Chapter 533

Chapter 396 Decision

Conquer Sea, Shining White Pearl.

In the morning, over the vast cloud-covered sea, a giant cruise ship sliced through the waves, resolutely moving forward. Inside the wide dining hall of the cruise ship, affluent gentlemen and ladies were gathered, cheerfully discussing the events of the previous night while having breakfast.

Last night was supposed to be the highlight of this journey: the debut public exhibition of the Deep Blue Heart. However, no one expected the figure known as Thief K to completely disrupt what was meant to be a grand event. Her bold act of stealing the Deep Blue Heart in plain sight turned the meticulously arranged venue into her personal stage.

Thief K’s stunning performance left all of the attendees awestruck. From last night’s venue to this morning’s dining hall, passengers eagerly discussed the topic of Thief K, showing great interest in this extraordinary thief.

…

“Did you see that?! Thief K really showed up last night!”

“Incredible… I thought it was a prank, but it turned out to be true. She really stole the Deep Blue Heart right under all our noses? Oh, Holy Father, this is just insane.”

“To commit theft in such a public setting and to steal something so valuable—it’s simply lawless! So audacious!”

“Haha! Don’t be so angry, old man. A thief who sends out an advance notice before committing a public theft is just too entertaining! This behavior can be called romantic! Honestly, it’s way more exciting than that originally boring gem exhibition! Also, did you see? That thief lady has an amazing figure and appearance! Definitely a great beauty. Just thinking about her elegant posture makes me… oh no, I feel like not just the Deep Blue Heart has been stolen, but my heart has been stolen too!”

“Put away your hopeless romantic notions, Faraluo! We are discussing a crime! That thief is a criminal who deserves severe punishment!”

“Oh… come on, old man. We are neither the police nor Massimo. This is not our concern. All I know is that this thief lady is just too fantastic. I simply must sketch her from last night in my room later. I think many newspapers will be interested in my work once we reach the shore.”

…

Thus, in the dining hall, the gathered passengers were fervently discussing the topic of Thief K. They had never seen a thief who had the audacity to issue an advance notice before stealing—announcing her arrival. More critically, her notice was fulfilled: the thief lived up to her promise and publicly stole the Deep Blue Heart in front of everyone.

Such an unusually flamboyant act shocked the crowd and sparked intense debate. Some believed that Thief K was a criminal far worse than ordinary thieves, a reckless scoundrel worthy of the most severe condemnation. Meanwhile, a considerable number of others found Thief K to be filled with charm, attracted by her boldness, intelligence, romance, and other qualities. They believed her appearance had elevated the exhibition to a higher climax, making this journey even more exciting and interesting.

Although the audience had varying opinions on Thief K, the Abyss Cult members, who were the original owners of the Deep Blue Heart, felt nothing but hatred towards her. The moment the Deep Blue Heart was stolen, they vowed to retrieve it and immediately set their plan into action.

That evening, under Costa’s orders, the sailors of the Shining White Pearl began searching the entire ship for passengers. The sailors knocked on each passenger’s door, questioning everyone, primarily checking for any injuries or unusual items. Some of the sailors utilized their black earth water techniques to perform simple spiritual scans on suspicious individuals.

By this morning, over half of the approximately two thousand passengers had been searched by the sailors. In the dining hall, sailors could still occasionally be seen standing guard in corners or interrogating passengers. Although they hadn’t made any progress yet, the search continued.

“Um… Miss Dorothy, those guys seem completely undeterred. They’re still searching for someone, after a whole night…”

In a corner of the dining hall, Nephnis, dressed in her everyday outfit and holding a plate of cake, quietly spoke to Dorothy, who was leisurely sipping her milk. Dorothy slowly responded after taking her time with the milk.

“Yes… their determination is beyond my expectations. Although that collector might not be the sharpest, the captain is no fool.”

After finishing her milk, Dorothy gazed at the sailors still carrying out their orders, her expression serious as she murmured. Initially, she had planned to rely on the missing lifeboat to convince Costa and Massimo that Thief K had already left the Shining White Pearl. Yet, they had not fallen for the trick; they remained convinced that Thief K was still on board and continued their search.

“What should we do now? Miss Dorothy, won’t they find us if they keep this up?” Nephnis asked with a hint of anxiety. Dorothy reassured her.

“No need to worry, Sister Neph. With their level of inspection, they won’t find us. What we need to pay attention to is what actions they might take next if they can’t find us.”

Dorothy comforted Nephnis, and her words were indeed correct. With the current searching intensity of the Abyss Cult, finding them was impossible.

The cult members were mainly looking for a woman with a white complexion and an injury on her arm. However, Nephnis’s wound had been healed by the smoke’s inherent healing properties at the time, and her makeup concealed her skin color. Once the Soul Whiskers’ possession was lifted, her demeanor had undergone a complete transformation; now, the only similarity Nephnis held with Thief K was the uncertainty in her figure.

Even her physique was somewhat disguised. When she had transformed into Thief K, her chest had been wrapped in a way that made it appear smaller, and she wore high heels to create the illusion of greater height. Despite the difficulties presented by her outfit, she maintained agility, which was undoubtedly thanks to the extraordinary sensitivity and balance from the Soul Whiskers.

Although the Extraordinary Beings on the wave-sailing route possessed exceptional vision due to the assistance of the “Lamp,” they also was endowed with spiritual detection abilities like the Radiance Lamp. However, the effectiveness of this ability was not as strong as that of a true “Lamp” Extraordinary Being. Without the help of sigils and tools, even the spiritual detection range of Massimo and Costa, both whitened, was less than ten meters, and activating this detection greatly consumed their own spirituality.

With more than two thousand passengers aboard such a large ship, even if Costa’s group conducted rough spiritual scans on each passenger, it would nearly exhaust their spiritual “Lamp.” Let alone the fact that this crude detection could not penetrate Dorothy’s “Shadow” barrier.

Faced with so many passengers on such a large vessel, the best search strategy for Costa and his crew would actually be divination. They had already tried it, but after only one attempt, discovering it had been counter-divined, they immediately gave up. They believed that the opposing side must possess a powerful counter-divination system, being a part of some major society.

‘It’s impossible for these guys to find me and Neph using conventional methods, but since they are cultists, they might resort to anything desperate. So we must be wary of them doing something drastic.’

Dorothy thought to herself, and then covertly controlled the Small Zombie Puppet to monitor Massimo and Costa more closely.