The Law of the Silent Gentleman

Chapter 108 – Black Crane Ship 1

The salty sea breeze flows over the cliffs, and flows among the jagged rocks formed by seawater erosion, making a sharp whistling. The night sky was cloudy, and only dim starlight was projected on the sea. It was low tide, and the horizon was dropping rapidly, revealing a black hole at the bottom of the cliff, which seemed to be impervious to even the wind.

A small boat ran aground among the rocks. Two men jumped out of the boat, stepped in knee-deep water, hollowed out the bottom of the boat, and pushed the boat into the sea. The sea water soon filled the cabin, the boat wobbled, and sank after a while.

“I still don’t think the ship should be scuttled.” Giuliano looked at the bubbles at the sinking ship with a serious expression.

“You can’t leave traces. And we are going to board the ‘Black Crane Boat’ after all. I’m afraid we won’t come back.”

Enzo checked the weapons on his body and nodded to Giuliano: “Let’s go. That cave should be where the ‘Black Crane Boat’ is hidden. It seems that King Clement’s men have not arrived yet. We are the first.”

He lightly jumped onto another rock and walked towards the cave. Giuliano hurried to follow. They plan to find a place to hide on the “Black Crane Boat” first, and when Clement arrives, they will find an opportunity to assassinate him. For Clement, the “Black Crane Boat” was located in the enemy’s territory, and he didn’t dare to take too many people with him, so it was much easier to deal with.

“I’m glad you came with me.” Enzo said suddenly when entering the cave.

“You think I won’t follow?” Giuliano was surprised.

“You have already avenged your family, I thought…” the assassin paused, “I thought you were unwilling to participate in the next action…”

“From the very beginning, we took over this commission together. How can I give up halfway?”

“Together?” Enzo sighed helplessly, “No, to be precise, I took over this commission by myself. You are just an apprentice and not qualified to accept the commission. You can only act according to my orders. But… I If you don’t want to do this, you can refuse.”

“Did you kick me out? How come I don’t remember that?” Giuliano asked.

He waited for the assassin to answer. But Enzo didn’t say anything, just rubbed his head vigorously, and then continued to walk deep into the cave.

The cave was getting narrower and narrower. At first they could walk normally, but then they had to bend down and move forward. They groped for an unknown amount of time in the winding passage. The rocks above their heads forced them to crawl with their hands and feet. Several times Giuliano almost thought he was stuck and would never get out, but finally managed to squeeze his way through the narrow rock crack. After that, the passage gradually became wider, and there was even a little light in front of it. Is that an exit? This road leads to some secret open valley?

They continued to move towards the light, and after walking about a hundred steps, it suddenly became clear to them that there was a vast cave hidden in the mountainside! The walls of the cave are smooth and flat, and it doesn’t look like it was formed naturally. If Giuliano hadn’t seen the underground capital built by the ancient ethnic group with his own eyes, Giuliano probably wouldn’t have believed that such a space could be excavated by manpower!

The rock here emits a fluorescent light, illuminating the entire cave. Giuliano wanted to exclaim “it’s a natural luminous stone”, but this feeling was immediately replaced by another sigh.

“Then, what the **** is that?!”

In the center of the cave stood a huge black monster, Giuliano couldn’t estimate its size at all. Captain Barsano’s love ship could be called a fortress at sea, but in front of this strange black creation, it was like a child’s toy. Giuliano had to lift his head until his neck ached to see the top of the black creature. Its shell, though pitch black, was as smooth as a mirror and shone brightly. It seemed to be some kind of metal, but Giuliano couldn’t say what metal would be that color.

There is no doubt that this thing is the “Black Crane Boat”, but it does not look like a boat at all. With no mast, no sails, no steering wheel, and black metal covering it from end to end, it was doubtful that this thing could float, let alone fly.

The two were shocked by the sight before them, unable to make a sound for a long time. After a while, Giuliano said with mixed feelings: “Is that the ‘Black Crane Boat’? It doesn’t look like a boat at all.”

“Boats can’t fly either…” Enzo seemed to be doubting his life, “Maybe ‘Black Crane Boat’ is just a code name?”

“Except for ‘black’, I don’t see where this code name is appropriate…”

“Perhaps the thinking of ancient people is different from ours.” Enzo was in a cold sweat, “Can this thing hold so many refugees? Damn, how do we get in?”

Giuliano touched the shell of the black creation curiously and timidly, and then heard a “呲”, and a door appeared out of thin air in the center of the “Black Crane Boat”! He was so frightened that he immediately withdrew his hand, but the door did not disappear. He looked at Enzo in a panic, with an expression of “I didn’t mean it, I just kept silent casually, I didn’t expect this to happen”. Enzo walked towards the door seriously. As if sensing the arrival of someone, a black staircase protruded downwards from the door!

“It looks like it’s inviting us in.”

“I think it’s better not to enter rashly! Maybe we won’t be able to get out again!”

“What are you afraid of? King Clement is behind. If we can’t get out, it means he can’t get in. That’s even better.”

Enzo boldly stepped up the steps. Giuliano expected the stairs to suddenly disappear, or Enzo to step through the air, but nothing happened. Enzo climbed up the stairs steadily and walked through the door. Afraid of being left behind, Giuliano hurriedly followed.

Behind the door is a circular passage. Surprisingly, the passage is actually made of some kind of white metal, with a milky white light band shining above their heads, illuminating them.

As soon as they entered the white passage, the door behind them closed. I had no choice but to bite the bullet and move forward. Every time you walk a distance, the light belt behind will go out, and then the light belt in front will light up. It was a long passage, ending in a door made of something like glass (Giuliano wasn’t sure if it was glass, he couldn’t be sure of anything now), and behind it was a small cylindrical room. As they approached, the door to the small room slid open to either side of its own accord. Giuliano looked around in amazement, seeing scenes stranger than the wildest dreams he had ever had.

“This place is amazing, as if someone lived here and knew we were coming. Those lights… those doors…” Giuliano looked into the small cylindrical room. “Are we going in?”

Enzo hesitated, “There is no other way, maybe there are other passages in that small room. Do you remember the temple of the ancient gods on Mausoleum Island? The lights inside will also turn on and off automatically. Maybe This is the unique technology of ancient ethnic groups.”

Giuliano shivered. “I think the ‘Black Crane Boat’ seems to have a life of its own…”

Enzo glared at him: “Don’t say such terrible things!”

“It turns out that you are also afraid…”

Enzo frowned, as if he had made up his mind, and walked into the small cylindrical room. Giuliano tugged at the hem of his coat and walked in with him. The transparent door closes automatically. The small room suddenly trembled. Enzo hugged Giuliano tightly in his arms, staring at the wall of the small room vigilantly.

Then something happened that surprised them from ear to ear!

The small room actually rose up!

The white passage was quickly thrown underfoot. As they rose higher and higher, they passed a platform, then a gray partition, and then another platform. After passing through an unknown number of platforms, the small room finally stopped. The glass door slid open again, and they came to a circular hall.

There is nothing in the hall, and the light ball on the ceiling emits a comfortable white light, as if under the sun. Apart from the small cylindrical room, there is only a waist-high round platform in the hall, which is reminiscent of the display stand for the collection in the museum. Giuliano and Enzo had no choice but to step forward and inspect the round platform. The sound of their footsteps echoed in the hall, but there was no echo at all, as if the sound was absorbed by the wall.

The round platform is bare, with only a circular groove the size of a finger ring.

Giuliano remembered that Oraxia said that Marco cut off his hand and took away his ring, which was the key to start the “Black Crane Boat”. Does the “Black Crane Boat” take off as long as the ring is put into the groove?

“Juliano, be careful!”

Enzo suddenly pulled him back. Giuliano didn’t respond. They retreated more than ten feet, and a cloud of silver-gray smoke rose from the round platform, gradually consolidating into a human shape.

“what is that…?!”

The humanoid has an appearance similar to that of the elf Orashar—handsome features, pointed ears, long cloudy hair, and flowing robes. He was suspended in mid-air, like some kind of illusion caused by light, like a mirage or something. Phantom showed them an inorganic smile, and said something in a soft voice, but they couldn’t understand a word.

Phantom waited for their answer, but after a long time, no one said anything. Phantom seemed to understand that they couldn’t understand him, so he said it again in a different language.

Still no one understood.

Phantom didn’t show an expression of impatience at all. Under their blank gaze, they continued to change several languages. Finally, Giuliano managed to understand one of them – the ancient imperial language.

“I understand this!” he said happily to Enzo.

“What did he say?” Enzo asked nervously.

Giuliano translated the Phantom’s words: “Welcome, Ann Domana, welcome aboard the homecoming ship to the ‘Kingdom of the Stars’.”

He explained in a low voice: “‘An-Dumana’ is an ancient word, referring to mortals. The ancient peoples called the gods ‘Dumana’, which means ‘immortal’, plus a negation The prefix ‘an’ means ‘non-immortal’, mortal mortal.”

Enzo said, “Ask him, who is he?”

Giuliano stumbled and asked in the ancient imperial language, and Phantom replied: “I am this ship.”

“What do you mean? He said he was the ‘Black Crane Boat’?”

Giuliano asked again, and Phantom’s answer remained the same: “I am this ship, I am the ‘Black Crane Boat’.”

Enzo honestly admitted that he didn’t understand. “Is he a human or a ghost? If he is of the same ancient race as Urasha, how could he be a ship?”

“I don’t know…maybe…maybe this ship is alive?” Giuliano boldly guessed, “This is the ‘Black Crane Boat’, a creation of the gods. Since the gods can create living mortals, Why can’t we build a living ship?”

“…What you said makes sense.” Enzo was speechless.

Phantom said in ancient imperial language: “Please put the key in the slot exactly.”

“We don’t have a key,” Giuliano said.

“No further services are available at this time. Please place the key exactly in the slot.”

Giuliano translated his words. Enzo held his forehead in despair: “I never expected that the interior of the ‘Black Crane Boat’ would have such a structure. Where are we going to hide to ambush King Clement?”

Giuliano turned to Phantom: “Is there another room here where we can hide for a while…er, I mean, let’s take a break?”

“A higher authority is required to open the lounge. Please put the key in the slot accurately.”

“We can’t do anything without the key,” Giuliano said regretfully to Enzo.

The assassin shook his head: “Let’s leave first, and find another way.”

That’s all. Giuliano tells Phantom that they are leaving and Phantom says the “elevator” (something…) is now parked on the “bottom deck” and he will let it go up to the “bridge” (presumably where they are) and send them down . It took Giuliano a long time to figure out that by “elevator” he meant the small room that had brought them up.

Wait, didn’t that “elevator” stop in the lobby just now? When did it go to the “bottom deck”?

Ding-

Enzo and Giuliano turned around.

The good news is that the cubby has gone up, as promised by Phantom.

The bad news is that Phantom didn’t tell them that when they were busy translating and explaining the ancient imperial language, King Clement’s troops came one after another and were transported into the hall by the small room.

The good news is that Enzo guessed right, the king didn’t bring many subordinates, and the king himself only had ten people in total.

The bad news was that nine of them were carrying crossbows, and nine arrows glowing green (apparently poisoned) were aimed at the two men in the middle of the hall.

The good news is that the king is unarmed and unarmoured, making it easier to deal with.

The bad news was that the king wore a ring of peculiar shape, which, judging by Giuliano, fit exactly into the groove of the platform.

Enzo raised his hands: “I know you are His Majesty Clement, King Muchania. We surrender.”

King Clement was very young, in his twenties, and he spoke with a naturally proud tone. He said to the left and right: “Take these two suspicious people and torture them later.”

The phantom above the round platform said in a patient and soft voice: “Welcome, An-Dumana, welcome aboard the homecoming ship to the ‘Divine Kingdom on the Star’. Please put the key into the slot accurately.”