Chapter 267: Chapter 265: The Meaning of Authority
"Do you know what ’highest authority’ means?"
Jeff looked at Mo Ling and asked seriously.
"Absolute control over the Fishman Race?" Mo Ling asked in return.
Jeff nodded, then shook his head. "More than that."
He held out his hand, and a fish scale-like segment silently crept onto his finger.
"I’ll take you somewhere, and you’ll understand."
His finger slowly extended, gently tapping on Mo Ling’s armor.
The components on their bodies touched, making a crisp metallic sound.
DING~
Following Jeff’s touch, a pop-up appeared before Mo Ling— "Accept screen share from Fish Swarm 01?"
After a moment’s hesitation, Mo Ling chose to accept.
The moment he accepted, everything before him suddenly changed, and an incredibly realistic scene appeared.
But the perspective was very strange.
He seemed to have fallen into an ocean, and the view wasn’t from a human perspective—it was strangely distorted.
"This is a fish’s perspective. You just need to get used to it."
"A fish?"
"Yes. The Fishman Race began as a single Little Fish," Jeff explained.
"Let me show you around." As Jeff spoke, the Little Fish began to swim, and the scenery around Mo Ling started to change.
The sea before Mo Ling was an exceptionally deep blue, as clear as a sapphire. The Little Fish pushed through the gentle waves, swimming slowly forward.
The water was pristine, without a trace of impurity. Mo Ling even felt as if he were soaking in translucent blue jelly.
However, after a while, Mo Ling noticed something strange.
This sea was dead.
There were no currents, no floating debris, no living things, no rising and falling bubbles. The sea was like a flawless, pure gem, so clean it wouldn’t allow any filth to exist.
Once he realized this, Mo Ling suddenly found the azure sea frighteningly oppressive and utterly lifeless.
"Beautiful, isn’t it?" Jeff suddenly asked.
"It’s beautiful, but..." Mo Ling didn’t know how to describe the strange feeling. Water was supposed to be the source of life, yet this sea had nothing to do with vitality.
"This is where the Fishman Race was born. It was completely empty, with nothing in it. It took the Fishman Race a very long time to learn how to swim." Jeff’s voice was tinged with nostalgia.
"Where is this?" Mo Ling asked in confusion.
"Sea."
Jeff uttered a simple word in the Fishman tongue.
’Sea?’
Mo Ling didn’t quite understand. ’He knew it was a sea, but did this sea not have a name?’
Just as Mo Ling was wondering, the Little Fish stopped.
Before them, a vast, reflective film appeared, blocking the middle of the ocean. It was so hard to perceive that you would never have noticed it if you weren’t right in front of it.
’Why is there such a strange film in the middle of the ocean?’
As if hearing Mo Ling’s question, the Little Fish turned, stayed close to the film, and began to swim along it.
But even after swimming for a long time, the Little Fish couldn’t find the film’s edge.
The Little Fish then began to swim upward, but this time, not only did it fail to find the film’s edge, it couldn’t even see the surface of the sea.
This sea seemed to stretch infinitely upward. You could see the faintly lit surface, but you could never reach it.
The Little Fish finally gave up. But then, it seemed to have thought of another way. It aimed at the film and plunged right in.
Then, its entire body sank into the soft film.
Once enveloped by the reflective film, everything in its vision began to distort. The once-azure sea tumbled and twisted, then suddenly changed color.
The crystal-clear sapphire was suddenly pierced by a blinding red light, and tangible waves of heat billowed out in all directions.
When the Little Fish’s vision stabilized, everything was completely different.
Before it was a giant ball of fire, floating silently in an endless darkness.
The scorching light illuminated the darkness, and the intense heat spread to the Little Fish’s body.
Looking at the sudden change of scenery, Mo Ling asked again, "And where is this?"
"The Sun."
Once again, Jeff spoke the simple word in his standard Fishman tongue.
"This is very dangerous. At that time, the Fishman Race couldn’t handle this kind of power. All we could do was flee, as far as we could."
As Jeff spoke, the Little Fish quickly turned and swam away, its body thrashing violently in the void, its tail creating ripples.
But how could its swimming speed compare to the speed of light? Intense heat crawled over its body, and wisps of smoke started to rise from it.
The Sun’s immense power descended mercilessly upon the Little Fish’s fragile body.
It wasn’t until the Little Fish was covered in burns that it found another film.
This film was also endless, with no edge in sight.
As if it had found a lifeline, the Little Fish plunged in without a second thought.
The film reflected the light of the Sun, but when the Little Fish crashed into it, the image of the Sun in the film quickly distorted and vanished.
Everything changed once again.
This time, the piercing red gradually distorted and disappeared, replaced by a cold, gentle white.
The moment its vision changed, this cool light washed over the Little Fish’s body, and its wounds began to heal rapidly.
The Little Fish looked closely and saw it was still in an endless darkness, only now there was an orb in the distance, constantly radiating white light.
The white light flowed like a stream, slowly moving toward the Little Fish.
When the light reached the fish, it transformed into ribbon-like shapes that gently wound around its battered body.
Then, the ribbons of light dissolved into countless motes, which slowly seeped into the Little Fish’s wounds.
As more ribbons of light twined around it, the Little Fish began to spin in place contentedly.
Looking at the familiar pale light, Mo Ling hesitantly voiced his guess, "Is this the ’Moon’?"
"Correct," Jeff’s voice slowly came through. "The Moon, which soothes all things."
"At first, the Fishman Race thought the Moon could heal pain and injuries. But we later discovered it was more than that. Its authority is very high; healing is merely an external manifestation of that authority, a very superficial application."
’Authority?’
Mo Ling heard an incredibly familiar word.
’Healing pain is already very powerful, but that’s just a superficial application? Just how high is the Moon’s authority, then?’
At this thought, Mo Ling eagerly asked Jeff,
"What is the Moon’s authority?"
However, Jeff didn’t answer right away. Instead, he leisurely kept him in suspense.
"Keep watching and you’ll find out. There’s no rush."
