"What exactly are you? What species of bird are those wings?"
"Is this the power of some kind of Bird-Bird Fruit? Why have I never seen anything like it before?"
Inside Lord Lantern's belly, a pair of golden wings emerged from behind Tsugikuni Yoriichi. Carrying Miskina Ashiye, he swiftly darted through the fish's stomach.
Beneath their feet stretched a boundless ocean of gastric acid. The acid separated the three stomachs within Lord Lantern's belly, and the air was thick with a sour, rotten stench.
A distinct ecosystem had formed inside the lanternfish's belly. Undigested islands were embedded firmly in its flesh like "stones" inside a human body. The vegetation on those islands seemed to have adapted to the low-pH environment and grew luxuriantly.
Having lived here for nearly two hundred years, Miskina Ashiye rarely left that island. He had tried to find a way out, but leaving came with enormous risks. That was why he had lived like a savage on the island.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi's appearance stirred ripples in his stagnant life.
It was impossible for Miskina Ashiye to place complete trust in a stranger like this, but Yoriichi's mention of another survivor brought a glimmer of light into Ashiye's dark life.
Could it be his daughter?
He did not know. The possibility was minuscule, but it was not impossible.
His daughter wore a ring containing Pure Gold. If nothing had happened to her, it was possible that she had survived.
His decision to ask Tsugikuni Yoriichi to take him off the island was merely a gamble on that tiny possibility.
Emotions churned within Miskina Ashiye, but he tried his utmost to keep them under control. He even had the presence of mind to be curious about Yoriichi's current form.
He had once been a scientist. Back then, in order