The black sun hangs high

Chapter 333 Calm and Calm
With a soft sound, the cabin curtains were drawn back.

Steam rose slowly from the beverage pot on the table, and the unique aroma of the refreshing drink filled the cabin.

After a long journey, the Windless convoy has successfully docked. The convoy will resupply its personnel and supplies here, and special legal committee craftsmen will also carry out emergency maintenance and inspection of the ships.

There were many fishing boats and cargo ships leaving the port in the nearby sea, and Hugh could see a very familiar pattern on these ships.

Those were irises, but these irises were not exactly the same as the emblem of the Kingdom of Delan—their color was neither purple nor light blue, but a special kind of black.

This mark belongs to the Principality of Prair.

The Duchy of Prair is quite famous in Vaan, but its fame lies entirely in its presence and influence.

On the Goddess Plains, there are very few cases like the Principality of Prair, which has virtually no presence. Its military strength is almost zero, and the principality has only a very small number of troops for maintaining order and stability.

In terms of political stance and choices, the Duchy of Prair is heavily dependent on the Kingdom of Deland. To put it dramatically, it can almost exist as a coastal town of the Kingdom of Deland. The main reason why this small duchy has continued to exist is that the Kingdom of Deland respects the Grand Duke of Prair and is willing to use this to demonstrate the close relationship between the nobles of the plains.

Having made a temporary stop in such a place, Hugh had no intention of going down for a stroll, and neither did Vera.

So the two of them tacitly stayed on the Windless, intending to spend the entire half-day on research and planning.

"Your previous judgment was basically correct, and your guesses about the plans that the professor and the others might take were also accurate."

Vera looked up from the magical letter in her hand, shook the paper, and her lips twitched slightly: "Felix and the others did use what you called... well, violent methods, and they looked very violent."

Hugh, who was sitting to the side writing and drawing in his notebook, looked up and said, "Extremely violent? Tell me more."

Vera read aloud from the letter in her hand: "He not only mobilized the newly established Dawnblade, but also requested a batch of professional soldiers and vehicles from Darthville. After receiving our intelligence, they rushed to Blue Algae Harbor as soon as possible... It mentioned that the soldiers were fully armed and ultimately used not only alchemical bombs, but also those new firearms. Now, the Blue Algae Harbor Goblin Merchant Guild should no longer exist."

"An expected decision."

Hugh picked up the beverage pitcher next to him and poured the prepared energy drink into Vera's empty glass. He explained, "In a long confrontation and struggle, finding a breakthrough is very important, especially now."

Vera picked up her water glass, gently blew on the steam rising from it, and her smile turned somewhat helpless: "Well, I thought the fish we caught earlier could be a breakthrough."

"There's nothing we can do about it."

Hugh poured himself a refreshing drink, and as he spoke, he turned to look at the "skin worms" in the alchemical containers: "To understand these things, we need more than just a lot of time... we also need sufficient academic resources and manpower, and even enough luck."

Now, these "skin worms" imprisoned in alchemical containers have been subjected to several additional layers of isolation rituals.

Moreover, Hugh added his own dark abyssal magic to these containers. Under the suppression and blockade of numerous rituals and magic, these strange community creatures fell into a state of near-dormant. They floated slowly in the alchemical solution, their bodies naturally stretched out, looking like specimens.

"We still know too little about them, which could even pose a great danger and hidden danger to our research... In comparison, figuring out the Black Sun Society's operational thinking would be much simpler and more effective."

To this, Vera seemed somewhat ambivalent: "We've experienced the Black Sun Society's habits firsthand many times. I admit they're easier to deal with than those ancient creations, but they can think of anything we can think of... I don't believe our actions will yield any truly effective intelligence."

Hugh withdrew his gaze from the "skin worm" and looked at the female mage sitting opposite him, saying, "My perspective on this issue may be a little different from yours."

Hearing this, Weilin raised her eyebrows slightly. Of course, she wouldn't get angry over such a simple sentence, so she asked, "Tell me, where is the difference?"

"This must be based on our position and identity, the Black Sun Society, and those ancient creations."

Hugh organized his thoughts and slowly said, "The reason we find these ancient creations dangerous and troublesome is that their behavior and principles always exceed our expectations. Their forms and abilities are already very strange, and coupled with their unpredictable behavior, it makes it impossible for us to truly understand them in a short period of time."

"In contrast, no matter what strategies the Black Sun Society adopts, they can never escape their inherent framework."

“The established framework…”

Veraine grasped the key point in Hugh's words. She repeated the word softly, and her eyes, which had been slightly confused, brightened: "You mean that the Black Sun Society's behavioral principles and rules can still be understood and predicted?"

Hugh nodded and said, “Although many people see these Black Sun Society members as incomprehensible madmen, in fact, their madness is extremely limited... Let’s look back at our previous experience. Although they act according to vague prophecies, they also devise a series of meticulous plans when doing those things.”

"Of course, I could also put it a little more bluntly."

Hugh revealed a somewhat subtle smile: "They've gone mad, but not completely mad. They seem to stop at nothing to achieve their goals, but the methods they use are always unable to escape the rules of Vaan itself. They even have to resort to the power of those 'despicable individuals' in their eyes."

"As for the actions we discussed earlier against the Black Sun Society, they should be easy to understand now."

Hughes put down his cup, his voice turning cold: "Since they can't break free from this established framework, what we need to do is destroy all their investments here as thoroughly as possible." "Perhaps one or two such operations won't bring about any fundamental change, nor will they be able to obtain the intelligence and information we want, but they can effectively weaken the Black Sun Society's overt control and influence over various regions."

"Okay, I understand what you mean."

As Hughes spoke, Vera finally finished her energy drink. She rolled her eyes at Hughes: "You actually want to completely sever the connection between the Black Sun Society and those ancient creations, right?"

"Yes, they may indeed believe in those lost gods and do possess some of their power, but that doesn't mean the Black Sun Society can form an alliance with those true kin. We must deal with the two as separately as possible."

"Clap!"

With a soft click, Vera placed the empty glass on the table. She looked at Hugh and smiled, "I bet when you get to Merlinle, you'll have a lot in common with those people in charge of public affairs... Don't call me when you're talking, I don't want to suffer that kind of torture."

Hugh paused for a moment, then laughed. He realized that he had been a bit too serious and meticulous. As a relatively pure magic scholar, Verin's concern and understanding of these matters was inherently very limited.

There's probably no chance of getting her truly involved in these things.

Participating in the discussion just now was probably her limit.

After putting down the reports and documents in her hands, Vera quickly immersed herself back into the research on "skin worms" and "colors of life." She had just come up with a new experimental idea and was eager to implement it in the temporary laboratory. So Hugh didn't disturb her any longer, picked up the Black Sun Scepter, and walked straight outside.

Hughes always held the ocean in awe.

Although a sturdy, armed ship would give him a place to stay on the vast ocean, the feeling of not having his feet touching the ground made Hugh feel very uneasy.

The events of the past few days have further aggravated Hugh's feelings.

To prevent a similar situation from occurring, Hugh brought the Black Sun Scepter directly to the banquet hall, found a table at random, and sat down. After the abundant magic power was injected into the Black Sun Scepter, it immediately spread out in all directions, and a huge network of perception covered the surrounding area, including the Windless Ship.

Although this is the largest port in the Principality of Prair, its size is still quite limited. In just half an hour, Hugh had already used his senses to search the entire port thoroughly.

Perhaps because the Black Sun Society has not taken any further action, or perhaps because the Duchy of Prair is not even worth mentioning in the eyes of the Black Sun Society, Hughes found an unprecedented peace and tranquility during this sensory exploration.

And so, as evening fell and all crew and passengers had arrived, the fleet, which had been resting briefly in the Principality of Prair, set sail again.

There were fewer passengers on the Windless Ship than before.

The vast majority of those who left early were not nobles from various regions who were required to attend the Merlinle and the conference. They had originally boarded the Windless with gilding and other tasks or purposes, but what had happened earlier had a very serious deterrent effect on them.

Their hope was to easily gain their share of the benefits on this journey, rather than lose their lives as a result.

The departure of this group changed the atmosphere aboard the Windless.

The interactions among the passengers became much simpler, and some of the scholars who were focused on and studying those deep-sea communities had even successfully built closer relationships with each other, including the infamous Leger.

Everyone was intelligent and noticed the special attitude that Hugh and the Dawn Society had towards Leger. Coupled with Leger's own performance, many people changed their opinion of him. At least now, Leger was no longer seen as a clown as he was at the beginning. In some daily research and academic discussions, they would politely include Leger.

Having climbed his way up from the very bottom of the magical academic world, Leger possessed a thick skin and a quick wit that most scholars lacked. He was very clear about the direct source of this change, so after two in-depth conversations with Richard and other members of the Dawn Society, Leger very directly expressed his inclinations and attitudes.

Hughes even saw that this guy had bought a book on social studies about Saint Steer from somewhere, and the author of the book was none other than Frey Meyer.

Whether this is just for show or not, it's a good start.

Soon, the Windless Fleet left the port. Next, the fleet will head to the coast of the Principality of Black River, where they will pick up the second batch of passengers. After that, they will head straight for the cold Merlinle. The voyage will take two days longer than expected, and all the necessary adjustments and notifications have been made.

The three live "skin worms" and most of the collected blood and flesh samples have been successfully handed over to the local legal committee officials. They need to provide better preservation conditions for these valuable samples and secretly send them to the Kingdom of Delan. These samples will undergo the most detailed dissection and research in the largest legal committee research institute and laboratory in the Kingdom of Delan.

After the storm, calm follows.

Without any external interference, Hugh and his crew enjoyed a relatively relaxed and leisurely life on the ship. In addition to collecting intelligence and studying samples every day, Hugh even had the opportunity to write some works.

On the second night after the voyage resumed, Hugh sat at his desk with Justina by his side. He opened an old notebook with a slightly stained cover, bearing traces of the ravages of war. It was one that Verin had saved for him.

Among them is the beginning of the work he wrote under the pen name "The Ghost of Seren" at the time.

After everything that had happened, Hugh felt it was necessary to fill in some gaps in the story.

(End of this chapter)