Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

"Lady Carmen...?"

The fact that the highly respected saint, who put Iberia above all else, made such a decision surprised even Dario, his disciple.

"What's wrong, Dario?" The old man, addressed as Lord Carmen, looked at him without surprise, then smiled and said, "When faced with a choice, if both options are things you should do, then follow your own thoughts or find another way. That's what you taught this old man."

He then looked at Tomat, and with the same friendly smile devoid of hostility, and in a grateful tone, said:

"Thank you, outsider invited by Dario—or rather, Lord Tomat? The important intelligence you brought has made us realize the current situation, and this is a debt of gratitude that cannot be easily repaid."

"By the way, let me introduce myself. I am Carmen I. Iberia, Dario's teacher. They usually call me Saint Carmen, but you can call me whatever you like."

"However, I have many things to do right now, and I'm afraid we'll have to part ways soon. But I will never forget this kindness and will definitely express my gratitude to you."

Despite Dario seemingly having something else to say, and even showing signs of wanting to temporarily stop Saint Carmen from leaving—raising his hand at him while looking at Tomat—he was still standing nearby.

However, since Saint Carmen was already preparing to leave, he had no choice but to turn around and leave as well, leaving only a slightly apologetic nod.

Then both of them felt as if something had caught on the back of their collars and they stumbled.

"Hey."

The two of them heard a brief but resentful voice behind them at the same time. They turned around in surprise and saw Tomat reaching out and grabbing them by the back of their collars.

Elena turned around as well, but when she saw this scene, she could only stare wide-eyed and open her mouth, unable to utter a sound. She couldn't understand or believe what she was seeing.

Saints and the High Inquisitor were being pulled by their clothes without anyone noticing?

This was no longer a matter of disrespect—more importantly, the two men hadn't managed to break free, as if if Tomat had simply raised his hand, these two grown men would have been lifted into the air like chicks.

"Sir? What do you mean by this!?"

"Mr. Thomas!?"

The two gasps caused Tomat to release his grip, then he brought his face slightly closer to Dario and said in a rather authoritative tone and expression:

"You haven't answered my question yet. You said there are special Terror Fish, so you asked me to come and see them. Is it just this thing called Minghen? Is there nothing else? You said there are special ones, so at least they should be more special than those in Saltwind City."

Saint Carmen may have assumed that Tomat came here out of goodwill and to bring important intelligence, but Dario had not forgotten that Tomat came here to hunt the Terrorfish. He wanted to provide an answer, but since Saint Carmen had been speaking, he, as the Grand Inquisitor, should not interrupt him. Furthermore, he had received instructions for action and could not disregard his duties.

Although the method was awkward, it eventually brought the conversation back to the original topic.

“Ah… about this issue.” Dario first looked at Carmen, and only continued after seeing that she did not interfere. “Excluding the Netherworld Mark, most of the Terrorfish appear on the coast, generally outside the Punishment Army’s blockade. The main reason I contacted you is that I have recently discovered some unexpected changes in them.”

"They have shown a kind of puzzling evolutionary trend—they have become more frightening in appearance, while their aggressive tendencies have decreased, but their ability to resist attacks has increased significantly, as if they are preparing for some kind of long battle."

Although they didn't understand Tomat's actual purpose, the rest was explained by Carmen, who had a better understanding of the situation.

"Thinking about it now, it might also be the result of the Deep Sea Church's covert manipulation. Since we have become aware of this, it means that the situation has become serious to a certain extent—it is difficult to cover up, or perhaps they are very confident, just like this land covered by the Netherworld Mark beneath our feet."

After Carmen finished explaining, Tomat seemed to suddenly remember something and asked in return:

"I'm asking, does it look more like a skeleton or something? Basically, it looks intimidating, and it's so dry and thin that it doesn't look appetizing or worth eating?"

"...Indeed, many have developed hard organs similar to those in the human skull, while evolving their appearance as much as possible in the direction of the skeleton. As for 'lack of appetite,' please forgive me for thinking that analogy is a bit too confusing."

Carmen answered, while also pressing for an answer with considerable doubt:

"But how do you know these things? I remember that the letters Dario sent you and the samples of the dinosaurs did not show these characteristics."

These words seemed perfectly reasonable to Enelly or Carmen, who were observing from the sidelines.

Judging from the content, this is simply out of curiosity about Tomat's prophetic words and actions, which allowed him to know the specific changes in the local fleas without ever having seen them.

But after a moment of surprise, Tomat smiled slightly.

Then he looked at Dario, who was expressionless—or rather, frozen in place:

"Ah, I understand."

Thomas said with a smile.

"You...you came all this way just to get me to help deal with the terror fish..."

Then his tone suddenly became extremely calm:

So you tricked me?

[Event] Fool's Past: Chapter Thirteen - The Taste of Fear

After meeting Tomat in Saltwind, Dalio was somewhat shaken.

Of course, what wavered was not his piety towards Iberia, but his consideration of how the incident was handled.

If he were to handle the situation in Saltwind City, half the city would probably sink, but that would be the best response he could manage within his capabilities.

This celebrity, with his peculiar tastes and extraordinary abilities, could handle the situation very well with just a few Agor followers, simply because they possessed overwhelming power far exceeding that of the Inquisitors.

They are indeed very well-suited to handling situations that require sufficient force to resolve.

Therefore, after learning about the situation in Granfalo, when faced with the suddenly evolving and unexplained Terrorfish, he envisioned the worst-case scenario after the fall of Granfalo.

Then I thought of Tomat.

The other party is not someone I can command—and even pleading for their help might not guarantee it.

My connection with him was nothing more than a joking promise I made to "invite you to taste the seafood of Iberia".

But Dario didn't seem to think of any other reason to re-establish contact with Tomat.

The other party has no interest in monetary or political benefits, as we have already witnessed in Saltwind City. So let's invite them using what outsiders might find incomprehensible: the "fear of fish appearing."

The recipient is a glutton, and the emaciated dinosaurs might not interest him. So let's avoid mentioning it in the letter. As for the dinosaurs sent, let's catch the ones that haven't started to transform yet.

In that case, the other party probably won't realize there's a problem before they arrive.

By then, since we're already here, we should swallow our pride and ask him for help in dealing with the dinosaur crisis. Maybe he won't mind that the dinosaur only has bones, right?

Clearly, things did not go as smoothly as Dario had hoped.

Putting aside the Deepsea Hunters, the extensive infiltration by the Netherworld Mark has caught them completely off guard.

The crisis is not only on the shore, but also beneath our feet.

Dario had no doubt that Tomat had the ability to prevent the fall, but what could he do in the face of a city that had already fallen?

Moreover, Dario now has more to worry about than that.

That is, how to respond to Tomat now.

After all, he seemed even more... "angry" than expected after learning the truth.

Perhaps Tomat's anger only leaked out for less than a fraction of a second, and it wasn't even reflected in his expression.

But those around him—a saint, two judges, and an elderly local man—clearly saw that when Tomat said, “You tricked me,” the ground beneath his feet cracked slightly.

And this is only what is visible to the naked eye; much more so are the indescribable "bizarre changes."

The air seemed to freeze, and the sea breeze almost stopped.

Whether they were present or not, all the creatures within an unknown radius of Granfalo seemed to have stopped their current activities for a moment.

They were awakened to some emotion etched deep in their genes.

fear.

Before the earliest ancestors of all things differentiated into various species, their instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm contained the most basic understanding of the emotion of "fear".

Like the tension and pressure of having one's heart gripped, everyone's hearing seemed to perceive only an eerie silence, a profound stillness as if even "silence" would turn into noise in the brain, a deathly stillness where even tranquility would turn into clamor, and all things cease to exist.

The mind is blanked out at this moment, and thinking stops.

But it was also filled with strange, inexplicable doubts—what was capturing my gaze? What was drawing my consciousness?

Can I breathe? Can my heart beat? Can I live?

He's angry! He's furious! What is He going to do?!

But... what is He?

At this moment, everything around us that could be called a living being seemed to have experienced everything from its birth to the present.

However, this lengthy subjective experience only occupies less than 0.1 seconds of real time.

"Forget it."

It wasn't until Thomas's words rang out that people seemed to regain consciousness of their bodies, and time resumed its normal rate of flow.

"Ah... I'm sorry, it seems you've already realized that."

"Hmm...that's incredible."

"Why do I suddenly feel like my mind is wandering? And why can't I understand what the teacher is saying..."

People who had lost their voices were able to speak again.

The sea breeze was blowing across the square once again.

Those outside the area seemed to have also noticed the inexplicable yet fleeting feeling they had just experienced. Some were puzzled and then put it aside, while others exchanged smiles and complained that it was too much of a coincidence that they had both been lost in thought.

In order to prevent the most fundamental fear of death from affecting normal survival, the brain selectively processes past events.

But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

"Huh... what's going on!? Why has my lantern dimmed!?"

Upon regaining her senses, Elena immediately noticed that the lantern at her waist had dimmed. As an important piece of equipment for the Inquisitor, any abnormality in it should not be taken lightly.

"...This is the first time this has happened, but I think I know why."

Saint Carmen did not show any particular surprise.

The flame of the lantern represents the judges' unwavering will.

Some are dim and lifeless, while others are like blazing fire.

But at this moment, the lanterns of the three men shone with an unusually uniform light, all as hazy as the sun in the fog.

Objects are honest; even if the body has forgotten many things, they still truthfully record what happened on their body.

That was their "unwavering will," which was almost ravaged to nothing by their brief burst of anger.

People can only be thankful that this anger did not last, nor did it escalate into any real action.

“Take me to the shore and have a look. You are the people in charge here, and that place is an important location according to your rules. If you come with me, it will save you some trouble.”

Tomat said to Dario, and then, as if to allay Carmen's concerns, continued: