Inside the Captain's Cabin, Danitz and the others all looked at Lex, wondering why he wanted to see Valen Singh's portrait.
Edwina's expression remained unchanged, and she nodded gently: "Yes."
She stood up, walked to a cabinet, and took out a scroll from within. She called Danitz to help, and the two of them unrolled the scroll, revealing a half-body portrait.
The man in the painting had the distinct features of a South Continent native. His face was tattooed with mysterious symbols, long golden spikes pierced both his ears, and the left side of his lower lip was split, seemingly injured by a sharp object.
He was adorned with feathers and golden bracelets, and his gaze was resolute, as if no difficulty could ever deter him.
Lex's breathing hitched slightly.
Sure enough!
When Lex heard 'compass' just now, he had a feeling that the Adventurer Iceberg Admiral was looking for, the 'compass' she was searching for, was very likely the mummy he had discovered in the tomb on that nameless desolate island, and the burial objects found in the coffin.
At that time, Lex had also seen the mummy's Spirit Body, which looked exactly like the man in the portrait. Except that after becoming a Spirit Body, Valen's originally somewhat dark face had become pale, his eyes hollow, and the area around them deeply shadowed.
So, the 'compass' Edwina is looking for is in my hands, it's in the spirit world treasure chest. Lex adjusted his emotions, looked at Iceberg Admiral, and smiled: "Captain, no need to search anymore, that 'compass' is with me."
Immediately, Jodeson and the other 'high-ranking' members all stood up, looking at Lex in disbelief.
A flicker of surprise flashed in Edwina's eyes, but she didn't lose her composure. After a moment, as she put away the scroll, she said: "Really?"
"I've seen the person in the painting, or to be precise, his Spirit Body..." So Lex recounted his encounter in the mountain tomb, though, of course, he didn't mention anything related to the Wavebreaker.
After listening, Edwina calmly asked: "Who else knows about this?"
After all, this concerned the death god's treasure, so the fewer people who knew, the better.
And if anyone else knew, the sooner she understood, the sooner she could prepare.
Prepare for the appearance of competitors.
Lex shook his head frankly: "No, only I know about this. However, that compass keeps spinning non-stop, so it might already be broken."
Edwina's eyes suddenly lit up: "It seems you have indeed found it, found Valen's compass. That compass only reacts in the correct location; otherwise, it will keep spinning non-stop."
"It can do that?" Lex was greatly surprised. That thing didn't look like a magical item; it seemed to have been modified by Valen.
"Can you give me that compass?" As the most powerful Beyonder on the ship, Edwina hoped to personally protect this item.
"Of course," Lex said, shrugging his shoulders, "However, I have a condition."
Iceberg Admiral nodded almost imperceptibly: "Tell me."
"After discovering the Treasure Trove, I hope to have 'priority selection rights'," Lex said, stating what he had just thought of.
Before boarding the ship, Iceberg Admiral had said that if they found a Treasure Trove, the profits would be divided according to contribution and everyone's position on the ship. Lex believed that by handing over the compass, his contribution would definitely not be small.
Iceberg Admiral would also not tamper with this matter; if a Treasure Trove was truly discovered then, his gains would not be small either.
The problem was that he wouldn't have a choice in what he received.
Therefore, he wanted 'priority selection rights'; he hoped to obtain things that would enhance his strength, rather than mere wealth.
After a moment of consideration, Edwina agreed: "You may, but you must choose carefully."
"It's best not to pick things you can't handle."
Greed breeds trouble, I know. If I insist on taking things that are too valuable and I don't have the ability to protect, it will only bring disaster upon me. Lex nodded: "I have a sense of proportion."
"Please allow me to temporarily withdraw, I left the item in my room."
Danitz exclaimed: "You just left such an important item in your room?"
Lex looked at him: "Before this, I didn't know how important it was! If it weren't for its golden casing, its rather exquisite decorative patterns, and its relatively rare exotic style, I would have sold it instead of keeping it as a souvenir."
"Shit." After speaking, Danitz quickly covered his mouth, glanced at Iceberg Admiral, and seeing no reaction from her, the Boatswain breathed a sigh of relief.
Lex returned to his room, took out a candle, set up a simple altar, and summoned the spirit world treasure chest.
He took Valen's compass out of the dog-like Treasure Chest, looked at its golden casing, and the compass with the Feathered Serpent pattern on its lid. Lex smiled, not expecting that his previous unintentional gain could now be of great use.
He took the compass back to the Captain's Cabin and handed it to Edwina.
Iceberg Admiral carefully put the compass away. After Lex returned to his seat, she said: "Now that we have the compass, the only thing left between us and the death god's treasure is the next part of the riddle."
Lex raised his hand and asked: "What riddle, Captain?"
"The riddle left by Valen. As I mentioned earlier, before this, we found a code he left behind."
"That unique code of his is based on the numbers displayed by the code; you find the corresponding words in a designated book to obtain the secret information Valen left behind."
Edwina continued cutting her fried fish: "The book Valen designated was 'the great sea travels', which he once wrote. We found this book in a museum in Intis, but only the upper half."
"In this book, we obtained a riddle, and from this riddle, we gained two important pieces of information: 'compass' and 'the sea area near Sonia Island'."
"But this riddle is incomplete; we still need to get the lower half of 'the great sea travels' to obtain the complete riddle and the final information."
Lex frowned: "If it's a book, shouldn't more than one copy have been published?"
Jodeson took a sip from his wine glass and said: "'the great sea travels' is a manuscript. Valen originally intended to use the death god's treasure as the final story for this book. Although he discovered the Treasure Trove, he never excavated it, only recording the relevant information and hiding the secret in his manuscript."
Edwina put a piece of fried fish into her mouth, chewed and swallowed, then wiped her mouth with a napkin before saying: "We already have a clue for the lower half of 'the great sea travels'."
"However..."