Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 494 - 58: Searching in the Ceremony Hall _1

Chapter 494: Chapter 58: Searching in the Ceremony Hall _1

"The Sea Emperor Crown?" Pannis raised an eyebrow, asking with surprise, "What is that?"

"A plot from a novel." Lina answered without hesitation, "It’s a book that beautifully describes the everyday life of humans and the Sea Race. Quite amusing really. It tells the story of a fishing enthusiast child who one day catches a gluttonous merfolk and ends up living together after several meet-ups for chats. This merfolk is both greedy and stupid, has a penchant for drink, and would cause trouble when drunk, and then..."

"Hold on," Catherine decisively halted Lina’s enthusiastic narrative, "Tell us the story back at home. Let’s focus on the Sea Emperor Crown for now, what’s it about?"

"Oh, right, the Sea Emperor Crown," Lina repressed her burgeoning excitement, "The gluttonous fish mentioned it before. It spoke of a time, many, many years ago, when there was a crown within the Sea Race that could only be worn by the reigning High Priest. The Crown represented the dignity of the Sea God. Wearing the Crown was like being in the Holy Sanctuary of Caleto, bestowing all sorts of powerful enhancements."

"That’s all?" Catherine waited for a while, realizing Lina had no more to say, "That’s it?"

"Yes, that’s it," Lina nodded, "It wasn’t a focal point of the plot, so there isn’t much more to it. The book is a thousand years old. I suspect the author might have actually met the Sea Race and discovered some things about the underwater world."

"Can’t you just summon that...that merfolk to ask her directly? Wouldn’t that be more convenient?" Catherine asked.

"Not everyone wants to be my friend," Lina said, feeling a bit downcast and shook her head, "I’ve never been able to contact the characters in this book."

"Sorry, sorry," Catherine patted Lina’s head and took back the white crown, shaking her head "I really wish I knew what happened back then to result in the situation now."

For a moment, all five of them were imagining the scenes from thousands of years ago.

As night fell, the tranquil sea was enveloped in heavy fog. A ship sailed through the fog, its sails hauled in, most of its sailors had returned to their cabins to rest, letting the ship drift slowly with the waves. Sea Race members with vacant eyes circled the ship tirelessly in the surrounding waters, some even took turns resting on the ship. The deck was deserted, but the cabins were bustling with sailors, gathered in groups, playing cards, drinking, chatting, gambling, squandering the night like any seafarers. The second floor of the ship was silent, all quietly maintaining their weapons and armor. Even before setting off, these devout believers knew how dangerous the journey would be, but for their Deity, they would give their lives willingly. In the ceremonial hall on the third floor, strong individuals gathered together, kneeling devoutly before the Deity’s statue, praying for the sleeping Deity to bless their journey.

Beneath the sea, all was black. A whale-like Sea Beast, as large as a small town with over a dozen tentacles stretching thousands of kilometers, lay on the ocean floor directly beneath the ship. On the head of the beast stood a slender merfolk, her gaze somehow ignoring the four thousand meters of water above, concentrating on the bottom of the ship. Her white crown glowed faintly, illuminating her tightly drawn face. After a lengthy halt, the merfolk lightly tapped the beast’s head with her tail. The gigantic Sea Beast shuddered, its tentacles twisting, slowly extending upwards, leaving white bubbles in the water.

On the ship above, everyone was going about their business, the atmosphere peaceful without any hint of impending combat. Even the powerful individuals on the lower floor had no reason to be alert and continued chanting praises to their Deity. In the waters surrounding the ship, the patrolling Sea Race members sudden agitation revealed unease on their expressionless faces. Their movements quickened, but robbed of their will, they felt a sense of danger but could not pinpoint it to sound the alarm.

The bubbles in the sea grew denser, and the tentacles extended faster and faster. The patrolling Sea Race members suddenly began to shout warnings, but the tentacles moved even faster. In seconds, multiple tentacles burst from the sea, shooting straight into the fog surrounding the ship. Before anyone could react, the tentacles had securely wrapped around the ship and began to drag it into the water. The enormous power contained in the city-sized Sea Beast easily overcame the buoyancy of the water. The ship’s timbers groaned and splintered under the force, helpless to resist as it was dragged into the depths in less than a minute.

The violent shaking of the ship alerted the passengers to the abrupt change. After a few booming sounds, the bottom of the ship was torn open. The powerful individuals gathered on the third floor deployed their Shields, barely resisting the water pressure and followed the sinking ship to the ocean floor, as if there was something precious on board they could not abandon.

At the bottom of the sea, the merfolk still stood with her head tilted upward, motionless as a statue, quietly observing the events unfolding through the water. As the ship drew closer and closer, she finally raised her hand, a little uncomfortably touching the crown on her head. It seemed as though something had finally clicked for her and her tense expression relaxed, replaced by a smile of relief and resolve.

As the ship approached the ocean floor, the powerful individuals following close behind could now see each other clearly. Their gazes met, across thousands of tons of seawater, for the first time. There were no extraneous emotions in their eyes, just cold indifference, indifference to life, whether it be their enemy’s or their own.

The merfolk silently stood atop the Sea Beast, sending out a sigh that only they could hear as the waves vibrated for the first time. With a gentle swish of their tail, they dove into the mouth of the Sea Beast. Along with the movement of the colossal body of the beast, they launched an attack on the tiny humans clinging to their tentacles.

"And then?" Lina crossed her arms beneath her chest and tilted her head, "What would happen next?"

"How should I know," Pannis said, laughing and crying at the same time, "We both know the same things. If you don’t know, there’s no way I would. Your question is pointless."

"I wasn’t really asking you," Lina feigned kicking Pannis in dissatisfaction. "I just can’t imagine what happens next but I really want to know the outcome. Why would the Sea Emperor Crown appear here?"

"Actually, if you think about it, it can be explained," Catherine chimed in. "The result of this battle must have been both sides destroying each other. The merfolk’s side must have killed most of their enemies, leaving this captain mortally wounded. However, by that time, both the merfolk and the giant beast died from exhaustion. The half-dead captain must have nabbed this crown that could counterbalance their secret, struggling back here. Perhaps he returned seeking treatment? Or to offer a final prayer to his deity? Or maybe he wanted to offer the crown to his deity? Regardless of the reason, he managed to crawl back here but died before he could do anything."

"No, big sis, you don’t understand, it’s impossible," Lina shook her head. "For a sect, if the archbishop dies in battle and there’s no corpse left, yet the captain is alive and well, that would be the ultimate shame. The more devout the believer, the less they could bear this kind of shame. Therefore, a captain would never abandon the archbishop’s body to save themselves, they would rather leave everything behind and take the archbishop’s body with them."

"Are there no exceptions?" Catherine asked. "For instance, something important happened that forced him to do so?"

"Unless he had to protect the sacred items of the church, but..." Lina pointed to the crown in Catherine’s hand, "this obviously isn’t a sacred item. No, I should say, this is clearly not their sect’s sacred item, so it doesn’t make sense for him to crawl back here on his own."

"Didn’t you say that a captain would always be by the archbishop’s side?" Pannis inquired.

"That isn’t necessary in normal times," Lina explained. "But if the archbishop personally goes into battle, the captain will definitely be there."

"Have you ever thought..." Pannis began, "What if he didn’t crawl back here alone?"

"You mean... the archbishop also survived?" Lina’s eyes lit up, only to darken again as she shook her head. "But if two people had temporarily survived, how could they have let him crawl here like he had from the traces on the ground? Clearly, it was crawled on with both hands."

"Well, that can’t be certain, the archbishop is also human and can be wounded," Pannis’ voice faded, "if the archbishop was gravely injured and could hardly move, naturally he wouldn’t be able to help him. But, the captain needed to follow closely behind the archbishop, so he crawled back."

"That could be possible," Lina nodded and asked, "But should they have escaped at that moment? Why would they have the need to strenuously crawl back here? Even being willing to die here?"

"Could it be..." Catherine gasped suddenly as she realized, looking at Lina in shock, "The survivor had to come back to take something?"

"That must be the secret they held," Lina exclaimed excitedly. "Otherwise, I can’t think of anything more important than the Holy Image. The Holy Image is still here, but there’s no body of the archbishop. It suggests that he chose that thing and successfully took it away. Hey, Pannis, what are you doing over there?"

Only then, Lina noticed that Pannis had already run to the collapsed Holy Image ten meters away and was squatting on the ground, looking at something. Upon hearing Lina’s question, Pannis flashed a grin, "I’m verifying your guess." (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it at qidian.com. Your support will be the greatest motivation for me. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)