Chapter 542

Chapter 400: Bestowal

Just as he was about to muster his resolve to activate his ability, Massimo’s voice from behind interrupted him.

“Hey, Costa, come take a look at this thing?”

“Ugh… What’s there left to see now!” Costa turned angrily in response to Massimo’s words. Then, he saw Massimo squatting on the floor of the cabin, pointing at Bins’ corpse, specifically at the hand holding something. There was a black button placed there, as if it had been torn off from the clothes.

“This… this is…”

Looking at the button before him, Costa’s eyes widened, and the squatting Massimo spoke seriously.

“Earlier, I noticed that Bins was tightly gripping something, which seemed unusual, so I pried open his hand and found this button. Neither Bins nor the other two people had such buttons on their clothes. Costa… who do you think this button belongs to?”

With a sly smile, Massimo said to Costa. Hearing Massimo’s words, Costa’s gaze gradually focused, and his eyes fixed on the black button in the dead man’s hand.

“This… this is the stuff of that guy, pulled from Bins when he was dying?” Costa muttered, then squatted down in front of Bins and began carefully examining the button.

“It seems Bins struggled before he died, and even managed to tear off this thing. He did his best… but unfortunately, with just this button, we still can’t do anything to him.”

Observing the scene, Costa murmured. Meanwhile, Massimo spoke again.

“Can’t do anything to him? That’s not necessarily true, Costa. You should smell this button.”

“Smell it?”

Hearing Massimo’s words, Costa picked up the button and sniffed it lightly, then couldn’t help but be stunned.

“This… this is a scent!”

“Yes… yes… There is a scent on it, and not just Bins’s scent, but also that of the other guy. The scent of that guy is left on it! We can find that guy through the scent!”

With an excited expression, Massimo told Costa. Looking at the button in his hand, Costa frowned slightly and continued speaking.

“No… Didn’t you say earlier that the guy knew how to mask his scent? So when stealing the Deep Blue Heart, you didn’t catch his scent, and therefore couldn’t use the Breath-Scent Sigil to track him. Thus, he must have masked his scent during the act. How could there be a scent on this? Could it be that after killing Bins, the guy intentionally put it in his hand to distract us?”

“Well… I’m also curious why there’s a scent here. But I’m sure this button was definitely held by Bins right before he died, not someone else forcing it into his hand. Look at Bins’s hand; it’s covered in bl**d, especially on the back, but there are no traces of pressure, proving that no one touched his hand after he died! This button must have been held by Bins himself!”

Massimo stated confidently. It appeared that to protect himself, Bins had two kn*fe wounds on the hand holding the button, with bl**d nearly staining the whole hand. Despite the wetness of the bl**d, there were some scratches, but no signs of being pressed by another hand, indicating that the button was not forcibly inserted into his hand after d*ath but held by Bins himself.

Although Massimo’s thinking was somewhat slow, as a gem collector, he had good observational skills.

“Wasn’t it put in later? Then, this really is the button from that guy? But why? Why, knowing how to mask his scent, would he be so careless and not hide his scent this time…”

Costa muttered, frowning. He carefully examined the button in his hand. Beside them, one of the Abyss Cult sailors, upon seeing the button, frowned and whispered.

“That button… doesn’t seem like it’s from an outer coat…”

“Not an outer coat, right!”

Hearing the disciple’s words, Massimo immediately understood and spoke up.

“Yes, the style and size of this button don’t seem to match those of an outer coat. This smaller one might be from an inner vest. Now I know why there’s a scent on it! Because it’s from an inner garment.

“Common scent-masking techniques only work on the surface of the body, using various means to cover the skin with a thin layer of stone powder to create a protective barrier against scent. But this button is from an inner garment, inside the protective layer. Therefore, it has the scent of the thief!”

Massimo explained clearly. Hearing Massimo’s words, Costa understood as well. He looked at the button in his hand, frozen in place. After a moment of silence, a smile crept onto his lips, and he laughed.

“Hehe… Haha… Hahahaha!! It’s truly divine protection!! There’s always a way out! No matter what, there’s always a chance when you’re rowing a boat! At this critical moment, you finally made a mistake, Thief K!!

“You did well, Bins!”

Standing straight, Costa, while laughing excitedly, directly addressed the fallen corpse of Bins beside him. His previous gloom was replaced by an overwhelming sense of relief.

The reason was that among three hopeless options, he unexpectedly discovered a fourth choice! A choice that could help him reclaim the Deep Blue Heart and report back to the Abyss Cult.

Costa and his group couldn’t reclaim the Deep Blue Heart because they couldn’t find where Thief K was hiding, disguised as one of the two thousand passengers.

But now it was different. Due to a mistake and Bins’ struggle before his d*ath, they obtained scent information about Thief K! With scent information, they could use the Breath-Scent Sigil to locate Thief K among the two thousand passengers!

The stone powder used for scent-masking wouldn’t last long on a person, dissolving with movement and sweat. Reapplying it would be laborious and require private space. If Thief K escaped to Glimmer’s ship, it would be impossible to reapply the protective layer under Glimmer’s watchful eye. Therefore, the opponent’s scent would definitely leak.

Since they already had the scent information, they could use the Breath-Scent Sigil to lock onto the opponent!

After locking on, once everyone got off Glimmer’s ship, they could follow and eventually eliminate the target far away from Glimmer’s sight!

This way, the Deep Blue Heart could be returned, and they could provide a minimal explanation to the deity cult.

To achieve all this, it wasn’t the time to expose themselves to Glimmer yet. On the contrary, Costa needed to continue pretending to be ordinary with Massimo, board Glimmer’s ship with Thief K, and find him through scent after landing, then eliminate him!

Looking at the button in his hand, Costa’s face twisted into a sinister grin. Faced with three hopeless options, he had gained a fourth, most hopeful option. When hope appeared, he chose it without hesitation.

At this moment, Costa had abandoned the idea of showing his extraordinary abilities to Glimmer’s fleet and perishing alongside Thief K. He turned to look at the nearby Abyss Cult disciple and said:

“Glimmer’s fleet is coming soon. All disciples except me and Massimo should prepare to secretly dive and leave. Take all the Breath-Scent Sigils on the ship and plan a route to reach land safely.

“Massimo, prepare some things. We need to go aboard Glimmer’s ship with that guy.”

As he spoke, the smile on Costa’s face remained unchanged.

…

On the Shining White Pearl, due to continuous explosions, the passengers were terrified and wandered aimlessly in their cabins. The entire ship was filled with panic.

In the midst of this chaos, Dorothy sat quietly by the window in her cabin, sipping a cup of hot coffee while watching the approaching Glimmer fleet.

“Those who lose hope are easily driven to desperation. Those driven to desperation are prone to losing control. Those who lose control can cause the greatest destruction.

“I dislike dealing with out-of-control individuals, so sometimes it’s necessary to give hope, even to enemies.”

After finishing a sip of coffee, Dorothy gazed at her reflection in the window and murmured.

“It seems it’s time to bid farewell to the Shining White Pearl.”