Chapter 576: Vice Admiral Iceberg's Collector's Room

Is she suspecting something? Klein looked straight into

Edwina's eyes without moving them away. Nor did his eyes blink or dodge.

After knowing that Danitz had divulged his sacrificial ritual to

Kalvetua before it died, Klein had the necessary preparations. If he

wasn't standing on the shipboard and was instead sitting on a sofa, then

he definitely would've crossed his right leg and leaned back to give a

calm and composed answer.

He smiled as he raised his left hand. He introduced with a calm tone,

"This glove of mine is called Creeping Hunger."

Klein believed that Danitz, who had witnessed him in combat, had

definitely passed the relevant details on to his captain. Therefore,

with Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina being of equal rank as Vice Admiral

Hurricane Qilangos, it wasn't difficult for her to guess that he had

acquired Creeping Hunger. In that case, taking the initiative to divulge

it gave him a psychological advantage rather than being exposed by her.

And for him to suddenly mention it gave it a double meaning. First, he

was hinting to her that he had an organization backing him, one that

could kill Vice Admiral Hurricane and orchestrate Kalvetua's death and

reply to its believers in its stead. Second, it was a warning for Edwina

that she was not to attempt to investigate or delve deeper into the

matter. Otherwise, the instantaneous death of Vice Admiral Hurricane

awaited her.

At this moment in time, Klein continued maintaining Gehrman Sparrow's

persona. He didn't directly threaten her or refuse to admit it. Instead,

he provided a calm answer that hid madness within it.

Edwina Edwards nodded slightly and suddenly changed topics.

"I plan on providing a certain amount of assistance to the Resistance in

the Rorsted Archipelago, mainly in food and fabric."

*Assistance? Her backing faction is against Loen, or it just wants to

make things difficult for the Church of Storms?* Klein wiped his

smile and calmly replied, "This has nothing to do with me."

Don't expect me to trip up... he said silently to himself.

Edwina turned her head and raised her arm to point to Blazing Danitz who

was drinking while secretly stealing glances.

"I will entrust him to handle it, including contacting the Resistance

and confirming the time. We'll arrange for a private harbor, and I wish

you can provide sufficient help."

Pfft... Danitz spewed out a golden waterfall from his mouth.

Haha. Pfft! Bam! Bam! Bam! The two pirates sitting beside him

laughed as they bent their backs and struck the deck, spewing out the

beer that they had just drunk.

One of them had dark skin like he was covered in a layer of metal skin.

His waist was rather thick, and although he wasn't fat, he had no

curvature to speak of.

Edwina retracted her gaze and added in an unhurried manner before Klein

could speak, "You're an adventurer. I believe you won't decline a job

that pays well."

You really have found me an excellent excuse... Klein smiled

in response.

"Of course."

He didn't ask how much the payment was, while Edwina seemed to forget

mentioning it.

This intelligent and beautiful pirate admiral gloomily said, "Senor got

someone to pass me the news that he's willing to buy the key of the

giants, which I previously discovered, for 5,000 pounds."

It was the item proclaimed to be Death's Key. It was a gigantic black

iron key that nearly made Danitz lose his life in Bayam. Klein suspected

that it didn't originate from the dark Second Epoch, but it was

something that was connected to the Giant King's Court.

She's hinting at me to offer a price? Klein was first taken

aback before he came to a realization. He couldn't help but inwardly

mumble, *5,000 pounds? I don't even know if the key is of any use, or if

it really involves the Giant King's Court! If it doesn't have anything

to do with it, can I return it for a refund?*

*Besides, there's no prior information about it. Even if I take it above

the gray fog to divine it, I wouldn't receive any effective

revelations.*

*Yes, a simple inference is that if it doesn't involve the Giant King's

Court but some other treasure that I have no idea about, then it would

be useless if I buy it. The only benefit is that it will disrupt Admiral

of Blood's plans. It harms him without benefiting me. If it involves the

Giant King's Court, Admiral of Blood is unlikely to find the target

location even if he bought it, as it's located in the Forsaken Land of

God. Besides, I plan to hunt him. When the time comes, I can obtain the

key without spending any money. It's equivalent to having him buy it for

me and watch over it for some time.*

*Although such thoughts are very idealistic, it's not

impossible...*

Klein pondered for a few seconds and said, "It might be hiding a huge

secret."

He deliberately mentioned this to make Vice Admiral Iceberg unwilling to

sell the gigantic black iron key to Admiral of Blood Senor. It was to

prevent the latter from rapidly strengthening himself after obtaining

the treasure and step into the demigod realm. That would bring a

considerable calamity upon Klein.

Edwina listened silently and didn't continue on the topic. She turned

her body halfway around and pointed at the cabin's entrance.

"Breakfast has been prepared for you."

"Thank you." Klein took off his hat and bowed.

As he followed Vice Admiral Iceberg into the cabin, he quickly recalled

the conversation they just had and sought out the true motive behind

Edwina's invitation.

*From Gehrman Sparrow's identity problems, to the mystical item

suspected to be Creeping Hunger, to the matter of the sacrifice to

Kalvetua while the dead Sea God continued responding to believers, all

of these matters put together does allow one to imagine that I have a

secret organization backing me, one whose motives are unknown.*

*As for the faction that Vice Admiral Iceberg belongs to, it's very

wary, guarded, and interested in this matter. Therefore, it got her to

probe me in person to see if they can obtain something?*

*They're still rather friendly at the moment. Extending their assistance

to the Resistance is a way to convey their intentions. It seems they're

leaning towards cooperating with the organization backing me. Of course,

the unknown always leaves others afraid. Without grasping the situation,

the chances of Vice Admiral Iceberg and company attacking me is very,

very low.*

*Heh heh, if they realize that the secret organization backing me was

established only about half a year ago, including The World and Miss

Xio, whose connection has been established but not recruited, there

aren't more than ten people. I wonder if they will get so infuriated

that they end up losing control...*

As his thoughts raced, Klein entered the cabin and followed a dim

passageway, passing through one wooden door after another.

He followed Edwina up some stairs and arrived at a brighter second

level.

Before entering the pirate's dining hall, they passed by a half-opened

room.

Klein casually glanced inside and saw a gigantic black iron key sitting

on a wooden table.

"These items are evidence from our various treasure-hunting expeditions.

Most of them are mementos, while others have yet to show their value and

require further study." Edwina appeared cold, but her explanations were

in great detail. It had the feeling like she was afraid that he wouldn't

understand her or was left puzzled.

And when she mentioned the word "study," her aqueous blue eyes clearly

lit up a little.

Evidence of the various treasure-hunting expeditions? Klein

couldn't help but look inside carefully.

At this point, Edwina pushed open the door and walked in. She then

introduced in passing, "This is a gold coin from the Fourth Epoch's

Solomon Empire."

Klein's gaze shifted over and saw a coin placed inside a frame.

It was entirely dark gold in color, as though it was combined from two

semicircles of different dimensions. It looked extremely asymmetrical,

and there was a sharp crown engraved on its surface. It looked very

similar to the crown worn on the King of the Five Seas, Nast.

Edwina was like an owner who liked to flaunt her collection. She began

introducing the items in the room, making Klein recall a familiar

person---Old Mister Eye of Wisdom, the great detective, Isengard

Stanton.

*In regards to the trait of flaunting collections, they're very

similar... Is this a tendency of people with huge collections? Wait, Mr.

Stanton had studied in Lenburg for four years. Vice Admiral Iceberg's

description includes information that Edwina Edwards that hails from

Lenburg. This... Lenburg's capital is the headquarters of the Church of

the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. Mr. Stanton also admitted that he

converted his faith to the God of Knowledge and Wisdom while studying

abroad... Could the faction backing Vice Admiral Iceberg be

them?* Klein listened in thought until Edwina stopped in front

of the huge iron black key.

Just like he had seen in the dream, the key was about the size of a

seven-string zither. An ordinary human would have to wrap their arms

around it to move it. It was dull and ancient-looking.

*The patterns on it are similar to the City of Silver's style. It

clearly has giant traits...* Klein nodded and was just about to

retract his gaze when he heard Edwina say, "You can study it."

*You are letting me study it? You probably have no idea how many latent

problems I've triggered in the past. Aren't you afraid that the Golden

Dream will disappear once you let me study it...* Klein

criticized himself in a self-deprecatory manner before reaching out his

right hand to touch the black iron key that seemed to belong to a

giant's.

He found it ice-cold to the touch, and regardless of how much

spirituality he injected into it, it was useless.

*Unfortunately, I cannot bring it above the gray fog to study

it...* Klein retracted his right hand and shook his head

indiscernibly.

He shifted his gaze onto a book in goatskin placed on the same table. On

the brown cover were words written in ancient Feysac: "Groselle's

Travels."

"It originates from a sunken ship. It had been soaked at the bottom of

the sea for 165 years without suffering any damage," Edwina introduced.

"It records a story about a giant named Groselle. He had decided to head

to the Nation of Frost to hunt the King of the North, a powerful frost

dragon. Along the way, he encounters companions, a female elf, a devout

ascetic, an aristocrat of the Solomon Empire, and a Loen soldier. The

story develops until they encounter the King of the North before it

suddenly comes to a halt. It's not the end, but the later pages cannot

be opened no matter what methods are used. You can give it a try."

*This isn't a notebook in a journal style, but rather a novel? This

novel sure is odd. It puts together characters from different epochs and

eras. It should be something that was recently produced...*

Klein flipped through the book and allowed the yellowish-brown pages to

slide past one after another.

The content was roughly what Edwina said, but the story appeared rather

abrupt and fractured. It kept making Klein suspect if he had missed a

paragraph. For example, the protagonists would become familiar with one

another moments after encountering each other as strangers.

Soon, he browsed to the last few pages and found that they were stuck

together. There was no way he could pry them apart.

*Such effects... probably can be dealt with above the gray fog... I

wonder what sort of accidents might happen...* Klein turned his

head to look at Vice Admiral Iceberg.

Edwina fell silent for a moment before saying, "If you wish to have it,

I can sell it to you. I've studied it for years without gleaning

anything from it.

"However, I have a condition.

"What is it?" Klein returned with a question.

Edwina pursed her lips and said, "If you figure out something, you have

to tell me the result, so that I won't have to be puzzled over it.

"As long as you agree to this condition, I can sell it to you for

cheap."

Klein's interest was suddenly piqued.

"How much?"

"8,000 pounds," Edwina said calmly.

"Uh..." Klein deliberately pondered as he nodded indifferently. "I'll

consider it."

I'll consider how to pretend that this never happened... he

thought silently to himself.