Amid the seemingly endless deep-blue waves of the Storm Sea, the Future floated like a leaf, at times tossed high into the air, at times hammered back down.
In this stretch of sea, several pirate vessels were also sailing, so accustomed to conditions like these that they took them for granted, as natural as the rising sun.
After returning to reality, the Admiral of the Stars,
She wanted to ask the Queen whether any major events had occurred recently.
In truth, even before Mr. Fool had announced his impending slumber, Cattleya had already sensed the approach of upheaval.
Whether it was the sudden slamming shut of doors and windows, or the meteor shower streaking across the sky and illuminating the world, all of it had sparked a certain intuition in her, a "Prediction Master," allowing her to glimpse some hazy images.
Of course, given her own level, status, and position, she lacked sufficient understanding of what exactly had happened and found it difficult to grasp what precisely had prompted Mr. Fool to choose slumber. She could only turn to the "Mysterious Queen," Bernadette — a woman who had long since ascended to Angel, who led a mysterious organization, and who controlled several powerful sealed artefacts.
Just as Cattleya had summoned her messenger and sent off the completed letter, she suddenly froze.
In that instant, the violet in her eyes deepened, growing extraordinarily rich, and seemed to flow slowly like a river.
She could feel that Mr. Fool had entered his slumber.
An irrepressible sense of wandering, confusion, and a trace of sorrow surged within the Admiral of the Stars.
For reasons she could not explain, an indescribable tremor ran through her, and two tears slipped involuntarily from the corners of her eyes.
She seemed to understand something, yet understood nothing at all — only that Mr. Fool's slumber this time, she did not know how long it would be before he woke.
Cattleya removed the heavy spectacles from the bridge of her nose and wiped the corners of her eyes, bringing her emotions back under control.
She then walked to the window and looked out at the deck.
"Good thing I sent Sharlf to the Queen ahead of time. Now I only need to keep watch over Frank… Without Mr. Fool's gaze, I need to be even more cautious and take things even more seriously. Hmm, I should find something for Frank to do beyond his research — he's the first mate; he can't keep neglecting his proper duties…" The Admiral of the Stars, Cattleya, thought with a slightly grave expression.
Having considered how to keep watch over Frank, as well as how to arrange the small number of pirates belonging to the "Earth" and "Moon" pathways onto other ships so they wouldn't be in frequent contact with him, Cattleya shifted the focus of her thinking to the matter of the "Hermit
Although she was already one of the ten pillars of the
In a certain sense, her relationship with the Moses Ascetic Order was closer to that of a collaborator: one side needed a faction and a powerful figure to project its will across the Five Seas, while the other side hungered for the corresponding knowledge and materials.
And to obtain information about the "Hermit Sage," the symbolic deity who had suddenly come back to life, and to confirm its current state, she would need to become a core member of the Moses Ascetic Order.
"With my current status, participating in the internal decision-making of the Moses Ascetic Order is perfectly feasible. Only by truly getting involved in these matters can I gain access to more information and raise my standing… However, this will be extremely dangerous. Even if the 'Hermit Sage' is in an abnormal state and doesn't much interfere with the Order's day-to-day operations, the other higher-ups would still push back to a certain degree out of protection of their authority and long-standing suspicion… At least two of the ten pillars are people I cannot see through, and my instincts tell me they are dangerous…
"And confirming the 'Hermit Sage's' current state would be even more dangerous — the slightest misstep and I would immediately be eroded and corrupted…" The more the Admiral of the Stars, Cattleya, thought about it, the more difficult she found Mr. Fool's commission to be.
Her long history of lingering on the periphery of the Moses Ascetic Order and operating as a pirate was, in part, rooted in this very concern — a fear that getting too deeply involved in the organization's internal affairs would expose the fact that she was still in contact with the "Mysterious Queen," and a fear that one day she might suddenly be denounced as a spy by all the other ten pillars simultaneously and eliminated on the spot.
At this moment, Cattleya even wanted to abandon Mr. Fool's commission and her identity as one of the Ten Pillars of the Moses Ascetic Order, return to the Morning Light, and go back to the Queen's side.
That way, she would no longer need to worry about this sort of thing — whatever problems arose, the Queen could handle them all.
Ever since she had left the Morning Light and had to bear everything on her own shoulders, "Admiral of the Stars" Cattleya had carried a persistent sense of exhaustion, her shoulders perpetually heavy.
However, the thought had barely flickered through her mind before she dismissed it.
She let out a soft sigh, understanding that she could never return to the carefree days of her childhood.
She was no longer shouldering only her own life, but also the fates of her crew members — Frank, Heath,
Moreover, she had foreseen the coming of the apocalypse, and she hoped that when the time came, she could become the Queen's most powerful helper, working alongside her to do something for this world.
Cattleya then closed her eyes and murmured in a low voice: "Then I'll face it."
She would truly integrate herself into the Moses Ascetic Order and gather the necessary intelligence.
Having made this decision, "Admiral of the Stars" Cattleya no longer concealed her strength. She raised both hands and cast a fairy-tale magic spell.
In the eyes of the pirates sailing nearby, the Future and its accompanying vessels simultaneously turned ethereal, dissolving into countless bubbles.
These bubbles reflected dreamlike, iridescent colours under the shimmering glow.
Then, little by little, they melted into the seawater.
The Future and its accompanying fleet vanished before everyone's eyes.
Many knowledgeable pirates were first struck with shock and astonishment, then simultaneously arrived at the same thought: "A new ruler of the seas has been born."
"The Queen of the Stars!"
…………
Xiu, having returned to the real world, had not yet had time to sort through her thoughts when she saw Fors's figure rapidly take shape in front of her, shouting: