“This is…” Phil Gray flipped through a bookshelf in the cabin and found a piece of paper with a judgment written on it among a pile of portraits of beautiful women and stories of treasure legends.
"The person being tried is actually Tang!"
However, his words did not elicit a response from his companions behind him. Turning around, he saw Eli picking up dried pink petals from the ground, while Caroline beside him looked slightly surprised.
Those were the box and flower petals that the man in black robes had kicked over.
“What’s wrong with these petals?” Phil Gray asked.
Eli brought the petals to his nose and sniffed them lightly, then said with certainty, "This is a flower unique to the Cult of Dreams—the Flower of Dreams, usually used to create illusions."
"Creating illusions?"
Phil Gray was a little annoyed. Why was this Dream Cult involved everywhere?
“Yes, even if you’re not a favorite of the Goddess of Dreams, you can still use the Dream Flower to create illusions. Unlike the Flower of Destiny, which can be planted at will, this flower is extremely precious and usually has a price but no market. Only by having a good relationship with the people of the Dream Cult can you get one. But there are so many here!” Eli gently put the petals on the ground into his original storage box and then held them in his hands.
“But what illusion did Jeremy create with this flower?” Phil Gray wondered, then remembered the judgment in his hand and unfolded it, placing it in front of his two companions.
"Oh, right, I found this. Look, the person being tried here is actually Tang!"
The three of them focused their attention on the judgment document.
Time: January 3, 3023 (New Divine Calendar)
Location: Captain's cabin of the Blacktooth Shark
Subject of trial: Don Dolly
Charges: Desecration of corpses, violation of humanity, trampling on ethics...
The verdict of drowning shall be carried out immediately.
Judge: Jeremy Lindbergh.
Phil Gray recalled the contents of that diary entry, "Yes, it was on this day that Don told Miss Daisy about Captain Jeremy's plot, and Miss Daisy discovered him cooking with human flesh, which is why she summoned all the passengers on the ship..."
“Like Miss Daisy, when faced with Don cooking with human flesh, those passengers preferred to believe the captain and let Jeremy judge Don, who was then punished with drowning. That’s why Don’s diary stopped on that day.” Eli said with a look of sudden realization.
Caroline, unaware of the diary, looked at them with some confusion.
Phil Gray wasn't in the mood to explain. A sudden thought flashed through his mind, and he seemed to have grasped something. "Do you think it's possible that the captain used this flower to deceive Don, making him believe that there was nothing wrong with his ingredients?"
Eli didn't understand what he was talking about.
"If you were Don, would you let Miss Daisy see the ingredients you use to cook? And if you were the captain, your ship's cook has been cooking for you for years, don't you know what ingredients he uses?"
These are the things that don't seem right. Phil Gray even thinks that the human flesh ingredients were provided by the captain because Tang said in his diary that the captain would never let him off the ship. So how could a cook like him get so many ingredients?
Jeremy only tried Don in order to gain the trust of the passengers and cover up his own intentions.
Eli nodded. "You're right. The Dream Flower can produce this effect, making something appear completely different to someone, obscuring its true nature. Based on this, it all makes sense."
"Did Tang drown? What happened to the passengers after he died? Were the skeletons in those cabins all passengers of the Blacktooth Shark?" Phil Gray muttered to himself, still having some unanswered questions.
He walked quickly to the bookshelves and continued searching, but found nothing of value except some useless junk.
“Here’s a black book.” Eli picked up a black book from a corner of the floor.
He flipped it open, "Phil, this is the passenger list for the Blacktooth Shark!"
Phil Gray didn't notice that Eli had called him by his real name directly; he just excitedly took it, wanting to see if there were any new clues.
Caroline didn't think much of it; there were quite a few people named Phil throughout the entire world of Vil.
My gaze lingered on the booklet, where the passengers' names and identities were neatly arranged, and even their respective religious beliefs were noted.
“Indeed, most of them are nobles from the Kingdom of Lanxi. The highest-ranking one is an earl, whose surname is the same as that of Miss Daisy. He should be her brother.” Eli pointed to the two names above.
“Hmm.” Phil Gray nodded slightly and turned to the next page until he saw a familiar name. He suddenly stood up. “Look!”
Eli was also taken aback when he saw the name. It was indeed someone they knew, Jesse, the necromancy master of the Church of Death, who had recently died at their hands.
"Jesse was on this ship a year ago?" Phil Gray stared intently at the name, as if trying to punch a hole through the paper.
"Hmph, no wonder the ship had an accident." Eli sneered, arms crossed, his eyes revealing a hint of disgust. "The ship's current state must be related to him. I should have known better than to let him die so easily in the first place."
"You know him?" Caroline was completely confused.
Phil Gray briefly recounted what had happened back then to her.
“But why did he target the passengers? What was his motive? Was it a sacrifice to the god of death? And what about that cook-looking ghost? Why did he attack us?” Caroline asked, her heart pounding as she recalled the horrific events of the previous night when she mentioned Tang.
If it weren't for the protection of the god she believed in, she would have died a tragic death like that life priest.
Phil Gray stood up, a glint in his eyes. "We can just ask the people who were there at the time, oh no, he's a ghost now."
"What?" Caroline and Eli asked curiously.
“That chosen one of the gods of death just captured Captain Jeremy’s soul in this room. Let’s go find Jeremy and get to the bottom of this.” Phil Gray was the first to step out of the space, climb over the table, and look anxious.
"Oh?" Caroline looked at his back with some hesitation. She had just asked the captain of Gold Coin No. 3, and even the captain didn't know what the man in black robes had done when he came in.
“We can see some things that happened in the past, but that’s our secret, miss. To protect you and other passengers from harm, we won’t hide it from you, but you have to keep it a secret for us.” Eli winked at Caroline and followed her out.
Caroline nodded from behind.
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