Chapter 2111: Bizarre Demise
“A Sea God Priest? Are they from the Albatross Retreat?” the police chief asked, turning his head. It seemed the Albatross Retreat had a certain reputation on Mallorca, but it was normal for the police chief to be familiar with various important organizations.
“Yes, I am a Maid of the Lord, Illyret. I’m not a local and don’t frequent the Albatross Retreat,” Illyret said, walking over directly to introduce herself.
“Okay, Miss Illyret, if you have any methods, you can tell me. If it won’t damage the clues, I can allow you to proceed,” the police chief said. It seemed Mannan’s believers indeed held considerable credibility and fame here.
“The seawater can tell me everything that has happened, such as what occurred here,” Illyret said, pointing to the ballast tank, which still contained some seawater, about knee-deep.
“Chief, she told us not to drain the seawater earlier, saying it was useful. Draining it would require going to the Captain’s Cabin and might damage the scene, so we didn’t drain it immediately,” the Criminal Investigators who had first sampled the scene reported.
“Alright, if you can do that, then show us. How will you tell us what happened? But you must let us see,” the police chief agreed. He knew there were many ways to see past events, such as divination.
“It’s very simple. I was going to show you anyway. I just went to get the necessary materials for casting the spell,” Illyret said, walking above the entrance to the ballast tank and taking out a small packet.
“What is this? Salt?” the police chief asked, watching Illyret open the packet and see a clump of white powdery material. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be salt.
“Yes, this is Holy Salt, obtained from the Albatross Retreat,” Illyret replied. This was one of the materials needed by a Sea God Priest when casting spells.
Illyret poured all the Holy Salt from the packet into the ballast tank. The police chief frowned, seeming to want to say something but holding back. This shouldn’t damage the environment, and the police sometimes needed to rely on mysterious forces, so he just watched quietly.
The Holy Salt dissolved quickly in the water, causing ripples. Immediately, a blue water curtain appeared in mid-air, within which a scene could faintly be seen, filled with murky water.
“This is the scene in the ballast tank a few days ago. Through the memory of the seawater, we can trace the events of these past few days,” Illyret explained, adjusting the clarity of the water current.
A cabin door vaguely appeared in the picture. The door was closed, and beneath it was a ladder. Everyone quickly realized this was likely the ballast tank’s trapdoor and hatch, viewed from below.
Then, she adjusted the perspective slightly. The scene suddenly shifted to the drain outlet, which was a pipe containing a filter net. It was empty, with nothing inside.
Everyone felt relieved. They had thought they would directly see a corpse. But then Illyret said, “Let’s speed it up a bit.”
She snapped her fingers, and the water flow immediately quickened. The scene returned to the cabin door. They could only judge the acceleration by the rapid, chaotic movement of impurities in the seawater on the water curtain.
At this moment, the cabin door was suddenly opened. Illyret immediately stopped the image, and everyone saw a man peek into the ballast tank. It was only for a very short time before he quickly closed the door.
“Ah? It looks like him!” Someone recognized the face. It was one of the people whom Calo had previously reprimanded for not checking the ballast tank properly every day.
Everyone’s gaze focused on him. He happened to be present and, as someone familiar with the bottom of the hold, was being investigated by the police. He waved his hands repeatedly, saying, “I, I didn’t do anything! I just checked the ballast tank as the boss ordered, and I couldn’t see anything inside, so I closed the door. It’s really just like that!”
“It should have nothing to do with him. Let’s continue watching the water curtain,” the Detective said. Everyone then turned their attention back to the water curtain’s images.
A short while later, the cabin door in the water curtain opened again. This time, to everyone’s horror, they saw a man and a woman, with expressions of extreme fear, peeking into the hold.
“It’s them!” Someone who recognized the two deceased people cried out in terror. Although their expressions were distorted by excessive fear, they could still be recognized as the two deceased, in their un-rotted state.
But their mere appearance was extremely bizarre. Their terrified expressions seemed frozen on their faces, barely changing, as if they were screaming. Drool occasionally dripped from their open mouths, making everyone watching tremble with fear.
“Th-they’re already dead!” A Merchant exclaimed. But then a police officer cursed, “They’re not dead! Don’t make a fuss; they’re still moving!”
Only then did everyone realize that the two were indeed moving. However, even as they moved, it was incredibly strange. Their expressions remained unchanged, their eyes wide open. Then, as if pushed, they slid into the ballast tank.
That’s right, they fell in. The man and woman were completely naked and fell stiffly into the ballast tank. They didn’t use their hands to grab onto the ladder but fell directly into the water. Their terrified faces pressed directly against the water curtain, causing many present to instinctively step back.
They then sank to the bottom of the hold. Even now, their bodies showed no signs of struggle, maintaining their stiff postures, making it believable that they were indeed dead.
But if they were murdered and then pushed, shouldn’t someone have dragged them over? Some quick-thinking police officers and the Detective looked up at the hatch, hoping to catch sight of the Murderer.
However, there was no one. After the two corpses were thrown in, the hatch slowly closed, as if someone unseen from below had pushed it shut. At no point was even a hand of the prisoner revealed.
With no other recourse, they continued to focus on the corpses. The bodies, caught by the water current, were pulled into the drainpipe and rapidly expanded, as if to block it.
Finally, their skin rotted at an extremely fast speed. Then, the cabin door opened again. This time, it was the team looking for Gaspar’s stolen items.
This time, a voice could even be heard. A ship’s crew member said, “How could the stolen items be in the ballast tank? You’re overthinking it.”
“Who knows? The boss ordered a ship-wide search anyway. We just have to look,” another person replied.
“But the water down there is all murky, you can’t see anything clearly, and why is it so smelly?”
“Why are you asking so many questions? If we drain the water first, we’ll be able to see. I’ll pull the drain valve.”
“Huh? Why isn’t the water draining? Is the drainpipe blocked by weeds? Will someone go down and check?”
“Tsk! I always have to do the dirty work. Tsk! What kind of weeds are these? Black and sticky. Hiss! This, this is hair? Ahhh!”
