Chapter 541

Chapter 400: The Offering

Conquer Sea, the route to Iwig.

On the vast ocean, a gigantic cruise ship had come to a complete halt on the surface due to an explosion in the boiler room. Upon spotting the distress signal flag raised by the cruise ship, the far-off Radiant Pilgrimage Fleet immediately changed course and headed towards the stricken vessel.

“Sir, we are approaching the Shining White Pearl. The vessel has completely stopped, and it appears severely damaged,” reported a man dressed as a deputy to his officer, Jorde, after assessing the situation of the cruise ship from a distance. After hearing this, Jorde seriously examined the distant vessel’s condition and then spoke.

“Mm… According to the signal flag response from them just now, the situation there seems to be quite severe, and water has started to enter the ship. In that case, we must launch a full-scale rescue operation.”

With a solemn expression, Jorde stated that in cases of maritime accidents, ships typically rescue one another. Moreover, as a fleet heading for the Holy Mother’s sacred land for pilgrimage, according to the Holy Mother’s teachings, they were obligated to act.

“That size of passenger ship must have at least a couple thousand passengers aboard. Our rescue must be carried out swiftly to save everyone before the ship completely sinks. Santos, issue orders for all ships in the fleet to prepare for rescue operations. Deploy all lifeboats, and after getting close to the accident vessel, transport the passengers in batches using the lifeboats, distributing them across various vessels.”

“Also, raise a signal flag to notify their crew to gather the passengers orderly on deck, set up a gangway, and get ready for transport.”

Jorde instructed. As he was speaking, a sudden loud explosion erupted from the distance. After hearing this explosion, Jorde furrowed his brow and spoke gravely.

“Another explosion has occurred; it seems the situation at the accident site continues to worsen. We can’t delay any longer; let’s act quickly.”

“Yes, Sir Jorde!” the deputy responded. Just as he was about to head down to issue the orders, he suddenly seemed to remember something and continued speaking to Jorde.

“By the way, Sir Jorde, just in case, should we conduct extraordinary ability checks on those passengers? If any extraordinary beings mingle among them, bringing them onboard the fleet could pose a risk.”

Listening to the deputy’s words, Jorde pondered for a moment, then immediately replied.

“Mm… You have a point; we should indeed check. However, we cannot afford to delay the rescue with overly complicated inspections. Here’s what we’ll do… Arrange for personnel to conduct a basic extraordinary detection on every passenger boarding our ships, just a quick glance will suffice. Remember, saving lives is our top priority now.”

Jorde commanded, although the Radiant Fleet’s “Lamp” was sufficient, conducting extraordinary checks on more than two thousand passengers was still a considerable strain on their spirituality. If the level of inspection were too high, it could lead to a significant depletion of their spirituality for the fleet in the coming period, potentially leaving them vulnerable in the face of other crises.

As it stood, the Shining White Pearl was facing an ordinary maritime disaster, showing no signs of extraordinary intervention. Thus, after much deliberation, Jorde decided to conduct only a basic spiritual detection on the entire ship, essentially allowing personnel to skim over each passenger at a glance.

“Understood, Sir! I’ll arrange it immediately!”

The deputy responded and hurried off to execute the orders, while Jorde remained where he was, gazing at the increasingly closer gigantic cruise ship.

…

At this moment, on the deck of the Shining White Pearl, Costa stood by the railing, eyes wide open as he stared at the approaching Radiant Fleet. Behind him, the corpses of Bins and the others lay in the cabin. Since seeing Bins dead, Costa’s heart had been consumed by a raging fury.

“Damned thief… Was everything part of your scheme? Did you really intend to disguise yourself as a regular passenger and infiltrate the Radiant fleet?”

Grinding his teeth, Costa muttered angrily while glaring at the distant fleet, the railing in his grasp now bent and twisted. At that moment, he felt a deep sense of despair within.

He couldn’t dare to show any extraordinary abilities in front of the Radiant Fleet. If they detected anything unusual, it would be the end for him. He could not prevent the Radiant Fleet from coming to rescue the passengers; he could only watch helplessly as Thief K mixed in among them and took Deep Blue Heart completely out of his control.

As the Radiant Fleet drew closer, rationality told Costa that when they officially made contact, he would be at significant risk and disadvantage. The best choice would be to take all his men and quietly jump into the sea, using the Wave Path ability to dive away from the Radiant Fleet and swim to the nearest shore after they left.

However… doing so would mean watching Thief K escape with Deep Blue Heart. Once that person returned to land aboard the Radiant’s ship, Costa would never be able to find them again. The ritual would be ruined, and he would have lost Deep Blue Heart. Costa couldn’t imagine the punishment that awaited him upon returning to the Abyss Cult under such circumstances.

Costa now faced three choices: one was to jump into the sea with his men and return to the Abyss Cult onshore, facing punishment and a life worse than d*ath. The second was also to jump into the sea with his men but then immediately cut ties with the Abyss Cult after reaching the shore, living a miserable life while being hunted by both the righteous and the wicked. The third was to expose his extraordinary traces to the Radiant Fleet, prompting them to conduct thorough checks on all passengers to directly identify Thief K.

If executed correctly, the third option might allow him to jump overboard and escape after revealing his traces. If luck were on his side, he could escape capture due to the advantages underwater, and if successful, the Radiant Fleet would undoubtedly conduct strict inspections on all passengers, making it very likely that Thief K wouldn’t escape.

Thief K could very likely be a member of the Eight Pinnacle Nest, regarded as evil heretics by the Radiant Church. If captured by the Radiant Church, the outcome would not be favorable. Although this would ultimately place Deep Blue Heart in the hands of the Radiant Church, that detestable Thief K would also pay a price! They could be tied up and burned to d*ath by the Church!

‘Huff… Huff… What to do… What should I do now… The Church people are coming soon; what should I do? Should I quietly jump into the sea and escape, returning to face punishment? Or after diving, escape… to a place where even Sword Scale can’t find me, living a life of constant escape from divination? Or should I surprise that damned thief before jumping into the sea, letting them get caught by those deity followers and suffer the consequences? If I’m lucky, I might still be able to escape…’

At this moment, Costa’s heart was filled with rage against Thief K. He desperately wanted Thief K to face retribution and pay the price, regardless of whether that retribution came from him or the Church. If he really had to live a life of constant escape, why not let that damned thief pay the price before he fled?

‘Yes… that thief… must be somewhere rejoicing in the fact that I can’t do anything to him, surely waiting eagerly for the Church’s ship. He must think I won’t dare to take risks and expose myself! Ha! Too underestimating of me…’

‘This Radiant Fleet’s large warship only has two cruisers, meaning no more than a few White Chalk if at all, with no Red Tier. If I focus on diving away, given my stamina and abilities, it’s not impossible to escape under their noses after causing extraordinary signs… but the thief is different… In this vast ocean, amidst their full spiritual detection, he will absolutely not get away!’

‘I… even if I have to live a life full of fear and escape, I won’t let you have it easy! Hmph… You think I won’t dare to reveal extraordinary traces to draw the Radiant followers’ attention? You are gravely mistaken! Even if I get caught by the Radiant followers, I will ensure you pay for your arrogance! Besides, in this vast ocean, I’ll exhaust my abilities and still escape; they may not be able to catch me!’

With gritted teeth, Costa stared at the distant fleet, his expression twisted as he thought. After being taunted time and again by Thief K, his greatest wish had become to ensure that Thief K paid the price no matter what. In his anger, Deep Blue Heart gradually seemed less important. He understood that in the current situation, he could not retrieve Deep Blue Heart, either because it would be taken away by the thief or fall into the hands of the Radiant Church. Thus, rather than letting that thief remain arrogant, it would be better to hand Deep Blue Heart over to the Church, at least allowing him to exact some retribution on the thief.

With such a “putting broken pottery in broken jars” mentality, Costa slowly raised his hand, preparing to publicly use his ability in front of countless eyes of the Radiant Fleet, drawing their attention.