Chapter 99: Both Immersed and Detached

Chapter 99: Both Immersed and Detached

Only one Black Death… Did the other ships stop outside the Rorsted Archipelago’s waters because they feared being discovered and would not have time to escape? That is good news… Klein withdrew his gaze and deliberately bit his lip lightly, showing the unrest in “Elaine’s” heart.

Glancing at Elaine’s side profile, Misor lit a torch and swung it repeatedly, signaling the flagship.

It did not take long before a small boat came over, picked up him and Klein, who was disguised as the red-haired Elaine, and returned with them to the Black Death.

As the small boat was hoisted up, Klein boarded the flagship of yet another pirate admiral. Led by Misor, he entered the cabins.

A blond maid was waiting ahead. She swept Elaine with a cold gaze and pointed toward a side room.

“Go in.”

That attitude is exactly what it feels like when romantic rivals meet… Vice Admiral Ailment really is charming to both men and women… Klein’s vigilance rose at once. Wearing handcuffs, he kept his face dark and followed the blond maid into the room.

He had originally believed he would immediately see Tracy, obtain a one-on-one opportunity, and was already prepared to strike at any moment. But the carpeted room was small, containing nothing but a wardrobe, a sofa, and a full-length mirror.

Is Tracy deliberately giving her the cold shoulder to express anger? Klein recalled the romance novels and melodramatic television shows he had seen and began guessing the “Maiden of Sickness’s” intention.

The blond maid glanced at Elaine, who wore men’s clothing but, lacking makeup, did not quite possess an androgynous beauty. Then she quickly walked a few steps forward, opened the wardrobe, pointed at the many dresses within, and said, “The captain does not like the way you look now. Change into another set.”

Fuck… Klein cursed inwardly.

He had thought that, by relying on Elaine’s men’s-clothing appearance, he could directly meet Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy and was privately grateful that he could achieve his aim without too much shame. In the end, he had still failed to escape the part he least wanted to face.

Seeing Elaine standing there in a daze, the blond maid glared at her.

“You have two choices. Change by yourself, or I help you change!”

Klein imitated red-haired Elaine’s habitual movements, inhaling softly through a small opening of his mouth.

“Unlock my handcuffs.”

He half turned, pointing toward the door with his chin.

“Then get out.”

“Pretentious bitch…” the blond maid cursed under her breath, then used the key Misor had given her to unlock Elaine’s handcuffs.

After she left the room and closed the door, Klein walked to the wardrobe and stood there blankly for nearly twenty seconds.

Suddenly, he closed his eyes and extended his right hand.

After an unknown length of time, he arrived before the full-length mirror and saw Elaine inside. Her red hair hung loose, her emerald eyes flickered, and she wore a long golden-red dress. The ribbon at her waist had been tied into flowers, cinched very tightly, emphasizing her slenderness.

Elaine’s soft, beautiful face carried a faint flush. Her lips were pressed tight, and her expression was grave, very similar to the feeling in the photograph from before.

Seeing himself changed into this image, Klein first felt a degree of shame. But during the process of changing just now, he had already adapted somewhat and survived the initial stage. Moreover, no one else was present here. Second, he gradually found a different sensation.

This was not to say he had slowly come to enjoy such things. Rather, in the process of disguising himself and overcoming a psychological barrier, his self-awareness had undergone a certain degree of detachment. It was as though his soul had floated out of his body and was looking down calmly at “Elaine” changing into women’s clothes, adjusting herself in the mirror. He considered it merely a necessary method for completing a mission. He considered that there was nothing particularly shameful or strange about it.

For some reason, Klein felt this sensation was familiar. He tried hard to recall, to compare, attempting to fix it in place and understand it clearly.

Very soon, he found the source. It was similar to playing a role-playing game, choosing a female character, carefully shaping her face, selecting clothes, and letting beauty please one’s eyes.

There was nothing vulgar or shameful there. On one side was the godlike perspective beyond a screen, detached and aloof. On the other was serious roleplay, progressing through the story. The two fused perfectly, inseparable from each other. Playing a game would not produce a psychological barrier or cognitive disorder.

This… Klein’s half-closed eyes suddenly opened. He felt that this was precisely the Faceless state he wanted!

He could impersonate anyone, but he could only be himself.

On one side, he would immerse himself in the role and act with all his strength. On the other, he would detach his emotions and calmly examine everything, recognizing himself through countless little comparisons and finding the truest self!

“Both immersed and detached… This is the practical application of the Faceless’s most important principle.” Klein suddenly became calm, the lingering shame and the altered mindset coexisting.

With that detached attitude, and with the mindset of playing a role-playing game, he examined himself in the full-length mirror and seriously searched for imperfections.

“Good thing I had Danitz get two sets of women’s clothing in advance so I could study their components. Otherwise, there is no way I could have dressed so quickly and normally the first time. It would have been easy to reveal flaws. Heh, this is called professionalism. Women’s clothes really are complicated…

“From a Faceless’s perspective, Elaine’s features and facial lines still have quite a few imperfections. She is pretty, yes, but to me, she definitely does not count as stunning… Mm. In this mental state, I can clearly sense the potion digesting…”

Klein looked at himself in the mirror as though he were observing a character named Elaine.

Knock, knock, knock!

The door was knocked on, and the blond maid asked impatiently, “Are you done?”

Klein’s face immediately darkened, as if the other party owed him ten thousand gold pounds and had yet to repay it.

Maintaining that state, he walked to the door and pulled it open.

The blond maid glanced at him and raised the handcuffs.

“Put your hands behind your back.

“You are a prisoner right now!”

Because red-haired Elaine was already aboard the Black Death, she was not worried at all that the other party would suddenly attack. She was purely trying to humiliate her.

Klein snorted, half turned, and put his hands behind his back. He relaxed because the other party had not paid much attention to his disguise.

After being handcuffed, he was led by the blond maid to the captain’s cabin.

The door there was half closed. A warm fragrance drifted out, not strong, but lasting enough to linger in one’s memory. It naturally made people imagine pleasure between the sheets.

The blond maid raised her hand and knocked on the door, just about to speak, when a woman’s voice came from inside. It was slightly low yet sufficiently soft and beautiful.

“Let her come in alone.”

The blond maid’s expression immediately turned gloomy. She pushed open the door and signaled Klein to enter with her eyes.

The most crucial “exam” is here… Klein inhaled and walked into the room.

Behind him, the door shut with a bang, separating inside from outside.

Klein stepped across the thick carpet. By the candlelight on the golden lamp brackets, he saw a rather beautiful lady leaning behind the desk, her legs in beige trousers stretching diagonally outward and crossed over each other.

Her brows were long and straight, while her blue eyes were sharp and bright. Her upper body wore only a white linen shirt. The scenery beneath it was faintly visible, with her hanging black curls covering the key areas, making Klein suddenly feel a little uncomfortable.

Seeing red-haired Elaine enter, Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy lifted her left hand and asked with a smile that seemed not quite a smile, “Tell me, how should I punish you?”

In her hand, she held a black leather whip.

…Madam, can we talk this out properly… Klein used inward roasting to fight his discomfort.

His eyes first tilted slightly upward, then calmly leveled at the other party. Without the slightest emotion, he said, “Coming back here is already the greatest punishment. Everything else is merely additional.”

“Still just as stubborn, and always wavering…” Tracy stood up, her figure tall and slender, graceful and alluring. Beneath the candlelight, the shadows over her body rose and fell, exceptionally seductive.

With a trace of a smile, leather whip in her left hand, she walked step by step toward red-haired Elaine without the slightest suspicion.

During that process, Klein noticed a diamond-studded bracelet on her right wrist.

The mystical item Elaine described? The one that can negate the vast majority of damage? Klein, who had planned to strike the moment the distance closed, forcefully restrained his impulse.

“Oh? They handcuffed you. That is rather nice. We have never played this kind of game before,” Tracy said with a smile. Yet her blue eyes resembled an ocean accumulating a storm.

Madam, your lines are a bit awful… Klein pressed his lips tightly together and said nothing.

Tracy walked up before him, lifted her right hand, and touched his cheek, sliding her palm downward.

“Coming back is the greatest punishment?”

As she spoke, her eyes became misty and mesmerizing.

“I do not think you usually feel that way. Although you always resist at first, later on you are often even more passionate than I am…”

Before she finished speaking, Klein’s left palm strangely slipped free from the handcuff. Fast as lightning, it grabbed the bracelet on her wrist and yanked it downward!

At the same time, that hand became covered in a layer of gold, while two bolts of lightning abruptly lit up within Klein’s current deep-green eyes.

This was Creeping Hunger. This was Mental Pierce!

And the ability that had just freed him from the handcuff belonged to the Magician. It was Bone Softening, an ability Klein rarely used!

He had long since planned and prepared what he should do after infiltrating. He had to seek an opportunity to face Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy one-on-one and kill her, sparing nothing.

Only in this way would he have hope of defeating a pirate admiral. Only in this way could he heavily injure and capture her.

And if that failed, killing her was also fine. Channeling her spirit above the gray fog was something Klein was already very practiced in. He did not fear being unable to obtain the information. A human trafficker was not worth pity or mercy.

In addition, in order to avoid revealing flaws, he had brought only Creeping Hunger—the mystical item least likely to be detected and best suited to disguising itself. All other mystical items had been returned above the gray fog. Since he was now aboard the Black Death, surrounded by many hostile Beyonders, he had to end the battle quickly!

This was also to avoid Tracy’s disease ability.

When fighting her, the longer time dragged on, the heavier the illness became, and the more terrifying its type!

In that instant, the diamond-studded bracelet slipped free from Tracy’s wrist. Lightning blazed in Klein’s emerald eyes, while the beautiful, alluring Vice Admiral Ailment still appeared somewhat dazed, only instinctively dodging backward.

She could not believe Elaine would attack her. She could not believe the other party possessed such reaction speed and abilities.