What was he questioning? Klein stared directly into Edwina's eyes, without looking away or flinching.
Knowing that Danitz had revealed to " Vice Admiral Iceberg " that he had offered sacrifices to Kavithua before his death, Klein was prepared. If he were sitting on a sofa instead of standing on the ship's railing, he would have crossed his right leg, leaned back, and given a calm and composed answer.
A smile gradually spread across his face as he raised his left palm and introduced the situation in a relaxed tone:
My gloves are called ' Creeping Hunger '.
Klein believed that Danitz, who had witnessed his battle, must have already told his captain the specific details. Therefore, it wouldn't be hard for " Vice Admiral Iceberg " Edwina, who was known as " Admiral Hurricane " Qilangos, to guess that she had acquired " Creeping Hunger ". In that case, it would be much more psychologically advantageous to reveal it proactively than to have it exposed by the other party.
His sudden mention of this matter had two purposes. First, it was a subtle way of telling her that he had an organization behind him, an organization that could kill " Admiral Hurricane," direct the fall of Kavithua, and respond to the believers in its place. Second, it was a warning to Edwina not to try to investigate or delve deeper, otherwise, the fate of " Admiral Hurricane " being killed in an instant would serve as an example.
At this moment, Klein still considered Gehrman Sparrow's persona, refraining from direct threats or desperate attempts to cheat, and instead responded simply with a calm yet mad tone.
Edwina Edwards nodded slightly, then suddenly changed the subject:
"I intend to provide some aid to the resistance forces in the Rorsted Archipelago, mainly food and cloth."
Aid? Is the force behind her hostile to Loen, or is she simply trying to annoy the Church of Storms? Klein's smile faded, and he calmly replied:
"This has nothing to do with me."
I won't leave any evidence... he silently added to himself.
Edwina turned her head, raised her arm, and pointed to " Blazing " Danitz, who was drinking and glancing in their direction:
"I will entrust him with all the arrangements, including contacting the resistance, setting a time, and arranging a private port. I hope you can provide some protection."
Pfft... A golden waterfall gushed from Danitz's mouth.
Haha, pfft, bang bang bang! The two pirates sitting next to him laughed so hard they bent over, pounded the deck, and spat out the beer they had just drunk.
One of them had a very dark complexion, as if covered by a layer of Iron Sheet, while the other had a rather thick waist. Although they weren't fat overall, they lacked any definition.
Edwina withdrew her gaze and, before Klein could speak, added slowly and deliberately:
"You're an adventurer; I don't think you'd object to hiring someone for a good price."
That's a perfect excuse for me... Klein replied with a smile:
"Certainly."
He didn't ask about the specific amount of payment, and Edwina seemed to have forgotten to mention it as well.
The intelligent and beautiful pirate general remained silent for a moment before saying:
" Senor sent word that he was willing to pay 5,000 pounds for the Giant's Key that I had previously discovered."
This refers to the enormous black iron key that was touted as the " Death's Key," which nearly cost Danitz his life in Bayam. Klein suspects that it not only originated from the Dark Second Age but also has some connection to the Giant King's Court.
The implication was that he was asking if I wanted to make an offer. Klein was taken aback at first, then suddenly understood, and couldn't help but mutter a few words to himself:
"5000 pounds? I don't even know if that key will work, or if it really involves the Giant King's Court! If it doesn't work, can I get a refund?"
"Moreover, there is no prior information about this matter, so even if you try to Divination from the Gray Fog, you won't get any effective insights."
"Well, a simple deduction is that if it doesn't involve the Giant King's Court, but rather another treasure I'm completely unaware of, then even if I buy it, I can't use it. The only benefit would be thwarting ' Admiral of Blood's' scheme, which would be a lose-lose situation. If it involves the Giant King's Court, even if ' Admiral of Blood ' buys it, he'll most likely not be able to find the target location because it's in the ' Forsaken Land of the Gods.' Moreover, my plan is to hunt him down. In that case, I can get the key without spending any money, which means he'll buy it for me and keep it for a period of time."
"While this idea is idealistic, it's not impossible to realize..."
Klein hesitated for a few seconds and said:
"It might be hiding a big secret."
He deliberately mentioned it to make " Vice Admiral Iceberg " reluctant to sell the huge black iron key to " Admiral of Blood " Senor, lest the latter rapidly strengthen himself due to obtaining the treasure in the first scenario and step into the realm of Demigod, which would bring considerable disaster.
Edwina listened quietly, then didn't continue the topic. She turned slightly and pointed to the cabin entrance, saying:
Breakfast is ready for you.
"Thank you." Klein took off his hat and bowed.
As he followed " Vice Admiral Iceberg " toward the cabin, he quickly reviewed the conversation, trying to figure out Edwina's true intention in inviting him to meet.
"From the question of Gehrman Sparrow's identity, to the magical artifact that seems to be ' the Creeping Hunger,' to the sacrifice to Kavithua and the ' Sea God ' who should have fallen but is still responding to believers, these things, when strung together, do indeed easily lead one to think that there is a Concealment organization behind me with unknown purposes."
"The faction to which ' Vice Admiral Iceberg ' belongs is very wary, vigilant, and interested in this, so I'm having her interview to test the waters and see if I can gain anything from it."
"They are currently quite friendly, and providing assistance to the rebels is one way they express this. They seem more inclined to cooperate to some extent with the organization behind me. Of course, the unknown is always frightening. Without sufficient understanding and certainty, the possibility of ' Vice Admiral Iceberg ' and his group taking action is very, very low."
"Heh, if they found out that the Concealment organization behind me has only been established for a little over six months, and including 'The World' and Miss Hugh, whom I've contacted but haven't yet recruited, it doesn't even have more than ten members, wouldn't they be so angry they'd completely lose control...?"
With his thoughts racing, Klein entered the cabin and walked along the dimly lit corridor, passing between wooden doors.
He followed Edwina up the stairs to the brighter second floor.
Before entering the pirate restaurant, they passed a semi-open room.
Klein glanced inside casually and noticed that the huge black iron key was just sitting on a wooden table.
"These are proof of the results of our previous treasure hunts. Some are just souvenirs, while others haven't yet shown their value and await further study." Edwina seemed indifferent, but she explained in great detail, as if afraid the other person wouldn't understand.
When the word "research" was mentioned, her light blue eyes, which resembled clear spring water, brightened noticeably.
The spoils of previous treasure hunts proved it? Klein couldn't help but glance inside a few more times.
At this moment, Edwina pushed the door open wider and went in, casually introducing herself:
"This is a gold coin from the Solomon Empire of the Quaternary Period."
Klein's gaze then turned to the picture and he saw a coin placed in the frame.
It is dark gold in color and appears to be made of two semicircles of different sizes, making it extremely asymmetrical. Its surface is engraved with a pointed crown, which is very similar to the one on the head of Nast, the " King of the Five Seas ".
Edwina acted like a proud owner of her collection, introducing the items in the room one by one. This reminded Klein of an acquaintance: the " Eye of Wisdom," the great Detective Isengard Stanton.
"In their flaunting of their collections, they're quite alike... Is this a common trait among people with extensive collections? Wait, Mr. Stanton studied in Lenburg for four years, and the description of ' Vice Admiral Iceberg ' also mentions ' Edwina Edwards from Lenburg.' This... Lenburg's capital is the headquarters of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, and Mr. Stanton has also admitted that he converted to the ' God of Knowledge and Wisdom ' during his studies... Could the power behind ' Vice Admiral Iceberg ' be them?" Klein listened thoughtfully until Edwina stopped in front of the huge, iron-black key.
Just like in my previous dream, this key was as big as a seven-stringed lyre, so big that a normal human would have to hold it to lift it. It was dull and had an ancient design.
The surface patterns are similar to those of City of Silver, with obvious Giant- like characteristics... Klein nodded, about to look away, when he heard Edwina speak:
You can look into it.
Let me investigate? You probably have no idea how many potential problems I've triggered. If you let me investigate freely, I'm afraid I won't be able to see the " Golden Dream " again... Klein muttered to himself, then stretched out his right hand towards the black iron key that belonged to the Giant.
He only felt a cold touch, and no matter how much Spirituality he poured into it, it had no effect.
Unfortunately, it can't be taken directly above the Gray Fog for research... Klein withdrew his right hand and shook his head almost imperceptibly.
His gaze shifted, and he saw another book bound in parchment on the same table. On its dark brown cover was a line of Ancient Feysac:
Groselle's Travels
"This comes from a sunken ship at the bottom of the sea. It's been submerged for 165 years and is still undamaged," Edwina explained. "It contains a story about a Giant named Groselle who decided to hunt down the ' King of the North,' a powerful frost Dragon, in the Land of Frost. Along the way, he encountered companions: female Elf, devout Ascetic, nobles from the Solomon Empire, and soldiers from the Loen Kingdom. The story just progressed to their direct encounter with the ' King of the North ' when it suddenly stopped. It's not that it's not there, but the following pages are difficult to open using various methods. You can try."
It wasn't a travelogue-style notebook, but a book? That was quite strange, putting characters from different eras and periods together; it must be a modern product... Klein flipped through the book, letting the yellowish-brown pages slide by.
The content wasn't too different from what Edwina had described, but the plot felt abrupt and disjointed, making Klein wonder if he'd missed something. For example, the main characters suddenly became familiar with each other after their first encounter.
He quickly scrolled to the last few pages and found that they were indeed stuck together and he couldn't separate them no matter what he did.
This effect should be manageable above the Gray Fog... but who knows what unexpected things might happen... Klein turned his head to look at " Vice Admiral Iceberg ".
Edwina paused for a moment and then said:
"If you want it, I can sell it to you. I've been researching it for many years, but I still haven't found anything."
"However, I have one condition."
"What are the conditions?" Klein countered.
Edwina pursed her lips and said:
If you discover anything, please let me know the results so I can have no more doubts.
"If you agree to this condition, I can sell it to you very cheaply."
Klein suddenly became interested:
"How many?"
"8,000 pounds," Edwina said calmly.
"Hmm..." Klein feigned hesitation, then nodded indifferently, "I'll think about it."
He thought to himself, trying to figure out how to pretend this never happened.