Chapter 343 - 157: Karel’s Whisper (Part 2)
With his current strength, dealing with these Sea Crows wouldn’t be difficult. Still, he wasn’t sure what to expect next.
This wasn’t like when he killed Henrik and his men. That decision had been made only after he gathered a certain amount of intelligence and analyzed the possible consequences.
But these Deep Sea creatures... ’Hmm, there’s some information I need to confirm.’
"I need food!" one of the Sea Crows said sinisterly.
"I do too!"
"..."
"Food?"
Wei’en raised an eyebrow. ’Is that all they want? Such a simple request?’
"Flesh and blood. The kind on the verge of mutation is best..."
"You look pretty good. You must be delicious, right?"
"Me?"
Wei’en couldn’t help but reveal a smile. "Are you sure?"
He only wanted to gather more information; it didn’t mean he was going to let these strange Deep Sea creatures go.
"Cer—"
"No! He’s delirious with hunger!" the innermost Sea Crow suddenly interrupted.
"Er..."
"Boss?"
"Boss..."
"Boss?!"
Hearing its voice, the other Deep Sea creatures were all stunned. Then, in unison, they forced the iron spikes from their foreheads and turned to look into the depths of the prison cell.
Wei’en looked over as well. ’Boss? Is that the leader of these Deep Sea creatures?’
Thinking back, it was true that this one hadn’t spoken since he entered the cell.
"Apologies. We will be leaving this place shortly." The innermost Sea Crow didn’t respond to the others’ confusion. Its gaze remained fixed on Wei’en, as if it had discovered something.
"Is that acceptable?"
Wei’en was somewhat surprised by its attitude. "Answer my questions."
"This is a matter for my Sea Crow Race," that Sea Crow said, shaking its head. "What I can tell you is that you are not our target."
Wei’en feigned ignorance. "The Sea Crow Race is...?"
"Intelligent beings, just like you. However, my race has always lived in the Deep Sea and has almost never set foot in the human world."
Wei’en gave a noncommittal nod. ’It matches the description on the panel. Honest, at least...’
He looked at the surrounding setup, and connecting it to his previous discoveries, a guess surfaced in his mind. "Is your target the Black Pearl?"
For these members of the Sea Crow Race to willingly cooperate with Henrik, there were only a few possible goals.
One was the Storm Hunter. They might want to wait until this ship reached a specific area, then cooperate with people outside to kill Henrik and his crew.
However, this was the least likely possibility. ’With the power of the leader, would they really need to go through all this trouble?’
The second was to use the Storm Hunter to achieve some goal, such as acting as Henrik’s "spoils of war" to follow him to places they wanted to go.
And when they heard his words, the Sea Crows had varied reactions.
Except for the Sea Crow in the very back, whose expression remained unchanged, the other few whipped their heads around to look at him.
Their synchronized movement confirmed Wei’en’s suspicion.
At this moment, the Sea Crow in the back sized Wei’en up again and asked doubtfully, "How do you know that? And what’s strange is, your reaction tells me you’re not curious about our identity as Deep Sea creatures. It’s as if you already knew about us."
"Can you tell me why? Or have you met other members of the Sea Crow Race before?"
Wei’en shook his head, not answering its question. "I want to know the purpose of you targeting the Black Pearl... Could it be that you’re preparing to challenge Isabella?"
"Don’t say his name!"
"Hm?"
’Looks like I’ve found the ultimate target!’
’But why do their voices sound... so terrified?’
"My apologies. I didn’t know his name would affect you."
Wei’en grew even more suspicious. ’What’s going on here? These members of the Sea Crow Race dare to target Isabella, yet they don’t dare to speak his name?’
’Challengers? Doesn’t seem like it.’
’It’s more like Isabella did something to them, hurt them... Is it a deep-seated grudge?’
At that moment, the deep-set eyes of the Sea Crow in the back stared fixedly at him, as if trying to see through to his thoughts.
After more than ten seconds of silence, the body of that Sea Crow Race member moved. The dozen or so iron spikes on its body instantly shot out.
As the bloody holes on its body slowly healed, it strode toward Wei’en. "Troy. That is my name."
Seeing its actions, the other Sea Crows also broke free from their restraints and followed closely behind it.
"Troy?" Wei’en discreetly prepared to fight, also stating his own name: "Marco. Or Red-Hair."
After walking out of the cage, Troy stopped. He crossed his hands over his abdomen and bent his body slightly, performing a gesture of courtesy. "I learned this gesture from a book. If there is any breach of etiquette, I ask for your forgiveness, Sir Marco."
"It’s very standard."
Wei’en looked at it, confused. ’Even if I guessed their target, there’s no need for a gesture like this, is there?’
"We mean you no offense." Troy seemed to sense his wariness and confusion. He squeezed out a friendly expression onto his handsome face. The mark between his brows had already recovered, revealing itself to be an anchor-shaped sigil in the form of a strange creature.
The creature looked like a winged Sea Snake with a triangular head, a flat mouth, and a long, forked tongue wrapped around the anchor.
Wei’en committed the sigil to memory and didn’t interrupt, quietly waiting for it to continue.
"Just as you guessed, for certain reasons, our target is indeed that..." Troy hesitated, and after what seemed to be an internal struggle, he finally managed to say with difficulty, "Isabella. We hope that Sir Marco can keep our secret."
"Keep your secret?" Wei’en couldn’t help but laugh.
He had just slaughtered Henrik and his pirates; it was highly unlikely he would leak information about the Sea Crow Race to the Black Pearl.
But hearing this, he also understood that these members of the Sea Crow Race probably had no intention of attacking him.
Troy, meticulously imitating some form of land-dweller etiquette from who-knows-what era, said respectfully, "According to your customs, we will pay a corresponding price in exchange for your secrecy. This is... if I remember correctly, called a transaction?"
"A transaction?" Wei’en’s mouth twitched. ’What an unexpected turn of events.’
"Yes."
As soon as the word was out, Troy opened one hand, and an object appeared within it.
Wei’en looked at the exquisite object, and his eyes instantly widened.
At the same time, a thought couldn’t help but surface in his mind—’Hmm, the Deep Sea creatures aren’t animals. They are definitely an intelligent, and quite clever, race.’
For in Troy’s hand was a Forbidden Object—
[You have witnessed "Forbidden Object 2-77, Karel’s Whisper." Your trajectory of fate has changed slightly. Current encounter progress: 5/100. Evaluation: Hmm, Karel... Special Reward: Survival Points +10, Origin +1, Resilience Level +1.]
"This is a Forbidden Object used by my race."
A trace of reluctance appeared in Troy’s eyes as he looked at the exquisite Harmonica in his hand—it was shaped like a seashell, only palm-sized, with a silver-white body engraved with strange patterns.
"By consuming a certain amount of physical strength, it can activate an ability called ’Cursed Whisper’—any creature that hears its sound will randomly suffer a curse, while the user will gain a corresponding buff."
"In addition, when it goes out of control, it will cast Cursed Whisper on everyone nearby. The method to regain control is simple: you just need to feed it some strong liquor."
"A curse, a buff, and strong liquor?"
Wei’en’s gaze shifted from the Forbidden Object. He looked at Troy and asked seriously, "Are you sure you want to offer this as an item for our transaction, in exchange for my secrecy?"
"That’s right!"
Troy’s expression grew even more serious as he said in a firm tone, "I see the omen of death upon you. If we do not satisfy you, my companions and I will all be buried with this ship in this stretch of sea."
"Er..."
’An omen of death?’
A strange expression crossed Wei’en’s face as he thought, ’The panel did say that the Sea Crows’ Extraordinary traits included this...’
’But I can’t shake the feeling that the cost and the reward are completely disproportionate...’
’The cost is negligible, but the reward is a Forbidden Object?’
’Just where did this member of the Sea Crow Race learn the customs of the land?’
PS: This Chapter took a full six hours to write. I’m having a breakdown. I have to revise the detailed outline again.
I still owe 11 bonus Chapters.
PPS: Thanks to the big shot from Furel City for providing the concept for the Forbidden Object. I’ve made some changes; its original name was "Whisper of the Ancients." Interested readers can check out the post in the book review section.