Mystery: I Married the Queen of Mystery.

Chapter 281 "The Underworld Emperor"'s Military Station
Odysseus and Leonard hurried to the department store on Northhouse Island. A department store in a small city like this couldn't be compared to the one in Backlund.

Although it also has two floors, Odyssey always feels like a "small supermarket in the county town".

After walking around and finding the office area, Odysseus and Leonard rushed in and found Jeff, the department store owner, molesting his female secretary in the office.

While Jeff was still in a daze, Odysseus had already stepped forward, grabbed Jeff's collar and lifted him up: "I want to ask you a few questions."

Leonard gestured for the frightened female secretary to leave and closed the door.

Then he looked at Odysseus and Jeff and said to himself: It seems very rude to ask questions like this.

Jeff struggled for a bit, but when he saw he couldn't break free, he knew he had met a formidable opponent. "Please...please ask."

Odysseus asked, "How can we find Balk?"

"Can't find..."

Odysseus pretended to throw Jeff out.

"I really can't find it..." Jeff said quickly, "Who can find a ghost ship in the ocean?"

Odysseus asked again, "So, in which direction on Northaus Island has he been appearing lately?"

"I really don't know!" Jeff said with a sad face, "I just helped him get information and sell the stolen goods.

"He pays the money, and I just do the work."

Leonard on the side said at this time: "I think I should use my own way of interrogation."

Odysseus cooperated and asked, "What method?"

"Directly invade his mind." Leonard said, "Then confuse his mind. No matter what you ask him, he will answer obediently.

"The only insignificant price is that he will become a fool from now on."

Jeff swallowed his saliva. He had been exposed to some extraordinary information and seemed to have heard of such things when he was bragging to some extraordinary people.

Odysseus said, "How could you interrogate a prisoner in such a brutal way?"

Jeff nodded immediately, expressing his full support for Odysseus.

"My way is more convenient." Odysseus said: "Just kill him and he will answer whatever you want to ask."

Jeff smiled bitterly and said: We can't always seek convenience!
Then, seemingly unintentionally, Odysseus said, "For example, the connection between Jeff and Balk, and the information that Balk was searching for something in the nearby waters, were all obtained this way."

Jeff swallowed his saliva. He didn't expect that these two people knew so much. It was obvious that some crew members of the "Skeleton" pirate group had been killed. Even those who were killed must be important crew members, otherwise they would not know such important information.

"I say...I say," Jeff said after hesitating for a moment.

Although he would surely die miserably if Balk knew that he had leaked the secret, he would die today if he didn't tell anyone.

Moreover, the two people in front of him are quite strong, so perhaps Balke will not have the chance to take revenge on him.

Jeff took a deep breath before saying, "I heard the first mate of the Skeleton mention that they've been circling around the northern part of Northhouse Island lately."

Odysseus put Jeff down and asked: "Which location exactly? Due north? Northeast? Or northwest?"

"Northeastward," Jeff said quickly. "A merchant ship saw the 'Skull' in that direction yesterday."

Odysseus patted Jeff's shoulder and said, "Very good. Is there a picture of the 'Skull' here?"

"No, but I can draw you one."

After saying that, Jeff quickly picked up a pen and drew the general structure of the "Skull".

After getting the portrait of the "Skull", Odysseus and Leonard entered the spirit world with the "Travel Ring" without stopping.

Jeff stared blankly at the two men disappearing through the illusory door. After a moment, he said, "We've lost a big client."

……

Back in the Argo's cockpit, Odysseus said, "We've got a direction. Head northeast of Northhouse Island!"

While Ilezhe was replanning the course, Odysseus called all the crew members to a meeting.

He said: "The target we are looking for is currently searching for something in the 'dangerous waters', so we may have to chase into the 'dangerous waters' as well, so everyone should be mentally prepared.

"But even if it's a ghost ship, it's impossible for it to stay in the 'dangerous waters' for a long time. It should leave the dangerous waters frequently for repairs.

"We will search around Northaus Island and try to find them outside the 'dangerous waters' and defeat them."

Everyone said together: "Yes."

Odysseus reiterated, "Also, there is only one captain on this ship, and the three Red Gloves must obey my command."

Leonard nodded: "Yes!"

After the meeting, the crew members began to take turns observing the sea in the wheelhouse.

Odysseus returned to the studio, took a rest, then put on the "craftsman pocket watch" and began to make the "small spiritual wave cannon" according to the drawings.

With the help of magical items, Odysseus can make all the parts as long as he has the raw materials, without having to go to Lasha Island to "place an order".

At noon, they arrived at the northeast part of North House Island and began searching around the area.

Although there is a general direction, this sea area is also very large, and it depends on luck whether we can find the other party.

After searching around the entire sea area for an entire afternoon, he had made one-third of the parts for the "small spiritual wave cannon", but still had no results.

Odysseus came to the deck and saw that the sun had set. He planned to find a place to anchor and repair at night, because this sea area was not on the shipping route and was relatively close to some islands, so there might be reefs.

It would be troublesome if it ran aground.

At this time, Rupert, who was on duty, took out a telescope and reminded: "Captain, there is something happening at ten o'clock."

Odysseus took the telescope and looked over there. He couldn't see what was going on, but he saw a group of seabirds circling there.

Odysseus ordered: "Change course and go over to take a look."

The "Argo" immediately turned the rudder and Odysseus returned to the cabin.

After sailing for more than ten minutes, Odysseus, who was looking through the telescope, said, "It's a dead fish."

Rupert was stunned: "Dead fish?"

"Well, the sea is full of dead fish." said Odysseus.

As the Argo continued to move forward, sporadic dead fish appeared on the sea surface.

The spirits of everyone on the "Argo" felt a little uneasy, and they all came to the cabin and looked at the situation ahead.

Odysseus put down the telescope and said, "The 'Skull' should have been here not long ago."

He speculated: "I don't know the specific capabilities and negative effects of that ship, but I suspect it will occasionally cause large-scale deaths of surrounding marine life."

Odysseus looked at everyone and said, “This is a reasonable guess.

"In other words, if there is only one variable, the 'Skull', around, it could cause the death of a large number of marine fish."

Everyone nodded. After hearing what Odysseus said, they also thought that this should be the case.

"Just cruise around the surrounding seas! Yeah, get a little closer to the dangerous sea area." Odysseus immediately ordered: "They will definitely come out of the 'dangerous sea area' before dark!"

So next, Odysseus arranged crew members to keep watch all around the "Argo".

Due to limited manpower, Odysseus also asked Leonard and three others to help.

At this time, the "Argo" entered the sea area with the most dead fish, and the spiritual anxiety of everyone on the ship became more intense.

That’s because there are so many dead fish. Each dead fish’s eyes seem to be looking at the sky, or at the people on the "Argo".

They rise and fall with the waves and seem not to be completely dead yet.

It was the sight of the dead fish that made the crew feel a little uncomfortable.

But I just felt uneasy, not in danger.

After passing the sea area full of dead fish, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and then swam around the sea area full of dead fish, carefully observing the surrounding situation.

At around six o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was about to set on the horizon, casting a few beautifully colored clouds.

Yi Laizhe, who had just finished dinner and replaced Leonard, glanced at the horizon and said, "There's going to be a big storm soon."

Leonard looked at the horizon again. He felt that the scenery was quite beautiful. There were not many clouds in the sky. Would there be a storm?

"Hold the sails!" Odysseus immediately ordered after hearing what Yilaizhe said: "Those who haven't had dinner yet should hurry up and have dinner. It might be very busy soon."

Leonard glanced at the horizon once more before returning below deck to eat his dinner.

The wind started to pick up outside when Leonard and the others were about to finish their dinner when they heard a rapid alarm and Captain Odysseus's order: "All crew members, come to the wheelhouse! The 'Skull' has been spotted!"

Leonard was stunned for a moment, then quickly dropped the food and ran to the deck.

As soon as he arrived on the deck, he was stunned. The sunset and the fiery clouds that looked beautiful just now disappeared, replaced by dark clouds that gave a very oppressive feeling.

These dark clouds are like ink, flowing from one sky to another.

Leonard saw that the dark clouds had just passed over the Argonaut and that he could still see clear sky in the distance.

On the other side, night seemed to have arrived early, and the dark clouds in the distance seemed to be sticking to the sea surface.

He didn't expect that the situation on the sea would change so much in just the time it took to have dinner.

Arriving at the captain's room, Second Officer Rupert handed Leonard a telescope and pointed him in a direction.

Leonard saw that on the sea under the thick dark clouds, there was a ship heading towards this side.

That's the "Skull"!
Leonard, having seen the portrait, immediately recognized it as the "Skull"!
The reason why the "Skull" can be seen clearly from such a distance is that it is surrounded by lightning and hurricanes. The bright silver-white lightning illuminates the sea around the "Skull".

The wind and waves over there are much stronger than here, even as high as a small hill.

The lightning and hurricane seemed to be summoned by the "Skull", and it was coming against the wind and waves accompanied by heavy rain.

Leonard put down the telescope and asked, "Is the 'Skull' heading towards us?"

Could it be that they have already discovered the "Argo" and are preparing to launch an attack?
"That's what I thought at first." Odysseus said, "Just wait a little longer."

Leonard picked up the telescope again and looked. Suddenly, he saw a huge evil spirit appear on the sea. The evil spirit was as tall as a giant. It raised the axe in its hand and slashed towards the sea.

In an instant, the sea water was split apart, and the hurricane and lightning were split apart.

The "Skeleton" took this opportunity and quickly broke out of the hurricane and lightning.

Hurricanes and lightning then attacked the huge evil spirit and quickly crushed it to pieces.

Leonard understood immediately: "Lightning and hurricane-force winds are besieging the Skull."

"That's right," Odysseus said. "I suspect the Skeleton may have gotten into trouble with something in the Dangerous Seas, and now they're chasing us out of the Dangerous Seas."

He pondered for a moment and then said, "Sail to the 'Skull'! Prepare the 'Soul-Extinguishing Cannon'."

Since there might be danger over there, we can fire a shot from a distance to see what the situation is.

It was the first time Leonard heard the word "Soul-Destroying Cannon". It was a compound word and he understood its literal meaning.

Then he saw the deck in front of the cab open, and a very complex weapon with both industrial beauty and aesthetic charm rose out.

Bata bata~
At this time, big raindrops fell, and in just a moment, the wind and waves became much stronger, and the "Argo" also began to tilt.

The oppressive feeling of the storm made Leonard and three other "Red Gloves" members who were going out to sea for the first time feel very insignificant.

The "Argo" and the "Skull" were like sitting on a seesaw, one reached the "peak" of the waves, and the other fell to the "valley" of the waves.

At this time, the "Soul-Destroying Cannon" had completed charging, and the pale "gun barrel" appeared again, making the dim deck seem a little bright.

However, no shots were fired immediately because the Argo was trying to find the best firing angle.

The "Skull" seemed to have sensed the threat and was fleeing in the opposite direction of the "Argo".

Finally, both ships reached the "peak" of the waves.

Odysseus was looking ahead through a telescope and was about to order the artillery to fire when he suddenly saw a man following behind the "Skull".

The man was holding something like a staff and running on the sea, chasing the "Skull".

On the sea, he was as agile as if he was running on flat ground. The hurricane surrounded him, making his robes bulge and he even flew up.

In this way, it flew and ran, keeping up with the ghost ship closely, and often attacked the "Skeleton" with lightning.

Odysseus was stunned for a moment before he gave the order: "Stop charging the 'Soul-Exterminating Cannon' and switch to the 'Spirit Wave Cannon'."

Soon, the pale "gun barrel" disappeared. After waiting for more than ten seconds, an "extraordinary puppet" replaced the two extended metal sticks.

Although he had waited for more than ten seconds, the spiritual energy he had accumulated had not yet completely dissipated. It had already undergone certain changes under the influence of the magic circle, covering the "Extraordinary Puppet" with a layer of white frost. He was carried back to the deck by two "Extraordinary Puppet" and began to recharge his energy.

When the Extraordinary Puppet reported that it had completed aiming, Odysseus immediately ordered: "Fire!"

The "Lingbo Cannon" does not require such a stable shooting angle, it can be fired as long as the direction is right.

Leonard saw a tiny spot of light emanating from the sophisticated mechanical structure.

The light spot seemed to contain enormous energy, cutting through the waves and breaking through the hurricane, as if nothing could stop it.

Boom~
Even in the midst of a thunderstorm, the loud explosions could not be masked.

From the waves that were cut through by the light just now, Leonard saw a huge explosion. The flames and impact formed went straight into the sky, and the dark clouds were greatly dispersed.

Odysseus was staring at the man chasing him. The other person seemed to have dived into the water just now and might not have suffered much damage.

Soon, the waves closed again and the explosion over there could no longer be seen.

Only then did Leonard seem to come back to his senses: "What is that?"

The boatswain, Salina, smiled proudly and said, "That's the cannon invented by the captain. What do you think? It's very powerful, right? I was also shocked when I saw it for the first time."

She emphasized: "It's the kind that really jumped up!"

Leonard nodded blankly and asked again, "What is that?"

Odysseus took off his telescope and said, "Just think of it as a special weapon."

Then he gave the order: "Four ahead! Turn left to avoid the Skull's rear."

Whoever was chasing the Skull, Odysseus intended to stay away from him.

It is very dangerous for the "Forward Four" to sail in such big waves. Even if the "balance system" is working at full capacity, you can still feel the violent shaking.

But now we have to speed up and check the situation of the "Skull".

Finally, after reaching the "peak" of the waves again, Odysseus used binoculars to see in the faint light that the explosion had caused the "Skeleton" to capsize, and it seemed that many crew members had fallen into the water.

However, the ghost ship is not an ordinary sea vessel after all. It must have used some protective measures and was not directly destroyed by the "Spirit Wave Cannon".

At this time, the person who was running on the sea just now parted the water and came out of the waves.

As expected, he was not seriously injured. He still held the scepter in his hand and summoned lightning to attack the "Skull".

Suddenly, several large tentacles parted the sea water, wrapped around the "Skeleton", and dragged it quickly away from the attack of the man with the staff.

Odysseus noticed that those large tentacles looked like those of a deep-sea monster.

But the color is very abnormal and there seem to be some signs of decay. It should be the corpse of a sea monster.

Since the corpse of the sea monster can still be summoned, it means that Balk is not dead yet, and the "Skeleton" can still hold on for a while.

Odysseus ordered: "Follow!"

Since someone was chasing the "Skull", Odysseus was of course happy to follow behind and watch the fun.

But they cannot be too far apart, otherwise they may miss the best time to collect the body.

Odysseus put down the telescope and took a deep breath. "Where did the 'Skull' get in trouble with that guy?"

Leonard and others also saw the man emerging from the waves.

But they had no clue.

Odysseus speculated, "Could it be that they found the ruins, but because they weren't warned, they explored them and ended up messing with someone or something they shouldn't have messed with?"

After all, the ruins had existed for more than a thousand years, and it was unlikely that there were still living people there, so Odysseus called it "thing".

Leonard observed the Skull outside and said, "That's very possible."

Odysseus took a deep breath and said, "The 'weapon' from the Fourth Epoch is still functioning normally."

Leonard lowered his binoculars and said, "To be honest, I'm not that surprised, especially after seeing the power of the 'Spirit Wave Cannon'."

Then he asked, "What should we do next?"

"Follow from a distance." Odysseus said: "Even if the 'Skull' is a ghost ship, it must have been damaged by the 'Spirit Wave Cannon'. With such a powerful enemy behind it, it should be sunk soon.

"We can wait until the guy with the staff leaves, then we can go collect the body."

Leonard asked, "What if the man with the staff doesn't leave?"

"If he doesn't leave or takes Balk's body away, we'll leave." Odysseus said, "It's still unclear what the other party is, so we can't take the risk of grabbing Balk's body.

"But even so, your mission is basically accomplished. First, you stopped Balk from continuing his exploration. Although it wasn't you who stopped him, he really couldn't continue exploring.

"Secondly, the ruins are almost certainly in the nearby 'Dangerous Sea'. The guy chasing Balk with the staff might have come from there.

"If you feel like this isn't enough, you can wait until the storm subsides and try again to see if you can find the exact location of the ruins."

Leonard looked dissenting, but ultimately said, "Okay."

After all, "Captain Gal" had previously emphasized that actions at sea must obey his command, and it was very kind of him to explain it seriously.

Then, the cab fell into silence, and everyone was carefully observing the situation ahead while shaking.
The corpse of the sea monster that was entangled with the "Skeleton" seemed tireless, dragging the ghost ship at a very fast speed, and the "Forward Four" of the "Argo" could hardly catch up.

The people chasing after the "Skull" looked very leisurely, and were following it slowly and leisurely.

After chasing for more than half an hour, Odysseus and others saw through the telescope that hail began to fall from the sky.

At this time, Yi Laizhe said: "We have entered the 'dangerous waters'."

Odysseus asked the Extraordinary Puppet in front of the instrument table: "How is the ship operating?"

The Extraordinary Puppet carefully checked it before saying, "Captain, the 'Balance System' is operating at full capacity, everything else is normal."

Odysseus nodded: "Keep chasing."

The hailstones were blocked by the "shield" of the "Argo", and every time there was hailstones blocked, it would shine, which made the surroundings of the "Argo" often flash with balls of light, giving the crew enough sense of security.

Especially Yi Laizhe, he had seen ships sunk by hail and knew how terrible hail was at sea.

But soon, the sense of security disappeared.

At first, everyone saw some huge objects falling from the sky in the distance.

Upon closer inspection, they found that the hailstones were as big as large ships, which was completely beyond Leonard and others' concept of hail.

Odysseus quickly ordered the Extraordinary Puppet, "'Extraordinary Machine Cannon', stand by! Attack the large hailstones!"

But soon, the hail in the sky became as big as hills. The shooting angle of the "Extraordinary Machine Gun" was limited, and it might not be able to blow it up in time. After all, it was not an anti-aircraft gun.

The situation is now extremely dangerous. Even if the Argo were to do this, it would be injured.

Odysseus took the telescope and looked ahead again, and finally decided: "Prepare to dive!"

"Dive... dive?" Leonard thought he had misheard. He had heard that there seemed to be ships that could fight underwater, and they were called submarines.

But the Argo is a sea ship, how can it dive?

In fact, not only he was very surprised, but the other crew members were also very surprised. Salina said with emotion: "I thought I had seen all the functions of this ship, but it turns out that it surprises me every time."

Odysseus asked the Extraordinary Puppet in front of the dashboard about the operation of the magic circle before saying, "With the buffer of the sea water, we can easily avoid these huge hailstones."

Then he gave the order: "Activate the 'water-repellent membrane'."

The "Extraordinary Puppet" pushed an operating lever to the maximum, and a thin film suddenly appeared around the "Argo", protecting the ship as if it had turned into a huge egg.

Odysseus checked and saw that the "water-repellent membrane" had been successfully deployed. He then issued a second command: "Activate the 'anti-buoyancy array'."

The diving system he designed did not use "traditional" submarine technology, but instead utilized mystical changes to mechanics to control the sinking or rising of the "Argo".

At this moment, a huge hailstone fell not far from the "Argo", and even in the huge waves of the storm, it stirred up a large layer of waves, almost causing the "Argo" to capsize.

Odysseus quickly ordered: "Dive!"

Everyone suddenly felt that the surrounding environment had changed, but they couldn't tell where the change occurred. It was not until they saw the things on the table floating in the air that they realized that the force field was in some kind of chaos.

Then, the "Argo" plunged into the huge waves and dived quickly.

But soon, the "Argo" broke through the mountain-like waves, appeared briefly on the sea surface, and then dived into the sea again.

This is because the waves are too high. When I dived just now, I was at the "mountainside", but now I just appeared at the "foot of the mountain" on the other side.

Soon, the "Argo" completely sank into the water, and the sounds of heavy rain and strong winds suddenly disappeared. Leonard and others even felt a slightly weird silence.

The "water-repellent film" isolates the sea water, and the scene looks very magical, as if you are suddenly in the underwater world.

However, it was pitch black all around, and Odysseus ordered the searchlight to be turned on, so that he could see the scene ahead.

In fact, you can only see the sea water, but the view is farther away.

Although the huge hailstones will cause a considerable impact when they fall into the sea, they will not sink into the sea and will eventually float on the sea surface, which means that the "Argo" no longer has to worry about the problem of hailstones.

After repeatedly inquiring about the operation of the magic circle, Odysseus smiled and said, "I hope the people chasing the 'Skull' think we have withdrawn."

In fact, what he meant to say was "I hope you think we are sinking", but it is taboo to say such things at sea.

Before going out to sea, Odysseus thought that only people in the East had taboos on ships. After going out to sea, he realized that whether they were from the North Continent or the South Continent, or the locals of the Violent Sea, they also had many taboos on the sea.

For example, in some places, crew members are strictly prohibited from bringing black suitcases on board, in some places, bananas are strictly prohibited on board, and in some places, the taboo is not to say words such as "rabbit" and "knife" on board.

In addition, because the sea is so unpredictable, people who often go out to sea have enough awe of the sea, so people who hang out on the sea basically believe in the "Lord of Storms".

Then, Odysseus continued, "Each dive can only last half an hour, and then we have to go to the surface to breathe and let the 'diving system' rest for a while.

"Everyone must quickly determine the location of the 'Skull' to see if any course adjustments are necessary."

It took a few seconds for everyone to come to their senses and accept the fact that they were already in the sea.

Second Mate Rupert asked, "Will it affect our speed in the water?"

"It's not a big impact." Odysseus said, "It's the undercurrent in the sea that's pushing us forward."

No one had any other questions and just stared blankly at the sea in front of them.

Occasionally there would be fish or other marine creatures swimming around, but not in large numbers. I guess most of them had swam to other seas or deeper places to avoid the storm.

Odysseus sat down on a chair to rest for a while. This kind of chase on the sea was very exhausting.

Half an hour later, the "Argo" returned to the sea to rest. Large hailstones were still falling on the beach, and the sea breeze was much stronger, which directly blew the "Argo" crooked.

The wind was so loud that you had to shout to be heard.

The cab was tilted to about 30 or 40 degrees, and Odysseus and others felt comfortable only when they leaned against the wall.

At this time, the sky was completely dark, and everything was dark. It looked like the end of the world.

After searching for a while, we confirmed the position of the "Skeleton" again. This ship is really holding up. It has been half an hour and it is still being chased. It doesn't look like it is going to sink.

Because the sea was still very dangerous and the wind was too strong, Odysseus chose to dive again.

Without the sound of the rushing wind, the surroundings became quiet again and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Odysseus poured a cup of coffee and sat in a chair to rest for a while.

After a few minutes, Rupert, who was observing from the glass window, suddenly said, "Something is wrong."

Everyone was stunned and came to the window of the cab to look out. For a moment, they didn't notice anything wrong, but their spiritual sense did remind them that something was wrong around them.

After two or three seconds, Odysseus suddenly realized: "There is not a single fish here!"

The last time I went diving, I could occasionally see some fish swimming around, but this time there was nothing!

At this time, everyone saw a white light on the seabed in front of them.

In the dark sea water, such light is particularly eye-catching.

Odysseus used the telescope to observe hard, but because the visibility was too poor, he drove forward for a distance before he saw some ruins on the seabed that were emitting a pale white light.

That should be Leonard's goal!

That military station from the Fourth Epoch!

"Charge the Soul-Destroying Cannon! Ascend!" Odysseus felt his hairs stand on end. He had no interest in exploring such dangerous ruins.

When the "Argo" returned to the surface of the sea, Odysseus and others immediately saw that on the sea not far ahead, the man who had just chased the "Skeleton" with a staff was quietly waiting for them.

(End of this chapter)