Leonard and the others still chose to remain where they were, waiting for the Black Emperor to approach.
Even if they wanted to sail away, there was no way they could escape the Black Emperor, whose performance far surpassed ordinary ships.
As the vessel drew closer, they saw the towering figure standing on the deck, the King of the Five Seas, Nast.
The Black Emperor stood three to four meters taller than Leonard's ship. As the two vessels neared each other, Nast looked down at them from above.
Behind him gathered a group of crew members. Some were whistling cheerfully, while others stared greedily at Ilya's beautiful figure and face.
Mm, there were even one or two with rather unusual tastes whose naked gazes were fixed firmly on Leonard.
The anticipated conflict did not occur. A rope ladder was lowered from the Black Emperor, signaling for Leonard and the others to come aboard for a talk.
"Let's go." Ilya did not hesitate much and walked ahead, with Leonard following behind.
Once on deck, the Black Emperor crew who had been watching the show had already been dismissed by Nast, leaving only a third mate nearby.
Nast swept his sharp gaze across the three of them. "I heard you captured quite a few pirates and tried to force my whereabouts out of them?"
"That's right." Ilya admitted it decisively.
Nast chuckled. "You've got quite the nerve. Are you trying to openly provoke me on the sea?"
Ilya remained calm. "There are simply some matters we wish to ask you about."
"You're someone who lacks reverence."
"I only need to maintain reverence toward the Goddess."
Even aboard the Black Emperor, Ilya's attitude remained steady and forceful, showing no concern for her situation.
"If we're being accurate, this is the domain of storms, not the kingdom of the Evernight Goddess."
"Night will always descend."
"As expected of a devout believer of the Evernight Goddess." Nast sounded emotional for a moment, but quickly discarded the unnecessary expression and said coldly, "On the sea, faith isn't worth a single penny. Even a casually raised wave can make a louder sound than it."
"So people like you, who have lost faith, became worthless along with it."
Ilya's words were razor-sharp. Calmly, she said, "We only came to ask three questions. Once we finish, we'll leave. If you want to try keeping us here, then as you said, this counts as the domain of storms."
She was not reckless. After setting sail, she had already contacted the Church of Storms. As two of the three major churches of the Loen Kingdom, they often assisted one another.
After coming to the sea, how could she possibly not inform the Church of Storms?
Nast laughed, looking at the imposing Miss Ilya with a trace of pity in his eyes.
The Church of Storms indeed used to hold overwhelming authority at sea.
But that was in the past.
Now, the newly risen uncrowned king of the sea had always been at odds with the Church of Storms, frequently targeting them, sometimes even deliberately circling around the outer region of the Sea of Storms.
Unfortunately, this time he had come with a mission. Otherwise, he would definitely let these three followers of the Evernight Goddess experience the ruthlessness of the sea.
Boom! A violent explosion erupted, sending a massive spray of water upward.
Leonard and the others instinctively turned toward the source of the sound. The ship they had arrived on had already been sunk by cannon fire.
Ilya's face turned cold. "Are you planning to compensate us with the Black Emperor?"
Want the Black Emperor? Too bad you're one step too late. This Black Emperor has already been reserved in advance.
Nast sighed helplessly inwardly, but said aloud, "No need to be so anxious. Meeting on the vast sea is a rare kind of fate. I simply wanted to chat with you a bit longer."
"Before that, answer me this. Did you seize Sealed Artifact 008 from Ince Zangwill?"
Nast looked rather surprised. "So you came for that matter. That's right. My study just happened to be lacking a suitable feather pen at the time."
The expression on Ilya's face relaxed somewhat. "If you don't want to invite more trouble, then return it to us."
"Heh. I took it from Ince Zangwill's hands. That item no longer belongs to you. Besides, you want to recover something stolen by a King of Pirates from his own hands? Don't you think that's far too naive?"
Mockery hung from the corners of Nast's lips as he invited Ilya and the others to stay aboard the ship as guests for a few days.
"Fine." Ilya agreed immediately, greatly surprising Leonard.
Were they really planning to steal a pirate king's loot right under his nose?
...
Puning Port.
Taking advantage of the weekend break, Hastur wanted to invite Sharron out for a walk, but she merely stood motionless by the window, beginning her puppet acting.
The current Sharron resembled a puppet devoid of all vitality. Sometimes, while at home, she could remain standing in one position for several days without moving, not even blinking.
Ariella loved bothering Sharron during moments like these, often climbing onto her shoulders and gently tugging at her hair with tiny claws.
At first, Sharron was somewhat unaccustomed to it, but as she deepened her acting, she instead allowed Ariella to do as she pleased.
No matter how Ariella caused trouble, she remained like an exquisite doll without any expression or movement.
Hastur also found Sharron's state rather interesting, to the point that he unexpectedly almost resonated with a certain vampire who liked dolls.
A beautiful and exquisite doll that would not speak, only silently accompany you by your side. What gift could possibly be more suitable for long-term companionship than that?
But the thought only lasted briefly. Hastur still preferred the Sharron who could speak and move.
"Meow." Ariella, now sprawled atop Sharron's head, gave Hastur a smug little expression.
Sharron's tolerance during her puppet acting was reserved solely for Ariella. Sometimes Hastur also wanted to tease puppet-state Sharron a little, but she would usually move away or start speaking.
This forced Hastur to criticize her acting. Since she was acting as a puppet, how could she treat him and Ariella differently?
She should treat everyone equally!
Sharron looked at him as though he were an idiot and said, "I'm only acting as a puppet, not becoming a real puppet, much less a puppet incapable of moving."
In response, Hastur could only sigh. This was probably the longest sentence Sharron had spoken to him in quite some time.
With Sharron and Ariella both preferring to stay at home, Hastur also lost the desire to go out.
It was the perfect opportunity to think about how to arrange Alfred's future.
After attending Alfred's banquet last time, Alfred had finally subtly revealed his intention to remain in Southville County.
Even disregarding Audrey's sake, Hastur would still arrange a good position for Alfred out of consideration for the one hundred thousand gold pounds Earl Hall had sponsored when he left Backlund.
Logistics work was too important; he had to keep it under his own control. Sending Alfred to the battlefield was too dangerous, and Hastur could not protect him at all times.
The best arrangement could only be an administrative management position, safe, yet capable of earning enough political achievements.
Thinking this, Hastur went to the study and wrote a recommendation letter to the Grand Duke of Southville.
Appointments and dismissals for official positions in Southville County still required the Grand Duke's approval.
After finishing the letter, Hastur merely put it away for now. Only after Earl Hall made his stance clear would he decide whether to keep Alfred.
Beside the desk, 008, still locked inside the pen case, quietly moved near Hastur's elbow and lightly bumped his arm with the pen case.
During this period, it had been locked inside the pen case the entire time and was nearly driven mad from confinement.
"Your attitude has been fairly good lately. I'll let you out for some fresh air today."
Hastur smiled and opened the pen case. 008 immediately stood upright and landed on a blank sheet of paper.
"Master, I will forever be your most loyal pen, wuwuwu..." 008 finally managed to write out the grievances in its heart.
Hastur said gently, "I look forward to your future performance."
"I definitely won't disappoint Master!" 008 instantly became energetic again and rapidly wrote across the blank paper:
"The predicament of the Red Gloves squad has drawn rescuers from Backlund. Klein, a character I don't particularly like, arrived in Southville County at 9:12 this morning."
"Traveling with him is a Beyonder known as the Sword of the Goddess. They intend to conceal their identities and quietly infiltrate Puning Port for investigation."
"Unfortunately, although they have already been extremely cautious, they still cannot escape my eyes, much less those of the great Master."
"They wish to uncover the truth behind the matter and rescue the trapped members of the Red Gloves squad in Puning Port, but without the great Master's permission, even if they turned into mosquitoes, they would never be able to fly out of Puning Port."
"As Master's most loyal pen, I will monitor every one of their movements twenty-four hours a day and absolutely not allow their appearance to affect Master's wonderful mood!"
008 wrote an entire page enthusiastically. Looking at the contents, Hastur's expression turned somewhat strange.
Based on 008's description and everything that had happened recently in Puning Port, it practically resembled a dungeon designed for the protagonist's adventure!
And he, Earl Hastur Campbell, divine envoy of the Aurora Order, the mysterious figure wielding 008, was the final BOSS of this dungeon!
The more Hastur thought about it, the more he felt events were truly developing in that direction.
A Beyonder incident occurs, people become trapped, rescue is requested, rescuers arrive and investigate, clues are unraveled to uncover the mastermind, the dungeon boss is defeated, and finally everyone escapes successfully.
What a familiar storyline progression!