Odis, Klein, and Alger meet with "Vice Admiral of the Deep" on a beach.
Vice Admiral Hal Constantine glanced at Admiral Mystery, then at Gehrman Sparrow: "I suppose you're not here for my bounty?"
His voice was clear and crisp, even somewhat magnetic.
Hal asked this question to make a final confirmation. The "Mysterious General" had just helped him, so it was unlikely that he was setting a trap for him here.
However, it's still best to confirm these things in person.
His men were on high alert, with one even having one hand on his weapon.
Odis glanced at his two companions. Alger didn't want to reveal himself and was even reluctant to speak.
Klein is playing the aloof Gehrman Sparrow, who at this point is a haughty, expressionless man.
Odis had no choice but to answer, "No."
Hal Constantine asked, "So you came to Whale Island because of that rock?"
Odis smiled and said, "I suppose so."
The "Deep Sea Admiral's" eyes suddenly sharpened: "You've come for something else, haven't you?"
Odis ignored the question and instead asked, "What exactly is that rock? Why do you want to destroy it?"
"You probably saw it too," Hal said, not continuing with the previous question, "It's a stone that can cause organisms to mutate, and our goal, of course, is to destroy such an evil thing!"
Odis smiled and said, "I'm sorry, but I really find it hard to believe that a 'pirate general' would be so responsible."
"Vice Admiral Deep Sea" glanced at the waves beside him and said, "You may not understand the ocean, but I can clearly feel that the ocean is quietly undergoing some changes."
"And the source of the change is those rock-like things."
Odis frowned. "You mean, there are many such things on the sea?"
"Those on the islands are considered relatively good." Hal's answer was tantamount to an affirmation. Then he added with some emotion, "There are still many sources of pollution on the seabed. By the time they are discovered, a large area of marine life has already suffered problems."
Odis pressed further: "Where do these sources of pollution come from?"
Hal Constantine said, "I can't tell you that."
He then said, "I would like to ask for your help in dealing with those monsters and giving us enough time to break the rocks."
Odis pondered for a moment and said, "I can help you, but what benefits will I get in return?"
"Deep Sea Admiral" shrugged: "Even for your own sake, we can't let this sea area mutate."
"I am a pirate," Odis smiled. "At worst, I'll leave this place and stop operating in these waters."
He smiled and said, "Unless you tell us where that rock came from and why it's contaminated."
As she spoke, Odis looked at Klein, who was playing Gehrman Sparrow. Klein indicated with his eyes that he was also willing to help.
Odis then looked at Alger, the "Hanged Man," who also said that Odis could make the decision.
"Alright." Hal Constantine saw the three people opposite him exchange a knowing look, so he took a deep breath: "I'm not entirely sure about the specifics either."
"Because if we knew that information at our current level, we would be subject to its corresponding contamination..."
Odis understood: "From an Outer God?"
Hal was somewhat surprised: "You know about the Outer Gods?"
Odis laughed and said, "Do I look like an illiterate person?"
The subordinates of "Deep Sea Admiral" all looked somewhat uneasy, because they didn't know the origin of the stone either, and they didn't think they were illiterate.
Hal gave an awkward smile: "Few people know these things."
Odis crossed his arms and thought for a moment before saying, "Won't we be contaminated while we're working on that stone?"
"No," Hal said. "That stone only possesses the power bestowed by the Outer God, not the aura of the Outer God. It will only cause creatures to mutate."
"But if you spend too much time in contact with the stone, you can easily be influenced by it and actively ask for the blessings of the Outer God."
Odis asked, "A gift?"
"We call it a gift," Hal Constantine said. "It refers to the process of gaining extraordinary powers without possessing extraordinary characteristics."
Klein and Alger looked at Odis together. They remembered that the Hermit had encountered such a strange enemy before. Despite being an extraordinary being of the "Witch" pathway, she could use extraordinary abilities of other pathways without wearing any magical items.
Odis pondered for a moment before releasing his arms from his crotch: "We'll help, but we'll need some compensation."
He smiled and said, "Stop trying to morally blackmail us, because this is obviously your mission, and you can benefit from it. We are just helping for nothing."
"You can't treat us like fools just because we have noble sentiments."
Hal twitched his lips and smiled: Who was it that just said that he could simply leave this sea area? Where did that noble sentiment come from?
He considered it for a moment before asking, "What kind of compensation do you want?"
"Answer a few questions for me."
Hal breathed a slight sigh of relief: "I can answer any question that I know the answer to and that does not violate confidentiality principles."
Odis made no further demands, nodding and asking, "Are you a member of the Constantine family?"
"Vice Admiral Deep Sea" was somewhat surprised: "You...you also know about the Constantine family?"
Klein thought back and realized he seemed to have seen the family name mentioned in Russell's diary, but only briefly, without any explanation or elaboration.
Alger had never heard of this family.
After asking the question, Hal seemed to remember that he was the one who answered: "Yes, I am a member of the Constantine family."
Odis then asked, "Which empire did Constantine support during the Fourth Age?"
He also knew little about the Constantine family, only remembering the surname.
And he didn't know if it was a coincidence or not, but the family name was the same as the "Hell's Detective" in Odis's mind.
Hal Constantine replied, "At first, no one supported it, but later it supported the Terensus Empire for a period of time."
"However, the Night Emperor soon fell, and the Constantine family no longer supported any secular regime."
He smiled slightly as he said this. In fact, he did not mind talking about his family history, after all, Constantine was once an angel family.
Upon hearing this, many of the crew members of "Vice Admiral of the Deep Sea" were stunned. They wondered whether they were actually crew members of "Vice Admiral of the Deep Sea" or "Admiral of Mystery".
Why didn't they know that the captain came from an extraordinary family?
Odis continued, "Were the Constantines among the angels of the early Quaternary period?"
Apart from Klein and Hal, everyone around them looked surprised.
What?
Does the Constantine family have angels?
Alger thought to himself: This is an angel family!
He then recalled the information about the Angel Family that some members had exchanged at yesterday's Tarot meeting, and he assumed that the Constantine family was part of the deal.
Klein, standing to the side, knew that the "Hermit" hadn't mentioned this family at the time. He guessed that the "Hermit" didn't know much about the family either, which was why he hadn't said anything.
Because at the end of that transaction, the Hermit said that many angels had actually fallen silently or gone into hiding.
"Your occult history is very solid," Hal remarked, then replied, "The Constantine family had angels very early on, but initially that angel did not form a family."
"Because for most of the Third and Fourth Ages, that angel was an important member of the 'Morthian Order'..."
"What?" Odis could hardly believe her ears: "The angel of the Constantine family, who was once one of the 'Ten Pillars' of the 'Morse Order'?"
Through her previous conversation with the "librarian" Teresa, Odis learned that in the Fourth Age, the "Ascetic Order of Morth" was more powerful than it is now, and only angels could become members of the "Ten Pillars".
Therefore, the angel of the Constantine family must be one of the "Ten Pillars".
Odis's question stunned Hal: "You...you also know about the 'Ten Pillars'?"
In his childhood education, the "Morse Penitentiary" and the "Ten Pillars" were highly confidential information.
However, Hal then thought that since the "Mysterious General" was flying the banner of the "Elemental Dawn," it was not surprising that the higher-ups of the "Elemental Dawn," as the main adversary of the "Morse Penitentiary," knew about information such as the "Ten Pillars."
Those around them, including Klein, were stunned. Many of them knew about the "Morse Trapped Order," but had never heard of the "Ten Pillars."
Odis realized his lapse in composure, cleared his throat, and continued, "Why did the Constantine family leave the 'Morse Ascetic'?"
It's no wonder he lost his composure; the news was simply too shocking.
"Vice Admiral Deep Sea" said, "I don't know the specific reason, but I heard it's because of ideological differences."
Conceptual discord?
Odis frowned and thought: Constantine left the Morse Order not long after the fall of the Night Emperor. At that time... could that have been the time when the Sage fell?
So Odis asked, "The Constantine family has always insisted on solving the problem of the Outer Gods, hasn't it?"
Hal looked at Odis warily: "You, how did you know?"
He knew very well that in the current extraordinary world, very few people knew about the Constantine family, and even fewer knew about the cause they had been doing.
"Don't be nervous," Odis said with a smile. "I recently met a member of the 'Ten Pillars'."
Thinking about it this way, Theresa was most likely an angel in her "previous life".
Hal paused for a moment before answering Odis's earlier question: "Yes."
Odis slowly nodded, feeling that his guess was very close to the truth: it must have been the fall of the "Sage" that caused some divisions within the "Morse Ascetic Order," which is why Constantine left the "Morse Ascetic Order."
As for the specific disagreements, Odis guessed that it was likely that some members intended to continue to uphold the ideals and pursuits of the "sages," while others abandoned those ideals.
Because the "Morse Pentecostal Order" is now not only less concerned about the infiltration of Outer Gods, but it also seems that some of its members have become followers of Outer Gods.
The Constantine family, having left the "Ascetic Order of Morse," has been quietly dealing with the problem of the Outer Gods' infiltration.
Of course, it's also possible that something unusual happened to the "sage".
The memories found by Odis in the crystal skull in the "Ruins of the War of the Gods" indicate that the "Sage" was already in poor condition during the Third Age.
The specific reason seems to be that His divinity was too strong, and He encountered a similar problem to the "ancient sun god".
It is very likely that during the Fourth Age, the "Sages" could not hold on and underwent mutation, or simply degenerated into the "Hidden Sages".
Those members who were unwilling to continue upholding the ideals and pursuits of the "Sage" were actually influenced by the "Hidden Sage".
Having roughly understood these questions, Odis said to Hal Constantine, "I have no other questions."
Klein thought to himself: I do have a lot of questions.
For example, are the "Ten Pillars" of the "Ascetic Order of Morse" 10 angels? Besides Constantine, who else is there?
But he knew these questions wouldn't be answered, so he continued to feign facial paralysis.
Alger also has some questions, such as whether the angels of the Constantine family are angels of the "Sailor" pathway? Is the Constantine family also an angelic family that controls the "Sailor" pathway?
However, he was well aware that these questions might not be answered, so he did not ask them.
At this point, Odis asked, "Must we eliminate those monsters to destroy that stone?"
Hal paused for a moment before catching up with Odis: "No, quite the opposite. Once that stone is destroyed, those monsters will be easy to deal with."
"I have a way that might destroy that stone," Odis said.
Hal immediately asked, "What method?"
Instead of speaking directly, Odis took out a piece of cloth that he always carried with him, which had a "spatial magic circle" drawn on it, and handed the two corners of the cloth to Alger: "Hold this for me."
Alger nodded and pulled the cloth aside.
Odis used both hands to take out an "extraordinary machine gun" from the magic circle.
The "Extraordinary Machine Gun" weighs about 40 kilograms. Odis felt it was a bit heavy just by holding it in his hand, after all, he was not an extraordinary being known for his strength.
An ordinary person simply couldn't lift it.
Klein had seen this before, so he wasn't surprised.
Actually, he wasn't surprised when he first saw it, because the appearance of the "extraordinary machine gun" was very different from the machine guns he was used to.
In Klein's mind, machine guns mainly consist of a gun body and a magazine or ammunition belt, but the "extraordinary machine gun" in Odis's hands, firstly, lacked a magazine, and secondly, the gun body looked bulky with many protrusions.
The muzzle is not a round hole, but a flat one, and it has basically lost its gun shape.
Odis held the "Extraordinary Machine Gun," skillfully disengaged the safety with a "whoosh," then spread his legs, steadily held the gun, and pulled the trigger into the deserted jungle.
Da da da da~
In an instant, branches and leaves flew through the jungle, breaking thinner branches and piercing thick tree trunks, creating small holes.
Alger, Hal, and the others were seeing such a weapon for the first time and were immediately drawn to its immense firepower.
However, some crew members felt that this weapon was dangerous because if the opponent was using a rifle or revolver, there was a good chance that they could dodge it.
This gun is obviously impossible to dodge, because it doesn't need to be reloaded and can keep chasing the target.
Odis fired a few shots, then slung the gun over his shoulder: "Can this thing break rocks?"
"It should be possible!" Hal quickly said, "I just checked, and that rock is about the same hardness as normal limestone. This gun can definitely damage it."
Odis nodded and handed the gun to the stronger Alger: "Let's go."
He paused for a moment and then said, "I suggest we go there by 'flying,' it will be faster."
Hal thought for a moment and said, "Okay, but I'll be the one to fire the shot."
Flying there would mean that only a few people would be involved in the new operation. He had heard of the strength of "Mysterious Admiral" and Gehrman Sparrow, and he was afraid that he would be left alone.
Even a Sequence 5 weapon could be injured by the "Extraordinary Machine Gun".
That's why Hal made that request, to fire the shot himself, to avoid being ambushed by "Admiral Mystery" and others.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
Odis had no objection: "Okay."
So Hal picked up the "Extraordinary Machine Gun," and together with Odis, Alger, and Klein, the four of them flew toward the rock.
Fly over there, and you'll easily find that rock.
Several monsters were still moving around the rocks, while some of the rat corpses lay on the ground, and the smaller ones slowly floated up again.
After finding a suitable shooting position, Odis instructed Hal: "If you use this gun for one minute, you need to rest for three minutes. You need to manage your time well."
Hal nodded: "No problem."
Klein and Alger also felt that having rest time was more reasonable; if there was no rest time, then this weapon was simply too powerful.
The monsters around the rocks, upon seeing Odis and the others, bared their teeth and charged towards them again.
Hal mimicked Odis's actions, disengaging the safety and pulling the trigger on the monsters.
Da da da da~
The monsters were instantly torn to pieces. The bird-headed, human-bodied monster was shot three times before its left shoulder was shattered and its head was almost blown off, leaving only a bit of skin and flesh connecting it to its neck.
The large crab was riddled with bullets; its hard shell was shattered, its legs were broken off, its claws fell off, and it rolled a long way away.
Odis smiled to himself, thinking: This guy's here to get his revenge.
These monsters are not extraordinary beings after all; although they are large in size, they are actually quite fragile.
After killing or driving away several monsters, Hal began firing at the rocks.
With each shot hitting the rock, a small hole was created, which quickly expanded, revealing a row of bullet marks.
Hal began firing at a location, sending stone fragments flying and creating a small crater in the rock.
The next second, some black liquid flowed out of the small pit, like the rocks bleeding.
Suddenly, the "extraordinary machine gun" seemed to jam. Hal was pulling the trigger, and it wasn't time to rest yet, but it just wouldn't fire.
Just as Hal was about to ask Odis a question, the "extraordinary machine gun" in his hand suddenly pulled him back.
Odis and the others felt as if the rock suddenly possessed a tremendous gravitational pull, and it took several people a lot of effort to resist and avoid being pulled over.
The next second, the gravity became stronger and stronger, and the four of them found it very difficult to maintain their balance.
Hal accidentally dropped the "Extraordinary Machine Gun," which flew violently towards the rock and crashed into it, severely deforming the metal weapon.
Click~
The trees in the jungle were broken, and the rocks, branches, and even the corpses on the ground were sucked towards the rocks and eventually stuck to them.
At this moment, Odis felt as if a dozen people were pulling him with ropes, and no matter how hard he tried, he could only take small steps toward the rocks.
The other three weren't much better off. Alger tried to "ride the wind," but ended up flying straight towards the rocks. Luckily, he reacted quickly and grabbed a broken tree trunk to regain his footing.
Hal was fighting against the immense force while attacking the rocks with "wind blades" and lightning.
However, because the force emanating from the rock was too great, the hurricane summoned by Hal immediately dispersed, losing its original shape. Lightning did strike the rock, but the rock seemed unaffected by electricity.
Actually, the most dangerous one at this moment is Odis. Hal and Alger are both extraordinary individuals of the "Sailor" pathway, with excellent balance and they are unlikely to fall easily.
Because of his past as "The Joker," Klein is unlikely to fall due to the immense force pulling him.
Only Odis, although he had the "Fighting Scholar" sequence, mainly enhanced his agility, with very limited improvement in balance.
The biggest fear at this moment is falling, because if you fall, you'll definitely fly towards the rocks.
Odis struggled to maintain his balance as he tried to pull out the "Staff of Guth," but he was afraid of losing this fine staff if he dropped it.
So he reached into his bag and took out an "explosion scroll," but before he could even hold it properly, he was sucked onto the rock.
He quickly reached into his bag again, this time gripping the "Explosion Scroll" tightly. He then chanted the "Open" incantation in ancient Hermes before throwing it out.
Boom!
The violent explosion engulfed the rocks, and the shockwave propelled Odis and the others, giving them enough strength to escape the immense gravity.
Odis felt a tightness in his chest and struggled forward, away from the rocks, until finally the enormous gravitational pull gradually diminished.
His reaction was due to the fact that they were caught between the pull of immense gravity and the thrust of the shockwave.
Imagine there's a wall in front of Odis and the others, pushing them forward, and the shockwave from the explosion is like a giant slap on Odis and the others.
If it were an ordinary person, they would have been crushed to the point of vomiting blood by the combined forces.
Odis and the other three took a few more steps forward, and the gravitational pull weakened. They couldn't wait to take flight and quickly broke free from the gravitational pull.
Back on the beach, they were panting heavily.
When the captain's men saw that he had returned so quickly and that the four of them looked rather disheveled with some tears in their clothes, they rushed over to greet him and ask what was wrong.
Hal, panting heavily, said to the crew, "Give me a glass of rum."
Odis, who was standing nearby, simply sat down on the beach and said, "I'd like a beer."
The crew member looked to "Vice Admiral Deepsea" for instructions, and Hal gave him a signal to go and get it.
Klein also wanted to have something to drink, but to maintain his persona, he didn't say anything.
Alger, however, did not want to remove his face mask while drinking, so he did not order any alcohol.
The two small boats used for landing carried some supplies, including some alcohol.
Soon, the crew brought over two glasses of wine. Odis gulped down two mouthfuls before saying, "The gravitational attack from that rock just now felt like it was at the level of a demigod."
Hal also said, "We misjudged the situation. This rock is something I can't solve on my own."
As he spoke, he glanced at Odis and the others. There were three Sequence 5s, three Sequence 6s, and two Sequence 6s who were his crew members. With this kind of strength, they should be able to solve the problem.
Odis, holding his wine glass, said, "Fortunately, it can't move and isn't very intelligent."
He paused for a moment: "We could try to solve this problem through this point."
Odis asked Hal, "What are your thoughts?"
"It would be best to launch a long-range attack." As he spoke, Hal glanced at his ship on the sea and said, "Unfortunately, that rock is out of the cannons' range."
Odis lamented, "If only the Argo were here."
The range of the "Extraordinary Machine Gun" is definitely sufficient, and even if the machine gun is not, the range of the "Spirit Wave Cannon" is definitely sufficient.
Thinking of this, he remembered to say to Hal, "We don't want any other reward, but you have to compensate us for the gun we just used, right?"
"I'll definitely compensate you." Hal readily agreed: "How much?"
After estimating the price, Odis said, "1000 pounds!"
He saw Hal's surprise and thought he had asked for too much, because now that they were being mass-produced in the "Wilderness of Knowledge," the cost of each "Extraordinary Machine Gun" was less than 100 pounds, with most of the money spent on spiritual materials.
After a moment of stunned silence, Hal Constantine immediately took out the keys and tossed them to the first mate: "Go to the ship and get the money."
This is way too cheap for him.
At this time, the armies of various countries in the North Continent also began to equip themselves with machine guns on a small scale. However, those machine guns were very large and expensive. It is said that most machine guns cost around 300 pounds each when they left the factory, and the price started at 500 pounds when they were sold to other countries.
The key point is that new weapons like machine guns would definitely cost several times more to pirates; you absolutely couldn't buy one for 1,000 pounds.
Odis's machine gun was excellent and didn't need bullets. Its only drawback was that it needed to be rested, but that was perfectly acceptable.
Hal Constantine was thinking of buying a few more if the "Mysterious Admiral" had any, but now was not the time to talk about machine guns.
Odis didn't lower the price because he saw that Hal paid so readily.
He finished his beer, then took out the spatial array again and asked Alger to help him open it.
This time, Odis called Klein over to help, and they lifted four heavy pieces of equipment out of the "space array".
No one understood what it was, so they gathered around to watch Odis and Gehrman Sparrow install it.
One of the four pieces of equipment was a base. After Odis flew into the air to check the location of the rocks, he secured the heavy base.
Next, the highly industrial-looking main body was fixed in place, starting with the chassis, which was connected to the base. At the same time, many "Garr runes" were engraved on it, which is the lower half of the entire equipment.
The upper part is divided into left and right sections, each with a fixed track. Once it slides to the designed position, it will be stopped by the mechanical structure inside.
Once the upper part is installed, a "portable Lingbo Cannon" is assembled.
At this point, it still needs four "extraordinary puppets" to move rapidly in motion and quickly complete the assembly.
Odis approached the control panel of the "Portable Spirit Wave Cannon," first turning it on, and then using the spiritual energy within the "Spirit Wave Cannon" to perform a self-check, confirming that there were no problems with the installation process.
After adjusting its position, it began to charge up, and two iron-rod-like cannon barrels slowly extended out.
Klein, who was standing nearby, had already recognized it as a "Spirit Wave Cannon".
Klein, who had just visited the "Ruins of Gods War" with her, was deeply impressed by this extraordinary weapon and was surprised to find that there was a "mini version".
The others found it fascinating and whispered among themselves, guessing that it must be another extraordinary weapon, since they had just seen some incomprehensible mystical symbols on the base.
Once the charge was complete, Odis said, "Everyone, crouch or lie down. I'm about to fire."
Hal asked with a somewhat puzzled look, "Is this a cannon?"
"Yes," Odis reminded again, "Get ready, I'm about to fire!"
Having witnessed the power of the "Spirit Wave Cannon," Klein silently crouched down, and Alger glanced at "The World" before crouching down as well.
Seeing that the others were still pointing and talking, Odis stopped reminding them, pressed the launch button, and then quickly squatted down.
At that moment, a small point of light was emitted and struck the rock almost instantly.
Boom!
The violent explosion knocked down or uprooted trees within hundreds of meters of the rock.
The monsters around the rock instantly vaporized, and the high temperature from the explosion cracked and split the rock, with stone chips falling to the side.
To the astonishment of Hal and the others, a massive shockwave arrived. Because they were unprepared, many crew members were immediately knocked to the ground by the shockwave, while even more were directly thrown into the sea.
For the next ten seconds or so, the whole world seemed to fall silent.
Hal Constantine was the first to come to his senses, looking around somewhat blankly.
About half of the trees on Whale Island were knocked down or broken by the shockwave, and you can see that rock directly from here.
The remaining half of the trees were affected; some were severely tilted, and many branches were broken off.
Alger, who was crouching on the ground and had not been hurt, was also stunned by what he saw.
He glanced again at the cannon, which was more than half a person tall and had a very industrial look. He was now convinced that the "Mysterious Admiral" had a weapon that could sink a ship in an instant.
At this moment, Odis was observing the rocks in the distance. The other party was half the size and had turned completely black, but that special feeling was still there.
Odis glanced at his pocket watch; there was still half a minute left before the "Lingbo Cannon" rest period ended.
At this moment, the "Deep Sea Admiral" approached with a somewhat obedient expression and asked, "Excuse me, are you selling this cannon?"