"Mr. Ash."
Seeing the atmosphere become somewhat awkward, First Mate Blue smiled and tried to ease the tension, "Are you a believer in the Church of eternal blazing sun?"
It was well-known that only followers of the Church of eternal blazing sun habitually praise the sun.
"No," Ash shook his head calmly.
"Disperse," Edwina, observing the surrounding crew members who were all looking over, said calmly.
The moment the crew heard the captain's voice, they immediately pretended to look away and began conversing with those around them as if nothing had happened.
"Mr. Ash, please follow me," Edwina said softly, leading Ash to the captain's dining room.
"Damn it!" Third Mate 'Bow Tie' said jealously, "Even I never got a chance to dine with the captain. Why does he?"
"Do you think you deserve it?" Second Mate Orpheus sneered, mocking, "The captain would rather dine with a dog than with someone like you."
"Orpheus! I've tolerated you for long enough!"
"You two idiots," First Mate Blue distanced himself from the two of them, expressionless.
The captain was obviously only interested in the secrets that stranger held, and it had nothing to do with romance.
But these two fools were acting jealous, making a complete fool of themselves.
Though, in a way, that was good. The more foolish they acted, the more it highlighted his own calmness and magnanimity.
However...
First Mate Blue glanced subtly in the direction of the captain's dining room, a trace of envy in his eyes. Damn, he also wanted to dine with the captain!
Inside the captain's dining room, Edwina said softly, "Don't mind them; they're like that every day."
"It's not so bad," Ash responded casually, "At least it helps promote harmony."
"Harmony?" Edwina blinked, thinking it over and realizing it was somewhat true.
Every crew member who joined the Golden Dream quickly became integrated with the others— in every sense of the word. Clearly, they were all working towards a common goal: treasure!
The crew of this ship could be more accurately described as treasure hunters rather than pirates. Their aim was to track down and unearth various legendary treasures at sea rather than plundering passing ships.
Although they bickered from time to time, they had never experienced the kind of infighting common on other pirate ships.
Edwina was deep in thought, while Ash had already removed his helmet, revealing an ordinary face. He silently picked up a spoon and began eating.
However, when Edwina saw Ash's face, which was plain except for being somewhat handsome, she couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. She had hoped to see a dried-up, zombie-like visage instead.
Since they didn't have much in common, they both chose to eat in silence.
Although Edwina was curious about Ash's secrets, she knew better than to push too hard without a proper opening.
"Ms. Edwina," Ash suddenly said during the meal, "Could you take me to Toskat Island? I can pay you."
"Of course," Edwina nodded lightly, "No need for payment, but we must complete our expedition first, which will take about five days."
"Five days?" Ash pondered. Five days, plus the three days needed to reach Toskat Island, would make eight days in total. The 'Hanged Man' would arrive at Toskat Island in about a week, so it wouldn't delay things.
"Aren't you curious about our expedition's goal?" Edwina asked suddenly.
"No," Ash was about to shake his head when Edwina started explaining anyway, "We're here to search for an ancient shipwreck. According to local legend, a ship from the ruins of the God War sank nearby."
"And on that ship, there might be some information that could unlock the secrets of the God War ruins."
"I see," Ash nodded along as if playing along, but clearly lacked curiosity. He stood up calmly, saying, "I'm done. Thank you for the meal."
This left Edwina somewhat helpless. If you're not curious, how am I supposed to explore your secrets?
Edwina stood up silently and led Ash out of the dining room. As they left, she deliberately paused at the door, casting her gaze toward an open room nearby.
Seeing Edwina's sudden halt, Ash instinctively stopped and looked toward the open room as well.
"That's the collection room," Edwina said, seizing the opportunity, "It holds the evidence of our past treasure hunts. Some items are just keepsakes, while others have yet to reveal their true value and are still under study."
"You seem interested. Would you like to take a look?"
"No, I'm not interested," Ash wanted to say, but after a moment of silence, he nodded.
Edwina smiled slightly, seeing Ash finally take the bait. She led him inside and, while maintaining a cool demeanor, provided a detailed introduction to the various items in the room.
Eventually, something piqued Ash's interest.
"That second mate," Ash asked suddenly while listening to Edwina's explanation in silence, "Mr. Orpheus, is his armor also part of the collection?"
"In a way, yes," Edwina said softly, as if she had anticipated Ash's question. "That armor is a replica of the ancient Sun Knight armor, originally collected by the Church of Knowledge. It inherits some of the original armor's mystical abilities."
"I see," Ash's eyes showed a hint of nostalgia.
He knew Orpheus wasn't a real Sun Knight, and that the praise of the sun had a different meaning from what he knew. But he still responded to him.
As for the ancient Sun Knight armor that Edwina mentioned being held by the Church of Knowledge, Ash wasn't surprised. The Church of the EverNight Goddess had a painting world, and even the evil cult of the Aurora Order had one. It wasn't surprising that the other major churches had items passed down from such worlds.
He was interested, but not overly so. After all, the information contained in a single piece of armor was quite limited.
As he thought about it, Ash's gaze was suddenly drawn to a book bound in parchment on the table. With the help of the Eye of Wisdom, Ash recognized the line of ancient Feysac characters on the dark brown cover: Groselle's Travels.
"It came from a sunken ship, soaked for 165 years, yet remained undamaged," Edwina noted Ash's gaze and explained, "It tells the story of a giant named Groselle who decided to hunt the King of the North in the Land of Frost. Along the way, he gathered companions. But the story abruptly ends when they finally face the King of the North. The pages that follow can't be opened by any means."
Groselle's Travels, Ash mused, feeling a familiar sensation from the book. He had experienced something similar when he first encountered a painting world.
He tried to open the book.
As Edwina said, the story ended when Groselle confronted the King of the North. There were many blank pages after that, but they couldn't be opened. It seemed the story had reached a point where it needed a certain key to continue.
"Do you know what it is?" Edwina asked, noticing the change in Ash's expression. "If you can tell me the answer, I can sell it to you at a very low price."
To Edwina, knowledge was priceless. While the items that held knowledge were important, if she couldn't uncover their secrets, she didn't mind trading them for answers. Of course, there would be a cost.
"How much?" Ash asked casually.
"8,000 pounds," Edwina said with a calm expression, though her gaze remained fixed on Ash for some reason.
"8,000 pounds?" Ash pondered for a moment.
To be fair, 8,000 pounds was indeed a low price. Although his weekly salary was only 100 pounds, which amounted to 5,200 pounds a year, he also had an additional job given by Earl Hall, bringing his annual income to 10,400 pounds. However, Ash had only been working for less than two months, so his total earnings were under 1,000 pounds. Even with the monthly 1,000 pounds provided by his benefactor, his total assets shouldn't exceed 3,000 pounds.
However, aside from his benefactor, Ash had also encountered a generous donor named Kapin. The wealth Kapin left Ash wasn't much, but it was still tens of thousands of pounds, enough to buy twenty copies of Groselle's Travels.
The only question was whether Ash actually wanted to buy the book.
From a personal standpoint, Ash was somewhat interested. Although it wasn't a true painting world, it might be related to one—perhaps another attempt at creating one. So, since there might be clues, and the price was low, there was no harm in buying it.
Ash was about to speak when Edwina, as if anticipating his thoughts, said, "If you don't have enough money, you can also use a mystical item as payment. If you trust me, I can appraise it for you, as long as the value is equivalent."
"No need," Ash shook his head, casually pulling out a stack of money. "8,000 pounds. Do you want to count it?"
"..." Edwina looked at the stack of pounds Ash had pulled out, opening her mouth as if to say something, but then falling silent.
This stack of pounds completely disrupted her original plan.
She had assumed Ash was the 'Gray' her teacher had mentioned in the legend, who had sunk to the bottom of the sea and slept since the early days of the Fifth Epoch.
If Ash really was the legendary 'Gray' and had just recently been retrieved from the sea by the 'One-Eyed Skull,' he would undoubtedly be out of touch with modern society. The 'pounds' used in the Loen Kingdom shouldn't be something he understood. Even if he did understand, the 'pounds' he knew wouldn't be the same as the ones currently in use.
But the stack of pounds Ash had pulled out was clearly issued by the Loen Kingdom!
This proved that he was not out of touch with society. The fact that he could take out so much money at once indicated that he held a significant position in some organization.
But if that were the case, it didn't explain why he would appear on the 'Mad Captain's' ship out of nowhere!
These contradictory clues caused Edwina's mind to momentarily freeze.
"Wait a moment..." Edwina suddenly recalled something important. After a long pause, she said, "We've been conversing in Ancient Feysac, but Orpheus spoke in Loen. This means..."
Before she could finish, Edwina fell into an awkward silence.
She had always assumed Ash was an 'ancient person,' so she had used Ancient Feysac to communicate. This language was not only the source of all modern Northern Continent languages but also the common language of the Fourth Epoch. To communicate with an 'ancient person,' it made sense to use the 'ancient language.' But Orpheus had used Loenish in his 'Praise the Sun,' and Ash had understood and responded, indicating he knew Loenish.
However, her assumptions had led her to overlook this detail. In her mind, it was perfectly normal for someone to be fluent in multiple languages. She herself could speak Giant, Elvish, Ancient Hermes, Hermes, Loenish, and several other languages. Because of this, she had fallen into the trap of thinking, "If I can understand it, others surely can too."
If someone couldn't understand, it was a sign of intellectual deficiency.
Though most of her crew had some intellectual deficiencies, under her guidance, they were all fluent in at least three languages. Over time, her 'common sense' had prevailed, causing her to overlook details she should have noticed:
How could an 'ancient person' know both Ancient Feysac and Loenish? Although Loenish was derived from Ancient Feysac, their spoken forms were almost completely different. It was impossible to learn Loenish without proper instruction, even if one knew Ancient Feysac.
Since Ash knew Loenish, she should have realized earlier that he wasn't really an 'ancient person'!
This meant that all her previous probing had been...
The more Edwina thought about it, the more embarrassed she felt. To avoid further awkwardness, she abruptly changed the subject.
"Mr. Ash, besides Loenish and Ancient Feysac, how many languages can you speak?"
"All of them, and none of them," Ash replied thoughtfully, in all seriousness.
"Huh?" Edwina blinked in confusion.
"I don't understand any of the languages you mentioned," Ash said, spreading his palm to reveal a smooth, clean eyeball. "I rely on the Eye of Wisdom to understand your languages."
"The Eye of Wisdom..." Edwina looked at the eyeball in Ash's palm, at a loss for words.
She actually knew about this eyeball; it was one of the sealed artifacts held by the Church of Knowledge. But she thought it should be called the Eye of Ignorance instead. After all, only someone ignorant of language would need this eyeball.
However, after some thought, Edwina chose to remain silent. Let's just call it the Eye of Wisdom.
PS: A Question
Given that 0-08 is an Audience Path Sequence 1 Extraordinary Trait.
Additionally, it's known that Adam possesses uniqueness and one or two Extraordinary Traits.
The original work doesn't specify, but based on my guess, Groselle's Travels is also a Sequence 1 Extraordinary Trait.
Here are four reasons:
The "Sun God" does not base itself on the Dreamer Sequence, so it only requires one uniqueness of the Dreamer and a Sequence 1 Extraordinary Trait.
After becoming a Sequence 0 Dreamer, it can separate into two Sequence 1 Extraordinary Traits without being affected.
In other words, before the Dreamer Dragon was eliminated, two Sequence 1 traits should have already been separated:
One is the "Nightmare Dragon" Alesuhood, which is 0-08.
The other is most likely Groselle's Travels.
Otherwise, there's no way to explain what Groselle's Travels is attached to.
The Dreamer Dragon's next move is to use Groselle's Travels to attract 0-08, thereby planning a resurrection.
Moreover, after resurrection, it also possesses the foundation to compete with Adam for the Dreamer's essence.
Merely having one Sequence 1 Extraordinary Trait is definitely not enough; only with two Sequence 1 Extraordinary Traits can it ensure that it can compete with Adam, who has uniqueness.
If Adam possesses two Sequence 1 Extraordinary Traits, he would only be one step away from becoming a Dreamer by acquiring 0-08, making it completely unnecessary to obtain Groselle's Travels.
Of course, the above are just speculations.
After all, the original work by Uzi doesn't clearly state whether Groselle's Travels is a Sequence 1 Extraordinary Trait.
So I hope to gather collective wisdom to see what the readers think.
(End of this chapter)