Fu Qingyan was a little surprised at first, but soon realized, is it possible that the powerful-looking cloaked girl in front of her is actually a player?
No, not likely.
If the other party was really a player, they wouldn't ask such a question. After all, they can identify the ingredients at a glance. If the other party asked this, it could only mean that she was just suspicious, but not completely sure.
This means that she is not a player, but an NPC.
An NPC that can recognize and understand the player's identity may sound a bit incredible, but it is quite normal in the game "World Tree: Origin". At least in the official game stacking forum, there are many posts mentioning and discussing this kind of thing. Some people even tried to tell the NPC that the world they lived in was actually a huge game, but the NPC thought it was a lunatic and was burned to death on the stake.
This kind of interaction between players and NPCs is very interesting, but Fu Qingyan can notice another thing. The NPCs described in those posts who know or can understand the existence of players seem to be NPCs with a certain status or speciality, which is similar to key plot characters in other games.
The girl hiding in the cloak in front of her revealed this feeling, which was one of the main reasons why Fu Qingyan thought that the other party was an NPC.
"Do you know the player?" Brainstorming never uses language to test, so Fu Qingyan asked directly.
Hearing this, Li Wen tilted his head slightly and raised his brows slightly. It seemed that her classmate regarded her as an NPC.
Based on Li Wen's understanding of Fu Qingyan, she still doesn't know what kind of thinking circuit the other party has gone through. She just wanted to create a sense of strangeness by asking just now, so as to prevent the other party from guessing her real identity from her words and deeds. But now it seems that it has had other effects?
Li Wen doesn't really care about this. Players have the communication advantage of players, and NPCs also have the advantage range of NPCs. If the other party misunderstands it, just misunderstand it. There is no need for her to explain anything in a hurry.
"I am Mephisto." Li Wen did not answer directly, but said calmly, "It seems that you are the missing people on the ship?"
Mephisto?
Fu Qingyan blinked. It was difficult to determine whether this was the name of an NPC or a player role-playing. But it didn't matter. She quickly reacted, "Missing?"
Therefore, Li Wen briefly described what happened on the ship, including Kingdom Navy and the fugitive pirate Joseph.
"Now, Captain Grant of the Navy has believed that the crazy sailor Old Joey missing on the ship is Joseph himself, and you are his subordinates or helpers."
Li Wen deliberately spoke in a cold and suspicious tone, hoping that Fu Qingyan could understand what she meant.
"Why is there still such a thing..."
The one who spoke was not Fu Qingyan, but another classmate. Li Wen just glanced sideways and looked away. After all, the only person she was really familiar with and reliable among these people was Fu Qingyan. As for the others, she really didn't know much about them.
If that's the case, don't bother with it.
As for Fu Qingyan, after getting the information from Li Wen, the first thought that came to mind was that Old Joey had deceived them. But the next moment, she rejected the idea. After all, the anger and regret shown by Old Joey at that time did not seem to be fake.
"We did meet the old sailor. However, I don't think he will be a pirate." Fu Qingyan told the truth. Since the other party showed a willingness to communicate, it means that she did not recognize this possibility, otherwise the other party should have solved them together with Drowned Corpse.
"Old Joey told us some of his past experiences. He said that he must take revenge on Two-tailed Mermaid alone, otherwise the curse will not be broken. Although I don't know what it is, Old Joey also asked us to stay where we are to avoid danger. This should not be what pirates do."
I see, but that is not an ordinary Two-tailed Mermaid, but an ancient relic with evil power. Let alone Old Joey, a tortured old sailor, even a character like Colonel Grant may not be able to handle it.
The only perfect solution is to find ways to get close to the statue and use spells to control it. Old Joey may have this intention, but his voyage diary recording the incantation is now in the hands of Li Wen. Without the incantation, he will not be the opponent of the Two-tailed Mermaid statue.
"Do you know which direction Old Joey is going?" Li Wen asked, but after thinking about it, he changed his explanation, "If you know, then walk in front and lead the way. Of course, you can stay where you are if you want, but I'm not sure what means that guy will use to kill you in the future."
Fu Qingyan certainly doesn't think this is an embarrassing thing, on the contrary, it is quite beneficial to them. However, the girl did not agree immediately. Instead, she turned around and asked other teammates what they thought with her eyes, even though she knew that these people would unconditionally trust her decision.
So after a brief and unnecessary solicitation of opinions, everyone agreed to lead the way for Li Wen.
On the way, Li Wen also learned about Old Joey's past from Fu Qingyan's words.
Thirty years ago, before the Adventurer was called this name, it was originally a salvage ship, not a merchant ship. Old Joey is the sailor and diving staff on the ship. Their job is not to catch fish, but to salvage sunken ships, corpses and even some gold, silver, treasures and antiques swallowed by the deep sea.
In theory, this is not legal. But the law is ineffective in the face of interests, not to mention that they are a group of reckless men who have already entrusted their lives to the sea.
During the last salvage operation, the captain of Old Joey bought a piece of information from an informant. It was said that at the edge of the Endless Sea, there was a ship full of money and treasures sunk there, and no one cared about it. Because that ocean is a dead zone and extremely dangerous, any ship or sailor who goes deep into it will suffer.
But Old Joey and the others were young and energetic, and the information was bought at a high price, so after a heated discussion, they decided to go.
After successfully arriving at the destination, Old Joey was the first to discover the location of the sunken ship and found a statue of Two-tailed Mermaid in the shattered cabin. According to the agreement drawn up in the discussion before departure, they could only take away money or valuable goods on this trip. Anything other than this should be returned to the sea. However, Old Joey did not follow it and secretly hid the statue.
Afterwards, nightmares came, and people on the ship began to die miserably due to inexplicable things one after another. When only Old Joey was left, he knew that this was a tragedy caused by his own greed. Although he was extremely sad and angry, he decided to survive at the hands of the statue at all costs and seek revenge. So he started pretending to be crazy, and this trick really deceived the statue, allowing him to survive.
What Fu Qingyan said is consistent with what was written in the voyage diary, but Li Wen still has some puzzles. For example, why can he survive by pretending to be crazy and acting stupid? For example, how did a sailboat without any extraordinary power arrive at the Endless Sea?
Finally, is Old Joey really not crazy?
Although she had many questions, Li Wen was not anxious. She could feel that she was very close to the truth.