Chapter 280 The Altar of Wisdom

Amidst the flashing blades and claws, Blackbeard's three officers had gradually gained the upper hand in the battle.

Voge, Nesslu, and Mark Neck-Thick were, after all, members of the same pirate ship, and each was battle-hardened; with a little cooperation, it wasn't too difficult for the three of them to deal with a dragon of that size.

Of course, this development was also within Brother Jue's expectations.

Although the Vain Dragon was strong, it was still just a "monster," while Blackbeard's subordinates were NPCs with higher intelligence—in the main universe, the former was equivalent to an "animal," while the latter was equivalent to a "person."

No matter how clever an animal was, it might not be as good as the most foolish person; this was a "qualitative" difference in biological level.

People could learn knowledge, use tools, apply strategies, and even plan their physical and skill training; but animals... it was already rare enough for them to do any of that.

Before long, the three pirates had taken down the Vain Dragon using "encirclement" tactics. The beast let out a mournful cry as it fell... to it, being killed by three creatures weaker than itself was truly a death with eyes that would not close.

Fortunately... Mark Neck-Thick quickly chopped at the Vain Dragon's neck, severing its frustration and pain.

"Hmm... it took more time than I thought." Seeing the battle end, Feng Bujue spoke coolly and walked forward again.

"If you want it faster... come down and help yourself." Mr. Voge wasn't polite; even if the other party was Brother Jue, he spoke his mind directly.

"Heh... I'd like to as well." Feng Bujue replied with a smile, then pointed to Mad Eye beside him. "But someone has to keep an eye on Captain Mad Eye, right?"

"Wasn't his strength restricted?" At that moment, Snow, who had walked over with Blackbeard, muttered softly.

Faced with this undermining, Brother Jue still seemed very calm; after all... he had thick skin.

"Yes, he was restricted, but you weren't, right?" Feng Bujue skillfully used the tactic of changing the subject and turning the tables, saying, "Why aren't you going up?"

"Okay, okay... Can't I just shut up?" Snow was also a smart person; he knew very well... that if he continued the conversation and argued with Brother Jue, he would definitely lose, so he chose to give up directly and stop talking about the topic.

"Now that the fight is over, don't waste any more time." At this time, the most reliable Blackbeard spoke up and commanded, "Neck-Thick, go see if your brother is dead; if he's not, tell him to get up quickly."

"Uh... yes." Mark Neck-Thick took the order and quickly walked towards the place where Mark Hoof-Big had fallen.

In fact, Neck-Thick had always known that his brother wasn't dead, because there was a certain connection between the two brothers; if one of them died, the other would definitely know.

Sure enough, after being shaken a few times, Mark Hoof-Big woke up from his unconsciousness.

"What? Is it time for dinner?" Hoof-Big asked as soon as he opened his eyes.

"If you're hungry, there's a whole dragon over there to eat." Neck-Thick was also honest and answered as he was asked.

"Eat a skewer!" The sharp-tongued Mr. Voge immediately cursed at the two simpletons, "The Vain Dragon is a typical 'corrosive creature,' the most thoroughly corroded of the low-level dragons... The reason they are much smaller than other dragons is that they have almost no meat; there is only a very thin layer of fat within the huge skeleton and skin as thick as city walls, and even that layer of fat... is toxic, just like their internal organs and blood."

"I see..." While Mr. Voge was explaining, Feng Bujue had already picked up [Bell's Everyday Knife] and opened the dragon corpse's abdominal cavity for observation. "The result of severe corruption is that it gains considerable strength and a ferocious personality, but loses the wisdom and magical abilities that the dragon race should have... Even the basic ability of 'fire breathing' has been lost due to the body's transformation."

"Hey, hey... you don't want to cut off some parts from this thing to eat as snacks, do you?" At that moment, Honghu's keen mind made him think of a rather ominous hypothesis.

"Heh... no, I'm just curious." As Feng Bujue replied, he stood up from beside the dragon corpse with a smile on his face.

This guy's words and deeds were a mix of truth and falsehood, and even though Honghu and Snow were his teammates, they really didn't know what he was thinking.

"Hoof-Big, how badly are you hurt?" On the other side, Blackbeard ignored Brother Jue and walked to his subordinate's side to ask.

"Uh... it's just that when I took that tail whip just now... I exerted too much force and couldn't catch my breath, and then I 'suffocated' and passed out, but I'm fine now." Mark Hoof-Big replied as he stood up; his demi-human bloodline came with self-healing abilities, and such hard injuries... had already recovered while he was lying on the ground.

"Very good, then let's continue on our way." Blackbeard said, turning his head and glancing at Mad Eye.

"Hmph..." Mad Eye met the other party's gaze, snorted coldly, and stepped forward unhurriedly. "I understand, I'll still lead the way..."

"Mad Eye." Unexpectedly, at that instant, Blackbeard's tone suddenly turned cold. "Don't think you're playing everyone else for fools... There won't be a next time for situations like this."

As soon as he said this, the cold smile on Mad Eye's face froze; after a slight hesitation, a strange look flashed in his eyes.

Then, the expression on his face changed to solemn, and he walked to the front of the team without saying a word, and began to silently lead the way.

"Heh..." Feng Bujue observed the words and actions of the two, and laughed inwardly.

In this suddenly oppressive atmosphere, the nine people set off again.

The figures in the forest who were tracking them did not give up because of the disturbance just now, and still followed them from afar.

…………

Along the way, there was no conversation, and twenty minutes of silence passed, suffocatingly so.

Finally, the group passed through the dense forest and came to an open area.

If the events happening on this island were compared to a jigsaw puzzle, then... what came into the sight of the nine people at this moment was probably revealing one corner of the entire puzzle.

"This... is an altar, right?" Honghu looked at the small, stepped "hexagonal pyramid" in front of him, and a simple and intuitive conclusion came out.

"Well... the various traces in the forest are undoubtedly left by them when they were transporting building materials." Snow continued thoughtfully, "Then the question is... who is this altar dedicated to?"

"In any case, it's not the two patriarchs of the Illusory Demon Church." Before Snow could finish speaking, Brother Jue, who had the most say in this matter, spoke, "Samodir and Taliorum never use this kind of ancient, orthodox religion (mostly tied to tribes, countries, and races, with a certain political color, and with relatively public doctrines) to collect the power of faith; they play the 'secret society' game."

"Hold on..." Honghu said to Brother Jue at this time, "Even now, can you still be sure... that the enemies around us are members of the Illusory Demon Church? Although my understanding of them is not as comprehensive as yours, I can also see... that their way of doing things is completely different from the Illusory Demon Church members I've encountered before."

"I've noticed this, of course." Feng Bujue paused, and said, "What I can be sure of is... that these people, at least 'were' warlocks of the Illusory Demon Church; the source of their demonic energy is an identification marker that cannot be changed. It's just... I'm not quite sure why these guys on this island would do so many abnormal things..."

"Hmph... it's not surprising that you don't know." Two seconds later, Blackbeard suddenly spoke again, "In the end... you're just a traveler from another world with limited knowledge." As he spoke, he went forward alone and approached the altar in front.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

Just as Blackbeard stepped into the range of ten meters radius of the altar, many small defensive magic arrays were activated; for a time, there was a burst of magic light sweeping around him.

"Even I... haven't seen this in a long time..." But Blackbeard's tone was still calm, and his steps were steady. Because the energy he unconsciously revealed, surrounding his body, was enough to negate those attacks.

"Do you know what that is?" Feng Bujue asked, taking advantage of the situation.

"This is... the altar of the God of Wisdom, Wisden." Blackbeard replied, already standing in front of the altar. "Mad Eye..." After a second, Blackbeard said without turning his head, "You still remember, right? That despicable villain who killed the 'Queen'."