and in the cities, but mainly in this whole land."

She crouched down and pressed her hand onto the ground—the compacted concrete and cracked tiles were like a freshly made pudding, which she easily scooped up in the shape of her palm.

The three of them carefully examined its cross-section. Inside, besides the man-made building materials, they could see wriggling spots that shimmered with a deep blue light, like sticky mold.

The familiar fishy stench emanated from the deep-sea hunters, a scent that could not be detected by conventional sense of smell, but rather something like pheromones that only they could perceive.

"The smell of the ocean...?" Ghost Shark looked at the shallow pit Skadi had dug with a slightly puzzled expression, where there were also many similar blue spots.

"Could it be..." Goddess reached out her hand, and with the flick of her wrist, the air was stirred into a small, visible vortex, which, like a drilling machine, continued to penetrate deeper into the pit. Then she lifted her hand, and a cylindrical clod of soil was pulled directly out of the pit, its cross-section as smooth and clear as that of a professional soil fault sampling tool.

She pulled up at least two meters of soil—and even at the very bottom, traces of those blue patches were still visible.

"...I'm afraid this city has been infiltrated by some special form of terror fish. They seem to reside deep in the soil, secretly reproducing and expanding like a colony of bacteria," Goredia concluded. "This town has already fallen; all it lacks is some kind of trigger to make them active."

“I don’t think these slimy things have the wisdom to control their instincts. They should follow their boring instincts and eat whatever they see. The dinosaurs all come from the ocean, and now there are traces of them even in the soil on the edge of the town, which means that the entire city has been completely covered. But they are very obedient and keep quiet…” Ghost Shark also made his own judgment on everything he saw. “It’s a joke to say that there is no deep-sea church causing trouble here.”

Skadi looked into the depths of the town, then said:

"Then let's act quickly. Since the entire town has been covered, it's very likely that the mastermind is about to finish up. In addition, the fact that the Grand Inquisitor invited him at this time... indicates that something is wrong."

As she spoke, Skadi glanced at Tomat, who was staring intently at the dinosaurs in the soil that Goredia had dug out.

Although Tomat may indeed have only come to "appreciate the Terrorfish," everyone knew that the Grand Inquisitor's invitation was definitely to resolve the Terrorfish's troubles.