Chapter 127 (2/2)

“An unnecessary precaution, but thanks,” Professor Gideon gru into the hole at the base of the shi+p

“Don’t go too far ahead, Master!” E in excite at Varay, I couldn’t help but notice the faint traces of concern on her nor for any potential dangers, there was still so inside the shi+p after Hi The air was heavy and warhlumber

The lower levels were spacious, with not much inside except for the columns of iron—so Shattered remains of wooden crates littered the floor but whatever was inside most likely had either perished or been washed away by the ocean water

I could see the old inventor studying the remains of whatever he could find before he and Hi to the next floor up This left me, Emily, and Varay to explore the abandoned vessel on our own accord; only, we had no idea what it ere searching for, and ere here in the first place

<hr>

After finding little else of interest, eaved through the mounds of seaweed and sand that had infiltrated the shi+p and followed after Professor Gideon and his butler to the floor above

It was easy to figure out that the bottommost levels of this abandoned shi+p had been used aswas destroyed Varay had been the one to point it out, but even if she hadn’t revealed that fact, I would’ve still put together the traces On the metal floors—where shattered remnants of items lay scattered—were blackened marks of what looked like soot; someone or some people had deliberately wiped all traces of what could’ve been used as valuable pieces of information

“Looks like whoever was on this shi+p didn’t want anyone knoho they were,” I said, kicking so of value

Varay looked around, but stayed close to E were to pop up

“What’s weird is that even the upper floors here are damp for some reason How did the water come all the way up here when the shi+p was only half-sunken?” E the wooden floor, only to coo, this shi+p was fully subed in the ocean” We all looked over our shoulders to see Professor Gideon and Hi down the stairs from the floor above us

“Which is why no one had seen this shi+p, despite its size, until recently,” Varay concluded

The inventor simply nodded as he and Hi earlier ritten by a group of adventurers ere co mission They had taken the same route to reach their destination, but it was only on the way back that the tides had receded enough to reveal this

“I see Master, then what do you think happened to all the crewmembers that were on this shi+p?” Emily asked “Do you think they all drowned?”

“No” Professor Gideon shook his head “There would be at least some remains of human bodies left on this shi+p”

E on to what the old inventor was getting at

Letting out a sigh, Professor Gideon squatted in front of the blackened er “It ht, Princess The people on here definitely did not want the this shi+p, let alone whatever and whoever they had inside”

“That means that—”

“Yes Either they all escaped and are out there soed them off the shi+p”

“I had a hunch when I first saw the shi+p but does that mean…” Varay’s voice trailed off as she stared intently at Professor Gideon

“After reading the report, I wished dearly to whatever divine being atching over us that hed

“What—what is it? What is going on?” I butted in, their sole me with unease

“I had assuh some troubles e lost contact with theht maybe—just maybe, the crew had somehow repaired the shi+p and almost made it back But the materials used to build this, down to the very fran

“After co here, I’m positive that this shi+p isn’t, and never was, the Dicatheous It’s still a little rough around the edges, but the technology put into this shi+p was top secret, known only to ners,” Professor Gideon explained

Emily drew in a sharp breath, her eyes ith fear as the horrifying reality began to dawn on everyone here “Master, you can’t mean to say—”

“It’s exactly what I mean to say,” Professor Gideon interrupted “Think about it— the fact that there are no corpses, no personal belongings left behind There are almost no discernable traces that anyone has ever been here Why? Because the leader of this shi+p didn’t want their eneood reason; the very fact that this exists changes the very dynamics of this war”

“And by war, you mean” my voice trailed off into silence I locked eyes with Varay and she nodded, her eyes stern and grave My hands treht the up fro to Himes “Yes, Princess It means that Alacrya has, in their arsenal, the ability to build shi+ps capable of carrying whole battalions across the ocean to Dicathen”