Chapter 400: Cover

Conquering the sea, the Glorious Pilgrimage Fleet was sailing quickly towards the northern land, having just completed the rescue mission for the White Pearl. Now all the ships in the fleet were crowded with rescued passengers. These passengers were crowded in every corner of the ship with uneasy looks. Not only the decks, but also the corridors and aisles of each ship were crowded with people.

At this moment, on the leading cruiser flagship, the commander of the church fleet, the senior executive Jod, was communicating with the captain of the White Pearl, Costa. After Costa learned from Jod the fleet's current goal and the time it would take, he was slightly startled.

"What? Vanaha? Our target is Vanaha? And it will arrive in about a day?"

In the captain's cabin, Costa spoke unexpectedly. In his mind, the White Pearl should have deviated far to the south under his deliberate manipulation. If it wanted to go to Vanaha, it would take more than a day.

"Yes... Vanaha, judging from the nautical chart, that is the nearest port to us. Although the nautical chart says that it is just a small city and the port is not very big, I think it should be enough to unload some passengers."

As Joad spoke, he sat back in his seat and started making tea. Costa, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but look a little gloomy after hearing what Joad said. At this moment, emotions were surging in his heart.

Originally, Costa had been wondering why he encountered the church's fleet when he was sailing in a sea area that deviated from the normal route. From what Joad said just now, this place was very close to Vanaha. If he was really on the scheduled route to White Tears Island, the distance would not be so close. Therefore, the only explanation for this phenomenon was that the church's fleet was actually sailing on the normal route, and it was he who deviated from the route to White Tears Island and returned to the normal route. And it was obvious that this was the work of the thief K!

After discovering the truth about how he had inexplicably encountered the church fleet, Costa felt angry and extremely confused. He wondered how the thief had affected the course of the White Pearl without anyone noticing. He went to the cockpit to check several times but didn't find any problems.

While Costa was confused, Jode on the other side had already made the tea. After taking a sip of tea, he looked at Costa and then spoke.

"By the way, just now some of my subordinates heard from the passengers on board that something strange happened on the White Pearl during its journey. A thief who called himself Thief K actually stole a priceless sapphire at the exhibition? A group of people couldn't stop her, Captain Costa, is this really the case?"

Joad said this with a hint of curiosity. Listening to Joad's words, Costa was stunned for a moment, and then quickly spoke.

"Ah, you mean the thief K... Indeed, she is a very clever thief. The jewel collector Mr. Massimo and I were fooled by her for a while, so she stole the Deep Blue Heart. If we had been a little more careful at the beginning, we would not have been fooled by her."

Costa said this to Jod in a normal tone, while Jod said this to Costa with a meaningful look.

"So, you were there when Thief K committed the crime? Did you find that Thief K showed any extraordinary abilities, such as great strength or speed? Or did she cause any incredible phenomena? Also... do you think the strange malfunction in the boiler room of the White Pearl is related to Thief K?"

"Extraordinary strength and speed or something... um... let me think about it. Although this thief K is very skilled and can perform many difficult moves, she still looks like an ordinary person. I've seen some similar ones in the circus. As for any incredible performances... no, at most she released a very large smoke bomb when she escaped at the end, just like the smoke bomb used by a magician.

"As for whether she might have something to do with the boiler room... I don't think so, because after Thief K escaped, we immediately searched the entire ship and found that one lifeboat was missing. Therefore, Thief K should have escaped on a lifeboat before the boiler had problems, so it should not have much to do with the boiler accident. Besides, Thief K's goal was to steal gems, so there was no need for him to tamper with something as dangerous as a boiler."

Costa explained to Joad, proving that the thief K who sounded magical was actually just a smart thief with superb skills. After listening to Costa's words and drinking his tea, Joad nodded.

"I see... In this case, the boiler failure has nothing to do with her. What a pity! We have lost a clue that could help us find out the specific cause of the failure.

"Captain Costa, my communication with you has given me a detailed understanding of the situation of the White Pearl. Thank you for your cooperation. You must be very tired from commanding today. Go down and rest."

"Thank you for listening, Your Excellency."

After giving the final reply to Jod, Costa quickly left the captain's cabin. After closing the hatch of the captain's cabin, Costa couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Arriving on the deck of the cruiser, Costa faced a group of passengers sitting on the deck, with a hint of gloom in his eyes.

If their interests were not aligned in the short term, Costa would not have covered for Thief K in front of Joad. Now that Costa has chosen to board the church's ship, he will definitely not let the church believe that anything extraordinary has happened on the ship, and will definitely do his utmost to cover up the fact that Thief K is an extraordinary person.

No matter how much Costa hated the damn thief in his heart, he had to help him now. Costa was tormented when he lied for the thief.

Currently on the church's ship, Costa and Thief K are in the same boat. Although extremely reluctant, Costa still has to help Thief K. Once Joad believes that something extraordinary has happened on the ship and wants to conduct in-depth inspections on all crew members, no one can escape.

Now Costa is very clear that the feud between them and the thieves will not be resolved until after Vanaha, and in this final confrontation, they have already seized the initiative.

'Just wait, thief.'

Thinking of this, Costa clenched the buttons in his pocket. The fleet was moving forward and would soon reach the long-lost land.

…

I've been a bit busy these past two days, so today I'll only update half an update of about 2,000 words. It may be half an update tomorrow as well depending on the situation. I'll definitely resume updating the day after tomorrow.