This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 285: Two World Tombstones

"Alright, I’ll take care of it," Jameson agreed, then began fulfilling the contract. "Miyaas’ relics will be sent to you within a week. His lair in Lania Kaia is located deep in the southeastern forests of Tonton Lin. It’s beneath a toxic swamp, 300 meters underground. There are no specific coordinates, only descriptions of the surrounding scenery. I’ll need to review my notes and send the details tomorrow night.

"As for his weakness: he fears seawater. When we cared for him, we specifically prepared seawater for him, and it took us years to notice anything unusual. He hides it well, almost as if he views this weakness as a disgrace. Allison, with her sharp observational skills and his fondness for hearing her recount Blue Star stories, eventually uncovered this deeply buried secret. Prolonged exposure to seawater leaves him extremely weakened."

Having obtained everything she wanted, Rita prepared to leave. But after a few steps, she hesitated, unable to suppress her curiosity. She turned back to Jameson and asked the question she’d been holding in for so long:

"Does it really matter if you all turn into sea demons? You could have spared yourselves the trouble and made a deal with me to escape to Lania Kaia."

Surprise flashed in Jameson’s eyes. He opened his mouth but seemed at a loss for words, as if a child had asked why one plus one equals two. He paused, appearing to mull over the question. Rita, instead of walking away in impatience, waited quietly for his response, compelling him to consider it seriously.

After a long silence, Jameson finally answered:

"Because then we’d lose our home.

"As long as we remain human—no matter the misdeeds we’ve committed—so long as we don’t betray Blue Star, our kind will still accept us, believe in us, and offer second chances. There will always be a place for us here. But if we become sea demons, we can never return."

Even through her mask and sunglasses, Jameson could sense Rita’s reaction—surprise, no, shock, perhaps even bewilderment.

He chuckled. "I don’t know what idiotic things my descendants did to make you so stunned by my words, but I can guess a few things. I’ll just say this: the more people chase fame and power, the more they care about their homeland. Becoming outsiders in another land means losing everything they once took pride in. There, we’d be nothing."

Though Jameson had become a sea demon, it was clear to anyone he wasn’t like the true sea demons. His fish tail was dull and lifeless, his voice lacked the melodious allure characteristic of sea demons, and on land, he struggled visibly with both breathing and walking. Both the land and the sea rejected him. He was a defective product.

What Rita saw as an excessively harsh contract, Jameson viewed as the White Family’s lifeline and their best investment.

Following Rita meant serving one master. Going to Lania Kaia meant being subject to anyone who could claim power over them.

This was a high-stakes gamble: he was betting on Rita’s future and that time and loyalty might one day erase her animosity toward the White Family.

If Blue Star lost, they’d all perish together, along with the contract.

If Blue Star won, Rita would feast, and the White Family might sip the broth.

Most importantly, Jameson didn’t want his descendants to live lives filled with regret.

Rita returned to her routine of leveling up, researching alchemy, and taking orders to earn money. Her leisure time was spent sparring with Nivalis for two hours daily and practicing cooking for an hour. She used relentless activity to quell her inner anxiety. She couldn’t deny it—the countdown tied to the giant whale still weighed heavily on her. Experience tales at novelbuddy

The Cat Hostel was restored to the backyard, but she refrained from crafting [Moment of Reversal] skill crystals for sale. Soul Catcher was too peculiar. Her vigilance, instead of waning after uncovering Miyaas’ deeper plans, only heightened. She avoided even touching the item again, leaving it stored in her inventory.

Until Miyaas’ trap was fully resolved, [Moment of Reversal] might need to be used at any moment. While skill crystals could be shattered for instant use, nothing compared to the convenience of activating the skill on a whim.

Five days later, she received a package from Jameson containing Miyaas’ seven relics.

Four of the items were purple-grade equipment with a level requirement of 110. Useless for her current level, she decided to sell them in Lania Kaia for gold, which could be converted into resources she could use now.

The remaining three items were:

80 grams of Moon Sand Two World Tombstones

Upon receiving the tombstones, her honor points increased by another 20,000.

[World Tombstone: Middle]

Effect: When carrying this into the World Battlefield, you can enter the main battleground 1 minute early.

The design on the tombstones was a crimson fish tail arcing through the surface—sea demon script. Translated into Blue Star’s language, it simply read "Middle."

Rita examined the tombstones for a while before storing them carefully. While she didn’t fully understand the dynamics of the World Battlefield, the effects of her other tombstones suggested these were likely beneficial.

The ability to enter the battleground early, scout the area, and prepare was exactly what she needed.

As for the 80 grams of Moon Sand, she had no idea how Miyaas obtained it, but she decided not to keep it. On her next trip to Lania Kaia, she could try trading it with Lucia for the recipe for [Gold-Class Assassin].

Each trip to Lania Kaia required using a [Gold-Class Assassin], and given the cost, it made sense to save the sand until she had enough to craft them in bulk.

Despite the new relics, Rita remained focused on investigating Miyaas. While she was certain Soul Catcher was a trap, she hadn’t given up on studying the giant whale’s body.

On the second day after receiving the tombstones, curiosity got the better of her. Thinking about the auction house’s countdown for the whale, Rita couldn’t resist experimenting.

She expanded the whale slightly, placing its tail section in an expiring food container while leaving the rest exposed. Her plan was to cut it open and see what lay inside.

With only a few minutes left until the container vanished, Rita and Nivalis waited in their apartment dungeon, watching the whale secured within an electric cage. Both were prepared to flee at the slightest sign of danger, with Nivalis gripping the edge of the dungeon’s exit portal.

A gust of wind swept through, and the food container, along with the whale’s tail, dissolved into thin air.

Rita waited for several moments. When nothing happened, she used [A Big World, A Small Me] to undo the whale’s miniaturization. Flying cautiously around the now-exposed creature, she finally glimpsed its interior.

The whale’s internal organs, flesh, and bones were long gone. All that remained was its outer skin, filled with an otherworldly, almost sentient liquid that flowed sluggishly within.

Even with the tail section removed, the liquid didn’t spill out. It clung together, like gelatin.

At the heart of this liquid floated a skeletal figure with the body of a human and the tail of a fish. Its tail alone spanned at least two meters, trailing down to the ground.

The skeleton’s right hand was missing, and it was surrounded by an assortment of materials—herbs, gemstones, mechanical components—some familiar and others entirely alien.

The skeleton’s detailed attributes remained hidden. All Rita could see was a brief description: [Sea Demon Bone].

Its texture and luminous quality bore an uncanny resemblance to Soul Catcher.

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