Chapter 454: Announcement
“In another dozen minutes, I will set out. If you suddenly came to find me, what is the matter?”
“Indeed, Your Grace, not long ago, the Pure Flow Church, the Grace Light Church, and the headquarters of the Deep Concealment Guard all received this item at the same time. Please take a look.”
As he spoke, Oliver took out a white card from his pocket and handed it to Antonio. After Antonio received the card and flipped it over, he noticed that there were short sentences written on it. After reading these sentences, his expression slightly tightened.
“When night falls again, I shall arrive at the Pure Flow and pay homage to the greatest legacy King Emanuel left for this city:
‘Bandit K.'”
“This… is it really Bandit K’s announcement letter?”
Antonio muttered with a frown as he looked at the words on the card in front of him. He had not expected that just as he was thinking about Bandit K, her announcement letter would come right away!?
“That’s right, it’s exactly Bandit K!
The bandit K reported in the newspapers, she is indeed an extraordinary thief. She now has her eyes set on the Emmanuel Crown, Your Grace.”
Looking at Antonio sitting in the chair, Paul directly spoke up. He had already seen the newspaper reports about the Flashing White Pearl and Bandit K, so he immediately understood what this bandit K intended to do upon receiving the card.
Clearly, this extraordinary thief was about to target a new goal, and this goal was clearly the treasure currently on exhibition at the Pure Flow Church—the Emmanuel Crown!
“This kind of announcement letter… truly is the style of the rumored Bandit K… She is targeting the Emmanuel Crown this time, which means… her targets have always been various treasures?”
Continuing to scrutinize the words on the card, Antonio slowly said. Previously, he was still confused whether Bandit K stealing the Deep Blue Heart was to confront the Abyss Cult or simply steal this treasure. Now, it was clear that the answer was the latter. This Bandit K was a pure extraordinary thief who specialized in stealing extraordinary treasures! Her gaze was not limited to the Abyss Cult; she even dared to aim at the Church.
“Your Grace, these announcement cards were discovered simultaneously today at noon in the Pure Flow Church, the Grace Light Church, and the headquarters of the Deep Concealment Guard. We can completely rule out the possibility of them being pranks. Bandit K sent this announcement letter at this particular time to avoid Your Grace.”
At this moment, Paul said to Antonio like this, and Oliver nodded in agreement beside him.
“Mr. Paul is correct. Clearly, Bandit K fears Your Grace. Therefore, she did not dare to make a sound when you were in Adria. But once the news reported your departure, she immediately came forward to send this so-called announcement letter. However, she certainly never expected that Your Grace would be delayed by something important in the morning, causing her to send the announcement letter while you were still here. This was her greatest miscalculation.
“Although we don’t know why Bandit K must send an announcement letter before stealing, since she has such audacity to target the Emmanuel Crown, this is the greatest provocation against us. Your Grace, could you postpone your schedule by half a day until tonight to help us apprehend this arrogant thief!”
With a serious expression, Oliver said to Antonio. Listening to his words, Antonio fell silent for a moment before slowly responding.
“I didn’t expect that waiting for just half a day would lead to such a situation. It’s perfect… I also have some matters I wish to ask this bandit K face-to-face. If I can meet her tonight, it would be even better…”
Antonio said as he looked at the card in his hand. Hearing his words, Paul and Oliver glanced at each other. At this moment, they both knew that this newly famous extraordinary thief would probably not escape tonight.
Waiting specifically for the Archbishop to leave before sending the announcement letter, only for the Archbishop to be delayed by unforeseen circumstances, resulting in the announcement letter being directly delivered to the Archbishop… In the eyes of Paul and Oliver, this Bandit K had been abandoned by fate.
…
Time passed quickly, and soon an afternoon had gone by. As the sun sank into the western horizon, Adria gradually fell into silence once more.
Night shrouded the entire sky above Adria, and under the night sky, lights began to flicker. The lights on the shore and their reflections in the water intermingled, presenting Adria with its unique nocturnal beauty.
On the outskirts of Adria City, at the edge of a cliff far from the city’s scenic spots, a group of figures gathered here. They wore different clothes, and their genders and ages varied. There were about ten figures standing on the cliff, watching the rolling sea below under the faint moonlight in the sky. All of them carried a solemn expression.
In the center of these figures were two men in their thirties. One man wore a trench coat, his skin tanned, with a thick beard. The other man wore a headscarf and a robe, with a curved dagger hanging at his waist.
“What time is it, Mufaid? Has Mr. not arrived yet?”
Amidst the sea breeze, the man with the beard spoke to the man wearing the dagger at his waist, who immediately responded.
“Don’t worry, Sailim. Our message has successfully reached Mr. He will be here soon. We just need to wait here…”
“Wait here… but this is a sheer cliff, and ships cannot land here… Did you get the wrong place?”
Hearing this response, the man named Sailim asked Mufaid in return. Mufaid then smiled and continued speaking.
“Huh… Ship? Do you think Mr. needs to use a ship to cross the sea now?”
No sooner had Mufaid spoken than a sudden loud splash erupted from beneath the cliff. Everyone on the shore turned toward the source of the sound and saw a black shadow leap out of the huge wave in the sea, soaring over ten meters high before landing behind them with a loud thud.
Hearing the noise, everyone turned to look behind them. What they saw was a cloud of dust dispersing, followed by the terrifying figure emerging from the dust.
It was a roughly humanoid figure, about two to three meters tall, covered in small grayish-white scales. Its back had a prominent dorsal fin. Where a human head should have been was instead a large triangular shark head, with sharp teeth lining its open mouth, and several gill-like scars flapping in the air.
Before the crowd stood a half-human, half-shark creature, a grotesque monster that frightened everyone present. Many people involuntarily stepped back.
Ignoring the reaction of the crowd, the “shark-man” who had just landed stretched his body, patted his chest, and then a large semi-transparent spirit body emerged from his chest, hovering in mid-air and circling around him. It was clearly a large ghost shark.
After the shark spirit body left the “shark-man,” the “shark-man” underwent drastic changes. His body began to shrink, his scales started to fall off, and his fins gradually disappeared. The monstrous shark head gradually contracted into a normal human head. Within a short time, the bizarre “shark-man” transformed into a human.
