For a place like Bilgewater, overflowing with outsiders from all walks of life, there wasn't really any so-called "traditional cuisine."
But precisely because of this, 'Old Pete's Oysters' stood out as exceptionally unique among the myriad of restaurants.
Opened in a less affluent district of the city, this shop had earned an excellent reputation over years of operation. And the reason for all of this stemmed from Old Pete's deep love for seafood and his passion for exaggerated tall tales.
However, today, even for Old Pete, the appetite of the customer sitting before him could only be described as absolutely voracious.
Dredged up from the deep sea, massive oysters the size of a grown man's forearm were being devoured clean by this man in mere seconds.
For an ordinary person, eating three such plump, massive oysters raw would be more than enough to fill them up.
But this big-spending customer sitting here had already devoured his fifth one right under the watchful eyes of the crowd.
Picking up the sixth one, Faen squeezed lemon juice over it while muttering in his heart, These so-called oysters don't seem quite as delicious as my Uncle Jules claimed they were. At least, they aren't nearly as mouth-watering as the descriptions made them out to be.
But overall, they were still incredibly plump and meaty.
However, if possible, Faen felt that grilling them in their original shells with a dash of minced garlic sauce would probably be vastly more delicious.
And just as Faen was lost in thought, on the other side, at the port of Bilgewater, a small speck abruptly appeared in the distance where the sky met the sea, drawing the attention of the crowd.
At first, people just assumed it was another deep-sea fishing vessel returning to Bilgewater.
But as the black speck grew larger and closer, people gradually realized that it wasn't a fishing boat at all, but the silhouette of a person.
That figure was sprinting frantically across the surface of the sea, dragging behind them the massive tail of a creature that resembled a colossal sea serpent. And as the distance closed, people finally recognized who the newcomer was.
"Nilah is back! Take cover! Nilah is back!"
The sailors at the port began shouting warnings, and the fishing boats in the path of Nilah's sprint quickly scrambled to get out of her way. Even those already docked hurriedly took to the sea, steering their ships to find a different mooring spot.
After all, based on past experiences, the creatures Nilah set her sights on and claimed as prey were usually deep-sea leviathans—massive sea beasts that even heavily armed, deep-sea whaling ships wouldn't dare provoke lightly, creatures that were even worshipped as literal gods in ancient times.
Meanwhile, those experienced fishmongers immediately ordered their apprentices to bring out the money they had prepared.
One must know, every single part of these deep-sea leviathans, from their flesh and skin to their bones, were rare treasures fiercely sought after by the wealthy elites across the Valoran continent.
Wearing a dark yellow robe and wielding a whip-blade that flowed like rippling water, Nilah dashed across the sea surface with a face completely beaming with joyous laughter.
She loved Bilgewater, because the waters surrounding Bilgewater were always teeming with all sorts of unimaginably massive, colossal creatures. And every time she fought against such giant beasts, Nilah felt a boundless, overwhelming joy welling up from the very bottom of her heart.
The reason was simple: the feeling of battling massive monsters like this made Nilah feel, every single time, that she was carving out her own legend, exactly like the great heroes in myths and fables.
It was just that it was still a bit of a pity... While they were massive, their strength was simply far too weak.
If that kid—whom she didn't know whether to call incredibly lucky or incredibly unlucky—still wasn't going to show up, maybe she should just go find him herself?
Nilah thought to herself—after all, there really weren't any monsters left in the waters around Bilgewater that were particularly worth challenging anymore.
Since that was the case, why not take a trip to Ionia? Word had it that there were also many massive monsters there, creatures capable of soaring through the clouds.
And as a true hero, how could she possibly turn a blind eye to those colossal beasts in the sky? If there were dragons, that would be even better. After all, those truly great heroes whose names were sung by the people for generations all had legends of slaying dragons!
And just as Nilah was still lost in these thoughts, suddenly, Nilah sensed something. She then came to a gentle stop, standing perfectly still upon the surface of the water.
After a brief moment of silence, when Nilah realized Faen had arrived, an intense, overwhelming pleasant surprise erupted in her eyes. Immediately ignoring the prey in her hand, she abandoned it completely and sprinted wildly toward the port with everything she had.
Seeing Nilah actually abandon the cooked duck that was already in her mouth, the merchants who had been rubbing their hands together, ready to start a fierce bidding war, were left utterly dumbfounded.
Considering Nilah's terrifying strength, they didn't dare say a word at the time. It was only after Nilah had sprinted far away that they carefully called out:
"What should we do with this sea monster?"
"Do whatever you want with it~" Nilah replied casually. "I have much more important matters to attend to!"
Hearing that Nilah was just handing over a priceless sea beast for absolutely nothing, the crowd present was stunned for a moment. But once they snapped out of it, they scrambled wildly toward their respective small boats, all wanting to be the very first to drag the sea monster's corpse back and sell it for a fortune.
Nilah, however, couldn't care less. She simply hummed an unknown tune, moving with light, agile steps as she rapidly made her way toward Old Pete's Oysters not too far away.
By the time Nilah arrived, Faen had already devoured his eighth massive oyster, leaving the crowd around him clicking their tongues in utter amazement.
"An average burly guy would be completely full after just two, right? This guy actually ate eight of them! How much stamina is he trying to build up?!"
"You can say that again! If you ask me, whoever this guy's female companion is, she's definitely in for a rough time tonight!"
"Hahaha! After eating this much, that's a guarantee~"
The rough men at the port taverns were always incredibly vulgar. Especially since oysters had always been closely associated with certain aspects of male virility. The moment this dirty joke was cracked, many people in the crowd instantly understood the implication and burst into roaring laughter.
But Faen didn't care in the slightest—at the end of the day, if he really needed to fuck his wives into the mattress, Faen absolutely didn't need something like oysters for an energy boost.
And right at that moment, Faen and Nilah both paused simultaneously, their gazes locking onto each other in perfect unison.
Even with countless people separating them, Faen instantly spotted her in the crowd—wearing her yellow robe and blue pants, a glowing blue water orb hanging at her waist, her dark brown skin radiating an endless, boundless aura of pure joy.
"Faen~!"
Nilah waved at Faen excitedly, and Faen responded with a smile: "Right here!"
When the crowd saw that the female companion Faen had been waiting for was actually Nilah, everyone was stunned for a good while. Then, nodding in grave realization, they muttered, "So he was waiting for Nilah..."
"Who would've thought? But then again, if his opponent is Nilah, he really does need to eat a lot more!"
"No kidding."