"The most important thing right now is to get a clear picture of the Purgatory World's geography!"
Beneath the Dreamless Mask, Leilin's expression was extremely grave. His time was running short — only about two years remained — and the Purgatory World had several continents at the very least. He had to pin down the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' location. If she happened to be on another continent, even traveling there would take several years, which was something he simply could not afford.
"It's a pity those fishmen sailors aren't too bright. Even that Evil Eye from before didn't seem to have seen much of the world. If I want reliable information, I'll probably have to rely on that hidden Tier 3
*Knock knock.* A gentle rapping came from outside the door.
"Come in!"
"Sir!" The same fishman from before stepped inside and bowed stiffly toward Leilin. "Honored guest! Lord Gegeduoer invites you to dine with him!"
"Dinner?" Leilin was momentarily dazed. It seemed his healing session had consumed far more time than he'd realized.
"Certainly! Let's head out right away!" But he composed himself almost instantly. Gegeduoer — he was likely the strongest person aboard the ship, the one Leilin had sensed earlier.
As a spellcaster, Gegeduoer should possess a far greater understanding of the Purgatory World.
In truth, with the bulk of his power already restored, Leilin was more than capable of seizing control of the entire ship — even performing soul-searching on that Tier 3 spellcaster if he so wished.
But this was the Purgatory World, and Leilin still needed to keep a low profile. The warlock bloodline power in particular must not be displayed recklessly.
Otherwise, the chances of being discovered by the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents would increase dramatically — something extremely disadvantageous for him.
Moreover, as long as his personal safety was assured, Leilin far preferred dealing with someone who had actually helped him through fair exchange.
With any matter, once you resort to violence — though it may seem simple and convenient at first — it easily becomes addictive, eventually hardening into a reflexive mindset where violence is the answer to everything. Leilin felt he hadn't reached that point yet, but it was something he needed to watch carefully.
"Please follow me, sir!" The fishman led the way respectfully, and Leilin followed at an unhurried pace behind it, exchanging a few words now and then.
Most of the time, it was Leilin asking and the fishman answering. Yet nothing felt out of place — the creature seemed utterly convinced of Leilin's authority, baring its heart without the slightest concealment.
Occasionally deploying dream field and other means of mental manipulation to draw out information — Leilin felt not the slightest shame about it.
Unfortunately, the fishmen's intelligence didn't seem particularly developed. When it came to understanding the world, filling their own bellies was clearly far more important to them than anything else.
As a result, Leilin could only stare in speechless exasperation at the "intelligence" he'd managed to extract — things like: "The rank-and-file sailors' meals are terrible; that seaweed is fit only for Bige beasts!", "Silit fish caviar is the best!", and "The flesh of maha-spine octopuses during spawning season is the most tender."
"This kind of fishman... I'm afraid they've barely ever set foot off the ship. Their entire range of activity is just around this vessel!" Leilin clutched his forehead, completely giving up on any further communication with the other party. Plans of extracting intelligence were abandoned entirely.
"Looks like next time, even if I need to resort to methods... I'll have to target something like that evil eye..."
With this thought in mind, Leilin followed the fishman into the topmost deck cabin.
Scarlet-red carpet, white tablecloths, and silver cutlery and candelabras — Leilin felt as though he had returned to the world of human nobility.
Only the exotic foreign decorations on the four walls and the alien figure seated at the head of the table reminded him that this was the world of Purgatory.
"Heh heh... Welcome, powerful one from afar! I am Geger's father. My name is rather long, but you can simply call me Gegeduol..."
Seated at the head of the table was none other than another enormous evil eye. Compared to the previous Geger, this one was even larger in size, and the tips of the tentacles trailing along the ground were tinged with a frosty white — the whole creature seemed to carry an air of aged dignity.
But the intense fluctuations of Spiritual Power emanating from the creature had already reached the pinnacle among third-tier Wizards of the Wizard World.
"Greetings! Gegeduol! I am 'Lei'! Thank you ever so much for your help earlier!" Leilin introduced himself, then took a seat on the opposite side of the table.
"A fine spiritual energy — and such pure Spiritual Power, with the potential to develop toward soul force. It bears some resemblance to what the legends say about the Illithids..."
Leilin silently sized the other party up, sensing the Spiritual Power radiating from them and noting how it differed from that of the Wizard World.
"The master of our Yidong Trading Company is a kind and just sage. Surely it would not object to our saving your life! In fact, if it learned that we had encountered someone in need and simply stood by watching, that would truly make it angry!"
Gegeduol, seated at the center, let out a chuckle and then projected a burst of spiritual waves: "Serve the meal!"
Several fishman cooks entered cautiously, carrying steaming earthen pots in their hands. One of the fishmen approached Leilin's side and began pouring the contents of a pot into his silver bowl.
"This is..."
Leilin's expression grew somewhat strained as he stared at the dish before him — uncertain whether it was a soup or a main course — and hesitated.
What lay before him was unmistakably a soup. Within the thick, pale-green broth, round eyeballs mottled red and white bobbed and sank to and fro.
The shape and size of the eyeballs bore an eerie resemblance to those of humans, prompting Leilin to furrow his brow slightly.
"Chip! Scan!"
A flash of blue light surfaced in Leilin's eyes as the scan swept across the dish before him in short order.
[Ding! Scan complete. Exporting composition spectrum: protein, glutamic acid, high-energy protein, trace elements of unknown origin. Inferred to be crafted from the ocular organs of large-type races. Possesses excellent recharging effects, can slightly restore Spiritual Power!]
«Hmm? My guest, you don’t like it?» The Evil-Eye Gagaduoer opposite him was eating with great relish, his numerous tentacles deftly wielding spoons and such, creating gurgling sounds.
«Within the deep seas of the Gem Coral, this Mermaid Eye Soup is quite famous…»
«Oh! I was just pondering some other matters!»
Leilin chuckled, then scooped a spoonful of the broth. Regardless of taste, at least for supplementing nutrition and restoring Spiritual Power, this was quite effective.
*Could it be that because he himself possesses enormous eyeballs, he has an unusual craving for the ocular organs of other creatures?* Watching the other’s wolfish eating habits, Leilin still had some private thoughts.
Dinner passed swiftly, and Leilin conversed intermittently with Gagaduoer.
During their chat, Leilin could keenly sense that Gagaduoer was covertly probing and prying into his origins, even employing subtle truth-detecting or similar Wizard spells.
Being suddenly rescued in the deep ocean, it was entirely understandable for the other party to have such an attitude.
But how could Leilin, a seasoned old fox, be so easily read? Not only did he avoid revealing his own background, he even managed, through indirect means, to extract quite a bit of useful information from Gagaduoer.
After dinner concluded, Leilin returned to his room and sealed the cabin door.
«Chip? Status report?»
Subsequently, reclining half-lid on the bed, Leilin closed his eyes, silently communicating with the Chip.
[Ding! Previous dialogue data has been archived. Filtering out 87.3% redundant and non-essential portions. Distilled information acquired. Processing and organizing!]
Soon, a three-dimensional projection map was directly projected by the Chip into Leilin’s cerebral memory zone.
Thanks to his earlier preliminary observations from beyond the barrier membrane, combined with this intelligence from Gagaduoer, the entire map appeared significantly more refined, with even a scale generated.
The entire Inferno Realm comprised seven vast continents. The area of each continent was roughly comparable to the Central Continent of the Wizard World. Between these landmasses lay even more immense oceans, within whose depths existed enormous powers that even Level Six Wizards dared not provoke.
Scattered between the land and sea were numerous islands, like gems and pearls adorning the ocean.
[Primary location identified!]
At that moment, near the Hale Continent, a blue route had been clearly marked out, and at its starting point was a red dot representing Lein himself.
At the midpoint of the route, there was also a tiny island marker annotated with Wizard script—Iyas Port!
"The Hale Continent, huh?" Lein stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.
"According to what Gedudol told me before, the Hale Continent is a land ruled by alien races, full of wilderness and primitiveness. Many places are still home to uncivilized savages who even take pleasure in mutual slaughter and blood feasts!"
"And on the Hale Continent, one type of creature outnumbers all others—high-energy serpents! There are even rumors that deep within the continent lies a sacred temple of all serpents!"
"If I'm not mistaken, this Hale Continent should be the domain of the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents!"
A sharp gleam suddenly flashed in Lein's eyes.
When piercing through the dimensional membrane, he had intentionally followed the pull of his own bloodline, landing near the source of that bloodline. Now it seemed that while there had been some deviation, the distance wasn't too far off.
Otherwise, if he had landed on some other continent, faced with such an enormous distance, Lein would have had no choice but to weep.
At the same time, Lein was also considering the other things Gedudol had mentioned before.
"According to him, on every continent there rules a 'Supreme One'—beings possessing power capable of destroying an entire continent. They have even received the worship of myriad races, becoming objects of spiritual faith! And the Evil Eye clan's worship was clearly directed at that ancient Eye of Judgment..."
Lein pondered quietly to himself.