Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Klein couldnât go against his own wishes to console Frank Lee, nor could he bring himself to tell Frank Lee that not being able to breed red wine fish was a good thing. All he could do was pretend that this was a trivial problem and not provide a response.
He walked two steps diagonally and circled around the starboard before looking far into the undulating sea.
By then, the clouds high in the sky had thinned. The crimson moonâs moonlight brightened up the rather dark night.
In such an environment, Klein could see the nearby scenery. There were dark clouds that hung low, and he discovered a hurricane swishing back and forth, encompassing an unknown swath of sea.
Under the illumination of the silver lightning, fine rain danced amidst the wind, forming a scene that resembled the dawn of the apocalypse.
Such a terrifying disaster was only a few nautical miles or even shorter from the Future, but the Future didnât seem affected. Only the wind had become a little stronger.
This is the meaning of a safe sea routeâto advance by the side of a storm... Without a good navigator, just traveling normally might push the ship into a disaster... Klein turned his head to look where the ship was heading. He saw a little illumination and fog being emanated. The visibility was extremely low, and using just the naked eye was very difficult to discern if they were in a dangerous or safe zone.
Such situations werenât obvious west of Oravi Island. But here, it was common once they took the secret sea route.
Klein was just about to retract his gaze when he saw a black, massive object seemingly hiding in the periphery of the storm!
A sea monster? He suddenly recalled some of the rumors he had heard at the different bars he had been to.
After steering away from the safe sea route, itâs very easy to encounter all kinds of monsters. Some of them are behemoths and possess intense offensive power. Once they surfaced from the sea, they could finish it in one mouthful.
The Future didnât stop advancing. Before long, it closed the gap between it and the gloomy but massive object.
Klein finally managed to discern the entityâs appearance and discovered that it wasnât a sea monster, but a gigantic sailboat which was even larger than the Future.
The sailboat was nearly two hundred meters long. With its bow and stern raised high, it appeared like a crescent.
Its surface was black. The cannons were arranged in three rows in an untidy manner on the side of the ship. There was order from top to bottom. Apart from the mast, the portions that extended out of the deck was similarly tall and massive. It was at least equivalent to a five-story building.
This shipâs most odd feature was that it only had one sail and on it was the drawing of a black tomb.
âThe Death Announcer...â A heavy voice sounded in Kleinâs ears. At some point in time, Frank Lee had thrown the silver-scaled fish whose blood had been replaced with red wine away and approached his side.
The first mate who had a bounty of 7,000 pounds held his head heavy as his muscles remained tense. It was as though an attack would be launched anytime from the minute changes of the gigantic sailboat.
Death Announcer? Klein was first taken aback before he recalled what the name represented.
It was one of the most legendary and infamous ships on the Five Seas!
It was the flagship of the King of Immortality Agalito!
We actually encountered one of the Four Kings... Klein clicked his tongue silently as he uncontrollably entered a highly-vigilant state.
However, he maintained a superficial level of indifference and calm as he continued looking at the Death Announcer.
Recalling how the second mate of the Death Announcer, Slaughterer Kircheis, who had a bounty of 9,500 pounds, had recently appeared in Nas and warned him, Kircheis came to an understanding. He was no longer puzzled as to why he would bump into the Death Announcer not far from the Gargas Archipelago.
After putting aside this question, he made connections with even more rumors. And among these rumors, there were a number which could be confirmed to be an actual description.
King of Immortality Agalito is a middle-aged man whoâs so pale that heâs on the brink of rotting at any moment.
The bounty placed on him by a single country reached as high as 100,000 pounds.
His former enemies are all dead, regardless if they were pirates, adventurers, or members of a naval fleet. Only the other three members of the Four Kings remained alive.
He has never entered into direct combat with an official demigod. He is extremely restrained in such matters.
No one really knows his exact Sequence. No one knows what his Beyonder powers are.
Heâs cruel by nature and enjoys killing. He can launch an attack on any person or any ship at random.
He liked to find excuses to rip apart promises. Other than his nickname as the King of Immortality, he was often nicknamed âThe Untrustworthy.â
Thankfully, Iâm on the Future. The King of Immortality will likely give Admiral of Stars a free pass. After all, sheâs one of the seven pirate admirals... No, the Four Kings and the Pirate Admirals can cooperate or be at odds normally, apart from the pirate convention organized by the King of the Five Seas... With the King of Immortalityâs character, he might not leave any chance of survival! Just as this thought flashed in Kleinâs mind, he heard a deep, rumbling horn.
Whoosh!
The sailors who were resting in the cabin jolted awake immediately. Without wearing their clothes, they ran to the different cannons on deck to make preparations to do battle. The Future instantly went from a peaceful state to a combative one.
Klein turned his head and looked up. He saw that the captainâs windows were already open. Cattleya wore the usual black dress as she stood there and observed the Death Announcer.
She wasnât wearing the thick glasses, and her pitch-black eyes were tainted with some purple, making them mysterious and deep.
Indeed, sheâs also worried about a sudden attack from the King of Immortality... Klein retracted his gaze and looked at the Death Announcer which had its tail raised up.
At this moment, the two ships had just passed each other by. The pirates could see their counterparts on the other ship.
Similarly, those pirates were also looking over. They maintained a silence resembling that of a statue as though they had zero emotional fluctuations, brandishing their knives and blowing at the guns. They were being extremely provocative.
At that moment, just a matchstick was enough to trigger the tense nerves and begin a war.
Finally, the Death Announcer didnât take any actions. It continued silently anchored on the spot, âwatchingâ the Future pass it by before it distanced itself.
Phew... At Kleinâs side, Frank Lee didnât conceal his exhalation.
He produced a smile and said to Klein, âHeh heh, there has always been many rumors about the King of Immortalityâs strength. Others say that heâs really a demigod, while others say that heâs only a Sequence 5. He is able to reach the level of a Sequence 4 thanks to the Death Announcer. But regardless, he has lived long enough. Uh... Tell me, do you think crossbreeding him and my fishes would enhance their survivability?â
Frank suddenly had an idea.
First, you need to capture the King of Immortality; otherwise, make him interested in your fish... Klein lampooned before calmly saying, âYou can discuss it with him.â
Frank Lee was taken aback as he sighed, depressed.
âHe wonât agree to it. He will plant me into the soil.â
Just as he said that, the Death Announcer which had opened a gap with the Future suddenly turned its sails.
A shrill laughter which was filled with malice sounded from several hundred meters away as it blanketed the Future.
âHahaha!
âHahaha!â
The laughter resounded constantly. It switched from being hoarse, to chaotic, sounding like ravings or singing at times. The sailors on deck fell to the ground one after another as they tried hard to cover their ears, but all they could do was struggle in pain.
A number of Beyonders began to produce fish scales on their bodies.
Klein was similarly affected. He felt that his brain was instantly injected with all kinds of thoughts. There were the good, the bad, the bright, and the dark.
They were abnormally disordered as they combined with the constantly changing laughter to produce a swelling feeling that could burst oneâs brain.
Kleinâs facial expression distorted slightly as inconspicuous flesh tendrils began to start wriggling under his skin.
If he hadnât experienced the True Creatorâs ravings and Mr. Doorâs cry for help, or suffer similar torment when he passed the gray fog each time, giving him a certain level of resistance, Klein would definitely be like Poison Expert Frank Leeâpressing his head, kneeling down with a ferocious expression to resist the pain brought from the terrifying laughter.
Klein noticed that some short orange hair was growing from Frankâs face, making him seem to transform into a bear.
At that moment, the symbols and magical labels on the Futureâs walls, deck, and mast lit up. They became like a resplendent sea of stars in a moonless night.
The terrifying laughter which was either sharp or hoarse didnât weaken, but everyone was distanced from one another in a second. The sounds that came from a further distance away sounded empty and illusory.
Kleinâs swelling head instantly received reprieve as he used the rest of his strength to look up.
Behind the opened windows in the captainâs cabin, the Admiral of Starsâs face had additional traces of gloominess, and they looked like they would crack apart at any moment, producing horrible items.
At that moment, Cattleyaâs palms pressed down on the window sill as bits of starlight swirled around her, seemingly matching the Future which was on the resplendent sea.
Whoosh!
A squall stirred for no reason as the ship began its own adjustment. Despite the Future having so many of its sailors down, it sped up instead of slowing down. It quickly opened up a gap from the Death Announcer.
Klein looked at the room with the mysterious pair of eyes that observed the deck, and he discovered that the windows were rattling from the strong winds without any signs of abnormalities.
Whoosh!
Amidst the strong winds, starlight descended to form a swath of âfloating iceâ as they dragged the Future into a ârapid flight.â
Finally, the Death Announcer vanished behind it. The terrifying laughter which could make a person lose control or go mad turned more illusory and distant.
Frank Lee lowered his hands and panted before barely recovering. Many of the sailors on the deck were still tumbling about and struggling in extreme pain, but their condition didnât worsen.
This ability of the King of Immortality is truly impressive. Thereâs almost no way to defend against it... Itâs no wonder heâs one of the Four Kings... Klein frowned slightly as he sighed.
Although he was experienced and rather knowledgeable, this was the first time he was being directly attacked by a demigod in the true sense of the word. He discovered that even Agalito, who was ranked last among the Four Kings, similarly made him feel weak as though it was impossible to resist.
With Agalitoâs character, will he make the Death Announcer pursue us? Although thereâs a high chance he would wait for Slaughterer Kircheis to return, that possibility cannot be excluded... If he chases up, Iâll pray to myself and use the Sea God Scepter to give him a maelstrom and a thunderstorm to wipe him out... After making the decision, he once again looked at Cattleya.
The pirate admiralâs expression was already ghastly pale. However, there were no longer any signs of darkness. The starlight that twirled around her slowly extinguished one after another.