After a while, with a "squeak" sound, Richard opened the cabin door.
The novelist outside the door looked the same as he had seen him before. He had not changed his clothes—yellow top and blue trousers.
The other person bent down slightly, with a bit of apology for disturbing his rest, and opened his palm to reveal a gold coin—the same gold coin that had been given to him intact.
The other party looked over and said: "My friend who has helped me before, you are a good person. Thank you very much for your help. If you hadn't given me this gold coin, I might have really starved to death. Fortunately, not long ago, I I met another good man and he gave me more gold coins. Therefore, I asked for the gold coins you gave me back and wanted to return them to you to redeem my book. What do you think? ?”
"Of course, this is what we agreed before." Richard said, taking the gold coins from the other party's hand, turning around and walking towards the table in the cabin, where the other party's open book was placed on the table.
"Thank you so much." The novelist was full of gratitude, rubbed his hands, followed Richard's footsteps into the cabin, and closed the cabin door smoothly as if out of habit.
"Ta-ta-ta..."
Richard walked to the table, closed the book, picked it up, and handed it to the novelist.
The novelist stretched out his hand, ready to catch it with a smile.
The book moves in mid-air, ten centimeters, five centimeters, three centimeters...
Everything looked very normal and very friendly.
but!
Just when the book touched the novelist's hand, Richard suddenly stopped and said seriously to the novelist: "Actually, you know, you don't have to do this."
"Huh?" The novelist looked puzzled, blinked and asked with a smile, "My kind friend, what do you mean? Why... I don't quite understand."
"Do you really not understand? My point is very simple." Richard looked at the novelist and said slowly, "You have decided to kill me after getting the book, right? But you really don't need to do that. "
The novelist's expression stiffened for a moment, then returned to normal: "Well, I still don't quite understand what you mean. Why do you think I will be malicious to you?"
"Because I clearly feel the malice. Do you believe me when I say this?" Richard asked, pressing his chest with his hand. The "Feather of Judgment" under his clothes was emitting a bone-chilling chill.
The novelist was stunned, his brows furrowed slightly, as if he was thinking about something, then he suddenly laughed, his appearance no longer modest, and became a bit cold.
Looking at Richard, the novelist asked: "So, you guessed my true identity, when?"
"Not long ago." Richard said, and then corrected, "It's not a guess, but a confirmation."
"Sure?"
"Yes, sure." Richard said, "I'm sure you are the person who hides his identity and carries precious treasures on the ship. All the previous troubles were for you, and they were all for this book in my hand. Book."
"Where's the evidence?"
"There is naturally a lot of evidence." Richard said, "For example, the true appearance of this book, the verification of some rumors..."
"more specific."
"Okay, let's be specific. Let me tell you the most specific one." Richard looked at the clothes the novelist was wearing, "The clothes you are wearing must not be yours, right?"
"this… "
"As far as I know, the current world has not yet developed a mature ready-to-wear business. In other words, most clothes are either homemade or customized by tailors. In this case, there are different colors, materials, sizes, It's not impossible to have two pieces of clothing with exactly the same style and degree of wear, but the chance is extremely low.
Coincidentally, I happened to have seen the clothes you are wearing in Yalingang. The tops and trousers were worn by two pickpockets who made a living by stealing. I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but I discovered this later when I recalled it. So many things don’t need to be explained too much.
For example, if you say you boarded the ship at Rockdam Port, this is obviously impossible. Then what happened to you may not be true. If you continue to deduce it, your true identity will naturally be determined. "
After Richard finished speaking, the novelist fell silent.
After a long silence, the novelist looked at Richard, bowed his head and saluted, and said quite solemnly: "My kind friend, since you have said it all, it seems that I should admit that I am hiding my identity and bringing in... The man who boarded the ship with the treasure.
I'm sorry that I took advantage of your kindness and deceived you. Of course, I am also more sorry. I will kill you to silence you just like you said. But believe me, this is the most confidential and safest method. The book in your hands is worth far more than you imagine. For it, you can never be too careful.
To be honest, I kind of admire your intelligence. A person like you can definitely accomplish a lot in the right environment. But now, I can only kill you as an unlucky person, sorry.
And you don't have to worry, because it's not your fault. I think before this, you must really think that I am a poor and down-and-out novelist, so you gave me gold coins. Who would have thought that such a novelist would suddenly become the most hidden mastermind behind the scenes? Oh, all of this is just a clever arrangement of fate. I'm really sorry. "
As he spoke, a faint golden light appeared on the novelist's fingertips, and he was about to attack.
Richard spoke up and stopped the other party in time: "Um, wait a moment. Before you take action, can you answer my two questions?"
"Even?" The novelist was stunned for a moment, thought about it seriously, looked at Richard and agreed, "My poor well-intentioned friend, just ask, as long as I know, I will tell you. This can be considered as compensation for me killing you. "
"Okay, first question. Can you tell me why you did this? I mean, you gave me the book. You should know very well that the value of books is extremely high, and many people are Looking for it, then keeping it in your own hands is better than giving it to me, right? At least, you have the initiative." Richard said.
The novelist smiled and replied: "I can explain this. The reason why I did this is for safety. Yes, this book is safer in your hands than in mine. You should have seen those people who made trouble before. , they have very strong strength, one of them is only one level worse than a fourth-level wizard. Such people have a variety of methods, and their abilities are unimaginable.
Naturally, everything was fine if they didn't board the ship, but if they did, a suspicious identity like mine would be easy to find out. To put it more horrifyingly, I know that there are some spells that can peek into part of a person's thoughts. In this case, it is safer to hand the book to you, a person who doesn't know the truth at all, than to hold it myself. "