Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1736 - 1735: Red and Red

During the long week of waiting to land on the island, Megan gathered her followers and modified the ship. Various ritual circles were inscribed and condensed on the hull of the ship, even the oars were modified and treated, making the ship itself practically a complete alchemical item.

The purpose of such modifications was naturally to allow them to avoid the church’s water patrols and successfully land on the island.

"Invisibility, silencing, eliminating water ripples—these are the basic functions. If we encounter a large group of Water Ghosts attacking again, we won’t need your emblem to break through the encirclement. I’ve even inscribed a detonation ritual on the boat, and once this ship explodes, its power will be much greater than a steam bomb of equivalent size."

As the paddles glided automatically, Megan, proudly introducing the ship’s functions to Shard, as they crossed the lake’s surface in the rain. They were already quite close to the Mist Area, and just now, when closest to the church’s ship, the distance was less than 300 meters, but the church still failed to spot the ship.

"That’s why I’ve always believed that Knowledge and Wisdom are the most powerful forces of mortals."

The Great Witch of Knowledge and Wisdom said, for some reason, she was in an exceptionally good mood today:

"We have many things to do shortly, first to create the key, then I’ll try to take you into a dream, to witness that door."

"But before that, there’s one more thing I need to do."

The bow first entered the mist, followed by Shard and Megan:

"Can you wait for me by the shore? I need to use an item by the lakeside."

Shard asked, clutching the metal holy emblem whose cover was not yet lifted.

"Of course."

Megan said with a smile. The dense fog obscured her vision, so she moved a little closer to Shard. Shard looked up at the silhouette of the island, lurking like a beast in the fog, while Megan took out a thread and tied it around their right-hand little fingers:

"Just like last time, maintain contact."

She hooked her finger, and the white thread turned gold, this peculiar Witch’s Secret Art enhanced their communication ability, and even if they separated in the fog, they could roughly know each other’s location.

Shard closed his eyes:

"Enhanced Spatial Awareness."

The water’s surface and the underwater terrain that were obscured by fog appeared clearly in his mind. Only then was Shard completely relieved, revealing a genuine smile. During his first visit to the island, Megan had said that "Spatial Perception" type Arcane Techniques were ineffective on this island, but it was clear that the Arcane Technique granted by the Tree Father was an exception.

"Your smile is truly beautiful."

The witch suddenly said, and when Shard looked at her, she turned her face away, refusing to meet his gaze:

"When we usually meet, you’re always expressionless or serious. You should try to smile more, don’t always carry such a heavy burden... This Friday, there’s going to be a banquet to welcome Galina Cavendish, and I’d like you to come with me."

She bravely extended the invitation, biting the inside of her lip to maintain her composure. Worried that Shard might not be able to attend, she added:

"I will tell you everything you want to know, yes, everything you want to know."

"No problem, I’ll be there. And then, you will know who I am."

Shard nodded, seeing the dock’s silhouette appearing in the distant fog:

"I’ve recently learned a new Arcane Technique. Once we land on the island, if we encounter the spatial chaos of lost direction, it might come in handy. But I hope we won’t have to use it... hopefully not." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The bow gently touched the dock, stopping quite smoothly. Shard jumped onto the dock first, then turned around and helped Megan down.

After securing the small boat, they didn’t immediately follow the path toward the town, but instead, led by Shard, headed towards the marsh he purified with "Power of the Earth: Healing Aura" during his second visit to the island.

This area’s fog wasn’t very dense, and unless they lingered, there would be no spatial chaos incidents in the next few months.

Megan naturally remembered this place and recalled Shard, holding a cat-shaped her, talking on the beach, followed by the memory of Shard standing by the lake looking at the great lake under the night sky, while she dressed behind him.

"I’ll handle my business here first."

Shard said, opening the metal pendant with a click, revealing the red Holy Emblem of the God of Love inside. This item contained the Miracle Element and was a Divine Item from the Fifth Era passed down by the Church of the God of Love, still functioning. Mr. Richard and Mrs. Hope temporarily lent it to Shard, not just to store the black sheet but perhaps also to protect him.

"Megan, step back a bit, just to where you can barely see my silhouette."

Shard instructed the female sorcerer, handing her a pair of earplugs he had prepared in advance:

"Plug your ears, then turn your back to me. Until I tap your shoulder, don’t turn around to look at me, and remember, you won’t hear any sounds. If you hear anything, it must be an illusion, absolutely ignore it."

"What do you want to do?"

Megan asked curiously.

"Acquiring certain information, but it’s very dangerous, and it might attract some undesirable things."

However, Shard wasn’t worried at all:

"But if it really does attract something, it might actually be a good thing."

"What?"

"Nothing. I’ll be able to handle this quickly, just remember..."

"Don’t turn around, and I can’t hear any sounds."

Shard nodded, smiling as he opened his arms to hug Megan. The girl, her cheeks slightly flushed, only then walked backward, while Shard also retreated toward the shore.

Not until Shard’s boots touched the lake water could Megan only see Shard’s blurred shadow on the shore, and they waved at each other before Megan turned around.

"Keep an eye on her for me, remind me if there’s anything unusual."

Shard also turned to face the great lake.

[Alright.]

The Holy Emblem snapped open, and Shard picked up that black thin piece and tossed it towards the water surface.

His dynamic vision was good enough to even clearly see that thin piece spinning in a parabola through the mist.

Because of this, he clearly saw the nail-sized object being caught by a pale hand, reaching out from beneath the water surface like white lightning just before it touched the water. He could see even more clearly the five fingertips of that snake-like arm, their nails dyed a blood-like red.

Splosh~

As ripples spread out, first, black hair like water plants emerged under the nearshore’s watery surface, and then a woman’s head emerged. Even with the misty shroud, Shard could still see the black long hair wet and clinging to her skin, seeing droplets slide down her cheek and drop into the water.

Her skin was as milky white as milk, her purple eyes were so intoxicating. The rain had stopped, and thin sunlight piercing the mist cast a hazy and soft glow on her moist face and pale arms, just the gesture of lightly smiling toward Shard was enough to make him take a small step back in fear.

But he still remembered Megan behind him, so he immediately stopped in his tracks. The tension from landing on the island was, at this moment, completely replaced by various tantalizing imaginations. Even though he had seen her many times before, at this moment, Shard still fought the impulse to dive into the water and entangle passionately with her there.

"Do you think my nails are red? Honestly, men can never tell colors apart."

A lazy voice tinged with some hoarseness came forth, with the lower half of the arm retracted into the hand, the hand part moved in front of her red lips. The little finger, ring finger, and middle finger curled into the palm, with the thumb naturally extending, and the middle finger placed on her lips, making the color of the red nails almost merge with the color of the red lips, both so alluring:

"I’ll give you a chance."

The husky voice elicited tender feelings, while that beautiful head lowered slightly, a massive black shadow flickered quickly beneath her head at the lake bottom. Her eyes carried an ambiguous smile, the captivating charm held Shard’s gaze firmly:

"Tell me, what colors are my nails, my lips? If you can’t answer, I’ll truly be upset—do you want to know my secrets again?"

Both the nails and the lips were red, Shard could at most tell it was a pale red.

The appearance of [Desire] was surprising, yet remained within reason. Shard knew she disliked him probing into her origins, thus prepared for the eventuality of her true appearance.

"An illusion? To see through her top-tier illusion and discern the true color?"

Shard understood in his mind, just as he was about to focus to detect traces of the illusion, "her" voice appeared in his ear. Still so soft, but this time tinged with a hint of helplessness:

[The nails are pomegranate red, the lipstick is rose vermilion.]

"What? Oh, you mean the colors? How did you..."

[When attending parties, if your attention could move away from the Roder Cards and listen to what unfamiliar girls are discussing, you would know too.]

This was another use of the "Circle Sorcerer" me, even a person with an excellent memory will inevitably overlook something.

"The nails are pomegranate red, the lipstick is rose vermilion."

So Shard spoke the answer to the woman’s head in the mist, whose smile deepened even more. She lightly placed her fingers between her lips, then withdrew them, placing them lightly again, and withdrawing once more:

"Very good, I thought you wanted to unravel the illusion."

Shard’s mouth twitched a few times.

That beautiful head continued smiling at Shard, as she slightly "swam" a bit closer to the shore, yet still allowed herself to be shrouded in mist... the arm exposed above the water took a second to follow the head.