At this moment, standing in front of multiple projection screens, Lucy's cold eyes were filled with uncertainty.
"So, none of you found anything except for some broken bronze pieces?" She coldly questioned while looking at the five people on the screens, and she did not sound satisfied at all.
Those five had a helpless expression on their face, and then one of them with a reptile face and dark gray scales replied with a helpless tone, "Please forgive my insolence Lady Manager, but if you want to search for someone's body after that sort of explosion and in the middle of Star Ocean at that, I think we are wasting our time."
"I think that person who caused this explosion is long dead, and even if he had survived, unless he's a marine beast, he would've suffocated in the ocean, and there are very high chances that some passerby ocean beast has already eaten him." A woman as beautiful as an elf with ebony skin also spoke in agreement with the statement made by the reptile face man.
Not only her, but the reaming three also fully agreed because they all think this entire investigation was a fool's errand and what they should be doing instead is preparation for the upcoming trial.
But Lucy didn't even seem to hear what they just said and questioned coldly, "Tell me, did the alchemy guild still there?"
Wilder, who was also present in one of the projections, replied, "Yes, they are also searching like us."
Wilder wanted the answers more than anyone else because his crew would have almost got annihilated that day if that mysterious person had used two more of those explosives.
But not only did he not get an explanation from Lucy, he even got berated and called incompetent by Lucy. In the end, he had to swallow his anger since Lucy didn't do anything to his tribe or crew. Even she knew it wasn't their fault at all.
Nevertheless, they were all still curious about why in the world both the bank and the guild insisted on finding any clues about this guy. It was like they wanted to fully confirm whether he was dead or alive and won't breathe a sigh of relief until they knew exactly that.
But searching for a dead body that should be blasted apart by that terrifying explosion in the middle of the star ocean, which was so close to the boundary of the boundless star ocean, was like searching a particular needle in the entire universe!
Right at this moment, before Lucy could say anything, the five projections abruptly vanished, and the next moment, a glowing red interface appeared, and golden words were written in that red interface.
SAAI's static voice rang at this moment as she read those golden words for Lucy, who was looking at them like she had just seen a ghost.
"[Zodiac Oath Contract between Lucy Gabriel and Ellie N. Elliot has been concluded!]
"[According to the clauses set by both parties, if the 'Entity (Jacob Steve star ID: Faceless Ancient)' made it to the Epic Plains alone, Party A (Lucy Gabriel) will have to hand over the complete and without any alternation and original copy of the Scripture of Blank to Party B (Ellie N. Elliot) within 24 hours!]
"[Party A or Party B then no longer tell about the Scripture of Blank to anyone or any content of this bet to anyone under any case. The moment any Party showed intent to violate any of these clauses, SAAI has full authority to terminate them on the spot without any prior warning!]
"[As the overseer of Zodiac Oath Contract, I hereby order Part A, Lucy Gabriel to fulfill your part of the contract within 24 hours or it will be taken as an act of violation of the Zodiac Oath Contract!]"
Lucy was rooted in her place. She continued to stare at the red interface and golden words for a long, long time in utter disbelief…
---
At the same time, Ellie also got the same message, and unlike Lucy, she only fell into a short-term daze before ecstasy ran wild in her entire body.
"I-I… I finally beat that bitch!" She screamed, full of mirth. She never expected that she would be the one who came out on top in this bet and so quickly at that.
Furthermore, she wanted to see Lucy's ugly mug more than anything right now, but first, she quickly found her father, Nelsen, to give him this joyous news of her triumphed victory against her loathsome enemy.
But when Nelsen heard the news, he didn't seem that much thrilled as she expected him to be. Instead, he sighed and said gravely, "Although we won, it also meant that the Faceless Ancient had managed to escape that ghastly blast and even reached the shores of the Epic Plains within two weeks of the blast.
"This could only mean that he is far more terrifying than we all have expected him to be. Truth be told, I wanted him to be dead and get the Zodiac Oath Contract getting null instead.
"This victory is not joyous until he is alive, and there is a chance of him finding out about this whole bet thing of yours." For someone who likes to joke with his daughter very much, his worried tone is evident in how much he takes Jacob seriously.
Ellie also knew where Nelsen was coming from in all this, but she didn't want to ruin her victorious feeling. She retorted, "Why are you so gloomily? Even if he has some means up his sleeve, he's still a nobody of the lower plains. Besides, the one who attacked him and pushed him this far was that bitch, and I was the one who wanted to lend him a helping hand. So, he will go after her, which is by all means nothing but good news for me, and I even approve of it!"
Nelsen sighed again, shaking his head, "That's the thing, my little girl. Your involvement in this is simply too striking, and if he's as intelligent as I think he is, he will not be going to forget about it. I think we need to work with the Bank this time around to contain this contingency, whether you like it or not!"