Chapter 243: Morning

Chapter 243: Morning

Watching Miss Messenger vanish, Klein thought for a moment about which demigods he could still contact on short notice. In the end, he discovered there were none. He had no choice but to turn his attention back to the question of what he should do next.

“The citywide ‘broadcast’ just now will definitely make Sea King Jahn Kottman search with all his might for traces of Sea God and His believers while he looks for Helmosuin. Going out in the middle of the night would make me very easy to notice, so I can only stay here and wait until dawn.

“I can’t board tomorrow’s ship anymore. If I’m attacked midway, it may implicate an entire ship of people. Besides, that itself isn’t hidden enough.

“Mm… I’ll summon an underwater creature and leave on a whale ship, resting and changing rides with the help of uninhabited islands and reefs along the way until I reach the next port… Since Orange Light said close contact is required to detect that trait, then even if the Mother Tree of Desire amplifies the sensing through ritual or believers, the range won’t exceed a city—perhaps it may only cover a single district. This can also explain why I only encountered the trap after I reached Olavi.

“As long as I leave Bayam, I should be free of that ‘gaze’…”

Just as Klein’s thoughts were gradually becoming clear, the radio transceiver suddenly picked up another signal!

He hurried over, recorded it swiftly, then translated the sequence into the corresponding letters with the help of the codebook to form words.

Before long, the contents of the telegraph appeared on the paper, the ink black and deep:

“I see you.”

I see you… Reading that sentence, Klein suddenly felt a chill rise in his heart.

…

Bayam, inside an ordinary residence not far from the Governor-General’s Office.

Within a spacious basement, candles burned silently, scattering dim yellow light around them.

Silver Coin Viper Odell had already taken off the hooded robe. Trembling faintly, he looked at the middle-aged man opposite him and said in an unsteady voice, “Lord Senor, I don’t know why Helmosuin’s true hiding place was discovered.”

Senor wore an old tricorne hat. His eye sockets were sunken, and his face was frighteningly pale, making him look more like an evil spirit than a living person. He lifted a hand and brushed the two black mustache lines above his lips. His light-brown eyes swept coldly over Odell’s face, making this famous adventurer unable to stop himself from lowering his head.

After silently staring at him for several seconds, Blood Admiral, dressed in white trousers and a red coat, spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Less than three minutes after that telegraph was sent, the notice spread through the entire city, and its content was precisely part of the telegraph.

“I suspect another faction has begun paying attention to wireless telegraphy and obtained our codebook from Old Quinn.”

“Yes, yes, that must be it!” Silver Coin Viper Odell hurriedly agreed, hoping Blood Admiral would not think his own incompetence had caused the loss of the great scientist Helmosuin.

He knew very well how cruel this pirate admiral was to subordinates who made mistakes!

Senor glanced at Odell and sneered.

“But no matter what, you failed.

“If not for you and your mistress having brought me quite a lot of pleasure, I would make you pull out your own intestines!

“Send a telegraph. Tell that eavesdropper, whether he truly exists or not, that I see him. Let him spend tonight in fear and unease. That is the only thing you can do right now.”

Hearing this, Odell silently breathed out in relief. Fearfully glancing at Blood Admiral and the bloody altar on the table behind him, he answered respectfully, “Yes, Lord Senor!”

Just now, he had thought he would become part of the sacrifice.

After Odell left the basement, Blood Admiral Senor turned his head toward the altar covered with human heads, internal organs, limbs, and blood. With an attitude even more respectful than Odell’s when facing him, he asked, “Lord Jakes, did the ritual succeed?”

“It succeeded. Now we wait for the god’s response.” An icy voice devoid of emotion came from behind the curtains hanging around the altar.

Then those curtains seemed to gain life. Both sides rolled backward, smoothly tying themselves into knots, and fell to the center of the altar.

A slightly transparent figure had appeared beside the altar at some unknown time. His skin was brown, the wrinkles on his face carved into deep ravines. His white hair was as sparse as leaves in autumn, as though he had already lived for many, many years.

He humbly watched the candlelight, his brown eyes motionless.

Blood Admiral Senor did not dare speak again. He stood beside Lord Jakes and waited for the altar to change.

Suddenly, the candlelight became dyed in all kinds of colors, each one seeming to correspond to a different desire in the observer.

The human heads, organs, limbs, and blood on the altar moved despite the absence of wind. Layer by layer, they stacked upon one another, and took on a state like melting wax.

Before long, they formed a short tree of flesh and blood. Its surface was rough and uneven, like the shell of a walnut.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Inside the tree of flesh and blood, there seemed to be a heart beating, strong and powerful.

Just as Senor was about to become unable to endure the noise, the tree of flesh and blood withered all at once, rotted into mud, and spread out.

Where it had originally stood, a small fleshy, wet, sticky ball remained.

Very quickly, the small ball grew limbs, grew a head, and became a palm-sized humanoid creature.

It had no eyes, no nose, no ears on its face—only a hole-like mouth.

From that mouth, gray-white fog emerged, then withdrew again, doing so repeatedly without stopping.

The old man named Jakes devoutly and fanatically recited “Mother Tree of Desire” many times under his breath, then reached out and grabbed the strange little person.

Silently, all the candle flames went out. But to a Wraith with night vision, this did not prevent them from seeing.

Blood Admiral Senor stared at Jakes and heard the lord say in a low voice, “For this ritual, we prepared for a very long time. The god’s bestowment can help us sense the target’s existence across a fairly wide range.

“Then, with the spectacles made by members of the Life School, we can accurately find him!”

As he spoke, Jakes took a monocle from the inner pocket of his clothes. It looked no different from normal, but in the darkness, it flashed with a pearly-white glow.

“Lord Jakes, what do we do next?” Senor asked respectfully.

Jakes, whose wrinkles were very deep, thought for a few seconds.

“After daybreak, we search for the target.

“If he has a powerful helper, we will monitor him, prevent him from leaving the sensing range, and then wait patiently for Lord Suah to arrive.

“If he has no protector, and is himself weak, then we will act directly.”

When the word “Suah” was spoken, Blood Admiral Senor’s forehead visibly twitched, as though the mere name of that lord could make one feel fear.

He slowly inhaled and said, “Yes, Lord Jakes!”

After answering, Senor instinctively touched the necklace hanging before his chest.

The necklace seemed made of pure silver, and its pendant was an ancient-looking coin.

…

Having been frightened by the telegraph, Klein did not sleep much for the second half of the night. As soon as day broke, he sacrificed his suitcase, wallet, and most of his cash above the gray fog.

After handling his traces and checking out at the inn’s front desk, he took a carriage directly to Bayam’s edge, left the city, and headed up the mountain, as though going to the cemetery prepared for the local natives.

Halfway there, he suddenly turned into the woods, intending to walk in a straight line toward the edge of a cliff, where an enormous underwater creature was already waiting below!

Inside the forest, birds cried and insects crawled. From time to time, small wild animals darted past. Klein stepped on the humus-covered ground and walked very quickly.

Along the way, he saw mushrooms that had sprouted after the rain, and scraps of cloth and other trash left behind by certain Bayam residents who had come for picnics. Everything was so peaceful, accompanied by the fresh morning air.

A leaf drifted down. Klein kept walking, casually dodging it.

Just then, the leaf’s speed suddenly increased. It even strangely changed direction and stuck to his mouth and nose.

Like an adult’s palm, it firmly covered Klein’s nose and mouth, completely stopping him from breathing.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Branches detached from trees in every direction, shooting toward Klein like arrows.

At the same time, the scraps, paper, and other trash left behind by picnickers gained life of their own. They connected together, transforming into a dense, bizarre net that pounced over at once!