Chapter 308

308 Strength of Monsters #8

Triton had been engrossed in smelling the bl**d on his finger for quite some time.

Soon, he opened his sharp fangs and started licking the bl**d.

The idea of someone licking my bl**d right before my eyes made my spine shiver involuntarily, and I found my eyebrows knitting together.

Just as I was about to say something about him licking his fingers for so long, Triton finally opened his mouth.

“Ahh, I understand now. You’re a descendant of Saturn, like me. It makes sense—since you can fight on par with me, you must be at that level. It’s a bit less of a blow to my pride.”

Upon hearing this, a brief silence enveloped the ship. The sound of the waves ceased, creating a perfectly ominous stillness.

Swoosh.

Amidst this, Triton continued to lock eyes with me.

A man as tall as me stood unwavering, his eyes meeting mine without hesitation.

His deep, dark blue irises were tumultuous, like waves crashing about in every direction, filled with chaos.

Is this kid challenging me to a staring contest?

While I dislike eye contact, I was confident I could go without blinking for a long time. As we glared at each other for what felt like ages, he blinked first.

I had won. Tch, what a lightweight.

At that moment, Hippolyte, who had been in a ready stance to draw her sword at any moment, spoke up first.

“…Hassan is a descendant of Saturn? You’re talking about Saturn, the king of the Titans, aren’t you?”

“There’s some strange seal I can’t quite decipher, even with my powers. Is it Jupiter? And this was supposed to be a secret? You still haven’t realized it, have you? I’ve broken the rules now. I’m gonna get in trouble. This is bad.”

He even shook his hands, saying, “Forgive me; it wasn’t intentional,” but Hippolyte looked like she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.

“Hassan is a descendant of Saturn? A seal from Jupiter…?”

She muttered to herself, but the content was completely unbelievable.

Saturn?

Isn’t Saturn the king of the Titans who once ruled this world before Jupiter?

As far as I know, he was the father of Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto—the three major gods, as well as the father of the other gods.

Although I didn’t know much beyond that, at least I was certain that it had nothing to do with me.

“Hmm.”

At that moment, Luna interjected from beside me.

“So, Hassan, you’re also a demigod like Hippolyte?”

“I don’t know. But, come to think of it, there are many suspicious things. Indeed, there were many peculiarities about him that suggested he’s not an ordinary person.”

“Hassan, answer honestly.”

Hippolyte looked at me. Seeing how her brows were furrowed, it seemed like she was genuinely angry with me, making me flinch.

“What?”

“To be honest, I’ve always thought you were strange. Your extraordinary growth in karma, surpassing even I, Hippolyte, and the amount of divine blessings comparable to Perseus-.”

Her aggressive tone made me feel like a criminal all of a sudden.

Had she realized that I’m not from this world, that I somehow ended up here from another?

Thinking that made me incredibly unsettled, giving me the urge to jump into the sea.

“If you’re comparable to Perseus, the answer was likely clear from the start. Hassan, you were truly Jupiter’s illegitimate offspring, weren’t you?”

“Huh?”

“It’s common for Jupiter’s illegitimate children to hide their identities to avoid being tormented by Goddess Juno’s jealousy. So maybe Jupiter sealed your identity?”

“Fwah, so you’re saying Hassan is really Jupiter’s son! Just as I had guessed before! I always thought Hassan was Jupiter’s son!”

“Noxdothy, were you suspicious too?”

“Of course! I’ve watched Hassan grow up every day, right next to him! Ever since the God of Light helped Hassan, I’ve been suspicious!”

Luna jumped around the ship as if ants were crawling on her feet. She seemed very excited about the current situation.

“Besides, Paranoi follows Hassan well, doesn’t she? Since nymphs have been the errand-runners of the gods since ancient times, it was odd to see Paranoi being ordered around like that!”

“Hmm, indeed, I also found it strange that former cultist Paranoi was so obedient to Hassan. Nymphs don’t pledge loyalty to just anyone-.”

Swoosh.

Hippolyte’s gaze then turned to Paranoi.

“Paranoi, nymph of ditch water, you seem to know more than us, don’t you?”

“Me? I know nothing at all! I have absolutely no idea what everyone’s talking about! Hassan-sama is just a plain and stupid Samaritan!”

“It’s better not to lie now that we’ve come this far.”

When Hippolyte grabbed Paranoi by the shoulder, Paranoi began screaming like a Siberian dog getting hit by its trainer.

“Hiik! Hiik!”

“You’ve known everything and mocked us by looking down on us, Paranoi!”

“Please let go… Hassan-sama, this cruel Amazon is trying to eat me! I can’t say anything…”

It was utter chaos.

At that point, Triton made a humming sound and spoke up.

“In reality, that isn’t the important thing right now. You said you wanted to go to the Black Sea, right?”

*

Swoosh…

The wooden ship Gorgor, built like it had a motor, swiftly cut through the waves.

The reason being, Triton, submerged underwater, was powerfully pushing this ship towards the forbidden area known as the Black Sea.

Triton, who had tested our strength, kindly offered to navigate us until we reached the black zone.

Attacking people out of nowhere, trying to overturn the ship with a tidal wave, then suddenly offering to push our ship?

He’s such an unpredictable and eccentric character—it’s hard to keep up. Even Luna doesn’t have a temperamental disposition to this extent.

According to Hippolyte, the sea-folk, including Neptune, tend to be capricious and do as they please.

Even when the sea seems calm, a sudden storm may arise and then quickly calm again due to the whimsical nature of Neptune’s clan.

“Hassan, when we reach land, I would like to hear about your family.”

“Uh, about that…”

“Hmm, you may not have known it yourself.”

Because of that Triton kid’s misunderstanding, I had to sweat it out in various ways.

Every time I tried to clarify things, Hippolyte and Luna wouldn’t listen to me.

Instead, they would say, “This isn’t the place to talk. Ill intentions might spread, so let’s leave this conversation for later.”

As the atmosphere grew strange, I asked Luna to change the topic.

“So, is Elpride still not herself?”

“Yep, she seems to really hate water. Anyway, Hassan, you really are Jupiter’s son, right?”

“No, if I were, I wouldn’t be here-.”

“But I told you! Hassan will become someone great! I said he would live in a palace with piles of treasures! Isn’t that what I said?”

Luna seemed to fully believe that I was a child of Saturn—Jupiter’s illegitimate offspring.

Watching her happiness because she thought I was destined for greatness, I feared how disappointed she’d be when the misunderstanding cleared up.

Kid Triton,

Why are you confusing us like this? Do you have some ulterior motive?

While pondering this, the world began to darken gradually, and a humid fog enveloped our surroundings.

As I said, it was fog. The sight of the sea covered in dense fog was eerily unsettling, and with the ship moving forward in a situation where we couldn’t see a foot in front of us, it was unnerving.

“It’s sea fog! It’s a marine mist!”

As Luna said, this is called sea fog, right? But after regaining her senses and sitting there stunned after the earlier chaos, Captain Gorgor spoke with a trembling voice.

“N-no, this isn’t ordinary sea fog. Oh no, it seems the rumors about those ships were true. Look, the fog, the fog is getting darker! We need to get out of here!”

Captain Gorgor was practically half-insane.

He claimed the black fog around us was a harbinger of disaster, insisting we must escape.

BOOM.

At that moment, the ship we were on collided with something. When I looked up, something immeasurably larger than our vessel was blocking our path.

A reef?

No, it wasn’t quite like a reef.

It was another ship.

A ship so immense and magnificent that it made our Gorgor vessel look like a toy—a magnificent ship that had been torn apart and was now broken. What would you call it? A wrecked ship, right?

That’s correct.

All around us were wrecked ships.

“The Verophory, that, that’s the Verophory, a trading ship! It’s said to have sunk in the cursed strait two years ago! Oh no… It’s not just that! Over there, that’s the Ladomus, and next to it is…”.

Captain Gorgor looked at the wreckage scattered here and there and was beside himself with panic. He appeared ready to collapse in tears.

“Calm down, please.”

So, I pressed the news point near the captain’s thumb. He instantly calmed down from his panic, and my mission points increased by 10.

“Are you calm now?”

“Huff, I can’t believe what I’m doing here. This place is known as the strait forbidden to sailors…”

Even after calming down, the fear in his heart remained unshakable. However, I could greatly understand the captain’s feelings.

The ominous black fog. The wreckage of ships piled up everywhere. It was indeed a place where anything could leap out.

As if sensing this, both Hippolyte and Luna began to cautiously scan the dense fog, ready for anything.

It wasn’t strange at all to imagine strange monsters jumping out and attacking us.

“Three years ago, the area became this d*ath zone, starting three years ago. No one was supposed to step foot here… Cough, cough.”

The captain soon stopped speaking, overcome by a dangerous feeling. The peculiar smoky fragrance of the black fog must have been attacking his respiratory system.

“Cough… Cough-! bl**d, bl**d is coming!”

The captain looked at the bl**d on his palm in shock. Suddenly coughing up bl**d? This doesn’t seem normal at all.

Swoosh.

Hippolyte covering her mouth with a handkerchief.

“It’s a poisonous fog. This is indeed the Black Strait. Truly, the darkness here knows no bounds. Long exposure might completely destroy the lungs.”

Splash.

Something leapt out of the water and back onto our ship. It was Triton, Neptune’s successor, who had been pushing our ship earlier.

“There’s too much wreckage here, so we can’t continue by ship. It’s better to walk from here.”

Truly, Triton spoke correctly.

So, we disembarked from our ship and chose to board the deck of a nearby wrecked vessel.

Standing on wooden planks rotting from seawater was a bit creepy, but surprisingly, the sensation was like standing on a mysterious floating island, providing a sense of stability.

Triton spoke.

“The ships couldn’t see through the toxic fog and ran aground on reefs, gathering here. Thus, these have turned into islands to walk on. And-”

Triton waved his palm in the air, causing the swirling black fog around us to retreat slightly.

Thereafter, even more magnificent remnants and fragments of shipwrecks became visible than we had seen before.

I remember hearing that somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, there’s a trash island seven times the size of the Korean Peninsula. This felt exactly like that.

As we all momentarily lost our words at the overwhelming sight of the floating debris on the sea, Triton finished his statement.

“This place serves as a perfect hiding spot. From here on, everyone should be cautious. Even I can’t let my guard down with powerful figures lurking in the cracks of the broken debris.”

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