Chapter 141

The large ship Sophia was riding on broke through the sparkling sea, plowing a long wake churning with white foam.

The outline of Silver Sand Bay gradually faded at the stern, eventually merging into the blue line where the sea and sky met.

In Sophia's exclusive cabin on the second floor of the ship's superstructure, Bella was stripped of all weapons and armor, wearing only a single garment, and was arranged to sit on the hardwood stool in the center of the room.

On the other side, Sophia showed curiosity, the old man in priest robes had deep eyes, and the Chief Guard stood like an iron tower, arms crossed, muscles tense, his sharp gaze never moving from Bella for a moment.

Even without weapons, a Gold-rank had the ability to harm the current hero.

"Possessing the Vision of Truth, no wonder you could identify that we are Church personnel." Priest Samuel looked at Bella's pupils glowing with silver light and said knowingly, "However, you don't seem to have fully mastered this ability."

"Fully mastered?" Bella was puzzled.

"Vision of Truth? What is that?" Sophia checked Bella's panel and asked as well.

Samuel explained to Sophia:

"A very convenient but rare detection skill that can not only distinguish traces left by others but also roughly distinguish the other party's strength and abilities; someone in the Church has also obtained this talent skill.

And as far as I know, the person who possesses this skill can selectively turn off this ability, rather than like her, having those silver eyes shining all the time."

Sophia nodded, then saw that Bella opposite her also had a look of sudden realization, and couldn't help but feel a bit funny—her own skills weren't as well known as others'.

What she didn't expect was that most ordinary people without famous teachers and without panels could only rely on spending a lot of time to explore the talent skills they had obtained.

"You are the person Silver Sand Bay wants to catch, right?" Sophia asked.

"Yes!" Bella admitted cleanly.

"Aren't you afraid we'll send you back?"

"I have come into contact with priests of the Church and have also received their help; everyone is a very good person, and I feel that the Church should not be in cahoots with slave traders... right?"

After a pause, Bella's eyes shifted to Samuel, who was wearing priest robes: "Did I guess wrong?"

Sophia was noncommittal about this and continued to ask: "Then why did you go to kill that... what's his name..."

Although she had heard the fat garrison commander's roar in the ship's superstructure earlier, Sophia didn't bother to remember the name.

"Horn," when reading this name, Bella subconsciously clenched her hands, "The reason is very simple; he killed my friend, a very important friend, who died as a slave under his torture."

Then Bella told Sophia how she followed her friend's tracks to Silver Sand Bay and how she found out that her friend had died tragically at Horn's hands.

After confirming the murderer, she used the [Vision of Truth] talent she obtained at level 40 to lock onto Horn's whereabouts, tracked him for half a month, and figured out his behavioral patterns before finding an opportunity to kill him.

However, success also came from truth, and failure also came from truth; the eyes that were always shining with silver light exposed her in the end, and she had no choice but to hide under the Church's ship.

"Just to avenge your friend?"

"A friend for whom I'd risk my life." Bella shrugged, as if she were stating something that was a matter of course.

"Then what are your plans for the future?"

"If you don't hand me back to Silver Sand Bay, I hope to return to the Kingdom afterward to search for my father's tracks."

Sophia looked at Samuel, but the priest shook his head.

"I'm afraid that won't work; we can't afford any risk."

The Chief Guard, who hadn't spoken behind her, had already placed his hand on his sword.

He was clear about the girl's innocence in front of him, but compared to the future of humanity, any sacrifice was acceptable, whether it was his life or his honor... feeling the suddenly increased pressure from the opposite side, Bella closed her eyes.

Under the Vision of Truth, she was very clear about the gap in strength between the two sides, and even if she resisted or fled, there was no hope at all.

"There's no need to be so tense," Sophia suddenly said, "Bella, I can't just let you go like this, but are you willing to stay by my side? For a few years, like a long-term employment."

"I'm willing."

Without hesitation, Bella agreed; Bella knew clearly that she had obviously been involved in some secret operation of the Church, and this invitation might be the greatest kindness from the other party.

"My Lord..."

The Chief Guard frowned, and Samuel even spoke up to try to dissuade her, but was stopped by Sophia raising her hand.

"She didn't lie, did she?"

Samuel paused for two seconds and nodded—long before this conversation, Bella had drunk a truth serum, and without special means, it was naturally impossible to lie.

"Then it's settled." Sophia decided.

Seeing this, Samuel had no choice but to agree.

Although he could ignore the hero's opinion and forcibly eliminate this possible accident, the result of causing the hero to become estranged from them would be counterproductive.

However, he couldn't be unprepared for anything, and he had to leave a backup plan on this girl named Bella...

Suddenly, Samuel opened his eyes wide and walked out of the cabin quickly.

"What happened?" Sophia sat in her original place, not moving.

She was still weak in strength, and in any emergency, not acting randomly was the greatest help to others.

Samuel narrowed his eyes and looked at the edge of the sea line, where there was a small black dot, which seemed to be a ship.

But... how could it be a ship?

There was a big thing approaching in his perception; he initially thought it was some kind of ocean monster.

It was just that the distance was still far, and he couldn't see the other party's true form clearly.

The other party seemed to have noticed them too; under Samuel's gaze, that "ship" quickly changed direction, obviously intending to bypass them.

Seeing this, Samuel slowly retreated into the cabin; although he was a bit curious, it was always good to have fewer accidents on their journey.

——

In fact, if they were closer, Samuel would feel even stranger, and even exclaim that the world is full of wonders.

Because this was indeed a ship, a monster ship made of uneven wooden boards bonded by fungal threads, dragged by two mermaids.

The crew was one Puji, one mushroom man...

"Boss, aren't we going to go up and ask for directions?"

On the Mushroom, Dylan looked at the large ship moving away and asked in confusion.

They had been sailing aimlessly for three days; didn't they need to know the direction?

"Ask? Ask what! A ship full of Gold-ranks, if we go up, they'll definitely chop the Puji and throw you to feed the fish! We'll bypass it and then move in the direction it came from; no need to ask!"

After hearing this, Dylan was a bit surprised at what kind of background that ship had, and at the same time nodded in agreement with the Boss's choice.