Chapter 51: The Art of Communication

Chapter 51: The Art of Communication

When he heard the illusory, layered voice of prayer, Klein was attending a dinner at Portland Moment’s home. Because of the time difference, the evening here was still underway.

A dinner like this began at half past seven and could last all the way until half past nine, or even ten. Appetizers, soup, side dishes, main courses, staple foods, vegetables, fruits, desserts, and so on added up to more than a dozen—sometimes nearly twenty—separate courses. Footmen would serve them one after another in strict order, removing and replacing plates uniformly so the dining table never became messy. Between courses, guests were left time to converse, and gentlemen were expected to take the initiative to speak with the lady seated to their right.

In short, it was extremely troublesome and exhausting. One even had to pay attention to which wine went with which dish… Fortunately, the taste is fairly good…

Seizing the moment when the roasted tender lamb was being cleared away, Klein turned to Madam Willis on his right and said, “My apologies. I must visit the washroom.”

He then stood, pressed his right hand over his chest and abdomen, bowed slightly to the other guests, and left the dining table, heading toward one of the washrooms on the second floor.

After entering, he locked the door behind him and immediately took four steps counterclockwise, arriving above the gray fog.

“…Mr. Hanged Man’s prayer. He hopes I can help him obtain the Obninsk sea monster’s goodwill. In return, he is willing to collect fifteen pages of Roselle’s diary or do something of equivalent value for me… His progress is not slow…” Sitting in the Fool’s seat, Klein spread his spirituality outward and touched the crimson star that was swelling and contracting.

After several seconds of consideration, he said, “Investigate every Feysac colonel who participated in the Konoto Sea Battle in 1338.”

As a historical expert, the moment he learned from the Interrogator’s spirit that the man had died at sea in 1338 at the hands of Feysacians, Klein had already worked out which battle this corresponded to.

Throughout the entire year of 1338, tensions and skirmishes between Loen and Feysac had continued, but only one battle had involved the deaths of officers at the field-grade level: the naval battle that had broken out at Konoto in East Balam.

And in a Feysac fleet, there could not possibly be too many colonels!

…

In the dark, deep seawater, Alger Wilson saw the boundless gray-white fog and heard Mr. Fool’s response.

Investigate every colonel of the Feysac Empire who participated in the Konoto Sea Battle in 1338… Why would Mr. Fool be concerned with minor figures like that? Does this involve some enormous secret?

Alger’s heart stirred. No longer hesitating, he directly accepted.

“Your will is my will.”

This task would be difficult and complicated for him, but not especially dangerous. It was the kind he could currently bear.

After responding, Alger once again heard Mr. Fool’s deep voice:

“You may return to the vicinity of the target.”

It is solved already? As expected of Mr. Fool! After obtaining authority, He is more like a Sea God than Kalvetua. His divine might is no longer limited to the Rorsted Archipelago!

Alger felt a burst of delight. He thanked Him solemnly, then bent at the waist, extended his feet, turned downward, and dove once more.

After only a few minutes, he returned to the undersea volcano. He saw that around the enormous, pitch-black cavern, the water currents remained chaotic, and the tentacles were still spread wide, not yet calm.

Although Alger believed that Mr. Fool was powerful and terrifying enough—a recovering ancient god—when he saw this scene, he instinctively grew cautious and carefully approached.

His first suspicion was that the Obninsk’s countless waving tentacles were welcoming him.

At that moment, above the gray fog, Klein, holding the Sea God Scepter, furrowed his brows.

“It refuses to communicate with the Sea God and even hates the feeling. It is unwilling to draw near…” he muttered through his teeth.

Just now, he had failed to use the influence of the one praying to affect the surrounding sea area!

For some unknown reason, the Obninsk sea monster held intense resistance toward the Beyonder ability that made sea creatures friendly.

Through the prayer image, from the violent twitching of the thick tentacles, Klein vaguely sensed the target’s anger. It wanted to tear apart any living creature that dared approach it.

“Mr. Hanged Man is heading over, he’s heading over…” The corner of Klein’s mouth twitched. He decided to switch methods.

He raised the Sea God Scepter a little higher. One after another, the blue-green gemstones atop it lit up, emitting bright and dazzling radiance.

Immediately afterward, he transmitted the violent aura of Lightning Storm outward and imposed it upon the Obninsk sea monster.

The thick tentacles churning up the seabed suddenly froze. Then they dropped downward, pressing tightly against the ground. Inside the pitch-black cave, countless green points of light appeared.

Amid a gurgling sound that made one’s teeth ache, a terrifying monster capable of swallowing a sailing ship crawled out. Its patterned black body was enormous and twisted. It had a full three heads, and on each head were more than a dozen eyes. Every eye could emit its own green radiance.

The monster then prostrated itself, docile as a domesticated hound.

“As expected, communication requires technique.” Klein nodded in satisfaction, once again using the Beyonder ability that made marine life friendly. Relying on mental communication, he made all three of the Obninsk sea monster’s heads open their mouths at once.

In Alger’s eyes, three deep “caverns” suddenly appeared before him, each large enough for a sailing ship to pass through.

Praise Mr. Fool…

Looking up at the magnificent scene before him, Alger could not help murmuring the words inwardly.

He wasted no time, choosing the head in the middle and swiftly swimming inside.

A twisting, spiraling tunnel quickly appeared in Alger’s vision. Its walls were made of flesh, and it was as spacious as the foredeck of the Blue Avenger.

Gurgle. The seawater surged inward, rushing down the tunnel toward the depths. Alger hurriedly seized the opportunity and threw himself into the current.

All at once, he felt as if he had returned to the time when he had just become a Sailor, battling the waves, tossed about until his head spun and he could barely maintain himself.

By the time Alger used his Beyonder abilities and finally stabilized, he had already left the fleshy tunnel and entered a vast, pitch-black world without the slightest light. A sticky sensation came from beneath his feet, while a thick stench of blood surrounded him from every direction.

After only a second, Alger discovered that the liquid here was corroding him. He hurriedly formed a layer of water film around himself, making it expand into a transparent sphere.

He knew he had already entered the Obninsk’s stomach. Without the slightest hesitation, he took out the bottles and jars he had prepared in advance and began mixing the potion.

Auxiliary ingredients were thrown one after another into the wide-mouthed metal bottle, stirring themselves into a deep-blue liquid. Then Alger carefully placed inside a transparent “jellyfish” wrapped in seawater as blue as the sea.

A distant, drifting song abruptly grew intense, then swiftly calmed again. Inside the wide-mouthed metal bottle, the liquid no longer held a single ripple or bubble. It was deep and heavy, like the ocean before a storm.

Alger composed himself, meditated once, then picked up the metal bottle and drank the Ocean Songster potion inside.

The cold, numbing liquid slid down his esophagus and entered his stomach, then spread in an unimaginable fashion to every cell of his body.

At that moment, Alger vaguely heard countless voices. They came from every living creature in the entire sea area, but the Obninsk sea monster’s body blocked much of them, leaving only relatively indistinct fragments.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Alger felt his heart beating violently, spraying blood, spirituality, and sonic waves outward, transforming his vocal cords and his spirit body.

Unable to restrain himself, he opened his mouth and released a tremendous sigh.

Within that sigh, Alger felt a small part of his spirit body being torn apart and scattered outward with the sound waves. First, they transformed into mottled scales upon his skin. Then long strips of flesh were pulled outward, evolving into waving tentacles.

The sound waves carried fragments of his spirit body farther outward, making contact with the viscous fluid in the Obninsk sea monster’s stomach. Strangely, they rebounded, pouring back into Alger’s body.

His state, which had nearly slipped into loss of control, immediately improved. He hurriedly seized the opportunity and, without caring about embarrassment, lifted his voice and sang, trying to vent all the intangible sound waves within him before they could burst him apart.

Rough, chaotic, off-key, and filled with a heavy-metal texture, the singing spread outward in circles, carrying many fragments of his spirit body. Then every last bit of it was bounced back by the viscous liquid inside the Obninsk sea monster’s stomach.

Throughout this process, Alger was like material inside a furnace of sound waves, being gradually tempered and shaped.

At last, he recovered complete control over his body and preliminarily restrained the surging spirituality that had been spilling outward.

Finally…

Alger closed his eyes, and an irrepressible smile appeared on his face.

He had completed the preliminary goal he had pursued for so many years and advanced to Ocean Songster!

I have shallow control over lightning, a better, more complete, and longer-lasting talent for underwater activity, as well as the ability to influence targets with my singing… The last ability differs depending on each person’s own traits and has several directions. One is to interfere with an enemy’s spirit body through beautiful singing, making them dazed and distracted, or enhancing one’s own explosive power. Another is to simulate thunder, intimidating others. Another is to use, use chaotic and unpleasant singing to make enemies irritable and lose reason…

Alger examined his own state, his expression turning slightly strange.

He soon shook free of those thoughts, gathered his belongings, and swam against the current back into the Obninsk sea monster’s mouth. Then he lightly knocked on its tightly closed jaws.

The mouth slowly opened, then abruptly roared, spitting out everything within it.

Alger instantly felt as if he had entered midair and nearly collided with a shark.

After some hurried scrambling, he surfaced and swam toward the Blue Avenger.

Only when the ghost ship’s silhouette entered his eyes did he truly breathe in relief.

One of the problems Alger had worried about earlier was that the Blue Avenger might suddenly act strangely while he was advancing.

Although one or two hours should not pose much of a problem, the world was always full of accidents.

…

After receiving Mr. Hanged Man’s thanks once more, Klein returned to the real world, washed and dried his hands, left the washroom, and headed back toward the dining room.

When the aroma of food entered his nose again, he slowly inhaled, smiled, returned to his seat, bowed in greeting, and sat down.

By then, the banquet had already entered the dessert stage.

It seems I stayed in the washroom a little too long… I hope that after today, there won’t be rumors that Dawn Dantes is constipated…

Klein muttered soundlessly a few times, then smiled at Madam Willis on his right and said, “When I was young, I ate many strange foods in the Southern Continent. One of them was called Tenit tree berry. Its flavor was very much like light cream—rather like what’s on these desserts now.”

In a roundabout way, he offered an explanation for his delayed return: when he had been young, he had damaged his stomach and intestines.