"The most important thing right now is to understand the general geography of the Purgatory World!"
Leilin's expression beneath the Dreamless Mask was grave. He didn't have much time — only about two years left — and the Purgatory World had several continents. He needed to pinpoint the location of the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents. If he ended up on the wrong continent, even the journey alone could take years, which was something he absolutely could not afford.
"Unfortunately, those merfolk sailors don't seem very bright. Even that evil eye from before didn't appear to have seen much of the world. If I want reliable information, I'll probably have to pin my hopes on that hidden third-rank Wizard..."
Knock knock! A gentle tapping came from outside.
"Come in!"
"Lord!" The merman from before entered and bowed deferentially to Leilin. "Respected guest! Lord Gegeduo'er invites you to dine with him!"
"Dinner?" Leilin was momentarily dazed. It seemed the healing process had consumed far more time than he'd realized.
"We can go right away!" He recovered almost instantly. That Gegeduo'er was likely the strongest being on the ship — the one he'd sensed earlier.
As a spellcaster, the other party should know considerably more about the Purgatory World.
In truth, with the majority of his strength restored, Leilin was more than capable of taking control of the entire ship — even performing a soul search on that third-rank spellcaster if he wished.
But this was the Purgatory World, and Leilin needed to keep a low profile. The bloodline power of a Warlock, in particular, must not be displayed lightly.
Otherwise, the probability of being discovered by the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents would increase dramatically, which would be extremely disadvantageous for him.
Furthermore, as long as his life was not in immediate danger, Leilin preferred to deal with those who had helped him through fair exchange rather than force.
No matter what the situation, resorting to violence might seem easy and convenient at first, but it was dangerously addictive — it could calcify one's thinking until every problem was met with brute force. Leilin felt he hadn't reached that point yet, but he still needed to be vigilant.
"My lord, please follow me!" The merman led the way respectfully, and Leilin followed at an unhurried pace, exchanging a few words from time to time.
Most of the time, Leilin was the one asking questions while the other answered — yet nothing felt forced. The merman seemed to trust Leilin completely, even baring his heart without any concealment.
Occasionally employing the Dream Force Field and similar means of subtle manipulation — Leilin felt no shame whatsoever about that.
Sadly, the intelligence of these merfolk didn't seem particularly developed. When it came to understanding the world, filling their own stomachs clearly took priority over everything else.
As a result, Leilin found himself looking at the intelligence he'd gathered — things like "The food for basic sailors is terrible! That seaweed is fit only for Biger beasts!" "The Slite fish caviar is the best!" "The flesh of the Spawning-Season Bone-Thorn Octopus is the most tender" — and could only feel utterly speechless.
"These merfolk have probably barely set foot off the ship more than a few times. Their range of activity is basically limited to the area around the vessel!" Leilin pressed his hand to his forehead and completely abandoned any further plans to extract information through conversation.
"Looks like next time, even if I have to use methods like that, I'll need to target that evil eye or something similar..."
With this thought in mind, Leilin followed the merman into the topmost cabin.
The bright red carpet, white tablecloths, and silver cutlery and candelabras made Leilin feel as though he'd returned to the noble world of humans.
Only the foreign decorations on the four walls and the non-human creature in the seat of honor reminded him that this was the Purgatory World.
"Heh heh... Welcome, powerful one from afar! I am the father of the previous Geger — my full name is rather long, but you may simply call me Gegeduo'er..."
Seated in the place of honor was indeed a massive evil eye, though compared to Geger, this one was considerably larger in size, and the tips of its tentacles trailing along the ground had a snow-white tinge, giving it an overall appearance of age.
Yet the dense spiritual power emanating from it had reached the pinnacle among third-rank Wizards of the Wizard World.
"It's a pleasure! Gegeduo'er! I am 'Lei'! Thank you so much for your earlier assistance!" Leilin introduced himself, then sat down on the opposite side of the table.
"Quite impressive spiritual energy, and such pure Spiritual Power — it has the potential to develop toward Soul Force. It seems somewhat similar to the Psionic Eaters of legend..."
Leilin secretly observed the other party, sensing how the spiritual power emanating from it differed from that of the Wizard World.
"Our Yidong Trading Company's master is a benevolent and fair Sage. I'm sure they wouldn't mind us saving you at all. In fact, if they learned that we encountered someone in distress and did nothing, they'd be the ones to lose their temper!"
The central Gegeduo'er chuckled, then sent out a burst of spiritual fluctuation: "Serve the food!"
Several merfolk cooks entered carefully, carrying steaming clay pots. One of them approached Leilin and poured the contents into his silver bowl.
"This is..."
Leilin's expression grew somewhat awkward as he stared at the dish before him — whether it was a soup or a main course, he couldn't quite tell — and hesitated.
What lay before him was unmistakably a soup. Within the thick, pale green broth, numerous red-and-white eyeballs bobbed up and down.