Chapter 593: Shrewd Zero

Chapter 593: Shrewd Zero
Getting out of the cave he was trapped in for nearly two decades felt unreal. Pocky couldn't help but look back every few steps. The air was so different outside the cave. This was what freedom smelled like!
Bob walked at the front, and Pocky walked in the centre of the group. Zero and Truen walked behind him, and the sea otter felt nervous. Bob didn't seem like a friendly person. Moreover, he was very strong, and Pocky didn't know if it was a good thing these people were his escort party.
At the back of the party, Zero and Truen were sharing a private conversation in the party call.
"Do you think he will build us a ship?" Zero asked.
Truen observed the sea otter beastman a little more closely. Honestly, he'd never seen a shipwright before. Apart from Monoman's information and what they heard from Lycantopia, they had no way of knowing what made a good shipwright. Besides, this shipwright was trapped within a cave for so many years. Will his skills and knowledge still be relevant?
"You can ask him and negotiate later," the wood elf informed his friendly politely. "First, let's get out of this place. The negative mana in the air is annoying to deal with."
The doctor agreed. Shipwright Pocky wasn't looking too healthy either. The negative mana in the air originating from him started to collect around the shipwright ever since he left the cave. It would only be a matter of time before the dark tree ent found out that his source of food left. Bob was doing what he could to contain their presence, but this trick would wear out over time. They were leaving too many traces in this forest as they travelled.
"Let's set up camp here," Bob said when they came across a river. From the looks of how the river was created, this used to be a sea.
Pocky didn't protest. They have been walking for a few hours. There should be a safe distance between them and the dark tree ent. Setting up a camp sounded like heaven for his tired legs that severely lacked exercise.
After drinking some water from the river and sitting down to close his eyes, Pocky wondered what he would do now that he was a free man again. Should he continue on his quest or head home?
Just then, a delicious smell wafted through the air. Pocky could feel his nose twitch at this extremely nostalgic aroma. It smelled like salt!
His eyes shot open, and Pocky sat up when he heard something sizzling. It wasn't his imagination! Why were these people having a carefree barbecue session out in the open? They weren't in safe territories yet. The dark faes could still attack them here!
However, as the smell of cooked shellfish wafted to his nostrils, Pocky couldn't help but salivate. It has been so long since he had proper food. These shellfishes weren't grown or farmed. They were from the deep sea, picked by the best of divers! Only one place sold this, and Pocky swallowed hard.
"Did you come from Lycantopia?" he asked and wondered if they would share some of the delicious scallops with him.
Zero nodded. "Not immediately. However, we stopped there to see a friend. Also, we didn't come here by chance. Monoman told us that you stopped by his village years ago. The truth is, we needed to find a shipwright who could build the legendary sinking ship."
When Pocky heard that these people were looking for someone who could build the sinking ship, he became very silent. The abalone in his paws that Truen passed him suddenly didn't taste as good anymore.
"I am very grateful that you came all the way to find and save me from the dark tree ent. However, I'm not skilled enough to build the ship you want. My brother and I have never built a sinking ship. We, sea otter folks, have no power to build such a dangerous vessel, even if the king requested it."
Hearing this, Zero smirked. It was a very good thing he saved those documents. Mii studied them and gave Zero the summary. Pocky was a brilliant engineer. His designs for these ships and strange moving parts can be used to benefit the world greatly. If there was one problem, it was the type of materials used in his designs. They were often hard to find or manufacture.
"Don't be like this," Zero sidled up to the tiny sea otter and put an arm around him. "I managed to save all your precious blueprints and documents. Surely you can find something in there to help us out."
Initially, Pocky didn't know if Zero was joking or not. However, now that he thought about it, everything started to make sense. Why would there be wild shellfishes in the middle of nowhere? How about the missing documents from the cave? Also, it didn't make sense that the kid was stronger than the adults. Whoever these people were, they couldn't possibly be ordinary! In fact, only the insane or the mighty would seek out this vessel. Unfortunately, Pocky and his brother had never gotten to building the sinking ship after designing it. The people who ordered it simply weren't strong enough to gather the materials they required. Most of them died on the collection runs, so it became banned among the sea otter folks to build this vessel, making this just a legendary but impossible design.
True to his words, Pocky looked at the documents spilling all over the ground as Zero pulled them out of thin air. Spatial magic! This human wasn't ordinary either. With this much magic, he had to at least be an archmage of a national hero level!
If it was this party with a dangerous kid with ridiculous strength and a national hero mage, Pocky might just be able to build the sinking ship they wanted.
"I have conditions. The legendary sinking ship requires the help of my brother - Docky. He is living in the village of sea otters in the wilderness between Lycantopia and U.N.U. There is one problem. I left home to prove to him that the world was flat and not round. We had a huge argument, and I'm embarrassed to return home without evidence of the world's shape. While we're at it, there are several materials you have to gather for us to start working on the sinking ship. These creatures are difficult to defeat. One of them is this dark tree ent. We need its undead wood to build the ship's body. Undead wood is the only wood that sinks correctly and can navigate smoothly underwater."
Zero exchanged a look with Truen and grinned. "Deal!"
Pocky relaxed almost too early when he heard that. The next thing Zero said gave him a heart attack.
"Let's defeat that dark tree ent after lunch."
The poor sea otter could only pray that Zero was joking as he ate the mussels pushed in his direction.