Chapter 34 Boarding the Ship
The last day before leaving Huiqiao Port was a rare day of calm. Nova slept almost all the way through the afternoon. After filling his stomach, he simply wandered around the deserted coast nearby to refresh his mind.
The God-favored One followed him quietly all the way. When the professor took off his shoes without any image and squatted on the beach, he lifted the new cloak on the other's shoulders, which was about to slip off, with some helplessness.
Yes, Mr. Brody finally stopped running around in a rag - but the man didn't care at all. He was digging in the sand with an excited look on his face, picking up the remnants brought by the tide with his bare hands, and muttering something to himself.
"This is a species of algae from the Sargassum family, but I'm not sure which one it is. One of the characteristics of this type of algae is that there are small bubbles between the leaves. These bubbles contain air, allowing them to 'stand' densely in the sea. This is also the habitat of many small fish. The Sargassum provides shelter while also absorbing nutrients from the fish feces."
"Sand crabs are poisonous and inedible. I guess they accumulate the toxins from their food in their bodies. Look, it raises its red claws and clicks them open and closed, as if to show off to us. But when predators focus on those conspicuous claws, it will shake them off and run away quickly. Just like this."
"A Kaven Clam. In the early centuries, the people of Karak liked to use them as currency. Do you want one? Here you go, but this one can no longer be kept alive. I suggest stuffing it."
"Look, a male thunder shrimp!"
The man suddenly stumbled and scrambled a few steps, picked up a palm-sized shrimp carcass from the beach, examined it carefully for a moment, then raised his colorful, disproportionately sized claws toward another person, excited like a child who had discovered a treasure. "Look at its claws. Drum shrimps stun their prey by closing their claws, creating a cavitation effect. This force can even penetrate glass. They usually live in the deep sea. Male drum shrimps have brightly colored claws, are smaller, and are even rarer. There might be only one male in a thousand shrimp eggs. This is the first time I've seen a real male drum shrimp, and it's so well preserved."
The dark-haired young man carefully admired the fishy, damp carcass of an arthropod he held in his palm, his eyes gentle and fervent, as if he were gazing at his lover. The tide kissed the man's bare ankles, and the brilliant golden sunset cast a strange and magnificent light on his brow, lips, and jaw, trembling like the tide, which was almost breathtaking.
"Did you read all this in a book?" Azuka heard herself ask softly.
"...partly." The other party paused briefly, his tone becoming calmer. "Aside from the Kaven grant, it's best to forget everything else I just said, because a large part of the conclusions come from my world—and in this world, it's just a conjecture, unverified by rigorous experiments and extensive data."
The dark-haired scholar lowered his eyes, briefly cleaned the shrimp carcass, and carefully placed it in his backpack. "So this is just my own entertainment, and it currently has no significant academic value. Please don't spread it outside. I don't want to affect the normal research process with unproven or even inapplicable speculation. If I lead professional scholars in this world astray, it will take a thousand times more effort and time to correct it."
At a certain moment, the savior suddenly felt a huge, hopeless and untouchable loneliness from his old enemy.
"Okay, I promise." Azuka's voice became very gentle. "These common, even insignificant creatures actually contain such rich and interesting mysteries. I think I understand a little bit about what you mean by 'the miracle of life'. Perhaps you would be willing to introduce me to some more... this kind of 'self-entertaining' knowledge?"
The other party's movements paused noticeably, and a hint of hesitation appeared on his face, like a child who was hesitating whether to share his secret base with his friends.
"It's just a simple chat - I swear, I will never tell anyone without your permission." The God-Favored One added gently and cunningly.
His words sounded so trustworthy, and then Azuka saw the professor quickly pull the corners of his mouth at him - it was an unformed, somewhat stiff smile.
…
The consequence of chatting with others at the beach was that Nova was a little drowsy until he boarded the ship of the Glorious Church the next morning. The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the air was still a little chilly. He simply leaned against the side of the ship to enjoy the sea breeze.
Last night, the two of them chatted all the way until the sun had completely set, until darkness enveloped the earth and they could no longer see their fingers. As expected of the male lead, it was rare for someone not to interrupt him, quickly following his train of thought, even agilely expanding or summarizing, and asking questions from unexpected angles.
Humans are indeed social animals. The professor rarely talked about sex, and later he even took out a pen and paper to write down the inspiration the other person gave him - of course, the other person's unreserved admiration and praise did play a part. As long as they are willing, the emotional value provided by a certain clergyman is simply maximum. Even Nova had to admit that he could not cope with it. After all, he was still a Chinese who was taught to be introverted.
"No, it's not something that can be described so lightly." When he told the other party that the vast majority of knowledge was experimentally researched by other scholars, and that he was merely organizing, memorizing, and making associations, the man looked at him seriously and said, "Perhaps I should repeat myself again. You are the greatest miracle I have ever experienced."
"You've given me another way to view the world. Perhaps it doesn't seem like much to you, but from my perspective, it's incredibly valuable." Gazing into his nemesis's bewildered eyes, the Savior offered a more direct statement: "You're very important to me."
The God's Blessed One, who had once again cast a spell of confusion upon him, gently touched his hand. Nova came to his senses and saw his cousin standing before him with a complicated expression.
“…cousin.”
The other person seemed to want to say something, and the professor waited patiently for a while, but the other person didn't say anything else. He just looked at him with an incomprehensible and resentful look.
"Is there something wrong?" Nova frowned. Who did this kid learn this from? He remembered that when he was a child, he didn't look like a saw-mouthed gourd, but a standard...naughty kid.
That's right, the naughty kid who sneaked into his room, broke seven or eight small specimens he was making or had already completed, and was so scared by the bloody animal corpses being dissected that he sat on the ground and cried at the top of his lungs, attracting everyone to watch.
But after all, the stupid creature called "cousin" at that time was just a fragile human cub who could not control himself and did not even have a complete long-term memory. Nova reluctantly let it go - fortunately, they almost never met again after that, otherwise it would be difficult for him to resist the murderous urge to beat up the naughty child.
"...Regarding the Graybridge Harbor Breaking News," the foolish cousin stammered, "When I get back, I'll ask my father to file a lawsuit against their newspaper in the name of the Brody family."
"No need, you are not needed." Nova looked at him in confusion. The Saman family alone probably wanted to tear the editor-in-chief who talked nonsense apart.
"They insulted, insulted my family!" The young man's eyes widened in disbelief. A little color appeared on his pale face. He looked extremely angry. "I don't understand. You are also a member of the Brody family. You..."
"My God of Light - look, Mr. Brody! Our great celebrity!" A strange and loud voice interrupted the one-sided confrontation between the brothers.
Tron Bateman appeared out of nowhere and put his arm around Percy's shoulder with a smile: "Mr. Brody, you are really not nice. Why don't you introduce your...cousin to me?"
He looked at the poor fellow whose title was robbed by his cousin with malice - tall and thin, his clothes were so plain that it was a disaster, and he had the same pretty feminine face as the Brody family, but his facial features seemed sharper and colder. When he looked at people, the inexplicable arrogance and indifference in him was even worse than that of little Brody.
Tsk, another annoying guy.
Nova raised an eyebrow calmly: "Your friend?"
"W-No way!"
Percy angrily threw his mortal enemy's arm away. The man had just put almost his entire weight on him, and his once-smooth coat was instantly wrinkled and askew. If Bishop Miller hadn't been on the boat, he would have made him look bad.
The other party obviously thought the same thing, and gave him a malicious smile: "I am really sad. As the second son of Marquis Bateman, am I not qualified to be a friend of your collateral heir of Viscount Brody?"
Nova recalled - he had heard of the Bateman family. Marquis Bateman was the Minister of Finance with real power, and his eldest son, Jolini Bateman, was selected into the Kite Heart Guards responsible for protecting the king at a young age. He had a bright future in the future.
"Good morning, Mr. Bateman." He ignored his cousin's incredulous look and calmly extended his hand: "Nova Brody."
Little Bateman seemed stunned and subconsciously shook hands with him: "...Good morning, Tran Bateman."
When he realized what was happening, he immediately pulled his hand away, deliberately took out a handkerchief and wiped his fingers a few times before throwing it away carelessly. "By the way, what did you have for breakfast today? The smell of fish is really strong here."
Percy Brody's face turned blue with anger, but his cousin seemed to have completely ignored his sarcasm and replied seriously, "It's a kind of wrap filled with roasted fish and potatoes. The locals call it papani. It has a long history. Would you like some?"
Little Batman gritted his teeth and said, "...No, thank you for your kindness."
What's wrong with my sworn enemy's brother? Can't he tell the difference between good and bad words?!
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