CHAPTER 343: CHAPTER 216: DARK FANG, COUNTDOWN, AND THE BLANK GIFT

"What friend can be more interesting than Sharky?" Yaguba said, "Why don’t you become Sharky’s sidekick, bravely venturing into the ocean world with Sharky, and later write a book ’Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: Sharky’s Golden Gourmet Journey.’"

"Now that you mention it, sometimes I feel like your tone and style are a bit like my friend." Li Qingping said blandly, "Then it feels so funny, as if my introverted friend suddenly went crazy in front of me."

"What, doppelganger literature?" The little shark lowered its face, squinted its eyes, and pointed a fin at him, "I warn you, Sharky is Sharky! Sharky is unique, nothing like your so-called friend."

Li Qingping sighed, "But you two are kind of similar, I don’t even know how to say it..."

"Sharky is nobility among sharks, what lowly creature is your friend?" Yaguba wobbled its head, "In front of Sharky, he’s just a bug, a big fluttering moth."

"Someday I’ll let him meet you, his words are much more venomous than mine, you’d better be careful."

"Does he know you’re an Anecdote Envoy?"

"Not yet." Li Qingping shook his head, "But when I get back to China, I’ll tell him everything. Anyway, by then the Whale Terrarium will be destroyed, and there will be no need for me to keep it a secret."

"Oh oh."

Yaguba nodded while thinking, just as well, I’ll have Unit 1 tell you he’s actually Black Cocoon, let’s see who will be more shocked when we reveal our identities to each other.

As long as Gu Wenyu is honest with Li Qingping about his identity, the main storyline can advance anytime, since Li Qingping, unlike his family, will not restrict his actions, at most he’ll just complain how putting on a mask made him oddly introverted.

"Li Qingping, aren’t you curious why Sharky knows so much about the human world?"

"Racial talent?"

"Not at all..." The little shark raised a fin, shaking its head back and forth, "I’ll tell you later."

"By the way, when I go back to school in a month, I still need to take the monthly exams." Li Qingping said, "I haven’t had revision materials for nearly a month, maybe you could help me out?"

"How can I help you?"

"You could hide in the drawer and flip the textbooks to read the answers to me."

"Will there be food if I help you?"

"There’s so much food in the human world, it’s colorful and diverse, unlike in the Box Garden where there’s no even rice, only seafood and liquor, and I don’t have any appetite here. Every day I just make do."

"That’s fine, you give me food, I help you do things."

"Deal?"

"Deal."

"I can also take you to see fireworks and eat rice cakes. Every New Year in Li Jing, the streets are bustling with people, someone even plays the Nian Beast, someone sets off firecrackers. At the beginning of this year, Gu Wenyu and I sat by the seaside watching fireworks, chatting while drinking. It wasn’t until I got out of this whale belly that I realized the world is so vast. I think you might want to leave the sea and have a look too."

"Sharky doesn’t watch fireworks, Sharky only wants food."

"Glutton."

"Mongrel fish."

Li Qingping paused for a moment: "If I die tomorrow, can you pass a message to my friend for me?"

"Oh?" Yaguba pressed against the glass, big eyes glaring, "You speak as if you’re already marked for death." It extended a fin, "Feed Sharky fifty Anecdote Fragments, and Sharky will help you change your fate."

"I’m serious..." Li Qingping said, "If I die, Cezar is likely not to escape either. But you’re different, you’re a shark, if worst comes to worst you can still hide in the ocean, the Royal Court Team won’t be able to find you."

Yaguba nodded: "That’s indeed true, even if I hide in the sea of the Whale Terrarium, they’re unlikely to find me."

"So, will you do me this favor?"

"Why not say it yourself if you survive? You’re acting like you’re entrusting your last wishes." Yaguba said disdainfully, "So what’s the message, and to which friend?"

"I have only one friend; he lives in Building 1501, Gu Yima District, his name is ’Gu Wenyu’... If you find him, tell him, this is a gift from me."

Li Qingping said while summoning the Anecdote Atlas, lowering his gaze, and pulling out a peculiar card.

Upon closer inspection, the card was blank on both sides, like a thin-cut slab of white brick.

"What on earth?" Yaguba squinted, "Even given for free, Sharky wouldn’t eat it. No appetite, just like plain water."

"Glutton, it’s not for you to eat."

"Then what is it?"

"This is a fragment I spent some time creating, a kind of Anecdote Fragment that even ordinary people can use."

Yaguba skeptically said, "An Anecdote Fragment that even ordinary people can use?"

Li Qingping nodded, "Ever since I was a child, I’ve wanted to develop fragments that ordinary people can use; it shouldn’t only be for Anecdote Envoys, this way, there’d be no difference in status. I’ve been researching whenever I have the time over the years."

"So the fragments you created are even lower level than common Anecdote Fragments?"

"They are indeed quite basic, mainly because I haven’t mastered this technology, and no one supports my studies on this." Li Qingping shrugged, "Box Garden people believe Anecdote Envoys are superior, only they deserve to use Anecdote Fragments, making my research seem foolish to them."

"Alright then, give it to me."

Yaguba manipulated the dark water stream to open the lid, sticking its head out from the Crystal Ball’s opening.

"Don’t go eating it."

"Just keeping it in my stomach, I can spit it out whenever you ask."

"Are you sure it won’t get digested?"

"It won’t."

Li Qingping hesitated for two seconds, then shrugged and tossed the Anecdote Fragment towards Yaguba.

Yaguba opened its mouth, swallowed the fragment whole, stored it in another part of its stomach, ensuring the fragment wouldn’t be digested by stomach acid, and could be spat out any moment.

"Now you have to do me a favor too." It lifted its head, earnestly looking at Li Qingping.

"What favor?"

"Help Sharky save a good friend, his name is ’Ji Minghuan,’ he’s trapped in some weird place." The little shark looked tearful, wiping its eyes with a fin, "He’s Sharky’s only friend; without him, Sharky would’ve been dried fish long ago."

"Sure."

"Really?"

"Really." Li Qingping smiled, "But first, we need to escape this damned place."

Yaguba nodded.

The sound of the waves from the great ocean was growing ever louder, nearly submerging the entire world. Unconsciously, the night sky of the Whale Terrarium had already been replaced by a blood-red twilight.

Time quietly advanced, and two hours before the Legendary Whale landed, Li Qingping woke Cezar early, telling him it was time to begin. Cezar opened his eyes and nodded.

This could potentially be the last dusk for the Box Garden World. In about half an hour, the Legendary Whale "Chikanao" would land at Bergen Port in Norway.

At the same time, Norway had just reached midnight on August 1st, with twelve members of the White Crow Travel Brigade waiting for a long time at Bryggen Pier.

Cezar tied his white hair into a ponytail hanging at the back of his head, ready to go.

He took a deep breath and said softly, "I’m ready."

Li Qingping glanced at him, "When I was in high school, I also loved wearing braids to stand out... just easy to get called in for counseling by the grade leader."

"I learned from you." Cezar smiled, "It looks good this way."

The little shark in the Crystal Ball grinned, showing a row of small sharp teeth, "Let’s go, follow Sharky and cause a big ruckus."