The anomaly in the Spirit World corresponding to the Stormy Seas was caused by the fall of Death… Legend said that the corpse and possessions of this deity were hidden somewhere in that sea area, waiting for someone with a specific key to open them… This copper whistle came from Mr. Azik, and Mr. Azik is confirmed to be a direct descendant of Death, from the first or second generation… So, the copper whistle just now sensed something or was influenced by something? Scraps of information flashed through Klein’s mind rapidly; he put them together and got a preliminary guess.
He intended to find a hotel in Bodo shortly, rent a room, go above the Gray Fog, and try to get some revelation through dream divination, then consider when and how to return to Escoucient Port, to avoid any avoidable accidents on the way.
Before that, he had to find food for Creeping Hunger.
Klein walked down the seaside cliff and entered Port Bodo.
The buildings here seemed to be built wherever the fancy struck, with almost no planning. As a result, some roads were wide, others so narrow they barely allowed a person through, and in some places, when you looked up, you couldn’t see the sky—only large swaths of laundry waiting to dry.
Wearing a new face, Klein strolled through such an environment, walking among passersby dressed like pirates, habitually thinking of going to a tavern or similar place to look for prey.
Just then, he saw a crowd gathered around a bulletin board in the small square ahead.
What’s up? Curious, Klein moved closer, using a Clown’s balance and agility to squeeze through the gaps in the crowd until he could barely see the board.
On the board, one piece of paper dominated, covering all the others, making it immediately noticeable.
Its heading read:
“‘The Black Emperor’ is recruiting crew members.”
“The Black Emperor”? Isn’t that the ship of Nast, the King of the Five Seas, which can travel through the Spirit World? This pirate king, in a sense, is openly recruiting crew? Klein feigned surprise and muttered:
“How is that possible?”
“Why not?” laughed a burly man beside him, sleeves rolled up, arms bare. “It wasn’t possible before, but now it is!”
“Why?” Klein had been waiting for someone to take the bait, so he turned and asked.
The burly man had dark blue tattoos on his arms, wrists, and cheeks, looking quite ferocious. He pointed toward the main channel and said:
“A week ago, the Black Emperor encountered that steam ironclad ‘Pritz’ that Loen has been publicizing heavily. A naval battle broke out. The Black Emperor lost a lot of men and urgently needs to replenish its crew!”
“Huh?” Klein’s first reaction was that this didn’t fit with mysticism.
Based on newspaper articles and rumors he’d heard at sea, he knew that the Pritz was a massive big-gun ship in the conventional sense, without any Beyonder factors. In terms of physical destruction, it might be stronger than the Black Emperor, but the latter could “jump” through the Spirit World like a big Traveler, making it impervious to conventional hot weapons.
Moreover, Nast, the King of the Five Seas, was presumably a Sequence 3 demigod of the Black Emperor pathway, the strongest renowned figure at sea. He could directly distort the trajectory of shells and was almost invincible when confronting fleets without mystical elements.
In Klein’s view, the two weren’t even in the same league, but the outcome wasn’t what he had imagined.
He didn’t hide his surprise and blurted out:
“What about the Pritz?”
The fierce-looking burly man shook his head and answered:
“Not too clear, but I heard it wasn’t heavily damaged, only two escort ships were sunk.”
“This…” Klein was stunned at first, then began to understand what had happened.
He recalled the situation when he stole the mummy of Tutansis II: the military’s demigods had used a “Decree” of “Mystery Weakening, Reality Enhancement.” Once that took effect, the Black Emperor became just a slightly unusual, rule-breaking sailing battleship. Against ironclad ships, it couldn’t attack, couldn’t defend, and couldn’t run.
From another perspective, this also meant there was a military demigod on board the Pritz, otherwise such a Decree couldn’t have been enacted.
The fact that the Black Emperor managed to escape under those circumstances showed that the King of the Five Seas, Nast, was very, very strong. He was definitely among the top demigods below Angels… It seemed that because of the Arbiter pathway, the development trajectory of this world’s military forces had become closer to Earth’s, allowing them to deal with higher-level mysteries… Klein nodded in understanding and didn’t ask further.
As for Beyonders below Sequence 4, in large-scale hot warfare, aside from a few professions that could serve as heavy hitters and effective defenders, the rest had to avoid direct confrontation, acting as “decapitation teams” or simply providing support. For example, a Puppet Master: if his puppets were fully equipped, he wouldn’t fear anyone in a one-on-one fight. But once on a battlefield under artillery fire and machine-gun strafing, the fragility of his body would be fully exposed. Even with a paper substitute, he often couldn’t escape the kill zone and had to endure secondary damage—in such cases, he might not have time to use another paper substitute.
In such a hot war, the most useful mid-sequence would probably be a Wraith: virtually immune to gunfire and bullets, undetectable, and able to directly affect a large area with its “Scream”… As Klein’s thoughts began to wander, the burly man who’d spoken earlier took the initiative to say:
“Are you thinking of joining the Black Emperor too?”
“…Still thinking about it,” Klein replied casually.
The burly man with dark blue tattoos all over his arms said enthusiastically:
“Anyway, I’m planning to try out.”