Although the Pioneer Navigation Colonization Company undertook the task of clearing the path during the day, they were not required to continue the night watch.
However, upon hearing the unusual disturbance, Byron rushed to the scene of the incident at the first opportunity. He always preferred to hold his own life firmly in his hands; waiting passively was never in his nature.
The two Pirate Generals in charge of leading the night watch, Hook and Throat Slitter, had already arrived.
Each led a large group of elite Pirates, surrounding a Pirate corpse in the center. The body was dressed uniformly like the others, and all their faces were exceedingly grim.
"Has everyone from the patrol team come over to identify him? Who exactly is this fallen comrade?"
The two Pirate Generals repeatedly questioned their subordinates, but all they saw were shaking heads; no one could recognize his identity.
Byron casually parted the crowd of patrollers and walked to the inner circle. The moment he saw the corpse on the ground, he was taken aback.
The body, clothed in a canvas jungle uniform, lay face up. Clearly a member of the patrol team. His hand still tightly gripped his firearm, his finger already on the trigger, yet he hadn't even managed to fire a warning shot.
It appeared he had died from a sudden assault.
Apart from being caked in mud, the body was almost completely unharmed. The only thing missing... was his face!
It was as if his skin and flesh had been torn off in one go by countless tiny barbs. The remaining stark white bones and bulging eyeballs were especially chilling to behold.
"Report, Captain, our patrol team hasn't lost a single person."
"Captain, the same goes for us. Moreover, each person can clearly state their name and their post on the ship. Could someone from the camp have snuck out?"
Even the clumsy method of a roll call failed; they simply couldn't determine who was missing.
But to say it was someone from the camp seemed unlikely as well. Those brought here were all elites who knew the consequences of wandering around at night. Besides, with three Third Order Transcendents on guard, bypassing the layers of checkpoints wouldn't be easy.
"No one from our teams is missing? So did this extra one just sprout from the ground?!" Hook couldn't help but let out a low roar, causing the group of Pirates to fall as silent as cicadas in winter.
He was a typical Second Order Pirate of the Lighthouse Sequence.
He wore a worn-out tricorner captain's hat, and a long scar ran across his face, passing over his right eye and disappearing under a black eyepatch. Unlike others who wore eyepatches to block light and make it easier to adjust their vision between decks, he was truly blind in that eye!
Furthermore, his left hand was severed at the wrist, replaced by a gleaming iron hook. Medical conditions aboard ship were limited, and the ship's surgeon excelled primarily at amputations. After a fierce battle, Pirates with missing limbs were a common sight.
If Hook weren't an esteemed Second Order Transcendent, his career as a Pirate would have long since ended. This Pirate General hadn't mastered any forbidden knowledge, nor did he have access to reliable means of restoration; hence, he was exceptionally keen on the reward from the Bloodthirsty Cult. Moreover, this man knew how to rapidly increase his assets.
Unlike Byron, who snowballed his wealth through plunder, Hook had immediately borrowed large sums from several Remit People's banks and trading companies. Upon arriving at the Bantaan Archipelago, he brandished his Privateering License and Gold Pounds, lavishly recruiting men and purchasing resources.
Disregarding personal strength, his forces had already, without question, become the largest among the seven Pirate Generals. For this landing alone, his Marines numbered over four hundred, and he commanded a total of ten pirate ships.
Everything he did was in hopes of using the Bloodthirsty Cult's power to become a whole man again—perhaps even an immortal, complete man!
This sector was his defensive zone. Seeing Throat Slitter and Sea Hunter, his two most formidable competitors, gather here made him increasingly irritable.
Anyone who has handled accounts knows that a discrepancy of ten thousand, or even a hundred thousand, isn't a major issue; it can eventually be reconciled with the invoices. But if an extra cent suddenly appears, everyone would go crazy. In such an ominous place, the sudden appearance of an extra person had an effect that was even more unsettling, if not worse.
Just then, Hook raised his hand and tore off the eyepatch covering his right eye, revealing an eye that resembled a transparent glass sphere. No, that was an artificial glass eye—Miracle Object - Crystal Eye.
Effect: Enhances Spirit Vision, allows discovery of treasures, but also makes one prone to seeing things one shouldn't, potentially leading to madness.
Hook's Spirituality surged within him. He activated his Spirit Vision, scanning everyone nearby with the prosthetic eye. The glass eye, as if alive, darted around before suddenly fixing on someone in the group after a few breaths.
"I knew it! As soon as night falls on this land, Evil Spirits and Bizarre are bound to emerge! Die!"
Hook, having successfully locked onto his target, grinned viciously. He pulled out a handful of Holy Salt, purchased from the Church, and scattered it.
Pirates, a group hardly known for Martial Virtue or Chivalric Spirit, often had a predictable pattern to their opening moves. To those unnatural entities, Holy Water and Holy Salt were akin to concentrated sulfuric acid or lime powder.
The only difference was its expense! Especially since Hook had already emptied his coffers, he was particularly frugal in battle.
The others hit by the spray were unharmed, but a wisp of blue smoke rose from the primary target, who staggered back several steps.
It was only then that the other Pirates, who had instinctively distanced themselves, seemed to snap out of a daze, exclaiming in surprise:
"What just happened? It's as if I completely forgot about that person! That corpse is clearly Jack, who always slept in the bunk next to mine!"
"That's right, it's Jack! Even without seeing his face, I'd recognize him. I personally gave him that tattoo on his arm. Just now, it was like I didn't even see it. This is too weird."
"What is this thing? An Evil Spirit?"
Looking again at the smoke-wreathed figure, it was no longer anyone they recognized. Instead, it had transformed into a native wearing a black feathered headdress and a black feathered cloak. Its skin was highly decayed, and it wore a Skull Mask.
Judging by its attire, it was clearly an Aztec Shaman Wizard. To be more precise, a former Shaman Wizard. Its reaction to the Holy Salt indicated it had long since become Fallen.
The bloody face that Pirate Jack had lost was now stuck firmly to its mask. Just moments ago, this entity had stood among them, effortlessly confounding their perception. They had not only mistaken it for a comrade but had also completely forgotten their true companion.
The furious Hook bellowed the Pirate's creed: "Plunder over toil!"
A visible, blood-red Spiritual Radiance erupted, unfurling a translucent, blood-red Pirate Flag above his head. The emblem upon it was a combination of a hook and a skull—Hook's personal Pirate Flag. He immediately activated the Pirate's Second Order core ability, "Pirate Battle Flag":
"This ability concentrates the Spirituality of Pirates under one's command who adhere to the same Pirate's Ten Commandments. The more strictly the crew observes the Ten Commandments, the better their coordination, and the greater their individual strength, the stronger the buff the Captain receives. The limit is ten individuals at the Second Order, increasing to one hundred at the Third Order."
The blood-red battle flag billowed, casting a scarlet aura that enveloped the ten elite Pirates following him, linking them together.
As one, the eleven of them roared in unison, their combined presence carrying the fearsome momentum of an entire army. Drawing their cutlasses, they formed a triangular assault formation and charged, bearing down on the entity whose nature remained unknown.
Power erupted from Hook's legs as he took the lead. His right hand wielding the Fischer Slash Sword and his left the iron hook, he dismembered the opponent into three pieces in a single exchange.
The seemingly malevolent Shaman Wizard appeared utterly powerless before a Second Order Transcendent.
However, just as Byron thought the situation was settled, he stepped within six meters of the fallen entity and saw a new entry appear in the Sailing Logbook:
"Cursed Object - Shaman Mask:
The history of masks is nearly as old as human civilization itself; they are totems, symbols of faith, and vessels of wondrous power.
It possesses four abilities: Divine Emblem, Spirit Medium, Concealment Barrier, and Soul Aegis.
Each shaman serves their own god, and the shaman's mask, as a divine symbol, represents the ancestral gods of their clan or family. When worn during rituals, the mask facilitates communication and union between humans and gods.
This Skull Mask symbolizes the Aztec Death God Apuche. It became a Cursed Object during a tragedy that claimed tens of thousands of lives.
If its proper method of use is unknown, it will roam freely, killing autonomously according to specific rules...
If it kills a living person and takes their face, it can completely assume their identity.
If slain by another, the killer's body becomes the mask's new host.
Warning: The Shaman Mask itself is the true Evil Spirit!"
Byron didn't have time to ponder the strange sense of déjà vu the artifact evoked; he immediately shouted a warning to Hook.
"Careful, don't touch that mask!"
However, Hook, who had also perceived the Supernatural Aura with his Crystal Eye, mistakenly believed Byron was coveting his spoils. He paused for only a fraction of a second before continuing toward the corpse.
Instantly, the mask vanished with a flash, only to reappear firmly fixed upon Hook's face.