Hearing that, Diana immediately frowned and shot Steve an unfriendly look.
She wasn’t completely naïve.
Thinking back carefully, she realized that his earlier words really had carried an undertone of refusal.
“What’s wrong?!” Steve instinctively took a step back.
Although he couldn’t understand Chinese, he could tell by instinct that Duke had just said something bad about him.
Du Chen Carlos also stood up, sword in hand, glaring at Steve with obvious hostility.
The situation was not looking good.
But Steve had no idea what to say.
The language barrier was simply too great.
Duke smiled, shifted where he was sitting, and turned toward the two women.
“Don’t be angry, Diana. Up until now, it’s true that he still intends to use you to leave Paradise Island. But that notebook is genuinely important. It contains information about an extremely deadly poison gas. Once it’s released on the battlefield, it could instantly claim tens of thousands… even hundreds of thousands of lives.”
Du Chen Carlos’s mouth fell open.
“Tens of thousands?”
There weren’t even that many people on all of Paradise Island.
Diana’s expression changed.
“Let me see the notebook.”
Steve froze.
“How do you know about the notebook?”
Then he looked suspiciously at Duke.
“It was you?”
Duke simply spread his hands.
“Be careful with it. This notebook is extremely important.”
Though clearly frustrated, Steve still took out the notebook and handed it to Diana.
Opening it, she found pages covered in Turkish and Sumerian writing.
“It’s a formula.”
“A new kind of gas.”
“Mustard gas… with sulfur replaced by hydrogen.”
She paused before adding,
“That’s what it says.”
Of course, she didn’t really understand what that actually meant.
“Okay. That’s enough.”
“Given the equipment available during World War I, the gas masks of this era have no chance of stopping hydrogen-based gas.”
“Once it’s released, soldiers on both sides will die horribly.”
Duke shrugged again.
“So don’t blame him too much, Diana. He’s just an ordinary person. He doesn’t believe the God of War exists.”
“From his perspective, your plan to kill Ares sounds like a joke.”
With that reminder, Diana immediately understood.
She tossed the notebook back into Steve’s chest.
So…
Everything she’d been saying had simply made her look like a fool in his eyes.
Steve felt utterly miserable.
The curse of not sharing a language.
Du Chen Carlos translated only the first half for him.
World War I?
That term left Steve completely confused.
At this point in history, the conflict hadn’t yet been called “World War I.”
Only after World War II broke out would this war receive that name.
Diana was angry.
She felt that all her passion and conviction had been treated as a joke.
Leaning against the bow of the boat, she stared silently into the distance.
“There isn’t any point in getting angry.”
“Forget him—even I wouldn’t have known that a world beyond ordinary humans could be so incredible if I hadn’t encountered the Book of the God of Magic.”
Duke tried to comfort her.
Diana remained silent.
“A frog at the bottom of a well cannot speak of the sea.”
“A summer insect cannot speak of ice.”
“How can a sparrow understand the ambition of a swan?”
“His perspective is limited by his education, his experiences, and the boundaries of his understanding.”
“You can’t blame him for that.”
“After all…”
“The two of you were never walking the same path.” You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Duke shook his head.
He’s definitely talking bad about me again.
Steve was furious.
Unfortunately…
There was absolutely nothing he could do.
Nobody was translating.
It was obvious that both Amazons liked Duke far more than they liked him.
The only thing Steve had learned so far was Duke’s name.
“How did you figure out that he never intended to help us find Ares?” Du Chen Carlos asked.
“Do you believe World War II will happen?”
“World War… II?”
“W-What do you mean… happen?”
Du Chen Carlos looked utterly dumbfounded.
“A war like this…”
“…will happen again?”
Diana quietly perked up her ears.
Duke had mentioned before that his world had both World War I and World War II.
Did that mean…
She would fail to stop Ares this time?
“Do you believe it?”
Du Chen Carlos slowly shook her head.
“You see?”
“You don’t believe World War II will happen.”
“So why would an ordinary man believe that Ares, the God of War, actually exists?”
“From the very beginning, he never planned to kill Ares.”
“He probably even thinks Diana has something wrong with her head.”
“He only wanted to use Diana to leave Paradise Island and complete his mission.”
Beside him, Diana scrunched up her nose in annoyance.
You don’t have to put it quite so bluntly…
Meanwhile, Steve merely blinked in confusion.
The only word he’d understood was…
“Diana.”
“That said…”
“At heart, he’s still standing on the side of justice.”
After saying that, Duke stopped talking.
He walked to the edge of the boat and began writing strange symbols across the railing with his index finger.
“What are you doing?” Du Chen Carlos asked.
“It’s too cold.”
“I’m warming things up.”
“…Huh?”
“Is it some kind of magical formula?” Diana asked.
“Mhm.”
Dark script soon covered the entire edge of the small sailboat.
The moment the final symbol was completed—
The wind disappeared.
Without the cold breeze constantly blowing over them, the temperature naturally became much more comfortable.
Steve looked up at the sail.
The sail was still billowing loudly in the wind.
“…???”
(￣—￣)
There was obviously wind.
Yet none of them could feel it.
What kind of power was this?
“We’re all on the same boat.”
“Don’t say I never looked after you.”
Duke glanced at Steve.
This time, Du Chen Carlos translated his words.
“I’m going to sleep.”
“It’s dark already.”
“Everyone should get some rest.”
As he spoke, Duke walked over beside Diana.
“I’ll sleep…”
“…with you.”
Diana: “…”
Du Chen Carlos burst into laughter.
“So it wasn’t me you had improper thoughts about.”
“It was our Diana all along?”
“Well…”
“Good luck.”
“Our Diana isn’t an ordinary woman.”
As she spoke, she also moved over beside Duke and wrapped herself in her cloak.
A sandwich?
Or perhaps…
The Chinese character “嫐”?
Duke felt rather awkward.
It was his first time ever experiencing something like this.
At that moment, he honestly felt life had reached its peak.
Meanwhile, Steve looked on with obvious envy.
Raising an eyebrow, he quietly walked to the stern of the boat…
Where the lonely single man belonged.
Early the next morning.
Diana and Du Chen Carlos woke one after another, looking around in slight confusion.
“Good morning.”
“We got lucky.”
“Someone gave us a tow, so we saved quite a bit of time.”
“Welcome to lovely London.”
Diana immediately complained,
“It’s ugly.”
Smoke filled the air everywhere.
Low, mournful foghorns echoed through the city.
The atmosphere carried a stale, decaying smell.
Everything felt oppressive and gloomy.
Nothing like the fresh air of Paradise Island.
“Yeah.”
“Not everyone likes it.”
“I think it’s pretty nice.”
Carlos looked around excitedly at the completely different scenery.
“???”
Only then did Diana realize someone was missing.
“Where’s Duke?”
“…”
Steve remained silent for a moment before pointing upward.
“…?”
Diana looked up in surprise.
There stood Duke atop the yardarm of the mast.
One hand rested against the mast.
The other was planted firmly on his waist.
As the small boat gently rocked, his body swayed with it.
For some reason…
Diana suddenly imagined a piece of background music beginning to play—
“The Medallion Calls.”
Exactly like Captain Jack Sparrow’s iconic entrance in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Ahem.
Forgive a man who simply enjoys having a little fun.
Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!Guys,
(End of Chapter)