Chapter 168: “Self-Recommendation”

Chapter 168: “Self-Recommendation”

The abnormality in the spirit world corresponding to the Berserk Sea was caused by Death’s fall… Legends say this deity’s remains and items are hidden somewhere in these waters, waiting for someone holding a specific key to open them… This copper whistle comes from Mr. Azik, and Mr. Azik is confirmed to be a direct descendant of Death, and of the first one or two generations… Therefore, did the copper whistle sense something just now, or was it influenced by something?

One message after another flashed quickly through Klein’s mind. He combined them and formed an initial guess.

He planned to find a hotel in Bodo Harbor soon, open a room, go above the gray fog, and use dream divination to see if he could obtain any revelation. Only then would he consider the time and method of returning to Eskelson Harbor, to avoid accidents that could have been avoided.

Before that, he had to find food for Creeping Hunger.

Descending from the seaside cliff, Klein entered Bodo Harbor.

The buildings here seemed to have been constructed wherever their builders had thought of placing them, with almost no planning at all. Some roads were extremely spacious, some narrow enough for only pedestrians, and in some places, when one lifted one’s head, one could not see the sky at all—only large patches of clothing waiting to dry.

With a new face, Klein strolled through this environment, through passersby dressed like pirates, instinctively thinking of searching for prey in taverns and similar places.

At that moment, he saw quite a few people gathered around a noticeboard in a small square ahead.

What is this?

Klein drew closer with slight curiosity. Relying on the balance and agility of a Clown, he slipped through the gaps between people and barely squeezed into a position where he could see the noticeboard.

On that noticeboard, one sheet of paper was extremely tyrannical. It covered all the others beneath it, allowing people to see it at a glance.

Its heading read:

“The Black Emperor Recruiting Crew.”

The Black Emperor? Isn’t that the ship of Nast, King of the Five Seas—the ship that can travel through the spirit world? This pirate king, in a certain sense, is openly recruiting sailors?

Klein was rather astonished and deliberately muttered, “How is that possible?”

“Why would it be impossible?” Beside him, a burly man with rolled-up sleeves and bare arms immediately laughed loudly. “It wasn’t possible before, but now it is!”

“Why?” Klein had been waiting for someone to engage him and immediately turned his head to ask.

The burly man had dark-blue tattoos on his arms, forearms, and cheeks, making him look quite vicious. Hearing the question, he pointed in the direction of the main route and said, “A week ago, the Black Emperor ran into the Pritz—that steam ironclad ship Loen has been loudly advertising—and a naval battle broke out. Quite a few people died aboard the Black Emperor. They badly need replacement crew!”

Ah?

Klein’s first reaction was that this did not make sense from a mysticism perspective.

According to newspaper reports and the various rumors he had heard at sea, the Pritz was a giant ship with massive cannons in the ordinary sense. It did not contain Beyonder factors. Perhaps in terms of physical destructive power, it would be stronger than the Black Emperor, but the latter could use the spirit world to “jump,” like an oversized Traveler. It was simply not something conventional firearms could harm.

Moreover, King of the Five Seas Nast should be a Sequence 3 demigod of the Black Emperor pathway, the most famous powerhouse at sea. He could directly distort the trajectory of cannon shells. When encountering fleets on a non-mysticism level, he was practically invincible.

In Klein’s view, the two were not opponents on the same plane, yet the final outcome had not been as he imagined.

He did not conceal his astonishment and blurted, “What about the Pritz?”

The rather fierce-looking burly man shook his head and answered, “Not too sure, but I heard it wasn’t damaged much. Only two escort ships sank.”

This…

Klein was first stunned, then more or less understood what had happened.

He recalled the situation when stealing Tutanthis II’s mummy. A military demigod had used the decree “Mystery weakens; reality strengthens.” Once that took effect, the Black Emperor would merely be a slightly unusual and slightly rule-defying sailing battleship. Against an ironclad, it could not damage it, could not endure its attacks, and could not outrun it.

From another perspective, this also meant that a military demigod had been aboard the Pritz. Otherwise, such a decree could not possibly have taken effect.

To be able to make the Black Emperor escape in such a situation means Nast, King of the Five Seas, truly is immensely powerful. Beneath the angels, he can absolutely rank near the very front… It seems precisely because of the Arbiter pathway’s existence that the development of this world’s militaries has remained close to Earth’s. They are not helpless against higher-level mysticism…

Klein nodded in realization and did not ask anything further.

As for Beyonders below Sequence 4, during large-scale modern warfare, except for a small number of professions that could serve as powerful output or effective defense, the rest had to avoid the frontal battlefield. They would function more like “decapitation squads,” or simply provide support. It was just like Marionettists. If fully equipped with marionettes, among mid-Sequence Beyonders in one-on-one combat, there were few they needed to fear. But once they stepped onto a battlefield and were covered by artillery shells and swept by machine guns, their fragile main body would be exposed. Even with Paper Figurine Substitutes, many times they would not be able to jump out of the firepower zone and would have to endure secondary damage. Under those circumstances, perhaps there would not even be time to use another paper figurine.

In that kind of hot war, the most useful mid-Sequence should be Wraiths. They are basically unafraid of artillery or bullets, difficult for enemies to discover, and can use Shriek to directly affect large numbers of targets…

While Klein’s thoughts scattered somewhat, the burly man who had spoken earlier proactively asked, “You want to join the Black Emperor too?”

“…I am still hesitating,” Klein casually answered.

The burly man, whose arms and forearms were covered in dark-blue tattoos, said with great enthusiasm, “I’m going to try, anyway.

“There can’t be more than ten people here who can fight better than me. And I have plenty of pirate experience. They’ll definitely take a fancy to me!

“But I won’t stay aboard the Black Emperor for too long. They have too many boring rules there. Things like only robbing people, not killing those who don’t resist; or unless the other party agrees to a transaction, you can’t drag a woman you like off to the side. Listen to that. Listen! Does that still sound like pirates? Although the King of the Five Seas is one of the Four Kings and a publicly acknowledged pirate king, the rules he made are simply—simply dog shit!

“I’m used to the life of a real pirate, and I like it. I won’t change again. I only want to join them because I heard crew members aboard the Black Emperor might obtain extraordinary powers. Once the time is right, I’ll leave and form my own pirate crew…”

The vicious fellow was speaking with spittle flying when he suddenly discovered that the stranger opposite him had gained a rather strange expression.

He hesitated, then asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

…

The straight sword flashing with silver-gray oil-light fiercely fell, nailing a numb-looking figure to the ground.

The figure twisted and squirmed. Amid the flowing silver light, it gradually collapsed into illusory specks of light.

Colin Iliad drew back his sword, straightened his body, and looked around. He saw that the two elders, Waite and Lovia, had each dealt with their corresponding targets as well, clearing out a clean area by the river.

At that moment, upon the illusory, dark river, a gloomy little boat sailed over from the opposite shore and silently docked at the bank.

Seeing this, Colin slowly breathed out and muttered in a low voice, “Ferryman…”

He and the former Chief inside this mausoleum had worked together for a very long time and were rather familiar with each other. He knew that the other party had always been troubled by the fact that the City of Silver lacked the potion formula for Sequence 3 Silver Knight of the Giant pathway; after becoming a demigod, no one could advance any further. That former Chief had planned to switch to a neighboring Sequence. And during one exploration, that plan had seen a ray of hope, because they had found the potion formula for Sequence 3 of the Phoenix pathway:

Ferryman!

From then on, the former Chief had begun constructing this mausoleum. In the end, he had moved in and sealed the entrance.

After quietly observing for a while, with dark-green symbols showing in his eyes, Colin Iliad spoke in a slow, heavy voice.

“We cross by boat.”

Waite and Lovia expressed no objections. They fully trusted the Chief’s judgment. Following closely behind him, they boarded that gloomy and strange boat.

During this process, the three showed no hesitation, neither looking left and right nor pausing. It was as though they were not exploring, but visiting a destination whose location was already determined.

The boat slowly began moving. It crossed the illusory black water, dragging out a long trail behind it.

The bloody arms and slippery tentacles reached upward frantically, slapping against the hull, yet they could not leave behind any trace or cause the slightest effect.

In barely over ten seconds, the three elders of the six-member council arrived on the other side of the illusory river.

Here stood an altar. Upon it rested a heavy iron-black coffin.

Colin Iliad immediately jumped off the boat and drew his other straight sword with his other hand. Compared with before, only now could he be described as cautious and serious.

Immediately afterward, Waite carried the iron-gray long hammer and landed heavily on the shore, causing the nearby ground to tremble visibly.

He looked toward the enormous coffin surrounded by monster skulls, took two steps forward, planted the long hammer in front of him, and took down the Dragon-Hunting Bow from his back.

Just then, Waite suddenly felt an itch on the back of his hand. He subconsciously lowered his head and saw that from the pores of his skin, fine white hairs stained with yellow grease were growing out vigorously, becoming longer and longer.

…

Bodo Harbor. Klein fed Creeping Hunger, then found a messy hotel and opened a room that could barely be considered clean.

Afterward, he took four steps counterclockwise and arrived above the gray fog.

Sitting in the Fool’s position, Klein first took out a projection of Azik’s copper whistle. Then he materialized pen and paper and wrote the corresponding divination statement:

“The reason for this copper whistle’s abnormality today.”