Chapter 521 Curse

521 Curse

Eventually, Liam and the one-eyed Barracuda entered through a large underwater cavity, leading to a circular-shaped home.

Fish furniture was... weird. There were just lumps of filth crudely molded into chairs and tables designed just for a barracuda.

The one-eyed fish was the pack's leader, and it was actually a 'she'... somehow. Her name was also Vermin Eater, which was a crude translation of whatever her name actually sounded in oceanic tongue.

It was then that Liam realized that the waters automatically translated whatever language he spoke, into the tongue the Quadrants conversed with!

It was another masterful work of the Herald of the Seas. "Sorry for the mess, I wasn't expecting guests," the barracuda, Vermin Eater said.

"What part isn't supposed to be messy?" Liam asked, confused. He shook his head. "Nevermind."

"Haha..." the barracuda laughed awkwardly. "Well, I'll cut to the point..."

The fish paused, her eye expressing graveness.

"The Eels aren't the only ones in on it."

The words lingered in the air for a few seconds.

Liam raised a brow.

"Explain."

Vermin Eater crawled over to a 'chair', which looked more like a hotdog bun, the 'sausage' of which had become the fish itself.

"Let me start from the relationship between our tribes. Our kind abhor the Rock Frogs and the Moray Eels... but we've had no issues with the Stonefish. They just... sit around and do nothing all day."

"Uh huh," Liam said. "You don't have to tell me why you hate them. Continue."

"Right. A few cycles back—"

"What's a cycle?" Liam interrupted. Bill hadn't told him, the prick. "Uh... if I remember correctly, it equals a week of human time... are you a human, even?"

"Define human."

Silence.

"Nevermind," Vermin Eater said. "A few cycles back, our scouts reported a meeting between a couple of Rock Frogs and the Moray Eels. Except... the two hate each other just as much as us."

"Not soon after, whispers reached us that the Pink Rosary was losing their princess."

Cults? Underwater?

Heresy! "Does the Lamprey do what they ask?" Liam questioned.

Vermin Eater expressed a bit of fear.

"I think so. If it's reasonable, and the sacrifice is equal to the request. If it's not... they just get eaten alive for daring to ask."

Another silence followed.

That was a little terrifying. But at the very least, it was a way for Liam to talk to one of the Great Tides. If he was ever feeling edgy on a particular day.

'If her whole shtick is about blood, maybe she could tell me one or two things about cultivating it as a Quality.'

A thought for the future.

***

What Liam did next was interrogate all of the drunkard scouts that saw the Rock Frogs and the Moray Eels, but the results were disappointing.

Since they were drunk, the idiots were unable to make out most of the details between the vague silhouettes they caught glimpses of.

The disgusting, murky environment of the Stonehedge Deep Quadrant didn't help in the least. However, there was a silver lining. All of them confirmed seeing a rose-skinned creature amidst four other fish. What those fish were, they had no clue.

But there were at least four!

Four culprits!

And Liam had a bright idea on how to fish them out. "I'm done here," Liam said to Vermin Eater at the end of everything, taking out a single Shelling. "I might come back to ask more questions."

He outstretched the Shelling.

"Until then."

Thanking him, the fish used her mouth to graciously accept the gift.

A moment later, Liam took off, leaving the Bulwark Barracudas and heading straight towards the intersection where their villages connected. There, Liam could choose which village to go to next. Starting with the Stonefish.

'There's a tiny chance they were lying to me,' Liam thought. 'But I can safely say the barracuda aren't the guilty ones.'

Liam Holmes, on the case!