Chapter 53: Captain Jack's Fuse

Night Reef Island was the island where the Yasha Fishmen lived, and it was also the largest island in the entire Misty Phantom Archipelago.

At this moment, inside the magnificent, vast, and heavily guarded Sea Stone Palace on Night Reef Island.

The half-humanoid Yasha Fishman Grand Elder and the sixth-order peak Augushan looked at the defeated group below.

Both fell into contemplation.

"Captain Jack?" After a long while, Augushan spoke softly.

"Yes," Geze nodded in response.

Along the way, his eyes had begun to gradually recover.

But for now, only the eyeballs had initially formed; as for vision, there was none at all.

It was fortunate that other patrolling Yasha Fishmen had found them, otherwise they would never have been able to swim back.

"I hadn't heard of this person before," Augushan said thoughtfully.

"This person is only at the third order, so he must have risen recently," Geze said in a deep voice.

"Even if he rose recently, being only at the third order yet having the talent and strength of a mid-rank super caster, he wouldn't have been an unknown at the first or second order."

"Is this third-order caster really a super caster, sir?" Geze's mouth felt bitter and dry.

Transcendent casters were exceedingly rare, hardly one appearing even in decades.

Yet they had to encounter one.

"Even if not a super caster, he's close enough."

"After all, there's no clear standard for defining a super caster."

"Being able to kill so many of you single-handedly, even if he used treasures, if it came down to a straight fight to the end, you might not have won."

"As far as I know, two or three special seven-star transcendent beings have appeared on the ocean recently, and these fellows have gained considerable fame."

"Now a super caster has appeared; the turbulent times have arrived, or rather, we are already in the midst of turmoil."

As he pondered, Augushan seemed to think of something and looked at Geze, asking.

"You said that during the battle, you heard a sound like some kind of shooting, and then the third-order caster quickly broke free from Surya's secret-pattern-level spell confinement, and after that, Surya vanished without a trace?"

"Yes."

As Geze spoke, Augushan seemed to fall into deep thought.

The entire hall fell into silence.

"Arcane Shot," Augushan said abruptly after a long pause.

"Arcane Shot?" After a moment of thought, Geze suddenly seemed to realize something, a look of astonishment spreading across his face.

"Not many people use that thing, and the one who used it caused quite a stir not long ago," Augushan said in a deep tone.

"The Harbor of Harutov, the shot Feathered Serpent Edward?" Geze's shock at this moment was beyond imagination.

"Based on the timeline, it's very possible," Augushan nodded slightly.

"If that's the case, then the great pirate king Duke Edward IV has been thoroughly screwed over by this fellow called 'Captain Jack'."

"Thoroughly screwed over is an understatement; now that great pirate king Duke can barely even hold onto his position," Augushan laughed as well.

A month or two ago.

The Harbor of Harutov.

The minor pirate king, Feathered Serpent Edward, was secretly shot dead by a mysterious strongman.

Later, someone conducted a field investigation and battle simulation.

The conclusion was that a very skilled expert used 'Arcane Shot,' an ancient and obsolete peculiar spell, to kill Feathered Serpent Edward.

And also killed the noblewoman who was having an affair with Feathered Serpent Edward.

Though it was unknown whether the rumors of 'the wealthy bull-headed man's revenge incident' were true or false.

The death of Feathered Serpent Edward had a tremendous impact.

Feathered Serpent Edward, stationed at the Harbor of Harutov, was tasked with collecting resources and gold pounds for his father, the great pirate king 'Duke Edward IV,' to support the war.

It was said that Feathered Serpent Edward had already amassed a huge sum of over a million gold pounds.

This huge sum was enough to sustain Old Edward's war for a long time.

But with Feathered Serpent Edward dead, his transcendent storage ring, along with his body, was taken away.

A million gold pounds vanished into thin air.

And the great pirate king 'Kamo,' who was opposing Old Edward, perfectly seized on the explosive point of this news.

Using spies aboard Old Edward's sea demon ship, he widely spread the news of Feathered Serpent Edward's death and the loss of a million gold pounds.

As if Old Edward had gone bankrupt.

Amid the panic, Kamo decisively launched a large-scale attack.

The result was predictable: Old Edward suffered a massive defeat, was chased across the sea for over a thousand kilometers, and suffered heavy casualties.

Many of Old Edward's subordinates, seeing the situation was hopeless, defected on the spot and joined the pursuit of Old Edward.

For pirates, this was commonplace.

Although Old Edward regrouped some of his forces after the defeat.

His strength was now vastly different from before.

Not to mention anything else, of the twenty or thirty large sea demon ships, only a few remained.

Moreover, after news of Old Edward's defeat spread across the ocean during this time.

Many transcendent beings on the ocean generally believed that the five pirate kings had become four.

Old Edward had been removed from the ranks of the great pirate kings.

And the fuse for the entire incident was undoubtedly the shooting of Feathered Serpent Edward.

It was thought that the mysterious assassin who lit the fuse would forever be buried in the dust of history, never to be discovered.

But today.

Traces seemed to have surfaced.

A third-order super caster.

Also possessing a highly lethal, suspected Arcane Shot technique.

Also taking out Surya, who always had a high-level shield, with a single shot.

And possessing many treasures.

"By the way, did you notice the size of that sea demon ship?" Augushan inquired.

"About forty meters, double-masted," Geze replied after thinking.

"That's pretty much it," Augushan nodded slightly.

"I recall that Feathered Serpent Edward's sea demon ship was about that size. This sea demon ship is very likely the one that was modified after shooting Feathered Serpent Edward."

"This fellow called Captain Jack has some skill."

"More importantly, this guy has a lot of nerve," Augushan said in a deep tone.

"Lord Augushan, from what you say, this third-order super caster seems quite troublesome?" The Yasha Fishman Grand Elder, who had been silent until now, spoke slowly, his voice old and hoarse.

The Grand Elder was already over four hundred years old.

Having survived constant warfare to this age was rare even in the ocean.

But as a sixth-order transcendent, his lifespan was running out.

Old and frail, even drinking life spring water had little effect.

And once he advanced to the seventh-order transcendent, becoming a transcendent master, undergoing a minor soul transformation and a physical order transformation.

His lifespan would surge to six hundred or even seven hundred years.

Gaining a longer lifespan was the reason he was willing to cooperate with this Augushan.

Otherwise, he would not have been inclined to ally his entire tribe with these followers of evil gods.

"Rest assured, Elder, although this super caster is formidable, he is no problem for me."

"Grand Elder, please proceed steadily with the altar arrangement, and carry out the planned advancement as scheduled."

"I will handle this super caster," Augushan said.

"Then I'll trouble Lord Augushan," the Grand Elder replied in his usual hoarse tone.

"By the way, Grand Elder, I have few men, and their efficiency in underwater reconnaissance is low. I hope..."

"No problem, I will dispatch three hundred fast tribesmen to accompany you, to help you quickly locate the third-order super caster's position."

"Excellent!" Augushan nodded slightly.

...

Two hours later.

On the calm ocean surface, standing on the deck of the sea demon ship 'Giant God 11,'

Augushan looked at the divination results of the spellcaster before him, his expression somewhat strange.

In these three hours, Augushan, with a large number of Yasha Fishmen and over thirty of his men, had come to this sea area to track down the super caster and his sea demon ship.

Yet, the sea demon ship had vanished.

Augushan had guessed that the other party might have retracted the sea demon ship and left the area at a faster swimming speed.

Fortunately, they had fragments of the sea demon ship's deck.

Then, Augushan's subordinate skilled in divination used these fragments to perform a divination.

But the result surprised Augushan greatly.

The divination position was clearly here, but the sea demon ship had simply disappeared.

The result seriously contradicted reality.

After several repeated divinations, Augushan had the subordinate stop.

Looking at the calm, fog-shrouded sea, Augushan pondered for a moment.

"This super caster certainly has some tricks; he won't be easy to catch."

Then, Augushan looked at a subordinate beside him and spoke softly.

"Release all the information about Captain Jack's shooting of Feathered Serpent Edward, his acquisition of great wealth, and his identity as a super caster."

"Understood," the transcendent in charge of information transmission nodded.

"Soon... Captain Jack's name will resound across the ocean, and this captain will face more pursuers."

"Those powerful minor pirate kings will certainly not easily let such a fat sheep go."

"And those newly risen strongmen on the ocean will mostly want to test their skills against this 'super caster.'"

"After all, such an expert rarely appears in a long time."

"Of course, most importantly, Old Edward—I think he would very much like to cut off Captain Jack's head and use it as a drinking cup."

Looking at the fog-shrouded ocean, Augushan smiled softly.