Picking up the blood crystal and smelling the faint smell of sulfur, Klein could vaguely sense the corrosive powers hidden deep within.
Legend has it that the Abyss is an area with the greatest powers of corruption. Even an angel will fall and lose control there. The people guarding the Abyss will eventually be assimilated by the Abyss... The characteristic shown by the Desire Apostle does match this point. Hmm, deepening the assimilation of a Desire Apostle? Klein allowed his thoughts to wander.
Soon, he noticed a detail. Kircheis had declared loyalty to the Death Announcer, and not to King of Immortality Agalito!
Does this mean that the real King of Immortality is the Death Announcer? Agalito is only its spokesperson or the administrator to infect targets? Heh, rumor has it that Agalito isn't a demigod and isn't at Sequence 4. He relies solely on the Death Announcer to become one of the Four Kings. If that's the case, his actual situation is worse than I expected. He doesn't even have any autonomy...
Of course, I can't eliminate the possibility that he's a Sequence 4, and his relationship with the Death Announcer is just one of cooperating partners. He's a Demon after all. He's crafty and enjoys misleading people...
Klein contemplated for a few seconds before attempting another divination to see if he could obtain any revelation for the blood crystal's usage.
He wasn't afraid that it would incur huge trouble for him, or it could be said that he was already prepared to receive any. Even if it was connected to the Devil King in the Abyss, it would at most be equivalent to the backlash from the True Creator or Eternal Blazing Sun. Klein believed that the gray fog had the means to defend against and suppress it.
This is the first time. I won't have my location locked on, so it's not a big problem... Besides, I already divined its origins, and there wasn't any danger. Therefore, the Death Announcer definitely isn't a Sequence 0 Devil... Eh, isn't that obvious? If it's really a Sequence 0 Devil, or a Sealed Artifact at the level of King of Angels, Amon, then there's no need to avoid the joint forces of me, Queen Mystic, Admiral of Stars, and Anderson... Klein realized that he had been frightening himself. He began to seriously begin the dream divination.
In the blurry world, he saw a world covered with sticky black fog.
A monster formed from dark-colored lumps of flesh squirmed over as its body cavity produced a raging roar, "Blatherer!"
The scene changed, producing an ancient-looking altar which was splashed with fresh blood. Engraved on of it were words and symbols filled with a corruptive feeling; it was as though they were shouting something.
The hazy world shattered as Klein slowly opened his eyes and sat straight.
He tapped his finger on the edge of the long bronze table and muttered to himself, Blatherer refers to the state before the Death Announcer became a Sealed Artifact—a Blatherer from the Abyss. Or was it a gigantic monster formed from dark-colored lumps of flesh that became a Sealed Artifact after being killed by a Blatherer?
Heh heh, regardless, the final confirmation is that there's one ship involved. Otherwise, it wouldn't have solidified into its present state.
Hmm... From the laughter of the person on the brink of losing control, it's very likely that the Death Announcer corresponds to Blatherer. A preliminary prediction is that it isn't a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact; otherwise, King of Immortality would be the best of the Four Kings... It's probably a Sequence 3? Furthermore, Agalito clearly doesn't match well with it. The level of power shown isn't that high. It's at most Sequence 4...
That corruptive altar that gave off a feeling as though it was shouting suggests that the blood crystal is able to summon a high-level Devil? For example, the Blatherer?
Having no idea how to summon a high-level Devil, nor having any plans on doing so, Klein casually threw the thin blood crystal along with the Beyonder characteristic—the glowing crystal left behind by the Priest of Light—into the junk pile. Then, he perfunctorily named the former: Aura of Blatherer!
After doing this, Klein cautiously attempted another divination. It was to confirm if he would encounter any danger that night, danger that came from King of Immortality Agalito.
In fact, he already had a prediction for the divination's outcome. King of Immortality Agalito wouldn't touch ground on the island!
Firstly, it was because Toscarter had a hidden demigod. Ordinary Beyonders might not know, but the Four Kings would have some level of understanding. And it was unlikely Agalito would wish to have any head-on conflict with other demigods. Forcefully entering the "territory" of another person wasn't his style.
Secondly, Klein's previous theory had produced a conclusion: Agalito didn't dare to leave the Death Announcer, and the Death Announcer had no way of going ashore!
Indeed, Klein received the revelation that it would be very safe that night.
This meant that he didn't need to change his appearance and move to another hotel.
...
Around nine in the morning of the next day, Klein saw Anderson Hood appear the moment he walked into the restaurant on the first floor and found a seat. Anderson immediately sat opposite him.
This Strongest Hunter used his fingers to comb his short blond hair, making it part seventy-thirty. As he looked at Gehrman Sparrow, he tsked with a laugh.
"Impressive, you managed to hunt Kircheis even when fighting one-on-three!
"The way you dragged the Devil's corpse downstairs has already spread throughout Toscarter Pier.
"Heh, it's said that every pirate with a bounty on their head has decided to distance themselves from your sights. They will not appear anywhere within a five-kilometer radius from you!"
Ever since he acquainted himself with Frank Lee, Klein had quit drinking milk. He raised his hand to order a cup of coffee, a piece of white bread, two toasts, a roasted pork sausage, and a plate of butter. Then, he replied in an extremely calm manner, "Your ability at gathering intel is pretty good."
Anderson chuckled.
"This is necessary for a hunter. Heh, the Toscarter adventurers are discussing a serious question as to who is the strongest hunter!"
When Anderson saw Gehrman Sparrow look up with a cold and ambiguous gaze, his smile froze.
"They've all chosen you.
"Haha, after all, this is the Sonia Sea, and not the Fog Sea."
Why did you need to add that second sentence? It's just asking for a beating... Klein casually asked, as though being indifferent, "Anything else?"
"Ah?" Anderson suddenly felt his comprehension skills were impeded.
"Any other intel?" Klein repeated himself with more details.
"There is..." Anderson suddenly signaled with his eyes. "Molsona from the Loen New Party has mysteriously disappeared last night. He mysteriously disappeared in his own room while being protected by countless guards! The official explanation is that Molsona has already died. The reason was that he possibly consecrated an evil god or summoned a devil. Heh, no one believes that. It's because the Church of Storms has received an anonymous letter that has detailed records of Molsona's crimes, as well as evidence."
He stared intently at Gehrman Sparrow, hoping that the crazy adventurer would provide him with more information.
He clearly remembered that Gehrman Sparrow had just asked him who deserved to be killed yesterday afternoon. And his answer was Molsona from the Loen New Party.
Klein tersely responded without saying anything more.
At this moment, a figure rushed into the hotel. After looking around, he walked towards Klein in delight.
He was none other than the bar owner from before.
"Mr. Sparrow." The owner took off a bonnet that had a depression in the middle and bowed. "It has already been confirmed, but the process will take another two days. After all, it's too large a sum. Heh heh, I know you'll be leaving today, so in order to not delay your schedule, I've decided to cover the bounty for now. Well, a portion of it comes from the bar's liquid cash, and a portion of it I loaned from my friends. Please make sure the number is right."
He deliberately spoke in detail to express his goodwill to Gehrman Sparrow while earning a profit. He wanted to befriend this crazy adventurer.
As for whether King of Immortality would seek revenge on him, he wasn't too worried. Many a time, Kircheis would similarly claim bounties through him. After all, it was a reward for battles between pirates. Everyone liked gaining some additional cash. It was an unspoken rule at sea.
Klein did a count of the thick stack of notes worth 6,000 pounds. He split them into a few stacks and placed them into different pockets. Then, he said with a nod, "Not bad."
The bar owner heaved a sigh of relief. He then warily surveyed his surroundings before suppressing his voice.
"You have to be careful. King of Immortality is a very vengeful person. He might intercept your ship at sea."
He didn't dare to say that he had the means to arrange for someone to board certain ships to depart in secret, afraid that it would be detected by King of Immortality and that he would suffer retaliation as a result.
"I know," Klein replied indifferently.
The bar owner didn't speak further. He bowed once more and left the hotel's restaurant.
"Do you have the means to leave?" Anderson looked at Gehrman Sparrow with a look of curiosity.
"Guess." Klein revealed a gentlemanly smile.
The corners of Anderson's lips twitched.
"I'm relieved by seeing your confidence.
"By the way. The tickets. It sets sail at half-past one in the afternoon.
"Impressive. I thought I was rather amazing earning 1,600 pounds in a night. Who knew..."
Klein didn't respond as he began enjoying his breakfast.
Later, he made a new suit to prevent himself from lacking a change of clothes.
Time passed, and soon, it was time to board the ship. Anderson held a newly bought suitcase and looked at Gehrman Sparrow beside him. He asked, seemingly worried, "Are we just leaving on this ship?
"The Death Announcer should be around the surrounding waters. The Future left yesterday after it was resupplied."
He felt that leaving while under the wrath of the King of Immortality wasn't a wise choice.
It's impossible for Gehrman Sparrow to be crazy enough to just storm right into death, right... Unless, this is his trap... A thought came to Anderson as he had a hunch.
Klein didn't turn his head to look at him. He directly boarded the liner with his suitcase.
His thoughts were simple. It was likely that the Death Announcer could sense something wrong with its aura. Based on the King of Immortality's modus operandi, it was unlikely for him to make a forceful assault. If his assumption was wrong, then the moment the Death Announcer appeared along the horizon, Klein would immediately enter his room and pray to himself. Then, he would go above the gray fog to use the scepter to respond. He wanted to see who was stronger—the Blatherer at sea or the Sea God!
This wasn't Klein's original plan. He had planned on using the Sea God Scepter's ability to command sea creatures to find an underwater "carriage" for himself. Then, under layers of protection from his charms, he would pull Anderson out into the waters and escape the range of the Death Announcer's blockade before secretly boarding a liner he had tickets to.
However, in consideration that the target of revenge had disappeared all of a sudden, it was possible that the King of Immortality would vent his anger on others by slaughtering liners indiscriminately. After all, pirates didn't abide by the law, nor did they come with any proper morals. After divining above the gray fog, Klein ultimately decided to leave brazenly.
