Chapter 98: The Silver-Tongued

Chapter 98: The Silver-Tongued

Klein slowly turned his head and glanced at Danitz.

The great pirate with a bounty of 5,500 pounds immediately shut his mouth, stiffened his face, and acted as though nothing had happened.

After confirming that Elaine had boarded the passenger liner without any accidents, Klein turned back and walked toward the carriage. As though speaking casually, he asked, “You heard the conversation just now clearly, yes?”

“No, no. Just a little, a little…” Danitz laughed dryly and shook his head.

Klein nodded lightly.

“You must remember it. Otherwise, it will be very easy to tell that you are fake.”

“To tell that I am fake… Me?” Danitz lifted a hand in confusion and pointed at his nose.

Klein said without expression, “She is a member of the Sauron family. She has extraordinary anti-tracking techniques. Add to that the subtle actions and behaviors from just now, and it is enough to confirm that she is a Sequence 7 of the Hunter pathway: Pyromaniac. This matches you very well. You can play her effectively.”

“Me? I cannot! I have no way to make myself look like that! With one glance, I will be recognized!” Danitz jumped in fright.

Klein held back his laughter and said in a deep voice, “I can lend Creeping Hunger to you.”

“…No, no. I have no experience in this area. There is no way I can fool Vice Admiral Ailment’s subordinates!” Danitz rejected the idea with extreme nervousness and terror.

In his eyes, this was something outrageously dogshit and outrageously shameful. Only perverts or lunatics could complete it without the slightest psychological barrier!

Klein nodded in agreement and said without expression, “True. You are rather stupid.”

Danitz forced out a smile.

“Yes. I am very stupid.”

Klein said no more. He passed Danitz and opened the carriage door.

Danitz’s gaze subconsciously followed him. Suddenly, he discovered that Gehrman Sparrow’s sideburns had turned red.

He blinked dully. The side of the other party’s face had softened in contour; his eyes had become deep emerald green; his lips were pressed lightly together, showing a slight weakness and hesitation, carrying an androgynous beauty identical to Elaine, who had only recently left.

“…” Watching Gehrman Sparrow enter the carriage, Danitz turned back. The corners of his mouth twitched twice.

He fell silent for several seconds, then muttered soundlessly, “He really is a madman. He says he will turn into a woman, and he turns into a woman without the slightest hesitation!

“I have to admit, Elaine really does look quite good in men’s clothing.

“That Beyonder ability really is practical. If I could obtain a similar item and figure out what sort of person the captain ideally likes, I could make the corresponding changes and make her fall in love with me.

“But in that case, would the person she fell in love with still be me?”

Danitz instantly fell into a philosophical problem, until a cough sounded from the carriage behind him.

Waking up, he drove the carriage away from the harbor, preparing to circle widely before returning.

Inside the carriage, Klein was not as calm as his appearance suggested. Although Elaine was currently wearing men’s clothing, which spared him from having to consider the most shameful part for the time being, feminizing his face and squeezing out a chest still made his mood heavy, awkward, and somewhat embarrassed.

“Sigh. Changing a Faceless’s appearance is simple. It seems the difficult part lies entirely in the heart. To play a Faceless well, many psychological barriers have to be broken one by one. Otherwise, one would have to spend a huge amount of time truly acting as a person for years, be accepted by everyone connected to that identity, fully integrate into that role, and even believe oneself to be genuine… To me, that is even more of a challenge to my bottom line, more distorted and mad.

“To speed up the progress, I must overcome certain barriers.”

Klein dragged a suitcase from beneath the carriage seat, found cloth strips and clothing, and completely copied Elaine’s disguise.

He could actually have had Danitz disguise himself. All he needed to do was borrow from Justice, for a few days, the mystical item made from a Faceless Beyonder characteristic.

But that would have meant a high chance of Danitz facing Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy one-on-one. Without the Clown’s abilities, Danitz could hardly hide for long, and would be in enormous mortal danger.

Klein would not and could not let someone else bear such a large risk for his own affairs. Therefore, he could only challenge himself and personally take the stage.

Very soon, he looked exactly like Elaine from earlier. Beneath the black silk top hat was a handsome, slightly androgynous face, both soft and defined in line, with emerald-green eyes as beautiful as gemstones.

He adjusted his build, becoming several centimeters shorter than his original height. His shoulders narrowed, his frame shrank, and he looked much lighter.

Klein’s current appearance swiftly surfaced in his mind. This was the Clown’s ability.

“Not bad. It is nothing much… Perhaps because there is no women’s clothing involved, this is not much different from becoming Gehrman Sparrow, Danitz, or anyone else. Just prettier, and with a little extra burden on my chest… If I had looked like this back on Earth, I would never have needed to worry about not having a girlfriend.” He twitched the corners of his mouth, half mocking and half comforting himself.

An expression that looked perfectly normal on Gehrman Sparrow now appeared somewhat pitiful and wronged.

Fuck! Klein cursed inwardly and hurriedly adjusted his mindset, little by little immersing himself into true acting.

As time passed, he discovered that his psychological barriers really had faded significantly. What followed was a sense of relaxation, a sense of calmness, as though he had become more compatible with the potion.

And that meant digestion would accelerate.

It really works… Klein muttered soundlessly. He quietly stood, walked four steps counterclockwise, entered above the gray fog, and once again confirmed the danger level of this operation.

After returning to the real world, he used Elaine’s voice, deliberately lowering it as he said, “Go to Harbor Pier Six.”

Danitz did not feel anything was wrong. Only after changing direction did he suddenly realize it, and he could not help shivering.

“It is exactly the same… If one day he turns into the captain’s appearance and deceives me, I might not be able to tell at all…”

After a while, the carriage reentered the harbor and headed toward the passenger liner Elaine had originally reserved. Yet it did not truly approach. Instead, it circled halfway around and arrived near a warehouse.

Danitz jumped down and knocked on the warehouse door in the agreed pattern.

First, a group of dockworkers with obvious local blood came out and scattered in all directions.

After confirming that nothing else was going on, the bald rebel Kalat came out in his wheelchair.

“Where is she?” he asked, looking at Danitz.

Through Elaine’s matter, Danitz had successfully established contact with the rebels.

Danitz chuckled.

“In the carriage.

“She drank a potion that makes a person lose their strength. The effect will last another ten hours.

“Remember, I get seventy percent of the one thousand pounds bounty.”

Kalat lifted his right arm and waved once. Immediately, two thin rebels climbed into the carriage.

“Boss, it is that woman.” They soon stuck their heads out, speaking in the style of local gang members.

“Bring her down. Our mission is to protect her,” Kalat emphasized again.

The two rebels immediately supported the man-dressed Elaine from either side and brought her out of the carriage.

Relying on the Clown’s control, Klein acted as though his steps were weak and unsteady.

He was soon transferred into a house in Bayam’s civilian district. At the same time, Kalat instructed a local gang member who believed in Sea God to find Strongman Ozil and tell him that they had already found the target, telling him to bring one thousand pounds in exchange. As for Danitz, he had already returned to the inn to await news.

At noon, Ozil sent a message back, saying he did not know whether this was genuine or false, and wished to send someone over to confirm.

Kalat agreed to his request.

As dusk drew near, a figure appeared outside the house.

It was a Loenese man dressed like a local, wearing wide-legged trousers and a brown jacket. His eyebrows were short, only half the length of an ordinary person’s. His eye sockets were sunken, his eyes were brown, and his features were sharply defined.

Kalat pushed his wheelchair to the doorway, glanced at the man, and asked in a deep voice, “Misor King?”

“Should I feel honored that you actually know me?” the man replied with a laugh.

He had originally been captain of a pirate ship under Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilangos. After being subdued by the Maiden of Sickness Tracy, he became the third mate of her flagship, the Black Death. His nickname was the Silver-Tongued, and his bounty was 5,400 pounds.

Kalat gave no response. He turned the wheels and cleared the way.

Led by a gang member, Misor entered the room inside and saw Elaine, dressed as a gentleman, sitting at the edge of the bed. Her eyes alternated between dodging and glaring back. Her teeth lightly bit her lip. She was furious and terrified, desperate and stubborn.

“It is her, but I cannot be certain. She is wearing very heavy makeup, and once a woman puts on heavy makeup, it is difficult to tell what she truly looks like. Wipe her face clean so I can identify her again. Huh? Why did you not put handcuffs on her? Do you know how dangerous she is?” Misor carefully examined her, then warily retreated two steps.

“She was given a potion and has no strength. She is not resisting right now either. Since you ask…” Kalat lifted his chin toward one rebel.

The rebel found a pair of handcuffs, walked over, twisted Klein’s hands behind his back, and cuffed them.

Just as when he had displayed those complicated emotions earlier, Klein put all his effort into acting: struggling constantly, yet completely powerless.

Then another gang member brought over clean water and began wiping his face with a rough towel.

Thank goodness the cosmetics of this era are not very waterproof… Using the towel as cover, Klein began adjusting the lines and contours of his face.

It did not take long before Misor saw Elaine with a damp face. In this state, he felt she possessed an extraordinary weakness and beauty beyond the usual, while thick hatred and lingering confusion burst from her emerald-green eyes.

A pity she belongs to the captain… Misor’s throat moved slightly.

As a man and a pirate, he often fantasized about Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy and red-haired Elaine throwing themselves into his embrace at the same time, but he could only imagine it.

What a disgusting gaze… Klein nearly felt nauseated.

Although he knew that gaze was directed at red-haired Elaine and had nothing to do with himself, he still could not help getting goosebumps.

At that moment, his understanding of his true self deepened further. He understood that certain things were definitely unacceptable to him.

“It is indeed her.” Misor turned back to Kalat and said, “Here is your bounty.”

He tossed over the small leather bag he had been carrying.

Kalat briefly checked it, then threw it to one of his subordinates. After considering for a second, he said, “We still need your assistance.”

“No problem. When the time comes, find Ozil directly.” Misor pointed toward red-haired Elaine inside the room. “Can I take her away?”

“You can.” Kalat once again cleared the path.

Klein did not want Misor to support him. Pretending to have recovered a little ability to move, he stumbled outward.

Misor feared Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy, so he could only hold her by the shoulder and lead her onto the carriage waiting outside.

The carriage traveled out of the city and arrived at a private harbor. Misor took Klein, who was disguised as red-haired Elaine, aboard a fishing boat prepared in advance and left Bayam under the cover of night.

After nearly an hour of sailing, they saw a ship moored beneath the shadow of a certain island’s cliff. A huge flag bearing a white bone pattern flew above it.

The Black Death!