"What the hell has building sh*t on its back has anything to do with getting closer to it?"

[First of all, Cetus is a 'her' not an 'it'. Second of all, despite her monstrous appearance, she's quite fond of humans. That's why in order to get close to her, you'll have to get other people close to her. As that'll make her feel wanted and the fastest way to do gain traction would be to build things to attract people's attention here. You know like an amusement part or maybe something entirely different. It doesn't matter as long as people visit the island with good intentions.]

​​

'Oh, right. I know she is quite fond of people. After all, she ate half of the warriors who came with me to aid me in the battle against the Olympians.' Arnold rebuked system sama, 'Who in their right minds would ever visit this place in a million years? Can't you see all the corpses here? This place is a graveyard and you want me to turn it into an amusement park? For fck's sake, even you know that won't be possible even if the gods wanted it to happen! People have emotions. They'll never agree to it.'

[So you're only talking but the corpses on the beach?]

'... did I hit my head during the fight, or did yours do?'

[Ah... there goes your futile attempt to mock me, right into Cetus' belly. If you are in a mood for jokes then I'd suggest you host a stand-up comedy show here as well. It'll be a great way to bring people around. It just might put your charisma stat to some use as well.]

'What?'

[Alright, I won't beat around the bush anymore. You don't seriously think Cetus ate those thousands of people. Do you?]

'... she did, right?'

[Huh... Maybe you should learn more about mythological beasts... Cetus is a herbivore being who loves humans. She'd rather starve than eat meat, especially humans.]

'But she swallowed them alive so...'

[That was only to save them from meeting their end at Hercules' hands. If she hadn't done that, that barbaric moron would've used another borrowed skill from Zeus or some other god to kill them all.]

'So you're telling me that the ones she swallowed-'

[Yup. They're still alive in her belly. The only unfortunate people who died, are the ones who stayed on the surface or those whom Cetus couldn't swallow.]

'That doesn't make any sense...'

[Tell me does any of this makes any sense to you? But just because it doesn't make any sense, it doesn't mean that it's not true.]

'... fair enough. So how do I get them out?'

[She's your pet. Try asking her nicely. And after you're done with that, try checking her stats as well. Cetus strength and skills change as she switches owners so it'll be better to get a read on it.]

'Switches owners? Does it mean she's immortal or something? I mean, can someone kill her?'

[She's the world whale. The first creature Earth gave birth to. She's a bit special and would continue to exist till the end of time. Or I should say as long as Earth lives, she'll live too.]

'That's some OP stuff, not gonna lie.'

[Yeah, you might want to get the people outside now?]

'Right. Almost forgot about that.' Arnold cleared his throat, "Cetus would you mind releasing the people whom you've been keeping inside you? I have a feeling they might want to come out now."

"Um... Arnold, who're you talking to?" Nicole mumbled before placing her hand on his shoulder, "Maybe you should rest a bit..."

"Oh, I'm just talking to Cetus, the creature we're standing on. It would seem that everyone who was swallowed by Cetus is in fact alive." Arnold's matter-of-factly tone made everyone give him a weird look but Arnold didn't pay any attention to it, "I know it sounds weird but it's true. Just believe me."

"Did Hercules hit Arnold in the head when he chased after him?" Bad-Breath asked Alice who was standing next to him, "Like there are some pretty nasty things in the world right now, but this is some another level of batsh*ttery..."

"Who knows maybe what he's saying is true. I mean, considering our occupation, I don't think there's anything impossible." Alice replied, "Also, I trust him so let's just wait and see what happens."

Everyone who heard Arnold mumble such an absurd thing was surprised. This included Nicole. She knew Arnold was thinking something when he suddenly stopped talking to any of them. But it was just absurd to pretend that no one who was swallowed by the whale died. Moreover, they didn't know that Cetus was now his pet and would do anything Arnold asked of her.

They were even more surprised when Cetus actually obeyed Arnold's command. However, the surprises didn't stop here. Instead of spouting out corpses, as they had presumed, she spat out alive humans. In a blink of an eye, thousands of people whom they had assumed to be dead, were back. Most importantly, they were alive and well!

"Holy cow! This mad lad was right!" Bad-Breath exclaimed and jumped into the waters to help the people get back on shore.

"What are you people waiting for?" Arnold yelled at his other summons, there were way too many things they needed to do, "Alice, Natasha, you girls check them for injuries or anything that I should be concerned about. Cerberus, gather the hounds and light up fire in numerous places so that they can dry off a bit."

Orders came flowing out of Arnold's tongue as if he was destined to be a rescue team leader, "Dread and Duke take the golems and automatons with you and gather drywood for fire. While you're at it, there should be some fruit and berries that are safe to eat. So grab as much as you can becasue we're going to need them. Yan send all of your undead to retrieve the people. Asterios and Tiamut you guys go with them. Scylla, fly over the island and make sure no one is missed. And you Nicole, relax for a bit. You need it."

***

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