Chapter 1 Suren

Suren heard the sounds of fighting and arguing, and walked out of the "Poseidon Divination Shop." He saw a large crowd gathered in front of a shop selling materials.

Dozens of members of the "Iron Lion Pirate Crew" were confronting a group of ten or so people, with a large number of onlookers who had come to see what was happening.

On the other side, the dozen or so people wearing white naval uniforms seemed out of place in the chaotic environment of the black market.

"Damn it! We clearly agreed to pay on delivery, how can you go back on your word?!"

"Hey, hey, don't talk nonsense! I didn't get the goods, how can I give you money?"

"Didn't we already deliver the goods to your steward at the pier? That black-toothed old man received them personally, and I have a handover receipt here!"

"You must have given the goods to the wrong person, right? I don't have any black-toothed stewards in my shop."

"You...! My seriously injured brother needs this potion to save his life, you must hand it over!"

"Hmph, what does it matter to me if you have injured people? This isn't Lu Ying, so don't act like high and mighty military officers. If you keep causing trouble here, don't blame me for being rude!"

"..."

After listening for a while, Suren immediately understood the situation.

These people had been taken advantage of in a "black eats black" scheme.

Selling materials in the black market, if you don't know the ropes, it's easy to get swindled out of both your goods and your money.

Those who can open shops in the black market have some kind of backing, more or less. And they're not very friendly to outsiders. If you dare to cause trouble, the big pirates in this pirate city won't put up with it.

The pirate side had more people and greater momentum. After a bit of pushing and shoving, a large-scale brawl didn't break out in the end.

"Beast" Alek Barrett, who was missing an arm, maintained a dark expression throughout, remaining silent and not saying a word.

But no matter how much the deputy beside him argued, the shop owner just wore a cold smile that said he had them figured out, and had no intention of giving them the money.

.......

In pirate circles, it wasn't uncommon to see defectors from the Lu Ying Empire navy.

Usually they were prisoners of war, or had defected for some other unavoidable reason to become pirates.

These rigorously trained navy personnel were also popular recruitment targets for major pirate crews. Several squadron leaders and fleet commanders under the North Sea King had backgrounds in the Lu Ying Royal Navy, or were formerly in noble private armies.

Under normal circumstances, defecting navy personnel would still wear Lu Ying uniforms, to show their status. Even though they had defected, they still felt they were different from ordinary pirates.

But they would also put a scratch on their military ranks, to indicate a break from their past identity.

Suren was slightly surprised when he saw Barrett and his group appear in the pirate city.

A military officer of this major general level was a big figure in Lu Ying, with power, money, and women readily available. The pirates couldn't offer them any tempting conditions.

Now it seemed like they had come to sell materials and equipment, and had been scammed by a black market merchant?

However, thinking back to his previous experiences, he wasn't so surprised to see them here.

Suren guessed that some big shot in the Lu Ying royal family might be involved with the "Outer God" who coveted the Burial Grounds of Gods. Barrett had previously stopped the destruction of the seal, and had witnessed the entire process of that Military Intelligence Division guy summoning the Outer God to descend. It would be strange if he wasn't ostracized.

Although that guy had almost killed him before, his actual impression of him wasn't bad. Setting aside certain issues of position, he certainly wasn't lacking in a sense of justice, to risk his life and honor to stop the Military Intelligence Division people from destroying the seal.

......

Suren watched thoughtfully, and asked Amaris, who was also watching the show beside him, deliberately, "What's the background of that guy?"

Professional information merchants really knew more.

Hearing this, the dark beauty immediately said his identity, "People from the Lu Ying Sacred Judgment Legion. The leader is that guy 'Beast' Alek Barrett, with the rank of Major General. I don't know why he lost an arm, his strength has been greatly reduced."

Suren naturally knew how he lost his arm, and was more curious about other things, so he said, "Isn't the Sacred Judgment Legion a royal legion? How did he defect to become a pirate?"

"Because of 'treason'."

As the dark beauty said this, there seemed to be puzzlement in her eyes.

After a pause, she continued, "The Lu Ying royal family declared Barrett and his people wanted for 'treason,' with a shockingly high bounty. Countless people are thinking of taking his head to exchange for the bounty. Not only bounty hunters, but the Lu Ying Military Intelligence Division has also sent special agents to chase them all the way here, and there have been several attempts at assassination in the pirate city. But they have all ended in failure..."

Treason?

Hearing this charge, Suren was also greatly surprised.

To give a meritorious general this charge without a military court, the identity of the person who issued the order must be terrifyingly high.

He was pensive, wanting to know more details, so he probed, "Isn't it some aristocratic conspiracy?"

The dark beauty seemed to think that the previous cooperation for a sum of money had been pleasant, and didn't skimp on words, saying, "Some people suspected this was a Lu Ying royal family trap, but definite news came from the Lu Ying side that the Sacred Judgment Legion's organization has been revoked by the Lu Ying royal family, and all members of the legion have been put on wanted lists. Moreover, the relatives of these knights have almost all been sent to the gallows. Especially the legion commander Barrett's wife, daughter, parents... they were executed by firing squad without trial."

Saying this, she pursed her lips and continued, "The Lu Ying royal family's actions are very abnormal, but no one knows why. Outsiders guess that it may involve some royal family scandals, which is why it can't be made public... After all, this situation has happened before, like when a great noble hooked up with a palace concubine, and then inexplicably disappeared after being charged with a crime..."

"I see..."

Hearing this, Suren's eyes suddenly became a little complicated.

His family was wiped out?

This was probably because the "Outer God" was afraid of the news leaking, so he planned to kill everyone to silence them.

With the royal family issuing a special wanted order, the former members of the Sacred Judgment Legion had no place to stand in Lu Ying, and only the pirate city had a glimmer of hope.

It wasn't strange to see them here.

At this point, the dark beauty sighed slightly again, "Now I hear that Lu Ying has sent even more experts over to deal with these people, and some big pirates also want to get this bounty. Heh... There aren't many forces in the North Sea that can provide them with protection."

"..."

Suren frowned slightly as he listened, Barrett's situation was indeed very bad.

Neither the white nor the black side would give them a way out, and they wouldn't be able to survive no matter how strong they were.

"But... these guys have brought this on themselves."

The dark beauty thought of something, and changed the subject, continuing, "Although that guy lost an arm and his strength has been greatly reduced, the Sacred Judgment Legion was once Lu Ying's ace legion after all. Although there are fewer people, their strength and foundation are not bad. Several big pirate crews are eyeing them, intending to recruit this group of people. It's a pity that they have high standards and have no interest in joining us pirates. Even when the North Sea King's people contacted them, they didn't get any results..."

After a pause, she continued, "It's a pity, without a strong protector, they won't be able to survive in the pirate city. Watch, before long, these people will either disappear, or they will have to compromise."

"..."

Suren couldn't help but feel a little唏嘘(xī xū, lamenting).

A dignified and loyal general of an empire had actually fallen to such a state.

However, other people's affairs were, after all, their own private matters.

Seeing these people from the Sacred Judgment Legion, Suren thought of issues related to his own interests.

If nothing went wrong, these guys should have a lot of [Activated Silver] on them, as well as the cursed object he lost, [Annesdora's Poisonous Censer].

Before, he thought he had missed the treasure, but now it looked like he had another chance.

"Hopefully they haven't sold it..."

Suren prayed in his heart.

........

The crowd of onlookers grew larger and larger, and the people from Barrett's Judgment Legion ultimately failed to start a fight.

The once honored generals and knights of the Lu Ying Empire were now arguing and haggling like housewives buying vegetables in a market, a contrast that not everyone could bear.

Seeing that the shop owner and those pirates looked fearless, Barrett also guessed that this was the "rule" of the pirate black market.

This time could be considered a lesson learned.

He snorted coldly, "Let's go!"

He turned and left, and the soldiers behind him, though unwilling, followed.

With the departure of the Sacred Judgment Legion people, the excitement was over, and the black market returned to its proper order.

Suren mixed into the crowd, watched Barrett's people leave, thought about it, and quietly followed.

For the sake of [Activated Silver], he still planned to take the risk and make contact.

Barrett's people didn't go to the upper structures of the stronghold, but headed towards the pier, probably living on a ship.

But he hadn't followed far before Suren noticed something was wrong.

It turned out that he wasn't the only one, there were several other groups of people watching Barrett's people.

"Hiss... these guys really have a lot of trouble."

Suren weaved through the alleys like an ordinary passerby.

With soul perception, he wouldn't lose them even without looking.

But in his soul perception, there were several sneaky guys following all the way.

Thinking that they weren't information merchants, they were probably big pirate informants who wanted to recruit them...

Barrett's people should have noticed that they were being followed, but they were probably helpless.

This was the pirate city, and they were just out-of-place outsiders.

.......

Sure enough, before long, Barrett and his group arrived at the pier and boarded a wooden warship docked in the harbor.

It was rare to see an all-wooden sailing warship in Lu Ying, these were usually used to chase pirates.

The warship's hull was covered with traces of battle, cannon pits, bullet marks, and sharp weapon wounds, indicating that they had fought many fierce battles on their way here.

There was no pirate flag hanging on the mast, and the ordinary seagull flag had a line scratched through it with paint.

Even though they were no longer the Lu Ying Royal Navy, the people on board still maintained a rigorous military style.

Sentry posts and hidden sentry posts were all doing their jobs, closely guarding their ship.

This demeanor was extremely different compared to the sloppiness of the surrounding pirate ships.

As soon as the group that had gone to the black market for the transaction boarded the ship, the people guarding the ship immediately surrounded them to ask what had happened.

Hearing about the experience, everyone was indignant.

"Damn profiteers! We finally got the materials, and they just swallowed them. Captain, let's go kill those dirty swindlers!"

"Fortunately, the Captain had some extra thought and didn't let us take out anything too important, so the loss wasn't too great. These despicable pirates, they really can't be trusted."

"If it wasn't for those Military Intelligence Division guys coming to assassinate us, we wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses. Everything else is fine, but we urgently need some potions for the curse wounds, otherwise those seriously injured brothers may not make it..."

"Don't expect the pirate city to provide us with too many supplies now. Those pirates are clearly deliberately making things difficult, forcing us to join them. Heh, the North Sea King is just a rabble. And they want to recruit our Royal Kni..."

"..."

As they spoke, everyone suddenly fell silent.

Their current situation was indeed extremely bad.

However, life and death were another matter, they had encountered all kinds of terrible situations in their many battles and life-and-death experiences.

No matter how difficult, they could get through it by gritting their teeth.

But right now, what they felt most was despair.

The Bonaparte royal family, whom they had once sworn to be loyal to, had not only abandoned them, stripping them of the honor that their ancestors had earned for Lu Ying with their lives, but had also slaughtered their families!

What was even more incomprehensible was that the charge of "treason" was completely fabricated!

If they hadn't been unwilling to suffer such an unjust charge, they would definitely have dared to return to the Lu Ying Imperial Capital to confront them face to face.

But if they went back now, they would surely die.

If they were willing to become depraved and choose to become pirates, they could live a decent life.

But...

Barrett didn't say much and entered the cabin.

.......

Suren originally wanted to find an inconspicuous opportunity to secretly contact Barrett.

But after observing at the pier for half a day, he was embarrassed to find that he had no chance!

Those guys were too heavily guarded, which made it impossible for Suren to quietly sneak over. He thought that even if he used spatial teleportation to get on the ship, he would probably be discovered immediately, and might make things worse.

Suren couldn't think of any better way, and still planned to risk going directly.

Although there were eyes everywhere at the pier, it was also a good thing. There were many forces watching Barrett and his people now, and even if Suren went there openly, no one would know which side he was from.

Thinking of this, he stretched out his hand and a magic trick transformed him, covering him with an alchemical cloak as he walked over.

As soon as he approached the warship, even from far away, Suren noticed many eyes on him.

He didn't retreat at all, and walked over with steady steps.

When he got to the side of the ship, two sentries stopped him: "Halt! Private ship, no approaching!"

Suren didn't beat around the bush, and said, "I want to see Captain Barrett."

Before he could finish speaking, the sentry coldly refused, "Sorry, our captain isn't seeing anyone."

These days, there were too many people who wanted to see their captain, pirate bosses, bounty hunters, Military Intelligence Division assassins... most of them came with bad intentions.

In their current situation, it was best not to see anyone.

Suren didn't beat around the bush, took out a small piece of [Activated Silver], and said, "I have some important matters to discuss. I think Captain Barrett would be interested in seeing me when he sees this."

The sentry looked at the silver object in Suren's hand, and obviously recognized it, and his confident tone made them suspicious.

The two hesitated for a moment, exchanged glances as if discussing, and one of them said, "Wait here, I'll go ask the Captain if he wants to see you."

Suren said lightly, "Mm."

........

Before long, the sentry came out, his tone not as cold as before, "The Captain said, please come in."

Suren wasn't surprised to hear this.

The reason he was so sure that Barrett would see him wasn't because of Activated Silver.

It was because of his "identity."

Before, in the Cursed Mountain Valley, a Katchusha assassin had blocked a fatal blow for him. Barrett would definitely be curious about his identity.

Moreover, this could confirm that Suren wasn't from the royal family.

"Mm."

Suren nodded, and walked onto the gangplank unhurriedly.

As soon as he stepped on it, the stinging gazes from all around fell on him.

Even though the one-armed Barrett only had fifth-tier combat strength, he was still not someone he could match now. Moreover, there were two or three hundred elite royal knights on this ship, according to his senses.

But Suren wasn't worried.

Before, they had fought because of a conflict of allegiance, but now that the conflict was gone, there was no need to fight at all.

Sensing the weak soul fires on the ship, he was even more confident.

......

Suren quickly boarded the ship and met Barrett in the captain's cabin.

He threw back his cloak, revealing his face.

Barrett looked at him, his gaze a little complicated.

He naturally remembered this guy who had taken a punch from him before, and asked directly, "Does Your Excellency have something you want to talk about?"

Suren glanced at his empty right sleeve and said directly, "I want to buy some materials from you."

Barrett's expression didn't show any joy or anger, and he asked lightly, "Those silver blocks?"

"Yes."

Suren didn't hide his purpose, "If possible, I'd also like to redeem that Poisonous Censer."

Barrett didn't seem very interested in the transaction, instead staring into Suren's eyes for a while, "What can you give me?"

"Supplies, advanced potions, and... some possibilities."

Suren said it without blushing or breathing hard.

No one would have thought that he had come to "get something for nothing."

He had almost spent all his money buying materials before, and he didn't have any cash in hand now.

Moreover, this was a god-level material. If Barrett knew the value of this [Activated Silver], Suren wouldn't be able to afford it no matter how wealthy he was.

So, he could only rely on his words.

"Heh, Your Excellency is well-prepared. No one in the entire pirate city dares to help us now, and you dare?"

Barrett was like a wounded tiger, his eyes still sharp.

He thought that Suren must have investigated him beforehand, knowing that there were wounded on his ship, so he had made these conditions that he couldn't refuse.

Suren said without changing his expression, "You should have guessed that I'm not a pirate. So, there's nothing to dare or not dare."

Barrett raised his eyebrows slightly, "I was also very curious about Your Excellency's identity before. But someone who can plant spies in the Military Intelligence Division naturally has an extraordinary background. But now..."

It had nothing to do with him now, as long as he wasn't from the royal family.

He didn't continue, and instead said, "We can trade. However, I need to get the things first, and then give you the items."

"No problem!"

Hearing this, Suren agreed without hesitation.

Pirates didn't follow the rules. Hasterlin was an anarchic place. If they were scammed again, Barrett and his people would really be fools.

"The Cursed Censer can be returned to you."

Barrett said calmly, paused for a moment, and then said, "But that silver block... how much do you want?"

Suren said, "The more the better."

Hearing this, the general nicknamed "Beast" narrowed his eyes slightly, a flash of brilliance disappearing in an instant, "Heh... [Activated Silver] is a god-rank material. How much do you think would be appropriate?"

Although their situation was bad, they wouldn't let people treat them like fools and humiliate them.

"The more the better."

Suren still gave the same response.

Hearing the other party say the name of the material, he immediately knew that the other party knew the value of this thing.

It was impossible to exchange this "priceless treasure" for just some supplies and potions, not even a little bit.

Suren didn't intend to muddle through, looked at his severed arm, and said directly, "To be honest, I need a lot of this metal. Moreover, I happen to know one of the effects of this metal, which is to repair people's limbs."

Hearing this, Barrett showed suspicion, "Are you talking about a mechanical arm?"

The severed arm did have a very big impact on his strength, even to the point of dropping a rank.

His original limb was completely damaged, and he couldn't expect it to grow back. The best-case scenario was to install a mechanical arm.

But with the current level of technology, mechanical arms weren't very useful for high-level professionals of his tier.

Even with the most advanced mechanical arms from Martha.

It was better to have a severed arm than to add a burdensome mechanical arm.

Suren corrected, "It's a 'Silver Hand'. Not a regular mechanical arm!"

He naturally had preparations to be able to say this.

He then explained, "[Activated Silver] is a special metal that is only produced in places where there are god corpses. In addition to those wonderful properties, this metal can also be integrated into human flesh and blood! Using it to forge an arm, in theory, can completely replace the original limb, or even be stronger. You should have experienced this when you hunted those monsters before. As for nerve system transplantation, it's even easier..."

Saying this, Suren added, "But using this metal to make an arm requires extraordinary precision structures, runes, fusion recipes, and blueprints. Coincidentally, I may be the only person in this world who knows this metal's use."

He didn't have that ability himself.

But the alchemical golem refining classics left by his teacher Sereia detailed the various uses of this god-rank metal.

Before, on the way to the pirate city, Suren had been experimenting on living corpses. [Activated Silver] could indeed be successfully integrated into flesh and blood. Moreover, the strength after fusion would visibly become many times stronger, and even possess some incredible mutations.

"Heh..."

Barrett chuckled lightly.

Hearing this seemingly fantastical idea, his first reaction was that it was impossible.

As far as he knew, the Lu Ying Royal Treasury had some of this god-metal, but he hadn't heard of anyone using it to make arms.

Metal installed on the flesh, and not a mechanical arm?

Although his intuition told Barrett that the person in front of him was trustworthy, he still questioned, "You think I'll believe that?"

Saying this, his eyes shifted, seemingly seeing through Suren's plan to get something for nothing, and revealed a playful look.

Suren didn't think that he could convince the other party so easily, and said directly, "It's normal for Mr. Barrett not to believe it, after all, without creating an actual object, I can't guarantee 100% success."

After a pause, he said without any concealment, "Moreover, this problem isn't urgent. Because, even if I can refine a high-precision arm, I still lack a key technology to fuse with the blood."

Although Barrett didn't know much about science-related knowledge, he had graduated from the Royal Academy after all.

Hearing this, he immediately realized something and said, "You lack... nerve mechanical technology?"

Suren didn't deny it, and said lightly, "Yes."

Now, Barrett's expression was even stranger, his tone changed from cold to puzzled, "Judging from your tone, you seem to have a way to get that top-secret technology in the hands of Archduke Raphael?"

He felt that this was completely impossible!

Now, the information that Raphael had mastered that top-secret technology had already spread.

The major territories and the two empires were all trying to get that technology, but no one had succeeded.

Not to mention outsiders.

Barrett suddenly felt a little unable to understand the young man in front of him, and guessed: Was he originally a member of Archduke Raphael?

Suren didn't explain much, just said, "Let's talk about this later. When I have confidence, I'll naturally come to you again. As for how much material can be exchanged for the supplies I give you, it's up to you."

Unable to force it, he directly gave the other party the right to choose.

Barrett listened and remained silent, seemingly finding himself in a difficult position.

Now he had finally found someone willing to help them, and with a great background... giving too little wouldn't be right, and giving too much wouldn't be right either.

The two had reached a basic agreement on the transaction at this point.

Suren suddenly thought of something and said, "Oh, right. How do I contact you later? According to the information I have, the Lu Ying side, bounty hunters, and pirates are all eager to try. If you don't plan to join a certain pirate crew, it's not safe to stay here."

Barrett naturally knew his situation and said, "If you can bring the supplies before evening tomorrow, we'll trade here. If it's later, we'll leave port."

Saying this, he took out a communicator and said, "This is a Lu Ying military-grade communicator. The communication distance is much longer than regular communicators, and you don't have to worry about leaks. You can contact me directly if you have any situation."

"Good!"

Suren took the communicator and didn't say anything more.

The matter of [Activated Silver] couldn't be rushed. Without enough trust, saying anything more would be useless.

.......

Barrett gave Suren a supply list, and they needed a lot of things.

Everything else was fine, but the rare potions that treated the backlash of special curses made Suren a little棘手(jí shǒu, troublesome).

It wasn't that he couldn't buy them, but that it was easy to be targeted if he bought them.

Now everyone knew that Barrett had a group of special wounded, and the shops in the city that sold that kind of potion must be full of eyes.

Not to mention whether he had enough money, he would definitely be watched as soon as he went to buy it.

Suren thought of someone – Danny's father, Dr. Pickman!

He was a top pharmacist of the time, and contacting him might bring unexpected gains.

After all, the more potions he gave, the more [Activated Silver] he could exchange for.

After wandering around the city for most of the day and buying a lot of supplies, Suren went to the middle district.

Although Suren was now also a pirate in the North Sea Fleet, he didn't go directly to "Butcher" Banner, but went to the "Fire Dance Tavern".

This was the place he had agreed to meet with Dr. Pickman before.