Chapter 678: 678

Lucy was floating two meters above the pink-colored sea, her eyes lingering on the spot Arthur dove in three minutes ago . Another sixty seconds crept by before Arthur appeared next to her, drenched in water and a bit pale-faced .

He quickly dried himself before clicking his tongue and saying,

"After all, it's not possible . I tried both Dark Magic and the Hell flames but they had no effect on the water . I can't see even see properly . "

He shook his head then looked at an island several kilometers away from them . It has been four days since their encounter with the Bradaris and the woman's group . They continued advancing and getting closer to Makaze but they reached a point where they have to go under the pink sea, which, apparently, wasn't feasible without the help of a common fish known as the 'Retour-poisson' .

It's a massive fish able to travel freely inside this dangerous region and can coat itself and the passengers on it so they can explore what's below these calm yet dangerous waters . It's considered as a domestic beast and many managed to train it and hire it for travelers for an exorbitant sum .

Arthur had previously thought that his incredible defense and his large arsenal of skills would allow him to swim freely . However, it wasn't the case, unfortunately . Even after he transformed into a shark, fish, or even a whale, he would still lose Health at an alarming rate and his Mental Power would decrease exponentially .

Forced to imitate the other travelers, the couple landed on a relatively large island that had a bustling city in its center . The island was called 'The Whale's mouth' and it's, apparently, ruled by a famous organization known especially in the System Universe .

This organization is separate from the system and its advanced spaceships and robots, nonetheless, it has a big amount of players working for it, there are even cultivators willing to do some odd jobs for some special treasures or access to certain forbidden places, either in the Rose Sea or other danger zones .

This organization, also known as the Bull's Eye Enterprise has stationed two overseers in the Whale's mouth, though they were mainly in charge of selling or renting the Retour Poisson to travelers or selling rare metals and ores . It's not a strategical place as there weren't many merchants but, surprisingly, there are a lot of rich people that pass by this place and, more often than not, they tend to hire the Retour Poisson .

Arthur and Lucy headed directly towards a fifteen story-tall building that belonged to the Bull's Eye Entreprise . The building was luxuriously decorated and its interior was no less extravagant with a red carpet covering the whole floor and well-clothed clerks standing at the entrance and welcoming the guests, or so they were called .

"Welcome, guests . "

A young girl with short red hair bowed toward the parasite and the white specter, a sweet smile plastered on her innocent face .

"We'd like to-"

Arthur couldn't even finish his sentence as Lucy cut him off and said,

"We want to buy a Retour Poisson . "

It has to be known that the price for renting the fish is way less than actually buying it . Only the filthy rich people would want to waste so much money on something they'll use once or twice in their whole lives .

Though the girl was momentarily surprised, she quickly collected herself and respectfully told them to follow her . She led them to a wide underground room that resembled an aquarium and, from there, a bespectacled man replaced her .

He behaved politely as he guided the couple around and showed them multiple types of Retour Poisson, all trapped in an aquarium . In fact, some of the larger ones couldn't fit here so he brought a catalog and explained everything to the couple .

"Retrospectively, the older variants of Retour Poissons are more expensive but are more durable and can dive up to 2,000 kilometers deep . "

"What's the best one you've got?"

The man sighed and shook his head, "Unfortunately, the best Retour Poisson was rented just an hour ago . If you want, I can give you their contact information and you can negotiate . Also, we have another Retour Poisson which is slightly worse but can still the job . Its price is 56 million Gold or 1 . 2 million Low Red Spirit Stones or 95,000 High Red Spirit Stones . "

Unlike the Cloud Sea Universe, Gold is very relevant in the System Universe as the operating System itself offers its players many things that can only be bought with Gold . It may be a common thing in other places but gold is still gold and none can deny the things it is capable to buy . Furthermore, there is another currency used in the System Universe and it's called S-Chips . They are, quite literally, thumb-sized chips that can slightly enhance stats either permanently or for a specific duration of time . They are very hard to come by and are usually installed in the robots procured by the System .

"How deep can the available fish dive?" asked Arthur

"1,700 kilometers . "

Before deciding, he turned toward Lucy, who remained as expressionless as ever . After pondering for a few breaths, Arthur spoke again,

"I reckon that's enough . We'll buy it . "

"Right away, sir . "

The man retrieved a small stack of documents from his storage and briefly explained the buying procedures before getting Arthur to sign . The gold was transferred from Arthur to the man right after that and, from what the clerk said, the Retour Poisson will be brought back soon, they just have to wait for a little bit .

56 million gold is truly a big amount but for Arthur, who has an infinite amount thanks to Zodiak, it's still an insignificant amount . Furthermore, he can use the Gold Attribute, which is an extremely rare Magic, which he had gotten from only one of all the hosts he possessed ever since his reincarnation, this can prove how hard it is come by a person who's able to convert Nether Energy or Mana into Gold .

Excluding the Gold Magic, Arthur can also use Zodiak's ability to create gold from nothingness . It relies on Dark Mana and is more efficient than Gold Magic, however, he won't need to use it anytime soon as the mountains of gold coins in his storage amounts to a mind-numbingly absurd amount .

As the couple was patiently waiting for the clerk to come back with the Retour Poisson, another group of people was led inside this underground aquarium by the same girl as before .

Arthur and Lucy were chatting with each other, paying no heed to anyone else, but it wasn't the case for the unexpected newcomers . The one leading them was a short man and a woman, both familiar to the parasite .

They were the very same people Arthur was about to kill several days ago . Upon seeing the black-haired man and the silver-haired specter, the short Overgod's expression drastically changed and his body froze, startling the female clerk, who thought she unknowingly said something wrong .

The woman, called Alda, also stood rooted in her place, her two eyes locked on the chatting couple . For a few seconds, she forgot to breathe, and only when her young companion lightly nudged her did she snap out of it and avert her gaze .

Whatever happened that day was still deeply engraved in her memories and the dread she felt still lingers, urging her to leave this place at once .

In the end, both the Overgod and Alda managed to hold themselves back and follow the female clerk, who introduced the Retour Poissons .

"What a coincidence, huh . "

Arthur mumbled with a low tone as he glanced at Alda, the Overgod, and the rest . Lucy also swept a quick glance at them but wasn't interested, she even seemed to have forgotten who they were, showing how little she cared about that night's events .

"I thought you'd want to make a few friends in case you need them in the future . "

Said Lucy while caressing her marriage ring, which was a new and unintentional habit of hers .

"I would indeed like to make a couple of friends but not just anyone preferably males too . "

"What do you mean?"

Her eyes flashed with a cold light which soon disappeared . Arthur coughed and explained,

"I mean I want to make new friends but only males . Women are out of the question . "

"Good . As long as you know that . "

She smiled and nodded her head, not noticing Arthur's weird grimace . Of course, Lucy wouldn't really forbid him from making new friends, even if they were female but he knew she would feel uncomfortable . She feels threatened by any female that gets close to her husband and if someone besides her touched him, all hell would break loose, that's for sure .

In fact, Arthur considered her possessive nature of hers as a good thing, because just like in his case, he also would not like to see Lucy act very friendly with another man . Maybe it has to do with their tragic pasts and how they were betrayed, how they consider each other the only good thing in their lives and wouldn't want it to be stolen by another person .