Mystery: The Star Key

They walked down the dimly lit hallway, passing through wooden doors. Then, they came to the brighter second floor.

Before entering the pirate restaurant, they passed a half-open room. (Note 1)

Ignat glanced inside curiously and saw what appeared to be a well-organized showroom.

"These are the proofs of our previous treasure hunts." Lieutenant General Iceberg explained coldly, but explained in detail, "Some are as souvenirs, and some have not shown their value yet, and need to be studied."

"Mr. Li Langs is interested in going in for a visit?" Edwina Edwards actively pushed open the door and walked in.

She is like a master who likes to show off her collection, introducing the items in the room in turn.

The richness of the collection in the room and the clarity of Edwina's introduction gave Igna the illusion that he had come to a small private museum in a trance.

Moreover, Edwina's introduction is like a learned teacher. The source of the collection, the time of discovery, and the details of the occult related to it are explained very clearly.

Since history is not Ignatius' speciality, Ms. Edwina Edwards never failed to show impatience when Igner asked any questions about the collection. Instead, continue to explain it coldly, but carefully.

This gave Igna the illusion of returning to the middle and high school classroom in a trance.

If all my teachers were like Ms. Edwina Edwards... I would probably get full marks on my history test.

Ignat moved his gaze and saw a book that resembled a notebook on a table.

It looks like a quirky, leather book cover with a bizarre pattern.

Strange, Ignatius felt that something strange seemed to flash across the book. (Note 2)

Presumably Ignatius stayed on it for too long, Edwina Edwards said:

"It came from a sunken ship that was submerged on the seafloor for over 200 years. But it wasn't damaged."

"And it can't be opened."

"You can pick it up and take a look."

Ignat was not polite, he picked up the book that caught his eye strangely. Tried to open it, and it failed.

He also carefully, almost inch by inch, examined the book cover, but saw nothing. Like the signature that just appeared in front of his eyes... Maybe it's a signature, it's just his hallucination.

"Have you found anything?" Lieutenant General Iceberg asked after Igna put down the book in his hand.

"It may be my illusion." Igna shook his head, "I have never seen the pattern depicted on it."

Edwina pursed her lips and said, "Well. The pattern on this is indeed difficult to deconstruct. However, if you disassemble it carefully, you can find..."

Edwina carefully explained to Igna the content of the different structures of the patterns on the books.

In short, the conclusion is that it may be related to the secret knowledge of fate and space.

"We found this book in the sunken ship, and we can't tell who the original owner of this notebook is, nor what role he has."

"We also used some secret techniques to study him. It was found that the book was not far away, maybe only a few hundred years old."

"Are you interested in this book?" Edwina asked. "I can sell this book to you if you want it. I've been researching it for many years, but I haven't found anything."

Ignatius did have some unfounded interest in the book, asking, "How much?"

"9,000 pounds." Edwina said calmly.

"Well..." Igna pondered for a while and said, "I need time to think about it again."

Consider shit.

For 9,000 gold pounds to buy something that doesn't know what to do, I might as well invest in Melissa or a new project in the City of Silver.

Edwina didn't change her expression because Igner said she would consider it, she still nodded calmly and introduced him to the next collection.

After a brief visit, Edwina took Igna and Danitz out of the collection room and entered the captain's room in the pirate restaurant.

Then, they started a quiet meal. After breakfast, Edwina briefly communicated with Lord Danitz.

He took out Igna's paper from the drawer.

Then, like a defense tutor, she asked him many questions.

Of course, Ms. Edwina's intention was not to embarrass Igna.

She is only interested in novel research methods, novel research methods, and innovative research perspectives in the paper.

So she's very nice and all the questions are very deep and straight to the core.

Fortunately, Igna had read a lot of sociological literature in his small study before writing his thesis. Therefore, the answer is not satisfactory.

Lieutenant General Edwina Iceberg made many notes on the paper and added many questions to the original list of questions.

The two talked for at least three days about the methodology of sociological research presented in the paper, after which, perhaps because of the familiarity with economics and finance that Igner displayed during the discussion. They also discussed the social effects of economics and finance.

In the course of discussions these days, Igna also has some

More interesting find.

First, Lieutenant General Edwina Iceberg is likely to be a Reader's Mid-Sequence Beyonder.

Her erudition can no longer be described from the perspective of a normal person. Not only anthropology, but also humanities such as history, natural history, linguistics, mysticism, etc. Her mastery is beyond human imagination.

It's just that Edwina's grasp of mathematics is somewhat unsatisfactory. When Ignatius explained to her the quantitative research methods used in economics and sociology, as well as the mathematical principles of quantitative research methods, she rarely put forward a lot of doubt.

This is also a fresh discovery.

Second, on the Golden Dream, more than 98 percent of the crew liked Lieutenant Iceberg, and were hostile to male creatures near Lieutenant Iceberg.

For a week, the Golden Dream has been sailing peacefully at sea.

Therefore, Lieutenant General Iceberg's personal time, in addition to dealing with navigation issues at fixed time in the morning, noon and evening, and the need to perform esoteric arts at the right time in individual times, are all in academic discussions with Igna.

Then, Igna discovered that as long as Lieutenant General Iceberg was not present, there would be people hiding in the dark throwing stones and small dried fish at him, playing pranks, or stepping on him when they "asked" him about academic problems. one foot.

It is about what constraints will Lieutenant General Iceberg have on this, and the pirates on board will not blatantly provoke him. Only do some small movements underneath.

very childish.

Very very childish. Like a bunch of elementary school boys.

However, to a certain extent, the style of this group of treasure hunters and pirates complements the style of Lieutenant General Edwina Iceberg.

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On the seventh day, while Ignatius and Edwina were discussing how to calculate the reliability and validity of the questionnaire, the first mate of the Golden Dream came in.

He wears a monocle and is nearly 1.8 meters tall. (Note 3)

"Gourmet" with a bounty of £6,200, Bruce Walls.

According to Igna's observations, he was one of the rare two percent of the ship. Perhaps, it is precisely because he is 2% that it is an important reason for him to become the first mate.

"Tuk Tuk Tuk-"

Bruce Walls knocked on the door politely and also greeted Igna kindly.

Then, he whispered something in Edwina's ear.

Edwina pondered for a while, raised her head, and asked calmly, "The Pirate Conference will be held in Towson Islands in a week, Igna, are you interested?"

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Note 1: Collection Room Reference on the Golden Dream, Volume III Traveler, Chapter 94 "Lieutenant General Iceberg" Collection Room

Note 2: From the sealed artifact "The Curtain of Ignorance" provided by the book friend "Bronze Inlaid Evening Clock". Super hard to write, super cool! But because the personality is too high and involves the starry sky, the protagonist may not use...

Note 3: It's not Amon, it's character setting. First Officer Bruce Walls. It is Yu Ji's trick in the mystery.

The description of the dragon set comes from the third traveler, the 209th chapter meeting

Thank you Yu Ji for your continuous encouragement, support and urging! Grateful!

－－－－－－off topic－－－－－

Thanks again for the long comment that wanted to take Klein on a trip! Many times when I can't hold on, I will take it out and take a look. Thank you for your love, I will keep going!

"Huh?" Igna was stunned.

Pirate Conference? Is this a party he can attend?

It was probably Ignat who expressed doubts, and Edwina explained it to him very carefully and patiently.

"Every year, the 'King of the Five Seas' Nast will host a pirate conference. This year, it will be held in the Towson Islands."

"There will be trading of mysticism books, extraordinary items, and extraordinary materials at the Pirate Conference. Are you interested?"

Of course interested!

Ignatius' eyes lit up.

Although the style of pirates on the Golden Dream is completely different from the pirates imagined by Igna, what man can refuse to participate in the pirate conference?

"Interested." After a few days of dealing, Igna had mastered the method of communicating with Edwina.

In the face of this well-informed scholar and pirate general, when you can speak clearly, you only need to reasonably explain your needs and opinions.

"May I participate?" Igna asked.

"Okay." Edwina nodded, then turned to Bruce Walls and said, "No need to detour, let's just drive over."

"As ordered, Captain." Bruce Walls saluted his chest, and then exited the room.

Edwina also continued the discussion with Igna as if nothing had happened.

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Seven days later.

When the day of the pirate meeting finally came, Ignat was silently relieved.

Discussing academic issues with Edwina was enjoyable, but also stressful.

Even though he has a solid grasp of the basic theoretical knowledge, facing Edwina's "torture", Ignat couldn't bear it for a long time.

Before graduating from graduate school that year, the reason why he resolutely chose employment. It's because academics give him a headache.

Fortunately, the knowledge that he is discussing with Edwina is "known" knowledge to him, but it is still "unknown" to Edwina.

Therefore, it is not so difficult for Igna and Edwina to discuss. Not yet the step that required him to think of something innovative. As long as he can explain clearly the source of each academic step.

Edwina's academic rigor was admired by Ignatius.

Sure enough, all the Doctors are admirable.

After reaching the Towson Islands.

Ignat made a simple disguise and followed the pirates of the Golden Dream.

The Towson Islands is one of many islands in the Sunia Sea.

But it doesn't look like it was hastily chosen as the venue for a pirate meeting.

Because you can see several mature, concrete buildings on the archipelago. There are also more systematic urban planning.

The archipelago is artificially divided into several parts.

"The area we arrived is mainly the trading area." Edwina introduced Igna.

"There are transactions of documents and books, transactions of extraordinary materials or items, transactions of daily supplies, and different trading areas have their own corresponding areas." Edwina pointed to the three prominent buildings in the center of the archipelago. .

"Library trading books. Extraordinary materials are in the police station." Lieutenant General Iceberg picked the corner of his mouth, "Daily supplies are in the open-air market."

"Besides that, on the island 'West Island' on the east side, is the red light district. On the island on the west side, 'East Island', is the duel area. The central area is the 'Palace', where the King of the Five Seas, Nast Club there."

"The so-called dueling area is a dueling arena for pirates to launch honorary duels. However, there are usually some extraordinary beast fighting games for gambling." Edwina introduced flatly.

The island on the east side is called "West Island", and the island on the west side is called "East Island"...

Igna couldn't help but recall some introductions about Nast.

It is said that Nast claimed to be a descendant of the Solomon Empire of the Fourth Age. Not only is he a high-ranking powerhouse, but he also owns the terrifying ghost ship "Dark Emperor" left over from the empire.

He is good at using order, and can pull the enemy to fight in the field he is best at, and create all kinds of incredible effects. (Note 1)

non-compliant order.

It is also very characteristic of the Quaternary.

"Fighting, fraud, and theft are not allowed on the island. The trading area has a set of reasonable order and is a seller's market." Edwina said, "All transactions can be notarized at the notary office."

This sounds like a civilized society.

But how can civilized social norms be formed where pirates gather?

"I'm going to the literature and classics trading area." Edwina said to Igna calmly.

Igna nodded, he understood that this was Lieutenant General Iceberg asking about his follow-up plans: "I want to go somewhere else first."

"Okay." Lieutenant General Iceberg nodded and pointed to the first mate who was walking behind the team, "Let Bruce Walls come with you. He is more familiar with this place."

"Thank you." Igna was not hypocritical and did not reject Edwina's kindness.

After all, this is the domain of Nast, the king of the five seas. And he's not really a pirate.

With a gentleman with a bounty of 6,200 gold pounds walking by, Igna will save a lot of money.

necessary trouble.

Blue Walls also did not reject Edwina's assignment.

"Happy to serve you, sir."

After saying goodbye to Lieutenant General Iceberg and the mighty crowd behind her, Blue Walls looked at Igna.

The first mate of the Golden Dream asked politely, "Mr. Li Lance, where do you want to go first?"

Igna raised his eyes and looked around at the hustle and bustle, which was almost comparable to the traffic at Backlund Railway Station, and said, "I want to go to the daily supply area."

On the Golden Dream, in order to fulfill the exhortation of Senior Xiao Zhou, "look at the place of travel from the perspective of being left behind".

Igna also raised many questions about "how to be a pirate", "what a pirate should know", and "the social ecology of pirates", and Edwina also shared information from an academic perspective and own opinion.

Even, the honorary doctorate of anthropology from the University of Nuremberg, Rmburg, allowed Igna to conduct interviews and research on board the Golden Dream.

To understand "what is a pirate" using empirical data and information.

However, the Golden Dream is just a sample after all. On the daily universality of pirates, there are still some problems waiting for Igna to continue to study.

"Okay." Bruce Walls nodded and pointed to the northwest, "Let's go this way."

The two raised their feet and moved towards the daily supply trading area.

During the journey, Igna saw another mighty team.

Its scale is several times larger than the team led by Lieutenant General Iceberg.

The leader was a black-haired woman, who was exceptionally beautiful and moving.

Her eyebrows are long and straight, her azure blue eyes are sharp and bright, and she wears only a linen shirt on her upper body.

Her figure is indescribably graceful, and even if it is looming, it shows a curve that makes people bloody. (Note 2)

When this lady... no, the young lady appeared, there was a moment of stagnation and silence in the noisy crowd around.

But no one dared to whistle lewdly at this lady who was surrounded by countless pirates.

Ignat couldn't help but be attracted by this young lady.

"Admiral 'Sickness' Tracy." The bounty is 55,000 Ruen gold pounds.

If he remembered correctly, this lady was different from the treasure hunter and pirate on the Golden Dream.

She was officially charged with massacres, human trafficking, kidnapping, illegal detention and many other crimes in Ruen. On the official list that Ignace received, it was marked as extremely dangerous.

"Right?" Igna asked Bruce Walls next to him.

"Well." Bruce Walls nodded and smiled, "Exactly."

"Admiral Sick is the pirate general with the most admirers and followers on the five seas. The number of people who want to climb on her bed is endless."

"But rumor has it," Bruce Walls smiled mysteriously, "she only likes girls."

"And, there's a red-haired sweetheart."

Igna raised his eyebrows involuntarily. This is something that is not on the bounty guide.

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Note 1: Nast's information comes from Apo's introduction. Volume II The Faceless Man, Chapter 79 Exchange of Information.

Note 2: The appearance of Lieutenant General of Illness is referenced in, Volume II Traveler, Chapter 99 is both fusion and extraction.

Then, Igna heard a piece of rosy news about the disease admiral.

Another part of the "heard" is the inside information of Gehrman Sparrow's assassination of General Sickness.

Bruce Walls told Igna quietly.

—Gehrman Sparrow was just disguised as the red-haired beauty, so that he could pass through the many organs and strictly guard against the successful slander of the diseased general Tracy.

- It is said that he played so vividly that even her closest lover Tracy did not notice.

"...It's a bit unimaginable," Igna said sincerely.

Thinking back to his teacher, Ignat couldn't believe that he could play a woman so vividly!

Regardless of the change in height and stature, after all, it can be done with the extraordinary ability of the Faceless.

What is important is the cross-domain of psychological barriers.

Igna couldn't help imagining in his mind: Gehrman Sparrow shrank his height, changed his appearance, and then used the ability of the Faceless to conjure up a pair of "little bunnies" on his chest...

At that time, what did he... think?

Although it is too disrespectful to think about his teacher, Igna's expression can't help but become a little subtle.

"Well. We think so too." Bruce Walls nodded.

"However, Gehrman Sparrow is a pirate king-level adventurer after all. It is impossible to speculate in ordinary people's way."

"Maybe he didn't think about anything at all." Bruce Walls smiled. "He may just want to hunt, and cross-dressing is just a means, that's all."

During the conversation, the figure of the disease admiral quickly disappeared from the crowd.

Neither Igna nor Bruce Walls set their sights on the disease admiral for too long. They quickly turned around and continued toward the daily trading area.

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The place where the Pirate Congress trades daily materials is in the northwest corner of the entire trading area.

In other words, the orientation is located in the northwest corner, and the name is an open-air market called "Southeast Trading Market".

"The name is opposite to the position" - this is a set of clear rules that violate common sense, but as long as you are familiar with it, you can react quickly and freely.

After adapting to this set of rules a little, Igna looked at the interior of the "Southeast Open Air Market".

The open-air market where daily living things are traded is very large. Even if it is night, it is still brightly lit. Under the lighting of kerosene lamps and occult techniques, it looks as bright as day.

Transactions are also in full swing.

In general, the "everyday" of pirates is not too different from ordinary people.

Except for the stalls that sell weapons openly, ordinary people may not be able to reach them.

This open-air market is mostly filled with food, drinking water, alcohol, medicine, clothing, diving equipment and oddly shaped knick-knacks to pass the time.

The size of the transaction is even bigger than that of Bayam's largest open-air market.

The whole open-air market is also orderly. And there is no "official" presence on the road to maintain order.

Ignatius was very surprised.

Although the pirate conference was convened and held by Nast, the king of the five seas, it doesn't mean that all pirates have to buy his face, right?

Throughout the ages, there have been countless numbers of people who recklessly challenged the order. The darkness hidden in the human heart is boundless when there is no bottom-line supervision.

In the absence of supervision, ordinary people cannot yet demand that they strictly abide by the rules. Are pirates who are outside the law and regard the law as dung, do they have a bottom line than ordinary people?

This is not reasonable. Not even common sense.

"How is the order of the market maintained?" Ignatius asked Bruce Walls. "I don't see any oversight."

Pirates resentment of "official personnel" is inevitable.

However, the order here is so orderly that one cannot rely entirely on self-consciousness, right?

Facing the question, Bruce Walls did not feel impatient, but replied politely: "Mr. Li Langs, do you remember the rules in the trading area that the captain just mentioned to you?"

"No fighting, no cheating, no stealing," replied Igna. He remembered these points clearly.

"Yes." Bruce Walls nodded.

"For most pirates, many people see that the market area is not regulated and want to steal; or they are emotional, subconsciously unable to control their emotions, and want to fight. This is normal." Blue Waugh Les laughed, "After all, this is the norm for pirates."

"However, at the Pirate Conference, the rules set by the 'King of the Five Seas' are insurmountable laws." Bruce Walls raised his eyes and looked around.

Not far from them, about ten meters away, there was a pirate who looked very excited.

He was at the weapons-purchasing stall, but at this time, Chang was pulling the collar of the stall owner and yelling something.

Bruce Walls raised his finger and motioned Igna to look there.

"If that person really takes the initiative against Tan, then he will be out of luck." Bruce Walls said lightly.

The quarrel between the two pirates has attracted the attention of those around.

Because although the open-air market is noisy, the sound of arguing can easily penetrate the eardrum.

What's more, brawls are absolutely forbidden in this market.

As expected, the emotional pirate took action. He picked up the weapon and smashed it at the stall owner.

The pirate was quick-witted.

Seeing that the harpoon was about to stab the stall owner's throat.

"Dang bang—" The harpoon rolled to the ground with a crisp sound.

The stall owner was fine.

However, countless holes appeared strangely on the pirate who did it.

Those with sharp eyes could see that the countless blood holes appeared in groups of three and three. And the gap arranged is consistent with the harpoon.

Blood splattered and screamed.

It should be so.

But Igna only heard the stern scream of the pirate, and his blood did not spurt. His body didn't stain the ground either.

In front of everyone, the pirate turned into a blood man, and then became dust.

Then, the dust drifted upward against gravity, and finally disappeared in front of everyone.

"If you break the rules, that's what happens," concluded Bruce Walls.

The scene in front of them is not unsightly, but most of the pirates seem to be very calm. There may be some "new pirates" who are irresistibly disgusted and distressed by the phenomenon in front of them.

But that was only a few, but in just a few seconds, the southeast trading market resumed its previous noisy and trading order.

Even the owner of the weapon shop picked up the harpoon as usual, and started the next round of selling.

This is the Pirate Conference.

and the order of the pirate assembly.

Looking at the scene in front of him, Igna was a little interested in the follow-up investigation for a while.

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However, upholding the scientific and rigorous and impartial scientific research spirit, Igna still found some friendly stall owners and asked about the reserves required by pirates on a daily basis.

knowledge is power. Knowledge is life.

It is possible to master it only with sufficient understanding.

And, Ignatius has some new discoveries in the southeast fairgrounds.

It turns out that pirates are not all dressed as "pirates" in the usual sense.

There are many people's dresses, all of which have left a deep impression on Igna.

A boy in a straw hat and a red vest, a man with green hair who looks like a swordsman, a reindeer who walks upright like a pet, an orange-haired girl in a cool vest and shorts, a black-haired scholar in a black professional suit...

There are not a few neatly dressed gentlemen like Igna, and there are countless people of all kinds.

"Hey, this gentleman, can I disturb you?" Ignatius and Bruce Walls were suddenly stopped by someone.

Igna looked up at him.

The man is very tall, UU reading www. uukanshu. The com looked close to two meters, reminding Igna of the time when he was stopped by Adal to preach.

But the man in front of him was obviously not a cleric.

He was wearing overalls and a white shirt, looking in his mid-thirties, with a strong build and thick hair, so that his exposed forearms seemed to be covered in a brown sweater.

He wore a round-brimmed hat with a sunken center and a hearty smile.

Igna recognized each other at a glance.

Frank Lee, £8,500 bounty. The first mate of the Queen of the Stars "Future". (Note 1)

"Toxin expert."

And the "toxin expert" was greeting him happily, his brown eyes seemed to be shining.

"Have you eaten milk made from mushrooms recently?" he asked happily.

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Note 1: The third traveler, Chapter 156 Toxin Expert.