If my guess is correct, then the "Pale Admiral" should be the more special one among the five survivors…
After all, Abby and Bianca were both unable to control the powers they gained from corruption, but Maria could turn hers into a controllable force by relying on the "Pale Justice"…
This must have been something Roselle prepared beforehand. He really was key to that experiment eleven years ago!
The only thing I don't know is what his goal was…
But all five survivors are women… And their power could only be triggered through the act of "reproduction"…
Was it the influence of the "Brood Hive" or the "Mother Goddess of Depravity"?
Yet none of them carried the contamination from those two sources…
Perhaps their origins themselves were problematic?
Of course, some of these guesses still need to be verified… After all, the contents decrypted from "Amon's Monocle" may not necessarily be accurate.
As his inner voice echoed around him, Ebner bent down, picked up Abby, then simulated the ability of "Dream Traversal" and left the "City of Miracles."
However, he did not immediately depart from the illusory world within Groselle's Travels. Instead, he found a city and placed Abby inside it.
Abby was, after all, different from Bianca. After joining the Celestial Sect and becoming a believer of the Mother Tree, she had stained her hands with the blood of countless innocents. Ebner hadn't killed her outright only because he considered that the survivors of the experiment might still be of use.
And since she had been marked by the Mother Tree of Desire, keeping her imprisoned in the outside world would easily draw the attention of its believers, who might not only rescue her but even endanger Ebner in return…
Thus, after some consideration, Ebner decided to imprison her inside Groselle's Travels.
First, the place was hidden enough. Even the Mother Tree of Desire, before the Earth's barrier vanished, was unlikely to gaze inside… and Abby herself could never leave.
Second, the illusory world lay close to the entrance of the "Sea of Chaos." With some arrangements, it could suppress the "Pain" in Abby's body. Ebner planned to integrate it into a "Secret Technique," then teach it to her. That would count as a relatively complete enactment of the "Secret Technique Mentor" role.
Lastly, keeping Abby, the "Source of the Curse," isolated near the "Sea of Chaos" would delay the outbreak of curses on those who had once been with her.
So, when Abby awoke from her coma and opened her eyes, she saw a young and handsome gentleman. She instinctively thought she would face something she had long grown used to, especially since she could already feel her undergarments had been removed…
Yet just as she prepared to offer no resistance and accept her fate, the man tossed her a reading list, then pulled out a blackboard and began giving her lessons…
This turn of events left Abby utterly dumbfounded. She suspected something about the way she had woken up was terribly wrong.
...
Fog Sea, Isaca Island.
Named by Emperor Roselle after the great explorer under his command, Captain Isaca, this island lay far from trade routes and was poor in resources. It had long since become a private pirate port and a hub for smuggled goods.
Thus, its only port town appeared bustling, filled with adventurers, pirates, profiteering merchants, spies of various nations, prostitutes, and all manner of people.
Though there were no official authorities in town, the public order was relatively decent. At the very least, shootouts over a single argument were rare.
That was because the town's master, the controller of the private port, was a mid-sequence Beyonder. His guards not only had guns and cannons but even an old military airship!
Rumor had it that this dockmaster was a "Wind-blessed" and had deep ties with a certain great family of Intis…
In addition, his twelve-man elite guard, though rarely seen, had been recognized by the observant as former crewmen who once served under the "Admiral of the Deep Sea."
Inside a lounge of a tavern in town, the blue-haired Tran youth was reporting his gathered intelligence to his captain, Miss Gwen.
After months of sailing and adventuring, Gwen, Lydia, and Tran had finally reached the Fog Sea, where they discovered Emperor Roselle's treasure—a complete ghost ship, the Black Throne!
But because of this ship, many pirates coveted them, and even a fleet from the "Admiral of the Deep Sea" had been drawn in.
Fortunately, Roselle had left behind a powerful Sealed Artifact on the Black Throne. With its aid, Miss Gwen, a "Weapon Master," displayed strength approaching Sequence 5. She truly carved out her own reputation, making the title "Lady Dragonmight" resound even in the Fog Sea. Even the "Admiral of the Deep Sea" acknowledged her strength and withdrew his fleet.
Of course, since the factions vying for the Black Throne included the Intis military, Miss Gwen naturally found herself on the wanted list, with a bounty of 10,000 filkin.
As for why the trio came to Isaca Island, it was to trace the whereabouts of a slave ship.
Although the northern continent's nations had abolished the slave trade, slavers at sea never vanished completely. They had merely become rare. Yet for some reason, the black-market slave trade had revived recently.
Normally, this had nothing to do with Miss Gwen. When she first started roaming the seas, she might still have had compassion, but over time she inevitably grew numb.
This time was different. On a ship from the northern Fog Sea, one mainly selling bankrupt Feysac farmers, Miss Gwen spotted her uncle.
Her maternal family had been particularly unfortunate these past six months.
Her uncle had first lost his government job after being targeted by Lord Panin of the Church of the God of Combat due to Gwen's involvement. Later, gangsters forced her grandfather to sell their family's hot spring inn at a cheap price.
Fortunately, a countess intervened, offering a good price that convinced them to leave Indo Harbor and move far from Panin's old sphere of influence, relocating to Viborg, a coastal city in the Feysac Empire.
To avoid spending their savings idly, Gwen's uncle had used the money from the inn's sale to start a trading company, engaging in maritime trade between Feysac and Intis.
But on one voyage, his ship veered off course and, by ill luck, ran into a mid-sized pirate band…
The result was predictable: not only were his goods stolen, but Gwen's uncle was captured and sold to slavers.
When Gwen received the news, passed on through great effort by her grandfather, she began tracking the slave ship and eventually found clues near Isaca.
After sighing over her family's misfortune, Miss Gwen composed herself and asked the Tran youth, "Did you find out where the batch of slaves sent ashore was taken?"
Tran shook his head, replying awkwardly, "Slaves seem to be taboo on this island. I didn't dare probe too deeply, or it would surely draw suspicion… It wasn't always this sensitive, but a few months ago, after the 'Admiral of Stars' intercepted a shipment of slaves, things here became increasingly secretive."
He paused, then added, "But I overheard someone slip up once, saying only a small portion of the slaves are sold to the northern continent. The rest are sent to some small island off the western coast of the southern continent.
"They say it's under the orders of the 'Admiral of the Deep Sea'…"
The Admiral of the Deep Sea? Miss Gwen nodded thoughtfully, while also making up her mind.
...
March 11th, Friday.
Intis, outskirts of Trier, top floor of the Delien family castle.
Driving Owen's body, Ebner knocked on the door of the Prime Minister's office. After being permitted, he entered.
The Prime Minister, seated behind his desk, waved him to sit and then said with a smile, "Owen, the annual 'Deep Sea Festival' is about to begin. You know of it, yes?"
The so-called "Deep Sea Festival" was actually a ritual offering live humans to the sea monster "Segust," which had deep ties with the Delien family, to ensure it continued to guard their merchant ships and strike at competitors.
Of course, that was what Owen's memory contained. Ebner suspected it was only the surface explanation.
"Yes, it will be held between April 1st and April 10th on Sili Island, off the southern continent's western coast, to help it maintain its sanity and resist madness," Ebner replied cautiously with a nod.
"Normally, the ritual is co-hosted by the 'Admiral of the Deep Sea' and myself… But as you know, the political situation in Intis is unstable. I cannot leave, so I want you to go in my stead!
"Lord Elvonos has always taken this matter very seriously. You must complete this mission," the Prime Minister said sternly.
Elvonos was the "Grand Duke of Blood," one of the three great demon families of the Nos line.
Ebner had long intended to seize this mission. After all, the sea monster's "Prophet" characteristic was the advancement material he had "reserved." He hadn't expected the task to fall into his lap so readily.
Recalling the identity implied by that name, Ebner carefully asked, "What do I need to be mindful of?"
The Prime Minister gave him an approving look, then used spirituality to seal the room before explaining, "The offering ritual's effect of helping the sea monster maintain sanity is only superficial… In truth, it subtly allows it to make contact with a certain existence, awakening that existence within it.
"That's why in its early years, the creature needed a sacrifice only once every ten years. Now it requires one annually!
"Your true mission is to use an item to observe its condition after the ritual. If you detect changes, you must immediately recite Lord Elvonos's honorific name and report to Him!"
So that's it… No wonder the Delien family would go to such lengths to conspire with a sea monster!
Who do they want it to connect with? The "Tenebrous World," or the "Mother Tree of Desire"?
Hmm, most likely the former… If I'm not mistaken, that sea monster once fused the "Tenebrous World" imprint stripped from the God of Luck by Adam! Perhaps it has become the Mother Tree of Desire's tool to tempt the Tenebrous World…
While Ebner pondered, the Prime Minister pulled out a telegram and handed it to him, continuing, "By the way, a slave ship transferring through Isaca Island has drawn the attention of the newly active 'Lady Dragonmight'…
"Though the 'Admiral of the Deep Sea' should be able to handle it, judging by the timing, you might arrive in time. You could lend a hand in capturing that lady, ensuring the slaves' safety.
"Heh, I hear 'Lady Dragonmight' is a beauty. If you manage to capture her, she's yours to deal with as you please."
(End of Chapter)