Chapter 274: Chapter 272: The Fish’s Choice
"Get ready. We’re going out."
Little Fish’s determined voice resounded through the entire great dragon, reaching every last scale.
The replicates’ responses came one after another.
Little Fish recognized the voice of every replicate. It silently recited their names in its heart.
It suddenly looked toward Lingyi.
"Lingyi, if I told you now that I want to become the great dragon soaring across the heavens, what would you think?"
Lingyi paused for a moment before its voice came again.
"You don’t need to ask me."
’Still the same as ever.’
Little Fish didn’t press Lingyi any further. It controlled the great dragon and once again touched the membrane that led to reality.
This time, it didn’t hesitate. The great dragon’s body slowly converged with the membrane, gradually merging into it.
But just then, Little Fish said something strange.
"Lingyi, go see the moon for me..."
"What do you mean by that?"
The moment Lingyi’s confused words faded, Little Fish’s vision changed strangely. It seemed to instantly pull away from the dragon’s head, moving backward along the great dragon’s body.
It squeezed past one replicate after another, falling downward.
As it fell, it greeted each replicate with warmth, as if getting to know them all over again.
"Two-Ninety-Seven, you were always a faster swimmer than me. I used to get so mad I’d use my authority to trap you in place. Now, I’m giving you all authority over movement..."
"One-Thirty, you were always hauling things from the ruins for me, you even built me a Dragon Palace. Let me think... I’ll give you the authority over conveyance..."
"Ling’Er, you were always pestering me about researching the various authorities. You’ll definitely be able to manage the authority over knowledge..."
And so, as Little Fish distributed its authorities, it slid down to the dragon’s tail, until it detached from the great dragon’s body.
It remained where it was, watching the great dragon slowly ascend, pass through the membrane, and fly into the heavens.
The great dragon, now beyond the membrane, quickly turned its head, twisting its body to search for Little Fish’s shadow. But it seemed unable to see the membrane, which was right there.
It seemed that once one reached reality, the membrane was no longer visible.
Only Little Fish remained, looking up with a sense of longing.
It had left itself behind, within the membrane.
After losing all its authorities, Little Fish’s vision grew increasingly blurry. It seemed it could no longer control its body as it plunged downward.
The great dragon’s silhouette grew more distant, and everything before its eyes slowly faded to black.
In the gloom, moonlight once again fell upon Little Fish’s body. Having cast everything aside, its body felt so much lighter...
And so, in the shimmering moonlight, everything once again fell silent.
Until there was nothing but an endless silence.
...
Darkness intertwined with the flickering light from within the armor. Mo Ling felt like he was in a dream, unable to tell if the pop-up window before him was real or fake.
"END SHARING."
The large characters, written in standard Fishman, instantly pulled Mo Ling back to reality.
Jeff’s voice followed slowly. "That was the last image it saw. We don’t know what happened after."
’It?’
’Little Fish?’
Mo Ling was stunned for a long while, still reeling from the shift in perspective.
Before he could fully process it, the scene had come to an abrupt end.
’What about the story after the school of Fishmen arrived in the real world?’
’Wasn’t Little Fish supposed to control the great dragon and see the real moon?’
’Why did it end so suddenly?’
"Why did it leave the school?" Mo Ling asked, completely bewildered.
"Because that was the price," Jeff replied, a hint of resignation in his voice. "The strokes of a written character don’t just vanish into thin air."
"In the process of conquering that world, the school of Fishmen slowly became part of the world of text itself. While gaining authorities, they also took the place of those strokes, deepening their connection to the words."
"For the school to escape that world, it would be like trying to remove every fish-shaped stroke from every word. That’s obviously impossible. There had to be one ’fish’ left in those words."
"It understood this the moment it touched the membrane. So it left itself behind to become that ’fish’ within the words. From that day on, every depiction of a ’little fish’ in the Fishman language... is it."
As Mo Ling listened to Jeff’s explanation, everything clicked into place. At the same time, he was stunned by Little Fish’s decision.
"Why didn’t it just leave a replicate behind?"
"I don’t know. That was its choice."
The armor on Jeff’s fingertips slowly retracted. He sat up straight, quietly waiting for Mo Ling to digest the information.
"You should understand now what the highest authority represents, shouldn’t you?"
Mo Ling said nothing. He opened the ancient Fishman text on the table and pointed to the depiction of a little fish on the page.
"You understand."
Jeff nodded, seeing Mo Ling’s action.
"After it left the school, it gave me the highest authority. But it wasn’t the *pure* highest authority. At best, it was an empty shell, with the power to manage, but not to control."
"What do you mean?" Mo Ling asked, not quite understanding.
"Because when it left, it distributed the specific word-based authorities to the other replicates. The highest authority itself was left empty. Therefore, I could only use my status as the highest authority to manage the other authorities, but I had no direct control over them."
Jeff raised his hand and placed his finger on a word in the ancient text.
"’School.’"
"I possess the authority of ’School.’ I can use this authority to manage the other replicates, and then through them, control the other authorities. I can’t directly control the authorities themselves. That is the difference."
He looked up, his gaze serious as he met Mo Ling’s eyes.
"But you, now, are the true highest authority. All authorities, the actual control, are in your hands. The school of Fishmen only has the right to use them."
"In other words, the entire school of Fishmen is now at your mercy."
Hearing Jeff’s words, Mo Ling froze. Only now did he truly understand the real meaning of the highest authority.
Still, there was something Mo Ling didn’t understand.
"Why are you telling me all this?"
’Why would Jeff show him Little Fish’s experience and then so earnestly explain the meaning of the highest authority?’
’They were supposed to be enemies. Wasn’t Jeff worried at all?’
’Telling me the true meaning of the highest authority... isn’t that the same as handing over his life to an enemy?’
"Even if I didn’t tell you, you would have found out sooner or later."
Jeff tilted his head up slightly and reached out to grasp at the mist beside him, but the fog seemed to shy away, refusing to touch his body.
"I may not remember exactly what happened on this island, or why we had to spend so long trying to forget a single skill, but regardless, the reappearance of the highest authority is a good thing."
He lowered his arm, placing it squarely on the table, and then looked at Mo Ling with renewed seriousness.
"Let me ask you a question."
"Do you, or do you not, want to completely annihilate the school of Fishmen?"
