nownovels Chapter 408 The Taste of Home: Facing the City of Disaster
Chapter 408 The Taste of Home: Facing the City of Disaster
Chapter 408 The Taste of Home: Facing the City of Disaster
As soon as Klein and Danitz disembarked, they ran into Captain Ellan, whom they had only met once before.
"Is Mr. Gehrman going to the island to try the local specialties?"
Erland had been paying close attention to Klein, not only because he had just witnessed Klein's pickiness about food in the restaurant, but also because he had discovered "Flame" Danitz's identity while carefully checking the passengers on his first voyage.
A person who can occupy the room of Vice Admiral Iceberg's Fourth Boatswain and make him stay in the servants' quarters deserves no amount of attention.
Klein glanced indifferently at the enthusiastic Captain Ellan and casually remarked:
"What makes Bansi Island so special?"
When Erlan saw that the aloof Klein had actually responded to his words, his smile widened, and he even followed him, warmly introducing Bansi Island as if he were welcoming a longtime friend.
Arlan assumed that Klein knew nothing about Bansi Island, so he began by recounting the island's history and mysterious legends, which Klein, who already knew, did not interrupt.
Danitz, who was following behind, was getting impatient and tried to interrupt him several times, but seeing that Klein was still listening with great interest, he could only give up in the end and kept looking around at the buildings and people.
"—Because of these legends, two customs have been passed down on Bansi Island. One is to keep the door closed on foggy nights and nights with drastic weather changes, not to go out, and not to respond to knocking."
Another thing is that the residents of Bansi Island have a fondness for the blood of various animals, and they learned from migrating spirits to add salt to it, causing the blood to coagulate into peculiar lumps. Combined with several local aromatic spices, it tastes tender and delicious!
This is why Klein listened patiently to Captain Ellan's repeated explanations. Compared to the pirate Danitz, the experienced Captain Ellan probably knew more about Bansie Island.
"Isn't blood tofu the specialty of Bansi Island?" Klein suddenly felt that the captain's description was very similar to a Sichuan delicacy from his previous life, and many associations arose in his mind.
Captain Ellan, having clearly noticed the change in Klein's expression, smiled and suggested:
"There's a great lime restaurant here, their pig's blood is especially delicious, would you like me to take you there to try it?"
Hearing Erland's words, Klein was somewhat tempted, but before he could speak, Danitz, who was following behind, spoke up:
"Why don't you guys go eat there? I'll go to the telegraph office and send a telegram first, okay?"
Danitz wanted to inform the captain of the possible traitor on board as soon as possible, and he didn't want to linger with the dangerous Gehrman Sparrow, so he disregarded Ellan's presence and said:
"Don't worry, I will convey your message and my ransom to the captain!"
"ransom?"
Arlan glanced behind him in surprise, never expecting to hear the word from the famous "Flame" Danitz.
"What are you looking at? I didn't beat him. What's wrong with paying a ransom?"
Although he was humble and subservient in front of Gehrman, not everyone would dare to disrespect Danitz, so he met Erlan's eyes directly and responded sharply, trying to intimidate the person in front of him.
To his surprise, despite his menacing demeanor, Ellan showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, she gave him a defiant look and then said to Klein:
"The Church of Storms also has a special bounty for Danitz the Blazing Flame. I have a friend in the church who can introduce me to him. I guarantee there will be no middleman kickbacks!"
Erlan openly admitted that he was also an extraordinary being, indicating that he would no longer pretend.
Although he had gained some understanding of Gehrman Sparrow through the past few days and knew that he was not one to break his promises easily, Danitz, who knew the captain's true background, also understood just how much money the Storm Church was willing to spend to target the captain.
The most threatening enemy to the "Golden Dream" has always been the Church of Storms.
Under Danitz's tense gaze, Klein shook his head and rejected the offer.
He captured Danitz not just for the bounty, but also for the upcoming cooperation with Lieutenant General Iceberg. He wasn't going to sell Danitz out so easily.
Despite Klein's refusal, Erlan didn't take it to heart and simply continued to lead the way for them.
After this interruption, Danitz forgot about going to the telegraph office and followed along to the restaurant.
Soon, the three of them arrived at a relatively luxurious restaurant.
Airland was clearly a regular here and was very familiar with the staff; they were quickly seated at a window table on the second floor.
After ordering, Klein continued to guide Erlan in talking about Bansi Island. Erlan was a little surprised to see that he was so interested in Bansi Island, but he still went along with it and continued to tell what he knew.
The dishes they ordered were quickly brought to the table by the waiter, and they ended their conversation.
Klein looked at the bright red blood curd in front of him, which also emitted a unique aroma. Without hesitation, he picked up a piece with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.
In an instant, that familiar taste spread throughout my mouth; the blood clots were fresh and elastic, and the unique texture was like a feast for the taste buds.
Klein's eyes narrowed involuntarily, as if every cell in his body was cheering with joy.
And this familiar taste is like a key to memory, instantly unlocking the door to his memories of his hometown.
The streets and alleys of his hometown, familiar relatives and friends, and those days full of life and warmth flooded his mind like a tide.
The excitement of advancing to higher education, the bitterness of first love, the hardships of work, the pain of being forced to travel through time—all the emotions that Klein had suppressed surged into his heart at this moment, making his eyes even a little moist.
The experiences of the past few months were not in vain. After just a moment of losing his composure, Klein immediately realized that there were two other people around him and that he still needed to maintain his cold and aloof persona.
So while Danitz and Erlan were busy tying napkins around their necks, No-Face managed to forcefully hold back his tears, pretending nothing was wrong, thanks to his powerful control over his facial muscles.
Seeing that Klein really enjoyed the food here, Erlan said with a smile:
"How about it? Wasn't the place I recommended great?"
Klein was about to respond when he heard a creaking sound from the window next to him. Turning around, he realized that the weather, which had been normal just moments before, had suddenly changed drastically. A strong wind was blowing, making the trees along the roadside twist and turn.
"No wonder it's called the Weather Museum. It was fine just a moment ago, and now such a strong wind has picked up. If this wind doesn't stop, will we be unable to get back to the ship for the night?"
Danitz also looked out the window, worried about where he would spend the night.
"If we can't go back, we can't go back. If all else fails, we'll just stay here for the night."
This wasn't the first time Airlan had encountered this situation, so he ate and talked nonchalantly.
Klein frowned, looking worriedly out the window. Even the blood tofu in front of him didn't taste appetizing anymore.
Klein no longer simply attributed the unusual weather to climate anomalies; instead, he wondered what had happened to that angel.
"Could it be that something happened to that angel again, or is Evan cooperating with me? This situation is actually a good opportunity to explore the Church of Storms."
No matter how much they try to cover it up, under these abnormal circumstances, those who are contaminated are always different from normal people.
Just then, Klein saw a person wearing a black cloak carrying a dim lantern, struggling to move forward in the wind.
The man seemed to notice the gaze and looked up at the restaurant, while Klein instinctively avoided direct eye contact.
Even just a glance out of the corner of his eye allowed Klein to see what the person looked like.
The center of the black cloak was empty; there was no human head as expected, only a bare neck from which blood continuously gushed.
Finding no trace of the source of the gaze, the person in the black car lowered himself again and continued walking into the distance.
Klein's pupils contracted as he tried his best to hide his shock, his mind replaying the scene he had just witnessed.
He was not shocked by the monster's appearance, but by the fact that he had seen it before, during the Great Uprising in Backlund.
During that great riot, Klein, with the help of the sealed artifact 1-63 carried by Captain Dunn Smith, saw the contamination clinging to the workers.
Those were monsters with only heads and spines attached to the workers, wantonly manipulating them to destroy everything in sight.
Could it be that the pollution during the Backlund Uprising wasn't caused by the Augustus family at all, but rather by the mysterious city within Evan? During the Backlund Uprising, with the help of sealed artifacts 1-63, Klein and the captain finally found a source of pollution located in the East District.
The source of that pollution was extremely powerful; Klein and his group almost fell victim to it. In the end, a mysterious angel arrived and resolved the problem.
"Could that source of pollution be the result of the mysterious city within Evan interfering with reality?"
If that's the case, the unusual weather on Bansi Island might not be the work of that "weather wizard," but rather originate from that dangerous, mysterious city, or even be the result of this angel resisting the encroachment of that mysterious city.
As Klein gained a deeper understanding of the mysterious city's characteristics within Evan, he felt no joy, but rather a profound sense of unease—regarding Evan, and also himself.
"Why would something like the Mysterious City and the Gray Fog, which are even higher than gods, choose me and Evan? Do they have their own lives?"
If the mysterious city's erosion of reality is so violent and turbulent, then in what form will the gray fog appear? Klein did not doubt that the source of the riot was deliberately created by Evan, after all, from his perspective, Evan had been actively trying to prevent the riot from happening.
Moreover, Klein, who possessed the gray mist, knew he couldn't use it to interfere with the world, so he didn't believe that Evan, who hadn't yet ascended to demigod status, could interfere with the encroachment of the mysterious city.
No wonder Evan emphasized earlier that no matter what the investigation results were, the Storm Church should not be notified, and that he should handle the matter here.
It's likely that Evan felt guilty because he witnessed firsthand how the mysterious city within him was corrupting the world, causing so many deaths during the Great Uprising in Backlund.
So much so that after becoming a demigod and being able to influence the mysterious city, he was eager to resolve the hidden dangers there.
He didn't want Bansie Island to become a second Backlund! Based on some information he knew, Klein pieced together Evan's past experiences in his mind and somewhat understood his feelings.
"Evan must have been in a lot of pain during this time, watching helplessly as things closely related to him killed so many people, and he was powerless to do anything about it."
My friend is so irresponsible; he didn't even notice any of this, and instead, he worried about me, running around for the "Robin Hood" operation.
Klein was filled with emotion and resolved to investigate the situation of the Storm Church.
Thinking of this, he didn't hesitate. He put down his cutlery and his craving for blood curd, and walked straight to the dark bathroom. He wanted to see through the gray fog what had happened on Bansi Island.
After entering the washroom, Klein took four steps backward and entered the gray fog again. He then materialized a pen and wrote a line of text.
"The current situation on Bansi Island!"
Putting down his pen, Klein leaned back in his chair and entered a dream through meditation.
In his dream, Klein saw the entire Bansi Island as very blurry, and heard only painful, inhuman roars that brought with them violent gusts of wind.
In his dream, Klein looked toward the direction of the sound and saw a giant shrouded in grayish-white mist atop a distant mountain peak, with an eerie red light occasionally emanating from its body.
If it were someone else, they might not recognize what that red light was, but Klein, who had personally experienced the great riot, knew very well that it was the invasion of the mysterious city.
Just as Evan said, the angel is fighting against the corruption of the Mysterious City. Without this angel, the Mysterious City might turn Bansie Island into hell in an instant! In Klein's eyes, there are already several places on Bansie Island that show signs of being corrupted by the red light of the Mysterious City, and the most obvious place is near the Storm Church in the city center.
"That should be the location where the people of Storm Church observed the pollution, and also the most likely place where the Storm Church clergy were contaminated. I'll start my investigation from there." Just as Klein thought he had obtained the information he wanted and was about to exit the dream and leave the gray fog, the giant on the distant mountain peak suddenly let out an unprecedented cry of pain, causing some complex, somewhat three-dimensional mystical symbols to appear on his body, while the red light symbolizing the corruption of the mysterious city on his body shone even brighter!
Klein stared directly at the angel's mythical form, and both his eyeballs exploded. He screamed and fell from his chair—this direct confrontation with the true creator and the eternal sun was even more painful than that; it was the backlash from that mysterious city!