Chapter 1 A City More Bustling Than Ever

The city-state of Moros was more bustling than ever.

Last night, the Flying Fish Gang not only brought back a large amount of treasure from Devil's Island, but also a relatively safe navigation chart.

An information merchant bought the sea chart from Captain "Old Smoker" Lorien, and then resold it at a high price to some large pirate groups.

Yet no one knows how it was leaked.

Waking up this morning, it seemed everyone in the city had various true and false sea charts.

News of Devil's Island had already been circulating for over half a year, and now the city-state was packed with adventurers and pirates. After the city was unsealed, the adventurers couldn't wait to pour into the markets to buy supplies. Carts of fresh water, food, fine wine, and the essential fresh oranges for sailing, pulled by Romante's unique wheelbarrows, headed to the docks, stuffed onto the seagoing ships preparing to set sail.

The taverns and adventurer guilds were filled with recruitment notices. Any seagoing ship in slightly decent condition could recruit a large number of people in a short time.

Suren had accepted Kama and the Aberke sisters as disciples.

Since they were disciples, naturally, they would be taken along.

Kama packed up the house, and they went out.

...

At the same time, on the road leading to the dock gate.

A city guard team from the North Sea Fleet had been waiting for a long time. Squad Leader Eber was furious, his eyes roving fiercely through the crowd, as if searching for an enemy.

This was none other than the young man Suren had met before, the one who was pursuing Emma.

"Remember, if that kid dares to resist, arrest him immediately. If he hurts anyone, kill him on the spot!"

"Understood, Captain."

"..."

The team members didn't understand why the captain was so angry today, and whispered to each other from afar.

"Hey, Kahn, why is Captain Eber so angry today?"

"Don't you know? The captain's been cuckolded!"

"Ah? What happened?"

"Don't you know that the captain has been pursuing Miss Kama? Yesterday I heard from a patrol brother that Kama already has someone. A 'cousin' also lives in the house, and they've been living together for several months..."

"Ouch! So exciting? Isn't our captain going to twist that adulterer's head off?"

"Of course~ If it weren't for duty, the captain would have rushed over already. Besides, this is our last shift before we set sail."

"Set sail?"

"Yeah. I heard that Boss Vasily has gotten a good gig for our seventh team. The higher-ups have already issued orders, saying that several of our teams should prepare supplies and set sail to Devil's Island to search for treasure. Our captain has the most complete nautical log of the Flying Fish Gang. Hahaha... we'll get rich if we just find some treasure."

"..."

They gossiped and talked about treasure.

The pirates looked at the adventurers setting sail at the docks, excited.

...

Suren and Kama walked down the street, without incident.

Before long, they arrived at the city gate leading to the dock.

Suren's plan was to find a ship to go to sea, and then contact Qian Tiao and the others to pick them up.

Once they were at sea, they wouldn't have to worry about being caught.

But as they approached the city gate, Suren immediately became alert. He sensed several unfriendly gazes on him.

But after a moment, he realized that those people didn't seem to recognize him, but rather Kama beside him.

Suren recognized the young man named "Eber", and a slight arc appeared at the corner of his mouth. He immediately understood what was happening.

There might be a little trouble.

But it wasn't a big problem.

Those people had already spotted them, and it was too late to avoid them. They were already close to the dock, and if they took action, everything would be in vain.

Suren thought for a moment, and continued walking as if nothing had happened.

Kama obviously hadn't noticed that they were being targeted. They had only taken a few steps when a group of people surrounded them!

"Stop! Routine inspection!"

A group of pirate guards blocked their way.

A lackey said, "Oh, it's Miss Kama. Long time no see. Where are you going?"

Kama frowned, immediately realizing that trouble had come. Her eyes involuntarily glanced at Suren beside her. Seeing his calm face, she felt a sense of stability and replied, "We're preparing to go to Devil's Island."

Before the question was finished, Eber, with a dark face, walked over.

He didn't hide his hostility and asked directly, "Kama, who is this?"

Although Eber was now a lieutenant in the North Sea Fleet, the inferiority of a servant's son towards the master's daughter was ingrained in his bones. Marrying Kama was his greatest wish in this life.

Besides, his father had also said that only by marrying Kama could some of the Boyle family's unknown inheritance secrets be obtained.

But he never thought that after pursuing her for so many years, he hadn't even touched her, and she had been slept with by another man for several months?

As a man, how could he endure this humiliation?

At this moment, Eber's reason had been burned away by the flames of jealousy.

Kama frowned when she heard the strong hostility in his tone and said, "This is my cousin Poke."

Eber sized Suren up, his eyes full of gloom, and retorted, "Heh, I've never heard of you having a cousin."

Although he had disguised himself as an adventurer, looking very scruffy, Suren's charisma and temperament, with his twelve points of charm, still crushed this group of pirates.

Campbell's jealousy burned even more.

Kama argued, "Why should I tell you my business?"

Eber sneered and used his official position as an excuse, "The temple treasures were stolen last night. My team is ordered to investigate suspicious personnel. I suspect this is an illegal element who has infiltrated the city. Come with me to the security office!"

Suren didn't speak, watching quietly.

If he was being framed, he really wouldn't mind going to the security office.

But these guys had accidentally... really found the right person.

He, Suren, was the one the Agapannon Temple was looking for!

Kama naturally knew this too.

But she was obviously smarter than she appeared, and her adaptability was also excellent. She said directly, "The city-state has just promulgated a new law. Even if you are a city guard, you don't have the right to take people away for investigation without evidence. Abuse of power is punished as false accusation!"

This was obviously targeting him, and her words hit the mark.

Now that the North Sea had been established, and the "Iron-Blooded Prime Minister" Zoras had taken office, he had carried out sweeping reforms to the North Sea Fleet and promulgated many laws. Not only externally, but also internally. The goal was to transform the previously lazy pirates into organized and disciplined professional soldiers.

Kama's words made the pirate lackeys look at each other.

To rectify military discipline, this law had killed many chickens to scare the monkeys. They had finally become "iron rice bowls" from pirates, and they didn't want to lose them so easily.

Eber's expression was even more gloomy, but he was obviously also somewhat apprehensive.

If he really abused his power, it might even implicate his father.

But he couldn't just let them go. Eber's eyes turned, and he came up with another plan, shouting sharply, "I suspect the stolen treasures are on you. Now we will conduct a routine search! Storage rings, space equipment, hand them all over!"

They couldn't take the people away, but they had the right to search their bodies.

Upon hearing this, the lackeys next to him suddenly became more confident: "That's right! Search them!"

Hearing this, Kama's face changed slightly, and a trace of difficulty flashed in her eyes.

She herself wasn't afraid of being searched, but her teacher...

At this moment, she heard Suren say calmly, "Let them search."

He could see that these guys were deliberately looking for trouble, waiting for an opportunity to take action.

Kama saw that Suren was so calm, so she didn't say much and obediently handed over her storage ring.

...

Because he had been prepared all along, there was nothing sensitive in Suren's storage ring.

The pirates searched it but found nothing unusual.

But when the ring was returned, it was obvious that some valuables were missing.

Suren pretended not to notice.

Not giving the pirates any chance to cause trouble.

But when Kama took back her storage ring, her face changed drastically.

Looking at the smug Eber in front of her, she understood what had happened and shouted angrily, "Where are my rune puppets! You... why did you take my puppets!"

Her own dolls were fine, their value wasn't too high.

But in the storage ring were the four fourth-order puppets that Suren had given her last night.

Those high-level puppets, not to mention their significance to her, were worth hundreds of millions just in materials!

This was definitely an astronomical figure for ordinary pirates.

Now, the dolls in the storage ring were missing, obviously stolen when those people took them away to inspect them.

Eber couldn't hide the excitement of having obtained a treasure, but he quibbled, "What puppets?"

Kama said anxiously, "Those are... those are the Boyle family's ancestral fourth-order rune puppets!"

These were given by her teacher, but now they were lost, and she felt very guilty.

Looking at Eber's hateful expression, she shouted angrily, "Give me back my things!"

Eber had a mocking expression on his face. He was a puppeteer himself, so he knew the value of those puppets, "Hmph! Are you saying we stole your things?"

He couldn't get her even if he slept with her.

Even if he couldn't retaliate against this couple, getting such valuable puppets was also compensation. If he sold these puppets, what beautiful women couldn't he find?

"Alright, there's no problem. You can go now."

He waved his hand impatiently and added, "Get out of here! Otherwise, we'll go to the security office and talk about it..."

Kama's face was flushed with anger at this rogue behavior, and she wanted to argue: "You... you..."

Suren was happy to hear that they could leave, shook his head, and said to Kama, "Forget it, let's go."

These pirates were now blinded by money, and if they really investigated, they would discover some problems.

Seeing that they were about to go to the dock, he didn't plan to cause any trouble.

Hearing this, Kama, although heartbroken about the puppets, also knew that the overall situation was important, so she could only endure her anger.

The two quickly left, and the pirates didn't stop them.

They walked quickly, and after arriving at the crowded dock, they randomly found a ship called "North Wind", a seagoing ship of an adventurer group that was about to set sail.

The sea area to Devil's Island was very dangerous, and encountering sea beast attacks was normal. Bringing more combat personnel on board would also provide more safety.

Kama demonstrated her strength as a second-tier professional and slipped a little money to the first mate. The two successfully boarded the ship at the last moment before it left the port.

Hoist the sails, set sail.

The ship slowly left the port.

The ship was packed with adventurers going to Devil's Island to search for treasure, and Suren and Kama could only squeeze into the cabin.

All the way, the guilt on Kama's face never faded. At this time, she said with a low voice, "Teacher, I'm sorry. The puppets you gave me were stolen."

"It's okay."

Suren smiled indifferently.

Looking through the porthole of the cabin, at the receding coastline, he said meaningfully, "If nothing unexpected happens, those guys will return them."

Now that they had set sail, it was impossible to intercept him anymore.

...

A thief must be guilty.

After Suren and Kama had left for a long time, Eber happily took out the four rune puppets to check them.

Although his puppetry skills were mediocre, he could tell that these were high-level puppets!

He didn't have time to look closely before, but now that he looked at them, they were far beyond expectations!

Eber felt that these were the most exquisite rune puppets he had ever seen. As he looked at them, he couldn't help but praise, "My goodness, the craftsmanship of these puppets is absolutely amazing, definitely the work of a master!"

Looking at his boss so excited, the lackey next to him completely forgot his deep-seated hatred of being cuckolded and asked curiously, "Boss, are these wooden lumps worth a lot of money?"

"Worth money?"

Eber's tone was full of disdain for outsiders, and he said exaggeratedly, "Worth money? This puppet alone, just the material costs are probably tens of millions of Reese, or even more! Moreover, without master-level rune, carving, and enchanting skills, it is impossible to manufacture. If this thing falls into the hands of a large auction house in Luying, you might not be able to buy it for hundreds of millions."

The lackeys next to him looked at each other in disbelief, "Damn, so valuable?!"

"Of course."

Eber's face was full of smugness, and he said excitedly, "With these puppets, I can kill third-tier professionals in front of me!"

The lackeys listened to these words and excitedly bragged along.

With this harvest, the captain would definitely give them a lot of money.

"Kama actually has this level of treasure, I didn't see it before."

"I heard it was an heirloom? Was that woman a noble lady before?"

"You have to ask the captain, I seem to have heard that she really is a fallen noble lady..."

"I've seen Kama before, she often sells materials and puppets at flea markets to make money. Logically speaking, if she has such precious treasures, selling just one would be enough to live on, there's no need to be so frugal. Do you think... could these puppets have been given to her by that cousin of hers?"

"That pretty boy is just a coward. Did you see him just now, he didn't dare to say a word the whole time. I don't know what Kama saw in him."

"..."

He had been overwhelmed by the excitement of harvesting the treasure, but now that he calmed down, Eber also realized that something was wrong.

"Huh... that's not right!"

He was the son of a serf of the Boyle family, so he knew Kama's situation very well.

He had never seen her take out such precious puppets before, how could she suddenly have them?

It was possible that they were heirlooms.

Could that "cousin" Poke be a distant relative of the Boyle family?

Thinking of the man who had cuckolded him, Eber's face once again showed a hint of ferocity.

The first thought that came to his mind was: that person must have even more valuable things on him. Maybe, there are also inheritance treasures of the Boyle family that are not known to outsiders!