Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2353: Chapter 2354: Nausicaa’s Goal

Cindy: "When we found Reynaud, he was a bit dazed. After questioning him, we discovered that part of his memory seemed very blurry. Lord Ferro speculated that it might be due to the unique field of the Mist Belt affecting his Soul Body, or perhaps his Soul Body was injured, or he actively sealed off his memories. The specific situation is still unclear to us for now."

Angel was silent for a few seconds and then nodded: "Go on, tell me everything about how you met Reynaud and what happened afterward, including what Reynaud told you."

Cindy nodded and began to recount under the watchful eyes of everyone present.

They encountered Reynaud in a sea reef area deep within the Mist Belt; he appeared like a rootless sea ghost, aimlessly wandering near the reefs.

Such ghosts, though not common, can occasionally be found in the Devil’s Sea and are mostly the Dead from shipwrecks.

Originally, they had no intention of interacting with Reynaud until they noticed the tattoo on his face, which led Ferro to bring the wandering Reynaud back.

Initially, Reynaud was very confused and wary of them, until Cindy discovered his true name and Ferro revealed their general purpose, awakening Reynaud from his self-absorbed state.

During questioning, they learned that Reynaud had escaped from a laboratory, where everyone had numbered tattoos on their faces.

This laboratory mainly focused on biological experiments, with body parts scattered everywhere and numerous prisons holding various creatures.

"Due to certain events, Reynaud resisted the laboratory’s authority, the outcome of which he couldn’t remember. Somehow, he appeared in the Mist Belt in the form of a soul," Cindy explained. "That’s the general situation."

After listening to Cindy’s narrative, there were many doubts in everyone’s minds, and Nis was the first to speak: "What’s the name of that laboratory? Who are the leaders?"

Cindy shook her head: "Reynaud doesn’t remember either, but according to him, the reason he forgets is not due to the memory damage from this incident. The name of the laboratory itself was so peculiar that even when his memory was intact, he would always forget it."

Cindy’s words brought a term to the minds of Angel, Nis, and Ironclad Granny: soul text.

Just like the text on Nis’s stone slab, even after seeing it, the memory would turn blurry in a moment.

Moreover, this laboratory is connected to the black hand behind the Underground Altar, and the Underground Altar is related to certain forces in the Quest World. Hence, using Quest World’s text as the laboratory name is possible.

Cindy continued: "As for the leader of the laboratory, Reynaud doesn’t remember any specific names, but he knew that everyone referred to each other by numbers—the numbers being the tattoos on their faces."

At this point, Cindy seemed to recall something and added: "By the way, Reynaud was the same; he also had his own number, which was used to refer to him by others in the laboratory. His real name was actually his number. As for the name ’Reynaud,’ he came up with it himself later."

Angel: "Regarding the internal situation of the laboratory, including their research, has Reynaud been completely unable to recall anything?"

Cindy: "Due to memory damage, Reynaud often spoke incoherently, and sometimes the nouns he used seemed unfamiliar even to himself. His impression of the laboratory is filled with fear, terror, omnipresent blood smell, blinding white light, villains in cloak uniforms, souls’ screams... various mutilated limbs, insane ceremonies, and a large number of oddly named instruments."

Sometimes Reynaud could mention a few names of these instruments, but when asked to describe them, he couldn’t remember.

"His memory is quite jumbled, making it difficult to obtain detailed information from him. Mostly, Lord Ferro had to guess with limited clues."

Nis: "And what about Reynaud himself? Wasn’t he also part of the laboratory? Even if his memory is partly obscured, he should have some impressions of the experiments, right?"

Cindy shook her head: "Lord Ferro asked similar questions, but every time the experiment itself was mentioned, Reynaud showed intense resistance and fear. He repeatedly talked about the dazzling white light, and the omnipresent blood smell, and those horrifying and ferocious faces."

"Based on Lord Ferro’s speculation, Reynaud might not have been a staff member of that laboratory at all; he... might have been an experimental subject."

As Cindy said this, she couldn’t help but show a look of pity. Every time Reynaud answered similar questions, the kind of resistance and fear emanating from the core of his soul couldn’t be faked. Such a scared emotion was enough to infect them, the living.

Due to this, Ferro concluded that Reynaud might simply be an experiment.

Nis: "Are there any other pieces of information?"

Cindy thought for a while: "Although Reynaud doesn’t remember the specific internal situation of the laboratory, he remembers its general location."

Because Reynaud delineated a general area, Ferro decided to trace and investigate it alone two days ago.

"Apart from that, there’s no other information... Oh, right, there’s one more thing. Lord Ferro once asked Reynaud about a name: Ginny something-sen."

Ironclad Granny whispered: "It’s ’Red Butterfly Witch’ Ginny Watson."

"Yes, yes! Just the person Granny mentioned." Cindy nodded vigorously.

Ironclad Granny: "How did Reynaud respond to that?"

Cindy pondered for a moment and recalled: "Upon hearing this name, Reynaud reacted strangely; he looked at Lord Ferro with a peculiar expression, and then said this sentence."

"Reynaud asked Lord Ferro—Are you going to compete with her?"

"Compete with her?" Angel narrowed his eyes: "Who is this ’her’?"

Cindy shook her head: "Reynaud didn’t say. When Lord Ferro continued to pursue this question, Reynaud turned taciturn and refused to answer."

Ironclad Granny: "Although Reynaud didn’t say it, from his response, it’s quite certain that he knows something about the Night Butterfly Witch."

Nis nodded: "Exactly, perhaps it was Reynaud’s reaction that made Ferro a bit restless, leaving so hastily that he couldn’t even send a notification before going to investigate... such reckless behavior."

Angel glanced at Nis who seemed full of emotion and thought to himself: accusing Ferro of recklessness, when it was you who pushed Ferro to take the task in the first place.

Angel turned to Cindy: "Is there anything else?"

Cindy shook her head.

"Really nothing else, he didn’t mention having any companions?"

Cindy still shook her head: "No."

Angel’s continuous questioning, especially mentioning Reynaud’s companions, drew some attention from Nis and Ironclad Granny.

Angel noticed their attention but didn’t explain immediately. Instead, he continued asking Cindy: "Did he mention anyone named Nausicaa?"

"Nausicaa?" Cindy was a bit taken aback: "Do you mean Asperloo?"

Angel nodded: "You know Nausicaa too?"

A light gleamed in Cindy’s eyes: "Yes, I once worked on a task with Shan, and she spoke a lot about Nausicaa. Although I haven’t met Nausicaa myself, her name is like thunder in my ears."

After pausing for a moment, Cindy realized she had strayed off topic and quickly corrected herself: "Reynaud didn’t mention Nausicaa."

Angel’s brow furrowed as his fingers tapped lightly on the table in slight impatience.

Angel hadn’t expected that casually investigating the Underground Altar would end up involving Reynaud. Most importantly, Reynaud is related to Nausicaa!

After the New Star Competition, Nausicaa left with Reynaud. Now Reynaud has become a soul, and there’s no news of Nausicaa. What exactly happened in between?

Where is Nausicaa now? Is she also involved in this matter, and... is she still alive?

The more Angel thought about it, the more uneasy he felt in his heart.

After a while, he raised his eyes to look at Cindy, who seemed somewhat confused: "Is Reynaud still following you now?"

Cindy nodded: "Yes, the four of us who accepted the mission are now on an uninhabited island reef in the Mist Belt. Reynaud is also here."

Angel: "Go offline now and ask Reynaud if he still remembers Nausicaa. If he does, have him describe Nausicaa’s situation; if he’s unwilling to talk, just mention my name... If he still resists, hand the login device to him and have him come online so I can ask him."

Cindy opened her mouth, wasn’t it Lord Rhein’s order to keep the login device secret, isn’t it inappropriate to let an unknown person in just like that?

The reason Cindy thought this way was that she’d had the login device for too short a time and didn’t know that the Wilderness of Dreams itself was created by Angel.

However, she glanced at Ironclad Granny and Nis, who did not show any opposition, so she nodded: "Okay, I will go ask now."

After Cindy left, Nis looked at Angel: "I remember, Nausicaa is the female pirate from the same period as you, right?"

When Angel first entered the Mirror World, it was Nis who guided them to jump into the abyss, so Nis remembered Nausicaa... because she was very beautiful. Also, Angel had a good relationship with Nausicaa, as Nis had learned from his short-lived apprentice Hook Dick.

Angel nodded: "Yes, Nausicaa is my friend."

"What’s going on between her and Reynaud?" Nis asked, "Are they a couple?"

Angel shook his head: "After the New Star competition ended, Nausicaa left with Reynaud, saying she was going to get something important..."

At this point, Angel suddenly paused.

Reynaud had said he escaped from a laboratory, labeled as number 1... Nausicaa said she was going with Reynaud to get something important...

The sacrifice of the Earth Cavern... The ossified remains of supernatural organs...

In Dodoro’s prophecy, organs preserved in special liquids... Transcendent organs from various races, including humans... The right hand of the Night Butterfly Witch...

In his mind, many previously incomprehensible fragmented memories all surged out, weaving into a logical chain with a hidden dark line.

Finally, at the end of this logical chain, a memory fragment of Nausicaa appeared.

It was when Angel was still an apprentice, returning to the Barbarian Cave from the Fairy Tale World when it happened.

Angel returned to Apprentice Town, just about to push open the door to his home, when he saw a woman in soft armor standing under a distant tree.

It was Nausicaa.

Nausicaa initially had her back to Angel, her beautiful brown wavy hair messily blown by the wind.

"Nausicaa."

She seemed to hear Angel’s call and gently turned her body. Her almost perfect profile relaxed into a light pear dimple when she saw Angel.

"Oh, Angel." Nausicaa waved her left hand, "You’re finally back."

Angel’s gaze fell to her right-hand side, where it was entirely empty.

"Your right hand... was it injured?"

"Injured? No." Nausicaa sensed the shock in Angel’s eyes but felt nothing herself, smiling as she said, "My right hand, I just accidentally lost it."

The memory stopped there.

Angel felt his thoughts still somewhat hazy, but based on this chain of memory deductions, he seemed to have realized something.

As a wizard of the bloodline side, Nausicaa’s right hand was undoubtedly extremely important. Even if Angel had made a special prosthesis in substitution, it ultimately couldn’t perform completely like a natural limb.

Undoubtedly, Nausicaa needed a right hand.

After the New Star competition ended, Nausicaa told Angel when she left: The place where Reynaud was taking her had something she needed. This item was very important to her, the first goal to achieving her final dream.

Although Nausicaa didn’t say what it was at the time, according to the current clues and deductions, what Nausicaa wanted was probably a right hand.

And the laboratory where Reynaud was could indeed provide Nausicaa with a right hand.

After clarifying Nausicaa’s goal, Angel’s heart was filled with more doubts.

On what basis did Nausicaa think she could obtain a right hand from that group of tattooed people?

Afterwards, what exactly happened?

"Angel?"

"Angel?"

Angel came back to his senses from his thoughts, raising his head to look at Nis opposite him.

Nis: "Why are you dazing off again, what exactly are you thinking? You just said Nausicaa left with Reynaud to get something important, what was it?"

Angel: "She didn’t tell me at the time, but judging from the current situation, perhaps what Nausicaa wanted to get was a right hand compatible with her bloodline."

Angel didn’t hide anything, simply recounting Nausicaa’s situation and his deductions.

After hearing this, Nis agreed thoughtfully: "Your deduction seems to have some truth to it, indeed. Nausicaa happens to lack an arm, and that group of number tattooed people is very likely involved in organ trafficking. Dodoro’s prophecy also showed many transcendent organs, including the right hand... Hey?! I remember the right hand of the Night Butterfly Witch was mentioned; could it be that Nausicaa had her eyes on that?"

Ironclad Granny tilted her head and exclaimed softly: "That’s really possible. Do you remember how Ferro answered when Reynaud asked about the Night Butterfly Witch?"

—Are you going to fight her for it?

The ’her’ here in the Universal Language specifically refers to the third person female pronoun.

Nis clapped his hands: "Exactly, exactly! That must be it! Nausicaa certainly has high standards, having her eyes on the Night Butterfly Witch’s hand!"

Nis’s deduction, perhaps, is indeed the truth. However, at this moment, it was no longer important to Angel.

What he cared more about now was, what exactly is Nausicaa’s current situation?