"I... I remember," Azul whispered. "I finally remembered my home..."

His memories were still too fragmented to remember clearly, but for some reason, he was sure that the ocean was the answer to all of his confusion.

Even though his mind could not remember anything, his body seemed to remember it. The smell of the ocean, the sound of the waves... he was familiar with all of those things.

"But how can... how can a beta fish like me have lived in such a huge ocean?" Azul asked in confusion. Tears continued to fall down his cheeks, but Roxanna gently wiped them away again and again, trying to comfort him.

Carefully, Roxanna took Azura into her arms so Azul would not accidentally drop their daughter.

"There is no guarantee that you are truly a beta fish," Roxanna said softly. "After all, you barely remember anything from your past."

"Some beastmen can have more than one animal form," Zeir suddenly explained as he walked toward them. "Just like Cyrus and Calen, who both have two animal forms, maybe you’re the same, Azul."

Azul was about to say something, but in the end, he could not form any words. To be honest, he was truly confused right now, and the last thing he wanted to do was think about theories that might not even be true.

"If you want to know whether you really belonged to the ocean or not, why don’t you just try swimming in it?" Calen suggested bluntly. "If you’re fine, then maybe you really did live there before. But if your lungs start burning, then... maybe your memories are wrong."

"That’s too risky," Roxanna said before Azul could say anything. "Freshwater and seawater are completely different. If Azul really is a beta fish, he could die the moment he swims into the ocean!"

"But the voice inside your head wouldn’t tell you to bring Azura to the ocean for no reason, right?" Zeir asked calmly. "If his daughter can breathe easily underwater, then her father should be able to do the same."

[I understand that, but still... the ocean is so huge and terrifying,] Roxanna thought worriedly.

[I’m really scared. I don’t want something to suddenly drag Azul into the depths and eat him, but I wouldn’t even be able to save him.]

Calen and Zeir could swim, but of course, it was still impossible for them to swim all the way to the bottom of the ocean without any breathing equipment.

"Or maybe... we can just swim near the shore first," Azul suggested quietly. He lowered his gaze toward Azura, who had started struggling to breathe again in Roxanna’s arms. "Our daughter looks like she needs to go back into the water too."

The moment Azul finished speaking, everyone’s attention immediately shifted toward little Azura.

The baby’s tiny face had started turning slightly red again, and her small hands weakly clutched Roxanna’s clothes as if she was uncomfortable.

Roxanna’s expression instantly turned anxious. "Azura..." she whispered softly before carefully touching her daughter’s cheek.

Azura let out a weak sound, almost like a tiny whimper.

"She really needs the water," Zeir said in a low voice.

Without wasting another second, Azul quickly stepped closer. "Give her to me."

Roxanna immediately handed Azura back to him, and the moment Azul carried their daughter again, he walked straight toward the ocean without hesitation.

"Azul, be careful!" Roxanna called out nervously.

Azul didn’t answer her words, and tetap berjalan lurus ke depan. The seawater reached his ankles first, then slowly climbed to his knees as he continued walking deeper into the water with Azura safely held against his chest.

Everyone on the shore watched him tensely.

Calen already looked ready to jump into the ocean at any moment if something went wrong, while Zeir silently observed the surroundings with sharp eyes.

Roxanna, meanwhile, could barely calm her racing heart.

The moment Azul fully disappeared beneath the ocean together with Azura, Roxanna’s anxiety only grew stronger.

[Are they really alright? Can a freshwater fish even survive in the ocean?]

Without even realizing it, Roxanna slowly stepped closer and closer to the sea. Her eyes never left the spot where Azul and Azura had vanished underwater.

"A-Azul!!" Roxanna shouted loudly. "Are you still alive?!" Roxanna shouted loudly.

As the waves crashed against her feet, panic began rising inside her chest because Azul still had not come back up to the surface.

"AZUL!" she screamed again. This time, she was already on the verge of throwing herself into the ocean to search for him and Azura herself.

"Roxanna, the waves could drag you away!" Calen quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward the shore.

But Roxanna still tried to push forward. "But Azul—"

"Look! That’s Azul!" Calen suddenly shouted before she could finish speaking.

Not far away from them, Azul finally emerged from the surface of the water. His long blue hair was completely soaked, clinging to his back and shoulders as seawater dripped down his body.

Roxanna fell silent for a few seconds, too stunned to speak because Azul looked so ethereal.

His long blue hair somehow looked as if it was glittering beneath the sunlight, shimmering beautifully every time the ocean water slid down his body. Even the scales around his neck and collarbone seemed to reflect the light like precious gems hidden beneath the sea.

For a moment, Azul did not look like an ordinary beastman anymore. He looked like a creature that truly belonged to the ocean itself.

The seawater moved gently around his waist while little Azura’s face slowly regained some color. She still looked a little weak, but she was clearly feeling much better than before.

Tiny giggles escaped from her lips as she happily splashed the seawater with her small hands, enjoying the water as if it was the most natural place for her to be.

Roxanna could finally breathe a little easier after seeing that. At least Azura was no longer struggling to breathe like before.

"Azul!" Roxanna finally called his name again, trying to get his attention. "Azul, don’t go too far! Come back here!"

Azul listened to her and quickly swam back toward the shore. His face looked brighter than before, and he could not stop smiling, as if he had finally found a place where he truly belonged.

[Host! Host! Remember that you have to go to the middle of the ocean!] the system suddenly reminded her.

Actually, the side mission had never clearly said that they needed to go to the middle of the ocean. It only told her to escort Azura to see the sea. But well, the system was the one making the rules—or maybe the people behind it were—so Roxanna did not feel like arguing about it too much.

[Do you want to take out the medium shipping sail from your inventory, Host?!] the system asked, sounding half excited and half suspicious.

Roxanna waited until Azul was close enough before finally answering, "Yes, I want the ship now."

A few seconds later, something huge suddenly rose from beneath the water.

Honestly, the sight alone almost made Roxanna’s heart stop for a second. She always had the terrible habit of imagining horrifying creatures hiding deep beneath the ocean.

Even though she knew it was only a ship, her wild imagination still scared her anyway.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Calen shouted immediately. "Is that some kind of sea monster?!"

He looked slightly panicked and immediately raised his weapon, but Roxanna quickly tried to calm him down.

"Calen! Calen, calm down! It’s alright!" Roxanna quickly said.

She hurried behind him and grabbed his shoulders before slowly pushing his arm down by the elbow, almost like she was carefully trying to convince an overprotective giant to lower his weapon.

Thankfully, it worked surprisingly well.

Calen slowly lowered his weapon, though his eyes were still fixed suspiciously on the massive ship floating in the ocean.

"That thing really isn’t alive?" he asked warily.

"It’s not alive," Roxanna reassured him quickly. "It’s just... a big boat, maybe a medium one."

"A boat?" Calen repeated blankly.

Meanwhile, Zeir was already staring at the ship with curiosity in his eyes. Compared to Calen, he looked far calmer, though even he seemed surprised by its size.

The wooden ship floated on the ocean, rising and falling gently with the waves. Its large sails were still neatly tied, while the dark wood reflected faintly beneath the sunlight.

For the beastmen, the sight was completely unbelievable. After all, they had never seen anything this enormous floating on water before.

"How does something this heavy not sink?" Calen muttered suspiciously while circling around Roxanna.

"That’s exactly what I’m wondering too," Zeir admitted in a low voice.

Roxanna thought that explaining the concept of a ship would be too complicated, so she simply said, "Magic." She added, "This ship can float because of magic."

"This is the reward given by the voice inside my head because we managed to complete the mission within three days." Roxanna looked at her husbands one by one before asking, "Does anyone want to try riding it?"