Blood Moon

At the moment Xio asked about 'Wolf Fish Canned Food,' Alanson felt his heart tighten when he heard the voice. He instinctively prepared to activate the Beyonder Ability of the 'Sea Breeze Hat' and whip up a whirlwind.

But two men wearing black bowler hats and black-and-white checkered police uniforms moved even faster than he did. They had already arrived not far behind Alanson before the can-opening sound rang out! Their uniforms had no shoulder insignia; only a seagull emblem hung on their chests—the exact same emblem as the "Pritz Harbor Ticketing Company." Clearly, the two men were guards employed by the company.

When Alanson turned around, he saw one of them leap forward and tackle a young man with obvious Southern Continent features to the ground. The other skillfully covered the can in the young man's hand with a bag. Then, apparently still worried, he untied another bag from his waist and put it over the first one.

The entire series of movements flowed as smoothly as water, with a level of proficiency that was almost painful to watch.

After one of the guards escorted the Southern Continent young man away, the other turned to the somewhat stunned Alanson and Xio and said, "Sir, miss, I'm sorry for the fright. That man has a grudge against the company, so he wanted to use Wolf Fish Canned Food to get revenge."

"What he was about to open was Wolf Fish Canned Food? Is there really a need to be so tense?" Because the guard had dealt with it so quickly, Xio hadn't smelled anything. She asked curiously, "What's so frightening about it?"

"Miss, you don't know how awful Wolf Fish Canned Food smells! Back when I was a sailor, there was once a rumor at sea. A group of pirates seized a merchant ship from Laws—ah, that's a city on the eastern coast of Feysac. Anyway, those pirates eagerly opened their spoils, only to discover that they were wooden barrels filled with pickled wolf fish. Can you imagine what happened next? They fainted, vomited, and lost their ability to fight, becoming rewards for the crew." The guard spoke with a lingering look of fear on his face.

"Why would something that smells so awful... be made into food?" Xio found it difficult to understand.

The guard was speechless for a moment, because he wanted to know the answer too.

Seeing that the guard couldn't answer either, Xio turned her gaze toward Alanson. He shrugged and said, "Some people simply have unusual tastes... Besides, this method of pickling wolf fish is simple and inexpensive, and it doesn't spoil or rot easily." After offering that brief explanation, he no longer delayed and strode into the hall of the "Pritz Harbor Ticketing Company."

"All right." Xio nodded reluctantly and followed Alanson.

The hall was quite spacious, with a full seven ticket windows, but more than a dozen people were already lined up in front of each one.

Alanson looked around before coming to a straight, upright brown wooden board.

Many sheets of white paper had been pasted onto the board, displaying all the information on passenger ships for the past week, including destinations, ports of call, and prices for different classes.

However, perhaps he had come at an unfortunate time. On most of the second- and third-class cabins of ships departing within the next day or two, a red circle had been drawn around the notice, marking them with one phrase:

"Sold Out."

Alanson frowned. He hadn't expected the tickets to be so sought after.

"That's because the Royal Navy Base on Oak Island outside the harbor seems to be planning some major action recently. Their inspections have become extremely strict, causing the number of passenger ships and liners coming and going to fall by forty or fifty percent. You know, ships returning from overseas colonies usually carry a few things they don't want others to discover... So the remaining tickets are in even greater demand!" The guard seemed to be the sort who easily struck up conversations, and he stepped forward to explain.

Oak Island, Royal Navy Base... Come to think of it, in two days, the Pritz—the kingdom's first ironclad warship, hailed as a vessel that would "change the order of the seas"—would be making its maiden voyage, wouldn't it? Even the king would come to attend the ceremony. No wonder the inspections were so strict... Though, given the king's strength, it would probably take several Archangels to kill Him.

While grumbling inwardly, Alanson turned his gaze back to the papers on the board and searched for information about first-class cabins. The second- and third-class cabins had already sold out, so only the more expensive ones offered any hope. Besides, first-class cabins came with servants' rooms, so he and Xio only needed to buy one cabin.

In the end, Alanson settled on the Glory of All Cities, which was scheduled to depart on the morning of the twenty-seventh. He didn't know anything about the ship, so he asked the overly friendly guard, "Do you know the Glory of All Cities?"

The guard's spirits lifted when he heard the question, and he immediately launched into a torrent of words. "Sir, you have good taste. The Glory of All Cities is a new ship powered entirely by steam, with a top speed of eighteen knots. It was the first all-steam ship built on a trial basis by the All-Cities Shipyard over in Intis. Its captain once served as first mate aboard a colonial warship in Bayam, so he has extremely rich experience. The All-Cities Shipyard poached him with a high salary, and that's how he became the captain of this passenger ship."

Alanson nodded as he listened, feeling quite satisfied. After all, the ship had neither ties to the Church of Storms nor an overly strong military flavor. It was probably being promoted by the capitalists of Intis to compete with the north for business, making it a good fit for his and Xio's needs.

After buying two first-class tickets on the Glory of All Cities, they returned to the hotel and patiently waited for the next day. Alanson had originally wanted to look for the local Beyonder circle and see whether anyone was selling the materials he needed. But there was too little time. Even if he managed to find a gathering, he wouldn't have time to earn the organizers' trust, so he could only give up.

The next day, June 27, at nine in the morning.

Alanson carried a suitcase and Cane-Sword as he arrived at Rose Quay together with Xio, who was disguised as a maid.

The Glory of All Cities was docked there. Its hull was enormous, and its design was also quite exquisite. It was said that several Artists had been consulted during its design.

It possessed fresh features entirely different from those of the Old Era. Its smokestacks soared high, colorful flags fluttered, and its lines were crisp and clear. Each side of the hull had twelve cannons and corresponding gun emplacements—an absolute necessity for defending against pirates and competitors.

This gave the guests boarding one after another a considerable sense of security, and they were no longer as fearful of the journey ahead.

Alanson stood below and looked up. Amid the undulating blue sea, he pulled Xio up the gangplank and then boarded the deck.

Each carrying their luggage, the two followed the flow of passengers into the cabin without hurry. They went upstairs and arrived at the room he had purchased, 301.

After opening the door, Alanson swept his gaze across the room and felt that the cabin was even better than the detached house he rented in the East Borough of Backlund.

The living room at the entrance was about thirty square meters and connected to a master bedroom and two servants' rooms. There was a private washroom, a standard wardrobe, and a desk made of rosewood.

"Xio, you can sleep in the master bedroom. I'll stay in the servants' room near the outside," Alanson said with a smile after putting down his luggage.

"But I'm the one pretending to be the servant... Won't people suspect something if they see me?" Xio said hesitantly.

Alanson smiled again and imitated his teacher's tone. "First, no one should come visiting our room. Once we close the door, people outside won't know. Second, no one on the ship knows us. Even if they see us, let them think whatever they want."

Xio felt that made sense and didn't dwell on the matter. They had spent so much money on a first-class cabin, after all. Someone had to stay in the master bedroom; otherwise, wouldn't that be a waste?

The two of them tidied away their belongings, especially putting the Cane-Sword somewhere safe, before returning together to the deck and chatting with the other passengers. During this process, Alanson met the captain of the ship beneath their feet, Alanson Edward.

The first mate from a colonial warship was very talkative. Not only did he vividly describe the local customs and scenery of Bayam, but he also shared some of his family's history:

"Speaking of which, my family isn't made up of pure Intisians. More than a hundred years ago, we were settled in Backlund, living in what was then the Northwest District..."

Before the watching passengers could say anything, the sailor beside them immediately burst into laughter and jeered, "Captain, did you drink too much in broad daylight? Since when did Backlund have a Northwest District?"

"Don't be so quick to disbelieve me! My family still has handwritten diaries passed down from our ancestors. They lived at... lived at Drahair Street?" Captain Alanson said with a solemn expression.

But the more seriously he acted, the less the others believed him. They simply assumed he was telling a joke. Only Alanson regarded him thoughtfully.

That night, after tossing and turning for a long while without being able to sleep, Alanson put on his clothes and left the cabin, carefully making his way to the deck.

He raised his head and saw a scarlet Full Moon hanging high in the sky, quietly shining upon the black "velvet Curtain."

"Dawn of June 28, the night of the Blood Moon..."

Muttering to himself, he looked toward the northwest, as if he could see through the barrier of space and glimpse the figure in the dim room of an old apartment in Tingen City.

"Mr. Fool must have descended at this time!"

Mr. Fool had finally arrived. Please recommend and collect.