Storm of Gods

Chapter 229 The Curse of the Sea

The twelve zodiacal star charts.

The twinkling stars lit up half of the room, and one by one, figures appeared on the magnificent high-backed chair: the supreme Mr. Cancer, the elegant Ms. Aries, the steady Mr. Taurus, and the lagging Gemini and Leo.

Christian was the first to arrive, so he observed very clearly that Gemini and Leo had made absolutely no progress, and their ruling planets showed no improvement whatsoever. As reclusive practitioners, what were these two doing all day long?
Miss Aries seemed a little melancholy, which touched Christian's heart slightly. Had she encountered some kind of problem?
Estella smiled slightly. "It's nice to see everyone again, Mr. Lion. Has your predicament improved?"

Barty quickly stood up and respectfully replied, "Thank you for your concern, Miss Aries. I feel much better."

“That’s good. You’ll get used to it eventually. We at the Roundtable are a big family,” Cantona said with a smile. “I’ve recently encountered a problem and would like to ask you all for advice.”

“Please speak, Mr. Taurus,” Li Xin said.

“I was on a mission at sea recently, which was supposed to be completed in about a week, but I encountered a storm and veered off course. I don’t know where I am now,” Cantona said with a wry smile.

He was unable to utilize many of his abilities and experiences on land, and he was truly at a loss. "That's alright, but a curse has appeared on the ship."

Christian frowned. Someone like him wouldn't care about such technical work. "Didn't you find a reliable captain?"

"The mission is quite secretive, the captain is one of our own, and he has decent sea experience..."

“That means you’re not capable enough. The more important the mission, the less you can afford to be careless in the preparations,” Christian said. The usually composed Taurus was anything but composed.

Taurus could only smile wryly. He knew that Mr. Cancer meant no harm, but he was quick to rub salt into wounds. He also regretted not finding an old captain.

“Mr. Taurus, what is the status of the curse? I can ask someone about it,” Estella asked.

“Some of them completely lost their sight at night,” Cantona said. He, a mainlander, had suffered a lot on this sea mission, but fortunately he was physically strong.

Everyone was stunned. Losing their sight was no small matter. "Did you feel anything else? Was it a sea monster, or is there something wrong with the ship?"

“There won’t be any problems on the ship. Everyone on board is one of us, absolutely loyal and reliable. As for the monsters, we’ve encountered them before and killed them all. They don’t seem to have any curse abilities. We have a priest, and he didn’t sense any corrupting power,” Cantona said.

The unknown is the most stressful thing. Their mission this time is to find the treasure map. If the whole team is wiped out, the consequences will be unimaginable.

"Mr. Taurus, what do you eat on your ship?" Li Xin asked.

"Food? We don't have much fresh water left, but we still have a dozen barrels of rum, bread, jerky, and we can catch fish. That's it. Are you saying someone poisoned the food?" Cantona asked.

“Mr. Taurus, it’s possible this isn’t a curse,” Li Xin speculated. “If there’s no obvious hidden power, the problem lies in our food. Our bodies need something from vegetables, fruits, or tea. A long-term deficiency can lead to a disease called septicemia, which is extremely deadly at sea, causing blindness, more serious illnesses, and even death. Without knowing the cause, it can also cause chaos and panic.” Cantona was stunned. “What do we do?”

“We need to find land to resupply first,” Li Xin said. “Also, Mr. Taurus, I once took a long sea voyage. The conditions were very harsh, but the captain would prepare tea and oranges. I’m not sure if that’s common knowledge at sea where you are.”

When he traveled from Tianjing to Herdan, the conditions on the ship were also very poor, but they did prepare some tea, oranges and the like. Although people of that era did not know the cause, they must have found a way from experience.

Upon hearing this, Cantona's expression changed, even though he was still in a daze.

“If Gemini is right, Taurus, you need to be careful. It’s really incompetent for a captain not to know this. You can’t be too confident in your abilities. Sometimes telling the truth is more dangerous,” Christian said. Abilities can make people overconfident, or perhaps Taurus’s ability wasn’t as great as he claimed.

Fragments kept flashing through Cantona's mind. He had an excellent memory because there was no fruit on the ship from the beginning, and very few vegetables. The captain said they were easy to rot. After all, the main thing to carry on a sea voyage was water and food to stave off hunger. He even specifically explained the necessity of carrying alcohol. On a sea voyage, alcohol could be used as water, could also soothe emotions, and had a longer shelf life. At the time, everyone thought it was very professional.

Before defecting from the Church of the Underworld, he held a high position and was very skilled at identifying lies through words, almost as good as his abilities. However, due to trust and the fact that what the other party said was indeed true, he didn't think much of it.

They had no idea about tea. During this voyage, only the captain had experience in this area. Once, he accidentally smelled a hint of tea in the captain's cabin. After spending a long time at sea, surrounded by the smell of fish all day, even a faint tea scent would stand out.

He found it strange at the time, but didn't pay much attention to it. He had no knowledge in this area and didn't think about anything else.

Is that common sense?
Cantona couldn't tell that this wasn't common sense. Different countries and different seas, perhaps the navigators had different experiences, but it was too much of a coincidence that only he had tea while everyone else didn't. In Cantona's life, every time he encountered such a coincidence, it was never accidental.

Combining the captain's recent actions and signs, Cantona was also horrified. The Church of Death had mobilized a powerful force for this expedition, with experts from all walks of life within the church. Whether it was poisoning or using covert powers, it was impossible to do so without leaving a trace. Every one of these people had crawled out of piles of corpses. But there was only one thing: they were all landlubbers. Fortunately, he was a member of the Round Table.

Cantona stood up, took a deep breath, and said, “Mr. Gemini, thank you! Gentlemen, I need to leave now to take care of some matters.”

At this moment, Cantona's voice carried a chilling murderous intent; Mr. Taurus was no pushover.

After saying that, Cantona leaned back and disappeared from the chair. When he woke up again, he was back in his cabin. The waves were surging and it was dark outside. They had been swept into unknown waters by the storm. Humans, even the hermits, were ants in the face of the vast ocean. Coupled with the "curse", the experts on land were now in a state of depression.

Some of the people involved in the operation had completely lost their sight, while others were in a state of weakness and vomiting, which should be the kind of illness that Mr. Gemini mentioned.

The captain must be up to something; he's already waiting for the right moment to act. The reason he hasn't acted yet is probably because he's not blind.

Looking out at the dark and chilly sky, Cantona lit the last half of his cigar...

(End of this chapter)