The Master of the Strange Realm

The idea of ​​a prank was immediately rejected. Jenkins didn't want to use his beloved cat to test what was in the river. Although Chocolate could swim, cats were not for fishing.

"Come to think of it, you don't seem to like eating fish very much."

Jenkins held the rod in his right hand and rubbed Chocolate's back with his left hand.

"Meow~"

This was a positive response to Jenkins.

"It's good not to like eating fish. It's easy to get stuck by fish bones when eating fish. You are so small that it's easy to scratch your esophagus if you get stuck."

"Meow~"

Chocolate moved actively, allowing Jenkins to easily touch its head. This was a manifestation of coquetry.

"Speaking of fish, when my dad and I went to church yesterday morning, we saved the girl wearing a fish-shaped hairpin. I don't know what happened to her later. I haven't seen her since."

Chocolate, who was under his hand, trembled a little, and his little head rested on the deck. He tilted his head and looked at Jenkins quietly, suspecting that Jenkins was testing... No, this was no longer a test. The cat suspected that Jenkins was teasing her.

Finally, I saw Jenkins' face, but there was no strange expression on his face. He was concentrating on the fishing rod in his hand. It seemed that what he said just now was really unintentional.

"Meow~"

Chocolate knew that this was definitely not unintentional, and Jenkins was definitely teasing it.

So he stood up from Jenkins' hands and wanted to lie on his legs to test Jenkins' current attitude.

But before Chocolate successfully reached the "destination", the fishing rod in Jenkins' hand began to shake.

He stood up and grabbed the fishing rod with both hands at the same time and tried to pull it up. But the thing hooked by the fish hook was quite strong. Because the metal fishing rod did not have anti-slip patterns or anything like that, and Jenkins did not wear anti-slip gloves, the fishing rod almost slipped out of his hand and fell into the water.

"No matter what I hooked, it couldn't be a fish."

He thought in his heart and prayed to Ovia that the fishing line must not break.

While backing away, he tried to drag the thing under the water out of the water. The only experience left in the original owner's fishing memory was that when pulling the line, you can loosen and tighten it to consume the fish's physical strength.

This experience was actually useful for the things caught at this moment. After a stalemate of less than ten minutes, Jenkins felt that the opponent's strength was weakening.

Just when he was slightly relieved and was about to reel in all the fishing lines in one go, an inexplicable sound came from under the boat, and then the black arc of electricity rushed to Jenkins' hands along the metal fishing line.

He subconsciously wanted to let go of the fishing rod, but immediately held it tightly, watching the black arc of electricity hit his arm.

The back of his hand immediately showed a black mark of burning, and at the same time, his two hands, which were originally very stable, trembled uncontrollably.

"This is not lightning! What is it?"

He was shocked, but this scene was not too bad for everything he encountered today. Even though the black arc of electricity continued to rush up along the fishing rod, he still held the fishing rod and did not let go, and stepped back quickly.

Finally, before his arm completely lost consciousness, Jenkins suddenly lifted the fishing rod. Along with the sound of a heavy object being dragged out of the water, a black mass of something was pulled up from the water at the end of the fishing line, and then fell onto the deck.

Jenkins bent down without thinking and picked up the Star Magic Sword, then threw it hard, nailing the mass of black water grass to the deck.

It was indeed a living thing, and it continued to struggle even after being nailed by the magic sword.

"Isn't this a human head?"

The black water grass did look like long human hair, but fortunately, after getting closer, it was a fish.

It was difficult for Jenkins to describe the fish covered with black hair in a very vivid way. He saw the hair densely emerging from the scales of the fish, swaying like a parasite, and he felt like vomiting. This was not because the other party had a strong ability to pollute the mind, but purely because Jenkins could not accept this structure.

He stopped Chocolate, who was curious and wanted to take a look, and made a sword-holding gesture with his right hand. As the fire spread from the palm of his hand to the outside, a spiral sword with a burning blade appeared in his hand.

After the hunting man in front of the furnace transformed the sword into a gift, its shape did not change much, so Jenkins slammed the sword into the rotten fish with black hair.

"I'm afraid I won't eat fish for a long time."

He thought as he slammed it, but he ignored the high temperature of the spiral sword, which would heat the rotten meat of the fish. Therefore, when the air full of moisture and polluted exhaust suddenly smelled of burnt meat, and then the smell of burnt hair came, Jenkins almost vomited.

The spiral sword had no blade, but with Jenkins' strength, the fish finally stopped moving after so many hits.

Jenkins found a pair of gloves from his backpack, then pulled out the magic sword, squatted down and wanted to pick up the fish that was smashed but unexpectedly did not fall into pieces. Unexpectedly, at this time, the fish actually swung its tail and jumped on the spot, twisting its body in the air, as if it wanted to whip Jenkins' head with its tail.

The fish's power was not great, but the black electric light accumulated in the fish's tail had to be guarded against.

Fortunately, Jenkins was prepared. When the fish "jumped", he grabbed the sword and stabbed it. This time, the sword pierced the fish's head, and it finally stopped moving.

"Meow~"

Chocolate hid behind Jenkins' right leg, just sticking out his little head and staring with big amber eyes, curiously watching the scene.

Jenkins bent down to pick it up and put it back on his shoulder:

"I'm really not used to not having you on my shoulder."

He didn't immediately give the strange-looking fish to the guy who asked for it, but simply dissected it with a sword. Since you want to know the background of this world, in addition to asking these refugees, you should be able to find clues from the items and creatures here.

The scales and skin of the fish are extremely tough, and the magic sword can't even easily cut the fish meat open, and can only use force like nailing the fish. Jenkins was too lazy to waste energy, and finally took the broken bone holy sword to cut the fish open. But just when Jenkins was about to see the fish's internal organs, black lightning from the thunderbolt spurted out from the wound pierced by the broken sword:

"Huh? Why is it not blood, but black..."

The fish exploded, and black arcs of electricity rushed out and hit all around, with Jenkins being the first to bear the brunt. This arc of electricity was not a simple lightning, so it was not controlled by natural forces. The lightning was dazzling, and Jenkins gritted his teeth and kicked the exploded object through the gap in the fence under the boat.

First, there was a splash into the water, followed by a muffled sound, and even the boat was shaking with the harsh metal deformation sound of creaking, which made Jenkins almost think that the boat would capsize.

The metal head on the chair watched this scene with a smile, and the refugees on the edge of the deck screamed together, proving that they were all alive.

"I'm so stupid. I didn't expect a fish to explode."

Jenkins, who was lying on the deck, got up after confirming that it was safe. After checking that Chocolate was not injured, he went to check whether the luggage was lost. Finally, he looked at the water surface hidden in the fog with some regret. Not only did he not get any information, but he even lost a fish. Although the fishing rod was still there and he could continue fishing, the wasted time could not be recovered.

The boat shook for a long time before it stabilized again. Jenkins returned to the front of the deck to continue fishing.

Because of the first experience, he knew that the fish would be hooked soon, so he did not sit down this time, but stood to fish.

Sure enough, after only five minutes, he felt something pulling the fishing line again, but this time the force was obviously much smaller.

"Isn't it the same fish just now? That's right, since it's a river, there must be more than one kind of fish."

Whether it was or not, Jenkins grabbed the fishing rod and backed away. After "fighting" with the second fish through the fishing line for several minutes, he lifted the fishing rod again and pulled the exhausted fish up.

Even though he was prepared, Jenkins couldn't help but look away when he saw the thing with a fish body on the upper body and octopus tentacles on the lower body.

After nailing the fish to death, he tried to dissect it again, but when he found that the other party's "skin" was almost as solid as the previous one, he gave up the idea.

"Although this fish has not shown the ability to emit black electric light, there is still a high possibility that this thing will explode. I can't waste time."

He strung the fish with the magic sword and walked towards the guy who asked for the fish. Hearing Jenkins' footsteps, the thin man finally raised his head and revealed his skinny face:

"Fish, I want fish!"

He opened his hand and touched Jenkins' sword, not caring even if the curse of the magic sword immediately spread to his body. He took the fish off Jenkins' sword, then with an abnormal and fanatical expression on his face, he raised his head and opened his mouth.

The corners of his mouth cracked and opened to an area larger than his head, causing the entire head to be deformed. Then the man threw all the fish into the huge mouth, and his face and mouth slowly returned to their original state:

"Very good, any more?"

The normal face looked at Jenkins expectantly, and Jenkins looked at the shape of the "fish" stuck in the other's neck:

"Promise me, you must not die before giving me information."

He whispered, and regardless of the other's answer, he went to catch the next fish.

Just a few steps, he didn't remember to pick up the fishing rod, and stopped with a frown.

Turning around the deck of the ship, the water vapor filled the surroundings, and Jenkins noticed that the range of vision seemed to be reduced.

When he first came to the ship, he could still see a large area of ​​buildings on both sides of the river through the thick fog around the ship. But when he picked up the fishing rod for the third time, the number of buildings in the building complex decreased significantly.

The fog was surrounding.

Chapter 2173 Lantern

"What's going on? Why is the fog surrounding?"

Jenkins asked the metal head on the chair.

"It is obvious that the world is suffering from a disaster, and as part of the strange world, the black fog will try to invade this ship. I will not explain to you what the fog is. You just need to know that when the fog spreads to the ship, you will not die, but all the refugees will die."

If all the refugees on the ship died, Jenkins' mission would certainly not be completed.

"Damn, the speed of the fog is too fast, right?"

A little calculation will show that the fog will not touch the edge of the ship until Jenkins finishes asking the three people for clues.

"On this ship, there is certainly a way to temporarily make the black fog retreat."

The metal head is still cheerful:

"Don't ask me why I didn't tell you just now, didn't you ask me?"

"What is the way to make the fog retreat?"

"You have to find it yourself. After all, my responsibility is only to tell you how to leave, not to protect the safety of the creatures in the strange world."

These black fogs that keep wrapping around are part of the rules of the strange world, and Jenkins's flames cannot drive them away. Therefore, if you want to temporarily make the fog retreat, you still have to start with the rules of the strange world itself, so he came to the guy who asked for fish again, and there was still a fish shape on his neck:

"Now the fog is too thick, I can't see anything when I fish. So, is there any way to dispel the fog?"

"Fog?"

After eating a fish, the skinny man became confused again, and said vaguely:

"I just want to eat fish, you go fishing... But the fog does affect the vision, which will affect fishing. Oh, I remember there are some lighting equipment at the bottom of the river."

"River bottom? Then are there any lighting equipment on this ship?"

Jenkins asked again.

"There used to be, but it burned down later."

Time is tight, no matter what can be caught next time, it will be useful to Jenkins. He didn't know what happened in the background story of this strange world, and he didn't even know whether the background story was real history or just a fictional story.

But no matter what, he had come here, and he couldn't stop because of fishing.

Therefore, when he threw the hook again, the force in his hand was particularly strong, and he even felt that the hook hit something in the fog and fell into the water.

"It doesn't matter what it hits, I just want to fish now."

He said in his heart, and wholeheartedly felt the trajectory of the hook sliding in the water as the boat moved forward through the metal fishing rod controlled by his palm.

Little Chocolate lay on Jenkins' shoulder, squinting his eyes and pretending to sleep, and his breathing frequency gradually approached Jenkins. And Jenkins also closed his eyes, letting his vision disappear temporarily, so that he could focus more on the touch of the fishing rod to "see" the scene under the water through the vibration.

This is an extremely high state of resonance with nature. Jenkins gradually felt that he really saw the underwater, but at the same time he also felt the chaotic and disordered spirit outside the hull.

"I see it!"

Suddenly he opened his eyes and pulled up sharply. After the sound of an object coming out of the water, the fishing line pulled a black thing to the deck. After falling at his feet and bouncing twice, it was still wriggling to get back into the water.

This is still a fish, and the degree of alienation is less than the previous two. The only difference from the fish is that the fish head has a human nose and two human ears.

But I have to admit that this look is more disgusting than the "fish" just now.

He raised the magic sword and pierced the fish, and then quickly sent it to the guy who ate the fish. The skinny man raised his head suddenly, as if he was worried that Jenkins would snatch it away. He ignored the blade of the magic sword and cut his palm, and wanted to snatch the fish from the sword himself.

He raised his head and opened his mouth, and threw the fish into the huge mouth with the same action as before. In this way, the first fish in his short neck was squeezed into the stomach, and the second fish was now stuck in his throat. Jenkins could even see the shape of the fish's big nose.

"Oh, thank you so much, sir. I'm very full, so now I'll tell you..."

"Can you wait a moment?"

Jenkins looked anxiously at the black fog that was very close to the ship:

"Wait until I catch the lamp, then come back and listen, okay?"

"Of course, I'm not in a hurry."

Jenkins walked to the front of the deck while reorganizing the fishing line. After throwing it out again, he remained motionless to calm his mind so that he could better let his mind follow the fishing rod and fishing line to explore the underwater area that seemed to be filled with black fog.

He couldn't "see" too many things, and the black fog also had the effect of blocking mental exploration. But at least when the fishhook touched the object again, Jenkins still lifted the fishing line as soon as possible.

The heavy object fell to the ground, and it turned out to be a broken lantern.

The lantern is actually a portable, windproof kerosene lamp that can be hung on the horse when riding at night, and it is called a "ship lamp" on the ship. It is a common device for lighting in rainy days and nights in this era.

The glass cover of this lantern has almost completely disappeared, and the metal part has been twisted by something and deformed. Only some glass slag is left on the metal at the bottom edge. But the wick inside is intact. Just twist the knob with a little force and the wick will come out. At the same time, there is still some kerosene left inside the sealed lamp holder. In other words, this lamp has the possibility of being lit.

"Will this dispel the black fog?"

Jenkins took the lamp to the man with the fish stuck in his throat. The latter nodded, and his voice was a little strange because of the fish in his throat:

"But do you have enough kerosene? I don't think this lamp can last too long."

"It doesn't matter. I don't need it too long."