Chapter 102: The Blame

Chapter 102: The Blame

By the time Klein put down the copper whistle, he had already activated his spirit vision.

He saw illusory white bones on the ground weakly tossing themselves upward, slowly forming a huge body. If the same scene in the past had resembled a fantasy-version fountain, then this time it was merely an ordinary faucet turned upside down.

The corners of Klein’s mouth moved almost imperceptibly. He pretended he had not noticed anything unusual.

Only after several seconds did the skeletal messenger finally finish assembling itself. Its nearly four-meter-tall body once again pierced through the ceiling, while the black flames in its eye sockets burned quietly.

Klein folded the letter he had prepared and tossed it upward.

In the letter, he described in detail the connections among the wealthy merchant Jimmy Necker, the Death-related documents unearthed from the Balam Empire’s mausoleum in the Southern Continent, Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilangos, and Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy. He also mentioned that he had completed an infiltration. Although the assassination had failed, he had left behind items capable of determining the Black Death’s location.

Of course, he hid the specifics of how he had infiltrated, only roughly describing Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy’s combat techniques and style.

After the messenger’s hand, which could swat an adult human flying, caught the letter, Klein coughed once, cleared his throat, and said, “I already have my own messenger.”

The black flames in the skeletal messenger’s eye sockets clearly leaped twice. Its body abruptly collapsed, falling like a waterfall and drilling into the wooden floor.

Now it no longer has to fear becoming my messenger, right? Am I that disliked by them? Hm… It must be that these messengers from the underworld cannot bear to leave Mr. Azik. After all, he is a direct descendant of Death, and perhaps not even many generations removed. Hugging a powerful thigh—I understand! Klein was just about to tidy up and check out when his nose suddenly itched, and he sneezed.

Achoo! Achoo! Cough, cough, cough!

He sneezed and coughed. His nose started running, and his forehead slowly, resolutely, grew burning hot.

Damn. Vice Admiral Ailment’s disease is still lingering inside me, and I returned to Bayam while facing a cold wind of around ten degrees Celsius. Now I am truly sick… Klein wiped his nose with cheap toilet paper, considering whether he should summon himself and move around in spirit body state while letting his physical body recover on its own.

After careful consideration, he believed this was not feasible. First, the body’s condition would clearly affect the spirit body’s state, and the two had a close, strange connection. Second, if he simply ignored it, his body’s condition would certainly worsen.

I am already somewhat delirious from the fever… Klein touched his forehead. He prepared to first return to the Azure Wind Inn and meet Danitz, then decide whether to go to a hospital or clinic and buy some medicine.

…

The City of Silver, the Berg household.

Derrick finally received the fruit of the Radiant Pact Spirit Tree promised by Madam Hermit, and successfully concocted the Solar High Priest potion.

It was golden in color and carried its own scalding heat. When Derrick drank it in one gulp, he felt as though his throat had been burned.

His eyes abruptly lit up, growing brighter and brighter, as if two miniature suns were hidden within them.

His body radiated ring after ring of clear, pure light. On the skin exposed outside his clothes, visible black spots bulged out.

At the same time, his body hair lengthened, as if transforming into feathers wrapped in golden flames.

Derrick knew that similar changes would occur when drinking a potion at Sequence 7. He did not panic or become terrified. He clenched his teeth and repeatedly recalled the pain of personally killing his parents, and the hope that had burst from deep within his heart after meeting Mr. Fool. In that state close to losing control, he stubbornly endured.

After quite a while, all the abnormalities subsided one after another. Only his exhaled breath still carried the warmth of the sun.

He felt that his physical constitution had improved again, and that he now had no small amount of resistance toward disease and harsh environments.

But that was not the main point. What Derrick loved even more was the spell-like divine knowledge filling his mind.

It included Lightfire, Immunity to Fear, Sacred Oath, Purifying Slash, Solar Halo, Summon Holy Light, Create Holy Water, and many more.

Derrick happily paced back and forth twice, feeling that these divine spells were truly suitable for dealing with the evil monsters hidden deep in the darkness.

He did not hide it. He went straight to the Twin Towers and registered his advancement.

This way, after a preliminary review, he would qualify to become a patrol team captain and gain access to more of the City of Silver’s materials.

Among those materials is the method Mr. World wants for removing mental pollution from Beyonder characteristics… While answering the registrar’s various questions, Derrick could not help thinking of the promise he had yet to fulfill.

Owing someone else always made him uneasy and uncomfortable. Now, he finally saw the dawn of returning to peace.

…

Inside the Fragrant Tree Leaf Bar, the Silver-Tongued Misor King sat across from the elderly Strongman Ozil with a glass of red wine in hand. Crossing his right leg over his left, he slowly asked, “Have you found out the details?”

He had accepted his captain Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy’s arrangement and returned to Bayam to investigate the problem of the fake Elaine. To do this, he had found Ozil, the person who had originally helped issue the commission. He could not go directly to the rebels and ask them, because there was a significant chance that they were collaborating with the fake Elaine. Questioning them at their door would be no different from going straight to the Governor-General’s Office to exchange his own head for a bounty.

Ozil dragged over a chair and sat down.

“They did not hide anything, but I cannot be sure whether what they said is truth or lie. You know I prefer fists over thinking.

“They said that Elaine was delivered by Blazing Danitz. He represented Vice Admiral Iceberg’s will and hoped to establish cooperation with the rebels, providing them with a certain degree of aid. Elaine was an expression of goodwill.”

“Blazing Danitz? Vice Admiral Iceberg…” Misor chewed over the two names, his expression slowly turning grave.

He leaned back against the chair, and his brows furrowed little by little.

As a former subordinate captain under Vice Admiral Hurricane and the current third mate of Vice Admiral Ailment’s flagship, he was no stranger to the other pirate admirals. He knew that Vice Admiral Iceberg was powerful, possessed a rich collection, and relied on only one ship and a limited number of subordinates to contend against other pirate admirals. If one spoke purely of combat strength, she might even be somewhat stronger than both his previous and current bosses. The problem was that Vice Admiral Iceberg rarely involved herself in disputes among pirates. She was known for collecting information, exploring the unknown, and searching for treasure. She was more like an adventurer than a pirate.

Why would she suddenly try to assassinate the captain? That does not match her personality… She was previously harmed by Admiral of Blood’s rumors, so she should be focused on taking revenge against him… Misor took a sip of red wine and lifted his other hand to rub his forehead.

He temporarily stopped thinking about Vice Admiral Iceberg and turned his attention back to Blazing Danitz.

As he carefully recalled the matter, his pupils suddenly contracted. He realized that the familiar fourth boatswain of the Golden Dream truly had been rather strange recently.

“He set a trap and killed Steel Maviti, Bloodthorn Huntley, and Calm Scour. His bounty rose to 4,200 pounds. Then, in an extremely short time, no one knows what incident he became involved in, but his bounty leaped again to 5,500 pounds. That has already surpassed mine…” Misor muttered soundlessly. In his mind, the figure of Blazing Danitz surfaced uncontrollably, and he suddenly felt that the other party had become both mysterious and frightening.

“Did he advance? Or did he obtain some enormous benefit from some incident?” Misor shifted his waist and leaned forward, setting down the wineglass.

He solemnly whispered, “I originally treated his bounty increase as a joke.

“But the facts now tell me that Blazing Danitz really is a great pirate worthy of a 5,500-pound bounty!”

Misor abruptly lifted his head and said to Strongman Ozil, “Help me collect intelligence on Blazing, especially the recent kind!”

…

Inside the luxurious suite of the Azure Wind Inn.

Danitz opened the door and saw Gehrman Sparrow. He warily glanced left and right, then stepped aside to clear a path.

“How did it go? Was the hunt successful?” After the door closed, he asked with both curiosity and excitement.

Vice Admiral Ailment is a famous beauty. When I saw her before, she was even more charming than I imagined. It would be a bit of a waste if she died just like that. She should be locked up instead, imprisoned forever, life sentence without parole… Bah. Can she compare to the captain’s beauty? Women who look like that are everywhere in the Red Theater! Danitz thought with great contradiction.

Klein clenched his fist, pressed it against his mouth, and coughed violently twice.

“Almost,” he replied coldly after calming down.

“What a pity…” Danitz sighed instinctively.

But what he thought in his heart was:

Gehrman Sparrow really is terrifyingly strong!

He infiltrated the Black Death to assassinate Vice Admiral Ailment and almost succeeded. Even after failing, he returned smoothly with hardly any obvious injuries!

Every pirate admiral was famous across the five seas, second only to the Four Kings, not only because they themselves were strong, but also because they represented a team, a force, and had numerous Beyonders under them. To escape the Black Death after a failed assassination was enough to prove that Gehrman Sparrow was not inferior to any pirate admiral!

“Is Creeping Hunger truly that powerful? No, even if I had Creeping Hunger, I would not be able to do anything like that…” Danitz increasingly felt that his decision not to resist Gehrman Sparrow back then had truly been the wisest choice.

Klein coughed twice more, preparing to order Danitz to go to the hospital and buy medicine for him.

Then he thought of how complicated the source of his illness was. Without letting a doctor examine him carefully, the medicine prescribed might not be effective, even if Emperor Roselle had invented many practical medicines in advance.

If only I could use the gray fog to establish a remote medical consultation system, I would make that fellow Emlyn White treat me and prepare a few potions… Klein went to the washroom to clean himself and change back into his original clothes, burning the set he had taken from the fisherman.

Seeing him come out, Danitz carried over a paper bag and greeted him with a fawning smile.

“This is the seven hundred pounds from our share of the bounty.”

Just then, he and Klein heard a knock at the door. The visitor was Captain Elland.

The captain slipped into the room, gave Gehrman Sparrow a deep look, and lowered his voice.

“I was originally going to return to Pritz Harbor, but I received another piece of news.

“Something big seems to have happened over at Bansy Harbor.”