Verdue instinctively swallowed, a feeling of indescribable fear washing over him.
He didn't know what he was afraid of. There was no real danger, just a drop of liquid of unknown origin falling from a height, which made his spine feel cold and his pores tighten.
Perhaps it was the eerie and deathly silence of the environment, or perhaps it was the unknown nature and origin of the liquid... Verdue cautiously took two steps away and patiently began to observe.
In the next few minutes, nothing unusual happened, and no more liquid fell from above.
This led Verdue to reasonably suspect that a bird had simply flown by, carrying a sea fish or a freshwater fish from the island's stream in its beak, with a slightly viscous liquid dripping from its surface.
He calmed himself down and then began to inspect the ruins of the telegraph office.
Nearly ten minutes later, Verdue made a preliminary assessment that the only clues here were bloodstains, simple murals, and something related to the occult, which was worth studying.
Instead of recklessly picking up the blood-red soil to make rubbings of the strange murals, he took out a pure and dreamlike crystal ball from his pocket.
As an Astrologer, he naturally uses his most proficient methods to determine whether or not to take action.
Holding the crystal ball in his left hand and stroking it above with his right, Verdue entered a state of " Astrology ".
The next second, the crystal ball emitted a bright light.
Bang!
It exploded, scattering fragments in all directions.
... Verdue's gaze froze, and he stood there motionless, completely ignoring the pain caused by the shards piercing his body.
"It exploded... it actually exploded..." he muttered to himself, unable to believe it.
The crystal ball fragments embedded in his body seemed to have failed to penetrate the classical robe, and now they fell away without a trace of blood.
Of course, there were small fragments of the crystal ball remaining on Verdue's jaw and face, creating numerous small wounds.
"Who?" Verdue suddenly woke up and turned to look in the other direction.
From the ruins opposite, a figure emerged—it was the scantily clad woman from the pirate ship.
She had been well hidden and hadn't been discovered by Verdue, but the explosion of the crystal ball startled her, causing her to overreact and make her stealth attempt fail.
Verdue's injured face Distortion slightly.
Why are you here?
The young woman curled the corners of her lips, adopting an indifferent attitude:
"This is Bansy Harbor, not your home. Why can't I be here?"
"I'm feeling bored. I'd like to disembark and take a walk, hoping to find some jewelry in the ruins. Is that alright?"
She asked two questions in quick succession, showing no intention of distancing herself from Verdue.
Verdue didn't argue with her. He took out the ointment and rubbing alcohol he had prepared beforehand and treated the injuries on his face and jaw. He then put all the crystal ball shards he had pulled out back into his pocket.
He didn't want his blood to remain in such a rather eerie place.
Next, Verdue adjusted a decoration on her classic robe.
It was a "gate" shaped pattern composed of three rubies, three emeralds, and three diamonds.
Almost instantly, the robe tightened, making Verdue's flesh stand out.
Just as Verdue's bones were about to break, his figure gradually faded and disappeared from the spot.
Then, he was " Teleportation " to the seaside mountain outside Bansy Harbor.
The mountain peak has also collapsed, becoming a ruin made of piled-up rocks.
As far as Verdue knew, this place was once the site where the Bansy residents worshipped the " God of Weather," and it was also a key target of the Church of Storms.
After the crystal ball's self-destruction reminded him of the unknown dangers lurking in the Bansy Telegraph Office, Verdue dared not continue exploring the area to collect occult materials and had to forcibly move to the next pre-arranged location.
This also allowed him to shake off the woman's pursuit.
As soon as Verdue's figure came into view, he bent over, panting heavily, as if he had finally recovered from suffocation.
At the same time, Verdue felt a sharp pain in his right rib area, as if a bone had broken.
After taking several deep breaths, he endured the pain and, with sweat beading on his forehead, took a few steps forward until he reached the altar marked on the map.
Without a doubt, the altar had been destroyed, leaving only a huge, slightly charred, glassy crater surrounded by scattered rubble of various shapes.
Those rubble stones all bear traces of fire and lightning strikes.
After looking around, Verdue Abraham raised his right hand and flicked his sleeve.
A sudden gust of wind arose, and some small pebbles were "pushed" away from their original positions, revealing the ground they had been covering.
This is the " Wind Generation Spell " of the " Trickmaster," which Verdue uses to replace his manual labor and ensure his safety to the greatest extent possible.
As the rubble "flew" away, Verdue saw the same charred ground, with some areas bearing only a few, very incomplete patterns, designs, and symbols.
Ugh!
The wind howled more fiercely, swirling around Verdue's ears, causing him to look up at the sky in surprise.
The wind that used to only move small pebbles had somehow turned into a hurricane, pushing him so hard that he was swaying slightly.
Verdue immediately saw thick, dark clouds gathering high in the sky, as if a storm was about to break.
Although he had heard that Bansy was a " Weather Museum," he never imagined that the changes would come so suddenly.
For a fleeting moment, Verdue wondered if his " Wind Generation Spell " had summoned the storm, or if his clearing of the altar ruins had triggered some kind of change.
This speculation caused cold sweat to quickly bead on his forehead.
Amidst the raging storm, Verdue saw a pile of rubble fly up diagonally ahead, revealing a huge rock that had been buried beneath it.
The surface of the boulder was crisscrossed with deep cracks, giving the impression that it would split open at the slightest touch.
By this time, the strong winds had subsided considerably, but heavy rain was still brewing.
Verdue, realizing he had already arrived in Bansy Harbor, couldn't be scared away like this, so he mustered his courage and approached the boulder covered in charred cracks.
He then took out a magnifying glass with a handle engraved with strange patterns and began to carefully examine the condition of the boulder.
Seven or eight minutes later, Verdue put away the magnifying glass, which belonged to the magical item, and sighed with regret and frustration.
He has preliminarily confirmed that there is nothing wrong with the boulder and it does not involve anything mystical.
Just as Verdue was about to look away and leave, he suddenly noticed a bright red stain seeping out from where the base of the boulder met the soil.
The bright red color gradually expanded, like blood gushing out.
However, it did not spread too much, remaining confined to a very small area.
The image of the two blood-red figures in the ruins of the telegraph office flashed through Verdue's mind, and a tingling sensation ran down his scalp uncontrollably.
His lips quickly went dry, and his gut feeling told him it wasn't something good.
Swallowing again, Verdue raised his right hand and created another gust of wind, causing many tiny pebbles to roll over, completely filling the bottom of the boulder and covering the oozing crimson.
He didn't linger there any longer, forcing himself to activate " Teleportation " again and head towards the last designated destination.
This time, he broke another rib, and the pain almost made him faint.
Coupled with the suffocating feeling from the compressed space, Verdue felt as if he were teetering on the edge of death.
It took him several tens of seconds to recover and turn his gaze forward.
This place is also a ruin, with collapsed houses covering the overgrown ground.
According to a pirate who once explored the ruins of Bansy, there is an item here worth studying:
It was an ordinary wooden door, but it was the only thing in Bansy that was still intact.
The pirate found nothing unusual about the wooden door, so he ordered his men to lift it and try to carry it back to the ship.
However, after taking only two steps, they suddenly collapsed, their heads dragging their spines off their bodies and rolling to the side.
This terrified the pirate, who dared not linger any longer and hastily led the remaining crew away.
Verdue didn't completely believe the other man's story. Although he didn't have much experience at sea, he knew that Sailor loved to boast, always exaggerating things that were only two or three points into eleven or twelve.
However, even if that was just bragging, Verdue thought the wooden door was worth studying.
After searching for a while, he found his target:
The seemingly ordinary wooden door leaned against a collapsed wall, with a brass-colored keyhole and handle.
There were no corpses or bloodstains around it, and it was consistent with most of the ruins.
He really was just bragging. Ha, maybe that pirate heard about the wooden door from somewhere else; he and his men never even dared to try to move it... Verdue looked around and suddenly spoke:
"Who?
Why are you spying on me?
He didn't actually notice anyone around him; he was just using language and reactions to Deceit any potential monitors based on his previous experience and lessons learned.
The next second, a middle-aged man with a protruding belly emerged from the shadows.
He didn't say anything and silently walked away from the place.
Verdue felt relieved and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly approached the wooden door.
According to the information he received, pushing the wooden door in either direction would not cause any unusual changes, and touching it without attempting to move it would not pose any danger.
After thinking for a few seconds, Verdue pulled his hands back into his sleeves, using the classic robe as "gloves," and pulled on the wooden door.
The wooden door then stood up, and all was quiet.
Verdue immediately pushed the wooden door as if it were a normal Door Opening, but still couldn't see any change.
He tried various methods, but none of them could make the wooden door show any abnormality. It seemed that it was just very lucky to have survived the Church of Storms's devastating attack intact.
Taking a deep breath, Verdue tried to calm himself down.
He thought for a moment, then tried to Door Opening again.
However, unlike before, he gripped the handle and gently twisted it downwards.
After hearing a slight click of metal colliding, Verdue pushed forward, causing the wooden door to tilt backward and lean against the collapsed, dilapidated wall again.
This time, a grayish-white mist suddenly appeared before Verdue's eyes.
A street and rows of houses were faintly visible through the fog.
Outside one of the houses, there was a wooden plaque that appeared to have several Loen language words written on it:
" Bansy Harbor Telegraph Office."
As Verdue's pupils dilated, a calm voice rang out from the telegraph office shrouded in a light mist:
"Are you here to send a telegram?"
"Please come in."
P. S.: Bonus chapter for February monthly pass winners tonight!