"Iceberg Admiral" Edwina bluntly stated, "I need this extraordinary trait more than you do. You can give it to me, and I can give you some compensation for it."
Judging from the opponent's attack, this is clearly a potion material for advancing to "Black Knight," which is adjacent to the "Reader" path, so Edwina will naturally try to get her hands on this material.
Odis thought for a moment before saying, "Give me the spider's corpse. In addition, I would like to obtain a magical item with the 'Audience' pathway, which must have the ability of 'hypnosis' and 'dream travel', and the negative effects cannot be too great."
"Also, you owe me a favor. If I ever need your help in the future, you can't refuse."
"Dream Travel" is an ability available only at Sequence 5 of the "Audience" pathway, so Odis's request can also be seen as asking for a magical item at Sequence 5 level.
Odis's only weakness right now is that he is still missing a magical item with a "control" function. Although the "Hand of Judgment" also has the ability to "imprison", it can only be considered "strong control", and the duration is short and the scope of application is small.
If Odis were to acquire another magical item with "hypnotic" abilities, he believed that after advancing to Sequence 5, he would become a "Pirate Admiral".
He's even already considering his own title.
The reason for making such a request to "General Iceberg" is that the "audience" approach and the "reader" approach are adjacent, and the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom is very likely to have such a magical item.
Moreover, Odis's asking price was just right. In his opinion, if a price had to be set for a Sequence 4 potion, the approximate reference price would be 30,000 pounds for the recipe and the two main ingredients.
Of course, this is the price in terms of value. If scarcity is taken into account, the price will be at least twice as high... and more!
More likely, even if a millionaire squanders his entire fortune, he still won't be able to buy the potion recipe he needs, or gather the extraordinary materials required for advancement.
If you really have millions in assets, instead of searching for special characteristics on your own, you might as well join a secret organization or church to seek opportunities.
So, if Odis calculates the value of the extraordinary creature he just killed as 30,000 pounds and the other extraordinary materials as 6,000 pounds, then in theory he should receive 18,000 pounds.
After he also gets the spider's carcass, Edwina will have to pay at least £15,000.
A Sequence 5 seal item with minimal negative effects starts at around £8,000. Magical items from the "Audience" pathway are quite useful and cost at least £10,000.
Therefore, Edwina still owes Odis another favor, and it's the kind of favor that she has to repay seriously.
The reason we need Edwina's favor is that today's exploration team is facing an unexpected event for Odis. Apart from that magical item from the "spectator" pathway, Odis can't think of any other needs at the moment.
Therefore, it would be better to leave room for future collaborations and further strengthen the relationship between the two.
"Lieutenant General Iceberg" was well aware of the value of the extraordinary material before them, so he agreed almost without hesitation: "Okay."
The surrounding crew members gasped. They all knew that the captain had some connections, but they weren't particularly interested in the "Garr" artifact.
But the captain needed to owe them a favor, which made them all realize the sense of crisis.
They then looked at "Captain Gal," who was young and energetic. Although his formal attire was somewhat damaged in the battle, he still looked imposing due to his good physique and demeanor.
This made them more vigilant.
However, Odis didn't care about their feelings. After Edwina took away the main material, he put the black spider's corpse into the "spatial magic circle" in front of everyone.
This surprised Edwina and her subordinates again. Edwina thought it was a rare "spatial magic". She had heard that only demigods on the "apprentice" path had the ability to create a space to store items.
The crew members didn't have that much knowledge; they simply felt that the magic circle was very powerful.
Then Odis smiled and said, "Now that the spoils have been divided, may I invite 'General Iceberg' to explore the lowest tomb?"
The third officer of the "Golden Dream," Jodson, said somewhat displeasedly, "Although you just participated in the rescue operation, there is one thing that must be made clear: we discovered this church."
The other pirates nodded in unison, indicating their agreement.
"Of course I know that." Odis was a little puzzled. Why did these pirates suddenly seem hostile towards him?
He paused for a moment before continuing, "Just now, while I was waiting for the monster, I discovered a hidden door in the tomb. I think it's worth exploring."
While everyone was stunned, Edwina smiled and said, "Of course."
"I mean, of course we can explore together."
She considered for a moment before saying, "If I'm not mistaken, the main target of our operation this time should be that secret room."
Since they were going to explore together, and Edwina had already developed a certain level of trust in Odis, she no longer hid anything from him:
"Last week, I found a notebook from the Fourth Age in a treasure trove. It contained a copy of a mural that seemed to depict a battle involving demigods."
"According to the description in the notes, a demigod died in that battle, but for some reason, his characteristics have never been recovered."
"The owner of the notebook hoped to obtain that special ability advancement, but he died for unknown reasons, and the notebook has been adrift at sea ever since."
"Because the notebook was written in Old Fussac, it had never attracted the attention of other pirates. If it weren't for my subordinates who understood Old Fussac, this notebook would still be lying in a corner, and I don't know when its value would be discovered."
This concerns extraordinary characteristics at the demigod level; it's a great treasure.
Edwina made this statement because these kinds of treasures are easy to miss. After all, it's been many years, and the unique characteristics may have already been taken by others, so there may not be any spoils to share.
She continued, "Based on the clues in the notes, I learned that the murals should be somewhere in this church, so I wanted to come and see the murals and look for relevant clues to see if it was worth the effort to find out what characteristics they possessed."
Odis nodded: "I understand."
He paused, then smiled and said, "I also enjoy studying murals like these; perhaps I can help you make a judgment."
After determining the next course of action, Edwina assigned the first mate to lead five crew members to participate in the operation.
After a brief rest and preparation, their new exploration began.
Jodson watched the captain and the others go down to the next level again. After they were out of sight, he questioned Bosun Daniels: "Why did you leave the captain and Gar alone in the burial hall just now?"
Daniels hesitated for a moment before saying, "It's the captain's order!"
"That explanation is too far-fetched!" Jodson said coldly.
Bosun Daniels gave a wry smile. "Captain's orders"?
...
Odis and Edwina's group returned to the lowest tomb.
Blue, the first mate of the "Golden Dream," was worried for the captain when he saw the messy battlefield left from the previous battle with the Black Spider.
Blue had noticed earlier that the spider's eight legs were extremely sharp, and now, seeing the neatly cut coffin, he realized just how sharp those eight legs were.
Odis led a few people to the hidden door they had just discovered. After observing the surroundings and confirming that there was no danger, Odis infused spiritual energy into the corresponding position on the wall.
Ugh~
The hidden door slowly opened, and the sound of air circulating could be heard immediately, indicating that the room inside was sealed.
Edwina asked everyone to wait a moment, and her eyes suddenly turned green, as if the surroundings were suddenly filled with life. Odis felt that her breathing became much easier.
After Edwina had completely freshened the air in the hidden door, the group entered in pairs, one after another.
The structure inside the hidden door is not complicated. First, there is a short corridor, and beyond the corridor is a spacious space.
Seven stone coffins were neatly arranged in the room, and murals covered the four walls.
Odis glanced at the stone coffins and, after confirming that the lids were not loose, said, "This should be a more advanced tomb. Perhaps after a demigod dies, his body will be sent here."
Regardless of the church, the death of a demigod must be handled with care, and the recovery of extraordinary characteristics is certainly an important reason.
Another reason is that corpses that have already acquired a degree of divinity may undergo some mutations. Even without extraordinary characteristics, they might still produce some miraculous reactions.
Edwina nodded slowly in agreement.
Then they went to look at the murals together, starting with the ones near the entrance.
Odis saw that the background of the first mural was similar to that of the murals in the church outside, featuring towering mountains and a huge cross.
The only difference is that this mural is not large, and it includes a round-faced middle-aged man who is devoutly praying towards the mountain peak.
Odis immediately understood that this was about the faith of the round-faced middle-aged man.
The main character in the second mural is still the round-faced middle-aged man. He is engaged in a battle, with one opponent being a person with a ferocious face riding on the waves, and the other being a shadowy figure under the blazing sun.
It clearly depicts a round-faced middle-aged man fighting two opponents.
As Odis continued reading, he quickly realized that the round-faced man was one of the people in the sarcophagus in the room, and the murals depicted his "life story."
Sure enough, the description of the round-faced man stopped abruptly in the fifth picture, and from the sixth picture onwards, it began to describe another person.
Based on these murals, Odis roughly deduced that these people mostly died after the "ancient sun god," and that most of them died in battle.
They are essentially extraordinary beings through three pathways: "readers," "sailors," and "singers." Their enemies, identified by their clothing, symbols, and other characteristics, are almost certainly the Church of Knowledge, the Church of Storms, and the Church of the Eternal Sun.
Odis speculated that after the death of the "Ancient Sun God," there were still many extraordinary beings through the three pathways of "Readers," "Sailors," and "Singers" who continued to believe in the "Omniscient and Omnipotent Lord."
Adam incorporated this force and organized the believers who worshipped the "ancient sun god" to come to some remote cities on the sea.
However, the three churches, including the Church of Storms, would certainly not allow such a group of high-level extraordinary beings, beyond their control, to exist on the high seas.
Of course, they will not be tolerated spreading statements that "smear" the three gods "Feng Zhibai".
Thus, battles frequently broke out between them, and Odis now had reason to suspect that the reason a large part of the city was buried underground was the result of a high-level, extraordinary battle.
After looking at the biographies of a few people, Odis noticed that the rest were individual murals, all of which, without exception, depicted scenes of battle.
The difference is that the mural also contains some geographical information, and it is certain that someone in the mural was killed by the enemy.
Odis immediately understood that this record contained some extraordinary properties that had not been recovered, or rather, extraordinary properties that both sides had failed to recover for some reason.
If a demigod who only believed in the "Ancient Sun God" was killed by the three churches of "Feng Zhibai," there would be no need for him to leave any information behind, because that characteristic would definitely have been seized by the other churches.
Leaving such information is clearly a reminder to future generations that those characteristics may still have a chance to be recovered.
This can be seen as a clue that the organization provides some demigod characteristics for Sequence 5.
However, there are only three such murals, or rather, there are as many as three!
After all, even in the Fourth Age, the various churches would not waste the characteristics of demigods.
The fact that three demigod-level characteristics could not be recovered was a huge loss at that time.
Edwina pointed to the first mural and said, "This is the mural that is recorded in the notes."
Odis glanced at the mural. On the left side, it depicted the murder of a middle-aged woman. On the right, an island was surrounded by hurricanes and lightning, and in the upper right corner, a nautical chart marked the island's location.
The mural depicts the idea that this property could not be recovered because it was blocked by hurricanes and lightning.
Furthermore, because of the "contribution" made to the ocean by the "Emperor of the Underworld," the Raging Sea was formed, rendering that sea chart completely useless, unless it was a sea chart of the Sunia Sea, which was less affected by the fall of the "Emperor of the Underworld."
Odis said, "This characteristic is no longer worth considering."
Edwina was taken aback: "Why do you say that?"
"Hurricanes and lightning generally refer to high-level extraordinary beings of the 'Sailor' pathway," Odis smiled. "Since the person who painted the mural believed that this characteristic could still be recovered, it certainly didn't fall into the hands of the 'Church of Storms'."
"Then there is only one possibility: this characteristic has fallen into the hands of the elves."
"During the Quaternary period, there were still many elves on the sea, and there should have been some elves at the level of demigods."
"But after entering the Fifth Age, the living space of the Elven race was repeatedly compressed. Especially after the Kingdom of Rune and the Empire of Fusak began to compete for the island of Sonia, there were very few demigod-level elves anymore."
"So this characteristic should have already been seized by the Church of Storms, so we don't need to consider it."
First Mate Blue and the others were stunned. Was this a lie? How could so much information be deduced from just a mural?
With her extensive knowledge, Edwina followed Odis's line of thought: "You're right, we don't need to consider this characteristic anymore."
Next, the two went to see the second mural, which depicted a middle-aged man being murdered. This time, the geographical information depicted a sea with land in the distance and towering mountains on the land.
The mural roughly means that the property fell in the sea not far from the land.
"There's no need to worry about that," Odis said. "The place where it fell was so close to land, yet it couldn't be recovered. It's very likely that it wasn't found during the subsequent search."
"If I'm not mistaken, it may have been swallowed by some marine creature. Since it hasn't been found, that creature is most likely wandering around in a frenzy, carrying its characteristics, and has lost control somewhere, or perhaps it survived the most difficult period and became a demigod in extremely poor condition."
"Of course, this characteristic will not disappear from the ocean; it will certainly be discovered again in the future."
Because of the "Extraordinary Characteristics Aggregation Law," it is highly likely that it will be obtained by the three major churches of "Wind, Wisdom, and White," with the Storm Church, which is located on the sea, being the most likely to discover it.
Edwina nodded slowly, agreeing with Captain Gar's opinion.
When Odis arrived at the third mural, he was taken aback and didn't quite understand its meaning.
The left side of the mural also depicts the killing of a demigod, while the right side depicts an island covered on one side by red flames and on the other by a pale white light.
Odis did not immediately understand the meaning of the mural. Could it be that the process of recovery was hindered by the fire and the cold light?
He then realized that the red flames and pale light must have symbolic meaning, just like hurricanes and lightning.
Odis then made a connection and smiled, "This is something we can consider."
Edwina also had some thoughts at this moment, but she didn't have any specific ideas yet. She looked at Odis with a questioning look.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
Odis continued to explain, "If I understand correctly, the red flames should represent the 'Red Priest,' which is the 'Hunter' pathway, and the pale white light should represent the 'Death' pathway."
"I think the reason the recovery wasn't completed at the time was because a fierce war was taking place there, between the 'United Empire' and the Byron Empire."
"At that time, the United Empire had the support of the 'Six Gods'. If the United Empire had obtained this characteristic, it would have definitely given it to one of the three churches, 'Feng Zhibai'."
"But the fact that this mural was still preserved suggests that a battle may have suddenly broken out when the demigod went to retrieve his special properties after his death."
"The characteristics were not found after the battle, and it was confirmed that it was not captured by either side of the war, which is why this mural was left behind."
"I think this is the most likely characteristic to have survived to the present day."
He identified it as the "United Empire" era because during the Solomon Empire era, the Solomon Empire, to which the Medici and the other two "Hunter Families" served, was an ally of the Byron Empire, making it unlikely that they would wage war.
In the later "Era of the Four Emperors", only the Ternsost Empire had two angel families with the "Hunter" pathway, and they were both Sequence 2. If a large-scale battle occurred, they would definitely cooperate with the vampires or the Augustus family and the Castile family.
If they fight alone, unless their opponent is of equal strength, they are essentially "giving away their lives".
However, if cooperating with other families, it would be impossible to represent only one side with a large fire.
Only during the era of the "United Empire" did the Medici family and two other families have the strength to launch large-scale wars, especially the Medici family, which could fight the "Emperor of the Underworld" for several rounds.
This analysis left Edwina deep in thought, while the other pirates listened in stunned silence.
After a long pause, Edwina exclaimed, "Only someone with a very rich knowledge of history could make such a judgment."
Otherwise, it would be impossible to specify a particular era.
The other pirates were truly convinced this time; without Captain Gal's explanation, they would have completely failed to understand the meaning of the mural.
Odis added, "However, this property should be very difficult to find. It wasn't found more than a thousand years ago, and it should be even harder to find now."
Edwina nodded and added, "But it's at least worth seeing."
Odis hummed in agreement.
After all, that's a demigod-level property; we can only be at ease if we go and see for ourselves.
Edwina and Odis searched the tomb again but found nothing new.
Although there are corpses here, they cannot possibly possess any extraordinary characteristics.
The same applies outside; those characteristics have long been recycled.
After a brief exploration, the group returned to the church above.
After they left the dark room and closed the door, a stone coffin suddenly slid open on its own, and a corpse sat up inside. Its face bore a striking resemblance to that of First Mate Blue.
The mummified corpse faced the doorway, its withered mouth revealing a comical yet terrifying smile, two teeth missing.
...
Odis and the others returned to the church above, thus concluding their exploration.
As they were preparing to return to the ground, Odis invited Edwina and several key crew members of the "Golden Dream" to have a barbecue on the "Argo".
Before Blue and the others could refuse, Edwina had already agreed: "Okay."
Odis glanced at the reluctant Blue and the others: "If you have something to do, you don't have to go."
They all said in unison, "Go away, go away, go away!"
Odis then realized: Could these guys be seeing me as a competitor?
He smiled: "To be honest, I do have a better chance than you, because your captain isn't really a pirate; he's more like a professor or scholar. Unfortunately, I'm only interested in the forces behind 'Vice Admiral Iceberg' right now."
It was noon when we got back to the ground.
Odis led Bazel and the others, who had been waiting outside, back to the ship and told them that he had invited Edwina and others to visit. The Argo was heading north and would meet up with the Golden Dream in the northern part of the island.
Everyone was immediately on high alert, and their posture became much straighter than before. They never expected that the captain would invite the "pirate general"!
Those were the top-tier creatures on this vast ocean, and the crew members had all heard some of their stories.
The reason why Bazel and the others dared to show their displeasure to the "Golden Dream" was that they were well aware of the captain's strength and trusted him completely, believing that even if a conflict occurred, they would not suffer any losses.
However, they were actually quite conflicted, because they were well aware of the gap between themselves and the "iceberg general," and if a conflict were to actually occur, they could only ensure that they would not suffer any losses.
At the same time, they held the "pirate generals" in high esteem, especially "General Iceberg" who did not commit much killing.
So there was no conflict between the two sides, and they were quite happy after inviting "Lieutenant General Iceberg" to visit.
The kitchen immediately became crowded and busy, as everyone felt they had to treat the upcoming guests well.
Under Odis's direction, basic order was maintained in the kitchen.
Upon arriving at the northern part of the island, Odis, along with Bazel and other key crew members, waited on the deck.
As the two ships drew closer, they realized the immense size of the "Golden Dream," which was dozens of meters long and much longer than any large ship Odis had ever imagined.
The entire ship reflected a golden light, and in the middle, there was a main cannon covered with patterns and mystical symbols.
This main cannon looks very powerful. Odis thought for a moment and realized that it was called the "Purification Cannon".
Once the two sides were close enough, Edwina, who was standing at the bow, raised her hand, and all the golden light on the ship focused on the bow.
Then the light spread out, forming a tangible staircase.
Edwina stepped onto the deck first, followed by several key crew members of the "Golden Dream." They quickly made their way to the deck of the "Argo," and the golden staircase then disappeared.
"Welcome to the 'Argo'," Odis said with a smile. "This is First Officer Bazel…"
The two sides introduced themselves to each other. On the "Golden Dream" side, apart from the second officer, Orvers, who stayed on board, all the other important crew members came.
This included Danitz, though he clearly did not recognize Odis as "Captain".
They also brought gifts such as beer and weapons.
When they first boarded the ship, Blue and the others held their heads high, looking as if they were "coming from a big ship to a small boat."
But when Blue saw Yi Lai Zhe, the man with a white beard in the driver's seat, he was stunned: "Yi... Mr. Yi Lai Zhe?"
The members of the "Dawnbreaker Sword" pirate crew and Edwina's subordinates were all taken aback.
Everyone stopped in their tracks, and Edwina asked her first mate, "Do you know each other?"
"It was Mr. Ilzer who took me out to sea," Blue explained. "He was the navigator on the Dawn."
After speaking, he quickly went into the driver's seat to greet Yi Lai Zhe.
This time, not only Edwina's subordinates were surprised, but even Edwina herself was quite astonished.
This is because it means that "Captain Gal" has gained access to part of the "Mysterious Queen's" crew. Even if it's just a navigator from the "Dawn" joining the pirate crew, it still means that the "Mysterious Queen" values him.
At this point, everyone put away their contempt and, after arriving at the spacious restaurant, sat down properly before beginning to look around.
The interior of the small boat was larger than they had imagined.
They had initially thought this place would be like a small, ordinary seagoing vessel, with a very small restaurant. However, after a dozen or so people sat down, it didn't feel crowded at all.
Sitting at the head of the table, Edwina glanced at the "extraordinary chef" grilling meat in the kitchen, then asked Odis, "Are those all 'extraordinary puppets'?"
"Yes," Odis smiled. "The crew of this ship, except for the navigators, are all sitting here."
Blue and the others looked at the kitchen again. The chefs' exposed skin was no different from that of humans. It was only after the captain's reminder that they noticed that these "people" had some abnormal spirituality.
At this moment, their gazes toward "Captain Gal" changed. As seasoned pirates, they knew perfectly well that these "extraordinary puppets" meant that "Captain Gal" had been ordered from a demigod.
This proves that firstly, he knew a demigod, and secondly, that demigod was willing to help.
You see, once you reach the level of a demigod, it's very difficult to sway them with things like money. Their willingness to help is the most valuable asset.
Then Edwina took the initiative to talk about the extraordinary history of the Fourth Age. She asked, "After the fall of the Solomon Empire, why is it called the 'United Empire' era? What exactly was the 'union' of forces?"
Odis simply replied, "It was a union between Trensost and Tudor, who became the new rulers of the North after the fall of the Solomon Empire."
At this point, Third Mate Bivis joined the conversation: "'Blood Emperor' and 'Night Emperor' once ruled together?"
"Yes," Odis smiled. "They may have been reluctant, but the gods of that time wanted them to rule together."
The other crew members lacked the relevant knowledge and could only listen from the sidelines.
The roast meat was finally served, and Odis raised his glass: "Let's welcome our friends from the 'Golden Dream'!"
Everyone raised their glasses and drank heartily. After putting down their glasses, they carelessly picked up pieces of grilled meat and put them in their mouths. Suddenly, they found the grilled meat in front of them to be exceptionally delicious.
Even Edwina couldn't help but ask, "The spices used in these barbecues are very special."
Odis smiled and said, "This is the elven roasting recipe that I obtained by chance."
He then added, "I've heard that the 'Golden Dream' has discovered many treasures. There must have been many interesting stories during the treasure hunt, right?"
This question was exactly what Blue, Danitz, and others wanted to hear, and for a moment, boasting filled the air.
The sociable Rupert always asked questions at the right time, making their stories even more engaging.
With the second mate holding the line, Odis had time to chat with Edwina about some mystical topics.
In the afternoon, Edwina Joudis went to her study to continue discussing related occult issues.
Around 2 PM, after a satisfying meal and drinks, and with everyone in high spirits, Odis and the others escorted Edwina and the others back to their ship.
After resting for a while, Odis boarded the "Golden Dream" with some specially made dried meat and dried fish as a return gift.
Edwina personally greeted him and invited Odis into her study.
After closing the study door, Edwina said, "I've found the magical item you needed."