The orchestra outside the dance floor drew their bows and blew their trumpets, the crisp echoes and lodious tunes intertwining, announcing the formal start of the banquet.
Laughter flowed among the n and won, glasses clinking, and dazzling figures glided continuously across the red carpet.
Outside the porthole was the turbulent sea, thunder and rain roaring incessantly, as if heralding an impending apocalypse. Yet under the steel construction, all of nature’s fury was kept at bay outside the ship, like two overlapping worlds of contradiction.
"This place is really big."
Palr held his glass, looking up. The banquet hall stretched across layers of stands, with a massive crystal chandelier at the top emitting sunlight-like soft light.
Such a vast banquet hall was only a small part of the Paradise, with more areas sealed off by the Tidal Citizens, where guests like them had no access.
No wonder this place was called Paradise, it’s practically a small floating town. Palr could already envision the cruise ship owner and his luxurious and splendid lifestyle.
Outside were picturesque mountains, inside the ship were delicacies, and beds several ters long...
Truly enviable.
Palr pondered as he downed the contents of his glass in one go.
From the Clarks’ heir’s perspective, the banquet’s drinks were diocre, far from comparable to the Clarks’ collections, but as a humble field staff now, being able to drink sothing of this grade was enough to comfort his soul.
With that thought, Palr raised his hand to pour himself another glass, when another hand pressed down on his raised hand. Geoffrey appeared beside him like a ghost.
Geoffrey warned, "Don’t forget what we ca here to do."
They weren’t here to attend the banquet but to steal intelligence. Geoffrey hoped Palr wouldn’t drunkenly miss the conflict when it erupted later.
"Alright, alright."
Reluctantly, Palr put down the glass, glancing at the tables on either side, and tentatively asked, "Is it okay if I grab sothing to eat?"
Fearing Geoffrey’s disapproval, Palr added, "This is part of the disguise too."
After a mont of silence, Geoffrey sighed helplessly. Palr wasn’t wrong; from a disguise standpoint, Palr’s actions fit the banquet perfectly. Yet Geoffrey couldn’t discern whether it was Palr’s casual nature or elite training from the Crow’s Nest.
With a sly grin, Palr picked up two desserts from the table, handing one to Geoffrey, "Don’t be so nervous."
He took a big bite, devouring the dessert in just a few gulps like soone who hadn’t eaten in ages.
"No point in being anxious now, we need to watch that guy," Palr subtly pointed to soone nearby, "According to the ’identity card’ setup, we’re both his attendants."
Duwa was not far from them, chatting amiably with several strangers. Bits of their conversation about so kind of technology reached them. Surprisingly, this Seeker was doing better than they expected.
In the eyes of the Order Bureau, this Seeker was rely a crazed fan of King Solomon, filled with all sorts of strange and dangerous knowledge.
But in the eyes of many smaller external factions, Duwa was a rare Alchemy Master, whose casual remarks could solve technical problems. Their eyes sparkled with admiration. Duwa was close to breaking into their social circle.
Watching this scene, Palr felt sowhat conflicted. Perhaps his starting point was too high; he had no concept of those weaker factions. Often, ntioning the Order Bureau would have others cooperating obsequiously.
Geoffrey said, "I still don’t fully trust him."
"No worries, if anything goes wrong, there’s always you, isn’t there?" Palr winked.
"What do you an?"
"What else could it an, doing what we do best."
Palr rolled up his sleeves, revealing taut muscles, "You’re a Negative Power User, which may be common in the Order Bureau, but it’s different for the Tidal Citizens."
The biggest flaw of these second and third-tier Extraordinary Organizations lay here. They severely lacked High Tier Condensers.
Palr continued, "How many Condensers do you think are present?"
Geoffrey discreetly scanned the room and shook his head, "I’m not Lebius; I can’t tell."
Lebius’s mastery of Ether far surpassed others. If he were here, any potential Condensers would be recognized at a glance. Unfortunately, Lebius was not present.
Geoffrey could only guess from these people’s words and actions and then realized it was a futile effort.
Duwa broke away from the conversation and approached them with a smile. The closer he ca, the more the self-assured aura faded, replaced with a sense of despondency by the ti he reached them.
Others treasured a Seeker like him, but the violent crowd at the Order Bureau didn’t care. To avoid trouble, they wouldn’t hesitate to execute any Seeker from the Order of Truth on the spot.
Palr asked, "Any news?"
"No," Duwa shook his head, "they’re all here for trade with the Tidal Citizens. And as of now, the star of the banquet hasn’t appeared."
"Nolen Motley."
Geoffrey whispered, "The current Navigator, also the owner of the Paradise."
"I heard from others that besides a brief appearance, Nolen mysteriously disappeared afterwards, and now these guests are also waiting for him. After all, business needs to be discussed directly with him."
Duwa is really keen on matters related to the pri objects. Under Palr’s temporary guidance, this Seeker is already looking quite a bit like an intelligence officer.
"Oh, and they also said that before Nolen disappeared, he introduced soone else to everyone."
"Who?"
Duwa recalled the strange na, "Sothing like... Crowned Blue Jay?"
"Crowned Blue Jay?"
Geoffrey found the na sowhat familiar, but he just couldn’t rember.
Palr was stunned for a long while, murmuring, "You an... Crowned Blue Jay?"
"Yes, that’s right."
Palr tried hard to suppress his voice, the tone of excitent echoing in his throat.
"Crowned Blue Jay!"
...
"Achoo!"
Ewen turned his head and sneezed. Perhaps due to the weather, even though the ballroom was incredibly warm, he, already an old thing, still felt a bit uncomfortable all over.
After wiping his nose with a tissue, the joyous atmosphere flowed among the crowd in the dance floor. Seeing this scene, Ewen couldn’t help but relax, followed by wave after wave of fatigue, caressing his cheeks, trying to pull him into slumber.
Ewen struggled to stay alert, his gaze falling on the girl beside him. Her eyes sparkled as she watched the crowd on the dance floor. Ewen guessed she also wanted to join the dance, but she lacked a partner and also a dress impressive enough to outshine others.
Cinderella noticed Ewen’s gaze and looked back at him, her face full of playful aning.
"Crowned Blue Jay?"
Seeing her raised eyebrows, Ewen felt a headache coming. Nolen shouldn’t have talked so much.
"You’ve hidden well enough! Ewen."
Cinderella acted as if she had discovered a new toy, elbowing Ewen with force. Ewen, in a dejected manner, avoided Cinderella’s gaze.
"So... Is this the secret you’re hiding?"
Cinderella continued to probe. They hadn’t known each other for long, but both were acutely aware that the other harbored secrets.
She thought this was the secret Ewen was hiding, but Ewen remained silent. He didn’t bother to explain anything to Cinderella.
Secrets should be exchanged with secrets, but Ewen knew nothing about Cinderella.
Ewen said, "Rather than these things, you look like you want to join in."
Cinderella looked at the crowd, then glanced down at herself, shaking her head, "No."
"Not used to so many eyes on you?" Ewen expressed his twisted logic, "Why not think of them as dead people?"
"Have you ever seen dead people who can talk and dance?"
"Hahaha."
After laughing, Ewen slowly stood up, "Since there’s nothing interesting here, want to go out for a walk?"
Cinderella pointed to the storm outside the porthole, "In this weather? Go out for a walk?"
Ewen questioned in return, "Have you ever gone out for a walk in this kind of weather?"
"No."
"Then that’s it, consider it a life achievent," Ewen suddenly bent down, saying sothing odd, "Think about it, Cinderella, a life where you haven’t walked on the deck during a stormy day is a complete failure!"
"I guess you often justify doing a lot of stupid things as ’a life failed by not doing sothing’?"
Cinderella saw right through Ewen, thinking this guy’s brain was truly twisted.
Ewen didn’t deny it. He candidly nodded in affirmation of Cinderella’s words, not reflecting on it, but instead continued to ask.
"Shall we go?"
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