With three minutes to go before eight o'clock, Bazel shouted outside, "I'm closing in three minutes!"
Many pirates, members of secret organizations, and adventurers no longer hesitated and hurried over, causing a bit of a traffic jam at the entrance.
At eight o'clock sharp, there were still people watching outside, and seven or eight seats were still available, but Bazel closed the door as instructed by Odis.
At this moment, Odis, wearing a mask and a hooded cloak, appeared before everyone using a "teleportation array".
Just as Odis had predicted, the illusory walls and the sudden appearance of the teleportation array gave everyone a great shock.
Many of the people present made a living selling information and rarely encountered extraordinary events of a high level. They didn't immediately understand where the organizer of the gathering came from.
Among them were members of some extraordinary organizations, and the more knowledgeable they were, the more surprised they became, because they could tell that the organizer of the gathering had not come here using the ability to "travel".
Instead, they appeared before everyone using methods unknown to them.
Bishop Dean, the protector of this gathering, watched as the illusory passage on the wall gradually disappeared, eventually revealing a complex magic circle. However, the symbols and graphics of that magic circle then disappeared on their own.
He thought to himself: No wonder His Excellency the Cardinal instructed me to cooperate with Odis. Odis's opening remarks alone are enough to prove his considerable strength.
Odis walked unhurriedly to his seat and stepped on the center of several mystical symbols. Instantly, a layer of viscous, mist-like liquid appeared where the walls and floor met.
Amidst everyone's uneasy discussions, the layer of slime rapidly spread upwards, soon reaching the height of the window.
Odis deliberately did not explain immediately, watching as everyone's unease gradually intensified.
Windows are a "warning line" in everyone's hearts. If the windows are sealed, it means that if something unexpected happens, they will have difficulty escaping. So when the layer of slime reaches the window, everyone's anxiety will reach its peak.
Odis then smiled and explained, "This is a setup to prevent eavesdropping; it only blocks sound."
Everyone was stunned for a moment, and no one quite understood what kind of extraordinary ability this was.
This doesn't seem like a "spiritual wall." Generally, "spiritual walls" are transparent and don't have this texture. I also don't recall any other method that possesses such extraordinary abilities.
Although many of them were still worried, they dared not express it at this moment.
Odis's two actions upon his arrival shocked them, yet also made them hesitant to act rashly.
Sitting in the back, Bazel thought to himself: The captain's ability to control the situation is really too strong. He has a good grasp of everyone's thoughts, intimidating everyone while keeping them from acting out for the time being.
The slime on the walls only stopped rising when it overflowed the windows and doors and connected with the ceiling.
Odis, sitting in his seat, said, "Alright, let's begin."
"First, let me introduce myself. My code name is 'Captain.' The main purpose of this gathering is to facilitate better information exchange among everyone."
"Of course I know that exchanging intelligence on the treacherous and turbulent sea is extremely risky, but you can rest assured here that as long as you are sincerely here to exchange intelligence, I will provide you with sufficient protection."
"This gathering received the support of Bishop Dean of the Church of the Goddess of Night."
"Here, please allow me to sincerely thank Bishop Dean for being here today."
As he spoke, Odis stood up and bowed slightly to Bishop Dean. Dean, who was wearing a clergyman's hat, also stood up and gave everyone a cold look.
Although Bishop Dean's attitude wasn't great, it reassured everyone quite a bit.
Many of them are involved in murder and arson, but when they are gathering intelligence, they still hope to receive some protection.
Elsewhere, they would hide from the members of the True God Church, but seeing that the members of the True God Church were actually providing protection, they felt more at ease.
Odis continued, "Since this is the first gathering, let me first explain the rules of the transaction."
"Starting from the left side of the front row, each person will state the information they want to trade, in turn. Of course, this is just a simple description, such as information about a certain region or a certain person."
"If someone wants to buy, they start negotiating the price, but if the information is inaccurate, they will permanently lose the opportunity to attend this gathering and will have to compensate the other party for their losses."
"As the organizer of the gathering, I will carefully supervise everyone. If you encounter any such situations, you can tell me and I will help you solve them."
"When we are not at gatherings, there are two servants here who can contact me."
Everyone nodded slowly, realizing at the same time that the "captain" had a very sophisticated way of trading intelligence.
Odis continued, "If there are any tasks or needs, you can speak up when it's your turn. Other members who are interested can then discuss them further."
"After one transaction is completed, the next transaction begins."
"In addition, the participants in this gathering are divided into two parts: formal members and temporary members."
"Official members will all have a code name, and they can come directly to the gathering each time. The first six official members will be designated by me at the end of this gathering."
"The requirement is that you must have initiated a transaction in good faith and have no ill intentions toward this gathering."
"Full members have the power to decide whether others become full members. Only when more than half of the full members agree that someone should become a new full member can that applicant become a full member."
"In addition, full members also have the power to expel other participants. If more than half of the members agree to expel someone, that person will never be able to join the meeting again."
"At each subsequent gathering, one or two official members would be added until the number of official members reached thirty."
Everyone found the rule novel, but most people didn't take it too seriously because they were still observing and didn't know what level of information could be traded at this gathering, so none of them had any intention of becoming official members.
However, some participants thought about it for a moment and realized that the rule was ingenious, allowing members to supervise, restrain, and expose each other.
It may seem ordinary, but it is a very sophisticated management method.
Odiston paused and then said, "Of course, as the initiator of this gathering, I have a veto right."
"Temporary members can join the gathering for free this time, but will need to pay £5 for admission next time. In addition, masks and capes will no longer be provided free of charge at the next gathering."
Masks and capes are unnecessary for this gathering, since everyone has seen the attendees enter one by one, and very few people are wearing masks at this point.
But it will come in handy at the next gathering, where you can wear a mask to the event.
Everyone was slightly taken aback, not expecting that it would cost 5 pounds to attend the party again, which made many people decide not to attend the next party.
Sitting in the back row, Bazel also felt that the captain's asking price was a bit high.
After explaining the rules, Odis opened his arms: "Alright, everyone, let's begin!"
Suddenly, a man sitting in the center asked Odis, "Didn't you say you had some amazing news to announce? What is it?"
Another person said, "Yes, if it's not amazing enough, I'll leave the venue immediately."
"I almost fell asleep after listening to you talk about the rules for so long."
...
Amidst the cacophony of questions from the crowd, Odis smiled and raised his hand: "I have too many amazing stories to tell you. I'll just tell you one today, one that happened in Bayam a few days ago."
Hearing Odis's tone, most people listened quietly, but some sneered and others scoffed.
They were all doing intelligence work locally. It's easier to say about other places, but it's hard for them to judge, and they might be surprised.
When they heard that the initiator was going to release information about Bayam, they didn't think anything would surprise them.
"Everyone here is well-informed; you should have noticed that the members of the Church of Poseidon have been acting strangely these past few days," Odis said calmly.
The room immediately fell silent, because anyone with any connections noticed what was happening.
Odis was very satisfied with the result: "That's because 'Sea God' Cavituwa and the Church of Storms have just had a high-level battle."
Most of them looked surprised. Although they were in Bayam and made a living selling information, they had no idea that such a thing existed.
The Storm Church would certainly not inform the Wild Beyonders about the battle between "Aquaman" Arne Coltman and "Sea God" Kavituwa.
Of course, some wild Beyonders also noticed this, but not these intelligence agents, because they were all ordinary people and "low-sequence" Beyonders.
Their spirituality and knowledge prevented them from realizing this.
At this moment, a member suddenly stood up and questioned Odis, "Where did you get this information from?"
Odis glanced at the other person, who had a resolute expression and seemed ready to rush over and fight if he didn't explain himself. Odis guessed that this person was likely a member of the "Substitute Punishers".
He smiled and said, "This is just a reasonable guess. Did you all notice the weather and the martial law a few days ago? It is said that the military and the Church of Storms are looking for something."
"I have also heard that some followers of the Church of the Sea God claim that Kavituwa wants to launch a tsunami to drown Bayam."
"Then, with enough knowledge and the ability to analyze intelligence, it is not difficult to deduce the truth of the matter."
The room was completely silent, because many people present had also heard similar news, but they had not been able to deduce the "truth" from it.
Odiston paused and continued, "It's clear that someone stole important items related to 'Sea God' and is hiding in Bayam."
"The 'Sea God' was furious and wanted to unleash a tsunami to drown Bayam."
"While the Church of Storms was resisting the tsunami of 'Sea God,' it also joined forces with the military to place the entire Bayam under martial law and search for that thing."
"A storm that is about to fall but hasn't yet is evidence of a high-level battle."
"The martial law was quickly lifted, proving that the Storm Church had found that thing. Then the sky suddenly became cloudless, proving that the high-level battle was over."
Everyone in the hall looked surprised; some were so astonished they opened their mouths, while others were speechless.
None of them expected that connecting these seemingly ordinary clues would lead to such an astonishing answer.
After a brief moment of surprise, Bishop Dean was completely convinced of Odis's intelligence analysis abilities: No wonder this guy was so famous in Backlund! No wonder the church's higher-ups risked being questioned by the Church of the God of Steam and Machines to have this guy establish this intelligence exchange meeting.
The member who had just stood up, suspected to be the "substitute punishment recipient," also realized: "This...this really is what you deduced."
Odis's tone was no longer as polite as before: "It's not a guess, is it something I read in a book? Or did Lord 'Sea King' Arne Cortman tell me?"
The other person said nothing, slowly sat down with an incredulous look on his face, and then his expression gradually turned into admiration.
In his view, the Archbishop would certainly not reveal such a high level of secrecy, and since this matter had only just occurred, no one would write it down.
Then, Odis sternly questioned the people who had been clamoring to hear "shocking news": "Do you think I'm joking with you by holding this party?"
"Hmph, in my opinion, you're just a bunch of idiots who don't even have basic intelligence skills!"
The faces of those people turned red, but none of them refuted it, because they were also surprised by the information that Odis had released.
Odis glanced at everyone before saying calmly, "You may begin."
The situation was developing as he expected; the information about "Poseidon" had completely stunned the attendees.
After a couple of seconds, the attendee on the far left of the front row seemed to realize something and said, "I'm... sorry, I don't have any information to sell."
Odis said, "Then you can say 'skip'."
The other person quickly replied, "Skip it."
The next few people chose to "skip" the meeting. Most of the people who attended today were taking a wait-and-see approach and did not have any information about making a deal.
After skipping five times in a row, a participant finally said, "I have information about 'Iceberg Admiral' Edwina Edwards."
No one responded; everyone was watching the first transaction.
Two or three seconds later, a masked attendee in the back row asked, "How much are you planning to sell it for? And you need to be more specific!"
As soon as the other party spoke, Odis recognized him as Danitz, a subordinate of "Iceberg General".
Because he had put on a mask before Odis arrived, Odis did not notice him immediately.
"20 pounds," said the man in the front row who was selling information. "It's about a very important item she found in a ruin."
Danitz instinctively replied, "It's too expensive, and I don't even know if that item is important."
But in his heart he thought: It's probably about that "key to the giant".
Not long ago, they found a huge key in a ruin they had discovered, a key that didn't seem to be used by humans.
The captain initially judged that it was the legendary "key to death," and the news then spread within a very small circle.
This is also a habit of "Lieutenant General Iceberg": when he encounters something he is unsure about, he will announce it to a small group of people and carefully pay attention to their feedback.
The person in the front row who initiated the transaction said, "I can't say any more, or I'll reveal the most valuable part."
This is the most difficult part. If the buyer keeps saying that his description is not worth the price, are we supposed to reveal all the information and let everyone judge whether it is worth the price?
In that case, everyone who hears the full information will definitely say it's not worth the price.
At this moment, Odis, who was sitting opposite them, asked, "Is it information about that key?"
He recalled that "Lieutenant General Iceberg" probably discovered the "key to the giant" around the time Klein set sail.
The person who initiated the transaction was taken aback at first, but immediately nodded and said, "Yes."
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
At this point, he was completely convinced by the organizer of the party; he never expected that the other party would even know this!
Odis then said to Danitz, "This intelligence is worth more than 20 pounds. You can choose to trade it or not, but you can no longer say that it is not worth that price."
Danitz, behind the mask, stood there, stunned: How did he know about the key? Or had the captain been looking for a buyer while I was away from the ship, and thus released information about the key?
At this moment, a person behind Danitz said, "I want to trade this information, but... but how do I trade it?"
If the person who initiated the transaction were to say it out loud, it would be equivalent to him paying to let everyone know that information.
Odis said, "If the deal is finalized, I can write the information down on paper and give it to you."
"At the same time you take that piece of paper, hand the money to my assistant."
At this moment, Bazel, who was sitting in the back row, stepped forward with a writing board and paper that he had prepared in advance and handed them to the person who initiated the intelligence.
While the other party was writing down the intelligence, Odis said to everyone, "If there is any dispute about the value of the intelligence during the transaction, you can write it down and let me help you make a judgment."
"If anyone has a question they want to discuss with me but don't want everyone to hear it, they can write it down on a piece of paper and hand it to me."
This is precisely the advantage of being a platform. In Backlund, Odis also obtained the most extensive and widest range of information by helping people identify the value of intelligence.
Having honed his skills in Backlund, Odis's ability to judge intelligence had reached a level of perfection.
Almost all the members were stunned. Their biggest worry had been solved just like that, and they were all eager to try it out.
Moreover, Odis's logical and analytical abilities regarding the information about the "Sea God" impressed everyone, and they basically trusted the "Captain's" judgment.
During the first round of transactions, Danitz thought to himself: I should ask this guy codenamed "Captain" where that key is used. Is it like the legend says, able to open the door to the "King of Giants'" treasure vault?
Then he thought: But we can't just say it's "the key to the giants" right away, because very few people know that right now.
At that moment, Danitz suddenly chuckled to himself: Maybe I can make this guy look foolish!
Because the "Key to the Giants" is the latest research of "Admiral Iceberg," the only people who know about it, besides the crew of the "Golden Dream," are Gehrman Sparrow.
Danitz realized: This "captain" probably still thinks it's the "key to death." If he says it's for opening the realm of death, I can expose him to his face.
He could even see the surprised yet admiring looks and expressions on the faces of those around him.
This guy is just being vain and wants to show off.
So he asked Bazel to hand him a writing board, wrote down his question, and then asked Bazel to pass it to the "captain".
Odis looked at Danitz's question: What is the purpose of that key?
He didn't answer immediately, but waited until the first transaction was over before saying, "I happen to know the answer to your question. My offer is 50 pounds."
Danitz was taken aback: So expensive!
He thought for a moment and asked, "What if your answer isn't accurate?"
Odis smiled and said, "I'll give you 100 pounds."
"Okay, let's make the deal." At the same time, Danitz thought to himself: I didn't expect I could make 100 pounds.
Odis picked up the writing board from the table beside him. On the paper that Danitz handed him, below the question, he wrote: Open the gates of the palace of the Giants' Court.
The note was handed to Danitz, who glanced at it and then abruptly stood up: "How... how did you know that wasn't 'The Key to Death'?"
In his excitement, he blurted out the truth.
Odis smiled and said, "I have some knowledge of the ruins you explored back then."
"How could the 'Key of Death' appear in the ruins of the giants?"
He was lying, of course. He was able to earn the 50 pounds mainly because he knew where the key would be used in the future; for him, this question was more like an "open-book exam."
Moreover, Odis was well aware that this guy was deliberately causing trouble, so he simply revealed more information to intimidate the other participants.
After hearing the "captain" say "you", everyone immediately looked at the masked man and realized that he was a crew member of the "Golden Dream".
Many people had already guessed that the crew member wanted to use some information that only the crew of the "Golden Dream" knew to make things difficult for the "captain," but unexpectedly, the "captain" gave the correct answer.
Besides trusting the "captain" more, many people were also very happy: finally there was a place where they could exchange information with peace of mind.
Previously, the locations where people traded intelligence were mostly in bars. Besides the uncertainty about the accuracy of the information, they sometimes encountered double-crosses.
The intelligence exchange meeting here perfectly resolved everyone's concerns.
The initiator, "Captain," has exceptional intelligence analysis skills. If you're having trouble making a judgment, you can ask him for help, and you won't have to worry about being scammed.
Also, thanks to the protection of the Church of the Goddess of Night, there's no need to worry about being double-crossed.
This ignited everyone's enthusiasm for trading, and they quickly completed several more transactions. On three occasions, they asked the "captain" to help them determine the value of the intelligence, and Odis gave accurate assessments each time.
One of the sellers, in particular, was offering information about "Star Admiral." After seeing the information, the buyer was unsure of its accuracy and asked "Captain" to take a look.
Odis took the document and glanced at it: "Admiral Star" is the mistress of an Intis naval commander, sent by Intis to attack the Rune merchant ships. This "Pirate General" has close ties with the Republic of Intis and frequently plunders Rune ships; some have even seen her on Intis warships.
Odis immediately judged that this was obviously speculative intelligence. Perhaps due to the "mysterious queen," Cattleya did have some dealings with the Republic of Intis, but to say that she was the mistress of a naval commander was pure nonsense.
So he said, "This information is inaccurate."
The seller retorted, "Many 'pirate generals' are actually not clean; no one can say for sure which country or faction they represent."
Odis said seriously, "This intelligence contains too much subjective speculation and is influenced by your personal perception. It lacks the most basic logical reasoning and there is not enough evidence."
"You said 'Admiral Star' is the mistress of a naval commander from the Republic of Intis. Whose mistress is she exactly? You said 'Admiral Star' has been on an Intis warship. When exactly did she go on board? And which warship was it?"
"I...I just pieced together information from various clues I gathered...I summarized it myself," the seller argued. "When you announced that news about 'Poseidon' just now, didn't you specify who was fighting 'Poseidon'?"
Odis said, "Fool! You just didn't understand. Who else besides Lord Arne Cortman could fight Kavituwa?"
He said righteously, "Since you're not convinced, then let me ask you, do you know what level of extraordinary individuals most naval commanders are?"
The seller was stumped by the question.
Odis asked himself and answered: "Sequence 5 or Sequence 6, do you think a Sequence 5 might have a Sequence 5 mistress? Or a Sequence 6 might have a Sequence 5 mistress?"
"I believe you said there were some deals between them, but to add erotic novel-like scenes shows that you are not very rigorous in your handling of intelligence gathering."
"Of course, the naval commanders, or a few high-ranking officers, are at an even higher level."
"But if the Republic of Intis's naval commander sends a Sequence 5 to lead the fleet to frequently appear in the Roside Islands, then this becomes a military problem."
"Do you think the Rune Navy won't retaliate? Do you think the 'Star Admiral' will have much room to survive?"
After a few questions, the other party was already wiping away sweat, and everyone realized that this was someone who had fabricated some dubious information to swindle money.
There are many such people in Bayam's bar, and often, false information that is difficult to verify comes from their mouths.
Of course, this is also a technical skill, such as the information about the "Star General" that this seller fabricated.
Anyone who has ever been involved in intelligence trading knows that "General of the Stars" must have the support of some organization.
Furthermore, since they had all received some information about the cooperation between the "Star Admiral" and the Intis fleet, the authenticity of this information became difficult to determine.
At least those who are not professionals in intelligence work would find it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood.
Finally, Odis said, "You are not welcome here, Bazel. Ask him to leave!"
The other party continued, "I'm genuinely here to trade intelligence. Didn't you say you'd provide protection for anyone trading intelligence?"
Odis said coldly, "Yes, we're here to trade intelligence, not to listen to your fabricated stories. You're a novelist, not an intelligence officer."
He waved his hand: "I made it clear at the beginning of the meeting that the accuracy of intelligence is very important, and I think you are not being sincere at all."
"Get out of here before we do anything."
Pushed by Bazel and watched by everyone, the other party slunk away.
Applause immediately erupted at the scene. Many of them had been fooled by such people before, but in the end, nothing came of it.
Because they are basically local bullies in Bayam, once you've been fooled by them once, you won't be able to find them for a while.
Such people have worthless lives, and the cost of finding them may far outweigh the rewards of finding them.
Therefore, most people will just accept their bad luck.
The "captain's" expulsion once again demonstrated his rigorous attitude towards intelligence, which everyone applauded.
The door closed again, and the viscous liquid sealed it shut once more.
Odis said nonchalantly, "Continue!"
As time went on, more and more transactions took place, and the trading atmosphere improved. With the previous examples, no one dared to fool people with fabricated information anymore.
Crucially, almost every transaction was reviewed by Odis, which allowed him to quickly learn about the movements of many key figures in the Roseside Islands and even deduce the approximate location of the two pirate generals' fleets.
However, he soon discovered that he lacked some knowledge about the geography and ships of the Rothschild Islands; otherwise, he could have deduced more valuable information from this intelligence.
When it was the turn of the member who was suspected of being the "punisher," he said in a strong voice, "I'm posting a task to find someone."
As he spoke, he took out a portrait. It was only clear that it depicted a man, with his features so blurred that only a few ripples could be seen.
Although Odis, who was present at the time, immediately recognized that it was Klein, he was the only one there, and the others could not see the face in the portrait clearly.
The task issued by the other party made Odis 100% certain that the man who spoke with such a strong voice was definitely a "substitute punisher".
Many people smiled helplessly after seeing the portrait; the probability of finding this person from such a blurry image was extremely small.
Some even asked, "Did someone piss on his face?"
These words drew a burst of laughter from the audience.
Because Aquaman, who played Aquaman, used a reflection to depict the figure that stole the "sea god's" properties, the portrait drawn through the ritual did indeed appear to have a slightly shimmering appearance.
It really did look like a delicate stream of water being poured into a bucket, creating ripples.
Os thought to himself: Dude, watch your words, or one day you might get "fooled" and suddenly not know how to pee.
Thank you all for your help. The ship's name has been decided as "Argo," a ship from Greek mythology. The key point is that this ship can also predict the future, which fits the protagonist's path perfectly.
After seeing this name, the author plans to add more scenes for this ship after the main character sequence 4, such as "recreating" Greek mythology on the ship, which would be a bonus!
As for the name of the pirate crew, there are two options: one is to simply call it the "Argo Pirate Crew," and the other is to call it the "Dawn Pirate Crew."
The second name is somewhat Chinese in style, but it has a good meaning. Take a look and if you don't find it out of place, how about using this name?