CHAPTER 230: CHAPTER 171: TELEPATHY_3

"Why don’t we discuss the safety of our voyage?"

Lindong buried her face into her arms again like an ostrich, letting out a muffled sound.

The voyage had suddenly become extremely perilous, making her almost want to jump into the sea and swim back to the Imperial City.

"Speaking of the dangers of sailing, I’ve heard that the Empire has been facing quite severe pirate threats these years; maybe we might encounter a robbery situation."

Ethan took up the conversation.

However, according to what he knew, there was no pirate king in this era, and most of the rampaging pirates were ordinary people, relying on cannons and muskets to rob merchant ships. Anyone with real skills wouldn’t go off being a pirate.

And the Empire was quite a soft target in the realm of navigation. Since the time of Henry III, there hasn’t been any substantial development in maritime technology. The Empire’s proud tactic of pairing a Priest with a Knight doesn’t suit the sea. Yet, the Empire was the most prosperous trading nation, and merchant fleets from various countries were troubled by pirates.

Over time, the Empire’s merchant ships became the favorite targets of pirates.

"The Empire indeed doesn’t have any noteworthy naval tactics, and it’s hard for wizards to gain an advantage on the sea. Encountering pirates or sea monsters is indeed a headache."

"After the last meeting, I checked some books about the Western Continent and the Master of Tides. The book mentioned that the apocalyptic flood was caused by the Evil God Aelium, who resides in the deep sea and can summon floods that drown the entire continent. The Master of Tides led the Western Continent’s fleet to seal Aelium into the abyss."

Every sect has similar legends; the only difference is this book was authored by a bard from the First Epoch. Western Continent people don’t acknowledge the existence of the Evil God Aelium. "The book describes Aelium similarly to Kane, an Old God, but the Western Continent people don’t like attributing natural disasters to evil gods. Scholars on the Western Continent believe the flood was a natural disaster caused by tectonic movements, and the Master of Tides never led a ’divine fleet,’ he was a scholar who taught everyone the knowledge to combat the flood."

Lindong paused slightly and said, "The visions Yue saw in his nightmares were somewhat similar to the ’abyss’ described in the book. The Master of Tides defeated the Old Gods and sealed them into the deepest part of the ocean, where the sunlight can’t reach. The bard predicted in the book that one day Aelium would leave the abyss, and by then, the apocalyptic flood would once again sweep across the Western Continent."

"Old Ba is a big lump of flesh, while Aelium looks like a gigantic octopus. All followers of Aelium become octopus-faced; they can summon sea monsters and make ships lose their way during voyages, becoming sacrifices to Aelium."

All Evil God’s tricks are somewhat similar, so Lindong reckoned if Aelium does indeed exist, he might soon earn the title of "Old Ai."

Unconsciously, the outline of the Imperial City Port disappeared, and the "Emperor’s Sword" moved forward smoothly.

The next two days were calm, yet time seemed to flow at several times slower the pace. On the second night, a commotion suddenly arose among the sailors, and Ethan, hearing the noise, went up to the deck and instantly saw an old-style sailing ship floating among the black waves, its sails riddled with holes and appearing aged.

The captain rubbed his eyes hard and confirmed with Ethan, "Am I seeing things?"

The weather turned bad, and a streak of lightning tore through the night sky.

From a distance, it seemed the old sailing ship brought the storm.

"No, there’s a ship there."

"It looks like something from the last century."

The captain observed through his telescope for quite some time, his face looking somewhat grim, "Have you heard of the ghost ship legend?"

The sea naturally lacks bizarre, terrifying legends, with the ghost ship being the one that excites fear whenever sailors speak of it.

It brings a sign of death.

A storm, sea monsters, reefs... after the ghost ship appears, disasters follow like a shadow.

If Ethan and Lindong weren’t present, the sailors on board might’ve been crushed by fear long ago. They had sailed for most of their lives, only hearing ghost ship rumors in legends.

Ethan curiously asked, "What’s on the ghost ship?"

"Only death and doom."

The captain’s face was solemn, and they had to make a choice now, "It’s blocking our path, we must either circumvent it or immediately return!"

His inner opinion supported returning, yet he feared being counted as a deserter, so he proposed a compromise plan.

"Why avoid it?"

Ethan sensed signs of life aboard the dilapidated sailing ship and said, "Don’t change the course, bring the ship closer!"

The legendary ghost ship was right before their eyes; this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Lightning’s frequency increased rapidly, waves turned more turbulent. As they approached the ghost ship, signs of an impending storm became more evident.

Before long, it seemed the ghost ship detected them too, turning its sails straight towards them.

In the flash of lightning, the deck revealed a visage terrifying enough to give everyone nightmares.

Blue skin in human form, yet it had an octopus face.

The pitch-black eyes resembled a spirit from the abyss, its chin tendrils writhing incessantly. Once it opened its mouth, the voice clearly reached everyone’s ears.

"My name is Uerta, at the command of my master Aelium -"

The sound of a firing musket abruptly cut off Uerta’s speech.

The octopus face’s entire body froze, clutching its chest, then lying flat on the deck.

The captain’s gun barrel was smoking, he stared at the peaceful figure on the deck for quite some time before turning his puzzled gaze towards Ethan.

—"Huh?"

Did he just shoot dead the Evil God’s Followers with one shot?

Is this real or not?