Jana Snake Bone

Old Peter's gaze settled on Arthur, full of scrutiny.

As the host of the Old Wood Ship Auction, knowing every guest was part of his job.

The captain of the Great White Shark, the newly knighted Lord Arthur—judging by his family background and personal history, he couldn't possibly know this kind of writing.

The Old Wood Ship Auction's senior appraisers had carefully examined it and concluded that it was the bone of a marine creature.

The writing carved into the bone was older than Old Latin and Ancient Hermetic Language.

They had initially thought it belonged to the New Continent's writing system, but after asking Bachelor Leo, a star pupil of an old professor, to examine it, he had denied that it was from the New Continent.

Leo had declared with complete confidence, "I'm well-versed in three ancient scripts from the New Continent: Aztec, Maya, and Inca.

The symbols on the bone have nothing to do with the New Continent's writing systems."

Arthur didn't trouble Arena. At present, their relationship was still a simple master-and-servant one.

But for various reasons, he had already entered Arena's inner circle and become a trusted subordinate.

They had fought the Black Devil cult together and sunk the Jasmine together, but some things weren't appropriate to reveal just yet.

He had already told Arena that he had a certain talent for languages, so this was the perfect chance to "show it."

There was another reason, too: going to Arena in front of everyone to discuss it would be too rash and wouldn't suit the way someone of his station should behave.

Old Peter's gaze was like a magnifying glass under a torch, focused on Arthur. He asked in a low voice, "Does Lord Arthur recognize this ancient writing?"

Arthur didn't answer. Instead, he returned to Old Peter's earlier promise.

"If I tell you what it says, will I get the first chance to buy it at seventy percent of the price?"

"Of course!"

Old Peter understood Arthur's reservations. Pirates weren't quick to trust promises, so he immediately gave his assurance.

"If Lord Arthur knows what the writing says, I can guarantee that this auction lot will be offered to you first at seventy percent of the price."

Arthur's gaze fell on the writing on the Jana Snake Bone displayed on the auction block.

It was written in Sea Race Language, and its meaning was quite rich:

[Jana will destroy the merfolk. ## The key to opening the sanctuary.]

He only had a basic grasp of Sea Race Language and wasn't fluent enough to recognize two of the characters.

He had nearly jumped to his feet in excitement and told Arena to buy it on the spot because this artifact had considerable practical value.

Mr. Red Grail's bloodline came from the merfolk, whose history of decline had long since been lost to the beginning of the Era of Light.

This sentence was undoubtedly a supplement to the Mermaid Book. The Jana Race had once waged war against the merfolk.

Judging by the tone of the bone's inscription, the Jana Race had most likely held the upper hand.

"Jana."

Arthur's mind raced as he immediately fabricated a story from the past.

"I have a friend whose field of study is similar to the writing on the bone. Once, out of curiosity, we asked him about it.

"He told me that the word was 'Jana.'

"It refers to an ancient Sea Race. They say it was a half-human, half-snake creature that lived in the depths of the ocean.

"Since it made me think of the ancient merfolk, I've always wondered about the Jana. Was its upper half human, or its lower half...

"I've never seen a real Jana, and even that friend couldn't say for sure. That's why I remember it so clearly."

When Arthur finished speaking, laughter rippled through the great hall, everyone's thoughts stirred by the image of the Jana.

If its upper half was human and its lower half was a snake, how would it reproduce?

Mr. Old Peter took the opportunity to lift the cotton cloth and cover the first character on the bone, then smiled at the crowd.

"Mr. Arthur's learning is impressive. Are there any other guests who recognize this writing?"

"If not, this lot will be offered to Lord Arthur first at seventy percent of the price!"

Mr. Old Peter's question failed to turn up a second learned guest who knew Sea Race Language.

The guests present focused their attention on Arthur, weighing the worth of this pirate lord in their minds.

Arena seemed unconcerned, her eyes slightly narrowed as she pretended to rest.

In her mind, she had already labeled Arthur: a man of mystery.

From his dancing and Swordsmanship aboard the Jasmine to his claimed talent for languages and his knowledge of an exceedingly rare script.

She couldn't help wondering: did she really understand her own servant?

She even felt a trace of indignation. If he truly had such a gift for languages, why hadn't he told her sooner? Wouldn't the family have done everything they could to cultivate his talent?

Then Arena reconsidered. Perhaps this was for the best.

Serving her, Arena Stuart, was serving the Stuart Family.

But serving the Stuart Family didn't necessarily mean serving her, Arena.

From a certain perspective, buying him the Scholar Potion and putting his talent for languages to use seemed like the best way to spend her gold right now.

Her excitement slowly settled. Arena opened her eyes, genuinely appearing unconcerned, and gave a soft laugh.

"Even if it's carved with ancient writing, it's still just a bone."

An ordinary bone, with no value whatsoever, couldn't fetch much of a price.

Hearing Arena's remark, Old Peter chuckled. "Miss Arena, you don't understand.

"After a professional examination, this was identified as the bone of a marine creature. Now it seems it may well be the snake bone of a supernatural creature—the Jana!"

In just two sentences, Old Peter had raised the value of the bone in his hand to a level it didn't deserve.

"May well be," "professional examination," "Jana Snake Bone"—the mere possibility was enough to pique the collecting instincts of some noble family.

As soon as Old Peter finished speaking, Arthur chimed in, "I bid 101 gold coins.

"The Jana carved writing into the bones of their own kind. Are you people crazy, or am I crazy to think they're crazy?

"That extra gold coin is my respect for knowledge."

After speaking, he adopted a nonchalant air and waited for someone else to raise the bid.

At 101 gold coins, he only needed to pay seventy percent, or 70 gold and 70 silver. Everyone else would have to pay the full 101 gold coins.

No one knew Arthur's limit, and nobody would rashly raise the bid and offend him.

Once Arthur had secured the right to buy it first at seventy percent, the not particularly valuable bone was bound to end up in his hands.

Arena suddenly stiffened. She remembered that Arthur had already handed over all his gold coins to her.

Coming up with 100 gold coins in a short time was difficult for a pirate.

In other words, she, Arena, would have to front the money for this nameless bone too.

After a while, no one spoke.

Arthur got his wish and acquired the bone. Then the auction continued.

"Up next is an incredibly precious item, the second-to-last treasure of this auction."

"After extensive testing, we can confirm that this is a supernatural potion—and an exceptionally rare one from the Scholar Path!"

As Old Peter's voice rose and fell, the atmosphere in the great hall grew tense. This was the most valuable lot of the auction.

A potion from the Scholar Path, a precious Sequence 9 Potion.

Arthur leaned back slightly, putting on a relaxed air, as if he didn't care about the "Scholar Potion."

Sensing the atmosphere around her, Arena couldn't help feeling a headache coming on. It seemed that many people had their eyes on this potion.