Chapter 2184: Chapter 2184

"That makes sense. A vessel , essentially an ark for refugees, couldn't possibly carry so many people to safety without some special abilities. Given that we're in the middle of a disaster, it's always better to be cautious."

Just because I couldn't touch them directly didn't mean I was out of options for searching the piano wreckage. Finding a long pole and reaching over the heads of the refugees would serve the same purpose.

That's exactly what Jenkins ended up doing, but the process was agonizingly slow. To make matters worse, the fire-breathing rat that had attacked him earlier was also hiding in the piano's remains. It kept darting out to harass him, and it even incinerated the perfectly suitable pole he had just managed to find.

The rat was incredibly agile and infuriatingly persistent. Jenkins, having reached his limit, channeled his power into the new pole he held. It sprouted roots and grew, defying its natural limits. The tip morphed into a tangle of living tendrils that shot out, wrapped around the rat, and completely enveloped it.

Jenkins had no intention of harming the rat. His own cat wasn't in the habit of eating mice, so he simply tossed the bundle into the river. He figured he was giving it a chance to live, since he recalled that rats were capable swimmers.

With the unfriendly rat dealt with, Jenkins was finally able to locate his target: a beautiful, vibrant, blood-red rose tucked into a small glass bottle. The bottle must have been sitting on the piano before it was destroyed, which would explain how it ended up here with the wreckage.

He presented the rose to the little girl, and in return, she offered him the information she possessed. Jenkins could choose only two of the following options:

"You may ask why I am here; you may ask for my understanding of the apocalypse; you may ask where this ship is headed; or you may ask how to obtain more information."

The man who loved fish had offered a choice of two out of three options; the girl offered two out of four. Just as before, Jenkins wanted to know the answer to every question, but he was particularly curious about the ship's destination.

But he had to suppress his curiosity and choose the most advantageous options. He didn't have to think for long before selecting the first and fourth choices. It was partly a matter of trusting his intuition, and partly because as he pondered, the girl, still a little afraid of him, had discreetly gestured 'one' and 'four' with her fingers.

His divine title, [Protector of Flower Girls], might have a narrow jurisdiction, but it was far from useless.

"My earliest memories of the disaster are hazy," she began. "I can't recall them clearly. After all, I wasn't very old when the... unspeakable thing descended from the sky."

This implied the source of the catastrophe had appeared several years ago. The fall of civilization had not been a swift, unopposed conquest.

"It was powerful," she continued. "Not only was It powerful on Its own, but It could also transform living beings into Its minions and inanimate objects into Its tools. I traveled with the adults from place to place, watching the people around me die one by one. Not long ago, someone told us that civilization was about to end. The great being that descended from the sky would take complete control of our world, reshaping it into whatever It desired. A yellow light would cover everything. The only way to survive, they said, was to board the 'Ark of the Last Survivors' and await a savior, who would also come from beyond our world."

"What an interesting backstory for a Mysterious Realm," Jenkins mused.

Whether the story she told was something she had truly experienced or merely something she believed she had was, for the moment, irrelevant to him.

On the surface, the girl's information seemed to align perfectly with what the fish-loving man had told him, but subtle details confirmed Jenkins's suspicions. He didn't know what the unspeakable thing looked like or what it could do, but her indirect description was more than enough.

"Who told you about this ship?"

"I don't remember," the girl said. "They probably died while we were searching for the ship."

Jenkins nodded, deciding not to press the issue.

"Then how can I get more information?"

"If you wish to break the restriction of questioning only three people, then you must find—"

"That restriction can be broken?"

Jenkins was genuinely surprised. With all his experience in Mysterious Realms, he had assumed this was one of their fixed rules—the kind that could never be altered.

"This world... is different now," she explained. "The unspeakable thing's unlawful arrival broke some of the established rules. So, you can break some of them, too."

She still sounded timid, but the words themselves... Jenkins looked at her lowered head and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"If that's the case, how do I break the three-person rule?"

"It's simple. You need authorization. Your actions are confined to this ship, so..."

The metal head, which had sat silent on the deck chair for some time, suddenly spoke. Jenkins spun around, a look of displeasure on his face—an expression he rarely wore.

"What does our conversation have to do with you?" he snapped. "Besides, is it really proper to scold a child so harshly?"

Chocolate, perched on his shoulder, echoed the sentiment with a soft "meow."

"Savior, I must ask you to abide by the rules."

Jenkins's mind flashed back to being forced to face giant worms in a river of lava, to being illegally seized by that metal skeleton in the graveyard, to the firefight with the old butler in the castle, to playing cards with a cheat in the wax museum, to being blocked by a blacksmith's hammer in a town he'd already escaped. The only one who hadn't egregiously broken the rules was the witch, who was just in it for the fun of it, and the keeper of the forge, who clearly saw the Difference Engine as a fool to be fleeced.

"You talk to me about rules?" he sneered. "You'd best keep your mouth shut, or I'll stop caring about rules altogether. Do you have any idea how many meddlesome fools I've had to deal with just to get here?"

As he spoke, he pulled the piece of metal he'd forged in the furnace from his pack and brandished it. It was hard to say whether it was his words or the threat, but the metal head closed its mouth and eyes, falling silent once more.

He stroked the cat on his shoulder, who had been offering moral support. Chocolate obediently squinted its eyes and rubbed its small head against Jenkins's hand. He turned to face the girl as she resumed the topic:

"Your field of operations is this ship. Therefore, to bypass the rules, you must obtain the ship's consent. Among all of us here, there is one person who is, in fact, this vessel's boatswain."

Jenkins narrowed his eyes. He never would have thought of a twist like that. But given his suspicions about this particular Mysterious Realm, it wasn't entirely surprising.

"Find the boatswain. He will surely have a way to help you break the three-person limit."

"Which one is the boatswain?"

Jenkins asked, but the girl only shook her head, then lowered it and fell silent.

It seemed she didn't know, either.

Jenkins turned and walked to the middle of the deck, stopping beside the metal head. The head's eyes opened, watching him, as if wondering what he would do next.

Jenkins summoned forth the glowing points of light that represented his abilities. After such a long and arduous journey, he didn't have many left to use. This was no time to be conservative.

He focused his will, letting his own malice emanate outwards, amplifying the effect of an ability that fed on such malevolent intent:

This was an ability that made no distinction between friend and foe. If not controlled with extreme care, it could cause immense trouble. It had also been influenced by the transformation of Jenkins's physical body. The World Tree itself was no mortal entity. While it didn't inspire fear, its overwhelming presence could certainly awe and even mentally warp mortals.

The Aura of Fear, amplified by the essence of the World Tree, manifested as a tangible black halo that bloomed at Jenkins's feet, rapidly spreading to envelop the entire ship.

It affected not only the refugees on deck, but also the areas of the ship Jenkins couldn't access, and even spread beneath the surface of the water.

The scope of this Mysterious Realm was clearly not limited to the deck. A realm's boundaries were typically defined by darkness, yet all Jenkins could see in every direction was dense fog. An ability of this scale would naturally affect the river's surface, the depths below, and even the city blocks flanking the waterway. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the novel·fire.net

But strangely, while the refugees on the ship trembled and moaned, gripped by a fear that seemed etched into their very souls, there was no reaction at all from beneath the ship, in the water, or in the fog. Not so much as a ripple disturbed the surface.

This only served to confirm Jenkins's suspicions about this Mysterious Realm. It fit his assessment of the Difference Engine as 'highly innovative.' His adversary could certainly always come up with some new trick.

Of course, using the [Aura of Fear] here wasn't a waste. The Difference Engine itself felt no fear, making the ability useless against it directly. This made it the perfect time to deploy it.

The ability's influence continued to radiate outwards. The black halo suppressed the inherent power of the deck itself and even managed to disperse the thin mist immediately surrounding the ship.

Meanwhile, Jenkins moved across the deck, observing each person's reaction. The deck wasn't large, but most people had their heads bowed or covered, forcing him to judge based on the convulsions of their bodies or other subtle movements.

Finally, he stopped before a portly, middle-aged woman who reeked of alcohol. Two empty green bottles lay toppled beside her. She was huddled near the stern of the deck with three other women of a similar age, all sharing a single blanket. The four of them looked largely indistinguishable.

Jenkins deactivated the Aura of Fear.

"I never would have guessed," he said aloud. "The ship's boatswain is a woman."

It wasn't that he was prejudiced against women; it was just difficult to imagine in the context of this era.

Everyone else was trembling, but this woman remained perfectly still, leaning against the railing behind her. That was how Jenkins had found her.