Ice Blue Knight King wanted to find out what had happened. He knew someone inside the Ice Blue Knights had assisted Night River King; otherwise, the Rebate wouldnât have been able to sneak onto Planet Ice Blue. But there was no evidence to implicate anyone, and as for Edward, nothing could be done at the moment.
Han Sen and his team were put on call at the base. They wouldnât have to do any wilderness clean-up for a while.
...
âThat stupid Night River King! He used an Ancient Warrior Statue, and he still couldnât kill a few Marquises!â said an Ice Blue Knight who looked ill.
âNight River King wasnât very smart, but he wasnât stupid, either. There must have been a good reason for him to lose so dramatically,â Edward said flatly. âIt looks like Han Sen poses a graver threat than I first assumed.â
The Ice Blue Knight frowned. âWhat do we do now? Ice Blue Knight King is on high alert. It will be harder for us to move. If they find the tablet, then all our work will have been for naught.â
Edward shook his head. âDonât be such a negative Nancy. Weâve learned that Han Sen didnât give the item to Ice Blue Knight King or Mister White, at least. Even if he did find the tablet, we still have a chance to claim it.â
...
Han Sen was playing with the items he had taken from Night River King. The most valuable trinkets were the two Moon Wheel Blades. They were a good pair of weapons for a King to wield.
Han Sen didnât need them because he already had his Ghost Teeth Knife, but he was in no rush to sell them. So, he decided to save them for Han Yan.
Little Angel, Zero, and Han Mengâer had their own weapons. They didnât need an extra pair of knives.
Night River King had also been carrying a King class shield. Sadly, he hadnât gotten to make use of it.
Those were the only King class treasures that Night River King had with him. Perhaps he was poor, or maybe he just didnât like carrying his riches around on assassination missions.
The few Duke treasures and materials that Han Sen found were already in storage. Han Sen was going to save them for himself and use them to top up his Duke gene tally.
There was one more thing that caught Han Senâs attention, though, and it wasnât a treasure.
Among the things he had stolen from Night River King, he found a box that was around the size of a hand. It drew Han Senâs attention because the box itself had been made from a King class gene.
The material seemed to be horn or antler, and it was unusually hard. But instead of being turned into a treasure itself, it had merely been used as a storage container.
Strangely, there was nothing precious inside the box. There was only a simple diary.
Han Sen opened the diary, and indeed, it was exactly what it appeared to be. The diary recorded everything Night River King had going on, even the unimportant details of his days.
Han Sen couldnât believe someone like Night River King would write entries in a diary each and every day.
It didnât make much sense for the man to place a mere diary inside such a precious box.
Because of this, Han Sen assumed that the diary must be special in some way. He used his Dongxuan Aura and the Purple-Eye Butterfly, but the outcome was disappointing.
It really was just a diary. The Purple-Eye let him see how it was created, and the production was average. It didnât even come with a bookmark. It had been made from materials that were extremely common in the geno universe. Even the brand that made it was well known. Many people used their products.
âIf the diary is really just a dairy, maybe its contents harbor a secret?â Han Sen had difficulty believing that Night River King would write entries in his diary every day for no special reason.
Han Sen skimmed through the contents, but there was nothing interesting. He started to doubt his own judgment.
âWas Night River King really a very sensitive man? Is that why he wrote in his diary each day?â Han Sen put down the diary and looked into the box.
The box was simple. It was made from a King class xenogeneicâs material, and it had no secrets or hidden compartments. It was very plain, not even decorated with any symbols.
âBrother-in-law, is that a diary that youâre reading? Is that what youâve been doing all day?â Ji Qing approached and smiled at him.
âMhm. I found it in Night River Kingâs possessions. I think there must be something important inside, but I canât find anything,â Han Sen said.
âLet me see. Maybe I can spot something,â Ji Qing said.
Han Sen handed it over. Ji Qing examined the paper and binding briefly, then turned her attention to the content of the entries. A while later, she said, âIf Iâm not mistaken, heâs been writing in code.â
âWhat sort of code?â Han Sen asked with some confusion. The diary was written in the common language of the geno universe. He knew every word.
Ji Qing pointed at one of the diary entries. âThis is the common language of the geno universe, but when you look closer, thereâs a pattern to how he writes. Itâs a code of some sort. If you can look the words up, perhaps you will find out what heâs actually saying.â
âCan you break the code for me?â Han Sen asked.
âI only know the basics of cryptography. If I had a list of code words, I could probably make some progress. I canât do it without a list, though. You should probably contact the Ji family for help with this. We have a code-breaking team, and they are real professionals when it comes to this stuff. They can help you.â Ji Qing passed the notebook back to Han Sen.
Han Sen thought she was right. After he put the diary away, he took the time to pop back to the sanctuary. He gave the diary to Ji Yanran and told her about the difficulty he was having in breaking the code.
After that, Han Sen went to visit his warehouse. He lifted the egg, which was formerly the little red bird, from the keg. He then placed it in the Undying Birdâs Nest, hoping it would hatch soon.
By the time he was done in the warehouse, the Ji family had already sent him a progress report. The patterns in the writing didnât fit any of the codes they had on record, so deciphering the diary would be difficult. Fortunately, they had been researching the geno universeâs language since Han Sen returned to the sanctuaries for the first time. So, there was still a chance for them to decipher the diary. It would simply take some time.
They asked Han Sen to return in ten days, and by then, they might have made some progress.
There were many people in the base, so Han Sen knew he shouldnât remain in the sanctuaries for too long. He took the Undying Birdâs Nest and the little red birdâs egg back to the base on Planet Ice Blue.
Ordinary xenogeneic bird eggs took three or four hours to hatch inside the birdâs nest, but the little red bird had been inside the nest for an entire day. And still, it showed no response. Han Sen wondered if the egg might have died.