We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 322 Hope of shedding armor, how can eggs remain intact when the nest is overturned?

"……what?"

After hearing Jane's words, Xia En's first reaction was to be stunned.

Little did he know that Jane's request would be to become a crew member on his ship!

No wonder Jane said before that the difficulty of this request mainly lay in her making up her mind.

Jane smiled slightly and said, "What, Captain Xia En doesn't welcome me?"

"Welcome? Of course you're welcome!"

Xia En quickly replied, "I'm just a little surprised."

For the Black Swan, having a scholar as knowledgeable as Jane is definitely a great thing with no downsides.

With so many years of accumulated knowledge, Jane can almost be called a "walking library" or a "living encyclopedia".

Many of Xia En's questions could be answered by her.

Furthermore, the crew members on the Black Swan already harbor various secrets, and Jane's presence might allow them to gain a deeper understanding of themselves.

Moreover, although Jane claims to be a researcher, she does not possess the power of a typical esoteric practitioner.

But Xia En didn't believe that a woman who could defect from the Truth Society, the Tranquil Lady, could really be a weak woman with no strength to even kill a chicken.

Perhaps her combat power will even surpass his own!
With the journey to the Frigid Sea imminent, any increase in combat strength is crucial.

However, after formally agreeing to Jane's request.

Xia En then realized—

It turns out that the Black Swan has not had any new crew members added for a long time.

Although Shane subdued the Moon Wanderers and the Treants, they were, strictly speaking, residents of the Rhine Realm, not Shane's crew.

In fact, Shane had quite a few opportunities to recruit new crew members.

For example, on [Liuli Island], as long as he is willing to spend gold dragon coins, he can recruit a large number of experienced and strong sailors.

But after thinking it over, Xia En believed that it was possible to recruit, but unnecessary!
First of all, the boost that these sailors receive from the [Captain's Prestige] skill is actually very limited once they board the ship.

It's almost "better than nothing".

At the same time, Shane spent a lot of time managing and training these sailors.

Why not just let the Moonlit Clan from the Rhine Rift board the ship instead of wasting time like this?

At least they have absolute loyalty to themselves.

On the other hand, there are far too many secrets on the Black Swan.

Elf, Bronze Dragon, [Diamond Star]... and now there's also a simplified version of [Truth Number NO.008].

If any of these secrets were to be leaked, it could cause quite a stir in the Seven Seas, and might even lead to considerable trouble.

And Shane couldn't guarantee that every sailor would keep quiet.

Rather than trusting the sailors' credibility, it's better not to bring them along at all!

For these reasons, Shane has not recruited any new crew members for a long time.

Before Jane, the newest crew members were Yan Yan and Cui Xi, who joined the ship on the Cold Sea!

Thinking of Yan Yan, Xia En's feelings were inevitably complicated.

It's both a reflection on his status as the King of Salvation and a concern for his uncertain current situation.

However, according to Yan Yan, after leaving the Black Swan, he and the Black Flame Walkers will also head to the far north to resolve the impending crisis.

Perhaps they will have a chance to meet again there.

I just don't know how things will turn out then...

After gathering her thoughts, Shane turned to Jane and said, "Ms. Jane, let me introduce you to the crew of the Black Swan."

With that, Shane led Jane to the crew.

"This is Ms. Jane Vivian, who was the librarian of the Federal Grand Library."

"From today onwards, she is a new crew member of the Black Swan."

Jane smiled politely and looked around at everyone: "Hello, I'm Jane."

However, as Jane scanned the others, her expression couldn't help but become a little strange, and she muttered to herself.

"A white-haired siren... a vampire who has reverted to his ancestral form..."

"There's another... real ancient dragon!?"

"Are there no ordinary people among the crew members on this ship?"

In Jane's view, Shane had long been excluded from the category of ordinary people.

Even with her limited experience, a storm still raged in her heart after recognizing the identities of the crew members.

None of the crew members on the Black Swan were ordinary people; their identities and backgrounds were all extraordinary.

Atavistic vampires are extremely rare.

In Jane's long life, she had only met five such people.

The white-haired, red-eyed siren girl also seemed to have completed the awakening of her bloodline.

More importantly, she possessed a certain divinity, as if she had the authority of some deity.

—This trait makes it hard for Jane not to think of the first plan that the Truth Society is implementing.

Thinking about this, Jane finally understood why Shane had asked about the two major plans of the Truth Society last time.

It seems that even without his involvement, Captain Shane already had a very deep connection with the Truth Society.

Finally, Jane's gaze fell on Anne, who was clad in armor.

Although the armor looked very special and imposing, he seemed to be the most normal one among the group.
However, just as Jane had this thought, she sensed a familiar yet unfamiliar aura emanating from An.

Jane will never forget that special scent!
Jane stared blankly at Ann and asked, "Are you... an elf?"

An hesitated for a moment, then nodded gently after receiving a reassuring look from Xia En.

"really!"

After meeting Shane, Jane knew that there was most likely an elven crew member on his ship.

But after seeing Ann in person, Jane couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

Even though she was the daughter of an elf, she had never seen a real elf, and even half-elves like herself had only encountered one by chance.

So Jane couldn't help but step forward and ask, "What's your name?"

Have you seen any other elves?

"Or rather, do you know where the elves gather?"

Because this matter was extremely important to Jane, she was inevitably a little anxious, firing off a barrage of questions that made the speechless Anne a little flustered.

Fortunately at this time.

Tracy flew out from the side and said, "Madam, please don't be in such a hurry."

"Ask questions one by one, we have a long time to work together in the future."

"Besides, An can't speak, so no matter how urgently you ask, it won't help."

Upon seeing the winged, petite Tracy, a strange light flashed in Jane's eyes once again.

"Fairy?"

She had certainly read about this elven-associated race in the various ancient books in the Great Library.

But like the elves, this was the first time Jane had ever seen such a strange creature.

After hearing Tracy's words, Jane quickly calmed down.

She wasn't usually the type to get easily excited, but the "elf" meant so much to her that she momentarily lost her composure. After calming down, Jane noticed something Trish said.

"Unable to speak? Is it the [curse of aphasia]?"

Over the years, Jane's research on the Elven race has been quite profound, so she naturally saw the reason behind it at a glance.

"Yes."

Xia En spoke up from the side, "Ms. Jane, you may be disappointed."

“Ann has lost her memories of being among the elves, and her understanding of the elves is not much greater than yours or mine.”

"I see……"

Jane nodded and then asked, "And what about this armor?"

“I can smell a sealed aura in it.”

Xia En sighed softly, "This is a long story..."

However, when this matter was mentioned, Xia En suddenly had a thought.

With her knowledge, could she help An remove her armor while preventing the misfortune from spreading?

"hiss……"

Xia En's heart skipped a beat.

Don’t tell me, it’s really possible!

Having spent so much time together, Xia En still doesn't know whether Lian An is male or female, or what she looks like. It's unrealistic to say she's not curious.

But more important than the emotion of "curiosity" is the ability to free Ann from the prison of this armor!

Even though Ann never showed it, anyone who lived in such a closed suit of armor for decades or centuries would suffer immense physical and mental torment.

If An could be freed from this, even for a very short time, he could rediscover the feeling of freedom.

However, Jane has only just boarded the ship, and there is still a long way to go before she can truly solve this problem.

"Captain Shane—"

Just as Jane was carrying her luggage into the room and gradually getting to know the crew,

A shout came from the sea.

Shaen turned his head and saw a beautiful frigate sailing towards the Black Swan.

Xia En was no stranger to it.

That was Daisy's ride—the Breeze!
Beside the "Gentle Breeze" is another ship that looks very similar to it, like its twin brother.

This is the "Cold Rain," and its captain is naturally Daisy's younger brother, Alessio.

At this moment, Daisy changed into a clean and neat white captain's uniform.

Her hair was tied into a ponytail at the back of her head, and a sailor's scimitar was tucked into her waistband. She stood gracefully.

The usual charming and gentle rouge scent had largely disappeared, replaced by a heroic and dashing aura.

This gave Shane a rather novel feeling, like "So Daisy has this side to her too."

"Captain Shane, it's about time."

Daisy waved and said, "It's time to gather at the sea area where the teleportation ritual takes place."

Xia En nodded: "I understand."

"Then I'll take the first step."

Just as Daisy was about to order the helmsman to turn the bow, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure on the deck out of the corner of her eye and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Ms. Administrator!?"

The person Daisy saw was none other than Jane, who was wearing a black tulle dress.

"The librarian? Is she the librarian of the main library?"

Not only Daisy, but Alessio also noticed Jane on the deck, and couldn't help but stare blankly, muttering in surprise.

They never expected that Xia Enlai's trip to [Liuli Island] would not only result in such a large business deal, but also in him abducting the administrator of [Federal Grand Library]!
This is no small matter on [Liuli Island].

If it were just a regular administrator, that would be fine; they could just replace the person.

But you should know that there has only ever been one librarian at the Federal Grand Library!
Over the centuries, people have become accustomed to the presence of the aloof and wise old woman in the Great Library.

And now, she has quietly boarded the Black Swan and is about to leave Glass Island!?

After recognizing Jane, the other crew members of the Light Breeze and Cold Rain also showed expressions of surprise.

Some crew members couldn't help but shout out.

"Madam administrator, is that really you?"

"I even borrowed a book from the library last month!"

Faced with the surprised crowd, Jane's attitude was completely different from when she communicated with the crew.

She merely glanced at them indifferently, offered no response, and walked back to her room on her own.

This aloof demeanor seems somewhat unapproachable.

But Daisy and the others thought it was perfectly normal.

Or rather, this is how the administrator should behave!
"As expected, it really is the administrator lady..."

The sailor who had just asked the question couldn't help but sigh softly, "I knew I hadn't made a mistake."

After her initial surprise, Daisy shook her head helplessly and sighed.

"As expected of Captain Shane."

The fact that the female administrator could become a crew member on the ship goes beyond simple special treatment.

This suggests that there must be some secret about Xia En that she doesn't know.

However, as his companion, Daisy couldn't possibly pry into his secrets.

Daisy thought to herself, "Moreover, with the administrator lady traveling with us this time, our chances of survival have increased even further."

Based on the intelligence that has been transmitted back so far, the situation in the Cold Sea is actually not optimistic.

Due to the harsh environment of the far north and the unknown monsters that have appeared there, the ships of all factions have faced considerable difficulties in advancing.

In just one month, the Federal Navy suffered considerable casualties.

Moreover, even to this day, the Federation's assembled team has failed to locate the King.

This demonstrates the difficulty of the entire rescue and exploration operation.

Otherwise, the Moriarty family would not have sent two of their closest relatives to participate in such a dangerous operation.

The situation has actually reached a rather critical point.

Holding the belief that "when the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact," the various major families of [Liuli Island] also dispatched their elite forces.

It didn't take long.

Shaen then piloted the Black Swan to the sea area where the teleportation track was located.

By this time, a considerable number of ships of various styles had gathered here.

Among them were warships of the Federal Navy as well as dilapidated and primitive pirate ships.

Shane even spotted the shadows of several vampire ships.

However, with the [Gentle Breeze] and [Cold Rain] guarding them, these vampire ships stayed far away and did not approach on their own initiative.

The atmosphere across the entire sea was heavy and bleak.

Soon, the fluctuations of the secret power began to surge on the sea surface.

The teleportation array has begun to activate!
(End of this chapter)