Treasure Hunting System： The Ocean Conquerer

Not to mention, such a grand festival also required enough soldiers to ensure safety. But even so, the military presence on the island seemed insufficient, numbering only a few hundred. Take, for example, the incident Jason and his companions encountered yesterday. From the moment the monster erupted to when Jason and his companions subdued it and waited for the soldiers to arrive, the entire process took about fifteen minutes. And this was during the Bloom Festival. Fifteen minutes was more than enough to highlight the problem.

”Two months ago, this Cult Group was rampant, causing disturbances in the surrounding areas,” Jason said. ”But recently, there have been far fewer incidents. The situation we saw yesterday was just because...” Jason paused, his eyes narrowing slightly as a troubling thought occurred to him. He suddenly turned his head, looked at the two men, and asked, ”If that person yesterday hadn’t gotten into a dispute with the others at the tavern, would he still have transformed into that monstrous state?”

Hearing this, the two men contemplated. Honestly, they didn’t know much. The scene at the time hadn’t been chaotic; indeed, it had looked no different from a drunken brawl among tavern-goers.

Before they could answer, Jason stated directly, ”No. I saw their emotions at the time. The emotions of the person who transformed became uncontrollable, his anger escalating step by step. Only when his anger breached a certain threshold did he morph into that monstrous form.”

Thanks to the Crystal Dragon, Jason could perceive the emotional expressions of Intelligent Life quite clearly. Although he could only see some of the more extreme emotions in the current situation, it was more than enough.

”So, that incident was genuinely an accident? The Cult Group didn’t actually intend to cause a disturbance, right?” Simon added, picking up on Jason’s line of thought.

”That’s right,” Jason affirmed. ”If we set aside this one incident, the data from the past two months shows not a single disturbance occurred within the city. All the chaos was caused by Cultists on the outskirts, such as the two or three instances of them plundering various supplies being transported to the Land of Fragrance. Compared to the frequency of their disturbances two months ago, they had been much more restrained recently. But why would they hold back during such an important festival? Could it be they also celebrated the Bloom Festival? Clearly, that wasn’t the case.”

If I were the leader of the Cultists, I would definitely seize this opportunity to loot relentlessly. Jason mused. The fact that someone had transformed into a monster indicated they definitely had inside agents on the island. Therefore, their recent actions seemed highly unreasonable.

”Are you saying they might be planning something big?” Juanlu asked from the side.

Jason nodded. ”Exactly. Such a possibility certainly exists, but it’s just a possibility. Even if we tell them now, it won’t help.”

Hearing this, both Simon and Juanlu nodded in agreement. Indeed, even informing the leader now would be useless, as they no longer had enough soldiers to mobilize. It was a deadlock. The recalled injured soldiers would likely be assigned to maintain order as soon as they recovered enough to move. Assigning such low-intensity tasks to these partially recovered soldiers was entirely appropriate. Things had already reached such a state. It was hard to expect them to muster any more troops to guard the surrounding areas.

”Still, we should mention it,” Jason said, thinking aloud. ”At least it will give them some warning. Even if nothing happens, it won’t cause any harm. We should head back now. Let’s go together.”

With that, the three stood up and left the greenhouse. They found the Female Knight who had previously given them the commission and told her their conjectures. The Female Knight nodded and thanked them.

It seems they weren’t entirely unprepared; clearly, they had considered this possibility too, Jason thought. This was evident from the Female Knight’s earlier expression and reaction.

”Do you think,” Simon suddenly said, a thought striking him, ”they might have commissioned us because they’re actually counting on us as reinforcements? After all, if they commissioned us to catch these Cultists, and if these Cultists genuinely planned something against the city, we would undoubtedly intervene.”

”Don’t overthink it,” Jason said, patting Simon’s shoulder. ”Even if they hadn’t commissioned us, if something really happened in the city while we’re here, we couldn’t just run away, could we?”

Hearing this, Simon considered it and realized it sounded quite reasonable. After all, they intended to stay in this place for a good while, not to mention Alka had been directly commissioned by the Flower Goddess to help. If something genuinely happened here, they couldn’t remain uninvolved. It wouldn’t benefit either party. A stable city that could provide them with all sorts of supplies and resources was far superior to a chaotic region. They were here to find treasure and get rich, not to fight and kill.

Chatting leisurely, the three returned to the Flower Forest under the cover of night. Just as they were entering the Flower Forest, they met Alka and her group, who were also returning. They must have been busy for a long time today as well, Jason thought. It’s been over twenty hours, from morning till night. I thought they would have returned much earlier.

”Any luck?” Alka asked, looking at the three with a smile.

Jason nodded. ”Yes, but nothing that will be of much help in apprehending them.” He then observed the expressions of Alka and her companions. ”It looks like your efforts were fruitful.”

”Absolutely,” Alka replied with a smile.

In the end, they had found the Church’s Holy Scripture. These texts, related to the Divine, were used for preaching and recorded various deeds of the Divine. It was clear that most of it was exaggerated. However, besides praising the Divine, these scriptures also extolled the great deeds accomplished by the followers of these Divine beings. Almost every Divine being’s scripture did such things, including those of the Holy Mother. Alka and the others on her ship had all read the scriptures of their respective Divine beings; they were, after all, used for missionary work.

And, as expected, they found the very term they were looking for in the scriptures.

Hochal Meira. Just as they had thought, he was a powerful Saint, a mighty figure who had served under the Flower Fairy during the Era of the Gods. His great deeds were recorded therein. If he were still alive, this man could have almost been considered the Flower Fairy’s Deputy. But clearly, this person was long dead. After all, even the Flower Fairy herself had fallen and was awaiting rebirth in the Dream Realm. Practically none of the famous believers mentioned in that Holy Scripture had survived, as they were looking at an ancient version of the text. In the newer versions of the scriptures, the accounts of these believers were completely different, mostly detailing their heroic sacrifices.