Chapter 19: Bait

Chapter 19: Bait

After sending the telegram and tidying the desk, White Shark Hamilton finally relaxed. He now had the mood and capacity to think through the details of what had just happened.

The first question that sprang into his mind was:

“What about the guards outside?”

He propped himself up with both hands and abruptly stood. With heavy steps, he strode to the door and pulled it open, only to discover several of his subordinates standing there crookedly, laughing over jokes about women.

Hamilton’s anger surged to his head, but he quickly calmed down. The muscles in his face twitched faintly as he slammed a fist against the open door.

Thud!

The guards were startled and instinctively turned toward the door.

“Boss…”

“Chief…”

Once they saw who had made the sound, they hurriedly stood straight and spoke hesitantly.

White Shark drew in a silent breath.

“Did you see anyone enter my room just now?”

“Yes. Lardro. He said something had happened downstairs,” the guards answered in great confusion. “You let him in yourself, Boss…”

Before they finished speaking, they suddenly thought of another explanation and asked one after another, “Chief—Boss—did something get stolen inside?”

Hamilton’s expression darkened. He shook his head.

“Do not get distracted!”

Clang! He withdrew into the room and shut the door, leaving several guards outside staring at one another, suspecting that their boss had already gotten drunk.

Inside the room, the tall, fat Hamilton frowned and began pacing back and forth.

“Lardro. Lardro. What they saw was Lardro… That fellow—can that fellow change into other people?” As someone who helped pirates sell stolen goods and gather intelligence, White Shark Hamilton was no stranger to the various rumors of the sea. The first thing he thought of was the former pirate admiral Qilangos, who was said to be capable of becoming anyone.

But he quickly associated this with even more possibilities.

“It may not be that kind of mystical power. If it resembles the rumors, then illusions, suggestions, and mental manipulation could all achieve similar effects.

“Hiss… Something feels wrong. That fellow just now looked refined on the outside, mad within, and terrifyingly strong. Why would he, for the sake of sneaking in, pretend to be one of my subordinates and even call me ‘Boss’? With the personality he displayed, he should have knocked out or killed everyone he met along the way, strolled right up to the door, and then knocked very politely!

“If it was to avoid making a big disturbance, leaving behind too much information, or exposing the secrets related to his Sequence, then he could have used a more covert method, such as climbing through the window…

“It is contradictory… And there is only one explanation for such a contradiction: he was pretending!

“Was he pretending in personality, or pretending to be powerful? Or both?”

At this thought, Hamilton suddenly stopped. He strung every detail together.

“That fellow is a novice! His madness is fake! His power relies on some mystical item!

“Yes, that must be it!

“Only that can explain those contradictions. He did not climb the outer wall and enter through the window because his own Sequence is low, and he is not skilled in such things. The mystical item he has does not focus on that domain either… He was willing to lower his head and call me Boss in order to enter the room smoothly because he relies purely on the mystical item, has little confidence in himself, and is not arrogant or mad enough… He acted like a lunatic to coordinate with the item’s frightening effect, creating pressure so he could question me.

“This also perfectly explains why he simply left like that. The reason he came to me was that, after obtaining a powerful mystical item, his ambitions swelled and he wanted to grow rich by capturing and hunting pirates. But once he learned that I serve Silver Coin Viper Odell and Old Quinn, the intelligence officer of the Admiral of Blood, and that the matter might even involve the Mystery Queen, he grew afraid. He was frightened. After making a perfunctory attempt, he chose to leave and did not dare kill anyone!”

The more White Shark Hamilton thought, the more convinced he became that he had found the truth. He hurriedly set up the radio station again, took out the codebook, and sent an additional message briefly describing his speculations.

He believed he had not been targeted by a hunter. What happened earlier had purely originated from the swollen ambitions of a young man who had obtained a fortuitous encounter. As for the target, he also provided corresponding characteristics:

“Blond hair, blue eyes. Not mad. Even somewhat timid.

“Possesses a rather mystical item. It may be able to change appearance and physique, or perhaps create illusions. Combined with the sense of terror, the latter possibility is greater. In short, his true appearance is unknown.

“A novice with little experience, skilled at using an item to fake a powerful aura!

“Has some understanding of me. Does not seem like an outsider visiting Damir Harbor for the first time.”

Tap, tap, tap. Hamilton stopped his fingers and leaned back in satisfaction, pressing the chair until it creaked.

The corners of his mouth lifted bit by bit, as though he already saw that bastard’s ending.

“A fellow with a very low Sequence, yet holding a powerful mystical item, will not have a good ending at sea. There will be plenty of greedy sharks rushing toward him!

“When that happens, I will no longer need to worry about my problem being exposed!”

…

The harbor beneath the night was rather quiet. After leaving the Flying Fish and Wine, Klein circled toward a distant area, first walking quickly, then slowly, gradually shifting into a leisurely stroll.

Once he confirmed that no one was following him, he passed through a dark patch and changed his face back to Gehrman Sparrow’s, tucking the hem of his shirt into his trousers.

After adjusting his sideburns, Klein took out a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and set them on the bridge of his nose. His appearance now carried refinement tinged with cold severity.

He began relying on the stars to determine direction, returning toward the place where the White Agate was docked.

As he walked, he let out a low laugh. Facing the cold wind, he thought leisurely, I hope White Shark is not so stupid that he cannot see the flaws I deliberately left behind…

The persona he had created for tonight’s “visitor” was that of a newly minted adventurer with little experience, one who made mistakes. This person knew quite a bit about Damir Harbor and White Shark, carried a coveted mystical item, had his head muddled by a powerful force, and appeared somewhat mad within.

Klein’s initial plan had been that pirates roamed the seas and were difficult to find even for navies. If he could obtain relatively precise intelligence from White Shark, then naturally he could deliver his services directly to their doors. If not, he would use this identity and appearance as bait, drawing in pirates with sharp enough eyes to the predetermined location and completing the first stage of the hunt.

After discovering that White Shark could contact Old Quinn, the intelligence officer of the Admiral of Blood, Klein’s plan was correspondingly refined: obtain the code contents and frequency spectrum, monitor the corresponding situation, grasp the target’s movements, and interfere with divination. Then, at the most appropriate moment, he would use the combination of a powerful mystical item and a weak adventurer as bait to hook several big fish.

“The current problem is that I do not have a device for monitoring… It basically cannot be bought at sea… I will need to use The World’s identity and ask Miss Justice or Miss Magician to help purchase one in Backlund, then ‘ship’ it through sacrifice… This is the advantage of the Tarot Club!” Thinking of this, Klein felt a burst of emotion.

Seeing the White Agate come into view, he slightly quickened his pace and discovered Donna’s family, along with Cleeves and the others, returning from another street.

Cleeves greeted him with a nod. When they officially encountered one another, he spoke in a low voice.

“I heard someone caused trouble at the Flying Fish and Wine?”

Your information is quite good. You are rather familiar with Damir Harbor… Klein sketched a smile and answered calmly, “I merely taught two swindlers a lesson.”

Cleeves’s brow moved faintly. He suddenly felt that his judgment of Gehrman Sparrow might have been somewhat wrong.

Based on his previous observations and interactions, he had believed this young adventurer to be a little sharp, a little reserved, and a little cold, but still someone who smiled, understood courtesy, and knew how far to go. Now, however, he was no longer certain. He felt that deep within the other man’s heart, there might be a flame of madness hidden.

At this moment, Donna’s father interjected, “Mr. Cleeves, this is?”

“A colleague. Gehrman Sparrow,” Cleeves introduced with great simplicity.

Klein smiled politely and extended his right hand.

“It is an honor to meet you. In the future, if you need to hire someone and cannot find Cleeves and his companions, you may consider me.”

“No problem. I hope you are as capable and professional as they are!” Donna’s father warmly shook Klein’s hand and introduced himself. “Urdi Branch.”

Just as Klein released his hand and stepped back, his inspiration was suddenly touched. He sensed a faint abnormality in the gift boxes carried by the Branch family’s servants.

He quietly activated his Spirit Vision and discovered that the gift boxes contained strips of cured meat. Yet the surfaces of the meat were red where they were red, white where they were white, and black where they were black, as if they had come from the spirit world.

There is an aura of the spirit world, but basically no harm… This cured meat is quite unusual… Klein was inwardly astonished.

Noticing his gaze, Donna’s father chuckled.

“This is a specialty of Damir Harbor. At the center of this island is an extinct volcano. Several caverns around it have cracks where natural hot winds blow. Curing meat there produces a wonderful and unique flavor. It can be given to friends as a gift.

“Mr. Sparrow, if you wish to buy some, there is still time.”

A unique flavor? A spirit-world taste? Klein more or less understood what was going on.

According to mysticism theory, the spirit world completely overlaps with reality, yet the two normally do not interfere with one another. One must rely on Beyonder powers to break the barrier. But this situation is not absolute. There are places in the world where the spirit world is too strong and faintly affects reality.

In such areas, the dead can easily become water ghosts, zombies, and similar things, and residences have a not insignificant chance of paranormal incidents.

The caverns in Damir Harbor should have a similar condition inside them, but it is not serious and has caused no abnormalities. It merely gives the cured meat a distinctive flavor… As long as one does not eat too much of this sort of thing at once, there is no problem… Klein smiled in response.

“I have little interest in cured meat.”

Only at that moment did he confirm that the cured meat the bartender had given him earlier had been of the ordinary variety, not the specially prepared kind.

Just then, the little boy Denton pointed at the moon in midair and said, “It’s so red!”

“Mm!” Donna nodded in agreement.

So red? Klein looked up and felt that tonight’s red moon was no different from usual.

Because children’s spirits are comparatively pure, after eating this cured meat and being tainted by the aura of the spirit world, they temporarily gained a certain degree of Spirit Vision? Could the children on this island have similar conditions too? Heh, perhaps this is the source of Damir Harbor’s folk legends… Klein examined the matter and found his answer.

The group strolled back to the ship, then boarded the deck along the gangway.

Klein bid farewell to them and headed toward the second-class cabins.

Suddenly, his heart stirred, and he activated Spirit Vision once more.

He saw that the enormous skeletal messenger had appeared before him and tossed down a letter.