Bizarre Voyage: Summoning The Fourth Crisis

The Lord’s fortress was vast. Besides the great hall that took up a significant amount of space, there were other rooms such as a living room, bedrooms, storage rooms, and so on.

But these rooms were all quite empty. What little they contained was very ordinary and not worth mentioning.

However, in the study on the third floor, the two of them made some headway.

[Acquired: Antonista’s Diary]

[Acquired: An Account of the Voyage to Gray Crow Bay]

[Acquired: ”Signs of Extinction”]

[Acquired: ”Path to Liberation”]

The pair rummaged through the desk and drawers in the study, pulling out these journals and books of varying thickness.

In addition, there was a large portrait of a woman behind the desk.

The portrait was rather unusual. The woman depicted had sharp, angular features and a cold expression. Her gaze was proud and scrutinizing, rendered with startling realism.

However... what was very strange was that there appeared to be fairly obvious lick marks at the bottom of the portrait.

”So many books?”

Shore felt overwhelmed just by looking at them.

He could have patiently read through a few short documents, but this was a massive amount of text...

”Give them to me. I’ll read them.”

”You go on and check the back of the fortress for hidden passages or something. I remember this place being pretty big.”

Li Miao shook his head in resignation, took the books, and began to read.

Hearing this, Shore breathed a sigh of relief, turned, and headed downstairs to investigate the rear of the fortress.

Li Miao first opened Antonista’s Diary.

However, before he opened the diary, a sudden thought made him pause. As if remembering something, he took a collar out of his inventory.

[Antonista’s Collar]

[Type: Accessory]

[Explanation: A discarded collar. A Craftsman originally designed it for a dog.]

Li Miao looked at the collar’s Explanation, then at the name of the diary.

A peculiar expression involuntarily appeared on his face.

The study they were currently in was undoubtedly the Lord’s, and the owner of the diary was also named Antonista.

Coincidentally, the collar that had dropped from the Bloody Hound at the lighthouse was named ”Antonista’s Collar.”

Putting the two together, a strange theory couldn’t help but surface.

’Then again,’ Li Miao thought, ’that’s probably not it. After all, a collar belonging to someone could just mean it’s their property, not that they’re the one wearing it...’

Li Miao shrugged, thinking his mind was probably in the gutter and he was just overthinking things.

But... after he read a few pages of the diary, he covered his face. The writing was simply too indecent to read.

”...Jona, my love, my master, my everything. This is the first day you are confined to your sickbed, and I am terrified. I need to feel secure. I need you to put the collar on me with your own hands, to whip me, to make me feel alive...”

”...No matter what, I will find the best doctors to cure this damned disease. I will have you on your feet again, my esteemed Master Jona. I, Antonista, your pet, cannot accept your departure...”

”...These damned quacks. They’re a pack of parasites, bloodsucking leeches! They took so much money and accomplished nothing. I swear, I will kill them...”

”...My wife, Jona, is doing very well today. It is a day for celebration. Perhaps I should distribute some fresh fruit to my subjects to show the grace of the Star Family.”

”...No, no, no... My master, you cannot succumb. I need your taming. I cannot be without it, not for a single day. I will find a solution...”

”...Master Jona, the fleet that voyaged to Gray Crow Bay brought back some accounts and popular books. Their contents fill me with dread. I feel what is written within them might be true... that these are the Signs of Extinction...”

”...Hahaha, Master, you’ll never guess what I’ve found! I want so badly to introduce you to my new friend. Just like a little dog bringing home a playmate, I want to introduce him to you. Domitak. He’s an interesting man. He will surely bring us liberation...”

”...Master Jona, please rest assured. Your loyal hound, Antonista, will follow you forever... No matter what!!!”

”...Blades... sinew-chewing worms... hooks... iron pincers... the storeroom...”

Just as he’d suspected.

Antonista was the Lord, the master of this fortress, and also... the one who wore the collar.

As the Lord of Regga Town, he was master to thousands but servant to one, because he had a master of his own.

His wife, Jona.

She was likely the woman in the portrait behind Li Miao, whose gaze and expression radiated an intense, domineering aura.

’The first half of the diary... uh, how to put it... the couple was into some pretty wild stuff...’

But everyone has their own particular kinks, so that wasn’t the important part.

The important thing was that Antonista’s diary also made it clear the man had some serious mental issues.

When his wife, Jona, was having a good day despite her illness, his own condition was relatively normal. He even became more formal in his writing, his word choice deliberate and polished.

But as soon as his wife was confined to her bed again, Antonista’s mental state would take a nosedive.

He would become extremely fearful and anxious.

’Like an... insecure puppy?’

And it was in this mental state that Antonista’s fleet brought back more accounts and popular books from the so-called ”Gray Crow Bay.”