Standing on high ground, Audrey noticed that something seemed to be rising rapidly from the sea.
Then she saw a series of indifferent eyes.
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The cold gaze from those eyes put Audrey into a strange state; the sounds around her were rapidly fading away, and everything around her seemed somewhat unreal.
Those eyes quickly approached her, as if they had appeared in front of her all of a sudden.
Everything before Audrey's eyes began to spin and distort. Just as Audrey didn't know how to resist, her gaze suddenly shifted, all the eyes disappeared, and the sounds of the wind, birdsong, and the shouts of the priests in the distance gradually returned.
Audrey breathed a sigh of relief only to find that Odis was reaching out and pinching her chin, turning her head in another direction.
She froze for a moment before realizing she needed to dodge Odis's hand, but just before she could, Odis released her grip to rescue Tim and Susie, who were also stiff with fear.
Odis was not as lenient with these two as he was with Audrey. He slapped the former awake and kicked the latter, waking her from that nightmare-like state.
Odis then said, "Now all of you, crouch down and don't look at the altar."
Audrey knelt down and asked, "What are those eyes?"
Odis, who was standing alone and looking at the altar, said, "It is a giant conch shell."
This enormous conch shell is as big as two elephants! After it surfaced from the sea, it looked like a small island!
Its hard shell is covered with bronze eyes, one after another. These eyes vary in size, but none of them have eyelids.
All the eyes emitted a cold, indifferent gaze, like the eyes of a living corpse—cold and devoid of any emotion.
"A conch shell?" Audrey could hardly believe her ears, because she didn't recall seeing any details about conch shells.
"I finally understand why this 'God of No Light' appears here every year," Odis laughed. "You probably can't imagine, but it comes here mainly to lay its eggs."
The first thing the conch does after surfacing is to lay eggs the size of eyeballs, which also look like eyeballs, on the steep rock face.
After laying its eggs, the seawater gently lifts the giant conch, as if this "god of no light" is about to enjoy its offerings.
At this point, Odis was certain that this giant conch shell could indeed transmit some form of spiritual and mental pollution through its gaze.
Moreover, it seems to have a Sequence 4 level. Ordinary people... let alone ordinary people, even Sequence 6 extraordinary beings like Audrey and Tim, would only see a bunch of eyes when they see this conch shell, and would not be able to see its true appearance.
Odis suddenly laughed: "How ridiculous, a bunch of natives worshipping a giant conch shell, I wonder how many years they've been doing it."
Just then, the slowly rising conch shell suddenly stopped, and all eyes turned toward Odis.
Odis drew his staff: "It still managed to detect it!"
To be precise, given its level of understanding, it should definitely be able to detect it. It was just focused on laying eggs that it didn't notice Odis immediately.
Before the conch could respond further, several rows of "Garr runes" instantly appeared in front of Odis, simulating the ability of "teleport".
Moreover, it was a "long-distance teleport," instantly appearing next to the conch.
The priests on the cliff seemed to sense something, as if they feared that the "God of No Light" would leave, and they shouted even louder.
At this moment, the giant conch shell in front of Odis suddenly became illusory and quickly disappeared without a trace.
Odis was stunned for a moment; he hadn't even noticed when the conch shell had left.
He raised the "Gus Staff" and "recreated" an idiom: going south by driving the chariot north!
The giant conch, which had already escaped to the deep sea, was suddenly influenced by a mysterious force. It felt that since it was fast enough to swim, even if it swam to the shore and crossed the island, it could still escape.
Then it surfaced again.
With the help of the "Staff of Gus", Odis was able to use "Mystic Reappearance" very quickly. Before the effect of "Going South by Going North" had even ended, he had already used the ability of "Reappearance" again: Zhuangzi's Dream of a Butterfly!
The giant conch shell suddenly split open from the middle, revealing an ugly conch shell covered with bronze-colored eyes of varying sizes, densely packed together.
But then a pair of beautiful wings suddenly appeared on the huge soft body.
These wings, outstretched, radiate a rich spirituality; they are absorbing the conch's spirituality and then releasing it into the surrounding air.
This caused the conch's power to weaken rapidly.
The conch experienced hallucinations, believing itself to be a butterfly and wanting to flap its wings and fly into the sky.
The next instant, the conch suddenly regained its senses, and its bronze eyes suddenly emitted a blue light, and a huge vortex instantly appeared beneath it!
Odis, having opened the "Eye of Secrets," realized that the other party was using the "Reader" pathway ability, and had just been "imitating" the "Sailor" pathway ability to create a huge vortex.
The vortex had a huge suction force, which immediately sucked the large conch shell, which still had wings, away.
At this point, it didn't have time to care about its shell anymore; it just ran as fast as it could.
The reason it kept running without any thought of resistance was mainly because it possessed a certain "prophetic" ability and knew that the human in front of it was more powerful than itself, and that it would be in danger if it didn't run fast.
Its "prophecy" was correct; Odis had already realized that the other party probably possessed the level of a "prophet" through the "reader" pathway.
But essentially, it's just a large seafood, having never seen many high-level extraordinary beings, so it can't "imitate" any particularly powerful abilities. Furthermore, it doesn't know anything about mystical knowledge and doesn't possess many secret techniques.
For Odis, "Imitation" and "Arcane" were the most difficult abilities to deal with in the "Reader" pathway, but he didn't possess either, so this Sequence 4 was not difficult for him to kill.
At this moment, seeing that the other party was about to escape again, Odis's staff head lit up again, a dreamlike light flashed, and the soft body of the conch suddenly shrank to the size of a thumb.
Fairy Tale Magic: Thumbelina!
As it shrinks, its extraordinary power will also weaken in a short period of time.
So Odis took out the "Scepter of Disaster," and the seawater immediately churned as if boiling, lifting up the shrunken conch shell.
The "Scepter of Disaster" is a genuine Level 1 Sealed Artifact, equivalent to Sequence 4 of the "Sailor" pathway.
Upon seeing the "Scepter of Disaster," the conch shell seemed to feel an instinctive tremor, and its body suddenly shrank.
Driven by its will to survive, the conch shell gathered all its spiritual energy and spewed out a cloud of colorful smoke.
Odis's spiritual senses detected the danger and he retreated sharply. At the same time, the gem on his "Scepter of Calamity" lit up, and thunderbolts pierced into the mist, creating vortexes in the colorful fog.
Then a hurricane blew in, blowing many priests on the cliff directly into the sky. At the same time, the hurricane summoned by Odis also dispersed the colorful mist.
In the mist, there was only one colorful pearl; the soft body of the conch shell had disappeared.
This is something like illusion magic that this guy learned from somewhere; it's quite useful for escaping.
Odis raised the "Staff of Guth" in his hand, which shimmered with starlight. Instantly, a majestic white cloak appeared on his body, and a crystal crown appeared on his head.
Fairy Tale Magic: Snow White King!
The sea in front of Odis was instantly covered with ice and snow, and the "Gus Staff" in his hand immediately turned into a short staff like ice crystals, symbolizing his control over the ice and snow.
Odis raised his short staff, and the ice surface cracked instantly, revealing a crystal ice pillar that pierced out from the seabed. The giant conch shell covered in eyes was trapped inside the ice pillar.
At this moment, all the eyes of the conch shell were filled with despair.
Odis swung his short staff again, and sharp icicles shot up, piercing the soft conch shell inside the ice pillar.
Blood mixed with red and blue flowed out.
Seeing that the conch was still struggling, Odis picked up the "Disaster Scepter" again just as the effect of "Snow King" was about to end, and huge bolts of lightning struck the conch.
The eyes on the conch shell exploded one by one under the attack of lightning. When the last eye exploded, the conch shell's soft body fell completely silent.
At this moment, the ice crystals on Odis's "Staff of Gus" receded and returned to normal. He used the "Staff of Disaster" to create a hurricane, blowing the soft part and the shell of the conch shell together onto the altar on the cliff.
Then Odis used the "Scepter of Disaster" to summon a hurricane, which "brought down" Audrey and the others from the mountaintop.
Audrey saw a conch shell, about the size of a cow, with tiny specks of bronze starlight appearing, forming extraordinary properties.
Its outer shell was quite ugly, with what looked like eyes embedded in it. At this moment, these eyes had completely lost their luster, and many had rolled out.
The followers of the "God of No Light" seemed to sense something and were now in chaos.
Some who cried out in desire to approach the "God of No Light" were blocked by Odis with a "defense barrier".
As Odis put away the "Scepter of Calamity," he shouted to them, "Go and tell everyone that your 'God of Darkness' has been killed by me..."
"Forget it, you wouldn't understand what I'm saying anyway."
Tim, who understood the indigenous language, quickly suggested, "How about I shout something to them?"
Odis hummed in agreement.
Tim cleared his throat and shouted a few words in the local language. After the natives confirmed that the "God of No Light" had been killed, the cries from the cliff grew louder and louder, and many people prostrated themselves on the ground, as if they were sending the "God of No Light" off on his final journey.
Odis used "magic" to accelerate the extraction of extraordinary properties. Once the extraordinary properties were formed, five rather large, colorful pearls rolled out of the soft body.
Odis put away the spoils of war and said to Tim, "After you go back, bring 100 soldiers back and take control of the situation of the Pulang tribe."
"I'll have Bella provide you with some administrative assistants and repeatedly tell the natives that the 'God of No Light' is an evil god and has been destroyed."
"The town government took over everything in this tribe, allowing everyone here to open their eyes or take off their blindfolds and live their lives."
"When you encounter those stubborn believers, don't be polite. Arrest them all and make them work on building roads leading to the outside world."
"At the same time, we made up some stories about the 'God of No Light,' making him seem more evil, so that people could quickly recognize his true colors and realize how foolish the previous sacrifices were."
Tim's excitement was palpable: "Understood."
There are two types of armed forces on Cruz Island: guards and security forces.
The former, mainly stationed in Lighthouse Town, is equipped with sophisticated weaponry and is an elite force loyal to Odis. Or rather, it is a force formed by "extraordinary puppets".
The latter was formed to maintain order, and its weapons were limited to batons and revolvers, making it largely ineffective in combat.
Odis gave Tim 100 soldiers at once, which made the naval officer feel the captain's trust, hence his excitement.
At the same time, he secretly resolved to do this task assigned by the captain well. He could foresee that if he did this well, he would be fully accepted by the "Dawnbreaker" team.
Audrey, standing nearby, was first struck by the sight of the vast expanse of sea frozen solid below the cliff, marveling at the power of a demigod.
After studying the conch for a while, she asked with some curiosity, "Where do its extraordinary properties come from?"
A demigod would absolutely not be able to be eaten by such a thing.
If a demigod dies in an extraordinary battle, the opponent will definitely try to obtain the extraordinary trait, and it is unlikely that the demigod will fall into the mouth of a sea monster.
"There are probably two possibilities," Odis said. "One is that, like the previous 'sea god' Kavituwa, it obtained its properties from underwater ruins."
Knowing that the current "sea god" might be Mr. Fool, Audrey nodded: Yes, it's the "former" sea god, Kavitova.
Tim was taken aback; he hadn't expected that "Sea God" would have such a secret.
He then looked at Audrey, wondering who this woman was.
Tim was well aware of Odis's position in the intelligence community, so it was not surprising that he possessed such intelligence.
But the woman next to the captain seemed to know this information as well, and the captain seemed to have no suspicion of her, blurting out such important information.
This made Tim think of some things.
Odis continued, "The second situation is less common, which is when a demigod's characteristics are not recovered after death."
For example, Odis and "General Iceberg" discovered several unrecovered items in the underground part of the ancient church of the sun god.
Odis remembered that one of the demigod-like items fell into the ocean, and Adam's forces did not have time to retrieve it.
At the time, Odis guessed that the characteristic was probably swallowed by a sea monster and disappeared without a trace.
It's quite possible that this characteristic was swallowed up by the conch in front of it.
Odis continued, "In any case, this conch shell was fortunate enough to survive the initial period of rage."
"Of course, this is also related to its huge size. It is estimated that it was already quite large when it obtained that extraordinary property."
"What happened next can be clearly seen by combining the murals in the holy site. After the conch acquired the special properties, it must have fallen into a state of madness and bloodlust, and almost lost control and turned into a monster."
"Fortunately, the ocean is large enough that it is difficult for people with special characteristics to find the conch that has dived to the bottom of the sea. It is unknown how long it has been, but it came here and, due to the influence of its special characteristics, came ashore and entered the cave known as the sacred place, where it made contact with the local natives."
"After that, its condition gradually improved a little, and it was able to return to the sea."
Audrey then asked, "Why did its condition improve in that cave?"
"It must have laid eggs," Odis said. "As a biological instinct, it laid a large number of eggs and expelled some of its characteristics, which made its condition slightly better."
"After that, it would produce a large number of eggs every year, which reduced its mental stress and gradually achieved a certain balance, giving it sufficient rationality."
Susie, who was standing nearby, seemed to have a sudden realization, perhaps because she hadn't thought that laying eggs could have such a function.
Audrey remarked, "I never imagined that a creature as simple-minded as a conch could devour such a high level of characteristics."
Then, as if she had thought of something, she asked Odis, "So, after it acquired this characteristic, did it gain intelligence equivalent to that of a normal person?"
"It might even be more intelligent than a normal person," Odis guessed. "But it is, after all, a conch shell. Even if it is highly intelligent, it is unlikely that it can understand its current state and formulate a plan for further advancement like a human, due to a lack of corresponding extraordinary knowledge."
Fortunately, it was just a conch shell; otherwise, the battle just now would not have been so easy for Odis.
Odiston paused for a moment, then continued, "As for the 'divine grace' mentioned in the cave, the sea monsters described there are most likely descendants of this 'God of No Light.' Because their rank was low, they were killed in the siege by the natives."
"This scene is ironic; they killed the descendants of the gods to make themselves stronger."
"As for those extraordinary individuals who came to this island and were killed by the natives, they were most likely attracted by the 'God of No Light' over a long period of time because of the 'Law of Convergence of Extraordinary Characteristics'."
"Because the 'God of No Light' only lands once a year, it attracts mostly extraordinary beings with low ranks."
The latest novel is first published here!
Audrey nodded slowly, feeling that all the pieces of the puzzle were now complete.
Tim realized: that's how those natives developed their extraordinary characteristics!
The matter was resolved. Odis used "Earth Escape" to bring Audrey and the others back to the mayor's office. Then he gave orders, and the entire town government's manpower was quickly mobilized.
Around noon, Tim's advance party entered the mountains.
Although the Pulang tribe has several extraordinary individuals, their highest rank should only be Rank 7, which is no match for Tim.
Later, a group of security team members and civil servants will rush to provide support.
Odis then took Audrey to the port town to eat grilled fish.
Grilled fish is a specialty of the Raging Sea. Although it's not as refined as the dishes made by the chefs of the noble families of Backlund, it has a very unique flavor, and Audrey found it delicious.
Odis also specially asked for a plate for Susie. For a golden retriever, the grilled fish tasted a bit spicy, but after taking a bite, she ate it with gusto, her mouth full of oil, and she couldn't stop eating it.
Many pirates were drawn to this side. Firstly, although Audrey was disguised, her beauty could not be concealed, or rather, she possessed a unique kind of beauty.
However, when everyone saw that Odis was sitting opposite them, no one dared to go up and strike up a conversation.
Susie also attracted a lot of attention; it was the first time they had ever seen a dog eat fish so elegantly.
Audrey finished eating and gently wiped her mouth with a napkin: "I never imagined this little island would be so prosperous."
It was lunchtime, and the restaurants and streets were bustling with diners, making the surrounding area very lively.
Meanwhile, groups of three security personnel patrolled the area, armed with batons.
The security situation is much better now. When the food area first opened, you would have to watch several pirate battles and their arrests while you were eating.
"Because the food here has a very diverse range of flavors." Odis explained with a smile: "I remember once a pirate of Fussac nationality was so moved by the Fussac cuisine that he shed tears."
Audrey nodded. She could imagine a tall man, about 1.9 meters tall, crying while eating.
Odis took a sip of red wine and said, "Many pirates come here not for food, but for the longing for their homeland."
"Since it's so hard to go back to my hometown, let's have a bite of food that tastes like home."
Audrey paused for a moment, then whispered, "The stories about pirates I heard since I was a child had almost made me forget that pirates also had their own thoughts and worries, and their emotions were complex."
She paused for a moment and then said, "I always feel that the pirates you talk about are different from the pirates I imagine."
"You sympathize with them, but you are absolutely ruthless towards them."
Odis lamented, "I pity them because who would want to be a pirate at sea if they could live peacefully in their homeland?"
"And I am as cold to them as a blizzard because we cannot have any illusions about pirates. Once they are on the high seas, they are no longer worthy of our sympathy."
"However, when they are willing to return to a fixed place to live, we can give them another chance."
Audrey thought for a moment and said, "You're definitely a psychology expert."
Then she smiled and said, "From a psychological perspective, at sea, only strength can guarantee one's rights and safety."
"Moreover, it is easy to escape at sea, which makes people feel less guilty when doing bad things, and at this time, one cannot expect moral constraints."
"Once you have a settlement, things change. First, if he buys property, it means that some of his assets become something he can't take with him when he leaves."
"Then, as the number of people increases, the constraints of morality and law come into play again, and it becomes harder for him to escape, so eventually he will have concerns."
Odis smiled and said, "Yes, although we think in different ways, we arrive at the same conclusion in the end."
After finishing the last sip of coconut juice, Audrey asked, "What are your plans for the afternoon?"
"I'll take you to Bayam for a stroll," Odis said with a smile. "It has a different feel from Backlund."
Audrey asked, "Aren't we fighting pirates anymore?"
She also wanted to experience the feeling of extraordinary combat.
"Didn't we fight an evil god this morning?" Odis said with a somewhat helpless smile. "Let's try something else this afternoon."
Seeing that Susie had finished eating, he called the waiter to settle the bill and leave.
After strolling around the food street for a while, Odis found an opportunity to "recreate" Suzaku and then brought Audrey to Bayam.
Audrey was quickly captivated by the scenery and, upon seeing the dazzling array of fruits, exclaimed, "It's a pity I didn't bring my easel, otherwise it would have definitely captured all these fruits."
"Look, their colors are so vibrant."
Audrey had only heard of some of the fruits, but had never tasted them. After all, it would take several days to get from here to Backlund, and some fruits were difficult to store, rotting while the ship was still en route.
Of course, the most crucial point is that it's not that delicious, or rather, it hasn't been hyped up yet.
For example, Odis had seen wild durians, but only many natives liked to eat them; no one from the northern continent was willing to eat them.
So even members of aristocratic families like Audrey had never eaten some tropical fruits, or even seen some of them.
Hearing Audrey's sigh, Odis took out a notebook from the "wilderness of knowledge": "If you see a fruit you like, I'll draw it for you. You can just draw it when you get back."
Audrey paused slightly, looking at the round-bellied fountain pen Odis was holding, and asked, "Could you help me mark the colors?"
As she said this, she pointed to a brightly colored fruit. Although she said that, she still planned to buy a few to paint later.
Odis wielded his pen, recording the fruit like a color printer; despite holding a round-bellied pen, he was able to draw vibrant colors.
This surprised Audrey greatly, and felt like a new world had opened up for her.
Then, one of them pointed in front and the other drew behind. In just over half an hour, Odis filled a whole notebook with drawings.
It's not just about fruit, but also about the local people's clothing, architectural style, and so on.
Odis's paintings are almost like photographs.
Audrey glanced at the notebook and remarked, "Your level of ability is really convenient."
Because they were on the street, Audrey did not use the term "demigod" to describe Odis.
Odis smiled and said, "Actually, you basically have this ability by the time you reach Sequence 5. Well, it seems your approach isn't very good at this, so you might need the assistance of a corresponding ritual."
Audrey winked at Odis, indicating that there were still pedestrians around.
Odis replied, "Our conversation has been 'encrypted' by me; no one can understand it."
Audrey paused for a moment, then exclaimed again, "Your level of ability... no, demigod level, is really convenient."
Then she said, "Could you lend me your pen for a moment?"
Odis handed her the round-bellied fountain pen, and Audrey wrote on the first page of the notebook, "Traveling with Odis in Bayam."
The font is very beautiful and elegant.
Audrey carefully put the notebook into her small bag, and then asked Odis to take her to a deserted island to see the vastness of the sea.
Just then, Odis suddenly turned to look at the side: "Allen?"
Audrey followed his gaze and saw a carriage appear at the end of the street.
The carriage drove along normally for a while, when suddenly the carriage door opened and a young man dressed in a mature manner jumped out. It was Allen, the intelligence officer that Odis had placed in Bayam.
Allen quickly waved and said, "Mr. Garr!"
Odis said, "Those are my men in Bayam. Let's go take a look."
His intuition had just sensed that Allen seemed to have something to ask him.
Odis had only recently discovered that after fully absorbing the potion, his spirituality had become much sharper than before, making his premonitions more accurate.
"Okay." Audrey had no objections and followed closely behind.
After the two met, Allen quickly said, "Mr. Garr, Bishop Dean has something urgent to discuss with you. He said he wrote to you but didn't receive a reply, so he called me over to inquire about your situation."
He had just returned from the Church of Tranquility and was preparing to take a carriage and use the "teleportation array" to go to Cruz Island to see if Odis was on the island.
As he spoke, Allen glanced at Audrey out of the corner of his eye. When he saw the beautiful birthmark on her face, he thought to himself: I didn't expect my boss to have such unique taste.
Odis hummed in agreement: "Let's go take a look at the church."
Just as Allen was about to call for the carriage, Odis said, "The carriage is too slow."
After saying this, he walked towards a nearby alley.
Audrey and Ellen understood and immediately followed.
When the coachman arrived in his carriage, he was stunned, because the person and dog who had just entered the alley had vanished.
Odis and the others appeared not far from the tranquil church, and then quickly walked towards the back door of the church.
Odis said to Audrey, "If it's something important, just wait outside."
"I have a feeling that the Church of the Goddess of Night may be taking action, and this journey will have to end sooner than planned."
"If my intuition is correct, I will send you back immediately after I finish speaking with the bishop."
Allen immediately recognized the two key words in Mr. Garr's words: "journey" and "send you," which gave him some new guesses about Audrey's identity.
Audrey followed closely behind Odis: "Could you take me with you? I'd love to see what an extraordinary battle is like, and how official extraordinary beings operate?"
She came out looking for excitement, so how could she possibly miss such an opportunity?
Odis thought for a moment and said, "If there is danger, then forget it. If it is not very dangerous, I can take you with me."
"However, I will distribute the spoils of war."
"If your abilities are not needed, you will not be allocated any spoils."
Audrey immediately replied, "No problem."
She's willing to go even if she's paid, and she doesn't care whether she gets any loot or not.
As they were talking, Odis entered the church's backyard and soon met Bishop Dean in the meeting room.
Beside Bishop Dean were several other people, one of whom was an old acquaintance of Odis, a strikingly handsome member of the "Red Gloves" wearing a black trench coat, Leonard Mitchell.
Another one is Daly Simone.