Chapter 475 Tarot Club Expedition
"We are all under the watchful eye of Mr. Fool. Unlike those makeshift adventuring groups, we possess that most precious quality—trust," said Alger, the "Hanged Man," who had retrieved his lantern and was leading the way. He pointed to the dark forest ahead, where not even moonlight could penetrate. "Through this forest lies the ruins. After this exploration, I'm sure the island's location is no longer a secret to you. Therefore, I demand my participation in the first three expeditions, including this one, and I want one-third of the spoils."
He didn't stop, but turned his head to look at Angel.
What are you looking at me for...? Did you guess that my "Rose Necklace" had herded the "Wind-Blessed One" and that it might have the ability to navigate the sea and memorize the route here? Indeed, my necklace was handed over to the craftsmen by him, and he also knew that the "Wind-Blessed One" Bishop died at my hands...
Angel thought about it, nodded and replied:
"It's a very reasonable request. If the spoils can't be divided equally, they can be converted into gold pounds, but I want to choose first."
"Can."
Alger was visibly relieved and readily agreed.
This was purely a transaction based on strength and information advantages. Angel and Klein stood on one side, holding an absolute military advantage, so they would have the final say in dividing the spoils. Alger, on the other hand, possessed information about the location of the ruins, and if he didn't take the initiative to lead the way, no one would gain anything.
Although Klein was limited by the negative effects of "Creeping Hunger" and did not show strong combat power for the time being, Alger took the initiative to give him one-third, which was also a gesture of goodwill to Angel, the strongest member of the team.
After agreeing on the distribution plan, the three of them quickened their pace. Led by Alger, they entered the Black Forest and walked among the tall, sturdy trees with dense branches and leaves. Angel squinted his eyes, using his dark vision to penetrate the trees and look around, alert to possible dangers.
Under the dim light of the lantern and the occasional crimson moonlight shining through the leaves overhead, the three of them soon arrived at a slightly empty area with sparse trees.
Alger slowed down his pace, turned around and said:
"There's an open area ahead, piled with corpses of humans and animals, including curly-haired baboons. They look rather scary, a bit like zombies, but they're not moving anymore, so they're safe. Haha, I'm worried you might overreact, so I'm giving you a heads up."
He smiled humorously and walked a few steps forward. When he looked back, he found that the other two had not caught up.
Zombies...
Klein's expression was a little stiff. This time when he came to the primitive island, he didn't leave Azik's copper whistle in the gray fog space to make it easier to call for help. Instead, he carried it with him. If he passed through that "very safe" open space, he might...
...Perhaps all the zombies will awaken and rush towards us, specifically, towards Klein's copper whistle... Angel thought the same thing. She glanced at the open space ahead and suggested:
"For safety's sake, let's take a detour."
Alger frowned, hesitated for a moment, nodded in agreement, and led the team back a short distance, back into the dense woods, and took a detour to the right.
He must be wondering whether we chose to take a detour because we were afraid of the corpses, or because of the side effects of some magical item. Let him guess for himself... Angel complained in his heart and followed behind this "brain trust" of the Tarot Club, bypassing the vast open space and continuing forward.
"Your judgment is correct. There are likely powerful supernatural creatures in that open space, otherwise there wouldn't be so many corpses piled up."
The Hanged Man at the front of the queue suddenly said.
We've walked so far, why is he saying this... Angel looked at him curiously and found that Alger seemed a little nervous. Although his hand holding the lantern was still steady, beads of sweat had already appeared on his forehead.
"Are you okay?"
She asked worriedly.
"I'm just feeling a little... nostalgic. The last time I came here was at Qilingos's request. This time, I'm back here, but you're my companions."
It sounded like Alger had some unpleasant memories with Vice Admiral Hurricane. He hoped he wouldn't have a stress reaction and affect his future exploration... Seeing that the other party had felt much better after the conversation, Angel didn't ask any further questions.
Suddenly, a faint "ding-dong" sound came from the right side of the team, which seemed to be the crisp sound of some kind of rattle or wind chime.
This voice reminded Angel of his childhood memories that had gradually faded after he traveled through time. It was as if he had returned to the port city where he lived as a child, and returned to the peaceful life when the world had not yet begun to change and all kinds of mysterious and strange creatures had not yet appeared.
Who is ringing the wind chimes?
She wanted to go into the woods and head towards the direction of the sound, but she was worried about encountering danger.
No, how could there be danger here? The place where the ringing sound came from must be the safest and warmest home... Angel gradually let down his guard and turned his body to the right.
Wait, no...that's not what I thought!
Angel had experienced having her body controlled by strange emotions while ascending in flames, so she reacted immediately. At this moment, because of the distance, the intermittent sound of wind chimes stopped, allowing her to barely control herself and recover from the numb state of letting down her guard.
Beside her, Alger, holding a lantern, and Klein, wearing a top hat, walked slowly forward with expressions of anticipation, as if they were pursuing something beautiful. Alger, who had the lowest sequence, actually had red eyes and was about to shed tears.
Angel stretched out both his hands, pressed one person's shoulder with one hand, and pulled them back.
The disturbance from outsiders freed them from that strange state. Klein's eyes quickly regained clarity, while Alger was a little slower, but soon revealed a thoughtful expression.
"That's the psychedelic wind chime tree," he muttered after a moment, his voice gradually increasing in speed. "Sailors have seen them on certain islands deep in the ocean. Once they're mesmerized by the hypnotic sound of the bells, they'll actively approach, losing their guard and becoming prey to them."
"Its fruit is very valuable, but we are not prepared and it is difficult to get close to it."
"What about waking each other up like we did just now?"
Angel asked back, and she immediately remembered the way the Nighthawks dealt with the Sealed Artifact "2-049" during the mission to hunt down Riel Biber in Tingen City.
"The premise is that we are hypnotized in different orders. The closer we are to it, the stronger the effect of the ringing sound will be. There won't even be a gap. Once we are hypnotized at the same time, there will be no way to wake each other up."
Alger explained, regret evident on his face.
The fruits of the psychedelic wind chime tree are not cheap!
"There's another way," Klein, who had been silent the entire time, frowned slightly. He looked at Angel and said calmly, "Make him sick, to the point where he's coughing constantly but won't collapse. This should suppress the effect of the ringing."
ah?
Mr. Hanged Man is your companion, Klein. Have you been playing the crazy adventurer beside Danitz for too long? You've gotten too caught up in the role... Angel subconsciously wanted to refute, but then he thought, this plan was actually very feasible. Alger, who was seriously ill, couldn't concentrate at all, so he naturally wouldn't fall into the hypnosis of the wind chime tree. Even if he was accidentally hypnotized, he would wake up in pain and wake up the others.
After the battle, the "Rose Necklace" can help the sick Alger recover quickly and will not affect the subsequent exploration.
Being closely watched by the two, The Hanged Man quickly understood his current situation. Perhaps it was time for him to contribute to the one-third of the spoils...
…
"Cough, cough cough..."
His lungs gasping for breath like bellows, Alger leaned against a thick tree with difficulty, coughed a few times, and then continued to move forward.
As a preferential treatment for the patient, his lantern had been transferred to Klein's hands. He only needed to walk slowly towards the location where the wind chime sound came from with empty hands. Once his companions behind him were hypnotized by the bells and passed his position, he would take the initiative to wake them up.
After two experiments at a distance, the three people confirmed that this method was feasible and began to act with confidence.
“Ding-Ding-Dang-Dang—”
Another ringing sound came, closer than the previous one. Even with extreme vigilance, the three of them still had an urge to quickly get closer to the location of the ringing sound, which they could barely suppress.
"It should be, cough, not far away..."
I felt like I was about to cough my lungs out. Is this the potion sequence for Vice Admiral Tracy? No wonder a whole ship of pirates attacked her simultaneously and couldn't do anything to her... Alger pondered, but the high fever clouded his mind, and he quickly gave up.
The three of them continued to move forward cautiously for a few steps, and among the thick black trees, they saw the maker of the wind chime sound, the psychedelic wind chime tree.
There is a vast expanse of space around it. The trunk is brown-green, and the bark is cracked into long, thin cracks perpendicular to the bark grain. The inside is deep and dark, like eyes without pupils.
On the branches extending above the trunk hang wind chime-like objects, swaying in the wind and making crisp tinkling sounds. Above the thick branch in the center hangs a translucent fruit.
Ding Ding Dong Dong——
As soon as they came out of the woods, a burst of overlapping bell sounds were heard. The three people who were still alert in front immediately became excited and walked straight towards the wind chime tree.
"Cough, cough cough..."
Alger, who was last in line due to mobility issues, coughed violently a few times and woke up from his dream of finding his parents, whom he had never met. He quickly grabbed his hypnotized companions and woke them up.
"Phew, it's our turn next."
Angel rubbed his eyes, which were about to shed tears, with the back of his hand, and was about to launch an attack while he was awakened by the outsider and had not yet entered the hypnotic state again.
Just then, there was a rustling sound from the opposite side of the clearing, and the piglet that the Hanged Man had used to lure the Blue Shadow Falcon came out from the woods.
Under the gaze of the three people, the spiced piglet had a dazed expression and climbed towards the psychedelic wind chime tree with evil steps, and came to the bottom of the tree canopy with the melodious and light bell sounds.
Swish--
The branches with "wind chimes" hanging on them stopped dancing and quickly spread downwards, surrounding the piglet's body that had lost its resistance and could no longer escape, and drilling into its delicate nostrils, eyes, ears and mouth, and began to move like straws.
The bait piglet, which had just escaped from the claws of the vicious blue shadow falcon, died under the "sucking" of the wind chime tree.
Taking this opportunity, the "Rose Necklace" on Angel's chest lit up with a faint blue light and switched to the soul of the "Wind-loving One".
"Mastery of the Gale"!
Thin and sharp wind blades formed in her palms and flew towards the wind chime tree with a whistling sound, cutting off the branches that greedily absorbed the juice of its prey, and one by one the "wind chimes" rolled to the ground.
“Tinkle Bells—”
The remaining branches danced madly, emitting continuous ringing sounds, trying to hypnotize the enemy in front of them.
At this moment, Klein quickly took out a silver piece half the size of his palm from his windbreaker pocket with his right hand. It was engraved with complex spells and symbols symbolizing the night.
This is an "enlarged version" of the sleeping spell he made, inspired by the three spells Angel used on Tracy.
"Scarlet!"
With spiritual energy infused into him, he flicked his wrist and swung out "Sleeping" with skillful force. The silver piece quickly crossed the distance between the three people and the wind chime tree like a flying knife, pierced into the hard bark, and almost completely disappeared into it.
Bang--
An explosion much louder than usual was heard, and a soothing wave swept across the clearing in the woods. All the branches of the psychedelic wind chime tree stopped swaying meekly and slowly drooped down.
With a "crack," Klein snapped his fingers, and a bunch of dry leaves at the bottom of the tree trunk shot up into a bright yellow flame.
The flames suddenly spread, and Angel's agile body jumped out of it. The bone sword in his left hand pierced into the pupilless "eyes" on the bark with black flames.
"boom--"
Every "eye" and every branch was burning with the black flame of curse, as if awakened from a dream. The drooping branches of the wind chime tree shook as if struggling, making a few formless bell sounds.
Then, it fell completely silent.
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