On the second day, at nine o’clock in the morning, the sun had not yet risen, and the sky was pitch black.
In a corner of the Iron Anchor Bay anchorage.
At least one hundred pirate ships, large and small, had quietly gathered, forming an independent and exclusive clique. Although their mastheads did not blatantly fly the Kingdom of Hightens’ Blood Cross Flag, the style of their sailboats, their ornamentation, and even the appearance of most of the pirates identified them as Harkins People. Without a doubt, they were all Privateer Ships under the banner of the White Rose York Family!
The Iron Anchor Bay Pirate Code recognized their piratical acts, welcoming privateer captains from all nations. It also allowed them unimpeded access within this Pirate Harbor.
In the very center of the group of Privateer Ships lay the *Goddess of Vengeance*, a vessel comparable in size to a 74-gun Third Rate Ship of the Kingdom’s Navy, standing out markedly among the smaller pirate ships. This was none other than the Flagship of the Pirate Fleet under Councillor Redbeard Edward!
Inside the tall sterncastle was a dedicated combat command room, where a considerable number of privateer captains had now congregated. Transcendents no longer seemed rare; only those of Second Order Professional Rank were entitled to a chair, while First Order Servants could only stand and listen in. An exception was "Woodpecker" Maltz, who had previously competed with Byron for Bruh. Although only First Rank himself, he had managed to secure a spot thanks to his unique Black Sorcery, the "Queen Ant’s Blessing."
Among the privateer captains, stood a Transcendent in a black formal suit and top hat, looking as if he had just rushed back from someone’s funeral. He held a grimy headscarf, downed a glass of highly hallucinogenic Absinthe, and murmured, "From the sea we come, and to the sea we shall return... The drumming shall cease, the bagpipes shall grow silent... Arno, Arno... return, return..."
After repeatedly calling out a name, his body suddenly convulsed violently as if in a seizure. The entire conference room grew unnaturally cold. Many Transcendents with heightened spiritual sensitivity could even hear something whispering in the shadows near the table corners. The surrounding privateer captains couldn’t help but tense up as well. For the Spirit Medium of the Graveyard Sequence before them was performing his signature skill—Spirit Channeling!
After consuming certain highly hallucinogenic Herbal Medicines or concoctions, their minds would enter a trance-like state, hovering between life and death. This allowed their consciousness to detach from their material bodies and communicate with certain deceased Spiritual Bodies in the void, thereby obtaining information from the dead. Of course, such a channeling ritual was extremely dangerous. It required a sufficiently stable Anchor for Anchoring oneself. Otherwise, their consciousness risked becoming lost, or even devoured by entities within the Deadman’s World. Therefore, before channeling, the Spirit Medium had specifically borrowed money from every captain present; no one wished for him to fail.
However, as time passed, the chilling, sinister wind kept swirling the headscarf, yet no Spiritual Body materialized.
A pirate captain wearing a tricorn hat, his eyes bloodshot, asked anxiously, "How’s it going?"
After a long pause, the Spirit Medium opened his eyes wearily, shook his head, and spoke in a dead, flat tone, "As expected, Arno’s spirit, like those of the previous victims, has dissipated. I cannot identify the killer. But the style is clearly that of the Mad Hunt."
The pirate captain’s one-in-ten-thousand shred of hope transformed into boundless rage. He slammed his hand hard on the thick oak long table and roared at the attendees, "Excluding ordinary crew, that’s the sixth Transcendent already! Are we just going to keep taking these hits passively? Tomorrow, who from the Privateering Alliance will it be—you, or me?! If this continues, morale will shatter!"
He paced back and forth anxiously. "People from our side have been disappearing every day recently. What’s more infuriating is that we only discovered last night that the arrogant Mad Hunt is exclusively targeting captains and pirate officers from our Privateering Alliance! Damn it, do they really think we’re made of clay?"
The other pirate captains, their faces equally grim, showed deep sympathy for the speaker. Because the one who had just disappeared last night was his own first mate, Arno, a drunkard who loved alcohol like life itself, also known as ’Cyclops Arno.’ He was also the subject of the Spirit Medium’s recent channeling. Everyone spoke of ’disappearances,’ but in reality, they all knew those missing were already dead.
This group of privateer captains included those of all professions: Prophets of the Tower Sequence, Hunters of the Wilderness Sequence, Spirit Mediums of the Graveyard Sequence... But no one knew what methods the killer had used. Not only were there no corpses, but even the spirits of Transcendents, which could normally persist for a long time, had been eradicated. Divination was the first investigative method to be ruled out. The longer this went on, the more enigmatic the hidden Mad Hunt became.
Fear of the unknown spread among all the Pirates of the Privateering Alliance, causing Byron’s already considerable ’Legend Rating’ to climb even higher. Soon, it would likely exceed 20, producing some tangible Transcendent effect.
At this moment, a captain rapped his knuckles on the table, drawing everyone’s attention. "His Excellency Councillor Red Beard gathered us, urging us to set aside old grudges and form an alliance. As a collective, we haven’t offended anyone. Do you think this could be related to the Child of the Devil? Ever since West’s Magic Mirror on the *White Crystal* caught his trail, the Child of the Devil vanished completely. Since then, regardless of whether their divination abilities were stronger or weaker than West’s, no one has been able to lock onto his location. How similar is this to the Mad Hunt?"
Someone else raised an objection. "But just half a month ago, the Child of the Devil was merely an underage mortal. Could he have sought refuge with some faction in Iron Anchor Bay and gained their protection? Perhaps, if we capture this Mad Hunt, we can follow the clues to find the Child of the Devil!"
Regardless of whether this speculation had any basis, all the privateer captains reached a consensus: "We must retaliate!"
"Judging by the fact that the highest-ranking victim was only First Rank, this Mad Hunt’s Class should also only be First Rank. During this period, we’ll reduce our active personnel, and First Order Transcendents should go out less. Then, we’ll send out a few Second Order elites as bait to lure and kill the Mad Hunt!"
Just as everyone’s morale was surging again, ’Woodpecker’ Maltz suddenly poured cold water on their enthusiasm. "We’re all well-known figures. What makes you think he wouldn’t gather Intelligence beforehand when selecting targets? Furthermore, he only targets our First Order Servants. Can any of you completely disguise yourselves as someone else?"
The atmosphere immediately turned cold. Most of these ferocious Pirates were infamous, with conspicuous features. They were Pirates, not a professional group of Assassins; dealing with such a troublesome enemy was indeed asking too much of them.
The pirate captain whose first mate had just died was the most reluctant to accept this. His eyes darted about, and he suddenly said, "Right, why isn’t Captain Red Beard back yet? He used the White Rose’s token to gather us, saying he would lead us to achieve great things. Now that we’re in trouble, surely he won’t just stand aside, will he? With him taking action, a mere Mad Hunt and the Child of the Devil, who knows where he’s hiding, would surely be captured easily. And..."
His gaze swept ominously over everyone present as he continued, "Gentlemen, is it possible that this Mad Hunt isn’t an enemy we provoked ourselves, but rather... an enemy of Councillor Red Beard?"
As if his words had awakened them from a dream, the eyes of all the privateer captains began to flicker with uncertainty.
Just then, a sailor from the *Goddess of Vengeance* came to report. Captain Red Beard, who had just attended an emergency meeting of the Captains’ Council, had returned to the docks and was about to board.
The group of privateer captains, whatever their private thoughts, all rose and walked out of the sterncastle to welcome the Middle Sequence Transcendent. But they had barely lined up on deck and spotted a group of people carrying Whale Oil Lamps approaching from afar along the jetty, when a deafening explosion suddenly shattered the night sky.
Welcoming their ’backer’ Red Beard and his entourage even before they could, was a towering Blaze that erupted into the sky!