Chapter 298 – Other Foxes
Aiko kept sitting on the Glacial Fox's lap. She was wondering why everyone else was huddled up together...
At that point, her team came to her.
"It's nice to see you in good health, Jade Fox." The Glacial Fox giggled.
"How are you doing, Glacial Fox?" Mei smiled.
"It's nice to have some company other than my brash partner." The Glacial Fox laughed.
"I can agree on that." When she 'obtained' Aiko in that forest, there was no time when she felt bored, as long as Aiko was around.
"You look much more lively than when we started." The Glacial Fox smiled gently.
"Do I?" Mei raised her eyebrow. She didn't believe that she changed all that much.
"Alright, alright." Aiko interrupted them. "You can talk, just don't talk over me, or wait till we board the ship!" She pouted.
Aiko stood up and stretched. "How long are we going to wait? I don't want to be here in the morning." She snorted unhappily.
"They should arrive soon." Mei nodded. It would be a bad idea if Aiko was here in the morning.
"What happens in the morning?" The Blazing Fox was curious.
"If you swear loyalty to me, I might consider telling you." Mei narrowed her eyes.
"We are good, for the time being." The Glacial Fox rejected the Jade Fox for the time being. She didn't know how powerful they were, so she wanted to stay neutral for as long as possible.
Mei shrugged, but didn't press on. She didn't want to obtain others by force, it would be her loss if she did that, as they would be more prone for betrayal.
Soon after, an Elder arrived at the plaza with a strange expression.
"What's going on here?" Elder Lin had the strangest expression, but then he spotted the other group.
"Do you have to cause a ruckus even when I'm in charge?" Grandpa Lin sighed.
"Did you get a promotion, Grandpa?" Aiko tilted her head.
"Promotion, my a- Anyway! What happened here?!" Grandpa Lin almost cursed out loud, but he would not be caught up in her pace!
"How would I know? I didn't do anything... yet." Aiko shrugged innocently.
Grandpa Lin's lips twitched. "Whatever, is everyone ready to embark?" He asked as the leading Elder.
"We are, but we don't know anything about them." Aiko pointed at the huddled Foxes, none of them meeting her eye.
Grandpa Lin glanced at them and they nodded like their life depended on it.
"What's wrong with those two?" He pointed at the frozen stiff Exploding Fox with her partner.
"How would I know?" Aiko snorted unhappily. So many questions, can't they just fly already?!
Grandpa Lin sighed and pulled out a small ship.
"Whoa!" Aiko immediately scurried next to him, startling him.
'What kind of speed-!' Grandpa Lin was genuinely shocked. "You have improved." He blurted out.
"Yeah." Aiko nodded, but didn't pay much attention to him. "But isn't this a bit too small?" Aiko tilted her head.
The ship was slightly bigger than Lin's hand.
"It will become bigger." Grandpa Lin smiled.
Aiko stared at him suspiciously, like she was staring at a madman.
Grandpa Lin chuckled and let go of the small ship.
It slowly floated around, becoming bigger and bigger.
"Whoa! I want that." Aiko's eyes sparkled. She could store and traverse easily with this!
"It's not for sale." Grandpa Lin blurted out. "This ship is an old Treasure. It can't be made again."
"Can I research it?" Aiko glanced at him.
"You think you can recreate it?" Grandpa Lin snorted unhappily.
"As long as it's in the Runic language." Aiko nodded.
Grandpa Lin was startled. "I will notify my Master later." He couldn't say yes, since he didn't expect the little Fox to know such ancient language...
...
Everyone slowly gathered around the now enlarged ship. It looked much more majestic than the flying ship used for the Inscription Test.
"My Master will also be joining, so we can't bring him shame." Grandpa Lin spoke quietly to the small Fox.
"Mmmmm..." Aiko didn't care about his Master, she just wanted to research this thing.
"Elder Punisher?" A somewhat familiar Fox came close to them.
The Thunder Fox was tall at 180~cm. His hair was short and strange, like he was hit by lightning, its colour was a mixture of white, light-blue, and purple. His eyebrows were strange, they had a zigzag pattern. Moreover, His lips were small, smaller than most females would have, but with a natural pinkish-red colour. His tail was in a similar state as his hair and Aiko was not willing to touch it! 2/10 would not get close to it!
"What is it?" Grandpa Lin sighed. This Fox was too familiar to him.
"Will Vicious Cub be attending?" The Thunder Fox gently smiled.
Grandpa Lin's eyebrows twitched. "Why, yes." He was tired of couples making out in front of him!
"Oh, where?" The Thunder Fox looked around like he was looking for his lover.
Aiko and her team were sick from that gaze, so much so that Aiko almost planted a flag into his ass, but was stopped by the Elder Lin.
"Don't cause trouble. I already have too much to deal with." Grandpa Lin pushed Aiko onto the ship, since he already wanted to depart! He can't deal with lustful Foxes!
...
Aiko and her team took the forecastle of the ship. It was nice and breezy over there.
"How long will our journey take?" Aiko suddenly asked.
"At most a few days, since this Flying Ship is much faster than Fox Village's Flying Ships." Mei answered that question since she was the most familiar with this type of transportation.
Aiko nodded. "What happened with the other Foxes from the test?" She was slightly curious about how they were doing.
"They are either enslaved or dead. There are a few exceptions, like the Glacial and Blazing Fox." Mei answered, since it was not wise to keep this from Aiko.
Aiko nodded. "Well. That can't be helped." Aiko didn't hold any remorse or affection for them since their time was brief, but this was a good demonstration that this Fox Village was not a good place to be in.
"When do we leave this Fox Village?" Aiko suddenly asked. She was bothered by the scale of this world.
"We need to wait for the envoy from the mainland. We can't traverse the vast ocean without them." Mei sighed. She didn't want to deal with them and she also couldn't ignore them.
"How long?" Aiko asked again.
"A few dozen years? I'm not sure..." Mei sighed. "The envoy would always come when the 'time is ripe', but that is just a bullshit excuse to 'I don't want to bother coming to your island'." Mei sighed again. She didn't like those envoys, since all of them were bastards!
"Can we traverse the sea with this?" Aiko tapped the ship.
"It's tied to someone's Soul, so don't even try to steal it." Mei chuckled and soothed the pouting Aiko.
"Why does everything need to be tied to a Soul!?" Aiko's thieving soul was restless by the fact that the most wondrous Treasures were tied to the Soul.
"Mistress." Yuxi smiled. "If you can get our species, you can rip those Treasures from their Soul." Wanshu also nodded to what Yuxi was saying. She loved her current species since it was the same as her partner’s, but she also was able to steal soul-based equipment.
Aiko nodded. That was her plan, she also planned to level up once she was inside the Secret Realm so that she could steal all the treasures!
"Don't steal too much. You can only store so much." Mei sighed.
Aiko smirked. "You have nothing to worry about~!" Aiko already stored Feifei in her tails along with a bit of food and other pieces. This would allow Feifei to survive until they went into the Secret Realm.
"'She' is too weak, so don't pressure her too much." Mei was worried that Aiko would destroy such an incredible seedling. It was important to keep Feifei in good health, so they could make full use of her in the Immortal World...
"I knooow." Aiko said unhappily. Mei would bother her with Feifei, since she didn't believe Aiko would take good care of her.
"What else should I do?" Aiko shook her head.
"You can take as many Treasures as you can." Mei said.
"Gotcha. Should we have some kind of rendezvous?" Aiko asked Mei.
"Your team can find you through the contract, while I can find you through that 'tattoo'." Mei smiled gently.
"It's quite useful." Aiko liked the fact that the tattoo on her hand could reduce the consumption of the [Heavenly Suppression Technique].
"Keep it going for as long as possible." Mei said sternly. "If you are found out... leave no witnesses alive." Mei chuckled darkly, but this kind of outcome would be for the best. Otherwise, Aiko might be in danger once the Human Hunters find her abnormality.
'We need to buy time until we have a strong enough backing..' Mei narrowed her eyes.
"Got it, got it." Aiko nodded her head. She knew that Mei was not joking and Aiko was not against silencing them if it helped her.
"What about you?" Mei asked the others.
"I plan to Cultivate to a higher Beast Rank." The Blood Fox said.
"We will just explore, get around with Aiko and stuff." Yuxi said and Wanshu pouted.
It was a good idea to keep Yuxi just for herself, so she would delay a bit to enjoy her partner.
Mei nodded happily. It seems like none of them underestimated the Secret Realm.
"If you feel like you are losing control, go to Aiko for some cuddles." Mei sighed. She didn't like to say this, but since they were Demonic Foxes, they needed that soothing aura that Aiko was giving off.
The trio nodded. While Yuxi didn't have all that many issues, the same could not be said for the Blood Fox and Wanshu. They needed to recharge from time to time.
"We will spend a few years there if nothing bad happens. So be prepared." Mei gestured.
"What?" Aiko was startled, wasn't it just a one-year kind of thing?
"What?" Mei tilted her head. "We are going there for a few years. Didn't you know?"
Aiko's eyebrow twitched. She really wanted to scold Mei and her 'common sense'!
Mei coughed awkwardly when she saw Aiko's relentless gaze. "Well, I say years, but we can leave whenever we want." Mei corrected her attitude, since she couldn't bear Aiko's gaze.
