Leonard's expression slightly froze, then returned to normal.
He had remembered that Dwayne Dantès was cooperating with the military to sell a batch of guns and cannons to West Balam.
So, while surprising, this gentleman's appearance on the military airship wasn't out of place at all.
The only question was: Was he going to West Balam so soon? Had Amon's arrival also put pressure on him? Leonard shifted his thoughts, leveled his gaze, and then together with his teammates, he climbed the gangway to the second floor and entered a large lounge exclusive to them.
The "Red Gloves" had just taken their seats when a low rumble, the whir of rotors, and all kinds of scraping sounds followed in succession, causing the floor and walls to tremble slightly.
The vibrations gradually intensified into swaying. The airship shook as it rose and slowly regained stability.
Klein had already sat down, fastened his seatbelt, and was looking around with a bit of curiosity, experiencing a new way of flying.
"The takeoff isn't very stable, and the altitude is quite low, but without a hurricane the turbulence is tolerable. I wonder how they manage it…" Klein gazed toward the diagonal window, without the slightest intention of unbuckling his seatbelt and walking around.
It wasn't a fear of heights, though he did have a bit of that, but temporarily wearing Creeping Hunger, which could perform "short-distance flight" and teleportation, he wasn't that scared. He was just earnestly playing the role of a Desi millionaire taking an airship for the first time.
Just then, Klein's spirituality stirred. He quickly clicked his teeth together and activated his Spirit Vision.
He saw the colors around him become intense and vividly layered, and saw white bones erupt from the ground like a fountain, forming a giant skeleton nearly four meters tall.
In the skeleton's eye sockets burned pitch-black flames, and in its lowered hand it held a stack of folded letter paper.
Mr. Azik's messenger… Had he finally recovered from that transformed state? Klein was pleasantly surprised and started to get up to receive the letter.
But only when he felt the restraint around his waist did he remember he was still buckled in.
As he reached to unbuckle it, the skeletal messenger crouched down and shoved the paper into his hand.
Klein was taken aback. He looked up into the eye sockets burning with black flames and gave a slight nod as a greeting.
He could understand why the messenger hadn't appeared on the lower level and only let its upper half poke through the floor. This was a military airship; besides the team of Red Gloves, there were likely other Beyonders with spirituality and a certain degree of Spirit Vision who could barely sense the messenger's presence.
"But," Klein muttered to himself, "I don't think delivering letters in a crouch is polite… I'd rather it be like before…" He watched the messenger dissolve into illusory white bones that cascaded to the ground like a waterfall.
In the large lounge, Daly Simone, who still liked to call herself a "Spiritualist", suddenly turned her head to look at another room across the hall.
She frowned slightly, her eyes narrowing a little.
Daly withdrew her gaze and said to a low‑ranking officer sitting in the corner of the lounge acting as a waiter:
"Give me a mixed drink—half Highland and half champagne."
"That's an odd recipe, miss," the officer said, unbuckling his seatbelt and walking toward a counter welded to the floor while trying to offer his advice.
Daly, who wore blue eyeshadow and blush, smiled:
"I enjoy tasting the unique."
Having said that, she changed the subject and casually asked:
"On this airship, besides you and us, it seems there are other people?"
The officer replied while opening the counter:
"Yes.
"A businessman, it seems he's called Dwayne Dantès. He has some cooperation with the Ministry of Defence."
Dwayne Dantès… Daly was taken aback, then asked with a shift in her eyes:
"What cooperation?"
To her right, Leonard Mitchell subconsciously adjusted his posture, switching from crossing his right leg over his left to crossing his left over his right.
"Not sure," the officer shook his head. "Seems they want to make use of that gentleman's experience in the Southern Continent."
"The Southern Continent…" Daly repeated the term thoughtfully and did not press further.
…………
In the small lounge opposite, Klein had already unfolded the letter and was reading it carefully.
It was indeed from Azik Eggers. He wrote that his previous experiences had helped him recover more memories, and that he had to sleep to digest and recover, so he couldn't reply in time.
Klein truly relaxed, and in a good mood, he moved his gaze to the content that followed.