Conquest Sea, Shimmering White Pearl.
Above the dark ocean, the massive cruise ship continued to cleave through the waves, moving forward. Inside a certain cabin, Dorothy sat on her sofa, summarizing the results of her corpse puppet reconnaissance and pondering a series of questions.
Due to the ship's incorrect heading, Dorothy had dispatched small corpse puppets to scout the bridge and the captain's cabin. Her reconnaissance unexpectedly revealed an abnormally high humidity around the captain's cabin. For this reason, she specifically manipulated a drunken puppet to wander around the abnormal area near the captain's cabin to test it out. As expected, it was taken away by a crew member who emerged from the captain's cabin.
This proved that the dense water vapor diffused in the air around the captain's cabin indeed possessed some kind of detection effect. If one were to rashly intrude into this humid area, it was highly likely that they would be sensed by the people inside the cabin. This seemed to be a counter-reconnaissance defensive measure.
'The water vapor around the captain's cabin is just ordinary water vapor; it doesn't contain any abnormal spirituality. It's not something released by a transcendent creature as part of themselves. It's not like the relationship between a human-faced spider and human-faced spider silk, or a Spiderfang Priest and blood mist. The detection principle of this water vapor is different from the other two.'
'However… even such ordinary water vapor can have a detection effect, which proves that the person in the captain's cabin can sense such ordinary water vapor and natural things without spirituality… This is a characteristic of an Elementalist.'
'As someone who simulated a Thunder Summoner, I can occasionally sense natural discharge phenomena in the clouds during rainy weather. So, other Elementalists can naturally sense their corresponding natural elements. Water vapor concentrated in the air, after being greatly disturbed or excessively adhering to a person, can probably also be sensed by Transcendent beings of the Path of Waves.'
'This method of counter-reconnaissance using humid water vapor is very clever. This level of humidity increase is generally imperceptible to ordinary people or even Transcendent beings. Since the water vapor is just ordinary water vapor and does not possess abnormal spirituality within it, detection methods like my Spiritual Vision, Chalk's Spiritual Perception, and even the Brilliance Lamp, which specifically target abnormal spirituality, cannot detect it. If I hadn't been able to use flying insect corpse puppets after my advancement, and insects are more sensitive to changes in humidity, I might have just sent the corpse puppet directly and been caught and detected.'
'Captain Costa, who is in the captain's cabin, is very likely a Transcendent being of the Path of Waves, and judging by his keen perception of natural water vapor, his rank is not low, at least Chalk.'
After realizing that the captain himself was a Transcendent being of the Path of Waves, Dorothy couldn't help but feel the seriousness of the situation.
The captain of a cruise ship with several thousand tourists is a Chalk-ranked Transcendent, and now the cruise ship might have deviated from its original course. How could anyone feel at ease thinking about this!
Following this, Dorothy became even more determined to inquire about the captain's cabin, but with the obstruction of the humid air, she didn't dare to let her small corpse puppets directly approach.
"It seems I must employ some other means…"
Sitting on her bed, Dorothy murmured to herself, concentrating her attention on a gecko corpse puppet inside a distant ventilation duct. Then, with a thought, the conductive ability of the spiritual threads once again came into play. A certain state was transmitted to that gecko corpse puppet. At this instant, invisible, tiny electric currents flowed across the surface of the gecko corpse puppet's body.
Flowing Electric Form: This is an ability possessed by a Thunder Mage of the Black Earth rank on the Path of Howling. Simply put, by expending spirituality, one can adapt to electric shocks while causing electric currents to run across the body's surface in a controlled manner, making the skin electrified. In this state, the creature itself can use enemies to perform Electric Touch, and can also electrify conductive objects held in hand.
Unlike summoning lightning and emitting electric arcs, this Flowing Electric Form is a state, a buff similar to Live Devour, and thus can be transmitted by spiritual threads. Dorothy was now using a small amount of spirituality to transmit Flowing Electric Form to the gecko corpse puppet.
After wrapping the gecko corpse puppet's body with tiny electric currents, Dorothy manipulated it to resolutely walk towards the humid area ahead.
Upon entering the humid area, as the gecko corpse puppet moved, the tiny water droplets diffused in the air inevitably adhered to Dorothy's gecko corpse puppet. Then, Dorothy made the tiny electric currents on the gecko corpse puppet's body electrolyze those adhering tiny water droplets.
Using this method, Dorothy began to advance deeper into the ventilation duct, avoiding disturbing the water vapor and being covered by it, while also very carefully observing the captain's cabin door from a distance.
To minimize disturbance to the water vapor in the area, Dorothy manipulated the gecko corpse puppet to move very slowly, electrolyzing the water vapor that adhered to its body as it slowly advanced.
Transcendent beings of the Path of Waves can sense abnormal disturbances in the surrounding water vapor, but if the water vapor disappears, then there is nothing for them to sense. These water vapors are merely composed of ordinary water droplets, unlike the Spiderfang Priest's blood beads which are part of his body. Therefore, the slight disappearance of these water droplets and vapor should not alert the people in the captain's cabin.
Just like that, under Dorothy's manipulation, the gecko corpse puppet advanced slowly and steadily. As the gecko corpse puppet moved forward, there was no unusual activity in the captain's cabin. Seeing this, Dorothy couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew… It looks like this method works…"
Next, Dorothy continued to manipulate the gecko corpse puppet to slowly move within the ventilation duct. After a short while, the gecko corpse puppet finally approached the end of the ventilation duct, which was the captain's cabin's vent. After moving a bit closer, Dorothy began to feel the spirituality in her Ring of Concealment being consumed, as the gecko corpse puppet was being subjected to some kind of spiritual detection.
'This is… a spiritual detection similar to the Brilliance Lamp… Is the Path of Waves a subsidiary path of 'Lamp,' thus possessing some of 'Lamp's' detection capabilities? Water vapor plus this, it can be considered a double insurance, right…'
'Fortunately, this detection power isn't very strong; it doesn't take much'Shadow' to counter it.'
Dorothy thought this to herself. While maintaining the dual buffs of the Ring of Concealment and Flowing Electric Form on the gecko, countering the dual detection of humid water vapor and the 'Lamp's' detection, she slowly made the gecko corpse puppet advance within the ventilation duct. After moving a bit further, she could finally hear the sounds from inside the captain's cabin.
Inside the captain's cabin at this moment, two male voices were conversing. They were not speaking in Pritish. After Dorothy's identification, she confirmed that the language being spoken in the captain's cabin was Iwig.
To exchange for Dragon Roar, Dorothy had learned several languages at the Grand Library. Besides Falaro, Dorothy had also learned some Iwig. Before, she had relied on phonetic symbols to forcibly spell and memorize word pronunciations. Recently, after encountering many foreigners on the ship, Dorothy had had her parental corpse puppets converse with them to practice speaking. Due to the destination, there were many Iwig people on board, and Dorothy's Iwig had thus received a lot of practice. Now, she could barely understand the conversation in the captain's cabin.
"So… how are your preparations coming along?"
"They're almost ready. I'll bring people to set up the exhibition hall first thing tomorrow morning. The official exhibition will start tomorrow afternoon, and although the Heart of the Deep Blue has already been placed in advance, its exhibition will be in the evening."
Hearing the sounds from inside the captain's cabin, Dorothy's heart stirred. She then continued to manipulate the gecko corpse puppet to crawl forward. After a short while, it finally crawled to the ventilation opening. Through the iron grate of the ventilation opening, Dorothy could finally look down and see the scene inside the captain's cabin.
Inside the luxuriously decorated captain's cabin, two middle-aged men were sitting opposite each other. One was wearing a uniform and a captain's hat, with a full beard. Dorothy could tell without a doubt that he was Costa, the captain of the Shimmering White Pearl. The other was wearing a neat suit and had a small mustache. Dorothy had seen his picture on a poster; he was Massimo, the jewelry collector who was holding a jewelry exhibition on this cruise ship.
'Costa and Massimo… the captain and the collector. The two most important figures of this voyage are both here. There must be something fishy going on…'
Looking at the scene inside the captain's cabin, Dorothy couldn't help but think this to herself. Then, she began to observe the situation inside the captain's cabin more intently, eavesdropping on their conversation.
"The light of the Heart of the Deep Blue needs to illuminate the sea area we are advancing into, so it must be placed before the bow of the ship. Is the display stand you made alright? Don't let it be tossed into the sea by the wind and waves."
Inside the cabin, Captain Costa spoke to Massimo, who immediately responded.
"Don't worry, that Angel Display Stand is custom-made for the Heart of the Deep Blue. Not only is the stand itself made of steel and very sturdy, but the installation interface has also been specially designed. Once the gem is placed on it, it will lock into place. Even if you smash it hard with a hammer, you won't be able to knock it off, unless 'Cups' like you and I use all our strength to tear off the entire display stand statue, or I personally unlock and remove it."
As he spoke, Massimo took a sip of a dark red liquid. Costa nodded after hearing Massimo's words, then continued to speak.
"Hmph… Hearing you say that, placing the Heart of the Deep Blue on that Angel Display Stand is even safer than putting it in a safe…"
"Heh… If it's simply compared to an ordinary safe, that's a fact."
"Alright… as long as it's safe. The ship will probably reach the Blood Sacrifice Sea area in about a day. If we want to make Haimohois, who dwells in the deep sea, appear, the attraction of the Heart of the Deep Blue's light is indispensable. Don't mess it up then."
"Don't worry, I won't…"
Massimo conversed with Costa in this manner. At this moment, the captain's cabin door suddenly knocked. Costa glanced at the door and, without asking who was knocking, directly said,
"Come in."
Following Costa's words, the cabin door opened, and then a neatly uniformed sailor walked in. He bowed deeply to Costa and Massimo before speaking.
"Gentlemen, I have already checked on the person who was loitering around the captain's cabin just now. It was a drunken passenger on the ship who got lost due to intoxication and stumbled in here by mistake."
The young sailor respectfully reported to Costa and Massimo. After hearing him, Costa spoke with a serious tone.
"A drunkard? Was he truly drunk? Has his identity been verified?"
"It has been verified. The drunkard's name is Martin, and he is a Falaroan. We confirmed at the bar that he had indeed drunk a lot there. We have also found his family, and they have already taken him back. After initial questioning and investigation, no abnormalities were found on any of them. It can basically be confirmed that they are just ordinary people."
The sailor spoke very earnestly to Costa. After listening to the sailor's words, Costa pondered for a moment, then spoke.
"I understand… If that's the case, then let's suspend the overt investigation into them for now. However, we cannot let our guard down. Secretly assign a few people to keep an eye on them. If there are any abnormal movements, notify me immediately."
"Yes, I will go arrange for people to keep a secret watch immediately."
The sailor said this, then bowed to Costa and Massimo before slowly retreating. After the sailor left, Massimo also spoke to Costa.
"It's getting late now, so I'll head back. Tomorrow is the official start of the ceremony, and I also need to get some good rest."
"Mm, then I won't see you out."
Saying this, Massimo also stood up, left his seat, and walked out of the captain's cabin. After Massimo left, Costa closed the cabin door. He then paced around the cabin twice by himself before looking at a sea chart hanging on the cabin wall. After staring at a certain sea area for a while, he murmured,
"Haimohois… I hope this ceremony will please you…"
…
"Haimohois…"
In the passenger cabin, Dorothy, having finished listening to the intelligence from the captain's cabin, sat on the sofa, murmuring with a frown. She had heard of the strange term from Massimo and Costa before.
In the esoteric text "Records of the Lost Sea" that Dorothy had acquired from Misha of the Anying Bureau, Dorothy had seen a term with a pronunciation similar to Haimohois.
In the "Records of the Lost Sea," there is a record of a great sea monster whose Pritish pronunciation is very similar to Haimohois. According to the records in the "Records of the Lost Sea," this sea monster has the body of a whale and three huge snake heads. It usually inhabits the deep sea and likes to overturn ships to prey on human flesh. Because it is rumored to have the bloodline of an Abyssal Serpent within it, it is also listed as one of the worship objects by the Abyssal Sea Cult.