It was before dawn, three days later, when the sun didn't even reach the horizon yet. Loud noises flooded the area Hana frequented besides the Crystal-veined stream. As promised, Chomper and his colleagues had arrived at the location. Everyone was so excited to see who was this land beast who had the privilege to enter the Waterwave Marine clan's main grounds. Their clan's main grounds were barred from outsiders for as long as they could remember. For years, no land spirit beast had entered ever since the rampage of the notorious Lightning Serpent incident ages ago.

 

"Will they be here soon?"

 

"I wonder how the delegates look like.."

 

"Isn't this the famed Lightning Serpent Lord's area?! I thought it is forbidden to be here?!"

 

"Don't worry, we're not entering the land.."

 

"I can sense a dense location with spiritual energy here! Is there a spirit vein somewhere?!"

 

 Chomper was calm as he observed the surroundings meticulously. He ignored all the distractions and proceeded to invoke the Water Barrier Art to travel on land with ease to the horror of his colleagues!

 

"Chomper?! What are you doing?! Come back!"

 

"Don't go on land! The Lord has decreed!"

 

"Stop being foolish!"

 

"It's alright. Just stay there quietly and don't move. This is the territory of the Lord I mentioned previously. I need to go somewhere to help out a little." After he explained himself, he immediately disappeared amongst the shades of trees before his colleagues could stop him.

 

Chomper swam up towards the little herb garden. He planned to do his part by watering all the little plants as usual. Lord Shiro had explicitly mentioned that he liked an assertive person who helps out without being told. It was even accompanied by a meaningful stare.

 

As such, Chomper will always drop by to help out with watering the plants when he was nearby or was under an errand by the higher-ups of the clan even if he had to make quite a large detour. What could our little Chomper do? He was this kind of fish who won't ever forget gratitude. Although he lacked in cultivation talent, he had a quick mind, a firm conviction to improve himself while being humble all the way. He knew from his experience that to survive in the highly competitive clan, he must steer cautiously and have someone powerful to back him up.  And Mistress Hana, the goddess in his heart, was a strong thigh to fall back to if problems arise. He was not stupid to notice that the Mistress was fond of him too, although, for the love of the sea, he couldn't find a single appealing spot on himself. Nonetheless, he was extremely grateful to be favored by Mistress Hana.

 

Chomper swam happily within his transparent water-filled bubble. He knew the spot of the little garden was just behind these bushes and bamboo clusters. It was cleverly hidden from the riverview's side. However, the other side was bare. He heard that it was the aftermath effect of Lord Kuro's advancement very recently. It seemed to happen at the same time as his own princess' advancement, thanks to Mistress Hana's efforts. The story was told the thousandth time by the chatty Young Miss until he could repeat it word by word.  

 

To his surprise, before he got to enter the wooden stake-like fences, he saw numerous Elemental Fiends of different colors patrolling the area. Once the Elemental Fiends detected his presence, a large number of them immediately gathered into an attacking formation! He was all too familiar with this attacking formation from his multiple clashes with these Elemental Fiends!

 

"It's me, it's me. Chomper! Don't attack!" Chomper waved his fins in panic!

 

A red Elemental Fiend came over from within the formation. Its movement, fluid, and full of cautiousness. The glowing fiery antenna above his head moved as he droned deeply with a questioning look. It flexed its glistening pincers while producing metallic sounds in an attempt to intimidate the poor fish. Although it knew Chomper was way stronger than it, it was fearless since it had the power of numbers. It seemed that it couldn't speak the Beast Language but was trying to ask something while showing off that metallic-like pincers of his?

 

Chomper's quick mind clicked as he turned himself to the side and spit a gentle nozzle of water to a nearby tree. "Just someone who wanted to help water the plants." He plastered the most sincere smile he could muster to appease the Elemental Fiend guard. However, he was still very nervous. The red ones could burn him badly as it was his biggest weakness. This chap was even brawnier than the rest, somehow.

 

Or was it his imagination?

 

He must be the leader of the group of a few hundred Elemental Fiends currently scrutinizing him up and down with eagerness. It made his fins tingled!

 

The red Elemental Fiend made an understanding expression, and it droned low as the sea of Elemental Fiends parted to reveal the inner herb garden for Chomper to enter...

...

 

Chomper was shocked.

 

Again, the Mistress had performed a miracle.

 

He could finally understand why there were so many Elemental Fiends guarding the herb garden at the moment. Currently, the garden was exuding more than ten times the level of spirituality where the energy of heaven and earth was packed and concentrated within. 

 

This was precisely what he encountered within the Mistress abode!

 

Due to pausing for a moment too long, he suddenly could feel a sizzle of heat and an intrusion of his bubble water-space. It turned out, the brawny red Elemental Fiend guard tried to nudge him to continue moving forward. Chomper winced slightly due to a little pain from the pincer. Although the pincer did not injure him, the heat exuded from the pincer was very real. He nearly became a steamed fish!

 

Chomper moved forward hurriedly.

 

He needed to complete the task at hand as soon as possible to present his best side to Mistress Hana.

...

 

A bedraggled aunty with messy hair was slumped on the back of a giant black snake gliding low through the air made everyone in the entourage speechless. The 'delegate' in question was finally here. The description mentioned by the first Young Miss' attendant was truly spot-on as they stared hard at the unsuspecting aunty. In their minds, they were thinking, 'what should I do?' while feeling distraught.

 

Kuro was in his original form. Only this form could support the weight of the sleepy aunty without making her fall. The dangerous protruded crystal-like black scales on Kuro's body were closed this time, leaving him with smooth and slick skin, to prevent himself from hurting the sleepy aunty. His two maroon wings were a couple of times larger to support the aunty's weight as she was dangling in between the wings to stop herself from falling. Beside them, Shiro, the white fox, followed with worry in his eyes. At the same time, a few hundred Elemental Fiends of various colors faithfully tailed them from their backs. Shiro did not perform his usual task as a mount simply because the aunty slipped off his back multiple times in the beginning. She nearly fell down from their elevated cave dwelling! Thank goodness Kuro snatched her mid-air in time. If not, she’d hurt herself pretty badly!

 

Seeing such a big, dangerous-looking crowd, everyone clammed up in fear. The groups were desperately praying so that Chomper could quickly come to the rescue. A simple misunderstanding between them and the delegate's entourage could easily result in a total wipe on their side. They nudged each other to start with the introduction, but nobody was brave enough to come forward. At last, they decided not to make a sound and just silently watched. They hoped to be introduced to the being by Chomper, but somehow, the chap was still not here after he vanished for some time. They were partially submerged within the deepest part of the Crystal-veined stream. But now, everyone agreed to submerge deeper into the waters to hide while occasionally peeked.

 

Hana was so drowsy, she hadn't expected to be stared by tens of marine lives, ogling her like she was an exotic animal from the zoo. Slightly wet drool stains still hung at the corner of her mouth.

 

"Do we need to get ready now? It's still so early, and the sun wasn't even up yet. I'm still so tired-lah. And the waters at this time are too cold. Brrr..." Hana whined unhappily with her eyes half-closed.

 

"Mommy, the fish's camp is pretty far. You really need to get ready. You should take a bath to freshen yourself. Who ask you to challenge yourself to do single-finger body lifting?" Kuro lectured like an oldie with helplessness. Sometimes, Mommy was just too childish. He didn't know where she got those random ideas to challenge herself. She even said she wanted to do a video to make her significant other happy? Kuro doubted that the sensible Papa will be amused with this random exercise-till-you-drop fad she picked up to entertain herself. Most probably, they will argue again, and Mommy's mood will turn sour soon. Even if she wanted to try the challenge, can't she just wait and did it after they return from the fish girl slave's home? Of course, he knew how far it was. He could detect these spirit fishes' movements kilometers away. They must have been traveling half of the night to reach this spot.

 

Kuro stared at the entourage a moment longer while scanning with his spiritual sense to check their strengths.

 

Just some minnows.. He retracted his spiritual sense almost immediately with a satisfied look. Anything that could jeopardize Mommy's wellbeing will be a no-go for him. He'd rather send her himself first before doubling back.

 

His stare invoked a series of tremors by the marine lives hiding within the Crystal-veined stream. The tyrannical spiritual sense almost suffocated them to death, as they experienced a series of shortness of breath.

 

It was their first time seeing the famed destroyer of the Marine Waterwave clan grounds a few hundred years ago. No one from the group was there yet at that moment, but they have heard tales, and those gruesome tales were the kind where one gets during a nightmare.

 

"Alaa... I just want to be like those kungfu grandmasters. Ku-chan, you're such a meany to your Mommy today. You see, nobody is here yet. You're too inflexible." Hana pursed her lips in a spoiled manner. It broke the tension in the air just like that.

 

"Minnows, come out from the water. NOW." Kuro shouted with a helpless look etched to his face.

 

The surface of the stream moved violently to Hana's surprise, but after a few seconds it became calm again. Nothing emerged.

 

The marine lives within were too afraid to surface.

 

"See? No one is here yet, I tell you. You're over-reacting, Ku-chan. Why not we return to the cave and sleep for around two more hours before coming back? Pleaseeee... " Hana hugged Kuro's sleek body with a spoiled manner to coax him. She was really a little too tired. She didn't blame anyone but herself as she got excited to be able to perform single-finger planking after trying it out! She had never managed to perform a proper plank for longer than ten seconds in her life! It was just too awesome!

 

After that, due to curiosity, she tried harder and recorded her time. At the end of the day, she finally realized how fit she was! She managed to perform single-finger planking as long as three-hours straight! Mindblown! She couldn't believe it since she was still as chubby as before too. Okay, maybe she was a little lean due to clean-eating every day, but still, no significant difference could be seen outwardly except for her facial skin, which had shown tremendous improvement. After that, she was keen to try out single-finger pushups just like in the kungfu movies. It got weirder by the second until she forgot to sleep.

 

"Mistress Hana, ohh, Mistress Hana! Little me is here!" Chomper appeared in between the bushes not far away from them.

 

"Chomper? Why are you here? Isn't it a little too early?" Hana sighed. It meant that what her favorite pet snake was telling the truth. If little Chomper was already here, his friends must be here too. They must be peeping at her right at this moment but too afraid to come out from the water.

 

"I went to help water your plants! Mistress, those lovely little greeneries look so fresh and full of vitality!"

 

"Aww, thanks, sweetie. Heheheh. We're testing out a new method to create our own spirit herbs. If it is a success, we can immediately start with the project soon. Anticipate my good news. Are your friends here? Why are they not coming out?" Hana tilted her head in confusion. Although she was exhausted, it wasn't right to make someone wait. As long as she could still function, she will entertain her guests well.

 

Hana slid off Kuro's back after patting his head. The gigantic black snake immediately transformed into his adorable mini size and habitually wrapped himself on Hana's arm.

 

A large splash revealed tens of water animals in the middle of the stream!

 

They were making a fake laugh while blushing furiously, though Hana herself couldn't really understand what all the noises signify.

 

A large one-meter plus diameter tortoise!

 

A golden emperor snakehead with black patches on its body! It was even bigger than Chomper!

 

A pink dolphin! Seriously it was pink! And it was the size of a small sampan!

 

A two-meter golden mahseer!

 

A group of mud-colored eels the size of anacondas!

 

A group of one-meter crabs!

 

A few two-meter sized suspicious-looking crocodile-like animals.

 

And many other slightly smaller ones Hana couldn't really figure out what they were.

 

Hana was speechless!

 

Was this a parade or something?! And all of these.. marines.. were scared of her adorable darling Kuro?! Seriously? Hana’s impression over Ara’s clan plummeted. It seemed that either these marine lives were a little too timid, or her Kuro was just too powerful and handsome?

 

Another thing was, it turned out that Chomper was the smallest among them. These are all plus-size! How come their courage was not proportionate with the size of their bodies? However, Hana didn’t know how Kuro had trashed the Waterwave clan before. If she did, she would’ve shivered too.

 

"Little Chomper, your friends... What are we supposed to do with them? Are they here to help us build a raft or something?" Hana's lips twitched slightly as she whispered to Chomper. As usual, Shi-chan translated it out quietly.

 

"Nope, these selections... Are your water mounts, Mistress. This humble one wasn't sure which will be to your liking, so little me just call whoever wished to help out. Don't you worry, all of them are strong enough to carry anyone of you." He gave Hana the brightest smile he had. Hana was sure she saw a twinkle in Chomper's eyes. This guy was just too adorable, sensible, and functional!

...