Chapter 179: Nearing

Chapter 179: Nearing

Frank Lee failed to notice anything unusual about Gehrman Sparrow. With a cheerful smile, he added another sentence:

“I almost wanted to help you just now by throwing some seeds over. Unfortunately, I couldn’t throw that far.”

Throw some seeds onto the Black Tulip? In this sea, the lingering aura of the Earth Mother makes Beyonder things of the corresponding domain mutate, attacking without distinguishing friend from foe… And at the time, I was on the Black Tulip too… Thank goodness you didn’t throw them… Klein abruptly remembered the miserable state of the Future earlier, as well as the watermelon that had grown from the head of the dead pirate.

He had just been about to consider his wording so that his response would match Gehrman Sparrow’s persona, when he suddenly saw Heath Doyle emerge from the nearby shadows, bending over to retch.

The “Bloodless” first dry-heaved. Then his knees gradually weakened, and he knelt on the deck.

Ugh! Ugh!

He finally spat out a puddle of yellow-green liquid. Inside it, a half-corroded gray-black chunk of flesh writhed faintly, as though twitching.

Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

Heath Doyle vomited several more puddles of similar things in succession.

Seeing this scene, Klein felt nauseated, but also much more relieved. He had originally been worried that Heath Doyle, as a Rose Bishop, might be polluted after recklessly “eating” things. Judging from the current situation, however, he had probably only contained and isolated them, without truly digesting them.

As expected of a Rose Bishop who hasn’t gone mad… Klein sighed silently.

Just as the corner of his eye was about to move away from the vomit, several thoughts suddenly flashed through his mind:

Creeping Hunger had already been activated. Within one day, it had to be “fed” once. Yet there were no outsiders here, no ideal villains… The pirate who had died earlier would not do either. Although his companions might not necessarily attach much importance to the corpse, Creeping Hunger devoured souls…

I wonder whether these chunks of flesh can serve as “food” for now. At least they originally belonged to corpses with vigorous vitality, and they were affected by the Earth Mother’s aura…

Thinking of that, Klein took two steps forward and reached Heath Doyle’s vicinity.

Unable to bear looking directly at those puddles of vomit, his gaze instinctively shifted to the other side, toward the magnificent sea outside the railings, where sunlight glittered across the surface.

Then he extended his left palm toward the gray-black chunks of flesh.

Creeping Hunger showed no reaction at all. No mouth split open in the center of the glove.

Looks like it doesn’t want to eat them… I can only keep using it reluctantly for now and deal with potential dangers. If we get close to a full day without finding suitable food, I’ll throw it above the gray fog… Klein withdrew his hand helplessly and looked up toward the captain’s cabin.

The golden brooch in front of Admiral of Stars Cattleya once again bloomed with light, condensing Sun Wraiths that purified the gray-black chunks of flesh Heath Doyle had vomited, one after another.

The pirate admiral’s face and expression showed no visible change, but she seemed somewhat fatigued. The deep-purple radiance in her eyes had grown even more obvious.

After confirming that the ship had set sail again, Klein lingered no longer. He prepared to return to his room and change out of his soaked clothing.

Anderson glanced at him and moved closer, opening his mouth curiously.

“Shut up!” Klein spoke first.

This incident had cost him the Murloc Cufflink. As a result, the unlucky man before him had become even more displeasing in his eyes, close to being defined as food for Creeping Hunger.

“…All right.” Anderson lifted both hands slightly. “I’ll drink quietly.”

Klein paid him no more attention. He entered the cabin and returned to his room.

Inside the washroom, he took out a Water Creation charm, spoke the word in ancient Hermes, and filled the bathtub with clear water. Then he removed all his clothing and lay down inside it.

The cold sensation and warm sunlight relaxed him considerably. He picked up the paper and pen he had just brought over from the desk and wrote a divination statement:

“The location of the Murloc Cufflink.”

After silently reciting it seven times, Klein lay down completely, resting his head against the front of the bathtub as he entered a dream.

In the gray, intermittent, illusory world, he saw a deck. He saw a living corpse whose body had rotted in several places. The azure Murloc Cufflink was embedded in the flesh at the left side of its waist.

Beyond the deck was only darkness, making it impossible to see clearly where the ship was.

As expected, it was lost on the Black Tulip… Klein opened his eyes and made his judgment.

“I hope Admiral of Hell doesn’t notice it. That way, I can use the cufflink to lock onto the Black Tulip’s location…

“Even if he does discover it, that’s not necessarily a problem. As long as Ludwell doesn’t throw it away and not too much time passes, I can still locate it. However, the divination would have to be done above the gray fog instead of in the real world…

“Also, I must perform divination interference later to prevent Admiral of Hell from using the cufflink to locate me, or even curse me.”

“That ring of his really does seem like something left behind by the ancient Death. Mm, I should write to Mr. Azik about it.” Klein quickly washed his body and stepped out of the bathtub.

After drying himself and changing back into his Loen gentleman’s attire, Klein first adjusted his equipment and laundered his clothing. Then he spread out a sheet of stationery and took out Azik’s copper whistle.

Standing beside the desk and looking at the objects on it, Klein’s outstretched right hand suddenly slowed.

A few flickers passed through his eyes. He then put Azik’s copper whistle away, placed it inside the small iron box, and cut off its aura with a wall of spirituality.

He decided to wait until he had left this sea and departed from the Future before summoning the messenger.

“This loss wasn’t small. Fortunately, I’ve finally finished digesting the Faceless potion. Now I can focus on waiting for mermaids to appear…

“Mm… The actual situation in this divine-war ruin is somewhat different from what I expected. It actually has the aura of the Earth Mother…

“That definitely wasn’t left behind later. Otherwise, a deity couldn’t possibly fail to control Their own aura.

“Among the eight ancient gods of the Second Epoch, none held authority over the Earth domain…

“Among Their subordinate gods, though, there are a few suspicious candidates. For instance, the Giant Queen, the Goddess of Harvest Omebella, or the Goddess of Life who was attached to the Vampire Ancestor Lilith…

“Was this a divine war involving subsidiary gods, or is it truly not something from the Second Epoch?” Klein knew too little about this divine-war ruin, so he could only rely mainly on conjecture, supplemented by imagination.

He drew back his thoughts and began cutting paper figurines again, filling them with the symbols of change and concealment that belonged to The Fool.

Pa!

Klein picked up the paper figurine and flicked it lightly.

Flames appeared out of nowhere, burning the paper figurine to ashes.

With that, he could already obtain the effect he wanted in a preliminary sense. If he wanted something better, he would have to go above the gray fog, make a response, and use the Black Emperor card to leverage the power of the mysterious space, coordinating it with the Paper Angel to provide protection.

After using Azik’s copper whistle and Will Auceptin’s paper crane to interfere with any possible surveillance, Klein once again entered the washroom and completed the operation methodically.

Once the room was tidied up, he wore both Creeping Hunger and the Fire Seed glove, then slowly headed toward the deck, preparing to carefully observe their surroundings and not miss any clue related to mermaids.

He had just left the cabin when he saw Anderson Hood sitting on the floor, leaning against a wooden barrel of liquor. His expression was still and his aura restrained, as though he were thinking and grieving.

He really kept his promise and quietly drank the whole time? Klein muttered inwardly as he passed in front of Anderson.

Anderson slowly raised his head and asked in a dreamlike voice, “Is there… something wrong with the alcohol here?”

Klein froze for a moment, then answered seriously, “Yes.”

“…” Anderson was left speechless.

Because this fellow is too unlucky, the application of his Beyonder abilities must have failed, so he didn’t notice the alcohol was problematic? The corner of Klein’s mouth moved slightly before he continued forward.

On the front deck, many sailors had gathered together, watching Nina temporarily take on the duties of a priest of the Lord of Storms, holding a brief funeral for the pirate who had just died.

After a simple prayer, Nina swept her gaze around and said, “Riville’s wish was to be buried on the mountain above the harbor in his hometown after death. That place has the most beautiful sunset.

“He hoped to be cremated, so that his body would not be disturbed after death.”

“Storms above. May he rest in peace.” Most of the sailors believed in the Lord of Storms. They struck their right fists against their left chests one after another.

Watching the scene, Klein did not approach. He stood at a distance, quietly observing.

After the funeral ended and the pirate Riville’s corpse turned to ashes with the help of a scroll, Klein sighed inwardly and drew a crimson moon in his heart.

For the next half day, the sun remained bright and the sky stayed eternally at noon. The Future went around several ruins and relics, gradually sailing deeper and deeper into this sea.

At some unknown point, Anderson had recovered to normal and arrived beside Klein.

He gazed ahead, pointed at a complex of buildings submerged beneath the water, and said, “After passing this ruin, turn left and sail about ten nautical miles. There’s a chance of encountering mermaids.”

Finally… Klein was just about to respond when the sky abruptly darkened, and the sunlight vanished.

Another night had arrived.

Without saying anything further, he returned to his room and lay down on the bed.

Very quickly, he regained consciousness inside the dream. Before him were clean floor-to-ceiling windows, neatly arranged long tables and chairs, and shelves filled with books.

This time, he had returned to where he had left the dream before: that library.

The light of dusk shone in, covering everything with a layer of pale gold. Feeling somewhat puzzled, Klein walked forward and arrived beside the bookshelf he had browsed previously.

As expected, he once again saw mystical books such as The Book of Charms.

Klein had just been about to pull out a book and quickly flip through it when his gaze suddenly swept across the bookshelf opposite and landed on a book with a black cover:

Roselle’s Notes III!

The Emperor’s diary? An entire book of diary entries? Klein instinctively reached out.

At that moment, images flashed through his mind: those mysterious eyes watching the deck and watching him; the person who had opened a door deep in the mural hall, as mentioned by Anderson Hood; and the abnormal shifting of his own dream locations.

Klein withdrew his gaze and instead pulled out The Book of Charms as before.

He came to the long table area, sat down, and began rapidly browsing.

Suddenly, he heard a series of footsteps—tap, tap, tap—approaching from the depths of the library.

Klein’s nerves immediately tightened. He slowly raised his head.

The first thing to enter his eyes was a pair of black leather boots.