Not long after, Andre and Bobby returned to the boat.
"I checked and found that there is indeed a hidden space underneath. It must be Treasure House No. 5," Old Bobby said, a hint of excitent in his voice.
Andre turned to Ed. "It seems Pakchi was right. You are indeed very talented. The test we gave you clearly underestimated your abilities."
He then pointed at Ed and Jason. "You two, get ready. We will first have you serve as ’touchers’ on this voyage before heading to the Sacred Armor Island."
Andre frowned slightly, observing Ed and Jason, who were visibly excited. "This voyage may take more than half a month. During this ti, Elena and Vanessa will help prepare you for the experience."
Hearing this, Elena, standing beside him, gave Ed a slight smile. Vanessa, anwhile, leaned on her hand with a playful look.
Seeing her expression, Ed couldn’t shake the feeling that this might not be a good thing. For so reason, he was getting a "playful big sister" vibe from her, reminiscent of certain adult movies. Of course, there was no chance anything exciting would happen with her, but receiving special treatnt during training seed inevitable.
"Alright, Blue Fist, set sail!" Andre commanded, looking toward the ceiling of the captain’s cabin.
As his order was relayed, the folded sails outside unfurled on their own with a creaking sound. The ship turned its bow and began sailing into the distance.
This scene did not escape the notice of the people on the island who had been closely observing them, especially certain individuals with ulterior motives.
I still think the captain has no naming sense. ’Blue Fist’? What kind of la na is that? Sorry, Elena, don’t take it to heart, Ed thought after leaving the captain’s cabin with Jason and Elena, finally unable to hold back his complaint.
"And what’s wrong with the na ’Blue Fist’? I think it’s a good na... right, Jason?" Elena said with a frown, giving Jason a aningful look. He was about to reply honestly but forced his mouth shut.
Seeing Jason about to lower his head out of fear of Elena, Ed quickly moved close and whispered in his ear, low enough that Elena, who was paying close attention, couldn’t hear, "If you dare to lie, I’ll curse your little brother so he’ll never be able to make any lady happy in the future."
Otherwise, his image would be ruined. As for Jason, Ed had already figured out his character and was sure his brain wasn’t so different, especially regarding certain topics.
"Hah, Ed is right, it is indeed la," Jason said, throwing aside his fear under Ed’s mysterious motivation. "I also don’t understand how the captain could possibly na his ship after his fighting move. There are so many good nas! He could have chosen anything, like... like... Edward, give so examples!"
Jason, finally finding a buddy to confide in, started voicing the inner thoughts he’d hidden since coming aboard. However, his excitent soon died down as he felt a murderous aura emanating from Elena, who was now covered in a silver light. He quickly coughed and threw the topic back to Ed.
Ed, having seen the most famous pirate show of his previous life, which was still going on after 25 years, and being a big fan, instantly replied as if he couldn’t wait: "Like Thousand Sunny, Going rry, Red Force, Moby Dick, or Black Pearl... any one of them is better than Blue Fist. It’s as if the captain was too busy to think and just threw out the first na that ca to mind when soone forced him to."
Hearing the nas Ed suggested, even Elena, who wanted to defend her father, found it hard to refuse his complaint. Now with actual nas for comparison, she also felt her father lacked naming sense.
Thankfully my na was chosen by Mother, Elena breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.
...
"You said Andre and the others left?"
The speaker was a bald man with a tattoo of a shark’s gaping mouth on his head. He was Welter, leader of the "Shark Bite Gang."
In front of him, an ordinary-looking man nodded. "Yes. mbers on the shore saw with their own eyes that the Blue Fist had left the waters around ister Island."
"Did you send a boat to follow them?"
"I did. They sailed straight away without showing any signs of turning back."
Hearing this, Welter frowned, his fleshy face looking even more ferocious. Andre’s sudden departure left him puzzled.
Although they had rarely crossed paths, both were well-known treasure-hunting groups in these waters. From rumors, Welter had so idea of how Andre’s team operated.
He hadn’t expected to completely drive Andre away but had hoped to slow them down, buying ti and opportunity for his own team. After all, Andre and his crew had been on the island for nearly a year, not to ntion their preparation beforehand. They were bound to know more about the THAAD treasure trove here than Welter did.
On the other hand, Welter’s team had a broader understanding of the overall THAAD treasury.
"Alright, I understand. You may leave," Welter said, waving his hand casually.
The man nodded and departed without another word.
A few monts later, the sound of crisp, deliberate footsteps interrupted Welter’s thoughts.
Looking up, he saw Nivek, dressed in his usual clown costu. By now, most of the burns on Nivek’s body had healed, save for a single scar on the corner of his face. It seed as though it had been left there intentionally.
"How was it, Nivek? What did the ’prey’ you let escape do while on the island?" Welter’s tone carried a clear hint of sarcasm.
Nivek’s expression darkened, but he replied steadily, "He rented a haunted villa and wandered the city like a tourist most of the ti, occasionally visiting the villa’s owner, a middle-aged rich lady who seems to have taken a special liking to him, thinking he’s a rich guy."
"A haunted villa?" Welter ignored the matter of the rich lady. There were too many single won who always tried to find a young, well-mannered guy to make them happy.
ssing with rich ladies of status was not sothing their small treasure-hunting gang dared to do, even soone like the madman Nivek only gathered information about Kaila from outside instead of rushing into her villa to torture everything out of her.
"I checked but found nothing unusual. Of course, it’s possible the oddities were erased by him."
"Anything else? Did he do anything out of the ordinary... besides playing with that rich lady?" Welter asked, feeling Nivek’s weird look and realizing he had been misunderstood.
"He went to the Prayer Valley on the island," Nivek said after a hesitant mont.
"What is that place?"
After all, they had only been on the island for a week at most, not enough ti to learn all the locations, especially the unimportant ones hardly ntioned by anyone.
Nivek replied, "The primitive belief on the island is that one conveys their wishes to God through flying insects. That damned bastard went there."
Ed had used a false identity while on the island. The movents of this fake persona were not deliberately hidden, after all, he was just a novice at this. As a result, everything Ed had done and all the places he had visited in the city over the past few days had already been pieced together.
Welter scratched his chin thoughtfully. "This unknown treasure-hunting mber is most likely a trainee on Andre’s ship. The information Andre and his team have is definitely much more comprehensive than ours. If soone stays alone in the city or even risks going outside while being wanted, then there’s definitely sothing unusual about that location. Let’s go and see what secrets this valley hides."
Nivek shrugged exaggeratedly, pulling a helpless expression before following his captain away.
...
Ed leaned leisurely on the ship’s railing, enjoying the sea breeze and gazing at the endless, unchanging horizon, occasionally letting out a helpless sigh. He missed Raila so much now that he would give all his money to be with her for just a minute.
The large deck was empty, save for a crew mber stationed on the watchtower above. This enormous three-masted sailing ship had a crew of just twelve, pitifully small for its size.
While deep in thought, playing with his wedding ring and wondering what she was doing and how his child was growing in her stomach, Ed heard footsteps on the deck behind him, bringing him back to his senses.
Turning around, he saw Old Bobby erging from the cabin, carrying a box of tools. Following close behind were a pair of young twins, Bobby’s assistants and apprentices.
Old Bobby looked at Ed, waved, and said, "I’m going to perform maintenance on the spells and equipnt on board. Want to co with ? I can explain so spell knowledge as we go."
The main crew mbers all knew Ed’s knowledge of the supernatural world was pitifully shallow, nearly nonexistent. As a result, they often took him along during their daily tasks, teaching him in the process.
"Of course. It’s not like I have anything better to do," Ed replied with a smile, walking toward them.
Bobby nodded, gesturing for Ed to follow as he headed toward the massive central mast. He extended his right hand, tapping the mast with his index and middle fingers.
A faint yellow light glowed at his fingertips, illuminating the mast’s surface. Monts later, a complex web of dense, light-blue lines appeared in the air, intertwining intricately.
"When touched, each person’s magic gives off a slightly different color. All external magic is typically light blue," Bobby explained while studying the blue lines seriously.
"You haven’t tapped into your magic yet, so you might not see the magic that surrounds you or its subtle reactions. But since you’ve already handled magical equipnt, the magic power in your body has started to activate, letting you notice obvious magical energies."
As Bobby spoke, he continued his teaching, while the twin apprentices busied themselves assisting him.
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