Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

Coming back to his senses from his reminiscence, the old man solemnly reminded him:

"However, be mindful of your behavior during this time. The Punishment Army has their eyes on this place for some reason. Don't let this rare vacation turn into a torturous interrogation."

Thank you, I will.

Tomat thanked the old man, stood up, nodded to him, and walked to the other side of the square.

This wasn't because he was annoyed by the old man's admonitions and reminders, but because the person he was waiting for had arrived.

The old man followed Tomat's footsteps and looked in that direction.

Suddenly, three figures dressed similarly appeared in a corner of the square.

Three lanterns hung at their waists, and three rapiers were sheathed at their sides.

Everyone in Iberia knows who they are, yet feels utterly unfamiliar with them.

Because they shouldn't be here, and people certainly don't want to meet them.

"Judge!?"

The old man watched as Tomat walked toward the three men and cried out their identities in terror. The rest of the people in the square fell silent for a moment, and then panic, like a stone thrown into a calm pond, suddenly stirred up waves.

The three judges arrived in Granfalo without any prior notice from the Punishing Army.

And people definitely don't want to recall what they did after they last came here.

[Event] Fool's Tale: Chapter Eleven - One Bad News, and One Worse News

I just reminded tourists not to get involved with the punitive forces.

He then walked straight up to the three men dressed as judges.

The old man was beginning to regret striking up a conversation with Tomat out of kindness.

But seemingly influenced by some inner force, the old man did not flee like the others who had rushed away upon seeing the judge. Instead, he stood still and watched from afar as Tomat met the three men.

An elderly man dressed as a judge stood in the center, but the one who stepped forward to negotiate was a younger-looking Dario, with another familiar face behind him.

That was Elene, the junior judge who worked with D'Aleo in Saltwind City.

The old man scrutinized Tomat, Dario remained calm, while Eleanor seemed to have a lot to say—hopefully she didn't want to ask about the Rookie Knight.

“We saw an aircraft enter the outskirts of Granfalo, and at the same time, we were informed that a man had entered Granfalo with three Agor women... Was it you?”

"Yeah, you didn't say we couldn't bring people, right?"

This answer made Dario adjust his hat to cover his eyes, clearly indicating that he had some reservations about this unauthorized action.

But he didn't directly say whether he allowed it or not; instead, he immediately moved on to the next topic.

"The three Agors parted ways with you after entering the town. What were they doing?"

"They said there are companions with you, so go and look for them. There's nothing to worry about."

Upon hearing the word "comrade," Dario pressed for an answer:

"A companion...a Deepsea Hunter? There are Deepsea Hunters in Granfarore?"

The old man next to her raised his eyebrows, and Elena could hardly hide her surprise; clearly, this information was not something they had.

"Probably. Skadi's perception is the best among the three, so she's unlikely to be wrong."

As Tomat answered, Eleanor also spoke to Dario:

"Teacher... According to intelligence, the Punishment Army has not found any similar clues, only confirming a small amount of information about the activities of the Deep Sea Church."

The actions of any deep-sea hunter should be strictly monitored; this is an explicit law of the Iberian Tribunal.

The Agorians caused the Great Stillness, bringing disaster to Iberia. Similarly, the deep-sea hunters, as Agorian biological weapons, are extremely dangerous.

The fact that an unknown deep-sea hunter was operating right under their noses was absolutely invaluable intelligence.

"Let them handle it themselves. It's not a big deal anyway. Just treat it as a get-together for friends."

But Tomat not only informed them of this information, he did so in a very casual way.

"More important than that is the 'terror fish.' You said you discovered a special kind of terror fish and wanted me to try it, but if they're all the kind that live in the ground, don't blame me for getting angry."

Elena made an incredulous listening motion: "You just said 'try it'?"

"You mean the terror fish in the soil?" But the old man noticed something else. "Have you already seen the Nether Trace? And there are more Nether Trace appearing on the surface? Please tell us the exact location. We need to notify the Punishment Army immediately, otherwise, once they start multiplying, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"Minghen? Is that what you call them?" In contrast to the old man's suddenly serious tone, Tomat remained unhurried and replied, "Anyway, that stuff is awful. It's nowhere near as good as the stuff from Saltwind City. Don't tell me that your only new discovery is that stuff."

Thomas added, "Also, it wasn't on the surface; we dug it out because we felt there was something strange underground, and when we looked, it was all that stuff."

Ennily continued muttering beside him, clearly taken aback by Thomas's shocking remark: "Eat a dinosaur? It tastes awful? Eat that kind of thing...?"

At this moment, Dalio raised his hand, gesturing to interrupt the conversation. He then took several seconds to compose himself before saying:

"So, you dug the Minghen out of the ground? And then ate it?"

"correct."

Thomas answered matter-of-factly.

"Dario, your friend is quite interesting."

The old man patted Dario on the shoulder.

"Can I interpret this as your anger?"

Dario, however, remained frozen in place.

“…Phew.” He took a deep breath and continued, “And then what?”

He was prepared to hear worse results, such as the answer that "the Netherworld has already spread to this point."

"Nothing much. Those things just stay underground and don't move at all. If you hadn't told me, I would have thought they were just moldy."

"what?"

This time, Dario and the old man looked at each other in bewilderment.

"No proliferation?"

"No."

"No ferocious fish appeared?"

"No."

"No buildings melted down?"

"No."

This isn't right!

The two found it hard to believe that what Tomat said was the same kind of Minghen they knew.

The exact time of the appearance of the Netherworld Mark is impossible to determine, but it is a result observed in recent years.

The fluorescent aggregates appeared from the nearshore area. At first, the punitive forces guarding the coast thought it was just a common outbreak of plankton, but later they discovered that it was a new form of dinosaur.

They are both the nests where the terror fish hatch and the terror fish themselves. They plunder nutrients through erosion to give birth to more terror fish, and they also reabsorb dying terror fish, turning them into part of the Netherworld.

This form of dinosaur greatly accelerated their nutrient recycling efficiency and evolution speed, acting as a front-line base for dinosaurs, constantly producing and transforming new dinosaur armies.

The Minghen is never something that remains stable after being observed. Generally speaking, the appearance of its figure only means that a terrible and tough battle is about to begin.

Is Tomat lying?

But he clearly had no need to do so.

"This thing is either conscious and can decide whether to act or not, but the probability is very low, or someone is controlling it from behind. You can see this thing causing destruction everywhere because the mastermind wants you to see it, or thinks it doesn't matter if you are seen."

Alene finally recovered from her shocking statement and countered Tomat's reasoning by asking, "But what's your basis for saying that? From our perspective, it's always been the Netherworld that tries to invade the land, only to be discovered and eliminated in time."

"You just said... you dug up a Netherworld Mark? Where did you find it?"

However, the old man still sensed something amiss in Tomat's words, rather than refuting them with what the Punishers had observed.

“You can’t find it anywhere, starting from the coastline.” Tomat pointed in a direction far from the town. “I estimate that the underground within a radius of fifty or sixty kilometers is full of this stuff.”

As he spoke, Tomat quickly drew a square about 20 to 30 centimeters long and wide on the ground of the square with his hand, then inserted his finger directly into it and pulled upwards—the marble and the deeper rock blocks were pulled out by Tomat with smooth cut surfaces, and the deep cross-section was clearly covered with traces of Netherworld Mark.

"We all mistakenly believed that the Netherworld originated from the sea... but it has already spread to the land? Are the repeated attacks from the ocean by the Netherworld just to mislead us?"

Dario suddenly realized the gravity of the situation.

The attacks that came from the sea in the past made them believe that as long as they blocked them on the coastline, they could protect the inland areas. They also thought that the Netherworld Mark was like those low-level terror fish, and once it was generated, it would attack the land mindlessly. Thus, they assumed that "once the Netherworld Mark exists, it will inevitably launch a visible attack".

This misconception allowed the Netherworld Marks, which did not actively manifest and launch the terror fish attack, to gradually spread underground and eventually erode the entire Granfalo.

A small group of frenzied attacks can be mistaken for the whole, allowing the real main force to bypass the guards and spread gradually.

Either it possesses the intelligence to carry out feints, or the manipulator of Minghen has cunning methods that were previously unmatched by the bishops of the Deep Sea Church.

Neither of these situations should be viewed optimistically.

"Fifty or sixty kilometers...this town and the surrounding Punishment Army positions are already surrounded, aren't they?"

The old man also realized the seriousness of the situation; Granfalo was now on the verge of collapse.

[Event] Fool's Tale: Chapter Twelve - Are You Lying to Me?

The existence of the deep-sea hunters went undetected.

The infiltration of the Netherworld was silent and stealthy.

While the court believed it was using tight patrols to curb the Deep Sea Church's activities and powerful firepower to suppress the monstrous fish that had come ashore, those behind the scenes seemed to have already completed an even more sinister plan.

"...There's no need to verify anymore." The old man frowned, staring intently at the Netherworld Mark that Tomat had dug out, and ordered Dario in a serious tone, "Immediately contact the Inquisition headquarters and send more support, as well as additional support at the Grand Inquisitor level. The Punishment Army in the Granfalo region is now finding it very difficult to even protect itself."

The Iberian authorities have repeatedly argued that the military deployment in the Granfalo region is a waste of resources, even though it is very close to the Iberian Eye, the only remaining operational lighthouse in the region, and could serve as a landing harbor. The observed "crisis" is simply not enough to warrant the presence of several legions and high-ranking officials.

Some even believe that it doesn't matter if Granfalo falls, because lighting up the Eye of Iberia was an impossible plan to begin with. Rather than having a bunch of people stationed there, it would be better to abandon this area and deploy troops to more urgent and important places.

Just like the salt-wind city of the past.

"Perhaps there are other places in Iberia that need support more, but I cannot stand idly by in the face of the evil before me, nor can I watch this town become a den of evil again. Moreover, choosing to start with what is at hand, rather than abandoning what can be saved in the name of some so-called macroeconomy, is not a bad thing."

Even though he understood the urgency of the situation, the old man's eyes still shone with unwavering determination.