Born in Blood

Reclining comfortably on his barnacle-shaped chair, Liam crossed his legs and shook his head. 

Investment?

Liam had never heard of that term in the cultivation world. 

Stocks didn't exist here. The only time you invested in something was when you put up money for a horse race or otherwise. 

"What kind of investment are you talking about?" Liam asked curiously. 

Bill McGill smiled cryptically. Just then, the drinks arrived, and he put one glass in front of Liam, and gripped the other himself. 

The drinks looked translucent, but had an incredibly pungent odor. A whiff sharply stung Liam's nose.

"If you've never heard of me, you're probably wondering what it is I do," Bill said, then casually took a sip. 

Revolted, he glared at the glass of liquid. "Ugh, disgusting. White Brine doesn't taste like this. This is Shark Salt!"

Bill was complaining about his drink in typically entitled celebrity fashion.

…But what the heck did these Oceanors usually drink?

Noticing Liam's strange expression, Bill shook his head and put the glass down, coughing into his fist. 

"Nevermind that. Apologies. I lost myself for a second there," Bill said. "As I was saying. What my job is." 

Bill leaned closer and smiled slightly. 

"I'm a problem solver. Not for the people above ground, no, no. I don't think their problems could be solved, in the first place." 

"I'm talking about our buddies living in the depths." 

Liam raised a brow. 

"Mermaids? What kind of sentient creatures live below the waters?" 

Bill laughed knowingly, subconsciously taking another sip of his drink and spitting it back out again. 

"...Sorry, force of habit. Anyway, the majority of people don't actually know about the complex ocean systems below."

"Almost everything is sentient there, man! Even Kraky is."

Liam raised his brows. Till now, the only talking beasts he'd met were Kitsu and the talking messenger owl. 

Except, the former was a one in a million magical beast, and the latter wasn't even real. It was just a puppet made from the Mayor's Path. 

Perhaps the depths weren't as wild and untamed as he thought. 

If there were civilized societies, that probably meant that they had trading systems with those above ground.

"Who's Kraky?" Liam asked, not knowing the strange term. 

"Oh, it's my pet kraken," Bill said with a grin, then he leaned in and whispered. 

"It can talk?" Liam asked, a little surprised. 

Bill nodded enthusiastically. "If you want, I can bring you out for a ride. Though… it has a habit of drowning people it doesn't like, so..."

Liam chuckled.

"I'll take you up on that some time, thanks. What kind of sentience are you talking about? Do they have mental spheres? Civilizations?"

Bill McGill took another sip, except he wasn't disgusted this time. 

"Entire Kingdoms. This isn't common knowledge, but most of the countries you know already have connections with them."

"Most of the world's treasures come from the deep, not the surface."

"The oceans have their own zones and quadrants, each ruled by different species." 

"I myself haven't been able to score any connections with the big fish, but I'm way more connected than most people."

'And yet, you were sitting alone,' Liam thought. 'Is it just your personality that's annoying?' 

"And no, they don't actually have mental spheres to communicate with," Bill said, crossing his legs. 

"It's… a long story, but in short, one of their lizard ancestors found an artifact that allowed them to communicate with those on land."

"After a few back and forths, they managed to create a complex system that has been developing for centuries upon end, benefiting both sides equally."

"But… well, the lizard guy ended up slaughtering the humans that helped it grow, which prompted a lifelong hatred between the two races."

"Only a few trusted Oceanors venture the waters now. There seems to be a certain treaty between the powerhouses not to poke their noses where it doesn't belong."

"But as long as they let us in, we're cool."

Liam raised a brow.

Indeed, this was new to him.

"What kind of problems do you solve, then?" Liam asked.

Bill chuckled. "The ancient issue that's been plaguing us all, friend."

"The issue of racial conflict."

Liam arched a serious brow. "Racism?"

"Woah, woah. Not the skin color type," Bill corrected. "As in, literal species differences. These sea friends of ours are more territorial than us humans, believe it or not."

"Although they live under one sea, they despise one another. In fact, most of the time, they wage war over the stupidest things."

"They've separated themselves into Quadrants, which are basically miniature oceans… within the ocean." 

Bill leaned forward with a smile and steepled his fingers. "But that's where I come in, friend."

"My organization, the Nautilus Oceanique Company Limited, or NOCL for short, provides protection and safety for those who can afford it."

Now, Liam was seriously taken aback… what kind of shenanigans did Oceanors get into?

"I arrange secret meetings between enemies, provide 24/7 protection for smaller kingdoms, execute search and rescue for those held hostage by rogue Oceanors, and have… other services, if you know what I mean."

Bill winked. 

Silence.

Heck was that supposed to mean?

'Illegal stuff?' Liam thought. 'Pretty sure the oceans are as lawless as the lands.'

For a second, Liam reassessed Bill McGill as a whole.

He wasn't a celebrity.

He was a CEO! 

That was… more or less the same thing. 

"Are the oceans really that dangerous?" Liam asked, a little surprised. "It sounds worse than the lands above."

"It is worse," Bill confirmed. "Much, much more cutthroat."

"For the past 200 years or so, the company has been flourishing exceptionally. Our branches have even spread across four total Quadrants!"

From the enthusiastic tone Bill said that with, Liam assumed four Quadrants were a lot.

Suddenly, Bill's face grew severe, and his tone turned dark and quiet. The enthusiasm melted off, replaced with sinister concern.

"But I'm under pressure, Liam. Recently, a new organization, Aquafina Global, has been preying on my life's work. They want what's mine, and they're imitating all my methods!"

"So much so, some of my clients have left me because of them. They came out of nowhere, and are probably led by a spineless prick too afraid to show his ugly face."

Bill looked left and right, making sure no one heard his following words. Then, he leaned forward and whispered:

"Tell me, Reaper… are you as skilled in killing as they say you are?"