Chapter 163: A Way to Calm Them Down

Chapter 163: A Way to Calm Them Down

As the starlight around her completely faded, Cattleya lowered her head and said to Frank Lee, who had only just recovered,

“Calm them down.”

She was referring to the sailors who were still writhing in pain.

No sooner had she spoken than Cattleya withdrew, and the window closed with a clang.

In that instant, Klein vaguely saw a greenish vine grow upward from below, wrapping around the Admiral of Stars layer after layer.

Since he sensed neither danger nor evil, his intuition told him that this was likely a mystical method Miss Hermit was using to treat her injuries and recover her energy.

Is that an ability of her Beyonder pathway? Or does it come from some mystical item she owns? She’s confident enough to start treating herself and leave Frank to deal with the chaos on the ship. Is she not worried at all that the Death Knell will catch up? Just how far did the Future “fly” at the end? Klein stopped craning his neck and turned toward Frank Lee beside him.

This first mate, who was both a Toxin Expert and an accomplished physician, had already taken out a coil of soft tubing from the pocket of his overalls. One end was connected to a small glass bottle, and the other was fitted with a long, narrow, sharp needle.

“An injectable sedative I concocted,” Frank Lee said with some lingering fear, forcing a faint smile.

I’ve bought similar items before. I gave them all to the Zombie Maric… Klein looked around and said, “I’m afraid that won’t be enough.”

“No, no. This isn’t for them. I need to find a helper first. They’ll be helped by beer with a sedative effect. Haha, they’re always very noisy once they get drunk, so I added the necessary elements to most of the barrels,” Frank explained casually.

Drugging people at the slightest disagreement… The corners of Klein’s mouth almost twitched.

At that moment, he finally understood on a profound level how fitting the title “Toxin Expert” truly was.

Merely because the pirates were noisy after getting drunk, Frank had added improved sedatives to most of the alcoholic drinks, and he felt no guilt or unease whatsoever. He acted as though he had only done something perfectly normal and ordinary.

In some respects, this fellow was warm, honest, and good-hearted. In others, he was more frightening than a devil, because he did not even recognize that what he was doing could be called “evil”… How exactly did the Church of the Earth Mother raise this kind of “mad scientist”? Controlling his expression, Klein followed Frank Lee for a short distance and found Boatswain Nina writhing in the shadow of the cabin wall.

This pirate with an exaggerated figure lay prone there, twisting in pain. Her hands kept clawing at the deck, producing sharp, teeth-aching screeches and leaving behind streaks of blood.

Just looking at that scene made Klein’s fingers ache.

“Gehrman, give me a hand. Hold her down. Don’t let her struggle,” Frank said, raising the needle and tubing in his hand.

Klein did not refuse, but neither did he speak. He calmly crouched beside Nina and reached out toward her shoulders.

The moment he touched her, he felt his hands slip, unable to find purchase, as if his target were not a lady but a giant fish covered in slick scales.

Klein instantly adjusted. With the precise control granted by a Clown, he managed to grip Nina’s shoulders steadily.

However, the strength she displayed while struggling was enormous—far greater than Klein’s. Soon his fingers began to ache and weaken, making it difficult to maintain his hold.

As expected of a Sequence 7 of the Sailor pathway, while I’m not a Beyonder who specializes in strength… If I didn’t need to feed it afterward, this would be the most appropriate moment to activate Creeping Hunger, switch to “Steel” Maveti’s soul, and use the strength of a Zombie… As those thoughts flashed through his mind, Klein saw Frank come closer, crouch down directly, and press both knees onto Nina’s back.

Frank’s muscles bulged one after another, quickly stopping Nina’s struggles.

A Beyonder of the Planter pathway isn’t weak either… But, Mr. Frank Lee, if you treat ladies this roughly, you’ll probably have a hard time finding a girlfriend… Of course, you probably don’t care too much. You could always grow your own children from the soil… Klein inwardly lampooned a few times and watched as Frank inserted the needle into the back of Nina’s hand.

As the small bottle of sedative was pushed in, Nina stopped trying to struggle. Klein let go and stood.

A few seconds later, Nina tidied her hair while rolling over and getting to her feet. She complained to Frank Lee beside her, “Why are you always as rough as a bear? Can’t you use another method?”

As she spoke, she shook both hands, making no attempt to hide the pain on her face.

Unlike when she had gone diving earlier, she now wore a linen shirt and a brown coat, making her look not too different from an ordinary pirate.

Frank paid no attention to Nina’s complaint and instead asked in puzzlement, “Where was I rough?

“All right. Let’s not argue about that. We should help them first.

“You go bring out the barrels. We’ll work together to pour alcohol into them.

“Gehrman, you don’t mind taking part in this, do you?”

Klein glanced at the sailors lying across the deck. After weighing the matter for two seconds, he asked, “The goal is to calm them down?”

“Yes.” Frank Lee nodded heavily.

“Can I just knock them out?” Klein asked peacefully.

That should be about the same as sedative beer, and more efficient… he added inwardly.

Nina turned her head in astonishment, looking at Gehrman Sparrow, momentarily unable to speak.

Frank Lee seriously considered it and said, “Yes.”

“Good.” Klein walked toward a saber he had long since locked onto, picked it up, and struck the back of its owner’s head with the blunt side.

Bang!

Under his precise control, the pirate who had been rolling in agony calmed down and lost consciousness.

Nina stared blankly for a second before finally returning to normal.

Then, as she passed beside Klein, she slowed her steps and lowered her voice with a laugh. “I’ve heard rumors about you, but I didn’t expect you to be even more exaggerated than the rumors. Usually, it should be the opposite.

“Mm… Your way of thinking is very, very unique. It’s completely different from ours and quite close to Frank’s. Maybe that’s why he’s already treating you as a friend after such a short time.”

No. Madmen are different from madmen. Gehrman Sparrow is nowhere near Frank’s level… Klein calmly assessed the matter and gave that reply in his heart.

He ignored Nina. Carrying the saber, he walked across the deck, knocking out one sailor after another and letting them wake naturally.

Frank originally wanted to imitate him, but after Nina asked, “Are you confident you can knock them out without killing them?” he abandoned the impulse and entered the cabin to move out the barrels according to the original plan.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Klein continued striking his way toward the front of the deck. At that moment, an old man in his fifties wearing a soft pointed hat had already begun to recover.

Seeing the cold-faced, crazy adventurer approaching him, he hurriedly tried to stand and blurted out, “No! I don’t need it!

“I’m already fine, fine!”

No need to explain. The facts are obvious… Klein held back his amusement and prepared to turn toward the bow.

Just then, the old man introduced himself.

“I am the navigator of the Future, Ottolov.”

Navigator? Klein turned his head and glanced over. He discovered that quite a few books had fallen around Ottolov, some open, some upside down, some leaning askew, others lying flat.

“Haha. I fell from up there, along with them. Just now, even they seemed to have gone mad,” Ottolov explained.

Klein’s gaze shifted to his eyes and found that his pale-blue irises carried a hint of the deep sea.

Not the eyes that were watching the deck and watching me during the day… But that feeling is somewhat similar to Admiral of Stars… The same pathway? Klein withdrew his attention and saw that Nina and Frank Lee had already calmed all the remaining sailors.

He was about to turn around and observe whether the Death Knell had caught up when Ottolov suddenly shouted, “Careful!”

Crash!

A huge wave struck, smashing against the bow and making the Future shake violently.

If not for the balance of a Clown, Klein would already have fallen like Frank. The spray kicked up by the huge wave poured down like rain, soaking his half top hat of silk and double-breasted frock coat.

There should be an iron here, right… A crazy adventurer washing clothes shouldn’t violate the persona. It would be stranger if he didn’t wash them… I should have worn native-style clothing from the Rorsted Archipelago! In that instant, Klein’s heart flashed through a series of pained thoughts.

He saw torrential rain ahead, with one giant wave after another rising like mountain peaks. He felt the rampaging wind and heard the rumble of thunder.

This—have we reached the edge of the safe route? Although that final “flight” shook off the Death Knell, did it also knock the ship off course? Klein watched as Ottolov, Nina, Frank, and Bloodless Heath Doyle—who had appeared from who knew where—roused the sailors. Each took up their post, nervously and busily controlling the Future.

Through their efforts, the Future changed direction in time, piercing through wave after wave, dodging bolt after bolt of lightning, and returning to the safe route.

Only when everything became calm again did Klein release the charm from the Sea God domain in his grip and quietly exhale.

Looking back and seeing no sign of the Death Knell catching up, he truly relaxed. Tonight, he felt, had been anything but peaceful.

He swept his gaze around and saw pirates either holding their heads and drawing sharp breaths, or exhausted and ready to collapse. Feeling somewhat guilty, Klein left the deck and headed for the cabin, sighing silently from the bottom of his heart.

“We haven’t even been away from the Gargas Islands for long, and the whole ship nearly got wiped out. The journey to find mermaids really doesn’t look like it’ll be easy…”

Climbing the stairs to the upper level, Klein slowed down as he passed the captain’s cabin and examined it. He discovered that the gap beneath the door was packed full of green leaves, completely isolating the inside from the outside.

He shifted his gaze away and returned to his own room. There, he considered whether he should pray to The Fool, go above the gray fog, and use a response to take control of the nearby sea, searching for traces of the Death Knell so that the Undying King Agalito, who liked launching sudden and inexplicable attacks on others, could enjoy the same treatment.

No. There are “eyes” watching here. I should avoid operations like that as much as possible. Besides, even that would only teach the Undying King a lesson, not seriously injure him. It isn’t worth the risk… I can’t let anger cloud my reason… I’ll talk about it after my advancement succeeds! Klein finally suppressed his impulse.