Chapter 191: Aftereffects

Chapter 191: Aftereffects

Scharf failed to notice the change in Alger’s gaze. He pointed toward one of the believers of the Primordial Moon currently being “cremated” and said,

“That cane of his was also taken from me. It’s called Sea’s Word. It can release lightning at a targeted enemy, and when swung as a weapon, it adds wind blades to the strike. Besides that, it can create large balls of water and corrosive rain. It allows its holder to no longer fear the pressure of the deep sea and to freely draw oxygen from water. At the same time, it can also serve as a magic wand and carry someone into flight.

“There are three negative effects. First, it likes to sing. Every six hours, it will inevitably burst into song, and the effects do not distinguish between friend and foe. Depending on the style of song it chooses, it may leave people entranced and absentminded, shake their spirits, or trigger irritability and lower their reason. Of course, even if six hours haven’t passed, as long as you wish it, it will be very happy to sing.

“Second, from what I just said, you can tell that it possesses a certain degree of living traits—and it belongs to the sort with a rather unpleasant personality. It likes to trip its holder when they aren’t paying attention, whip them, or drag them rolling down the stairs.

“Third, it makes its holder more likely to be struck by lightning. So, during thunderstorms, either don’t go out, or don’t take it with you.”

That’s the Sealed Artifact made from Gehrman Sparrow’s Ocean Songster Beyonder characteristic. If he knew that you finished it long ago but let believers of the Primordial Moon take it away, you would definitely be sold to someone in need—in the form of a Beyonder characteristic… Alger looked toward the area near the dining table and saw a deep black cane inlaid with silvery-white metal.

In his understanding, no matter whether the other negative effects were severe or not, any mystical item possessing living traits counted as a Sealed Artifact, because that alone implied unpredictable danger.

Seeing that Star Admiral Cattleya and her companion gave no sign that he could stop, Scharf could only pull out more mystical items with a bitter expression.

“This dagger is called Venomous Blade. From the name, you already know its effect. I don’t need to describe it further, do I?

“Ah, it can attach a random poison to every wound it inflicts. As for what poison it is, that depends entirely on luck.

“Its negative effect isn’t too serious. It only causes medical treatment to fail and gradually accumulates the feeling of drunkenness.”

Scharf went on to introduce several more mystical items in succession before he finally heard Star Admiral Cattleya speak.

“Good. You may keep the rest.”

Whew… Not bad at all. She left me three items… Not only did Scharf feel no resentment, he sincerely felt that Star Admiral was truly a good person, as though he had developed some sort of psychological illness.

Cattleya immediately turned her head and looked at The Hanged Man.

“You choose first.”

She knew that The World, Gehrman Sparrow, had a mystical item being made by this Craftsman, so she allowed The Hanged Man to pick out the mad adventurer’s item first.

Alger nodded. He took the Sea’s Word cane and the Gargoyle Glasses, then indicated that the rest counted as spoils.

After some thought, Cattleya said, “Choose one more. The rest are mine.”

She was not particularly interested in the remaining mystical items, because she herself already possessed two sufficiently powerful items worthy of her status. Later, she had also obtained the Judge Button and the Lucky Scale, eliminating her weaknesses in every area. Under such circumstances, considering the stacking of negative effects, she would not look twice at or replace anything unless it was extremely useful or extremely special.

Of course, as a pirate admiral, no matter what, she would never complain about having too many mystical items. After all, some had to be handed over to the Moses Ascetic Order, while others could be awarded to the crew under her command.

Alger remained silent for a moment. Starting from the items he already owned and his own Beyonder abilities, he selected the Venomous Blade.

Star Admiral Cattleya then instructed Bloodless Heath Doyle to move out all the mystical items that Craftsman Scharf had placed on the floor, as well as the remains of the believers of the Primordial Moon.

After that, she once again looked toward the Craftsman. In her eyes, tinged with faint deep purple, his figure was reflected.

“Why did the believers of the Primordial Moon control you?”

Scharf’s eyes flickered.

“Isn’t that very simple and obvious? They wanted me to make mystical items for them…”

Before he could finish, his heart abruptly skipped under the indifferent gaze of those purple eyes, and he hurriedly added,

“They seem to have some other plan that requires the assistance of a Craftsman. As for the specifics, since it hasn’t begun yet, I’m not clear.”

Cattleya withdrew her gaze as though thinking. She exchanged a glance with The Hanged Man and nodded slightly.

They decided not to take the Craftsman away today. They would leave him here and see what would happen next.

In other words, they wished to monitor the Craftsman in order to figure out what, exactly, the believers of the Primordial Moon were planning.

In truth, neither The Hermit nor The Hanged Man cared deeply about what scheme the believers of the Primordial Moon were carrying out. For one of them, it was a way to communicate with the Mystery Queen and provide her with a reference for certain decisions in the supernatural world. For the other, it was something that could be exchanged for contribution with the Church. That was why they reached agreement in an instant and prepared to investigate further.

Of course, The Hanged Man Alger had always believed in one principle:

The more intelligence one possessed, the more benefits one could obtain from all sorts of incidents.

After a brief silence, Cattleya said to Craftsman Scharf in a tone that had not changed much,

“Since you are already a believer of the Primordial Moon, taking you away brings me no benefit.”

Scharf nodded repeatedly, expressing that she was absolutely right.

Cattleya paused briefly, then changed the subject.

“However, I hope to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with you. Therefore, I need a few drops of your blood. That will help me find you at any time.”

Scharf’s face immediately filled with bitterness. His mouth opened and closed several times, but he could not form any words of refusal.

Huff… He exhaled sharply.

“Very well.”

With that, he picked up the paper knife beside him and cut a wound into his forearm. Several drops of blood welled out at once.

Cattleya raised her right arm and lightly lifted her palm, causing those drops of blood to float up and fly toward her of their own accord.

After examining the blood in her palm, the pirate admiral suddenly spoke again.

“What is your surname?”

“Juen,” Scharf answered reflexively.

Cattleya said nothing more. She turned and walked out the door, with The Hanged Man Alger following close behind.

The house soon became quiet. Craftsman Scharf found a sofa and sat down. For a long time, he made no movement, as if still trapped in the encounter that had just taken place.

Nearly ten minutes passed before he abruptly sat upright and took a small humanoid statue from an inner pocket of his clothes.

The statue was bronze-colored overall. Its face was completely blank, and blood slowly seeped from within, lingering on the outside.

Scharf hurriedly wiped the statue’s face clean with a handkerchief. Only then did he let out a long sigh and curl up the corners of his mouth, silently muttering to himself,

“Good thing I have this Fate Doll…

“Hmph. I’d like to see how you’ll find me through those few drops of blood now. Don’t even think of cursing me!”

…

Bayam’s slums, on a street without gas lamps.

The hooded and masked Alger glanced at The Hermit beside him and said in a low, hoarse voice,

“After Scharf escaped the Church of Steam, he managed to live steadily until now. That means he isn’t a fool. For him to so easily and simply give you his blood without making any resistance, he should have a corresponding method to avoid being tracked.

“Moreover, he never mentioned how he was found by the believers of the Primordial Moon.”

Normally speaking, those believers would certainly trace the source of the Werewolf Beyonder characteristic in reverse, but Craftsman Scharf had not warned Alger about this the last time.

Cattleya took out the heavy pair of glasses and placed them on the bridge of her nose, saying in an unchanged tone,

“It wasn’t for tracking.”

Alger nodded thoughtfully, then took his leave and turned into another secluded, dark alley.

He circled around several times, found an opportunity to remove his disguise, then left Bayam for the Resistance’s private harbor and boarded the Blue Avenger.

His sailors had already spent the energy and money they had accumulated over many days. At the moment, they were all obediently staying on the ship, waiting to set sail.

Seeing him return, one of the sailors quickly stood up and asked with a smile,

“Captain, have you had dinner?”

“Not yet. Prepare something simple for me.” Alger had not had time to fill his stomach because of the operation.

The sailor who also served as cook immediately replied,

“All right. We got some fresh mushrooms from the jungle today. How about I pan-fry them in butter for you?”

…

The skin of Alger’s face twitched slightly. His expression otherwise normal, he shook his head.

“A steak will do. Medium. Mm… medium-well.”

…

East Balam, edge of the jungle.

Klein, who had brought two marionettes with him, was in no hurry to leave the jungle and enter the city. He planned to first obtain some dye and disguise Hell Admiral Ludwell’s mask.

Before that, however, he had something else to do.

That was to seek helpers for exploring the outskirts of Calderón!

Klein had never been a lone-wolf type, especially not when facing danger. Therefore, unless there was no other way, he would absolutely invite powerful helpers by sharing coordinates, paying a price, or using similar methods, rather than recklessly entering alone.

For him, obtaining the materials he needed while still alive was the most important thing.

If only it were possible, I’d really like to wait another week or two and head to Calderón while holding a baby—or pushing a baby carriage… Klein sighed inwardly, took out his adventurer’s harmonica, and blew it.

Silently, Miss Messenger, Reinette Tinekerr, walked out of the void carrying four heads.

Klein carefully chose his words and said,

“I recently wish to explore the city of Calderón. Mm, I’ve already obtained its spirit world coordinates. May I hire you to help? What would the price be?”

The four blond, red-eyed heads carried by Reinette Tinekerr opened their mouths one after another.

“No…” “I…” “Cannot…” “Enter.”