Chapter 488 - 458: Catherine Returns
After days apart, Katelina now wears a blue cap with a white brim, dressed in blue clothes, white pants, and high boots, actually in the full dress of an Imperial Navy Officer of the Lionheart Empire! Of course, the aura under her feet is also her innate talent, "Noble Temperament," disguised as a Knight Aura.
Da Fei’s eyes widen in disbelief, full of surprise. Where did she get this uniform? What has she been up to? Masquerading as a female navy officer? Isn’t that a little too conspicuous?
Katelina gracefully steps forward, pats Da Fei on the shoulder, and sighs deeply, "Sorry, something came up at home, and I left without saying goodbye. I heard you ran into big trouble, so I came to check on you."
Check on me!!!
The pain Da Fei felt from that pat seemed to penetrate to his very core! I’m in such a big crisis, and all you do is "check on me"? If there were no issues, who knows when you would have come back?
At this moment, Da Fei’s Vice Hero pane flashes again, which reminds him of the time they had just eloped from Desolate Island, united after the storm!
Da Fei hastily checks the Vice Hero status:
— Katelina: Pirate Leader Rock once plundered a noblewoman to be his wife and gave birth to his daughter, Katelina. Under her mother’s influence, Katelina yearned for a life of noblewoman-like luxury from a young age, but her father Rock wanted to train her to be his successor. Among the mountainous loot plundered by the pirates, she always managed to find the most valuable treasures.
Personality: Cautious and suspicious, fond of luxury.
Loyalty: 69 (Warning: Your Vice Heroine, Katelina, has undergone a major family change and is no longer in the mood to adventure with you. Her loyalty will decrease by 1 point per day. Please immediately inquire about the related issues. When the Vice Hero’s loyalty falls below 10, they will leave you.)
......
— Apu! Da Fei spits out a mouthful of blood!
Her personality is actually cautious and suspicious! Wasn’t she enthusiastic and unrestrained before? Loyalty 69! It has always been 100 in the past! Damn it! How do those successful men’s wives run off? Men too busy with their careers don’t take care of their families, and then the wives run off! Is it my fault then?
Loyalty decreases by 1 point each day! This means, since the day we passed by Desolate Island and discovered the changes there, she has been disinterested in adventuring, and loyalty has been decreasing daily. Counting up to today, that’s exactly 31 days, which means a decrease of 31 points! And I’ve been oblivious, busy rushing about with my own concerns, leading to this current situation! Damn it, this is the trouble with Epic Heroes; nothing like those carefree tavern heroes!
But it’s not a problem, I still have 59 days, right? Besides, she knows I’ve run into big trouble, so she came back to check, which is marital loyalty! I must do my utmost to make amends!
Da Fei speaks with seriousness, "I’m sorry as well. I only recently learned about your father’s situation, but rest assured, as soon as my issues are settled here, I will immediately go find him."
Katelina’s eyebrows twitch, her tone annoyed, "It’s my dad, not yours, what’s it to you—How did you come to know about my dad, anyway?"
Da Fei feels as if his heart has shattered. Isn’t your father our father too? How could it not concern me?
Da Fei sighs with a wry smile, shaking his head. He pulls out the black leather book from the Security Bureau and says, "The last page is where the information is."
Katelina takes the book from him, flips through it, and her expression changes. She looks straight into Da Fei’s eyes and demands, "Are you searching for him because of this?"
Da Fei responds urgently, "How could that be possible! How could I harm him! He’s your father!"
Damn, I’ve messed up. Now that she’s become suspicious, why did I even show her this?
Katelina snorts, "As I said, he’s my dad, not yours. And besides, he’s a great Pirate Leader; who wouldn’t want to kick a man when he’s down!"
Hey, hey, hey, how can you describe your father as a man down on his luck? Da Fei sighs, "You and I have been through trials and tribulations together; if you can’t trust me, who can you trust?"
Katelina coldly huffs, "My dad and Barak used to be as close as brothers, facing storms side by side, united in life and death. But in the end, wasn’t there betrayal?"
Da Fei’s heart breaks! Dammit! I know you’ve triggered a drama, and I know that as an NPC, you can only turn to me for this, but could you not cause me such pain? My fiery hot heroine has turned into a doubting, grieving woman! If a hero’s personality doesn’t match well, it’s certainly leading to them leaving!
As Da Fei is in distress, Anlicia laughs heartily, "Miss Catherine, rest assured, if he’s ungrateful and opportunist, I’ll turn on him immediately and help you take him down!"
Katelina laughs back, "Thanks!"
Da Fei is both amused and exasperated, "What are you adding to the chaos?"
Anlicia’s expression suddenly turns stern and she speaks coldly, "Humans cannot stand the arrogance of us Elves, just as we Elves cannot stand the treachery of humans. Humans are fickle and untrustworthy, always swayed by their own interests!"
Da Fei was stunned on the spot! He had never seen Anlicia this serious before. So this was her real thought, huh? Indeed, when compared to the loyalty of Elves, humans were somewhat lacking in that department. In that moment, Da Fei finally understood another reason why Anlicia didn’t have the loyalty attribute! Well, if an Epic Hero wasn’t troubled, they wouldn’t be an Epic Hero!
At that moment, Katelina simply smiled lightly, "Captain, my father is trapped on some islands in the Eastern World, where even a hero of his caliber struggles to cope. How can you help me?"
Oh! Finally, we’re talking business instead of agonizing! But—
Da Fei frowned and asked, "How do you know where your father is?"
Katelina replied indifferently, "Many people want to know where he’s hiding."
Da Fei quickly waved his hands, insisting, "Don’t get me wrong! That’s not what I meant. I believe that the Eastern World, no matter how perilous, can’t be much tougher than the North Sea Nether Sea, right? If we’ve made it through the North Sea Nether Sea, why should we fear traversing the Eastern World?"
Katelina said coolly, "That’s because we had the help of Coltner and Spielberg last time! This time, I don’t trust any outsiders; any of them could betray my father!"
Da Fei was shocked once more, "So you mean, this time we can only rely on our own strength? We can’t call for anyone else’s help?"
Katelina stated plainly, "Exactly! My father has been a dominant pirate for decades and possesses wealth and secrets enough to tempt anyone! That might very well be why even his most trusted brothers betrayed him!"
Da Fei was left speechless!
This was a big problem! My initial plan was to follow the same model as last time, leveraging the Mayor’s or Makar’s connections to lead a grandiose fleet to New Oriental and then, incidentally, carve out a huge territory there. Now, it seems that’s all out of the question.
Da Fei could only sigh, "I will help you, but can you give me some time?"
Katelina nodded, "Yes, because I need time as well. However, my father isn’t in a good situation and won’t last long. Once my time is up, I must leave no matter what—Alright, it seems there’s nothing left for me here, I need to preview my lessons for the exam."
Da Fei was taken aback. She was really leaving! But he couldn’t help but wonder, "Exams? What lessons do you need to preview?"
Katelina shook her head and pulled out several thick books, sighing helplessly, "’Essence of Imperial Navy Tactics,’ ’Ship Management and Maintenance,’ ’Officers’ Self-cultivation,’ ’World Geography,’ and ’Hero Continent Dictionary.’ You know, I can’t read much. Culture lessons are really tough for me!"
Da Fei was so surprised his jaw dropped, "Why... Why are you taking exams? What are you testing for?"
Katelina smiled proudly, "Of course, I’m testing to become an Imperial Navy Officer! What do you think I’ve been doing recently? As long as I pass, I can sail my own warship to the East! Considering my full marks in the practical exams, I’ll get through the culture exams by exception as long as I’m not too bad!"
Da Fei exclaimed, "So your uniform is the real deal!"
Katelina replied irritably, "What do you think! Alright, I need to memorize this material. Don’t bother me with anything other than combat!"
Da Fei suddenly understood!
This was her way of rescuing her father! In other words, she could operate entirely without me, and had been prepared to do so from the start! Come to think of it, she hadn’t assigned any mission either, clearly showing her distrust in me, right? Was this the same carefree female pirate who used to hang out on the island, play with arts, and then elope with a newbie player the moment something troubled her? Da Fei’s heart was filled with mixed emotions.
Hold on! It suddenly dawned on Da Fei; a pirate who managed to disguise herself well enough to sit the navy officer exams? How did she know Rock’s location when even the Security Bureau had no clue, and how did she know about Rock’s current situation? Were they still able to get in touch?
Sure enough, an Epic Hero lived up to their name with a profound background! Could it be—In that instant, Da Fei suddenly thought of her mother! Right, there’s nothing like a mother’s love, and there was no mention in her background that her mother had died. Considering her mother was a lady from the Kingdom—Damn! Could it be that this navy exam was just a way of pulling strings?
Exactly! It must be so! A night of union bears a hundred days of grace, not to mention they had a child! With Rock in dire straits, the only savior could only be her mother; hence messaging by homing pigeons or calling for help with a Magic Power phone, etc., so Katelina knew her father’s whereabouts!
The more Da Fei thought about it, the more plausible it seemed, and the more he marveled at his own ability to fill in the blanks! At this point, Da Fei’s view of Katelina had changed—She was a true beauty with brains and wealth!
Damn, I must go all out to succeed in this! Can’t find NPC help from the Kingdom to join the cause? Fine! Whoever is in power likes to pull the strings, and if we get help and then carve out a territory, they’ll want to kick me out over minor issues, which is really annoying!
No Sealing Order? No problem! Her father is a pirate, and pirates become outlaws to crown themselves—what would they need a Sealing Order for? I’ll simply help her father claim a spot there first! I refuse to believe that my body full of Divine Artifacts can’t help a Leader-level Hero? Judging by how the plot usually goes, her father might just pass away as soon as she arrives, and then she will inherit her father’s territory and secrets—Damn, then it would be my territory and secrets!
Yes, that’s the plan! In no time, under Da Fei’s brainstorming, the rough outline of the strategy for the voyage to the East sketched itself out.
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