Chapter 481 Pre-War Conversation
At dusk, the "Blue Avenger", whose voyage was delayed due to dusk, finally arrived at Hakata Port. They will replenish fresh water and food here, rest for a night, and then go deep into the unexplored sea the next day to search for Angel's target - the island where the "Gazer" is wandering.
Moreover, Angel also needs to make some final preparations to capture this extraordinary creature that can travel through the spiritual world.
The sailors on duty pretended to pull the ropes and hang the sails, and the "Blue Avenger" easily approached the dock. The spiral staircase seemed to fall on the covered bridge by itself, scaring the passers-by and causing them to shudder and curse in the local language that they could hardly understand.
"We'll stay overnight at the port, meet up early tomorrow morning, and set sail for the unnamed island in the southwest."
"The Hanged Man" Alger gave the order on the deck. The sailors cheered, packed up quickly, walked down the spiral staircase, left the dock, and went into the port town to have fun everywhere.
Although they were all Storm Believers and half-organized armed personnel, the church condoned them to do things that did not violate the law but went against doctrine, whether for the sake of keeping in line with other pirates or to relieve the stress of working at sea for a long time.
Seeing that "The World" and "The Queen" had also left the ghost ship among the sailors, Alger chuckled and looked away.
The two had been clearly close for the past few days, yet they slept in separate rooms at night, likely sensing the ghost ship's surveillance. This was the Blue Avenger's self-defense mechanism, one that even Captain Alger couldn't stop. Therefore, giving them a "night off" after docking today was a way to give them some private time.
"I'm a truly qualified ally..."
He stood on the deck with his hands on his hips, looking at the gradually brightening lights of the port town, sighed, and prepared to return to the captain's room to study tomorrow's route.
"Captain, do you want to go down and release it together? I know a good place."
A sailor who had not yet left saw Alger standing alone in the sea breeze, so he approached and asked with a smile, winking at the same time, hinting at the true meaning of "release".
The official reward for this "mission" was 600 pounds, of which Angel had already paid 300 pounds in advance, and a large portion was distributed to all the sailors through Alger. This generous reward made every sailor who went out to sea feel a little itchy, and they also had more respect for this usually serious captain.
This change in attitude can be seen from the fact that this sailor dared to come up and invite Alger. Normally, whether out of fear or subconscious alienation from those in power, they rarely invite their captain when they go off the ship for entertainment.
Alger subconsciously wanted to refuse, but as he watched the figures disappearing on the dock, he opened his mouth and finally said:
"Then go have a couple of drinks.
"Remember to leave someone on duty."
He added as he followed the sailor off the boat, his back straight as if he had unloaded some burden.
————
"The reward has actually...increased again..."
Looking at the wanted poster on the table with "Angelica Sage" written on it, Angel pursed his lips and muttered in disbelief.
Originally, when she and Klein disembarked, in order to reduce the time it took for the "Hypocrisy" ring to change her appearance, she only wore a wig and did not change her face shape or eye color. However, as soon as she entered the port town, she saw her new wanted poster on a roadside billboard.
There was a reward of 18,000 pounds on it.
Without hesitation, she activated "hypocrisy", changed her appearance, and then tore off the wanted poster and took it away while no one was paying attention.
Of course, as a port that deviates from the main shipping channel, Hakata Port does not belong to any country and is itself a paradise for all kinds of pirates. The wanted order here is more of a competition and topic of conversation among pirates. But when a well-known pirate worth tens of thousands of pounds appears here, I am afraid that many people will want to "turn over a new leaf" and take the head in exchange for a bounty.
This amount is nearly the value of a pirate general's head. If it weren't for Mr. Fool's intimidation, I'm afraid "The Hanged Man" Alger would have been unable to resist reporting him to the Church of Storms...
"It's very likely the Black Death incident. If the official Beyonders or the navy had arrived in time, it would have been easy to link its sinking to the City Breaker incident. In the eyes of the Church of Storms, the latter was already your doing."
Klein rubbed out a flame and ignited the wanted poster. He watched it turn into ashes on the table and chuckled.
A thought of competing suddenly came into his mind.
Long before they left Backlund and embarked on their journey through the five seas, the two had agreed to "compete in bounty." Although this bet was no longer mentioned due to Angel's steadily rising bounty, to the point where even Angel himself was somewhat worried, when it reached 18,000 pounds, a figure that would put him in the top tier of pirates, the "mad adventurer" Gehrman's reserved yet mad personality began to stir again.
He dealt with flying skulls and headless monsters in Bansy Harbor, killed "Iron" Maiviti in Bayam, and helped the garrison clean up the fanatics of "Sea God" and the indiscriminate attacks of the rebels. He did a lot of things that were in the spotlight, but they either turned into gratitude from Donna's family, or into bounties collected on his behalf and rewards from the military. The only thing he didn't show up on the bounty list was becoming a "legend" that could be discussed across the Five Seas.
Next time, try being more assertive and arrogant, and really grasp the character's qualities...
Klein, who had already figured out the rules of acting and wasn't worried about being influenced by "German," was pondering when he suddenly felt a poke in the waist. The unbearable memories of the past few days on the "Blue Avenger" instantly began to attack him, causing him to jump up from his chair in a state of stress.
"What are you thinking about?" Angel smiled and retracted his finger. "Are you tempted by my bounty?"
Actually, it's about you... Klein hadn't yet shifted his mindset from the "crazy adventurer" and was too embarrassed to say it. He coughed lightly and changed the subject.
"I'm thinking, before I go find the Gazer, should I use the radio to ask the Mechanical Heart's Sealed Artifact, Arrodes, if it has a better way to deal with these spiritual beings?"
"Well, although I have some other ideas, it's not a bad idea to ask it, but are you sure you can let it contact you?"
"You have to try first."
Klein took out the radio he had brought out of the gray fog from his suitcase, connected the complicated wiring, and placed it in the living room window of the hotel suite, letting the dim moonlight shine on its surface.
Of course, based on last experience, the receiver wouldn't immediately transform into "Humble Arrodes." Klein also performed divination on the gray fog and confirmed the safety of this contact. Therefore, he left the room with peace of mind and went to the restaurant downstairs for dinner.
About half an hour later, the two returned upstairs. The moment they pushed the door open, as if they had been waiting for a long time, the letter needle of the receiver immediately started striking, and an illusory translucent white paper was spit out from below.
"The loyal servant Arrodes has been waiting for a long time. Are you two masters?"
There was also a simple smiley face drawn on it. It must have taken Arrodes a lot of thought to spell out such an "emoticon" with monotonous letters.
This is too... humble. Is it really a sealed object controlled by an official Beyonder?
Angel was stunned, but Klein replied as if he had expected it:
“It’s us.
"What I want to ask is, is the 'Gazing One' on the small island southwest of this port?"
This was a question the two had already discussed.
"Since you've asked this question, I only need to answer 'yes' to end the question. I've modified it for you to 'Where is the exact location of the Gazer on the small island in the southwest?' Is that okay with you?"
The receiver was running at a speed that was almost smoking, completely ignoring the fact that it was not receiving any power from the hand-crank generator.
"Can."
Even though he had seen Arrodes' behavior many times, Klein's expression almost couldn't hold back.
"Their locations are shown in the map below. They've been making a lot of noise lately, seemingly frightened by something. Their aura has reached the spirit world, allowing me to capture them. Please capture them as soon as possible, otherwise these spirit creatures will soon move to another place."
Attached to the illusory paper is a map drawn with simple lines and black dots, marking the relative positions of Hakata Port and the island, as well as the approximate location of the "Gazer" on the island.
This answered two questions at once: it confirmed that the Gazer was on the island, provided its location, and reminded us to hurry... Angel wanted to go up and disassemble the machine to see if there was a "Flame" Danitz lying inside.
"Now it's my turn to answer the questions."
Seeing Angel write down the information on the map, Klein said calmly.
"You've already answered that, and I'm satisfied with the answer."
Another piece of white paper was spit out, and the other party's flattery could be seen through the line of Rune text.
Have you answered?
Klein shifted his gaze and saw the sentence at the beginning of the question, "Do you think it's okay?" He felt a little surprised, but looking back at the nature of this sealed object, he thought it was very reasonable.
"Second question, what are the Gazer's activity patterns and capabilities?"
As if intending to devote all of tonight's Q&A session to clearing up Angel's confusion, Klein continued to ask questions without hesitation.
"They can freely shuttle between the spirit world and reality, possessing exceptional mobility. Once they burrow underground or into the mountains, they are virtually invulnerable. Targets caught in their sights will suffer negative effects such as slowness, weakness, and illness. If they are not removed from their sight in time, their condition will worsen, ultimately leading to death. Furthermore, they utilize abilities from the same pathway, the 'Witch' pathway, such as doubles. If a Gazer senses a battle is going to go against them, they will immediately burrow into the spirit world and depart. To defeat them, it's best to have a means of entering the spirit world at any time."
"'Gazing Ones' often live in small groups, but rarely help each other. If the enemy demonstrates strength and targets only one of them, the others will flee rather than aid their companions. This can be exploited in your tactical choices.
"Now, it's my turn to ask a question. Do you know that some friendly, communicative spiritual beings can be temporarily contracted to serve as aid in battle?"
Combined with the previous question and the fact that both of them can summon messengers, the direction of this rhetorical question couldn't be clearer.
“I didn’t know that before.”
Klein replied, glancing at Angel, who happened to be looking over at him. Both of them had the same emotion in their eyes:
This seal, this "Arrodes", is too good, right?
"One last question."
After a long while, Angel finally exhaled, took two steps closer, and almost stood next to the receiver, and asked:
"How do I get my own 'ghost ship'?"
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