When Fioni and Fettis returned to the other three, it happened to be Lothar's turn to be on duty. The Count was pleased that the two had returned unharmed, but as they approached, he soon discovered that something else seemed to be attached to the Siren's shoulder. "I don't remember the arm on your back like this. The warrior drew his tomahawk and whispered to Fioni, who was standing at the edge of the light. Anything can happen in this unknown space, and Lothar had heard stories of parasitic shells attached to people and depriving them of control of their bodies. He suspected that the Kraken had encountered something similar.

However, as Fioni moved on, his eyes without whites and eyeballs reflecting light from the blue phosphorous fire, Lothar realized that the person in front of him was still a shapeshifter he knew. That kind of eyes that mix reason and enthusiasm are difficult to imitate and replicate. "Don't be nervous, it's our new friend. Come and meet him, or her. I'm not sure if the shell people have a gender, most likely not. But it's not certain. The Kraken's tone was relaxed, and he didn't seem uncomfortable with an unknown carapace hanging from his shoulder.

"Shell Man?" the Count put the battle axe at his feet, the Fool's Justice had not given him any warning so far, so it seemed that the Kraken in front of him should indeed be fine.

"It's a bit tricky to explain, and I think it's better to wait until everyone is awake to finish it all at once. Now, Ms. Fettis and I need to take a break too. You come and meet our new friends first. Fionny said as he reached out with the palm of his right hand to his left shoulder, allowing the shell man on his shoulder to climb onto the back of his hand. This is a relatively young shell man, at least not old enough to draw patterns on his own shell with minerals. However, since the shells asked him to serve as a liaison with the Kraken and others, he must be one of the more prominent ones in the group.

This explains why Peg and Glenn wake up to see Lothar talking to a barnacle in a state of obsession. For the Earl, it was only now, when he saw the Shell Man and had a conversation with him, that he finally understood why he had agreed to Qili's request to leave the Blue Lion. It's like a bird that has been kept in a birdcage covered with a curtain, and after occasionally catching a glimpse of a little light, it can no longer be satisfied with the constant darkness, so it struggles to find a way to break out of the birdcage.

Lothar is like that, the Greylion is a good country, it raised him, it made him, and of course it is right. But the events of the Nezumi plague have opened the Count's eyes to a different side of the world, a side he had never dared to imagine before, one that should only exist in narrative poetry and legend. The curtain covering the birdcage was lifted, and when he saw the light, he realized that the place where he had lived was just a cage in the vast world. And the witch named Qili opened the floodgates of the birdcage at this time, so how could the caged bird not leave there? As long as it really flies in the sky, even if it flies low, the scenery makes people feel happy.

The introduction to the Shell Man did not begin until after the Kraken and the Warden had rested. However, at this time, the remaining three had already learned what they wanted to know in their conversation with the shell people. And they have also noticed certain characteristics of the shell people, for example, they have no concept of time and no concept of life and death, and they do not even have the anger and sadness of human emotions. When the Shell people described to them why their people had built a salt line to stop the Toad Monsters from attacking, they only said that it was because the smell of the monsters was annoying to the Shell people, and that the monsters hated the salt in the shells, so they used the salt to form a barrier. The Shell Man shows no sympathy or grief for his kind who died at the hands of the monster, nor anger or hatred towards the Toad Monster. This simple worldview is apparently due to the fact that apart from the toad monster, which does not have the ability to think, the shell people have no other relationship with whom they can communicate.

At the same time, there is also an interesting thing, that is, the shell man who came back with Fioni seems to be particularly fond of Lothar. So much so that the only thing he asked the group was to let Lothar move with him. And the reason for this, although there is no evidence, but the earl feels that it is most likely related to the Seagod Rope on his body, that is, the shell man is not close to him, but close to the breath of the Lord of Destiny on his body. This idea makes no sense, after all, even the witch and the kraken have never said that there is any strange power in Lothar's body, so what the Lord of Destiny possesses in him should be extremely obscure. But her instinct told Lothar that this was the way it was.

Lothar's hunch aside, the team returned to the Shell Gathering, where the giant's pelvis was located, after finishing the repairs. After seeing the dense shells crawling like a hill, Jia Lun and the others still had a little awe of the shell people. As the group stood still, the Shell Man, which had been like a relief, began to move, and soon, a round shell that was larger than the Shell Man they had seen before and the size of a Hound was revealed. The shell was painted with metal powder in circles of black, and it looked like a huge eye! By communicating with the shell man on his shoulder, the team members learned the identity of this eye, which was the oldest of all the shell people.

"Purpose. There were no greetings and courtesies, perhaps the words of the shell people themselves had not yet evolved into such words, and a voice that was more vicissitudes than the shell people they had heard before appeared in everyone's minds. Several of them looked at Fettis, who was the highest-ranking person in the squad and deserved to have a say. However, the warden shook his head and pointed at Jia Lun with a smile, she was just the insurance of this operation, and the formation and leadership of this team were Jia Lun's work. In the final analysis, this is her meritorious service to make up for not guarding the spire well.

The short-haired witch bit her lip and hesitated for a few seconds before taking two steps forward and looking up at the giant shell man. Many times, it is only at that juncture, to the point where there is no way back, that people know that they can do this well. "We're here to know who this belongs to and what's here. ”

His eyes rotated slightly, and he was silent for a moment, then answered Karen's question with images and consciousness. The sum of that is that there is no owner here, only shell people, bones and toad monsters. The witch could sense a lot of confusion in this answer, and it was clear that even the oldest shell man could not quite understand the meaning of subordination. As for the empty environment in his mouth, there is no way to satisfy Jia Lun, because the information given by the shell man is too vague and has no reference at all. Karen frowned slightly and changed his words, trying to get more information with more detailed questions.

"Bad news, there are a lot of things he can't explain clearly, the consciousness of the shell people is too abstract. Someone had to take us there himself to find out what he was talking about. When Karen stopped communicating with the Shell Man, she said to her companion, "But the good news is that he's willing to let his people take us." In addition to that, he wanted us to help with one thing, according to this one, Elder, perhaps as he should prove it, according to him, there has been no new shell man born here for a long time. ”