Black Sail
Chapter 70: LXX. Water Drop

Chapter 70: LXX. Water Drop

The cold wind at sea was like a knife against the skin.

Liszt’s ears hurt a bit, so he quickly took a sip of soup to calm his nerves.

"Do you understand, I’ll take care of both Caroso and Goria, and then you need to check out the mysterious person, I mean really see, whether it’s a damn human, a Beastman, or whatever."

Liszt scratched his braided beard, it was time to wash it, but he also couldn’t bear to cut it off, mainly because he looked too damn handsome, and without it, he’d lose the captain’s style. The Emperor’s wife might invite him over to the palace for a serious talk.

"So, you mean... I need to check out detailed features without her noticing?"

Swan was all ears. According to Liszt, it wasn’t enough to know what she looked like; he had to confirm her race, check for any tattoos, and see if there was anything in the room that could verify her identity.

"Uh... that’s the idea."

Liszt didn’t know what else to say, but it definitely had to be done without her noticing. Seeing Swan’s troubled expression, Liszt thought it might be difficult and figured if all else failed, he’d just pretend to be drunk and barge in to take a look.

"Okay, but I left the Thief Guild in a hurry and didn’t bring the specially made sedatives. I wonder if Mika can prepare it."

Swan gave a top-notch answer.

Liszt was impressed.

"Now that’s professional." Liszt pointed at Swan with his finger, worthy of being the lord of thieves, having all the jargon, "Later, go find Mika and tell him I asked him to make it. Once it’s ready, come find me, then we’ll officially start. How are you planning to do it?"

Liszt was so cautious because this matter required leeway. It was a choice between the privateer certificate and the mysterious person, and it was unclear which would be better for the Black Sail. One wrong move and everything would go wrong. If they discovered her identity, Beima Xiaochaijin might turn hostile.

Swan spoke imitating Caroso’s voice, and it sounded exactly the same.

"Damn, bro."

Liszt was blown away. The Thief Guild’s members were insanely skilled; all their Skill Points had been put into shady arts.

"The room’s latch will definitely be secured. I’ll imitate Caroso’s voice to get her to open the door. At that time, I’ll be clinging to the ceiling, tossing the sedatives into the room. Then, I’ll slip a piece of paper in the door crack so she can’t close it. The sedative works fast, she’ll fall down, and I’ll enter, close the door, without anyone knowing. She won’t notice, and when she wakes up, she’ll think she was just in bed having a foggy dream."

Swan calmly explained, he was already familiar with the routine.

Liszt twitched, this had gone beyond being professional, you little bastard, you’d done this often, hadn’t you? But damn, it was indeed impressive; from now on, Swan was also marked as high-end talent.

Noticing Liszt’s expression.

"When I was in the Thief Guild, one of the most profitable gigs was blackmailing nobles. You know, in Aran, you can’t run brothels openly. Officials getting caught with prostitutes is seen as a vulnerability. The Immortals dance, and those seduced are always men. They wake up in brothels, then a few girls gather around, and if they don’t give twenty or thirty Golden Dragons, they’re detained and reported."

Swan explained, he was more professional than anyone else on the ship.

"Brilliant, just brilliant, let’s settle it like this."

Liszt finished his meal in a few bites, now the only thing left was how to bring out both Caroso and Goria, which wasn’t hard, just needed a ruse that required both of them to be present.

An hour later.

Swan arrived at the ship’s infirmary.

Mika was immersed in a suggestive novel, learning how to win a woman’s affection. When he saw someone enter, he quickly closed it and stashed it in the drawer.

Mika was a busy man on board, with frequent cases of colds or arthritis due to the harsh conditions at sea, so his door was usually not locked tight.

But Swan came in and locked the door behind him, approached Mika secretly and said, "Do you have any sedatives here? Preferably gaseous. You get what I mean, right? It doesn’t need to be consumed, just placed in the area to take effect."

Mika was silent for a moment.

"You want to get with Goria too, huh? Sorry, but I’ve already booked her. Don’t you think this method is despicable?"

Mika said so, putting on his glasses to look more serious.

Swan was dumbfounded. What the hell was all this about?

"It was the Captain who had it made."

Swan replied.

"Heh, I knew it. Liszt is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I must tell Goria to keep her from harm."

At that moment Mika became the embodiment of justice, stood up, and was determined not to compromise on this matter.

Swan was completely speechless and told Mika the whole story.

"I see, that’s simple."

Mika went into the pharmacy, fiddled with some bottles, a potent anesthetic plus ether to increase its volatility was all that was needed.

"All you have to do is unscrew the cap and pour it on the ground. But you have to be the one to do it. The vaporization happens very quickly, so it’s best to wear a wet mask over your nose."

Mika handed the bottle to Swan.

"I got it."

Swan, unfamiliar with New Pharmacology, thought that Mika was somewhat skilled in alchemy.

He was ready to unlock the door and head to the Captain’s quarters to tell Liszt that the plan was officially in motion.

"Goria is reserved for me," Mika reminded.

Swan’s fist clenched, but he nodded nonetheless and left through the door.

Half an hour later.

Goria and Caroso were both called to the navigation room to discuss the handover at Heaven Port; Liszt was very assertive.

"Both of you need to be there. We have to discuss this properly because we don’t know what might happen when we get to Heaven Port. The contact might even be under someone else’s control. If that’s the case, our situation could become very tricky," Liszt warned in advance as if there wouldn’t be any enemies controlling the contact, he himself would have to take control.

"There’s no need to worry about that. We have a new type of device, recently invented by a rising Magician in the Empire, who also happens to be a train operator. He combined Magic Material to create a new kind of communication device that can’t be decrypted; the handover code can only be matched using this device."

Caroso took out a crudely made, palm-sized wooden box from his chest. It had no screen, only two LED lights and a wooden dial.

Liszt looked at the object, feeling as if he’d stepped through time.

"Still fucking drinking, huh? In a few days even droplets will be flying over!"

Liszt directly snatched Archer’s bottle of liquor.

At this moment, Archer was already drunk and disoriented.

"What droplets? With Brother Sha here, just one slice and it’s done, what’s there to talk about?"

Archer cracked open another bottle of liquor and began to gulp it down, burping drunkenly.

Liszt was speechless. This Brother Sha might really not be able to hold up, but it was just a short-range communication device after all, not a big problem.

Forced betrayal, huh? Play the traitor? One day I’ll use you for a flag raising.

Meanwhile, in another place.

Swan officially began the operation.

He cleared the other pirates from the corridor, then mimicked Caroso’s voice.

"Open up, it’s me. I’m back."