Chapter 1024: First Impressions from Afar
[So you’re pawning off the decision to your cousins? Boo,] Razorstella complained.
[Why not? I think it’s completely fair.]
[Hurricroak, you only say that because you know how humans tend to favor familiarity over new experience. Well, most humans anyways.]
[To…be…fair…not…just…humans…]
[Yeah, yeah, ya big…huh? Anybody else just sense that?]
[Sense what?]
[Like…the presence of yet another new Kaijin but…watered down?]
…
‘Huh…what an oddly nostalgic sight,’ Tortallion commented as he watched the current Kaijin Lord’s cousins choose which kaijin they wanted to work with. ‘Reminds me of when we used to do that. Although, it was a bit more subtle than whatever the hell a gun is.’
After Tortallion had escorted the Zhen Clan through the gates and informed them about what their delegation needed to be composed of, he didn’t immediately return home or made his way to the Undertow Council to elaborate on his reasons why. Instead, he decided to distance himself far enough to use [Chaos] enhanced senses to spy on them.
Not in a malicious sense, mind you, just so he could observe what kind of person this new Kaijin Lord was exactly. After all, he only had about one frame of reference to work with.
By his estimation, the current Kaijin Lord known as Zhen Liu was significantly less…fierce than how Mia was. Then again, Mia has become a Kaijin Lord under more dire circumstances.
‘This new one is also surprisingly more open with people, well his family at least,’ Tortallion observed as he saw how the current Lord’s cousins were talking with him about the kaijin. ‘We had to wait until she fell in love to see her open up like that…’
Tortallion continued to watch Zhen Liu and the others for a little while longer until he was more or less satisfied with what he had seen. However, before he could quietly exit the scene until it was time for the outsider delegation to enter, he was intercepted by a familiar presence.
One that he was planning to meet up with later, so this was a pleasant surprise rather than a malicious one.
Mostly.
[Papa!]
[Oh? Oh, Terra! What a coincidence. I was just about to come and see you.]
Floating above the waters of Undertow’s territory, still hidden away from the sight of the Zhen Clan, a young woman with swirling black tattoos and a mouth with external teeth, embraced the turtle-man with all the love she could muster. If one had doubts that they were parent and child before, such concerns were entirely dismissible once they saw this interaction took place.
The hug lasted a good long while until it came to a mutual end.
[What are you doing floating here, my child? I thought you just took on a long mercenary job.]
[It ended earlier than anticipated due to client’s enemies suddenly surrendering. Something about their supplier being found pounded into the ground.]
[Ah.]
[But enough about me. Papa, I sensed that you were fighting earlier and wanted to see if you were..wait…who are these outsiders?,] Terra asked while gesturing to the Zhen Clan vessels below. She was all set to scold her father about the dangers of exercising abilities too much, even if he was an ageless old turtle, but was soon distracted by the outsider’s presence.
After all, Undertow hasn’t had visitors in centuries.
Literally.
[Well, my dear Terra, these are our guests. Under my invitation, no less.]
[Guests?]
If her papa was willing to let these outsiders in as “guests”, than they must’ve been important or impressive for some reason or another. As such, she decided to take a closer look at these guests herself. From a distance, of course.
[Let’s see…hmmm.]
From what she could see, one of the vessels appeared to be a tamed [Luminescent Ark Serpent], carrying a contingency of warriors. Aside from one to three notable exceptions, with one barely radiating the power of [Chaos], the rest appeared to be elite cannon fodder at best. In other words, a group that her father could easily sink in one strike. Hell, she could probably sink them faster.
[Are you sure they’re guests and not charity cases, papa? I’m fairly certain that our mid-class mercenaries could take them down fairly easily.]
[Perhaps,] Tortallion humored her daughter. [Why don’t you take a closer look at the other ship? Then you’ll understand why I let them in.]
The other vessel though was…strangely familiar. It looked to be a large galleon with the crew consisting of three young men that appeared to be in their twenties, maybe thirties, and several kaijin of various makes and cores.
…
Hold up…
[Wait…papa…those strange warriors on the ship, are they-!]
[They are, daughter dearest,] Tortallion knowingly nodded. [They are kaijin, like me and your mother. But of a different maker than milady.]
[No way…wait, why are they standing around like that?]
[Because their current lord wishes for them to act as aether Puppets around other mortals.]
[Puppets? Why?]
[Secrecy, apparently. The current lord portrays himself as a puppet masters to obfuscate his true identity.]
[Really?]
[Really.]
[Weird.]
As a child born between the union of a mortal and a kaijin, Terra was familiar with most of the aspects related to kaijin and the like. If she didn’t know something in regards to the kaijin, it was because her father had yet to teach her about it…that or he purposely withheld information.
[Wait papa, you just said that they’re acting like that because their Kaijin Lord deemed it necessary. Does that mean the Kaijin Lord is one of those youngsters on the vessel below? Or is he below deck? Can you tell me who it is?]
Due to a combination of the galleon and the multiple kaijin being present, the sheer amount of [Chaos] in that area was so turbulent and dense that Terra was unable to pick out individual signatures.
Normally, Tortallion would’ve obliged his daughter and immediately pointed out who the new Kaijin Lord was. The innate desire to respect the Lord and all that. However, it was because he knew that this current lord seemed to desire a level of anonymity moreso than his previous one that he decided to be a touch more…obfuscating.
[Indeed he is, daughter dearest,] Tortallion told Terra. [But to be honest, my memory is hazy. You know how it is.]
[Oh…]
However,like any doting father, he had a soft spot for his daughter. Especially when she started pouting like the little girl he remembered raising from toddlerdom. Granted that toddlerdom wasn’t that long in terms of their long lifespans, but that what made those moments so precious.
[Although, I can tell you it’s one of those three young men on the deck right now,] Tortallion said while pointing towards the [Storm Queen’s Galleon]. [There are no other humans aboard that vessel, but why don’t you guess on who it is?]
[Hmmm.]
Terra’s gaze flickered across all three of the young men aboard the ship, eyeing them up and sizing up just how likely they were to be the current Kaijin Lord.
Her gaze first fell upon the largest of the trio, a chubby young man who reminded her of a pig but in a cuddly sort of way. Sure, the vicious looking butcher’s knife on his hip made him look a little intimidating, but not by much.
[That one looks like the type to make big kaijin…]
Her gaze then shifted towards a young man that had this strangely vicious air to him, that was very similar to a shark. With a sharp jaw and a wickedly large sharktooth club strapped to his back, Terra could easily attribute the kaijin being his. Especially with how vicious/feminine some of them looked.
[He looks like the warlord type moreso than the puppeteering type…but maybe that’s the point…]
Her gaze finally landed on the last member of this trio, a young man that looked for the lack of a better word…soft. If the first man reminded her of a pig, the second one reminded her of a shark, this last fellow reminded Terra of a dog or a perhaps a cat. Either way, he looked like someone who has only recently learned how to fight and had yet to do anything drastic like take someone’s life.
In other words, he looked…soft. But if there was one thing Terra learned from her years travelling and being raised by Tortallion, was that looks were deceiving.
Even if this young man looked to be as soft as a puppy, he could very well be fiercer than a wolf under the right circumstances.
[Honestly, papa, I can’t tell who it could be,] Terra admitted after staring for a solid five minutes.
[Well then, perhaps you’ll be able to ascertain who it is later.]
[Later?]
[They’ll be part of a delegation into the city proper, where they’ll be meeting with the council under my guardianship. Would you like to come along?]
[Yes!]
