Chapter 1023: Underqualified yet suitable

After being given the go-ahead by Tortallion to pass through the gates to Undertow’s territory, Zhen Xun Tian shared the news that they were to send in a small delegation to act as the main diplomatic party for any and all negotiation involving the Zhen Clan and the peolle of Undertow.

At this announcement, the reaction from the soldiers were mixed.

<<On the one hand, I would love to be able to see the fabled city of Undertow. On the other...>>

<<The need for us to act as the best foot forward for the Zhen Clan in questionably hostile territory is way too much pressure for you to handle?>>

<<Yeah...>>

<<Same.>>

<<Screw that noise, I wanna go.>>

Much to the relief and disappointment of these soldiers though, Zhen Xun Tian had already decided who was going to be part of the delegation.

Needless to say, Zhen Xun Tian and her son were going to be members of this diplomatic group. The former was incredibly powerful by default and commanded respect just by simply existing, while her son was an incredibly skilled diplomat and significantly more reasonable. As for the rest of the members, this was where she threw them all for an expected loop.

<<As for the rest of the delegation, they will be...Zhen Hai, Zhen Feng and Zhen Liu.>>

"Wait, what?"

<<Wait...aren’t those the branch clan scions?>>

Once again, the branch clan scions were being dragged into something they were horribly under qualified for.

While they weren’t exactly against the dies fo visiting a fabled city that was apparently once the greatest thorn in the existence of the Pearl Scale Empire, the branch clan scions couldn’t help but be very confused as to why they were chosen.

<<Uh...matriarch, are you sure we’re the right choice for this mission?,>> Zhen Feng asked. <<We’re not exactly the type to be diplomats.>>

It should be noted that while Zhen Feng was sharing this observation, Zhen Hai was in the middle of making sure his aether treasure shark tooth club was free of flesh and bone bits, by using his bare hands, while Zhen Liu was in the middle of... something.

On the outside, it looked like Zhen Liu was staring off in the horizon. On the inside, he was deliberating where the hell the Storm Queen’s tomb was in this giant underground city.

Either way, neither of the them looked particularly...diplomatic at the moment. If anything, they looked like undereducated slobs.

Of course, this didn’t really matter to Zhen Xun Tian.

<<Meh, you guys are actually the most suitable for the job,>> Zhen Xun Tian dismissed with a smile. <<Besides, if you’re really worried about not knowing proper etiquette for diplomatic purposes, I’m sure you guys can figure something out.>>

Evidently, this last portion was said a little louder than the rest of Zhen Xun Tian’s words for a good reason.

Physically speaking, Zhen Liu didn’t show a great reaction to Zhen Xun Tian’s words. Mentally speaking, he was already discussing with the kaijin on what to do next.

...

[Should we be at all worried that your great grandaunt just gave you to go ahead on shoving us into your cousins’ brains again?,] Spring Brawler asked. [Correction, gave us the go ahead to shove the rest of y’all into their heads. Proto-kaijin privileges, baby.]

[Develop a core already.]

[Working on it.]

’Enough squabbling please, you heard the lady,’ Zhen Liu interjected before the kaijin could start yet another silly argument. ’Logos, Pathos, before we commit to having the kaijin possess both of my cousins for an impromptu etiquette lesson, is there anything specific about Undertow’s culture I should be aware of?’

<If you asked us about five minutes ago, we’d tell you don’t have that information. Since you asked us now, we do...kind of.>

’Say what?’

=After you had made contact with Tortallion, parts of the library suddenly unsealed itself. Giving us a bit more information on how Undertow was about three hundred and twenty-six years ago. So it’s a bit...outdated.=

<As such, we’re only going to use part of it as part of the etiquette package for the kaijin.>

’Ah.’

=The rest will be a combination of etiquette and diplomacy manuals from multiple different countries and societies, including the Silver Tongues’ Guide on Making Allies. They’re a faction from Umbral Spider.=

’I feel like y’all have been mentioning Umbral Spider more often recently...’

<=Foreshadowing is a bitch.=>

’I...I’m just gonna ignore that and get back to the kaijin’ Zhen Liu capitulated. ’Okay, who wants to spend an uncomfortably long time in my cousins’ heads? Keep in mind, that rest of y’all will be guarding the ships. Not you Nepherage, you’ll be tagging along in my head alongside Blazejudicator.’

[As you wish, milord.]

[Enough literal firepower to burn down a star,] Blazejudicator joked.

[Boo, eldest child privilege, boo~,] Hurricroak teased.

[Wait, we’re not all coming along this time?,] Razorstella asked, surprised at the decision.

’Call it me being paranoid again if you want, but I have read one too many stories about inadequate ship guarding leading to horrible consequences. Especially when our current vessel rubberbands on its sentience.’

[Fair enough.]

’Now then, who’s coming along?’

[Me.]*5

’Of course...you guys are going to...wait a minute...I have a better idea on how to decide.’

...

"Wait, if we’re going to be part of a diplomacy delegation, shouldn’t we be significantly more dressed for this? If so, do we dress like we’re from Roaring Tide or from Stampeding Bison?"

"I guess?"

"You’re no help."

"No, I just go with what my fiancee and/or mother tells me to wear."

"Bruh..."

Shortly after Zhen Xun Tian informed the scions that they were going to be part of the delegation, and assuaged their fears that they were grossly unqualified, Zhen Feng got to work in putting his best foot forward. Normally, this would be Zhen Yue’s domain, but since she was back home in preparation for the beast tide, it was up to him to try and figure things out.

Thankfully, Zhen Liu’s strange aether treasure of a boat had built-in wardrobes filled with fine clothes that fitted him, Zhen Hai and Zhen Liu perfectly. He didn’t question how this was possible, nor did he care to find out. All he needed right now, was some guidance on how to not be the person responsible for a diplomatic breakdown.

"Okay, wait. What if..."

"Oi! Zhen Feng, Zhen Hai. Can you two come over here for a moment?"

"Huh?"

"What’s up, Xiao Liu?"

Welcoming the break from the possiblity of having a societal mental breakdown, Zhen Feng and Zhen Hai quickly made their way over to Zhen Liu...who was standing before a line-up of all his puppets.

"Oh heavens above, we’re not doing another training session are we?," Zhen Feng asked with a fearful tone as he put his fists up.

The memories of their hellish boot camp back during the Zhen Clan tournament was still fresh in Zhen Feng’s mind, so he was understandably on edge at the sight of all the "puppets". Especially the mammoth one that he swore was giving him a funny look.

"No," Zhen Liu quickly said while ignoring the defensive flinch. "It’s a bit of an open secret at this point, but you know how I can have my puppets jump inside of your bodies while bestowing you with a power boost, new abilities and knowledge?"

"Yes," Zhen Hai and Zhen Feng answered simultaneously, remembering the very weird experiences of both from both an external and internal point of view. Granted, their memories of those experiences were hazy due to them swearing there were voices involved but not remembering the specific sounds.

Regardless, now that Zhen Liu had their confirmation in that regard, he shared with them why they were called over in the first place.

"Okay, good thing y’all remember, because we’re going to basically do that...again. But this time with etiquette and diplomacy," Zhen Liu explained while pulling out the [Possesstol].

At the sight of the weird tool, both Zhen Feng and Zhen Hai instinctively flinched.

"Wait, so you’re going to shoot us in the head again to dump... etiquette into our brains?," Zhen Hai asked, knowing what the answer was going to be.

"Yes, but unlike the last few times, I’m giving y’all a choice."

"To not get shot?"

"No."

"Dammit."

"No, the choice pertains to which puppet is going to be delivering the information into your head," Zhen Liu explained while gesturing to the kaijin. "Y’all should be aware by now that depending on which of them gets inside your head, your abilities get slightly...mutated. Hence why Zhen Hai is starting to develop triple attributes and why you have significantly stronger ice affinity."

"Huh..."

"That...explains things," Zhen Hai commented while manifesting a weird looking ball of black, electrified water in his palm before dismissing it.

"Exactly, so each of these guys will do something extra on top of the etiquette guide, so...which ones y’all want in your heads?," Zhen Liu asked while cocking the [Possesstol].

Evidently, Zhen Hai and Zhen Feng were flabbergasted by the question.