Odd Containment Specialist.

Chapter 852 Contradictions
Before going ashore, everyone had changed into the everyday clothes of this era. The clothes were all designed by Ignaz, who was also Ximen Qing. He seemed to really understand this era, and not just based on a superficial impression, but with a very detailed and comprehensive understanding.

The veteran crew members all remained on the ship, while Xia Shou and the other temporary crew members, along with Sparrow and the first mate, went ashore. Sparrow blinked and looked around with great interest, then said in the local language, "How was it? How did I sound?"

Everyone except Su Weiyu could understand, because there was a special ability user among the crew who was in charge of language. Not only did he have an amazing talent for learning languages, but he could also use his ability to stamp his language onto others like a steel stamp.

Under certain conditions, this superhuman is even more capable than the foreign language teacher in the Bureau of Control who is specifically responsible for teaching people to learn languages ​​quickly. However, that teacher can teach people as long as he teaches, and his advantage lies in his ability to teach in batches, creating hundreds of foreign language proficiency in just a few lessons.

The drawback of the Bureau's foreign language teachers is that they still have to teach, while this superhuman only needs to select targets and mark them with their superpowers, which is more convenient. Her drawback is that the number of marks is very limited, making it impossible to mass-produce foreign language proficient individuals.

Of course, in this situation, this superhuman is more useful than the foreign language teacher from the control bureau.

"The king of the Three Scars Kingdom is named Sprite, and he is the strongest in this era. Be careful to avoid him when stealing stones. In addition, there is a female royal advisor in the palace. It is said that nothing that happens in the kingdom can escape her eyes."

"I think there's probably some exaggeration involved. After all, if that were really the case, she would have already discovered us when we landed. So I think we should just treat that woman as a very powerful reconnaissance-type ability user." Ximen Qing quietly repeated the information that had already been given on the ship.

"It will go smoothly. I have a great feeling. As long as we follow the plan, there won't be any problems. I'll leave this place to you. I have other important things to do." Sparrow winked at the others, gave them a sly and mysterious smile, and then ran off towards the nearby village with his fingers twirled.

Xia Shou's expression immediately fell. He wasn't sure if Sparrow's behavior was due to his persona or if he genuinely didn't care about the operation at all. As the organizer of the operation, it was incredibly irresponsible of him to act alone from the very beginning.

And judging from his expression just now, it didn't seem like he was going to do anything important.

“Don’t count on him,” the first mate said. “We can handle it ourselves. His involvement will only make things worse. He’s a jinx; nothing he gets involved in goes smoothly.”

"So what's the specific plan?" Xia Shou asked.

“That’s what they said on the ship,” the first mate said coldly.

"That's all?"

"Yes, isn't that clear enough? You go in, we'll make a commotion outside to lure out all the palace guards, you can take the opportunity to steal the stones, then get on the ship, and everything will be fine," the first mate said impatiently.

Ximen Qing quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "Although this plan sounds hasty, it's absolutely fine."

Many people looked on with suspicion. The man whose teeth had been knocked out by Xia Shou walked up to the first mate and grinned maliciously, "It's been a long time since I've met anyone who speaks to me in this tone."

"Heh, come talk to me when your teeth grow in. Right now, you're slurring your words, and I can't hear you." The first mate chuckled contemptuously, staring fearlessly into the other man's eyes, seemingly unconcerned about fighting his comrade right there.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and Xia Shou felt extremely uncomfortable. Having worked in the Control Bureau for a long time, he found it hard to imagine how such a disorganized mob outside could get things done.

We all share the same goal now, is it really necessary to make things so tense?

"If you don't steal the stones, none of you need to go back," the first mate sneered. The toothless man grinned wickedly, nodded vigorously a few times, and abandoned this pointless standoff, temporarily yielding.

The first mate, however, acted as if he had won a great victory, and sneered at everyone, saying, "Only we can sail back. If we don't steal the stones, nobody else is getting away."

At this moment, another young sailor stepped forward. He was one of only two crew members who had come down with Sparrow and were originally working on the ship.

He raised his hands to ease the tension, saying, "We're all here to steal the stone. If the plan goes wrong, we won't get it. We're all risking our lives to do this. We've already discussed everything beforehand. We have to take some risks, right? How about we draw lots? The two master thieves are definitely going to the palace. The others will draw lots to decide whether to lure the guards outside or come in with them."

"I agree."

"I agree."

One by one, people raised their hands. Seeing that everyone was ready to challenge him, the first mate glared at the sailor and forced a sly smile: "Alright, let's draw lots then."

Xia Shou witnessed the entire argument from the side, and he found it utterly unbelievable.

This is no ordinary rabble; it's a complete shoddy operation. Not only are the members not united, but they can't even maintain a semblance of solidarity. Can such a team really accomplish anything?

Especially that first mate, he really doesn't seem to be very bright. You could say he's completely irrational, a creature driven purely by emotions. He doesn't care about the big picture at all. Even that sailor is better than him.

"Weren't the tasks assigned to each person planned beforehand? Why were they only assigned tasks at the last minute after we started?" Xia Shou said to Su Weiyu. "Didn't Sparrow make his terms clear when he negotiated with them?"

"I don't know either, but I heard that some of them made a pact that if more than a certain number of people die, then some of the people who return alive will die randomly."

Xia Shou nodded silently. He hadn't signed the contract, but he could understand why this group of people signed such a crude and simple one, because ordinary superhumans didn't have as many excellent contract rituals as the Bureau of Control.

The Bureau of Control's rituals have clear and guaranteed effects, and many even allow both parties to directly perceive the specific effects of the ritual after it is activated. However, ordinary people with superhuman abilities do not have such superior conditions. The learning cost of the ritual is beyond what an individual can afford. Furthermore, even if you learn a universal and excellent ritual, if the ritual does not have the effect of allowing the other party to understand the specific intention before activation, the other party is very likely to refuse to enter into a contract.

In addition, there are deceptive rituals that use false effects to fool the other party, which makes people with supernatural abilities extremely wary of rituals they do not recognize. In the end, they will only choose a few simple rituals that have low learning costs, wide applicability, and are already widespread.

Xia Shou estimated that the contract that Sparrow signed with them was one of these rituals. Although the method was extremely simple and crude, it could indeed build unity.

At first glance, this concept seems to have only a purely negative effect, but the hidden meaning is: a certain degree of casualties is acceptable, but if it exceeds this proportion, then the survivors will not have an easy time, and people will be randomly dragged down with them.

In short: forcibly turning everyone into grasshoppers on the same rope.

(End of this chapter)