Chapter 384: 137. Boarding and Reconnaissance_2

Translator: 549690339

However, if he pulled out a magic ring engraved with high-level mental magic, no matter the explanation, it would still raise suspicion.

Secondly, without the help of “Mind Beacon,” Noland Lee would have to cast “Mind View” towards the Imperial Soldier, which might trigger their mental alertness and alert the enemy.

In order to avoid these troublesome issues, Noland Lee simply hid the “Mind Beacon” and “Mind View,” and instead exhibited “Sense Tampering” under the guise of a magic ring.

Noland Lee told Derek Davis that his magic ring, engraved with “Sense Tampering,” could cast “Sense Tampering” seven times a day.

These seven “Sense Tampering” casts served as seven safety measures to avoid alerting the cargo ship.

Besides that, he also had a magic spell to track the living, allowing him to keep an eye on the movements of people on the ship.

With this, Derek agreed to Noland Lee’s request to join the mission.

The two settled on an infiltration plan to be executed by just the two of them. The rest of the team would remain obediently on the boat.

With Derek’s credibility, none of his team members objected. Neither the exploration team members nor Miss Esme Smith had any objections.

After some preparation, Noland Lee, dressed in an alchemy diving suit, jumped into the pitch-black seawater with Derek.

On the sea surface, raindrops fell from the sky, splashing black water droplets.

Under the sea, the alchemy array on the back of the alchemy diving suit propelled Noland Lee and Derek quickly towards the cargo ship with water jets.

The appearance of this diving suit was similar to a frogman’s outfit, with multiple practical alchemy arrays arranged on it.

When moving quickly underwater, no bubbles would flow out from the mask and there would be no noise.

Bubbles and noise, the two things that might reveal their whereabouts, were all dealt with by the alchemy arrays on the suit.

Once they left the water surface, the alchemy array absorbed seawater from the alchemy diving suit, cleaning the water stains all over the body in an extremely short amount of time, eliminating the possibility of water footprints exposing their tracks.

Apart from that, the suit was bulletproof, fireproof, shock-resistant, acid-resistant, and poisonous gas-resistant, providing comprehensive protection.

Noland Lee initially thought that this kind of alchemy diving suit was a regulated item, but after learning more, he found out that it was just standard equipment for an exploration team and not considered a regulated item.

“The situation at sea is much more complicated than on a cargo ship, so of course, we have to protect ourselves properly,” Hudson told Noland Lee while helping him put on the diving suit.

From this, one could easily infer how dangerous the ocean was for mankind.

Noland Lee silently prayed he and Derek would not encounter any sea monsters when approaching the cargo ship.

He closely followed behind Derek, allowing the alchemical propulsion system on his back to propel him forward.

Their luck was good, and they did not encounter any fish or monsters all the way until they touched the external metal plates of the ship.

Derek took out two pairs of suction cup devices from the alchemy stone and handed one to Noland Lee to use.

He took the lead, using the suction cup devices to climb up towards the deck step by step, moving across the smooth exterior metal plates like a black gecko.

Noland Lee followed behind, and after getting used to the suction cup devices, he climbed upward with style.

The two chose to board the ship at an open-air toilet.

This open-air toilet was located on the upper deck, near the stern. Generally, only the crew working on the outdoor platform of the upper deck would use it.

At night, especially in rainy weather, no one would be foolish enough to use the open-air toilet while being soaked in the rain.

When the two arrived, it was empty. The entire open-air toilet was filled up with ship’s ropes, leaving no space to stand.

It seemed that this toilet had been completely abandoned, becoming a place to store ropes.

Noland Lee and Derek did not proceed rashly.

They hid in the shadows of the open-air toilet, avoiding the searchlights that swept overhead.

Noland Lee closely watched the patrolling team on the corridor above, casting “Sense Tampering” to make their figures invisible to the patrollers.

Each patrol had an interval of about 5 minutes. Noland Lee still had five “Sense Tampering” available for public use. Theoretically, the two of them had about 30 minutes to investigate the ship.

Derek reached into the alchemy stone and pulled out a round metal sphere.

The overall appearance of this metal sphere was dim grey, making it very inconspicuous in the dark environment.

Derek placed the sphere on the ground, put on the alchemy gloves, and made several gestures.

Following the gestures, the metal sphere split open, extending four mechanical legs and a pair of mechanical eyes with stalks from the top, while mechanical pincers emerged from both sides of the sphere.

“This is my alchemical construct, an alchemy mechanical crab. To scout the way in the depths of Fissure Corridor, where it’s full of aberrations, we have to rely on such small and flexible contraptions as this one.”

Derek briefly introduced the alchemical construct, which was shaped like a crab.

He gestured a series of commands to control the mechanical crab as it explored the surroundings.

The mechanical crab crawled along the walls to reach the ceiling, avoiding the brightly lit areas, and silently moved through the windy and rainy exterior corridor.

Seeing Derek’s proficient movements, it was clear he had been using alchemical constructs for some time.

Seeing this, Noland Lee’s worry lessened.

After all, as a member of the Golden Merchant’s Sword that roamed the depths of the Fissure Corridor, Derek was quite skilled and should not easily be discovered by the patrolling team on the ship.