Chapter 707 Helen's Doubts <TOC> Chapter 709 Brewing Resentment
Translator: SumTLMan
When Angel first boarded the Cloud Conch, he noticed the figurehead on the ship. However, he didn’t take a close look at it at the time, and he had spent most of the past half month in his cabin, so this was actually his first time being this close to the figurehead.
Compared to the peaceful and tranquil praying girl figurehead on the Bohemia, the figurehead on the Cloud Conch had an extra touch of wickedness and flamboyance.
The beautiful Gorgon with snake hair seemed more like a figurehead favored by pirate ships.
While Angel was paying attention to the figurehead, Helen was still inquiring about Nausica: “May I ask, is Lady Asbay currently in the Feran Continent?”
Helen’s tone was full of admiration and longing.
Angel’s gaze was still on the figurehead, and he casually replied, “She has some matters to attend to, so she might still be in the Feran Continent, or she could have hidden away in any random country.”
Hearing Angel’s words, Helen wondered if she should continue to ask about Nausica. As she hesitated and turned her head, she found Angel curiously looking at the figurehead.
“Are you interested in Medusa, sir?”
“Medusa?”
“That’s the name of this snake-haired sea monster. Legend has it that she lived in the Devil’s Sea, loved to eat human brains, and anyone who looked directly into her eyes would turn to stone,” Helen explained. “Because of her ferocity, many ships like to use her image as their figurehead to deter sea beasts.”
“However, I don’t think it’s very useful. If a sea beast is going to attack, it will attack anyway,” Helen shook her head. “Besides, the story of Medusa, the snake-haired sea monster, is just an unfounded legend. None of our colleagues at the White Shell Shipping Company, including myself, have ever seen her.”
“If what you’re saying is true, and Medusa is as ruthless as you say, anyone who sees her turns to stone, then the news wouldn’t naturally spread,” Angel casually replied. “But I’m not really interested in this sea monster. What I’m interested in is…”
“Huh?” Helen looked over curiously.
Angel didn’t continue, but quietly stared at the position of Medusa’s figurehead’s palm. She was holding a conch, and on the top of the conch was a light purple gem.
When he first boarded the ship, Angel had a faint feeling that there was a faint aura of nightmare illusion around the conch. He suspected that the gem, like the one on the forehead of the praying girl on the Bohemia, was a Nightmare Stone.
Later, Roman confirmed this.
However, now that Angel looked again, he found that the nightmare illusion aura surrounding the conch had become fainter, so thin that it was almost nonexistent.
Had the nightmare illusion aura become concealed? Although Angel himself didn’t have a Nightmare Stone, he was not unfamiliar with their properties. Once a Nightmare Stone was used, its aura could not be concealed again.
Perhaps the power of illusion from the Nightmare Stone isn’t sufficient anymore?
Regardless of the speculation, the change in the Nightmare Stone was an undeniable fact.
Angel quietly closed his eyes, and about a minute later, he opened them, a faint glow flowing out of his pupils.
At the same time, in a vision invisible to others, countless information symbols scattered from the statue of the Gorgon Medusa not far away. These symbols quickly gathered and finally fell into the “server” constructed in Angel’s mental space.
After a while, Angel’s brow furrowed gradually.
“My lord, what are you looking at? Is it the Nightmare Stone on the conch?” Helen’s voice suddenly reached Angel’s ears.
“Do you also know about the Nightmare Stone?”
“Yes, when encountering a powerful sea beast that cannot be defeated, the Nightmare Stone will be activated. However, the ocean is vast, and the chances of activating this Nightmare Stone are low during our many years at sea. As far as I know, the Cloud Conch only activated it once ten years ago to avoid a giant Emperor Squid.”
“It was activated once ten years ago and never again?”
“That’s correct.”
Angel suddenly laughed, “Perhaps, it won’t be activated in the future either.”
Helen was puzzled, not understanding Angel’s meaning.
“Has anyone touched this Nightmare Stone recently?” Angel asked.
Helen hesitated for a moment, “I don’t think anyone has.”
“Has there been any extraordinary person, other than me and Roman, who has boarded the Cloud Conch in the past month?”
Helen shook her head again, “No.”
“Oh.” Angel nodded knowingly, squinting at the dissipating nightmare mist, “Let’s go back, the sea breeze is too cold, getting sick is not good.”
With that, Angel turned and walked towards the cabin.
Helen looked puzzledly at the bow of the ship, not knowing the meaning of Angel’s words, but she knew she had no right to question him, so she shook her head and went inside as well.
After parting with Helen, Angel expressionlessly returned to his cabin.
As soon as he returned, he heard the sound of fluttering fabric as a gust of wind blew outside the window.
Angel went to the balcony and saw a figure landing on the bow of the ship. At the same time, the person turned to look at Angel, and it was Roman.
Roman’s eyes were dim, but the middle-aged man Angel conjured carried his signature listless and despondent expression, lazily waving at Roman.
Roman’s mental tendrils touched the Nightmare Stone of the figurehead, making sure no one had tampered with it, and felt relieved.
At the same time, the two exchanged glances for over a dozen seconds.
Roman mouthed a few words softly, then flew back to the fourth floor, disappearing from sight.
Angel remembered the lip-reading and amusingly mimicked it: “Mind your own business?”
It seemed that Roman was not only suspicious but also quite cautious… He and Helen had just been standing at the railing chatting for a while, at least ten meters away from the figurehead, yet Roman immediately came down to check.
While it could be called cautious, it was more about having a guilty conscience.
Because Angel hadn’t forgotten that the result he had just identified with the Eye of Nalda was that the stone Medusa held in her palm wasn’t a Nightmare Stone, but a “Phantasmal Gem.”
The Phantasmal Gem was a somewhat illusionary, unranked material.
It was incomparable to the precious Nightmare Stone.
Since Helen had once said that the Cloud Conch had activated the Nightmare Stone ten years ago, it meant that at least at one point, Medusa’s palm held a Nightmare Stone. And according to Angel’s judgment, the faint lingering aura of the nightmare illusion was enough to show that the Nightmare Stone had been replaced with the Phantasmal Gem within the last month.
At first, Angel couldn’t be sure who had made the switch. Even though Helen said that only she and Roman had boarded the ship, there was always a margin of error. Perhaps when the Cloud Conch was docked at the port, an extraordinary individual had paid a stealthy visit at night. So, Angel was only a little suspicious if it was Roman who did it.
But now, seeing Roman nervously running to check and giving an inexplicable warning.
There was no doubt that Roman was responsible for the act of stealing what he was supposed to guard.
As a guest, Angel didn’t think about exposing Roman. On the vast sea with no villages ahead or behind, Roman was the highest commander of the Cloud Conch, and even if he was exposed, it would be of no use.
Suddenly, Angel became curious. Since Roman dared to do this, had he thought about the aftermath?
It didn’t matter to ordinary people, but what would he do if the people of Sky Mechanical City investigated?
In an instant, Angel became somewhat worried about the prospects of the Cloud Conch.
…
In the following days, the Cloud Conch continued to sail smoothly. Although there were occasional waves, both captains calmly navigated through them with composure.
However, what puzzled Angel was that the Cloud Conch hadn’t encountered any sea beasts in the past few days.
The climate was harsher, and it seemed as if the sea beasts had vanished without a trace.
But Angel’s confusion didn’t last long, as suddenly shouts came from outside: “Sea beasts!”
Angel was initially immersing his mental energy in the bracelet, discussing clothing cutting and pattern issues with the Damask Nano. Although Nano’s color and aesthetics were questionable, as a tailor, his basic skills were solid.
Upon hearing the shouts, Angel immediately withdrew his mental energy and stood up to look outside.
At the end of the ocean, he saw a massive sea beast resembling a python, its body faintly visible on the water’s surface as it swiftly approached the Cloud Conch.
Angel was unsure of this sea serpent’s name, but the energy fluctuations it emitted indicated its level: Apprentice Peak.
Angel stood on the balcony, watching the python swim towards them from afar.
However, he didn’t take any action. Since Roman was so eager to obtain resources from these sea beasts, he decided to let him handle it.
But when the python was less than a kilometer away from the Cloud Conch, Roman still hadn’t made a move.
The mortals on the deck were frequently looking back, their eyes filled with confusion and fear.
Deputy Captain Helen was also on deck, directing personnel, while occasionally glancing upward. She saw Roman on the fourth-floor balcony and Pat on the third floor.
She was aware of some hidden agenda, so her main focus was on Roman, puzzled as to why he hadn’t made a move.
But Roman’s face was expressionless, coldly watching the distance, while a faint sneer formed at the corner of his mouth.
Seeing that smile, Helen suddenly felt a chill in her heart.
Her gaze immediately turned to Angel, her eyes filled with pleading and prayers.
Angel naturally noticed Helen’s gaze, but without confirming Roman’s attitude, he still didn’t take action. He was somewhat puzzled, wondering if Helen was holding a grudge over the last sea beast incident and was now giving up on helping.
As the sea serpent drew closer and closer, its fierce fangs and bloody mouth already wide open… the sailors on the ship began to let out fearful screams.
“Sir Roman, why aren’t you doing anything?” Angel asked.
In a moment, Roman’s voice reached everyone’s ears: “Last time I dealt with that sea beast, I suffered a minor ailment, and I haven’t fully recovered yet. I’m afraid it will be difficult to handle this sea serpent. Captain, perhaps you should change course and avoid its path.”
After hearing Helen’s words, Angel thought to himself: It’s as I suspected.
His injury not yet healed? The surging energy fluctuations might deceive ordinary people, but how could they fool those extraordinary?
As for changing course now, how could it be in time? His attitude was completely disregarding the lives of ordinary people on board, even possibly resulting in the destruction of the ship and the loss of lives. Was this guy crazy? Or was it that after secretly swapping the Nightmare Stone, he had already planned to abandon these ordinary people?
“Oh dear, it seems we’re too late to change course. It doesn’t matter if I’m injured, isn’t there another powerful person on board?”
Roman’s gaze slanted, looking down at Angel on the lower balcony.
Chapter 707 Helen's Doubts <TOC> Chapter 709 Brewing Resentment