From the Ship of Fools to Earl of Wugang

Edmund turned to the last and thinnest letter, the pages of which were torn in places from the force he used. The letter was signed simply "Schenker":

*…If even you believe it's merely the pipe dream of a fallen noble family, then must the honor of my family and the lives of my people be reduced to dust by your pointless 'caution'? I have no other choice, and this is my final invitation! If you still refuse, I…*

Edmund put down the letter: "Has Mr. Yang replied?"

"No, after reading the letter that night, the master sealed it away with the other letters the next day," Thomas said softly and indifferently.

"I think that after that scientific expedition, the master would not want to get involved in a potentially out-of-control vortex."

Edmund stared at the stack of decaying letters on the table, as if witnessing the slow collapse of a nobleman's dignity.

"Twilight Harbor, the name foreshadows the ending." He shrugged and began reading the rest of the letter.

Half an hour later, Edmund finished reading most of the letters and turned to the penultimate item—the scrolls.

The dark blue velvet ribbons on the rolls had faded somewhat, and Thomas carefully placed them on the writing desk.

"These are maps and nautical charts that the master collected from various sources over the years, most of them are precious copies," Thomas explained.

Edmund picked up a scroll first, and upon unfolding it, he saw that it was an old map of the entire Heartbreaker Sea. The ink markings on the map were somewhat faded, and the classical sea monster decorations drawn in the blank areas of the sea were also blurred.

He wasn't surprised that the information vision didn't trigger, and instead picked up other maps to examine.

Each map here has brief annotations by Mr. Yang, including descriptions of extraordinary events, resource points, and geographical history. When Edmund unfolded the second-to-last map, his finger suddenly stopped.

It was a partial nautical chart of the continent of Orion, drawn about twenty years ago, covering an area from the coast of the Moral Union all the way to the southern Federal Republic of Veridiah.

Then a place name circled in red ink caught Edmund's eye: "Twilight Harbor".

Edmund stared at the label next to the place name for a few seconds, and a wave of déjà vu washed over him.

He had seen this location before, but not here with Mr. Yang, but here—

In Farian Madeleine's encrypted notes.

He abruptly turned to Thomas: "Thomas, do you have a pen and paper?"

The old butler took a pencil and a sheet of white paper from the writing table. Edmund quickly wrote down the coordinate sequence from Farian's notes that he remembered, and then began to compare it.

The latitude and longitude grid on the nautical chart is not entirely consistent with the coordinate system used by Farrell, but Mr. Yang mentioned a conversion method in the annotations at the corner of the chart.

A few minutes later, Edmund used the tip of his pencil to mark a location on the nautical chart, about twelve kilometers out to sea from Dusk Harbor.

If the negative value in the Farian coordinates represents altitude or depth below sea level, then the location is on the seabed below that.

Edmund looked up, his gaze shifting from the chart to the stack of Earl Schenkel's letters on the table.

"Thomas, you mentioned earlier that Mr. Yang believed there were contradictions in the Earl's 'evidence' and that the geographical information lacked systematicity. But Mr. Yang didn't directly refute the Earl's findings?"

“Yes, sir,” Thomas recalled. “The master said that although the Earl was impatient, some of the descriptions of the terrain he provided were not fabricated. Especially the place the Earl repeatedly mentioned, ‘a place where schools of fish and seagulls gather’—the master seemed particularly interested in that.”

Edmund picked up the Earl's letter and reread it, then turned his gaze back to the nautical chart.

Mr. Yang annotated the map in rather compact handwriting: "There appears to be a large space beneath the reefs in this area."

Next to it, there was a smaller line of text: "Upwelling currents can bring up deep, nutrient-rich water, promoting the reproduction of plankton and the gathering of fish, which in turn attracts seabirds. However, more information is lacking, and the specifics are unknown."

Mr. Yang's annotations on the map indicate that he at least partially accepted the Earl's clues, and the precise coordinates in Farian's notes happen to fall in the same area.

Coincidence certainly can't explain this; a member of the Silver Cross Fellowship wouldn't go to such lengths to encrypt an ordinary treasure location. The coordinates must point to something related to the supernatural.

The count himself probably had no idea what the "treasure legend" passed down through generations of his family actually referred to.

Edmund carefully rolled up the chart again, stood up, and paced around the study.

Edmund recalled that many pages of Farian's notebook seemed to have been torn out, and what he had deciphered was only what remained. Perhaps those torn pages contained more crucial information?

The answers to these questions can probably only be found by visiting Twilight Harbor in person. But is it worth it?

Edmund stopped and began to weigh his options.

He is about to have a huge sum of money, and the millions of Eagle Gold Coins in the Order will be steadily laundered. Even a portion of it will be enough to support the expedition to the Moral Union.

He has already taken the first step on the journey of a traveler, and his survival skills will be further enhanced after his official promotion.

Mr. Yang's research data might give him an extra advantage when exploring the ruins, and Earl Schinkel of Twilight Harbor is clearly in a predicament.

A fallen nobleman in dire need of external intervention should welcome anyone willing to take his "family legends" seriously.

Of course, risks also exist. The nature and internal conditions of that site are completely unknown, and more detailed records about that site in the notes have been deliberately removed.

If Farian tore it up himself, it means there was some information he didn't want anyone to see, which is a warning sign.

Edmund walked to the writing desk and took a clean sheet of white paper from the drawer.

He made a mental note of it and turned to face Thomas.

The old butler waited quietly by his side, as if he had long been accustomed to this long silence.

"Thomas, I'd like to take a closer look at these scrolls and letters. Can I return them in a few days?"

"Of course, sir." Thomas nodded. "These were originally left by the master for posterity to consult; you are free to dispose of them as you see fit."

"Very good." Edmund gathered the letters and scrolls together. "Oh, and one more thing. Did Mr. Yang ever have any dealings with the Silver Cross Laity Society?"

After a moment's thought, Thomas said, "The master did have contact with some religious and academic groups after the expedition, but the name Silver Cross Faith is unfamiliar to me."

"Understood, thank you, Thomas." Edmund put the documents away. "I think that's enough for today. Let me process this information."

"Very wise, sir." Thomas collected the tea tray. "I'll knock on the door before dinner."

After the old butler left the study, Edmund sat alone at his writing desk, with the nautical chart marked with the Harbor of Dusk spread out in front of him.

Farian Madeleine, Robert Young, the Earl of Twilight Harbor, and himself—he couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of fate.