Chapter 50: Saturday Night

Chapter 50: Saturday Night

Early Saturday morning, Klein, dressed in his pajamas, rubbed his head and turned over to get out of bed.

He had not slept well at all last night, because whenever he dreamed, different female figures inevitably appeared in a chaotic mess. Then he would be frightened awake and have to spend several minutes calming his emotions before falling asleep again.

Fortunately, the weakness only lasts six hours. And in the middle of the night, I don’t need to go out or face the maids…

Klein sighed as he pulled the cord beside the bed. Richardson, waiting outside, immediately entered with the clothes his employer needed to wear that day.

I wonder what Arrodes said. Richardson has become more and more evasive when facing me… Did it hit the mark about the type of woman he likes, and that type conflicts somewhat with social customs?

When Klein had returned in time, he had only heard the Magic Mirror’s words that seemed to describe himself but were in fact accurately stabbing into Butler Walter’s heart. He knew nothing about what had come before.

Afterward, he had not used dream divination to obtain the corresponding information, because he felt there was no need. With Richardson’s personality, no matter whom he liked, he would not have the courage to act, and no additional effects would arise.

After changing clothes, Klein went down to the second floor and walked toward the dining room. Walter, as always, wore white gloves and stood at the door waiting.

Seeing Dawn Dantes approach, he stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

“Good morning, sir. Today, you have two tutoring lessons, and tonight you are to attend a dinner at Mr. Portland Moment’s home.”

Portland Moment lived at 100 Böklund Street. He was a full professor in the Engineering Department of Backlund University and a fellow of the Loen Kingdom’s Royal Academy. Because he had discovered several alloy materials, he had received the Light of Machinery award, placing him among the scientific community’s second tier, below only figures such as Turani von Helmosuin.

Moreover, those alloy materials had been widely used in shipbuilding and steam engine development. Patent income alone had made him a wealthy man worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Hearing Walter’s words, Klein casually glanced at him and discovered that the butler’s eye circles were rather dark and his lower eyelids somewhat swollen. He was entirely different from usual, as if he had not slept well all night.

If not for the Faceless ability, Dawn Dantes would probably look the same…

Klein withdrew his gaze sympathetically and said nothing more. He gave a light nod in response to Butler Walter’s greeting, then entered the dining room.

To be honest, he truly admired the man. Facing a Witch so often, Walter had only been unable to stop himself from having fantasies, and from dreaming certain heated dreams involving the target in the silent depths of night. He had not lost control, nor had he been unable to stop himself from drawing closer and seeking pleasure.

One had to know that the allure a Witch—especially one currently experiencing or who had already experienced the Pleasure stage—held over male creatures far surpassed simple Beyonder effects. Every charm in her movements would cause nearby men to slowly sink and become infatuated beyond their control. It was the equivalent of developing from cannabis to a more advanced stage, until they could no longer break away from the pleasure the Witch gave. Perhaps only men naturally attracted to the same sex could effectively resist.

Of course, Klein suspected that even men attracted to the same sex could not be completely immune, because both spirit and hormones would be affected, producing changes that would not have existed originally. Furthermore, a large portion of Witches had originally been men, which could lower psychological resistance.

Precisely because of this, even though he was already a Sequence 5 Beyonder, when facing Witches such as Trissy and Tracy, Klein still had to remain highly tense at all times, afraid that a moment of carelessness might lead to being charmed.

If even he was like that, then it was all the more so for Butler Walter, who was an ordinary person. This was not a problem that could simply be overcome by willpower.

Although Trissy, because of Prince Edessak’s death or her own advancement, had clearly restrained her charm, Walter was only an ordinary person. Mm, even if he were not ordinary, he would at most be Sequence 9 or Sequence 8… For him to remain in this state under such circumstances is enough to show that he possesses very strong self-control, is very loyal to Prince Edessak, and dearly loves his wife and daughter…

As Klein sighed inwardly, he sat down. Today’s breakfast was Desi pie, which he liked. Its glossy, seeping oiliness made saliva rapidly gather in his mouth.

…

Nighttime at sea was deep blue, almost black, tinged with faint crimson. Compared with the day, it carried a greater sense of ease and quiet.

The Blue Avenger rose and fell gently with the waves like a ghostly shadow, sailing toward the direction of the red moon.

Alger Wilson stood at the bow, gazing at the distant waves. Outwardly, he was as calm and steady as ever, but inwardly, an uncontrollable excitement surged within him.

The waters ahead were the Abyss Whirlpool directly north of Sonia Island!

It was named for the dangerous whirlpools that frequently appeared without warning and was a perilous region that every ship sought to avoid.

After completing his debriefing and leaving Pasu Island, Alger had commanded the Blue Avenger northward the entire way, circling around Sonia Island and heading straight here.

Along the way, they had only entered port once for supplies and had not wasted any time.

As for whether coming north would arouse suspicion, Alger was not concerned. The Church of Storms was glad to see its “captains” head north of the Sonia Sea and into the Fog Sea, for that allowed them to acquire intelligence on the Feysac Empire, the Intis Kingdom, the Eternal Blazing Sun Church, and the Church of the God of Combat.

Glancing back toward the cabins, Alger walked to the edge of the deck, took out a charm made of white tin, held it in his palm, and murmured the incantation:

“Storm!”

Cyan-blue flames surged up at once, swallowing the charm. Alger abruptly felt a mysterious connection form between himself and the fish in the sea below.

At that moment, the two parties could actually communicate at the level of mind!

That white tin charm was one of the supplies Alger had obtained on Pasu Island. For a certain period of time, it could make undersea creatures friendly toward him and allow him to engage in shallow mental communication with them.

As thoughts crossed, Alger failed to obtain the intelligence he wanted. He could only wait until the Blue Avenger drew closer to the Abyss Whirlpool before making a second attempt.

Time passed second by second. After nearly a hundred failures, Alger finally learned from a spindle-shaped fish where the Obninsk sea monsters most often appeared.

“If I had not known in advance that the target was near the Abyss Whirlpool, I would definitely have given up long ago. It is very difficult to obtain this sort of information through broad investigation…” Alger summarized softly, then touched his clothing pocket.

He had already used up nearly all the charms for gaining the favor of marine creatures, leaving only five.

I’ll have to replenish a batch on the way back and avoid being discovered… I hear the Resistance in the Rorsted Archipelago has quite a few. Heh…

Thinking this, Alger had the Blue Avenger change course and head for the location he had just learned about.

More than an hour later, the Blue Avenger stopped, and Alger took out a sealed metal can.

This was the Sanguine anesthetic gas he had once again spent 130 pounds purchasing from the Moon. He had no doubts about its effectiveness, because he had already used one can before.

Moreover, because the Blue Avenger was a ghost ship, not many people needed to keep watch at night. Each night, only one person was responsible for watching over the ship and preventing it from deliberately causing trouble or sailing into dangerous waters.

As the captain, Alger could arrange for himself to keep watch tonight without leaving the slightest trace.

Once prepared, he brought the materials with him, changed into underwater clothing made from sharkskin, and leaped down from the ship’s starboard side without stirring much spray.

In the dim, murky underwater world, Alger’s eyes gradually turned deep blue, allowing him to see his surroundings with perfect clarity.

He breathed the water comfortably, descending steadily until he reached a pitch-black deep sea.

Then he once again used a charm to gain the favor of undersea creatures and communicate with the strange fish around him.

Relying on the guidance of kind-hearted fish, Alger identified the direction. Swimming while asking questions along the way, he finally arrived at a place that resembled an undersea volcano.

Those fish actually did not know that an Obninsk sea monster lived here. They only knew that many of their own kind and some top-level deep-sea predators had disappeared nearby.

Using his own Beyonder abilities, Alger gazed from a distance and saw that the undersea volcano contained an enormous black cavern. From within it, tentacles thicker than pythons in the primitive forests of the Southern Continent drifted outward, swaying gently.

The huge suckers, the patterned skin, and the cavern several times larger than the Blue Avenger all made Alger feel an inexplicable dread. He did not dare approach.

An Obninsk sea monster should at least be equivalent to a powerful Sequence 5, right… And it has an extremely terrifying body… Mm. I can confirm it is the target…

Alger carefully swam over, stopping outside the dangerous range. After identifying it closely, he once again used a charm to make marine creatures friendly.

Then he extended his spirituality through the seawater and into the cavern, trying to communicate with that restrained and curled-up powerful mind.

The giant mass of thought slowly unfolded, and countless chaotic ideas burst forth.

It froze for an instant. Then its mind erupted like a volcano!

“Roar!”

Within that terrifying sound, an exaggerated whirlpool formed inside the cavern. The surrounding seawater, debris, and Alger himself were abruptly pulled inward.

Full of hostility!

Alger’s gaze shrank. His body suddenly became slippery, pushed by an invisible wind as he fled in the opposite direction.

After using several Beyonder abilities in succession, he finally escaped the whirlpool’s influence. He no longer dared linger near the undersea volcano and rapidly rose, widening the distance.

Several dozen seconds later, having finally escaped the dangerous zone, Alger spat out bubbles and exhaled in relief.

“That Obninsk could actually resist the influence of the marine-creature-friendliness charm…

“Does it hate things that carry the aura of an owner?”

After a brief silence, seeing that things had already reached this point, and unwilling to waste the opportunity, Alger made up his mind. In the seawater, he prayed in Elvish:

“The Fool that doesn’t belong to this era…”