The guards continued their meticulous search for any information that might clarify the situation. Marco walked over to Yang's lifeless body and looked at the wine glass that was still in his hand. He observed a faint residue on the rim , suggesting a potential poison.

"Poison?" Marco asked. The guard affirmed by nodding and saying, "Exactly. This bottle was found lying near the table," he said, pulling out a small bottle. "It appears to be that the murderer intended for it to be found out by us."

The small bottle's complex pattern and the faint remnants of a label that had been hastily torn off caught Marco's attention

"Can you identify the poison in this bottle?" Marco asked the guard.

The guard examined the bottle more closely and said, "I'm not an expert, but we have expert alchemists at the castle who can analyze it. We will deliver it from the port, till then all the passengers here are in our custody."

"Very well," Marco acknowledged with a nod, carefully returning the bottle to the guard's custody.

"We must ensure the safety of every passenger on board. No one should be harmed. I'll personally see to it that we reach Egypt as swiftly as possible. Please leave Deniz, Aries, and Cairo alone. They are the children of my close friend, and their safety is of utmost importance for me"

The guards agreed that, Marco called us three to the captain's quarter, we followed his lead and sat again in the familiar environment.

"It's awful, awful, awful. I know I told you there would be no trouble getting to Italy, but this delay... I can't help but think that it might be a curse or something."

"It's troublesome, but what can we do? We should devise a new plan once we reach Egypt." I said

Right after that, Everyone's attention shifted as an unexpected visitor entered through the window.

"Then let me make things easy for you," It was Wilhelm! Wilhelm walked slowly towards us and stood upon the table near us, "Yang Zhao, one of the Captain of Axial's Chinese fleet, 51 years old, huge but soon to be bloated," he recited, "a murder happened, I see, I see, poisoned, huh? Who might do that." He said while moving round and round on the table

Marco seemed to be bewildered, he said "Jason?? Don't tell me it was you."

"A single, blood-red nightshade blossom, plucked under a full moon, a vial of shadow essence, obtained from the deepest, darkest forest in Novgorod. A pinch of crystalline spider venom moonlight dew, collected from the petals of silver-sheened midnight roses. Mix them up and you got a deadly poison, that blends well with alcohol and tastes very funny, not that I've tasted it, observed it after my interrogation sessions." He said it in one go and took a deep breath after that...

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"You... you killed him, Jason!" Marco's voice trembled as he expressed anger and disbelief. "As you can see, I won't be more helpful with this. You claimed that all you wanted was to travel to Ethiopia, yet here you are causing trouble on my ship. It was evident that Marco and Jason shared some history before.

Jason's abrupt change in attitude was unsettling. He put a finger to his lips and asked for silence, "Shhh, shhh," he whispered. Do you not hear it? It's emerging quickly from the depths.

We were surprised too, rumbling sound that was distinct from the ship's creaking and rocking

"Murky water!Murky water, right under us. How interesting!" Jason yelled,clapping his hands collectively in an odd sign of excitement. Then, as heapproached the window, he kept looking down at the pitch-black waters below.

Our confusion only increased when we saw him draw two gleaming daggers from hisbelt. He looked at us intently, saying , "You guys better hold on tosomething," and without saying anything else, he leapt into the murkywater below.

"He said what?" That was the last thing Marco said before theworld shifted dramatically. The ship's tumultuous movements intensified, andthe room itself seemed to become a chaotic, disorienting maze.

My head hitting the ceiling gave me the realization that everything had been turnedinside out as the ship swayed once more. And my sense went bland and I onlyremembered things going dark until a feeling of free falling numbed my senses.

I found myself suspended in mid-air and completely lost, my senses shook. Ifound it difficult to understand what was happening as the world had become awhirlwind. I was carried away by a strange force as my body spun in the emptyvoid.

I briefly acquired a fantastical viewpoint. The Arabian Sea stretched below,and I was at such a great height that I could see the distant coastline ofanother country. But as my body continued to spin, my gaze was drawnupward, and I beheld an intense, radiant light resembling a shooting star.

The blinding brilliance was the last thing I remembered, And The nextmoment sand enveloped my face as I slowly opened my eyes. The sun blazeddown from above, and hot sand met my face, I tried to turn myself with my hand,my chest still very much wet and painful.

"Took you long enough," Deniz was standing there, carrying a load ofwood on his shoulder.