It wasn't a resemblance in appearance, nor was it a ghost, but a truly living person...
"I..."
Little Crow's lips trembled slightly as she tried to speak, but there were too many things she wanted to say, all jamd in her throat, leaving her ultimately speechless.
The sickly little assistant from the Sawshark hadn't died after all. Not only was he alive, but he had also beco a sowhat famous chef.
Moreover, he was now a formidable second-tier Transcendent.
He even owned an expensive and adorable water spirit!
Little Crow twirled her jet-black hair around her finger before finally saying:
"I need a mont..."
Seeing Little Crow abandon her strange thoughts, Chen Qi put away his gun and let out a long exhale.
As a cadre of the Blackfin Crew, Little Crow was involved in many key mariti incidents. As long as he remained in the Witch Sea, their paths were bound to cross.
However, was this really her appearance without the mask? Chen Qi shook his head as he observed the girl before him.
This was his first ti seeing Little Crow's face without her mask.
A youthful oval face, red pupils veined with bloodshot streaks, and long straight black hair cascading down.
Even with the dark circles of an overworked office drone, a displeased pout, and traces of blood at the corners of her mouth, she remained incredibly cute—like a sulky little black cat.
Siren, skilled in disguise, had used exquisite makeup techniques to accentuate Little Crow's features while concealing her facial scars, making her resemble a spoiled young lady from a wealthy family who knew nothing of hardship.
In his mories, Little Crow had always worn a mask.
Photo fraud!
She looked completely different from the pictures on forums and bounty lists... Chen Qi leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.
From what he knew of her, Little Crow probably wouldn't expose his identity.
When it ca down to it, who would be threatening whom?
Chen Qi considered his escape options.
Without taking drugs, the combat effectiveness of a drug test subject wasn't particularly strong.
Even if he couldn't defeat her, with the Deepsea Water Spirits, Ember's Touch, and his ability to hide in darkness, he could still make a clean getaway.
With the water spirits, he could survive at sea even without a ship.
"Really resurrected?" Little Crow scratched her head, still sowhat astonished.
The current Chen Qi was vastly different from the assistant she rembered.
Frowning, Little Crow sat at the work desk and slapped her own cheeks—hard enough to leave them red.
Calm down! Calm down!
Calm down! Calm down!
It's just soone who was dead inexplicably coming back to life—nothing to be shocked about!
No good, still can't calm down... what am I even doing? Little Crow's agitated emotions refused to settle.
She collected her thoughts:
"So..."
"Just call Little Chef, or Assistant is fine too. Long ti no see. Seems we've both been doing well... Crow... sis."
Chen Qi struggled with that final "sis."
Little Crow's unmasked appearance made it really difficult to address her as "sis."
But given their seniority and power difference, he really should call her that.
"A sowhat famous Transcendent chef..." Little Crow got straight to the point:
"Then, Assistant, how did you survive in that situation?"
From Little Crow's perspective, this was her first ti seeing Chen Qi alive since leaving the Sawshark!
"That's... hard to explain." Chen Qi organized his words:
"Willpower. I drifted alone at sea before eventually returning ho. Fortunately, after returning, the Dinsional Tide helped beco a chef, and luckily, I advanced to the second tier."
"Willpower..." Little Crow lowered her head, glancing sideways at Chen Qi.
Indeed, drifting at sea on that small boat required constantly facing waves, storms, and undersea monsters.
Without exceptional ntal fortitude, survival would have been impossible.
Struggling against sea beasts and storms must have helped him grow considerably.
"Once ashore, with his inspiration and ruthlessness against monsters..."
Little Crow fell into thought.
While hard to believe, during the Dinsional Tide, as long as one could make it ashore, becoming a second-tier Transcendent with so luck wasn't impossible.
During the Tide, even the lowest vagrants could potentially beco legends in the chaotic seas—a transcendence level even nobles had to pay enormous costs to reach.
Especially since, in her eyes, Chen Qi had always been a youth with promising potential.
As she thought, a rare faint smile appeared on Little Crow's usually world-weary face.
In her rat-like life of failures, parents, relatives, and friends always inexplicably disappeared from her existence, their mories growing increasingly hazy.
Recently, she'd also encountered so unpleasantness.
That damned couple—the Black Hunter and Flower Witch—had defeated Mad Shark, ruining the Blackfin Crew's plans!
Worse, that despicable Black Hunter had actually found black whale blood and handed it to the Beiguo teorological Bureau, prompting the Sea Monster Gorge branch to begin their own research.
Due to the Black Hunter's notoriety, the Blackfin Crew had accelerated their black whale blood research too.
The research had inexplicably beco a competition!
And she was caught in the middle.
Her superiors in the Blackfin Crew demanded higher purity black whale blood within a month for a special ritual.
I'd love to punch that Black Hunter and Witch... Little Crow grumbled internally.
But at least...
A capable assistant she'd rather liked had miraculously returned to life—so good news at last.
Good news worth celebrating with drinks.
Life's joys often co from unexpected little things... Little Crow blinked, her voice softening:
"My assistant, what exactly was in that treasure chest deep in the sea beast cavern?"
After all, Captain Blackeye was still keeping it secret from everyone, searching tirelessly across the seas for Chen Qi's trail—all for that chest's contents.
Over ten days ago, Little Crow had assud Chen Qi was dead, even burning a flower for him while paying respects to her mother.
On the Sawshark, Captain Blackeye had been the only one who steadfastly believed Chen Qi was still alive!
His obsession had grown so severe that Black Glove temporarily relieved him of his captain duties.
"Asking about that..." Chen Qi thought before answering:
"Sothing like a Pale Scale Fruit, a fishing skill card, and quite a few jewels. That's how I managed to navigate through many dinsional rifts."
"Huh? That's it?"
Little Crow looked unconvinced:
"Pale Scale Fruit—you'd use such a rare supernatural fruit as comparison? For the Blood-Eyed Wall's treasure chest, you didn't get a Deep Sea Hunters' weapon, did you?"
"No, nothing like that."
Chen Qi answered truthfully.
"Not telling the truth, huh..." Little Crow smiled without pressing further.
If it were a consumable item, it would've been used up by now—useless to her anyway.
If it were so other supernatural weapon or equipnt, what use would it be to a drug-fueled berserker like her?
Besides, that treasure was never hers to begin with.
She glanced at the stacked newspapers on the table.
Little Crow pulled out a deck of skill cards from beneath her clothes, shuffling them:
"Alright, let's continue our transaction—the skill card trade. You must've made quite a profit as the little boss of the Water Spirits dining ship."
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