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"Witch?" Cattleya asked, frowning slightly as she looked at Sia.
Sia tossed her crimson hair, not answering Cattleya's question, but instead said, "Your task is only about the things on the ship. All the cargo on these two smuggling ships can be taken, but this ship and some of the people on it must remain. I still need to return to East Balam."
Cattleya quietly watched the flamboyant red-haired lady in front of her, and after a long silence, slowly nodded: "Alright."
Seeing Sia and his current captain reach an agreement without fighting, Leyton breathed a sigh of relief.
"I originally wanted to use this opportunity to join Senor's pirate crew to facilitate subsequent actions, but I didn't expect it to be ruined right from the start!"
Sia looked at Leyton's resentful expression.
Leyton awkwardly turned his head away, not daring to look directly at her, and changed the subject, "So, Sister Sia, what are your plans next?"
"Change targets, go to the Southern Continent, but it's highly unlikely there will be any gains. I'll just consider it a publicly funded trip."
Sia said, not caring much.
"Publicly funded trip!" Leyton felt that Sia had the attitude of a passive worker on Earth.
"Aren't you the same? Don't tell me you're actually serious about carrying out your mission."
Sia glanced at Leyton, making him feel as if he had been seen through by a Cognizer.
"You've already become a Mysticism Magister?"
This was Leyton's guess when he saw Sia Imitate those two sun domain spells. That level of Mimicry was definitely not something a Polymath could achieve.
"You guess?"
Sia gave him a look that told him to figure it out himself, then turned and walked to the bow of the ship, staring blankly at the sea.
"Get ready to transfer the cargo from both ships, then leave this sea area."
Cattleya's voice reached all the crew members.
The crew members on the Future quickly approached the two smuggling ships via the starlight bridge erected by Cattleya and began transferring the cargo.
During this time, Leyton communicated with Sia for a while, telling her the summoning incantation for his messenger and the Spirit World Sorcerer's visualization circle.
After the Future's crew finished transferring the cargo, Leyton followed them onto the starlight bridge back to the Future.
"Remember, you're not those barbarian Storms next door. When fighting, you need to use your brain, not just charge in recklessly."
Sia reminded him again from behind.
"Got it!" Leyton waved his hand, his steps quickening involuntarily.
Leyton could already foresee that today's battle would become the black mark of his life in front of Sia.
"Sigh! Still too careless!"
"If it were a fight on land, Frank should have been able to end it quickly, but on the ship, his performance was greatly restricted. I didn't think of this beforehand, and I was too confident in Frank's Sequence 6 strength, which was also a problem."
Leyton sighed inwardly about today's battle.
Recalling this first truly evenly matched battle, Leyton was very clear that if Sia hadn't happened to be on that ship, he would have already turned into a Beyonder characteristic retrieved by the Hidden Sage.
After returning to the Future, Cattleya ordered a change of course, heading for Intis. Sia, meanwhile, took the remaining smuggling ship to East Balam.
With a fruitful victory, the crew members on the Future once again started a carnival party.
Leyton still sat by the ship's rail with Bugs Bunny and Paz, the two Beyonder animals, enjoying the sea breeze, one hand holding Bugs Bunny's fruit, the other holding Paz's dried fish.
Cattleya walked over with a glass of red wine.
"Why are you sitting here alone?"
"Huh? Captain! I'm reflecting on today's battle. I realized that my judgment and actions at the time had big problems. If there hadn't been someone I knew on that ship, I would have already turned into a mass of Beyonder characteristic."
Leyton said, not in high spirits.
"What you lack is combat experience. Once you go through a few more battles, you won't perform like you did today."
Cattleya comforted Leyton, then added, "I also bear some responsibility for today's situation. I did a divination at the time, and the result was that there wouldn't be much of a problem, which is why I agreed to your and Frank's actions."
"Can divination be completed in such a short time?"
Leyton asked, somewhat curious.
"Experience." Cattleya only said two words.
Leyton nodded noncommittally. Today's battle, from beginning to end, indicated one thing: his experience was severely lacking, whether it was in preparation before the battle or in adapting during the battle.
"Captain, was today's sudden battle a mission from the Moses Ascetic Order?"
Leyton asked very directly; he felt Cattleya would tell him.
"That's right. Before you went to sea, you should have obtained maritime intelligence from the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. Although I don't know what your mission is, it shouldn't be related to the Future."
Cattleya answered Leyton's question without hesitation, which made Leyton feel that she was there to lay her cards on the table.
"It's indeed unrelated to the Future. My main purpose in coming to the Future was to find Frank and incidentally digest the potion. As for the mission, I never even thought about doing it. Who knows, maybe the mission will complete itself sometime."
Leyton looked like he had already given up.
"Why?" Cattleya was surprised by Leyton's attitude.
She didn't know much about the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, only that it was different from the other major Churches, being an academic-focused organization, more like a school than a Church.
The two Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom members she had encountered so far, both in their behavior and principles, didn't resemble people from a righteous God's Church at all. One was on a publicly funded trip, and she had another on her ship waiting for the mission to complete itself.
"The mission target involves several factions. Maybe they'll mess it up themselves while fighting over it!"
Leyton said, taking a bite of Paz's dried fish.
Leyton did indeed think so inwardly. Although Primordial Moon was a False God, the Mother Tree of Desire was currently vying with the Mother Goddess of Depravity for the title, and perhaps Lilith would backstab them while they were fighting over this False God.
Although she didn't quite understand why Leyton was so lazy about the mission, Cattleya still nodded in agreement. Then she took out a small iron box, opened it, and handed it to Leyton.
"Hmm? Beyonder characteristic?"
Leyton hesitated, looking at Cattleya with some confusion.
"Those two Beyonders you killed on the smuggling ship today, your Sister Sia didn't want them. She said since you killed them, they're yours," Cattleya explained.
Leyton reached out and took the small iron box. Inside was a grayish-white light cluster that pulsed slowly like a heart, and another that was deep in color like a bony skeleton, emitting faint green luminescence.
"Spirit Medium and Prisoner?"
Leyton quickly determined the pathway and Sequence of these two Characteristics, then pondered for a moment and asked, "Captain, do you know of any small animals suitable for the Death Pathway? I have a bit too many Spirit Medium Characteristics."
After encountering several Beyonders from the Death Pathway, Leyton had some ideas about controlling undead and wanted to cultivate a subordinate of his own.
"Why does it have to be a small animal?"
Cattleya somewhat didn't understand Leyton's reasoning.
"It's simpler, they don't have as many thoughts, and often I find them more reliable than people."
Leyton expressed his inner thoughts.
Although Cattleya didn't understand, she still gave an answer: "The creatures most compatible with the Death Pathway are naturally Feathered Serpent and Phoenix. Other animals generally don't have much difference."
Feathered Serpent and Phoenix, whether he could find such creatures was one thing, and even if he did, he might not be able to defeat them. Leyton fell silent for a moment.
"Captain, do you know how there were so many undead on that ship? Even a graveyard couldn't produce so many undead!" Leyton changed the subject.
"A mystical item. It contained a small netherworld similar to the one inside a Gatekeeper, but it has been shattered, and that small netherworld has returned to the true netherworld."
Cattleya quickly explained.
Leyton nodded thoughtfully. He found that the abilities of crafted mystical items were actually quite practical. Although they couldn't be effective long-term like Sealed Artifacts, they also didn't have the terrifying negative side effects of Sealed Artifacts.
"There's also a Sailor's knife made of bone. The undead aura inside is quite strong, making it unsuitable for use. It needs to be re-forged," Cattleya continued.
Leyton remembered the bone Sailor's knife very clearly; the bald Prisoner almost cut him with it.
"For the next period, the Future will be heading to Intis."
After stating the Future's next course, Cattleya turned and left.
Leyton didn't pay much attention; for him, staying anywhere was the same. Leyton's plan for himself next was to spread knowledge among the pirates on the Future to help him digest his Detective potion.
"Hmm, if I have time, I should also go to Mr. Hughes's place to find some books to read. I'm already a Sequence 7 Beyonder, yet I'm often still troubled by exams!" Leyton sighed inwardly.
"Al, do you know what potion I need to consume next? Meow~" Paz, who was eating dried fish on the side, suddenly asked.
"Huh? You want to advance?"
Leyton was a little confused, but still told the black cat what he knew: "The next Sequence you need to advance to is called Sheriff. The main ingredients for the potion are a pair of Fear Demon Worm eyes and the right paw of a Silver-White Battle Bear. I only know the main ingredients; I don't know the specific potion formula."
"Worm eyes! And bear paws! These ingredients are so strange, meow~!" Paz said, shaking his confused little head.
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