Initial Progress
"I feel like I've heard this somewhere before..." the Inn muttered to himself.
Lorry responded with a smile:
"Perhaps it's because this name is quite common in Intis."
The Inn nodded in deep agreement:
"Indeed, I've heard that duplicate names are common in some provinces. To distinguish them, people have to add qualifiers like 'who's from' before the name; otherwise, they have no idea who they're calling."
As he spoke, he suddenly seemed to remember something, slapped his forehead, and sighed, "As people get older, their brains just don't work as well."
"Didn't that brat say he wanted to eat Yamaha yesterday?"
"I asked an old friend who supplies food to the naval base, and he told me that Norga no longer has this kind of thing; it was completely eaten to extinction several years ago."
Several years ago? A thought struck Lorry, and feigning curiosity, he said, "But I heard from Danitz that a similar thing happened more than forty years ago."
The Inn chuckled, "He'll tell you everything."
After saying that, he explained simply, "Yes, that's true, but the two situations are different."
According to Biologist, the so-called extinction more than 40 years ago was actually just that all the hatched Adult Insect ended up in people's stomachs.
"The Yamaha that appeared later probably came from insect eggs buried underground. What that kid ate was probably one of those."
"Back then, rumors about the Ghost Ship were rampant, causing widespread panic on the island. There were hardly any customers in the shops. The Yamaha that my old friend gave me was too much for one person to finish, so it ended up with this bastard."
Ghost Ship... Lorry had been nodding in agreement, finding the Biologist's explanation reasonable, but upon hearing the last sentence, a thought suddenly struck him:
Is it possible that Yamaha is related to Ghost Ship?
He felt that was possible!
The Ghost Ship last appeared six years ago, and according to the Inn, the Yamaha disappeared around the same time!
Continuing along this line of Mystery:
Yamaha was very likely a passenger on the Ghost Ship!
Lorry closed his eyes and imagined a scene:
On a cold winter morning, in a thick fog so dense that one could not see more than a few meters away, a Ghost Ship silently passed by. As it passed land, countless "passengers" leaped from the deck, plunging into the soil as the Ghost Ship quietly disappeared into the distance.
In just a few breaths, the "passengers" and the boat all disappeared, leaving the shore empty and everything as before, as if nothing had happened.
If you want to verify this with facts, it's actually quite simple... just ask the boss if Yamaha appeared twice more, and if the first appearance was 32 years ago...
However, given his professional instincts, he might very well guess the connection between the two... which could negatively impact the exploration...
Moreover, for me, there's no need for verification; I can directly determine whether the answer is correct... I'm quite certain my speculation is sound...
Thinking this, a barely perceptible smile appeared on Lorry's lips.
His "Mystery Pryer" Potion has been digested!
Although the magnitude wasn't large, it was enough to illustrate a point.
Yamaha is associated with Ghost Ship!
"Hoo... "Lorry breathed silently in his heart, and smiled as he spoke:
"Anyway, I'd still like to ask you for help—that guy's always bragging about it, and I'm really curious to try it out."
The Inn grunted in agreement. "I'll give it a try."
"However, I suggest you don't get your hopes up too high."
"Understood." Lorry smiled and nodded. Seeing that the boss was already packing up, he didn't say anything more, thanked him, and turned to go upstairs.
He returned to his room, hesitated for a moment, took out the Ritual Silver Dagger, arranged it to form Wall of Spirituality, and waved his hand to retrieve a large amount of materials from another Dimension.
Blood-Spotted Black Mosquito, the core of the Candle-Eating Spirit, the Human-Faced Cage Grass, the larvae of the Mist Swarm... he categorized and organized these Beyonder Characteristic.
These were the results of the Tarot Club members' hard work last week, and were retrieved from Fors in Backlund this afternoon.
For Lorry now, he is quite skilled at mixing them.
The corresponding materials were neatly tossed into the beakers, and with reactions that included boiling or smoking, the Potion quickly stabilized and took shape.
His gaze swept over it, a slight smirk playing on his lips, and he removed the "Parasite" ring and tossed it inside.
With an extremely faint "glug" sound, the cup of deep blue, almost black "Marauder's Potion" seemed to be swallowed whole, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
£400 gone... This thought inexplicably flashed through Lorry's mind.
The next second, he silently exhaled and tossed the "Parasite" ring into another cup of shimmering liquid that seemed to condense mist. Five minutes later, Lorry sensed the twelve transparent, circular insects inside the "Parasite" ring and grinned with a mixture of joy and heartache.
He seemed to hear a voice in his ear:
"Hello, your balance is insufficient. Please top up promptly..."
Meanwhile, in the lobby downstairs.
After cleaning and locking the main door, the Inn came back to the counter, took the unfinished fried beans, and sat down in his Easy Chair.
He glanced at the stack of Newspaper he had just gotten from an old friend that afternoon, and casually picked up the top one, "Rorsted Tabloid."
The Inn habitually flipped to the front page, his gaze sweeping over the eye-catching headline. "Breaking News! The Era of the Four Kings Ends, a Fifth Pirate King is Born."
After a few seconds of silence, he couldn't help but exclaim "Whoa!"
"Five Kings has appeared at sea?"
The Inn owner muttered to himself as he quickly lowered his gaze to scan the undisputed front-page headline.
The next second, his gaze froze, remaining there for a long time:
According to our reporter, after cross-verification from multiple reliable sources, the rumor that "Vice Admiral Iceberg" Edwina's Third Mate "Flower Bow Tie" Jodson defeated "King of Immortality" Agalito is true. His Bounty Amount has now been officially changed to £120,000.
"It is said that this figure exceeds the 100,000 pounds Bounty the ' King of Immortality ' Agalito received in the Loen Kingdom, ranking fourth among the Five Kings..."
Jodson?
Jodson!
The Inn couldn't reconcile the image of the handsome young man who had just cheerfully asked him for help finding Yamaha with the news report before him.
Bounty 120,000 pounds... converted to Intis currency, that's nearly three million Verl D'Or... I was just chatting with a Pirate King, and he was very polite... That bastard, no, that Danitz kid has really struck it rich... he's quietly become Pirate King's henchman...
His thoughts were churning, and he forced back the urge to swallow, exhaling forcefully.
He plans to contact a few more old friends tomorrow to see if he can find a way to get some Yamaha that managed to escape the net from nearby islands.