Richard moved his consciousness entity, trying to get a closer look at the other party, but unexpectedly, the Blue Elf under the mast twisted its head sharply and looked towards him alertly.
Richard couldn’t help but be startled, followed by a thump in his heart.
Could the other party see his consciousness entity?
This was serious because, after such a long time of testing, his consciousness entity had never been seen by anyone. Even in the underground base of the White Stone Tower, it had only been vaguely perceived by members of the Supreme Order Divine Society, which was fundamentally different from being seen.
What kind of creature was this, after all?
A strong curiosity arose in Richard’s heart.
Just then, the Blue Elf in the corner seemed to sense something amiss and suddenly twisted its behind, its four little legs pushing off powerfully, turning into a blue shadow and running towards the distance.
Richard would naturally not let it get away easily, controlling his consciousness entity to chase swiftly. With the advantage of a high vantage point and extreme familiarity with the terrain, he quickly cornered the blue rodent into a narrow dead-end.
You can’t run away now, can you?
Richard thought, controlling his consciousness entity to descend onto the deck.
Yet, surprisingly, the Blue Elf let out a shriek, first leaping up, then plummeting down, headbutting the deck with great force.
Was it trying to commit suicide? Preferring to be shattered than to live unwhole?
Was its nature too stubborn?
Richard was startled and tried to prevent it, but in the next moment, he saw the Blue Elf’s body turn intangible, as if becoming ethereal, and—"puff"—it went straight through the deck and fell into the cabin below.
Richard was truly stunned, stunned for about a tenth of a second, then realized something: The Blue Elf he encountered was very special, not an ordinary flesh-and-blood creature, nor just any common demonized creature, but more akin to an existence similar to his consciousness entity.
And such an existence, to tell the truth, he had encountered only once before. That was when he encountered a soul body during his out-of-body experience in Gregory’s Black Castle.
What was it, after all?
Richard’s curiosity intensified once again, and without any hesitation, he controlled his consciousness entity to collide with the deck, then passed through the deck into the cabin below.
Inside the cabin, a plump passenger was sound asleep. The Elf squatted on the passenger’s head, sniffing around the person’s mouth and nose as if absorbing vital energy.
The Blue Elf obviously did not expect that Richard’s consciousness entity could also follow it inside. When it noticed Richard’s consciousness entity appear, it let out a shriek, made a giant leap, and forcefully collided with the cabin’s partition, passing through it.
Richard immediately followed in pursuit, and as he passed through the partition, he heard a "thump" from behind—unexpectedly, the plump passenger had somehow fallen from the bed. He didn’t think much of it and had already moved into the adjacent cabin.
In the cabin next door, a voluptuous beauty slept. As the Blue Elf entered the cabin, it made a beeline for the woman’s ample bosom. With a forceful step, it bounced off the good elasticity, described a half-arc in mid-air, and then crashed into the partition, continuing its escape.
Richard tried to grab the Blue Elf with his Consciousness but missed by a little, forcing him to continue the chase into the third cabin. Then the fourth cabin, the fifth cabin...
As Richard chased the Blue Elf, he burst through more than a dozen cabins, witnessing a variety of people’s sleeping poses and disturbing many dreams. Finally, Richard, still in pursuit of the Blue Elf, reached a cabin in the middle of the great ship. Just as he was about to catch the Blue Elf, it let out a shriek and violently smashed into a body lying on the bed, then disappeared into the body under Richard’s gaze.
Richard was stunned. Then he saw the person sleeping in the bed sit up with a cry, flailing and sitting up as if plagued by a nightmare, before exploding into a fit of cursing, "Damn blue-skinned rat! You torment me again, in my dreams! I don’t care if some monster is chasing you, I don’t want to save you! In fact, I’d rather eat you!"
With that, the person rolled up their sleeves to reveal a scar on the wrist glowing as if it had been burned by Flames, so red it looked almost as if it would ooze blood.
This caused intense pangs of pain, contorting the person’s expression, and they gritted their teeth, "Blue-skinned rat, I swear, if I ever catch you, I’ll clean you, chop you into pieces, mix you with Big Fire Rock Crab paste, Black Ear Shell flesh, and Deep Sea Ice Shrimp to cook in a pot, and I’ll eat you bite by bite, eat you! I don’t care about any childhood ritual, I just want to eat you!"
Richard: "...", speechless for a moment.
The person awakened by the Blue Elf entering their body was none other than Sherlock.
Listening to their words, Richard quickly surmised a number of things.
Sherlock clearly had some history with the Blue Elf; the scar on his wrist might have been caused directly or indirectly by the Blue Elf. Sherlock himself was aware of the Blue Elf’s existence and even harbored some hatred toward it.
Nevertheless, it was just hatred. Although Sherlock’s background had always been kept secret, it was clear to Richard that it was no ordinary one—the enormous wealth was evidence enough. According to Sherlock, the Blue Elf was related to some ritual from his childhood. This indicated that the Blue Elf was under control and had a special connection with Sherlock’s body.
With this in mind, Richard decided it was best not to meddle carelessly. After all, the consequences were not easy to control; what if Sherlock ended up dead by accident?
In the future, he might find an opportunity to ask Sherlock about this, perhaps gleaning a greater reward.
Keeping these thoughts in mind, Richard glanced at Sherlock, who was still cursing continuously and had already switched to the third culinary threat. Assured the Blue Elf wouldn’t reappear, Richard shook his head. With a thought, his Consciousness felt a strong pull from the transparent band at the back of the neck, swiftly carrying his entire Consciousness back to his own cabin through countless partitions.
Meanwhile, Sherlock took a deep breath and started threatening the Blue Elf with a fourth culinary approach.
"I’ll chop you into pieces, coat you with egg whites, sprinkle on white sugar and Dom Lan Fish Powder, roll you in fine flour, and fry you in hot oil till you’re golden and crispy..."
"Hmm..." With a sound, Sherlock’s little maid, Lucia, beside him, sleepily opened her eyes and looked at him, confused, "Master, what’s wrong? I thought I heard you cooking?"
"Er, no, you’re mistaken, you’re dreaming, go back to sleep, Lucia." Sherlock softened his voice, coaxing the little maid back to sleep, and lay down again himself.
But once down, Sherlock didn’t close his eyes. He stared up at the ceiling of the cabin, his lips moving silently as he continued his mute threats.
"I’ll mince you, sprinkle you with salt, precious pepper grains, and then..."