Ball of Nothing

Although Zero and Truen did not know what Queen Leah's pet sea serpent looked like, it shouldn't be too difficult to find it. After all, snakes generally looked the same. The only thing different about the sea serpent from regular snakes would be its size.

"Do you think this is big enough?" Zero asked and pointed at a random sea snake from the Marrissa's window.

The wood elf shook his head. "I'm assuming it's quite the sea monster. A serpent isn't the same as a large snake."

Zero frowned and argued back that a python was rather large for a snake. He wasn't wrong, but Truen didn't think Zero understood the size chart for sea creatures and sea monsters. Three weeks passed in the blink of an eye, and nearly all the sea snakes were hunted towards extinction. Thankfully, Bob had enough sense to remind his master about the importance of preserving the ecosystem.

Frustrated, Zero flopped back onto the bed. How could they not find Indra Seagloo yet?! It was ridiculous! Ever since they knew about Queen Leah's pet, Mitchnew and Desert Lily worked hard to gather information. Everyone was on the lookout for massive sea snakes, but none of those sea monster reports belonged to the sea serpent they wanted.

"What do you think sea serpents are tempted by?" Zero asked. "Let's lure it out of hiding with food."

Bob raised a brow. Not everyone can be tempted by food. Sure, many of the Half Moon Village people were foodies, but he doubted the sea serpent could be baited. It was Queen Leah's pampered pet, even if it was a monster. Its taste buds would be hard to please even if it wasn't finicky.

Unlike Bob, Truen and Ottley thought about Zero's suggestion. Honestly, anything would be better than hunting every other snake species to extinction. Although they were not food experts, it was common knowledge that snakes eat frogs, fishes and eggs.

"If it were a normal snake, the easiest bait to use is an egg. Snakes love eggs for some reason. However, the sea serpent would be too big to find a regular egg tasty," Pepper commented, and Zero thought about it seriously.

"Does an egg have to be big to be attractive?" Bob asked. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

Before the gnome could confirm or deny it, Zero clapped his hands together with that sparkle in his eye. Truen started taking measures to do damage control. If there was an egg big enough to tempt a serpent over twenty metres tall out of hiding, it had to belong to something in the mythical or legendary grade.

Sadly, there was only one such creature they knew that could do this. That creature happened to be in Half Moon Village, but Truen doubted that she would part with her eggs as easily as she parted with her silk.

"Zero, we should think of another idea. Penelope wouldn't be happy if you used her eggs as bait. It's like using the egg that Bob was in to feed the sea serpent. How would you feel if I used Bob's egg to lure the sea serpent out?"

He knew his point landed on the mark when Zero's jaw fell with horror in his eyes. Bob heaved a sigh of relief. Thankfully they didn't have to use eggs. Giant frogs and fishes were a little easier to find in comparison. All they had to do was dive a little deeper to catch a sea monster and tow it behind the Marrissa. Unfortunately, nobody knew if the sea serpent would be interested in eating sea monsters. After all, it was more well known for attacking cargo sh.i.p.s.

"We need more information," Ottley concluded. They could sit here all day discussing which bait would work better, but it would only be a waste of time. "Let's ask the victims of the sea serpent directly what they saw, and we can try to recreate the situation."

Agreeing with the captain's plan, they marked out the areas they knew sh.i.p.s went missing. Zero matched those reports to the claims of people sighting a sea monster attacking a ship from Desert Lily and Mitchnew's information. Monoman also attested to the sea serpent's attack in his old village.

"Let's start from Monoman's old village," Zero decided. "We might find some leads there."

Truen agreed. He was glad for the chance to get back on land. Ottley also decided as they needed some materials and a proper place to set up a dock. In the last few months, the Marrissa has suffered a lot. Yet, they were somehow able to confirm two trouble spots to not be Indra Seagloo.

"Wait," Bob paused. "Why didn't we just visit Monoman's old village? Why did we have to travel so much to find Indra Seagloo when we could have just waited for it to come by?"

Zero and Truen looked at the dragon, and Zero explained. "Monoman moved out because of the constant sea monster attacks. It's not always Queen Leah's sea serpent. Besides, I don't want to spend four years waiting for Indra Seagloo to appear when we could have a higher chance of sailing into it."

Ah, so it was like this. He should have known better.

Either way, they finally decided on the location of the final snake hunt. Ottley wasted no time and tugged Pepper behind him to replot their sea charts. Monoman's old village was somewhere near the desert, and sailing near the desert would be challenging.

Leaving logistic arrangements to the professionals, Zero started to get hyped over battling the sea serpent and meeting Queen Leah. According to what he knew, the sea queen was a little touched in the head after she failed to find the love of her life so many times. Her heart was jaded, and Zero thought she might share many similarities with the Rainbow Fish.

"What kind of boyfriend is Queen Leah looking for?" Zero asked Truen, who was busy sending out reports to the Great Gods and Onion Union with his i-communicator.

"Hmm... according to sources, she is looking for someone funny, strong, smart and loyal. It doesn't matter what they look like or what gender they are. In summary, she wants to find a partner compatible with her and 'better' than what she is."

What vague criteria! How could anyone possibly be better in everything than another person? Creation wasn't made this way. However, Zero had a plan. He didn't need to find the right candidate. He just had to create it.

"Hey Truen," Zero grinned. "I have an idea. Won't you help me out?"

A little apprehensive, Truen leaned down, and Zero whispered his plan into the wood elf's ear. His initial doubt soon changed into hope, and Truen nodded.

"That might work. First, we find Indra Seagloo."