643 Final wishes of the departed (1/2)
Next up, Sheyan retrieved that colorless glowing key of the Plaga Host and summoned out its chest. Instead, nothing happened. Sheyan himself was rather expectant of this unprecedented colorless key, but after standing motionlessly for half a minute, the chest he was anticipating had not surfaced…...
”Strange…..” Sheyan pondered briefly. He then proceeded to survey his surroundings, and suddenly discovered something flickering in a distant. Creeping up for a look, he realized it came from a corpse. Indeed, it was that heavily damaged, scattered and smashed headless corpse that was radiating light.
During the intense battling previously, Sheyan could already sense something was amiss. Currently, upon closer inspection after calming himself down, he noticed several doubtful points.
After this corpse had been infected, its appearance had vastly distorted beyond recognition. However, basic features like hair color or simply its attire could still be easily distinguishable.
Merely 10 seconds into his investigation, Sheyan could basically infer that this unlucky parasite-host wasn’t a native aborigine.
Deducing from the ragged cloth linings and its golden hair, this person should be one of Little Lord Fokke’s retinue who had traveled to this desolated land a decade plus ago. It was unclear how he had been infected by such a potent parasite, where he met his fate by having his corpse transformed into a bug’s nest.
”The glow should be hinting at something.” Sheyan could very assuredly determine this point.
Deliberating briefly, Sheyan held the colorless glowing key in a posture of preparing to activate, and proceeded to walk towards the direction where the Plaga Host first showed up.
Although the sunset remained brilliantly passionate, he could still notice an identical colorless glow emitting from a dead end. It was as though a searchlight had targeted it.
Sheyan swiftly marched towards it. When he reached the crumbled ruins of this dead end, he noticed several rock fragments positioned in a ‘人’ shape, which provided a tiny space sheltered from the wind and rain. That space revealed traces of human livelihood, where a few tattered and moldy clothes had been stuffed disorderly within. In addition, a canvas bag, which was commonly seen on ships, could be seen as well.
The canvas bags of present times and the canvas bags of old are completely different concepts. The canvas bag of old was bundled up sailcloth, which winds and storms could not tear apart. These authentic canvas bags were incredibly thick and could protect the valuable items stored even when flung into vile environments.
This was Sheyan’s deduction – year in and year out, that Plaga Host must’ve curled up and nested underneath the asylum of these rocks; constantly in a state of hibernation, or a maybe a feigned death.
Nevertheless, its sensory organs allowed it to feel the tremors of the ground, hence, making it possible to sneakily hunt passing by preys. This explained why the majority of snare mechanisms in this city of ruins hadn’t been triggered by them yet.
In fact, those Ndipaya Kingdom Guardians similarly treated these freaks as a wonderful defense line. To them, apart from the concentrated siege of snare mechanisms upon entering the city of ruins, one had to square off with these dreadful and formidable shriveled corpses. Thus, any trespasser was equivalent to a dead person.
Sheyan unperturbedly surveyed around, before creeping forward. A rich stench assailed his nostrils as he picked up that canvas bag.
After the erosion of countless decades, this canvas bag had turned rigidly hard. When Sheyan tried to unfurl the sailcloth, he realized that the cloth was completely moldy and stuff, so much so that it emitted a cracking sound akin to a snapping wooden plank.
Sheyan did his utmost to cautiously open this ‘long-lasting and durable’ canvas bag. Finally, he heaved a sigh of relief, because, with the protection of the canvas bag, its contents were perfectly preserved; without a single blemish nor dust.
Right at the top, was a piece of parchment paper, scribbled with messy handwriting. Sheyan frowned as he attempted to decipher it. Gradually, he became immersed in the descriptions of one detailed as Dias…...
「 Yes, one thing I can confirm, I’m about to die. 」
「 Ah, what a bitter fate….I feel as though the devil was gazing upon us throughout this whole journey. We lost at least half our members, oh...wrong, could it be, my brain is finally starting to rot? To make such a huge miscalculation regarding simple counting. Right, only four managed to reach this place. Oh, and that horse, that demonic horse known as Momore. 」
「 What a shitty feeling, a shitty feeling indeed. I can finally understand why he was willing to generously share the secrets of the Stairway of the Sun with us. Because this secret is not one that ordinary humans can partake in. I thought it was real, that surging sensation of possessing limitless life. A pity, true pity…...us foreigners are different from these aborigines. Our bodies, and this power they seek!! 」
A dull brownish speckle stained this written portion of the parchment paper. It seemed like when Dias had scribbled till here, he coughed another mouth of blood.
「 I can no longer feel pain. But, my fingers are constantly being beckoned... I can feel, they will soon take control of my body. I must seize the time I have left. 」
「 Julie, I love you. Father, I love you. Beloved Lucy, my lil angel, I promised to return with a pearl that suits you. Every second and minute of my life, I have always remembered. It is now in my bag, but a pity....I fear I cannot personally hand it to you. Nevertheless, my soul and my promise shall reside forever in that pearl, until the day it reaches whom it should reach. 」
「 I thank…...you 」
「 Final words of Bartolomeu Dias 」
After reading this testimony, Sheyan was firstly astonished. Because if he hadn’t remembered wrongly, there was also someone named Bartolomeu Dias in the real world!
Perhaps that name sounds foreign, however, if one raised the topic of Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, many would be aware of that term. Indeed, the Cape of Good Hope was first discovered by Dias. Moreover, he first named it the ‘Cape of Storms’, but was later renamed to the Cape of Good Hope by King John II of Portugal!