Chapter 49 Merman And Flexor

On a certain port, a middle-aged man innocently strolled down a wooden path where boats were anchored. He innocently glanced around the place, as if he was looking for something of value. There was a hint of uneasiness in his breathing as anxiousness ate away at his soul. From time to time, a night watch would flash a camera around and he would hesitantly duck to avoid being seen. He didn't act strangely, however, since that would just attract unwanted attention towards him.

It was already in the middle of the night, so there shouldn't be anyone running around the port, but somehow, this middle-aged man was there. He didn't look out of place though since he had the clothes of a casual portman. "The shipment should've arrived by now... but why is it not here yet? Was there a mistake on the schedule? No, the package has always arrived on time. There shouldn't be any changes in the time." The man assured himself, walking towards the end of the wooden bridge and looking down.

"That thing should be here any time now." He continued, staring long and hard at the cold murky waters of the sea.

Slowly, two glowing orbs appeared right where he was staring. It took him by surprise at first but after sensing the unnatural, he assumed that the 'thing' he was waiting for had finally arrived and two glowing orbs were probably signals to tell him of their coming. Every bit of anxiousness in his system was gone and he stared closer to the two glowing orbs, which were becoming clearer as it neared the surface of the water. "Did they change submarines? But then again, that submarine was too old for comfort. They probably prioritized selling those goods to buy themselves a new submarine. Clever."

By now, the two glowing orbs were resembling someone's eyes, making the middle-aged man squint his eyes, wondering if he was dreaming. After doing it the second time, however, the two glowing orbs broke the surface of the water and out came a man— well, it was more fish than a man.

The strange creature's appearance made the middle-aged man fall over the back of his head where he hit a perfectly fine wooden plank that made up the path. He was unconscious in an instant, making the strange creature scowl at him in confusion. "Sigh~ this is why I don't want people seeing me." The strange creature said.

The strange creature had the face of a man, but his body was covered in bright blue and green scales that shone at the slightest reflection of light. His arms had webbings as well, likened to that of duck's and as for his eyes, it had another set of eyelids, resembling those that belonged to reptiles and amphibians called the nictitating membrane. And where his legs were, a bright-colored tail of a fish replaced it, making him look like a certain character straight out of gulliver travels' fairy tails— a story about a certain being who never left the ocean and wished to walk on the ground. Indeed, it was such a cliche yet interesting story, much like how the strange creature viewed his life.

Just as he was contemplating what to do with the man, the strange creature heard a strange sound coming out of the shore. It's as if the ocean was being sucked into somewhere as the sea level went down and out came a strange bullet-shaped metal that was as long as a six-story building. That strange metal compartment was then dragged to the shore by yet another entity. This time, the entity was that of a regular man, not some strange creature that could turn into bubbles at any given time.

"Man, you look like a fish out of the water." The man complimented the strange creature who was covering his scales with his arms as if that would do anything.

"Shut up Flexor, it's not like I wanted such a superpower. I'll revert to normal soon so deal with those guys while I wait. Seriously, if it hadn't been for me swimming around the place, we wouldn't have located that submarine." He continued with a slightly pissed tone in his voice.

"Of course, thank you so much. To think that my disciple actually learned something from my lessons. Our agency is strict when it comes to actual missions you know. I'm surprised you were given one this early."

"You're not the only one surprised. But then again, the Eye-Goddess specifically told me that I, with the emphasis on the 'I' part, is the only superhero fit on the job."

"Yeah right, as if a superhero who goes by the name of Merman would be fit in any other jobs. Just be glad that this is water-related. Otherwise, the Eye-Goddess would have kept you in a little fish tank and displayed you for extra bucks. You know what, there's a zoo nearby, you should totally apply for a spot. Who knows, they might give you one."

"Shut up, for a moment I considered doing something so embarrassing. If I did that, they'd probably play the Little Mermaid movie on loop in front of me. I'll be damned." Merman responded. He didn't take to heart all of Flexor's teasings since he'd always been that way ever since his first day at the agency.

"I just scanned the entire submarine and there are crates on its tail side. I think that's where they kept the smuggled goods. You should report it to our boss as soon as possible. You know how it with our Eye-Goddess, her and 'waiting' aren't allowed to mix."

Just as they were discussing and confirming the crates on the tail side of the submarine, a figure swooped in from the sky, landing a couple of feet where the two of them were standing and sending dust straight into their eyes. They flinched and desperately tried to get out the sand off their eyes but to no avail.

"Ah, guys! I'm sorry, I was just— anyway what did I miss?" A cheery voice greeted them.

"Oh, nothing much. We just caught one of the main submarines of those smugglers." Flexor responded.

"Girl, you should really work on your landing. That stuff would kill my eyes before I expect to be blind." Merman complained.

"So... what were they smuggling?"

"You know what Plume, it's best that you didn't know. Kids shouldn't know such a thing, you know." Flexor suggested while Merman nodded too much his head could've fallen off if he wanted to. "In any case! What was that... you know, that thing!"

"Ah yes! That fight! We saw it. Girl, you lost big time." Merman continued Flexor's words.

"Oh that, he's Midoriyama Satoshi, son of the Midoriyama Duo and my childhood friend. I wouldn't even counter what you said. I really did lose big time. He was just kind enough to give me the win even though I was already down on the ground." Plume shrugged his shoulders.

Flexor, who was bringing in the crates from the submarines after he turned it around, scratched his chin as he tried to remember something. "Satoshi... Satoshi... Satoshi hmmm? I think I heard that name before. Yeah, I certainly did."

"You mean when he fought that Slime Alien? Or when he fought another Slime Alien? Or were you talking about when he beat Hiroshi during the initial testing in the USA?" Plume confirmed.

"Yes, all those... but I heard it from someone else... "

"Ah! Yes! You're right! Our boss! Our boss mentioned him a few times before! Remember?" Merman extended his hands and pointed at Flexor. By now, he's almost returned to normal and his tail has reverted back to two good legs once again.

"Right right! He told us to scout him for the agency, right? Yeah, no wonder his name sounds familiar. Our Eye-Goddess sure has a good eye though. That kid is a cornucopia of talents rolled into one. Have you seen him fight?"

"Yeah, he's got some sort of pet master superpower... one of the most powerful superpowers I've ever heard of in my lifetime. Also, he uses it pretty well as well. I swear that kid is a fine addition to our team."

Plume was looking left and right as she intently listened to Flexor and Merman's exchange. This was the first time she's heard about the Eye-Goddess taking interest in Satoshi when she'd never mentioned her before towards her. Or maybe the reason why she never brought it up was that she knew that Plume was somewhat close to the Midoriyamas. That said, she was genuinely surprised that the Eye-Goddess personally scouted Satoshi whereas every single one of them needed some other form of recommendation before even getting the chance of being part of the agency.

"Wait a second, Flexor, so you mean to tell me that the Eye-Goddess is going to recruit Satoshi?"

"Yeah, she even changed her mind about sending us to him. She personally went to Satoshi and offered her a spot in the agency." Flexor answered.

"Unfortunately, the kid flat out rejected him. It was such a bruh moment, you know." Merman continued.

"Eh?!" Plume exclaimed, she couldn't express her shock after hearing such a story with its turn of events.