"Third party identity? I really don't have it this time. Miss Pharmacist, although my identity may seem a little mysterious to you, I don't have that much time to play ordinary people's spy games... I just want to make some money and maintain interpersonal relationships."
The sorceress smiled but said nothing, but became more and more curious about Shade.
The third batch of letters without words showed some strange patterns. Neither Shad nor Megan recognized them, but judging from the fact that the padlocks were all ordinary and the letters were stored in similar specifications, Barry the Bad Eye attached the same importance to the three batches of letters, and they were all a cover for him to maintain his identity as a "gang leader".
So Shade collected the third batch of letters and went back to see if Miss Carina was interested. He couldn't give it directly to Director Anlos, so it would be best to let the Duchess go through it.
In addition to these three drawers, the other drawers of the desk contained pistols, bullets, unknown potions and other sundries. After further inspection of the study, they finally found the hidden safe behind the bookshelf.
After opening the safe, the first thing that Xia De noticed was more than a dozen black metal pendants of "Returner", which were the same ones he saw when he was interrogating for information in the stable of the tavern in the lakeside fishing village.
This was the first time Megan had seen this kind of thing, but after checking it out she was convinced that it was all common items:
"It's somewhat similar to the Edwards family crest, both of which are spirals that converge inwards."
She said so, so Shade asked for three pendants for research and left the rest to her.
In addition to the carefully preserved pendant, the most important thing in the safe for them was naturally the account book of Rotten Eye Barry. This was not the account book of his illegal livelihood, but the account book of his regular delivery of supplies to the central island of Green Lake.
Although he was the gang leader, he kept accounts very systematically, recording dates, ship information, and even weather. Megan flipped through it briefly and got a general idea of what the so-called supplies were:
"It's not the daily necessities you imagine. It's strange. It's a lot of metal ores, earth, and wood. There are animals like pigs, cows, and sheep, but they only want to die... What are they going to do? Build a brand new city?"
All the more than ten account books fully recorded everything that Rotten Eye Barry had shipped to the lake from 1849 to 1854. Although I had not seen the previous account books, they must have contained similar contents.
"So what does he get out of this?"
Xia De asked in confusion:
"In other words, what can the cultists get? Although these things are cheap, the quantity is so large and they need to be transported secretly, so the cost must be not a small amount. What exactly does the Drowned Cult want to do?"
“There is no income recorded in the account book.”
The sorceress shook her head, then motioned for Shade to check the rest of the safe.
The safe was not big, so it mostly contained documents, papers, and valuable gold and silver jewelry. In addition to the account books, they also found letters between Rotten Eye Bali and the Order, but only the letters from the last few days, which said that the next batch of goods was about to arrive.
This kind of letter should be destroyed when it expires, and there is no stamp date on the envelope. Therefore, it can only be said that what happened here was indeed the work of the cult and not just Barry the Rotten-Eyed.
"There are a few more books here. Let me take a look. Mysteries of the Abyss: The Creeping Darkness, Life and Death: The Dividing Line of the Ocean, and Quotations of Corpses: Echoes of the Dead. These are all books of the Ring Warlocks. They are precious knowledge that can be used to obtain Spirit Runes."
Xia De said, Megan took a look at the books and waved her hand to let Xia De put them away. It was obvious that the wise witch already had similar knowledge.
Xia De was not very interested in the spiritual runes involved in these books, but he thought that the college library would be happy to collect these books. When he took the book out of the bottom layer of the safe, he noticed an old black and white photo under the book.
He took out the photo out of curiosity, and then saw that the photo showed a corpse soaked in water.
"Um?"
As Xia De's eyes scanned the photo, the eyes of the corpse suddenly opened. Then, gurgling water emerged from the photo, and the pale hand stretched out of the photo and grabbed Xia De's wrist.
"Do you know the pain of being in the water, knowing you are falling but unable to stop it?"
A series of bubbling sounds came into his ears, and the hand of the corpse that grabbed Shad's arm did not try to pull him into the photo. Instead, more and more water flowed out of the photo.
The invisible darkness blocked all the light in the room. Xia De knew that except for the water under his feet, the whole room was dry. But he felt as if he had been soaked in the water in the whole room from the gurgling sound of the water.
Except for the dim glow of the photograph itself, all other lights had vanished. He could not see the walls of the room clearly, nor could he even feel that he was standing on a solid floor.
He seemed to be falling in the water, falling deeper into the abyss. He could feel the invisible threat waiting for him further down, and he could also feel the feeling of drowning making it almost impossible for him to breathe:
"Breathing underwater."
This spell was originally related to the "God of the Drowned in the Deep Sea". It was learned by Shade when he first used the puzzle match girl to stop the god from taking the girl away. Therefore, in this case, it worked almost immediately. After Shade adjusted his state, although he couldn't figure out whether he was in an illusion or was really transferred to another place, he still swam upwards.
He didn't dare to throw away the photo in his hand, so he could only hold it and keep swimming upwards. And just a few dozen seconds later, he heard the voice of the sorceress ringing in his ears:
"don't want... ... "
There should have been another paragraph after that, but it was drowned out by the sound of water.
"What?"
Xia De was stunned, stopped swimming, looked hesitantly at the dark waters above his head and under his feet, and then asked in his heart:
"Was that voice real?"
Yes, I can feel the witch power used to connect to you.
"So what do you think?"
Same as you.
"Oh well."
Xia De gave up swimming upstream and swam downstream instead. The light of the photo in his hand became dimmer and dimmer, and the water temperature around him became lower and lower. When the light completely disappeared, at the bottom of the sea, as the bubbles he exhaled floated past his eyes, he finally saw what was waiting for him at the bottom.
A skeleton, entangled in water and rags, leaped out from the bottom of the dark abyss. Surrounded by death and resentment, carrying fear and hatred, it reached out to Shade, who was sinking like he was seeking his own death.
At that moment, Xia De, who "fell" into the deep sea, felt that he could understand the thoughts of the drowned people who died alone at the bottom of the sea. The same loneliness and helplessness, and the indifferent heart were born from this.
Unfortunately, he didn't have more time to think. Xia De really found the right direction. The moment the skull touched him, he felt that he had broken through a very thin layer of paper membrane. Then he realized that he was breathing heavily, standing in the dry study with the photo in his hand. Megan looked at him worriedly:
"Are you okay? It seems that this photo is a trap to prevent thieves. I saw you standing there in a daze just now, and your figure appeared in the photo. I knew that you must have been deceived."
She grabbed Xia De's wrist and used her mental power to touch Xia De's mind with concern, but found that Xia De's mental power was as huge as the moonlight of a full moon in the night sky. At this time, Xia De's whole body was dry, even his hands were dry, and there was no liquid flowing out in the photo.
Looking at the photo again, it actually started to burn in Shade's hand. Shade threw it away, and took a few steps back with Megan, watching the photo burn in the air. The last wisp of ashes formed the holy emblem of the evil god, the God of the Drowned Deep Sea, and then pounced on Shade.
"careful!"
"It's fine."
A slight chilly feeling, carrying a curse, surged into Shad's soul, but was quickly melted away by the divine glow.
"She" whispered in Xia De's ear:
You are cursed, stranger.
The curse is lifted.
If it was a curse from a true god, even if Shade had a drop of divinity, he would not be immune to it. But it was obvious that although the curse attached to the photo was related to God, its power was much weaker. If it was an ordinary ring warlock, he might be affected, but for Shade, it was completely negligible. What really affected him was the loneliness of falling into the deep sea for a moment. He was very confused as to how he could feel and understand the thoughts of those who drowned in the deep sea.
"I'm fine, but will the damage to this photo alert Bad-Eye Barry?"
After confirming that he was really not affected, Xia De asked. Megan shook her head slightly with concern:
"I'm not sure, but don't worry about him. My people are watching him. If he returns, I will receive a warning in advance at least before night. Besides, he is just a low-level warlock. What can he do even if he comes back?"
Megan was obviously more concerned about Shad than Barry with bad eyes, fearing that Shad would experience the same condition as in the morning again, but fortunately he was fine.
The Unifier pendant, account books, and occult books were all the valuable items that Shad and Megan found in the safe. Although it sounds like a small amount, it is impossible for Barry to put all the important clues in the same place.
Just as the two of them finished searching the study, the maids had also finished interrogating the mistresses. Those women were just ordinary people, and they were ordinary people with weak wills, so it was easy to get valuable information from them.
Megan and Audrey's head maid, the girl called Jill, gathered the information and informed her master.
"Miss, this is indeed one of Rotten Eye Barry's most important bases. He spends the night here for at least one week a month. Some of those women have seen Rotten Eye Barry take off his eye patch. He rarely takes off his eye patch, and most of the time he wears it even when he is asleep. According to those mistresses, Rotten Eye Barry's right eye is not rotten, and there is a strange eyeball with a black white and a white pupil in his eye socket."
"It is most likely the Demon Eye. The Drowned Cult sent him to carry out the mission here, so of course they would not fail to give him the means to save his life and increase his strength."
Megan made the judgment easily.
The last piece of information provided by the women was that there was a suspected secret passage under the house, because sometimes they saw Rotten Eye Barry walking directly out of the basement, and he smelled like a stinky ditch.
This time Megan did not go down with Shad, but asked her maids to take a look in the basement.
Sure enough, they soon discovered a secret passage behind the wall of the basement that connected to the city's ancient sewer system. Not far from the secret passage, they discovered warehouses and meeting rooms that had been excavated and built in modern times, and even found more than a dozen farmed water ghosts.
As the place where Rotten Eye Bali often stayed overnight, a small prayer room was also built in the sewer. According to the maids' description, dead fish and human bones were hung everywhere in the prayer room as offerings, which showed that this place was really carefully managed by him.
This secret passage directly connects to the sewer system of Green Lake City, so it is not certain where the other end of the exit is.
Megan vaguely remembered that her father, Alphonse Edwards, the third son of the fourth generation, once mentioned that the construction of the sewer system in Green Lake City seemed to be sponsored by the first generation lord, the starting point of the family.
While the maids went to the basement, Shad and Megan entered the bedroom of the villa.
There was also a safe in the bedroom, and it was even better hidden than the one in the study, so the mistresses didn't know about it. But as long as you are determined to tear down the house, it is not difficult to find the safe.
The safe contained some potions, alchemical items, and letters. Megan still reached for the letter, while Shade checked the other things.
Although those potions were labeled, Shade would definitely not drink potions obtained from the enemy, and the value of alchemical items was not very high, so there was no need to be cheap and use other people's things.
However, the exquisite drawstring bag at the lower right corner of the safe attracted Xia De's attention. After opening the bag, he found a wooden key. He was immediately delighted, but then he found that the key was the wrong size and there was no trace of that special element:
“It’s not a time key.”
As the adventure of the "Seven-Day Trip" was about to end, Shad thought he would come across another key by chance.
Hearing Xia De's sigh, Megan, who was reading the letter, glanced at him, and then saw the key in his hand:
"This is... ... "
The key was made of wood, and on the cylindrical key shaft there were short cylindrical protrusions pointing in different directions. The front and back sides of the key handle were inlaid with flawless rubies and sapphires, and when you looked at it against the light, you could see the illusory shadow of a man writing in the study with his head down.
Megan hurriedly took out from her pocket the key that she had forged at the blacksmith's place using the remains, teeth and other items of the lord's wife when she and Shad arrived on the island for the second time last week.
Sure enough, although the materials and key teeth details of the two keys are different, their size and shape are exactly the same.
"Is this the key you need? But how did it get into the hands of Rotten-Eye Barry?"
As he spoke, he handed the key to Megan, who was a little excited after receiving it:
"Then he is the only one who knows. I never thought that I would get the second key this way. Together with the keys I made with your orichalcum and the black pearls I made this morning, I now have three keys."
"Ask him when you get a chance."
Shade didn't care and continued to search the safe, but he didn't find anything further. The content of the letters was surprising. They were also the correspondence between Rotten Eye Barry and the cult, but the letters were more private.
Judging from the content of the letter, the cult group is indeed connected to a certain being on the island, and calls him "that gentleman". The attitude of the Drowned Cult towards him is also cautious in cooperation. The writer repeatedly emphasized in the letter that he must not trust anything that "that gentleman" said. At the same time, every meeting and conversation with "that gentleman" must be reported to the cult.
"That gentleman? I guess he is most likely your ancestor."
Shade smiled and said to Megan, who agreed:
"Who else could it be but him?"
At the same time, the letter also revealed some other information. For example, the letter naturally stated that the location of "that gentleman" was "the central island of Green Lake", which was inconsistent with the fact that the witch had investigated that there was no bulk cargo transportation on the island.
“They have other collaborators.”
Megan pointed to the last letter and said to Shade:
"The Drowned Cult is the one that made contact with the island, but in fact, there are far more parties involved than just the Drowned Cult. It's just that other forces were unable to get in touch with 'that gentleman', so they only sponsored some of the Cult's actions. Judging from the names mentioned here... ... those confirmed to be involved in this are the followers of the evil god Dragon Devourer, the Tyranny Club, an illegal ring sorcerer group active in the border areas - they are a group of war maniacs, and the Truth Society."
"The Truth Society again?"
"Again? Do you know them?"
Megan asked in surprise, and Xia De nodded:
"I've had some unpleasant experiences with them, and I heard that they were also present during the Pantanal War last winter."
"I have also come into contact with them. They are lunatics who are crazy in pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. However, among them, there are indeed a few members who can be called wise. Unfortunately, if wisdom cannot be controlled, it is just a shortcut to madness."
Of all the ring sorcerers Shad knew who were associated with the title of "Knowledge and Wisdom", Megan seemed to be the most rational one.
In addition to these certain information, there are some uncertain contents. In a letter from a month ago, the sender repeatedly asked Barry the Bad Eyes whether he had obtained the "qualification". Because he could not see the reply letter sent by Barry, he could not know how he responded, but Shade felt that the "qualification" mentioned here was probably the small key.
Megan could see Xia De's doubts, and she shook her head slightly:
"I only know that there are keys and doors, but I don't know what they represent. Next time we go to the island, I can try to take you to see the door, but I may not succeed. In the morning, I said I knew where the goods were shipped to, and I think it should be where the door is. That door... doesn't really exist on the island. There may be more than one island in the middle of Green Lake."
After saying that, he pursed his lips and asked Xiang Xiade with some worry:
"You don't think I've been hiding something important, do you?"
Her expression surprised the maid beside her.
"Absolutely not!"
Xia De immediately shook his head, because he was actually the one who had been hiding important things.