"Oh, Klein, you've got a new Marionette!"
Undoubtedly, this was a perfectly normal opening line.
But after Lin Ruo greeted him, he was surprised to find Klein freeze for a moment, then look at him with a subtle expression.
"What's wrong? There was nothing wrong with what I just said…" Lin Ruo was a little confused. He replayed his opening line in his mind, confirmed it was fine, and then asked directly, "Why are you looking at me like that? What happened?"
"Uh…" Klein hesitated. He hadn't expected Lin Ruo to return so coincidentally this time. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Lin Ruo, do you have any impression of this sea area?"
"Huh?" Lin Ruo glanced at him, and remembering the faint, almost imperceptible summons he had felt in the sky just now, his brow furrowed immediately. He said, "What's in this sea area? I did feel something here calling to me just now. Is it something related to me?"
So, there really is a Blood Emperor ruin here? Wait, if Lin Ruo felt the summons, the Blood Emperor isn't going to rise from his coffin too, is he…
Klein, who had originally just wanted to start a conversation, paused slightly. As a series of thoughts flashed through his mind, he didn't intend to hide anything and quickly said, "According to Admiral Hell Ludwell's intelligence, there might be a ruin of Blood Emperor Alista here."
He paused, then Klein cautiously glanced at Lin Ruo and added, "Perhaps the summons you felt came from there."
It's hard to say what Lin Ruo's feelings were at that moment; he just instinctively repeated the name: "Alista…"
In Lin Ruo's heart, it was as if countless emotions surged at this moment—sadness, anger, regret. All emotions intermingled, then vanished in an instant.
Lin Ruo calmly raised his eyes and looked at Klein, his voice as calm as his expression: "What exactly is going on?"
Klein quickly recounted all the information he had learned from Ludwell. In fact, there wasn't much content, just facts pieced together from fragmented records, indicating that the Blood Emperor had once visited here and left something behind. As for more information, such as what the Blood Emperor came here for, or what was in the so-called ruins, there was no record at all.
It was precisely because the records were scarce and vague that Admiral Hell Ludwell and his group were unsure if there even was a ruin here.
However, it was clear that since Lin Ruo had already felt that inexplicable summons, there was indeed a ruin here.
"Your Excellency Lin Ruo, could this be a trap?" Cattleya asked. After dealing with the enemies and instructing the crew to clean up the battlefield, she came closer to Lin Ruo. At this moment, while carefully observing Lin Ruo, she put forward her idea:
"Although I don't know much about the matter between you and the Blood Emperor, you and he have indeed broken ties. But now, something that is supposedly left by him is calling to you. Could this be a trap aimed at you?"
"I also think it might be a trap…" Klein clearly shared Cattleya's thoughts, but having seen others rise from their coffins, he had an additional layer of thought. He said with a worried tone, "Or the Blood Emperor himself isn't truly dead… In any case, no matter which possibility, that ruin is very dangerous for you."
While it wasn't good to maliciously speculate about others, this involved Alista, who had betrayed Lin Ruo back then. Klein felt it was better to be cautious.
"Alista cannot be resurrected."
Facing their concern, Lin Ruo remained silent for a few seconds before suddenly speaking, his tone certain.
He closed his eyes, his mind blank. Lin Ruo couldn't really explain what he was thinking, but after a while, he opened his eyes and said:
"I want to enter that ruin."
Cattleya froze for a moment. She looked at Lin Ruo, wanting to speak but stopping herself, and ultimately said nothing.
It wasn't that she didn't want to speak, but Cattleya knew that she didn't have the ability to change an angel's mind.
"But won't that be too dangerous…" Klein didn't have her reservations. He frowned and said worriedly.
"I know there might be danger, but I still want to go in and see." Lin Ruo looked in a certain direction, the direction from which he had felt the summons earlier. "My intuition tells me I should go and see."
With things said to this extent, even if Klein was still worried, he knew he shouldn't persuade him any further.
Lin Ruo wasn't a child; he had the right to decide what he did.
"Sorry…" Lin Ruo turned his head to look at Klein, apologized softly, then smiled again and said, "Don't worry, I'm not someone who would joke with my own life. I cherish my life very much."
"It's just a little conflicted…"
"Conflicted about what?" Klein's attention was involuntarily diverted, and he asked curiously.
"Conflicted about whether to call Little Red." Lin Ruo's smile faded as he spoke. "After all, this is a ruin left by Alista."
Klein's expression also became subtle.
Although Alista's ruin, strictly speaking, had nothing to do with Medici, considering the matter of Medici being stewed, it was hard to say there was no connection.
"You don't need to be conflicted. This old man also really wants to know what that Lunatic Tudor left behind."
Just then, an arrogant and mocking voice sounded. Lin Ruo froze for a moment, looked towards the source of the sound, and saw a wisp of flame suddenly shoot up, then condense into a human form—it was Medici.
The latter sat on the roof of the captain's cabin, arms crossed and legs crossed, in an extremely grand manner, looking down. His blood-colored eyes were slightly narrowed, staring in a certain direction with coldness and danger.
Good heavens, when did he arrive… Lin Ruo was truly stunned, but then he realized something—the intelligence about the Blood Emperor's ruin originally came from Ludwell.
And Medici was secretly subduing the Numinous Episcopate with Azik, and the faction Ludwell belonged to had already defected.
So, it was possible that Medici was the first among them to know the intelligence.
"You came a long time ago?" Realizing this, Lin Ruo simply asked directly.
"Not as early as you. After all, I'm not a mother hen who can't bear to leave his chicks for a moment." Medici's tone was as sarcastic as ever.
Lin Ruo was too lazy to argue with him this time. He just looked at him and said, "So, shall we go in together?"
"If this old man doesn't go in, with you as you are now… Heh." Medici chuckled, as if he said nothing, and yet said everything.
Lin Ruo: …
I shouldn't have worried about hitting his sore spot.
But on this matter, Lin Ruo really couldn't refute him. However, he didn't really get angry because of it. He just thought for a moment and said, "Alright, then I'll leave my safety to you."
"Tool Man A."