"Lachi, help me keep watch," Luo En ordered, gently patting Lachi in his satchel.
"Help me out, and I'll add a fish to your lunch later."
"Meow~"
Hearing this, Lachi responded. It lowered its head, jumped out of the satchel, walked to the storage room door, and vigilantly looked around.
Although he had already divined, he was still on a pirate ship full of pirates. To be safe, it was better to have Lachi stand guard.
A cat wouldn't attract much attention.
The storage room was filled with the smell of wooden barrels and cured goods.
Luo En, with rare free time, thought of the notebook related to Antigonus again. Since he had been constantly on the move, he hadn't had time to study the notebook he found again when he left Tingen.
He had a premonition that the strange things that had happened to him earlier were mostly related to that notebook.
"It's still a bit difficult to decipher it myself…"
Although he had now learned some mystical languages, it was still somewhat difficult to fully decipher it with his current level alone.
The most crucial thing was that the notebook was definitely related to Beyonder. If he tried rashly, he might attract something else, like an evil god peeping at others bathing.
"If I could have the Captain's help, it would be simple…" Luo En murmured to himself.
He had observed carefully these past two days. Vice Admiral "Iceberg" Edwina was not only knowledgeable but also had an extraordinary thirst for knowledge. Given her personality, she couldn't be indifferent to such an ancient book. If she assisted, the deciphering progress would definitely speed up significantly.
Thinking of this, Luo En pulled out the playing card—the 3 of Diamonds—from his satchel.
After many verifications, this card indeed had no harm and seemed to be a key to a certain space. According to Luo En's estimate, the internal space was about dozens of square meters, and the notebook was now safely stored inside.
"Forget it…" Luo En sighed softly and put down the playing card.
Although he wanted to ask the Captain to help him study the notebook, taking it out directly would be too risky. Although this notebook was evil, it was one of his important relies.
"It's too suspicious to just take out something of such high value, after all, I'm just a newcomer to mysticism…"
Luo En remembered the scene where the notebook had conjured a potion formula out of thin air, and couldn't help but shiver. Even if he trusted the Captain's character, it was better to be cautious with such matters.
"Perhaps I can first show her a few pages of a handwritten copy."
When he first obtained the notebook, he had copied some of its contents for convenience of study. It should be the safest approach to use these copies to test the Captain's reaction first.
…
The next day, when Edwina came to instruct Luo En as usual, he timely presented the prepared copy.
"Captain, I want you to help me look at these…"
"Where did you get this content from?" Edwina reached out and took the copy Luo En handed over, glancing at it.
"It's an excerpt from an ancient book," Luo En replied according to his pre-planned excuse. "I used to be very interested in history and mysticism, and I accidentally obtained this ancient book during university."
"Speaking of which, it indirectly led me into the Beyonder domain." He paused, showing a regrettable expression, "Unfortunately, my professional knowledge is limited, and the deciphering work has been slow."
Hearing this, Edwina didn't say much, just nodded slightly, seemingly acquiescing to Luo En's statement.
Looking at her calm expression, Luo En suddenly had the illusion of facing his homeroom teacher during school.
"Antigonus…"
Not long after, Edwina accurately pronounced this key term.
Amazing… Luo En secretly clicked his tongue—as expected of a scholar renowned throughout the seas, this deciphering speed was simply astonishing.
"I've taken a rough look. Antigonus should be a family name, and besides that, there's a lot of history related to the Fourth Epoch."
A hidden family from the last epoch? Connecting it with the potion formula the notebook had revealed, Luo En seemed to understand something.
"Uh…"
He suddenly realized the Captain was scrutinizing him with an inquiring gaze and quickly said seriously, "Thank you for your clarification."
Then he changed the subject, "Speaking of history, the versions currently circulated are probably all embellished, aren't they?"
"Mm." Edwina nodded slightly, "You are right. As far as I know, many major historical events are related to Beyonder, and the changes in Beyonder determine the direction of history."
"But…" Edwina sighed softly, "Both governments and churches strictly control history related to Beyonder…"
"I don't know what the true history is like; I can only glimpse a corner of the truth from some materials."
She gently caressed the edge of the paper, her gaze becoming sharp again, "The materials you provided have rare academic value."
…
Over the next few days, in addition to continuing to tutor Luo En, Edwina and he also jointly studied the contents of the Antigonus notebook.
Edwina was only interested in knowledge, and she didn't ask much about certain information Luo En tried to keep secret. The two cooperated with a tacit understanding.
However, it was obvious that the frequent private exchanges between their Captain and Luo En, such an unusual phenomenon, naturally attracted the attention of the other pirates.
Outside the storage room, a thin pirate was holding his breath, his ear pressed tightly against the wooden door. He had been crouching there for almost half an hour, but he hadn't heard any useful information except for intermittent whispers.
"Damn it, what kind of exam takes so long?" He cursed in a low voice, his suspicion growing.
In his understanding, although Captain Edwina was keen on teaching crew members knowledge, she never spent so much time on one person.
Moreover, Luo En looked like just a novice in mysticism, and even if he was a guest, it was impossible for him to receive such special attention from the Captain.
"Could it be… could the Captain and this Brando…" A ridiculous thought arose in his mind.
No, it couldn't be, how could the Captain… The Sailor desperately shook his head.
But no matter how much he denied it, the seed of panic had already been planted.
Adhering to the principle of "if I panic, we all panic," he quickly spread the news throughout the ship.
Before long, "Bucket," "Tinplate," "Bow Tie," and many other pirates gathered together to discuss countermeasures. For this, they did not hesitate to risk the huge penalty of copying words, temporarily stopping their work.
"We should just go directly to that pretty boy and ask him clearly," someone suggested.
"No, Brando is a guest after all, and wouldn't doing so be alerting the enemy?"
The atmosphere became deadlocked for a moment.
Just as everyone was at a loss, "Bow Tie" Jodson spoke:
"We can find Danitz."
"That's right!" Everyone suddenly realized, "Danitz brought him onto the ship."
"Danitz has been defending him all along…"
"Exactly, let's find that traitor Danitz!"
"Danitz has betrayed us!"
A group of people surged menacingly towards Danitz's location.
…
Meanwhile, Danitz was currently standing under the main cannon barrel, arms crossed, directing his group of Sailors.
"That's not clean enough!"
"Shit, do you want to copy the Old Fesac dictionary?!"
Watching his busy subordinates, his mood improved slightly.
"Sigh, that hateful Brando…" He sighed.
Clearly, as long as Luo En stayed on the ship for one day, he would be unhappy for one day.
Even though he knew Luo En wasn't the type to go back on his word.
But what if! What if he accidentally blurted out what happened those past few days?!
If those embarrassing incidents spread on the Golden Dream, it seemed he had no other way to prove his innocence except to jump into the sea.
"Slap!"
Just as he was feeling depressed, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.
"Who is it?!" Danitz turned his head, only to find himself surrounded by a group of his colleagues.
Everyone said in unison: "Danitz, we want to talk about Monqi Brando."