"What Ring?" Lucifer asked, turning around.
"Hmm?"
He noticed a new shelf in the room that previously wasn't there.
There was a beautiful silver ring on the shelf which had a red diamond embedded in it.
Lucifer walked closer to the ring, observing it carefully. The ring seemed ordinary, but he knew that it couldn't be that simple. Why would they ask him to wear a ring that had no use.
"What is this ring?" he asked Joana.
"It's just a ring for our safety. Wear it so we can protect ourselves in dangerous situations."
"Protect yourself?" Lucifer asked. "That sounds risky for me."
"There's no risk. The Ring is just embedded with a spatial formation. If you try to attack us, it'll teleport you back inside this cell. It won't harm you even a little."
"Once I wear it, I won't be able to take it off without your permission. Is that right?"
Joana simply smiled in response. "Won't it lose its purpose if you're allowed to take it off?"
"I won't force you. You're the one who needs our help, not us. I won't allow any stranger to roam on my ship without any safety mechanisms. Why are you scared of wearing it? Do you think we couldn't have killed you directly if we wanted to hurt you?"
"It's..."
Lucifer was still suspicious about the ring, but the only other option he had was to attack the ship which didn't seem like a good option.
"There's no hurry. You can take all the time in the world. Think clearly and tell me when you're ready to wear the ring. I'll be back in my control room until then."
Joana turned around.
"Wait!"
"Yes?"
"I'll wear the ring."
Finding it to be a better option for the moment, Lucifer picked the ring.
He wasn't an enemy to these people, and he didn't want to make enemies either. He wore the ring.
Joana turned around, noticing the ring around Lucifer's fingers.
"Good. It seems like you really had no intentions of attacking us. You can come out."
A door appeared in the middle of the glass. Lucifer stepped out of the room, observing the ring. He could certainly feel some spatial energy around the ring. It seemed like the guy had told him the truth.
Just as he was starting to think that maybe the guy was telling the truth, Joana broke the illusion.
"Oh, I lied about the ring. If you try to attack us, it won't send you back to the call."
"I mean, why would we even keep the person alive who thinks about attacking us? Instead of sending you back to the cell, the ring will destroy your body by assaulting it with the most brutal spatial energy."
"So please don't even think about it." Joana patted the shoulders of Lucifer. "But don't worry about this. The ring is as harmless as an ordinary accessory unless you attack us."
Lucifer didn't respond. He knew there was some trick in the ring, but it didn't matter. Even if he knew that this ring had this formation, he still would've worn it since getting instant freedom without attacking the ship was a much better option momentarily.
He believed he could find a way out of the ring whenever he wanted, even if it meant cutting his hands off.
"So, let's change the topic. Tell me more about the characteristics of your world so we can think about how to locate it. In the meantime, you can be our guest in our world."
"The ring would act as your permit to stay in our world as well, but it'll also be proof that you aren't one of us. So you might not get all the benefits our citizens get."
....
Coast of Elisium:
A boat took off from the coast, traveling towards the deep sea.
The boat carried only a couple of men. One of the men carried a compass in one hand and a map in another hand. The other man was behind the wheels.
After traveling for ten minutes, the man with the compass told his friend to stop.
"Stop right here! This should be the place according to the map!"
"This wasn't too far. I can't believe no one found the treasure this close to the coast."
"Heh, how will they find it? They didn't have the map like us. This place is the one where the pirate ship sank four hundred years ago! According to the map, we're standing right above the treasure. Once we get it, we'll be rich!"
" Hehehe, that's right! Finally, we'll be able to enjoy our life."
The boat stopped. Both the men started wearing their diving equipment.
They dove inside the sea after preparing, leaving the boat empty.
The two men started swimming to the depths of the sea, trying to locate the wreckage of a pirate ship.
As they reached deep enough, one of them noticed something that looked like a ship.
He changed his directions a little. His friend followed suit.
Within a few minutes, both of them reached the deck of the pirate ship that was already too damaged to hold any weight.
One of the men gestured the other to split up and locate the treasures so they could take some of it that could help them afford a crew to bring out more b
The two men split up, going in different directions.
"Umm?"
The first man used a hole in the deck to enter the ship.
He found himself inside what seemed like a bedroom. It was in too bad of a condition. However, more than the bedroom, what stunned him the most was that there was a body inside the room.
Moreover, the body didn't seem like it belonged to a person who drowned hundreds of years ago. In fact, the body didn't even look like it belonged to a dead person. It was as if a person was sleeping peacefully in the middle of the sea.
The man swam closer to the body, wondering if it was another person who located this ship recently but drowned?
'Why is this guy naked though?'
The only flaw in his assumption was that the man was naked. It couldn't be that he dove this deep without any clothes or any equipment. So how did he end up here?
The man placed his hand on the silver haired young man's chest.
Thump~
Thump~
He could feel the thumping of the man's chest, which scared him.
The man moved back, scared. The man was not breathing, yet his heart was beating? How was it possible?