“There is danger in the inn.”
Klein softly chanted the divination statement, entered Cogitation, and then flipped a gold coin.
A faint but crisp sound echoed in the quiet room. The gold coin tumbled and fell, landing in Klein’s palm.
It was tails, indicating a negative response.
He sprinkled a circle around him, then he quickly took four steps counterclockwise, entering the gray fog to make a divination for confirmation.
In about ten seconds, he received a revelation—there was still no danger.
Returning to the real world, Klein shook his head; put the gold coin and bottle back; wore his coat, trousers, and boots before sitting at the edge of his bed, leaning back against the pillow as he placed great caution on this turn of events.
He still remembered his Seer principles, especially the one about “divination is not all-powerful,” so even if the answers he received indicated it was safe, he didn’t dare to relax and return to his slumber.
This isn’t to say that he didn’t believe in the gray fog’s ability to shield him from interference, but rather that there were too many possibilities. His divination statement might not be accurate enough to cover them all, resulting in his misinterpretation.
He already had a guess about what had just happened. It was that the four adventurers in the restaurant had indeed found the abandoned and forgotten ancient temple in the primitive forest on Symeem Island. They had obtained wealth or cultural relics, but they had also stirred the barely-surviving evil spirits, causing them to be plagued by evil thoughts and curses.
Time ticked by, and Klein suddenly felt a subtle spirituality fluctuation spread out from the room and quickly blend into the surrounding darkness.
The hidden flow that he had barely sensed vanished, and the tranquility of the night returned.
…
Bayam, Amyris Leaf Bar.
Danitz, determined to hoodwink any monitoring, carried a cup of Lanti Proof and drunkenly watched as the girls on the boxing ring danced a hot, sexy dance.
“Dogshit!” It’s been so long since they’ve lost a single piece of clothing! ” he shouted with the other drunks.
Then, ignoring whether they received any response, they laughed out loud, clinked glasses, and drank.
“Have you read the newspapers?” a man who was fooling around in the bar late at night burped and said to his companions.
“Did your brain get eaten by a donkey? Do you think… Do you think that I can read those twisting and turning letters of the alphabet? Holy Lord of Storms, I’m only interested in this kind of twisting and turning! Hahaha!” His companion raised his glass and pointed at the dancers, laughing at what he thought was a humorous answer.
The man who had spoken earlier smacked the back of his head.
“Steel is dead!
“He was killed by Blazing!”
The nearby Danitz was stunned for a moment, then he sat up, turning his head slightly.
He cleared his throat and took a sip of the liquor, acting as if nothing had happened, but he secretly inched closer to hear what the others had to say about the matter.
The adventurer and part-time pirate who had brought him into the trade had once said that life at sea would’ve been meaningless without liquor, women, and boasting.
“Steel? What Steel? Let me tell you, when I was young, I once defeated a steel pipe!” another drunkard interrupted.
“What did you do to the steel pipe? Should I say something like woah, yours sure is thin!” The first man to speak revealed a knowing smile.
He didn’t wait for a reply as he continued, “Steel Maveti is dead! The second mate of Admiral of Blood is dead!”
The last half of his words came out in a low growl. It frightened one of the fellows who was already wavering to slip to the bottom of the table as he raved in horror, “It wasn’t me, I didn’t do it…”
“The papers mention that it was jointly done by the Navy and the Church. Steel is dead, Blood Brambles is dead. Even Calm Squall is dead. John Smith and that bunch of assholes have been caught as well!” A drunk who was still a little lucid came over and joined in on the conversation.
“No, no, no! That’s not the truth!” The man who raised the topic first shook his head with a smile. “I have a friend working at the news agency. He told me that he has verifiable intel that cannot be published. The Navy and the Church were only used. The true murderer is Blazing Danitz and a mysterious, experienced, and powerful adventurer, a bounty hunter.”
“Impossible! There’s absolutely no way Blazing Danitz can defeat Steel! Even if it’s a sneak attack, there’s no way he can finish Steel!” A few drinkers shared similar viewpoints.
“The crux is that powerful adventurer. I suspect he’s an adventurer nearing the rank of a pirate admiral!” the man who had started the conversation emphasized. “I’ve no idea how Danitz got to know that guy. Heh, he contributed in the matter. Apparently, Blood Brambles was finished off by him! Didn’t you notice? Blazing’s bounty has increased to 4,200 pounds!”
“That’s right!”
“Really?”
“Blazing sure isn’t simple!”
“What a fierce pirate, no—a great pirate!”
“Great pirates? I really couldn’t tell the last time I drank with him!”
At this moment, Danitz wished he could fly back to the ship and drink and brag with fellows like Iron Skin and Barrel, telling them all about the thrilling events in Bansy Harbor—how he had defeated the fallen bishop, how he had cleverly escaped from the ambush of Steel and the others, how he had set up a trap to finish off all his enemies, and how he would never be able to play the card game of life ever again.
…
As the Storm cathedral’s bells rang, the orange sun rose in the sky. The surroundings were still so quiet that only the sound of water could be heard.
Without encountering anything abnormal, Klein exhaled in relief and took off his clothes, returned to bed, and made up for his lack of sleep by sleeping for another two more hours.
His considerable spirituality allowed him to wake up at the scheduled time of 8:30 a.m. He washed up slowly, changed his clothes, and went to the first floor to buy a loaf of bread with cooked chestnuts and a glass of Gurney Sap. He ate as he walked to the dock.
Since he had already bought his return tickets for the 9 o’clock liner, Klein kept watch of the time and prepared to board the ship.
At that moment, he saw the lady with the greenish-gray eyes, as well as the three male adventurers from her team.
They were buying tickets at the ticket office.
His revelation was that the later liner wouldn’t be in danger.
Klein hesitated for two seconds, looked at the passengers waiting for the ten o’clock liner near the ticket office, rubbed his fingers together in silence, and lit the ticket in his palm.
He went back to the ticket office as if nothing had happened and bought the ten o’clock liner ticket for four soli.
Then, he went to the washroom at the docks, went above the gray fog, and quickly divined his worries.
He knew very well that if the results showed that there were great dangers, he wouldn’t take the risk of boarding the ship. Instead, he would find a way to prevent the ship from sailing and destroy it, if necessary, to prevent any innocents from dying.
If the revelation was the same as the divination from before, he would ride it normally while keeping a lookout for any accidents.
In the end, he still received a negative answer.
Klein was relieved and returned to the real world. He adjusted the position of the murloc’s bladder for quick access.
If an accident really happened, this Beyonder ingredient would become quite important in the vast ocean.
This Beyonder ingredient could also be used in a rudimentary, simple manner, just like the All-Black Eye which had been contaminated by the True Creator.
…
Ten o’clock sharp.
Klein, in his Gehrman Sparrow appearance, picked up his suitcase, followed the adventurers, and boarded the liner.
Along the way, he appeared to doze off or read old newspapers and magazines on the ship, but in actual fact, he was keeping an eye on the greenish-gray-eyed lady and her companions.
This wariness continued all the way to the port of Bayam, but no accidents occurred in the middle.
He picked up his suitcase, leafing through the papers as he walked down Acid Lemon Street like an ordinary passerby.
If things continued like this, he suspected whether he could resist the urge of sending the fellow to the governor-general’s office.
Walking back to the Wind of Azure Inn, Klein heard undulated snores that were slowly reaching a crescendo before he even took out his keys.
He had previously tampered with Shadow Cloak, so as long as Danitz left, he could use divination methods to track him down and find the Vice Admiral Iceberg.
“Congratulations, Mr. 4,200 Pounds.”
Danitz was instantly wide awake, wanting to laugh dryly in response, but he couldn’t.
At this moment, he felt that his life might be in danger.
