Chapter 189 Incantation
Colonel Grant’s search yielded no substantial results, just as Li Wen had anticipated. Old Joey seemed to have evaporated into thin air, leaving no trace, and the sailors suspected to be players were like kites with broken strings, not coming online and not appearing on the ship. As for the Navy’s target, the ferocious pirate, not even a trace was seen. All of this made the atmosphere on the ship even more oppressive and tense, with everyone filled with unease and anxiety.
Colonel grant’s face was so gloomy it seemed he could squeeze water from it. He stopped the pointless search and ordered that, except for the crew, all passengers were forbidden from leaving their rooms, or else they would be considered to be challenging the authority of the Kingdom’s Navy.
This order naturally stirred up some dissatisfaction, but under the circumstances, and due to the Navy’s prestige, no one dared to openly defy it.
The bright sunlight, at some unknown time, had been swallowed by dark clouds, the sky turned gloomy and terrifying, and the sea surface began to churn with surging waves. Clearly, another storm was approaching.
After returning to her room, Li Wen spread the damp nautical diary on the table and studied it carefully. Most of the content in the diary was disorganized, with very little valuable information. In this light, Old Joey’s behavior of keeping this diary for so long was very suspicious. Li Wen guessed that there must be hidden content on the diary that she hadn’t discovered.
She tried to dry the diary by the lamplight, hoping to make the writing clearer, but this only made the diary more wrinkled, without any other effect. Li Wen tried several other methods, such as using magic to dispel it or soaking it in developer potion, but all ended in failure.
Or perhaps the method was wrong?
Li Wen frowned. After carefully flipping through the diary from beginning to end, she found that some of the handwriting in the diary was uneven in depth, inconsistent with the surrounding text. These writings seemed to have been added later, and were written very sloppily, as if hastily done in a state of panic or urgency.
This seemed to align with Old Joey’s later mental state. He had been driven mad by the statue, only regaining clarity in extremely rare circumstances. If he wanted to record something important, this would have been the only opportunity.
These later additions were all numbers, ranging from single digits to four digits, and there was no logic to them. These numbers were pressed awkwardly onto the original content, appearing out of place.
After thinking for a moment, she decisively tore off the pages with unusual content and then rearranged and stacked them according to the size of the numbers. When she placed the last page of the diary, something magical happened—the water-soaked pages of the diary stuck together inseparably, and as the diary’s content overlapped, it formed an eerie pattern.
It was a pattern of a beautiful girl with two intertwined fish tails on her lower body, a formless upper body, and scales covering her cheeks. Clearly, this was the image of the twin-tailed mermaid statue that Old Joey had salvaged and brought back.
But what was the meaning of this pattern? Li Wen blinked.
At that moment, the twin-tailed mermaid on the pages suddenly came alive. She opened her eyes, which were vertical pupils like those of a sea snake. A dark light, carrying moisture and coldness, pierced Li Wen’s eyes. In that instant, she felt as if her brain had been struck by a heavy object, and the whole world spun dizzily.
She managed to raise her hand and cast Poem of Paradise on herself repeatedly until the gentle and warm light of Gift of Temperance enveloped her, allowing her to recover.
Twin-tailed mermaids are monsters skilled at casting curses, and one wrong step could be disastrous.
Li Wen steadied herself and looked back at the stacked pages. This time, she was prepared, having cast Prayer on herself in advance.
Unfortunately, the twin-tailed mermaid pattern on the pages had vanished, leaving only a distorted and messy handwriting.
This seemed to be an incantation, written in some unknown language, but as Li Wen looked at it, its meaning and how to pronounce it automatically appeared in her mind.
And when Li Wen tried to move her gaze away, the things in her mind disappeared in an instant, as if they had never existed.
So that’s why Old Joey kept the diary with him all the time.
Li Wen already had an idea about the function of this incantation. She guessed that the twin-tailed mermaid statue might be a relic of an ancient civilization. In her previous life, she had frequently encountered similar things while exploring the world with the strategy team.
These relics usually possessed powerful, even world-changing abilities, but if used improperly, they could bring misfortune or terrifying curses, and even animate the relics, giving them a certain degree of autonomy and instinct. Old Joey’s experience likely stemmed from this. The twin-tailed mermaid curse he spoke of should have originated from this.
This incantation might be the method to control the statue, or perhaps a way to lift the curse; in any case, the difference was not significant.
However, one must be close to the statue to use the incantation, otherwise, it would be meaningless.
Perhaps this was the reason Old Joey had placed “Sea Calling Curses” around the ship. He was certain that the twin-tailed mermaid statue was still on the ship and wanted to use the incantation to stop the twin-tailed mermaid’s curse. However, due to some instinct to avoid ill fortune and seek good fortune, the statue had always avoided him.
In such a situation, Old Joey could only hope that the power of “Sea Calling Curses” could help him find the statue.
But he didn’t seem to know that the animated twin-tailed mermaid statue could instead use this power to guide people it wished to see to itself, and then devour them as sustenance to maintain its will.
Yes, an inanimate object was still just an inanimate object after all. The twin-tailed mermaid statue had managed to maintain its state for thirty years without anyone driving it. It had probably devoured many people.
And how could ordinary flesh compare to that of a Transcendent? Therefore, the twin-tailed mermaid, even at the risk of being discovered, wanted to drag her and Victoria into that lightless sea area. But when Li Wen entered Witch Form and displayed strength far exceeding her current stage, the statue very timely let her go. Victoria’s return to the ship was likely due to this.
“In the end… it’s just an inanimate object that bullies the weak and fears the strong.”
Li Wen put the diary into her pocket and pushed open the cabin door.
Avoiding the patrolling sailors, she quietly went to the deck.
The salty sea breeze carried a chilling cold, and the waves battered the hull. The originally azure sky had been swallowed by lead-gray clouds, and the storm was imminent.
“Hey! What are you doing there!” A sailor finally spotted the girl. He shouted, trying to get attention, “The storm is coming soon, you should listen to advice and stay in your room!”
Stay in the room?
Li Wen shook her head, walked to the mast, and took out the Raven Feather Dagger.
If she stayed in her room, who would resolve this farce?
The next moment, she plunged the dagger into the mast, and with it came the giant waves, carrying wind and rain, engulfing her.
