Watching Barbarador's fawning expression, Bai Qi had no desire to waste words with the guy. A surge of immense psychic power pressed down on him. Bai Qi's eyes, filled with ferocity, fixed on Barbarador and he stated, "Submit, or die."
Without a moment's hesitation, Barbarador gave his answer almost instantly.
"I submit, I submit to you."
"Very well."
Bai Qi withdrew his psychic power, and Barbarador felt a sense of immense relief. However, before he could rejoice for long, a black light shot into his chest, the tremendous impact sending him flying backward.
When Barbarador tore away the clothes he had conjured, he saw a black dragon mark imprinted on his chest, its appearance unknown.
Bai Qi said, "You can consider this a form of surveillance on my part. If you harbor even the slightest disloyal thought..."
Bai Qi snapped his fingers, and Barbarador felt a burning sensation in his chest. Even after all these years, the pain remained as deeply etched as ever.
After demonstrating the mark's function to Barbarador, Bai Qi reverted to his human form and asked, "Tell me what happened here, and what are all these monsters?"
"Understood, Master."
Barbarador quickly adapted to his new identity and began to recount their experiences to Bai Qi.
Barbarador was originally the leader of the pirates in these waters, with a large number of subordinates. During the war, they plundered various ships across the sea. The local government was bogged down in the quagmire of war and had neither the time nor the energy to deal with them. For a period, Barbarador and his men profited greatly from the war.
Good fortune, however, did not last. A group of Nazis arrived and established a research base on the island. They captured Barbarador and his men, using them as experimental subjects for their barbaric torture. Finally, after much manipulation, Barbarador and his subordinates' souls were extracted from their bodies and then stuffed into sewn-together corpses.
Before capturing Barbarador, the necromancers on the island had already conducted numerous experiments. The ghosts and zombies outside the volcano were failed experiments. They either lacked the intelligence to be controlled or, after entering a corpse, could not escape, becoming completely trapped within.
Because they were a combination of soul and corpse, these monsters in the jars were unkillable unless their souls were torn asunder.
Fortunately, Barbarador and his men were captured relatively late, so by the time it was their turn, significant valuable experience had already been accumulated from the previous trials.
Thus, they eventually produced a successful product, which was Barbarador himself.
"I beg you, Master, please save my subordinates!"
As he spoke, Barbarador knelt at Bai Qi's feet, weeping uncontrollably, his agony evident.
"Your subordinates?"
Looking at the monsters Bai Qi had pinned to the ground with his psychic power, Bai Qi raised an eyebrow and asked, "Don't they already lack consciousness?"
"No, no, no..." Barbarador shook his head repeatedly, saying, "My subordinates and I are conscious. Our souls have not gone mad; they are merely bound within these monstrous bodies. Please, you must save them."
Bai Qi shrugged indifferently and said, "Save them? What benefit is there for me?"
Barbarador's eyes darted around, and he immediately understood Bai Qi's implication. He quickly replied, "They are all my subordinates. If you can save them, they will all be deeply grateful to you and become your most loyal followers."
The preceding statements from Barbarador could be dismissed as mere pleasantries; the only truly valuable part was the last sentence: becoming his most loyal followers.
"Very well, it's rare to see such camaraderie."
Bai Qi waved his hand, and a surge of demonic power, imbued with the power of the Goat Talisman, spread out. Wherever it passed, the spirits within all the monsters were driven out.
The wave continued to spread outwards until it swept across the entire island.
All those affected by the wave, including the zombies and the green spirits residing within the trees, were blasted out. A large number of spirits floated around the island, looking at their surroundings in a daze.
The magic Bai Qi released, carrying the power of the Goat Talisman, not only expelled all the spirits on the island from their host bodies but also restored some of their sanity.
Bai Qi had already wasted too much time here and needed to conclude matters quickly.
"You, come here."
Bai Qi beckoned Barbarador closer, then with a wave of his hand, a bolt of black lightning struck him directly.
Before Barbarador could react, the black lightning vanished, and his body underwent a drastic transformation.
The most immediate change was his strength. Barbarador could feel the surge of demonic power erupting from his spirit. His blue spirit was now adorned with a considerable amount of black spiritual armor, and his weapon had transformed into a soul greatsword imbued with the power of lightning.
Bai Qi stated, "I bestow upon you the authority to manage all the spirits on this island. I want you to manage all the spirits here on my behalf, train them, and await my command."
Barbarador quickly knelt on one knee and said, "Please rest assured, Master. Barbarador will surely not fail your expectations."
Bai Qi nodded, satisfied, and departed.
Only after sensing that Bai Qi's presence had completely vanished did Barbarador, who was still kneeling on the ground, shakily stand up and let out a long, relieved sigh.
Having just emerged from the monster bodies, Barbarador's subordinates were momentarily disoriented. However, as time passed and they overheard their leader's conversation with the black dragon, they gradually began to understand the situation.
A pirate spirit, who had been a loyal henchman to Barbarador in life, sidled up to him and said obsequiously, "Boss, you've become so powerful." Sudan Novel Network
"With this equipment, why should we still have to bow to that black dragon's whims? The world is so vast, we can be masters anywhere. Why be a lackey under him?"
Barbarador looked at his sycophantic follower and a sinister smile flickered across his face. He then unleashed a powerful kick, sending the follower flying two meters away.
"Idiot! You're trying to get me killed!"
If it were in the past, Barbarador would have undoubtedly betrayed Bai Qi without hesitation. But not now, at least not until he found a way to remove the black dragon mark on his chest.
However, before he could fulfill Bai Qi's mission, Barbarador had one extremely important task to attend to.
Barbarador drew his greatsword and swung it violently behind him. A furious surge of lightning power erupted, carving a two-meter-wide trench in the ground.
"Not bad, this weapon. What do you say, Bashar?"
Seeing this, the lackey puffed out his chest, feigning authority, and bellowed, "Bring him over!"
Soon, two spirits dragged Bashar before Barbarador.
The fundamental reason Barbarador was captured by the Nazis was the betrayal of one of his subordinates, his first mate, Bashar.
Ironically, Bashar had betrayed his brothers and leader just to earn a sum of money from the Nazis. The result was that he underestimated the Nazis' barbarity and, not only did he not receive any money, but he was also captured and used as experimental material.
"So many years have passed. What is owed must be repaid."