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Inside the captain's cabin of the Golden Dream, Edwina was introducing her collections one by one. Liking to show off one's collections was a common trait of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.
"This key is the treasure we found last time. Judging from its patterns and size, it should belong to a giant's creation from the second epoch, but I still can't determine exactly what it's a key to."
"However, I had the crew members who stayed in the Gargass Islands secretly spread the word that this is a key to an ancient ruin, and that ruin contains many treasures."
"This is enough to attract Admiral of Blood to take a risk, but it could also attract other Pirate admirals, and even Pirate Kings."
Edwina stopped in front of a huge, iron-black key and introduced this collection item to Leyton.
The key was as large as a seven-stringed zither; a normal human would have to hug it to move it. It was dull overall and of an ancient design.
Finally, Edwina added:
"You can try to study it."
Leyton chuckled and shook his head:
"No, perhaps at some point later, I will buy it from you, but for now, let it stay here."
His gaze swept across the collection room and soon spotted what he was looking for on a table.
It was a book bound with parchment, and on its dark brown cover was a line of ancient Feysac: "Groselle's Travels."
Noticing Leyton's gaze, Edwina immediately approached, picked up the book, and introduced it with a smile:
"It came from a sunken ship at the bottom of the sea. It was submerged for 165 years, yet it's still undamaged."
"It records a story: a giant named Groselle decided to go to the Frost Kingdom to hunt the 'Northern King,' a powerful frost dragon. Along the way, he met companions one by one: female elves, devout ascetics, Solomon Empire nobles, and Loen soldiers. The story stopped abruptly just as they were about to confront the 'Northern King'."
"It's not that there's no continuation; rather, the following pages are impossible to open by any means. You can try."
With that, she handed over the "Groselle's Travels" in her hand.
Leyton took it and, with some curiosity, flipped through the book that concealed the Dragon of Imagination Ankewelt's divine kingdom.
He turned the pages of the book, letting the yellowish-brown paper slide past one by one.
The content was not much different from what Edwina described, but the plot seemed abrupt and disjointed, as if someone was constantly fast-forwarding the progress bar in an unseen place.
Soon, he flipped to the last few pages and found that they were indeed stuck together, impossible to separate.
Speaking of which, the God of Knowledge had already gone in and seen it, so why didn't he just pull the story's progress to the ending?
Narrowing his eyes slightly, a guess popped into his mind: The imprint left by Ankewelt in the Sea of Collective Subconscious fixed the ending of this book. Even the God of Knowledge couldn't directly change this ending and could only exert influence from the side?
Edwina did not interrupt Leyton's thoughts; she waited quietly for a while.
Then Leyton handed the "Groselle's Travels" back to her. She casually took it, placed it on the nearby table, and asked:
"Do you have any insights into this book? I've been studying it for many years without any results."
Upon hearing this, Leyton's gaze fell back on the "Groselle's Travels." He tapped it lightly with his hand, then pondered and said:
"Judging only by the content, this book should be a modern product, yet it is old enough, probably an item from the late second epoch."
Edwina nodded lightly:
"Indeed, I've researched it using some secret arts and found that the parchment was made at least three thousand years ago, before the Great Cataclysm."
Leyton nodded noncommittally, then spoke with a hint of emotion:
"This book, passed through the hands of various owners and recording figures from different eras, gives a sense of ritual, a very ancient sense of ritual, as if it's waiting for an opportune moment."
"Most likely, it's something left behind or arranged by a high-level Beyonder of the Spectator Pathway. They can influence the development of events by affecting the deep sea of the collective subconscious, making things strange yet reasonable."
"Captain! We've spotted the King of Immortality's 'Death Announcer'!"
Leyton's words were interrupted by the sudden entrance of First Mate Bru Walls. He quickly explained the current situation, then glared at Leyton, who was staying in the Vice Admiral Iceberg's captain's cabin.
"King of Immortality?" Edwina frowned slightly, then picked up a monocular from a nearby table and walked out of the captain's cabin.
The next moment, Leyton's figure suddenly blurred and disappeared from the captain's cabin.
When he reappeared, he was already at the very front of the Golden Dream's ship rail.
Boatswain Daniels and Third Mate Jodeson were also there, each holding a clearly modified monocular, observing the situation in the surrounding sea area.
With an Artisan on board, all sorts of Mystical Items and tools were truly complete.
Leyton sighed inwardly, then retracted his gaze.
He frowned slightly, looking towards the sea ahead and to the side. There was a rapidly approaching dark shadow, still quite far away, making it impossible to identify the specific details of the ship with the naked eye.
"At sea, the naked eye is easily deceived, here!"
Jodeson, standing nearby, explained with a not-so-friendly tone, then handed over the monocular in his hand.
Leyton glanced at the former playboy; the other party was quite easy to get along with when it didn't involve the Vice Admiral Iceberg.
Then he shook his head slightly and explained:
"No need; things that appear in my field of vision won't blur due to distance."
The next moment, a purple light flashed in his eyes, and his gaze easily penetrated the obstruction of space, clearly seeing the situation of the "Death Announcer" in the distance.
It was a sailing ship nearly two hundred meters long, with its bow and stern raised high, the whole resembling a crescent moon.
Its surface was painted black, and the cannons on its sides were arranged in three rows, orderly up and down. The parts protruding from the deck, apart from the mast, were also tall and massive, at least equivalent to a five-story building.
There was only one sail, on which a black tombstone was depicted.
There weren't too many crew members on board. In Leyton's sight, they had some deep connection with the "Death Announcer" beneath their feet, more like an extension of the "Death Announcer."
Wahhh~ Wahhh—
A faint, ethereal sound echoed in Leyton's mind, full of filth and Degeneration, brimming with malice.
The "Death Announcer" attempted to establish a reverse connection with Leyton along his gaze, exerting influence.
Leyton quickly retracted his gaze, severing the connection between himself and the "Death Announcer."
He let out a slight sigh of relief, then frowned slightly and murmured:
"That ship is a Sequence 3 Blatherer, a bit troublesome to deal with. Fortunately, the King of Immortality controlled by it can only exert Sequence 4 strength."
"What do you mean 'only' exert Sequence 4 strength? At Sequence 4, one is already a demigod!"
Jodeson, beside him, cast a suspicious glance at Leyton. He felt that this guy was just bragging, but also that it sounded somewhat true.
Leyton ignored Jodeson, who was still debating his own strength, and turned his gaze, casually surveying the sea.
His eyes, however, suddenly deepened, covered by a hazy white.
The world in his vision changed. In the long river woven from countless silvery-white threads, he cast his gaze towards the somewhat transparent and illusory future.
Relying on his connection to the Golden Dream, he gazed deeply into the approaching future, where many complex destinies intersected.
A moment later, his eyes cleared again, but his brows were somewhat heavy.
Senor surprisingly chose not to have people from the Rose School of Thought come to help, but instead chose to muddy the message Edwina had released, attracting more pirates. It wasn't too unexpected a development, though.
After a moment of thought, a smile curved Leyton's lips. He turned and took a step, and the next moment, his figure disappeared from the deck.
"Why is this guy always appearing and disappearing mysteriously?"
Jodeson complained to Daniels beside him.
Daniels nodded in agreement, then asked:
"Why don't you steal his Beyonder ability to teleport?"
If I had that ability, I'd already be the First Mate of the Golden Dream. Jodeson rolled his eyes at Daniels beside him and said nothing more.
Beside Edwina, Leyton's figure suddenly appeared.
"Senor has done some publicity for the message you released. Now the Golden Dream has attracted the attention of many guys; the 'Death Announcer' is just the most blatant one among them."
Edwina nodded with a solemn expression:
"This is foreseeable. What are you going to do?"
Leyton raised the corners of his mouth slightly, smiling as he said:
"Change course and directly confront the 'Death Announcer.' On a demigod-level battlefield, those ordinary pirates who approached out of greed will retreat on their own."
"But this is the best opportunity for Senor, as a Pirate Admiral, to act."
Edwina frowned slightly and said:
"This is very risky. You need to be able to completely contain the 'Death Announcer' and provide reinforcements at critical moments."
"Moreover, Senor may not intervene in our conflict with the King of Immortality as you expect."
Leyton's lips curved into an arc, and he said with great confidence:
"Lucky people always tend to be a bit blind."
"And I am quite familiar with the abilities of the Sun domain and the Door Pathway."
"The key is, as a Blessed of knowledge, I can request help at any time!"
Edwina was silent for a moment. After a slight hesitation, she nodded and agreed to the plan.
Then, through secret arts, she spread her voice throughout the entire Golden Dream:
"Change course, target: 'Death Announcer'!"
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