Chapter 445 - 17. The Secret of Rank (Two in One)
Chapter 445 of "Demi-human Girls Completion Manual" unveils a new twist: With Pahetzās command, the sailors behind her brought out their shovels, clearly intending to claim... See what happens!
With Pahetzās command, the sailors behind her brought out their shovels, clearly intending to claim a share of the treasures on the beach alongside Philis.
Philis gritted her teeth, her golden locks visibly bristling with irritation.
She normally didnāt care, but the very thought of someone vying with her for money was intolerable, certainly more agonizing than murder.
Pahetzās plump cheeks quivered as she watched Philisās hair stand on end and she hastily raised her hands in pacification, retreating a step while softening her tone as if intimidated by Philisās fury,
"Hey, hey, no need to be hasty, you lions are always so impatient, letās not rush this... How about this, since you discovered the beach finds, you should have a larger share. Letās dig for treasures together, and weāll split the finds sixty-forty, with you taking the sixty, how does that sound?"
Upon hearing this, Philisās bristled hair somewhat relaxed, and even her brain, compressed by greed, sluggishly processed the idea...
If she didnāt share with them, she either had to fight or compete with the three of them for the treasure, likely ending up with less, plus fighting could ruin the bossās plan; but if she did agree to share, sheād get the lionās share!
Thinking it over, her pancake-like ears fluttered as she nodded, clutching the golden cup in her arms,
"Deal, weāll gather the treasures together tonight and divide them up. Iām warning you now, donāt hide any treasures, or donāt blame me for turning on you."
Pahetz extended her chubby hand and shook Philisās sandy paw without any disdain, saying cheerfully,
"No problem at all."
But in truth, Pahetz and the other two still had to find food for the Iceberg Queen, sparing no time for treasure hunting with her.
Since the lion-woman seemed idle and appeared simple-minded, they could just dig up a little something to appease her and then take forty percent of the hard-earned treasure Philis had dug up; using Philis as free labor for treasure hunting was purely profit.
Team up to outnumber and outscoop her in treasure hunting is one thing, but letting her do most of the work and still taking a forty percent cut was the real masterstroke.
Watching Pahetz and the two sailors head to another spot with their shovels, Philis hid her delight, carefully placing the golden cup she held behind her before resuming her frantic digging in the sand for buried treasure.
Fisher observed this scene silently smirking, clearly aware of what Pahetz was scheming.
As the saying goes, looks can be deceiving, and Pahetz, despite her plump appearance, was quite sly and alluringāa fact evidenced by how she had effortlessly lowered Old Jackās guards earlier.
Despite being a few years older, the rugged but naĆÆve Nali man was no match for this Sardinia Female Countryās Chief Officer...
Observing Philis furiously at work, Fisher suddenly wondered where the Lion-man Species would place in the hierarchy of life?
He had seen the All Things Warning Stone Tablet at the Sea Floor, but unfortunately, it was swallowed whole by a Siren.
At that thought, he called over to Emhardt, perched on his shoulder, wanting to inquire about the Life Rank,
"Emhardt, do you know about the Life Rank?"
"Ah? What, Life Rank...?"
Both Emhardt and Fisher had been eyeing the distant scroll, equally eager to discover what knowledge it contained, hoping to incorporate that into his being as was innate for a relic.
Thus, when Fisher abruptly asked, Emhardt took a second to withdraw his gaze from Valentina and her group before replying,
"Let me think, thatās an ancient concept, probably from around the time I was newly forged by the Holy Descendants, and it came from your Humans. I can only give you a rough idea, as I wasnāt as smart back then as I am now."
After hearing this, Fisher was taken aback, having assumed relics like Emhardt to be distinct from others upon their creation,
"So you mean that when you were first forged by these Holy Descendants you mention, you didnāt actually have any spiritual wisdom?"
"Ah, correct... It was like any Life at its birth, with a very vague consciousness and fulfilling the duties naturally endowed by the Holy Descendants. It wasnāt until my unknown departure from the Holy Land and the Holy Descendants that, over the long years, I gradually acquired my current thoughts, surely for some special reason..."
"But weāre getting off track. I was supposed to talk about the Life Rank."
As he spoke, Emhardt floated mid-air, with pages within him flipping rapidly as if searching the records he once kept,
"Well, the term āRankā is actually a classification you Humans are accustomed to. You like to organize various concepts according to Order, to show their distinctions. Overall, it seems like youāve created several Ranks: Reproduction Rank, Guardian Rank, and Relationship Rank."