Chapter 972: Vessel 1 Secured
“Milord, I don’t know how else to phrase this, but why does this feel incredibly cursed still?”
[…]
“Because if it’s anything like you guys, this thing has a mind of its own but it’s also a sore loser!”
[!!!]
“Hah!”
With his battle now over, Zhen Liu was finally able to get his hands on the ship’s wheel for the wrecked [Storm Queen’s Galleon]. Correction, he was able to get one hand on that ship’s wheel, the other hand was being wrapped around Screamira so that he wouldn’t fall over.
‘Broken legs suck ass,’ Zhen Liu had mused as he looked over the wheel in his free hand.’But it appears that the pain was more than worth it this time around…I sincerely hope any future treasures I find come with less injuries involved, this is getting ridiculous.’
If Zhen Liu wasn’t stupid strong, this ship’s wheel would’ve been a lot heavier to carry and a lot more inconvenient to look over. In his hands though, Zhen Liu could pick up some details that he couldn’t before.
For starters, the wheel was sign Rincon more ornate than Zhen Liu had given it credit for at a distance. Now that it was in hands, Zhen Liu could now see that the entire wheel was covered in intricate carvings. Every spoke, every circle, all contained carvings that depicted various types of sea creatures and monsters, with some of them appearing to be carved deeper into the wood than the rest.
Almost as if to inform viewers that perhaps some things were missing from the wheel.
Second, the sheer amount of [Chaos] that composed it’s circular form, was a lot denser than he had expected. It sort of made sense, given that it was meant to be attached to an even bigger [Chaos] treasure, but it was still surprising to say the least. Of course, Zhen Liu only had a few points of comparison when it came to these types of treasures, and those treasures were a lot…smaller, in terms of size at least. Perhaps in the future, he’d be able to concentrate even more [Chaos] into them to match with the wheel, but it probably wasn’t a good idea.
Especially when, lastly and most importantly, Zhen Liu could sense some rudimentary form of intelligence coming from the wheel.
In a manner similar to his [Hammer of the Dearly Departed], the ship’s wheel had this intelligence that seemed to compell it to act on its own when not being actively under someone’s ownership. That stated, it seemed to be listening to Zhen Liu in an almost reluctant manner.
Whether that was due to it thinking that Zhen Liu wasn’t worth enough of because it was bitter at getting it’s wooden circular ass handed to it was unknown. What was known though was that it seemed to be okay with going with Zhen Liu, solely because of that weird stolen and modified [Chaos] art he performed.
At least, that’s what the ship’s wheel told him. In all honesty, Zhen Liu couldn’t remember what he did in the heat of the moment. Vague pictures and images of a giant sea monster forming behind him did appear as he tried to remember the moment, but other than that nothing.
But from what Alicia, Bellona and the kaijin told him, it was really fucking cool.
“You summoned this weird dragon looking thing went all…FWOOSH!”
“More of a boom, but not inaccurate.”
[The barriers prevented us from feeling what you pulled off, maestro, but in our eyes, it was like you turned into one of us.]
[But like…way fucking bigger.]
“Huh…”
Thankfully, he had external assistance to help with that sort of thing…except for this time.
…
<=Milord, you're alive!=>
‘This time around, yes. But the sheer amount of times I’m getting injured near the end of my adventures is starting to get ridiculous, not gonna lie.’
‘Uh…why do you know that particular turn of phrase?’
=A combination of pop culture and memories of our time working with the Devout Heretic. We started thinking about him after the Satan Monkey incident.=
‘Addressing that later, do you guys have any idea what the hell I did to win this wheel? Because it literally happened seconds ago and my brain is just…fuzzy.’
=We don’t know either.=
‘Huh?’
=The barrier keeping you in that cage match with the illusionary Storm Queen prevented us from getting a clear view of any battle data that might’ve been generated, including your finishing move.=
<=In other words, we don't know what you did or how you did it.=>
‘Huh… interesting.’
=That said, you should probably get back to the Library as soon as you can. Partially so we can see what’s wrong with your leg, partially so we can take a closer look at that old [Galleon Wheel].=
‘Huh…wait, just the wheel?’
=We do not have the room for a ship that loud at the moment. We’re using most of our energy in keeping those prisoners of yours in check.=
‘Right…’
…
Shortly after securing the ship’s wheel, Zhen Liu and the gang decided that now was probably a good time to go home and recuperate. More specifically, they needed Logos and Pathos to confirm that Zhen Liu’s broken leg wouldn’t grow into anything more dire.
However, they met a little resistance from the Strange Bloods in regards to their return home.
[You’re leaving already?]
[But you just got here!]
[What about the celebratory feast?!]
Apparently the Strange Bloods had been waiting on the arrival of a new Kaijin Lord for a little over several centuries, and had figured that they their newly minted liege would be with them until the end of time. While it wasn’t exactly god worship, it was…mildly obsessive.
Regardless, Zhen Liu managed to convince the Strange Bloods to delay the celebration to a later date, using the fact that one of his legs were broken as an excuse.
To be more precise, he said, “Normally, I’d be open to partying, but me being able to do anything fun with a broken leg is…limited, to say the least. But I do have plans to come back here in the near future, anyways so we can celebrate then.”
[Hurray!]
However, the Strange Bloods still insisted that before Zhen Liu and his entourage left, that they take a few gifts with them. These gifts were, unsurprisingly, related to the Storm Queen and her Storm Knights.
For Alicia, Bellona and Matilda, they gave the girls a set of scrolls for what they termed as “lesser” [Chaos] arts.
Due to the incredibly nebulous nature of [Chaos], it was hard to determine which ones were powerful and which ones were weak, but these were the ones that were easier to learn in comparison to others. When they asked why they were being given such items since they didn’t really know how to use [Chaos], Chief Tusk simply said, [Neither did we, but it’s one of those things that just…happen. Plus, I can smell that y’all are close to understanding it.]
For the kaijin, the Strange Bloods didn’t give them any aether treasures or anything like that, but instead something a touch more sentimental: the war banner under which the Storm Knights once fought for.
[We know the kaijin are powerful warriors who have little need for weapons and the like, but we figured if y’all are heading back to Undertow Kingdom, perhaps it’ll be of more use to you than to us.]
And lastly, for Zhen Liu they gave him two gifts.
First, an amulet that once belonged to the Storm Queen herself. It was pretty, chock full of storm-like aether that was incompatible with Zhen Liu and far too feminine as well, but he already figured out why they wanted to give this to him. Since he was dating the Storm Queen’s time flung daughter, it made sense to reunite her with this piece of her history.
Well, another piece.
Zhen Liu firmly believed that that time travelling old man gave her something else ahead of time, but he wasn’t sure what.
As for the second gift, it was something a bit odd but significantly more useful: a locked book.
More specifically, it was the personal journal of the Storm Queen.
As to why and how the Strange Bloods got their hands on this, well…
Easier listened to than explained.
…
[Why…how do you have this?,] Zhen Liu asked with a mixture of awe, shock and gratitude.
Chief Tusk, in a sharp contrast to his earlier jovial attitude, began to act a bit more morose.
[It’s not the greatest story in our blood, but…it happened shortly after the princess was knocked out of time.]
