Later. A few hours past midnight...

The preparations for the Fishing Competition were complete. The crew members of the Ocean Wanderer had either settled down in their cabin, or gone back ashore. For either a drink in the tavern or a rest in a comfortable, grounded inn.

Jack was already in his invisible specter form. He had decided to act on another point of interest they've heard in the restaurant. The glitchy black cat.

He slipped off the Ocean Wanderer. Leaving Reina sleeping soundly in their cabin.

The town was quieter now. The steam vents were still hissing faintly. But the bustling crowds had thinned. Gas lamps cast pools of amber light on the cobblestones. Leaving deep shadows in between. The sulfur smell was more pronounced in the cooler night air.

Jack moved around. Undetected. His invisible spectral form had a great, potential advantage for scouting. And he had his [Eyes of Judgement]. In this form, he was a perfect scout.

Currently, he was looking for a cat. But, it wasn't a normal cat he was searching. He was looking for an anomaly. A glitchy cat that could talk. It was definitely not an easy task to do.

He drifted over the main streets of the town. Checking alleyways. Peering through the market stalls with his supernatural senses. Even listening to the faint skittering of common rats in hopes of catching an unusual sound.

He expanded his search. Checking the back gardens of houses, the quieter docks, even the edge of the geothermal fields outside the town. The place where the steam vents were larger and more numerous.

He activated his [Eyes of Judgement] again and again. Trying to detect any flicker of transcendent energy. He did find some transcendent beings. Mostly low level awakened humans. Raw primal sorcerers. But he didn't find what he was looking for.

He tried to scan for any strange distortions of mystic energy. For any shimmer in the shadows that might indicate a 'glitch'. He found nothing.

Only the few transcendent humans he had previously discovered and ordinary nocturnal life of the town. He sensed sleeping stray dogs, wandering wild cats, scurrying rodents, the occasional drunken sailor stumbling home. But there was no trace of the glitchy black cat.

Jack spent several hours, exploring the town. Delivering some dream related judgements for the guilty and the worthy he found on the way. But, he didn't find the cat he was searching for.

Near dawn, he returned to his cabin in the ship. A slight frown was on his face. The cat, whatever it was, was elusive. Perhaps it had already left the town. Or it was simply incredibly good at avoiding detection.

Or maybe, he considered with a wry internal chuckle, it was truly just a hallucination. He shouldn't believe in everything people say so easily. Maybe the couple in the restaurant fabricated that story... or they fell into someone's illusion.

Jack looked at the still-sleeping Reina on his bed. And he decided to forget about the glitchy cat for the time being. He still needed one or two hours of rest.

...

The next morning broke clear and bright. The sea air was crisp and invigorating.

The men of the Ocean Wanderer... Jack, Argust, Barnaby, Don, Leon, Ned, and Moby... gathered on the pier. Equipped with their newly crafted rods and buckets of odorous bait.

A large crowd of fishermen, both locals and visitors, was already assembling on the pier.

Barnaby strummed a quick, upbeat tune on his mandolin. "To the Whaleback Lagoon, Lads! To the lagoon. For glory and prizes will be our boon!”

The competition organizers directed them to a small flotilla of communal fishing boats. Sturdy wooden vessels with simple benches.

The lagoon itself was a vast, sheltered body of water. It was located on the leeward side of Whaleback Island. Its surface was calm. Reflecting the sunlight and the morning sky. The air here was less sulfurous and more saline.

The signal horn blared. It was a deep, resonant sound that echoed across the lagoon. And with that sound, the boats fanned out. Lines splashed into the water.

Jack cast his new rod with practiced ease. He used to fish in his past life. For fun. He was not an expert on it. He used to spend hours without catching anything. But he did know how to fish.

He moved the rod in his had. It felt balanced. Not exactly an extension of his will. But it was a comfortable tool to use. He could feel the subtle currents in the water through the steamrune feedback in the handle. But he didn't focus much on that.

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Jack didn't actually try too hard in fishing this time. He didn't need to fish to survive or to acquire the prize.

The prizes were attractive. Very likely rare relics. But, it wouldn't matter much for him if others won it. He simply wanted to relax and enjoy the day.

He didn't bother to focus his senses. He didn't even try to use his enhanced perception to feel the vibrations of fish moving below. For today, he joined the competition as a normal human. He fished like a commoner, not a transcendent being.

Hours passed. The sun climbed higher. Warming their bodies.

The lagoon hummed with the quiet tension of the competition. Punctuated by shouts of excitement as a particularly large fish was landed.

Argust was, predictably, very adept at this activity. He pulled in several respectable catches. And his focus seemed to be unwavering.

Barnaby fished while humming catchy tunes. He only managed to land a few small ones. But he didn't seem to be bothered by that.

Don had leveraged his weird knowledge of appetizing scents for fish. And he had prepared a special bait that surprisingly seemed to work wonders. Bringing in a steady stream of mid sized fish.

Leon, to everyone’s surprise, had a knack for it too, His quick reflexes proved useful in securing some big catches.

Bell, Ned, and Moby were less experienced and less lucky. But even they could catch several sizable hauls.

Jack, however, was in a league of his own. Despite not trying too hard, his fishing rod vibrated constantly. Signaling bites almost before they happened.

He didn't seem to try hard to catch fish. Instead, it seemed that the fish tried really hard to attach themselves to his hook.

Soon, his bucket was overflowing with an impressive array of lagoon fish. A great variety of them. From iridescent reef dwellers to huge sized, thick-bodied bottom feeders.

Just less than an hour before the sun touched the western horizon, Jack felt a heavy tug on his line. It was not a frantic pull. Instead, it was a slow, deliberate weight.

He adeptly engaged the reel. The line hissed as it cut through the water. He didn't use his transcendent strength. He wanted to experience the struggle of normal fisherman. And he trusted his personally crafted fishing rod.

The battle lasted about twenty minutes. When he finally hauled the catch out of the water, his crew members and the crowd gasped. It was a Copper-Scaled Snapper. A rare fish with coppery scales. And the size was... way bigger than anything they had ever seen being caught today.

...

By late afternoon, as the setting sun began to paint the sky in fiery hues, the signal horn blared again. Calling all competitors back to the shore. The catch was weighed, measured, and inspected by a panel of judges.

The criteria for scoring seemed to involve rarity, quality, and size. Jack wasn't sure about the first two. But for the size... he was definitely the winner.

The air thrummed with anticipation. The first prize, the [Unsinkable Fishing Kayak], didn't go to Jack. It was awarded to a burly, bearded man with a weathered face.

Barnaby identified him as Captain Borin of the local trading ship, the Silver Whale. His best catch was only slightly smaller than Jack's Copper Scaled Snapper. But it was definitely more beautiful and colorful. It was a Rainbow Scaled Barracuda.

The second prize, the [Master Fisherman's Rod], went to another local. An old, wizened man named Haddock. He was definitely a lucky, expert fisherman, as the restaurant conversation implied. He had caught a vast quantity of fish. Each one was perfectly preserved.

Unlike the normal Captain Borin, Old Man Haddock was definitely a transcendent person. His faint transcendent aura indicated a deep connection to the sea. His second-place winning catch was a beautiful Golden Swordfish.

Then came the third prize.

"And for the third prize..." The head judge boomed. Holding up an ornate wooden box. "The [Mysterious Fish Box], we have... the Copper Scaled Snapper. Caught by Jack Night! From the Ocean Wanderer!”

A smattering of applause and curious murmurs followed. Jack stepped forward. Accepting the box with a wide grin. His catch was the biggest in size. But he must admit that from appearance, it was way less impressive than the other two winning fish.

Still, a prize was a prize. His crew cheered loudly.

The [Mysterious Fish Box] Jack acquired was an ornate object. It was crafted from a dark, smooth wood. Resembling polished ebony. It was intricately carved with swirling patterns of fish and sea creatures.

It was about the size of a shoebox. Heavy for its dimensions. And it radiated a faint, ancient energy.

...

Back on the Ocean Wanderer, the rest of the crew was preparing dinner and recounting their fishing tales.

Jack sat in the main cabin. Surrounded by the other crew members of Silent Mermaid. The box was on the table before him.

Rune hovered near the box. Its glow was a curious mix of deep green and gold. Indicating that the object was indeed precious.

Jack activated his [Eyes of Judgement]. The information about the box immediately flared in his vision...

[Name: Mysterious Fish Box]

[Grade: Legendary]

[Status: Unbound]

[Durability: Unbreakable]

[Special Ability: Fish Token Conversion]

[Description: An archaic artifact of unknown origin, a relic from the primordial oceanic gods. The Mysterious Fish Box possesses a singular, potent capability... it can permanently convert any artifact placed within its confines into 'Fish Tokens'. The number and quality of Fish Tokens generated are directly proportional to the grade, power, and inherent magical essence of the artifact being converted. Once an artifact is converted, it ceases to exist in its original form, replaced by the mysterious tokens. The purpose of these 'Fish Tokens' is currently unknown.]

"How is it, Dear?" Reina asked.

Jack read the description aloud for the crew to listen. A slow smile was spreading across his face.

"Well, Love!" He said to Reina. "This is... strange. But for us, it is definitely useful."

"Useful?" Reina asked.

"The ability to convert artifacts into 'Fish Tokens'... that is certainly useful." Jack responded. "We have some dangerous, unusable items after all. Converting them to these tokens should be safer than sealing them, right?"

Reina raised her eyebrows. "What about the 'Fish Tokens'? Do you know what it is for, Dear?"

"That... I don't know." Jack admitted.

"Well, I know..." A voice suddenly chimed in. A strange, nasal voice that didn't sound like any of the crew members.

Everyone looked at the direction the voice came from. A cute, flickering black cat was there. Wearing a stylish checkered shawl on its neck.

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