In the ancient palace towering above the gray fog, the Hanged Man Alger did not rush to mention the matter of the Mad Captain Connors Victor. He turned his head and looked at the Sun next to him and said:
"Are you still in Afternoon Town?"
Derrick nodded honestly:
"Yes, it took us a long time to set up the camp, and then we worked in groups to clear out the remaining monsters street by street, looking for various possible ancient traces. Although it would be slow, it was safe enough."
He answered in great detail and showed an attitude that it was okay for Mr. Hanged Man to know more.
Audrey Justice listened with interest and raised her hand slightly.
"You have been in Afternoon Town for so long. What do you rely on for food? Is there any black-faced grass nearby?"
She had heard from Little "Sun" a long time ago that Silver City survived by relying on the black-faced grass grown in the surrounding areas as the staple food.
“We carry some powdered black grass, but our main food source is the monsters we hunt. A large part of them can be eaten as long as they have extraordinary properties, are skinned, and burned with flames. However, they are all contaminated to a certain extent and can cause mental problems. They cannot be consumed continuously and require sufficient intervals.” “Sun” Derrick answered Miss “Justice”’s question seriously.
Audrey Justice recalled the monsters in the dark depths that Little Sun had mentioned. She thought about the dark and gloomy horror style of the area where the City of Silver was located, and couldn't help but ask:
"Wouldn't that be gross?"
Inspired by this question, Fors, the Magician, who was concentrating on listening to the conversation of other members, deliberately did not look at Emlyn, the Moon, and asked Derrick, the Sun, with great curiosity:
"I remember you said that the monsters in the depths of darkness include vampires. They are covered in pus and are extremely ugly. So, after killing such vampires, will you use them as food?"
After hearing this question, Emlyn completely forgot to correct the other party that he was a vampire and not a vampire. His face turned green, and he inexplicably felt a sense of horror.
Derrick was silent for two seconds and said:
"Some monsters are indeed disgusting, very disgusting, like the vampires mentioned by Miss Magician, but we have no choice. We will eat anything that can be eaten."
His voice gradually deepened, as if he once again deeply felt the cursed tragedy that enveloped the entire City of Silver.
The palace that looked like a giant's residence fell silent again. Even Emlyn the Moon, who wanted to refute some of the words of Derrick the Sun, did not speak. He just curled his lips and retracted his arms.
A few seconds later, "The World" broke the silence and chuckled:
"Let's go back to the sea. Recently, there is something worth noting. The 'One-Eyed Skull' of 'Mad Captain' Connors Victor drifted to the vicinity of the dock after a storm. The mast was broken and there were traces of burning everywhere. All the crew members, including Connors Victor himself, have died. No one was spared."
"Justice" Audrey and others did not know who the "Mad Captain" was, and were not too interested in the news. They were just a little curious about why such a tragic shipwreck had happened.
The feelings of the "Hanged Man" Alger were completely different from theirs.
The "world" actually paid attention to the "Mad Captain" incident. There must be a big secret behind this! No wonder Mr. Courtman solemnly issued an order to let the "Manufactured Punishers" and "Captains and Sailors" investigate the relevant situation! Alger's eyes moved slightly, and he thought for a while and said:
"In Bayam, the Church of Storms is actively investigating people and events related to 'Mad Captain' Connors Victor."
Haha, I don't even need to commission someone else... Klein laughed secretly and asked The World to ask directly:
"What clues does the Storm Church have?"
"I don't know. I'll try to find out." Alger, the Hanged Man, shook his head calmly.
He believed that the "world" could understand what he meant, which was that I really didn't know at the moment, but I would inquire internally.
Audrey, who was curious and listening in, felt that the matter of the "Mad Captain" was not simple, so she tentatively said:
"Mr. World, isn't this a common pirate infighting?"
Klein was just about to casually say a few words to Miss Justice without revealing anything more, when he suddenly thought of a problem.
"Behind the Backlund smog incident and the missing persons case may be a faction of the royal family and some military personnel. Miss Justice naturally leans towards the nobility and the royal family in terms of emotions and stance. If one day in the future, I entrust her with a corresponding task against those guys who deserve to be cursed and hanged, she may not be happy to accept it, and may even fall into inner conflict because of it...
"So, now we have to instill in her the impression that there are many bad people in the royal family and the military, and subtly change her position and emotional inclination. To do this, we can take the risk of exposing some of the information of the 'world'..." Klein thought for a moment, and said to the 'world' in a relaxed tone with a hint of sarcasm:
"'Mad Captain' is related to the disappearance of people in the colony that Mr. 'Hanged Man' investigated before.
"The Witch Cult will hand over the people they have lured or plundered to external forces such as 'Vice Admiral of Disease' Tracy, who will transport them to the east coast of the northern continent and complete the last leg with the help of 'Mad Captain' Connors Victor. This pirate has close ties with many human traffickers and slave traders in Loen.
"I told Mr. 'The Hanged Man' in January that someone had seen Barron, who was involved in the missing case, meeting with MI9 personnel loyal to the royal family.
"Also, Backlund's biggest human trafficker, Kapin, has a protector of the 'Arbitrator' path.
"Taking all these things into account, do you still think that the death of the 'Mad Captain' was a simple internal conflict among pirates?
"Haha, I've always wondered, what does the person behind the scenes want so many slaves for?"
The clear connection between the clues appeared in the minds of "Justice" Audrey, "The Hanged Man" Alger and others, making them suddenly understand a lot of things.
Mr. World left Backlund and headed to the sea to track down clues. He had been investigating the truth behind the Great Smog Incident and the death of Prince Edessak! Based on the information he provided, it was clear that the real murderer had not been punished yet and was still hiding inside the royal family, with some military personnel working for him. How abominable! Such people should be thrown into hell! Hmm... How did Mr. World know that the protector around Kapin was a Beyonder of the Arbitrator Path? Had they dealt with each other before? Audrey's thoughts flew, and she suddenly had an association:
Capin was killed by the Rogue "Black Emperor", who obviously knew which path Capin's protectors belonged to;
The chivalrous thief "Black Emperor" is the follower of Mr. "Fool";
Mr. World is suspected to have some connection with Mr. Fool. He has never collected the diary of Emperor Roselle.
So, Mr. "World" is the chivalrous thief "Black Emperor", and the follower of Mr. "Fool"?
Did he not submit Emperor Roselle's diary because he had submitted it privately? Did he behave in the past to hide his identity as a follower? Was this a test from Mr. Fool? It was really hard to connect Mr. World with the thief Black Emperor, who was more like a hero... Audrey felt that she had found the truth, and began to wonder what kind of person Mr. World, also known as the thief Black Emperor, was in reality.
Alger, the "Hanged Man", and Cattleya, the "Hermit", immediately understood why Gehrman Sparrow attacked Vice Admiral of Disease Tracy.
This follower is investigating the truth behind the Backlund Great Smog Incident!
And what is hidden behind this is what Mr. Fool is interested in!
The "magician" Fors and the "moon" Emlyn who lived in Backlund also vaguely sensed something from the "world" mentioning Capin. After all, the legend of the chivalrous thief "Black Emperor" has been quite popular in the past six months and has become an important character in many popular novels. Even Fors herself wanted to write a love story between a chivalrous thief and a noble lady with him as the protagonist.
They finally understood why the "world" had been able to detect in time that a major event was brewing in Backlund and that a tragedy was likely to occur, because this gentleman had been tracking down the corresponding clues.
It seemed that Backlund's affairs were far from over, and there might be more accidents in the future... I really wanted to leave immediately, but Xio would definitely not want to, and there was no way to explain it to her... Fors instantly had the idea of escaping Backlund.
Emlyn the Moon was not overly afraid. In his opinion, if a disaster really occurred, there were important figures in Backlund who could definitely provide protection.
After two seconds of silence, Alger the Hanged Man said solemnly:
"I will do my best to investigate this matter."
He had sensed that behind the death of the "Mad Captain" there was a terrifying storm, so he felt a little daunted and scared, but he was also excited and thrilled about participating in the most important event in the North and South Continents.
"Hermit" Cattleya listened quietly, nodded and said:
“I will also collect relevant information.
"If there are more clues, maybe I can help."
Klein thought for a moment, and then asked The World to speak calmly:
"On the night of the death of the Mad Captain, there was a High-Sequence Warrior on his ship who was suspected to be from the Black Emperor pathway, but this Demigod managed to escape before Yan Kottman arrived."
The “Black Emperor” path, demigod… Alger and Cattleya chewed on these words at the same time, thinking about where to start.
Audrey "Justice" and the others were amazed that the Tarot Club had progressed from discussing demigods to directly participating in demigod-related events. It was really getting more and more sophisticated. As for Derrick "The Sun", he didn't really understand the whole thing.
After the matter of the "Mad Captain" came to a temporary end, the "Hermit" Cattleya glanced at the "World" and deliberately mentioned:
"There is another incident at sea. Last week, the crazy adventurer Gehrman Sparrow hunted down the second mate of the Undead King, Gilchias the Slayer, a Sequence 5 Beyonder."
"So amazing..." Fors, who was currently only at Sequence 8, exclaimed sincerely. She knew exactly what Sequence 5 meant.
"Well, he is truly a legendary adventurer," Audrey "Justice" followed.
"Moon" Emlyn opened his mouth and closed it again, feeling that he was still far from such a level.
The Hanged Man Alger said without any abnormality:
"It is precisely because of this incident that investigating Gehrman Sparrow's background has become an important task for all major organizations."
Do you mean that the Church of Storms also asked you to investigate me? Klein immediately understood what Mr. Hanged Man meant, and let The World laugh in a low voice:
"Where can I get this commission? I want to use some unimportant information to get money. I have some understanding of Gehrman Sparrow."
Well, Mr. World means that he doesn't mind if I submit some seemingly important but actually meaningless intelligence about Gehrman Sparrow in exchange for rewards and trust? The Hanged Man nodded with understanding.
The free exchange lasted for quite a while until "Sun" Derrick finished learning the ancient Hermetic words for the week, and then everything came to an end.
After watching Miss Justice and the others leave, Klein turned his gaze to Groselle's Travels on the table.
PS: I thought about it again last night, and felt that changing idioms without historical allusions would be a bit discordant for Chinese readers, so I plan to deal with it in another way, without relatively tricky expansion or translation of the content, and taking the meaning but abandoning the form. For example, "hungry" can be replaced by "like a person who has been hungry for several days seeing food", which may be better.
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