Chapter 200: Seeking “Food”

Chapter 200: Seeking “Food”

The Hermit Cattleya controlled herself and did not look toward The World Gehrman. In a deep, steady voice, she said, “Northeast of the Gargas Archipelago, there is a safe route that leads into that dangerous sea…”

She began with the abyssal fissure that divided the sea, then described the sun chariot that could not be looked at directly, the nights that could only be avoided through sleep, the terrifying ravings that filled the entire ocean, and the projection of the Giant King’s Court standing opposite a mountain in the dream world.

Throughout this process, she did not mention Gehrman Sparrow at all, deliberately avoiding bringing him into the account. As for the other abnormalities along the route, she only spoke of them briefly—for example, the region that bore the residual aura of the Earth Mother and could make hair grow wildly.

At the end, she focused on the sea ruin where a corpse lay sleeping, and the adventurers’ sailboat on which the bloody words “Fountain of Youth” had been written.

“This may mean that the Fountain of Youth is inside that ruin, and the corpse that can produce tremendous breathing sounds is its guardian.” The Hermit Cattleya stated the common speculation aboard the Future, but that did not mean it was her own judgment.

The Fountain of Youth… one of the six great treasure legends of the sea, the Fountain of Youth… The Hanged Man Alger’s heart stirred as he involuntarily considered the feasibility of exploring that ruin after Sequence 5.

Justice Audrey listened carefully. Then she shook her head with very slight movements.

“I do not think the final meaning of those bloody words is that the Fountain of Youth is inside that ruin.”

After a one-second pause, she tried analyzing the psychology of the dead.

“A person who encounters a monster’s attack and is about to die would not normally spend their last moments pointing out treasure. If he wanted to warn companions who came afterward, or family members searching for him, he should have written that there was danger here, or what the source of danger was. If he was trying to tell passing ships that there was a Fountain of Youth here, he lacked sufficient internal motivation to write something like that while on the verge of death—unless there was a conspiracy hidden within it, a conspiracy to lure people to that ruin in search of the Fountain of Youth, and that conspiracy would somehow allow him to be saved.”

“Exactly. If it were me, I also wouldn’t desperately try to tell others that there was treasure here before I died. What meaning would that have to me?” The Moon Emlyn echoed. “Only hatred—only hatred etched into my bones—would make me write such things on the brink of death. Otherwise, I would rather tell people how I should be buried and what grave goods I need!”

At the end, he clicked his tongue and shook his head.

Klein nodded almost imperceptibly and manipulated The World to speak in a hoarse voice:

“The Fountain of Youth is a fraud.”

He used an absolute affirmative sentence, adding no words like perhaps, possibly, or should.

The Fountain of Youth is a fraud… Cattleya glanced at The World, thoughtfully withdrawing her gaze.

This seemed to corroborate certain guesses and ideas in her heart.

The Hanged Man Alger, however, frowned as he listened. It was not that he refused to accept The World’s judgment, nor that he felt Miss Justice and Mr. Moon’s arguments made no sense. Rather, he discovered that he had not considered that possibility at all just now!

For him, that was a mistake he should not have made.

…After all these years, I still sometimes let immense profit briefly blind me… He fell silent for several seconds and suddenly sighed.

After they finished sharing their respective experiences, everyone began teaching Little Sun ancient Hermes and learning various mysticism-related knowledge from one another.

Time passed quickly. Once everyone tacitly stopped, The Fool Klein looked around and said…