Chapter 155 Seizing the Initiative

The wind was gentle, and the sun was bright today, with high visibility over the sea.

Suren and Qiandiao walked onto the deck and leaped onto the mast. Only then could they see a medium-sized warship following them in the distant horizon.

Looking through the telescope, the ship was flying a flag with a crocodile-jawed skull, indicating it belonged to the West Sea Fleet that dominated the West Sea.

The "King of the West Sea," Moloch Bourbon, was also a seasoned Rank 8 professional, with a bounty of 7.655 billion Lisos. The publicly claimed total number of his fleet even exceeded Oleg's in the North Sea.

But their strength was significantly lower.

Since Moloch advanced to Rank 8, there were two recorded battles against opponents of the same rank. He fought Oleg once over hunting ground divisions but didn't win. He was also defeated once by a Lu Ying navy general.

The Bounty Hunter Guild's assessment was that he barely met the threshold of a Rank 8 fighter.

Suren looked at the angle of the sails on that ship and knew that those guys were indeed tracking them.

"Are they really coming for us?"

Suren pondered, a bit puzzled by their motives.

Since the last battle in the Moros City-State, where they heavily damaged the North Sea King Fleet, the Dawn Mercenary Group had become well-known in pirate circles.

And in the pirate world, strength and fame were the only passes.

Normally, to avoid conflict, they should never follow someone they shouldn't.

Moreover, they had no conflicts with this group of pirates from the West Sea.

Qiandiao was much more direct, calling out, "Teruda, signal them to leave with flags. If they keep following, sink them."

"Yes!"

A voice responded, and the sailor at the top of the mast signaled with flags.

In the telescope, it was clear that someone on the opposing ship had seen it, but there was no reaction.

Seeing this, Suren mused, "Heh, interesting."

However, the Dawn Mercenary Group wasn't afraid of a group of pirates in their current state. Unless the "King of the West Sea," Moloch, came in person, these people weren't even worth considering.

He rolled his eyes and said to Qiandiao beside him, "I'll go over there."

Since they'd already warned them and they hadn't left, there was no need to be polite.

Qiandiao also put her hand on the hilt of her sword. Her intuition told her that there was something fishy about today's events. She said, "Be careful."

"Yeah."

Suren nodded, then glanced at Crow-Grandpa, who was lazily noncommittal on his shoulder.

With another look, he had already disappeared from the deck.

.......

At the same time, on the "White-Headed Eagle."

This was the main warship of the West Sea Second Fleet's Eleventh Squad. Squad Captain "Poisonous Jellyfish" Mori Willard was on the deck, using his telescope to watch the black-sailed ship in the distance.

At this moment, the sailor on the mast shouted, "Captain, they're signaling us to leave, or they'll sink us!"

Hearing this, Mori sneered, "Heh heh heh, when did someone start greeting the West Sea Fleet with that kind of tone on this sea?"

Hearing this, the lackeys all echoed.

"The captain is right! What the hell is the Dawn Mercenary Group? They're warning us? We're not those North Sea wastes who let a small pirate group escape despite having hundreds of thousands of people."

"That's right. Do they really think they can run wild in our West Sea just because they've made a name for themselves?"

"..."

Pirates all had a bandit-like air, especially in a dominant pirate group like this. The members were all lawless and didn't respect anyone.

Whether they could win or not was another matter, but they would never lose the war of words.

Everyone was clamoring.

But someone in the squad was worried, saying, "But... Captain, the Dawn Mercenary Group made Oleg of the North Sea suffer a great loss. Their strength must not be weak. If we keep following like this, won't it cause unnecessary conflict? I heard that the leader of the Dawn Mercenary Group is a Rank 8..."

Mori shook his head, not caring at all, "We're not the ones fighting. We just need to follow. Besides, the boss said that Dawn's Rank 8 is in Sainodia Province right now, not on the ship. Moreover, the message has already been sent. We just need to wait for those big shots to handle it."

As he spoke, he looked at the black-sailed ship in the distance and said, "Heh heh... Maybe our fleet will be getting a Sea Emperor warship this time."

Hearing this, the lackeys all burst into laughter.

With the Rank 8 not around, it seemed like there was no pressure at all.

"Captain, what exactly are those big shots from headquarters? They're all so arrogant. They don't look like those great nobles from Lu Ying..."

"Who knows? Anyway, the boss told us to listen to them, so we'll just do as we're told. Besides, they're paying enough. Who cares who they are?"

"..."

Listening to the crew's carefree laughter, a hint of unease flashed in Mori's eyes.

As the squad captain, he naturally knew more information.

His intuition told him that there seemed to be something wrong with this tracking mission.

But then he thought again. If they really fought, even if he couldn't win with his ability, as long as Dawn's Rank 8 wasn't around, there weren't many people who could kill him in the sea.

It seemed like there was nothing to worry about.

However,

Just as this thought arose,

An unexpected turn of events occurred!

......

Ripples flashed in the void, and a person holding a black umbrella with a black crow perched on his shoulder appeared out of nowhere above the warship.

This appearance made almost all the pirates on the ship recognize him at a glance. This was the rumored Dawn Mercenary Group's killing maniac, "Reaper" Suren!

The pirates on the ship looked at the young man who was overlooking them from above. They had originally held onto the hope that the other party wouldn't dare to attack.

After all, this was the West Sea, and any passing pirate group had to give them some face.

If they really attacked them, Lord Moloch would personally hunt them down.

Merely following them didn't warrant such a deadly feud.

But Suren glanced over them indifferently, and there wasn't the slightest hint of "concern" in his eyes.

With just that one glance, Mori's eyes suddenly constricted, and he understood the meaning in that indifference.

But what shocked him even more was that he couldn't muster any courage to resist this person at all?

Not good!

Mori thought something was wrong and wanted to delay for time with words, "Wait, is there some misunderstanding..."

But before he could say anything, a flash of light appeared, and the person was already standing on the deck.

Suddenly, a crisis of death swept over everyone's hearts like a tsunami.

Even though there was only one person, he suppressed the breathing of hundreds of people on the ship, and they were sweating profusely.

He had already given them a chance. Suren had no intention of talking nonsense with these people. As soon as he stepped down, a pitch-black, light-absorbing domain expanded. Before the pirates could react to what was happening, they fell one by one like their souls had been sucked away, like wheat being harvested.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the corpses lost all their blood and energy, quickly decaying and turning black.

As the strongest person on the ship, Mori didn't die instantly, but his expression changed drastically, "A domain? How is that possible!"

He clearly felt a strange power rapidly draining his life force, and his whole body became weak.

How could it be so terrifying!

Didn't the newspapers say that he was only Rank 5?

Suren wouldn't give his enemies any chance. Seeing that this guy wasn't dead yet, he teleported a few meters again and grabbed his neck.

With a "crack," the terrifying force had already crushed his neck into a mashed tomato.

The sound of bones breaking seemed a bit too much. Suren frowned slightly as he looked at the blood spurting from his fingers.

He had just thought about killing someone, so he squeezed with all his strength, not wanting to get his hands dirty.

"My control over power is not precise enough..."

Suren muttered to himself.

The [Isaac Giant's Power] had increased his strength too much, and he couldn't perfectly control it yet.

At the same time, he also felt a little emotional. The Rank 5 pirate squad captain, who he once thought was invincible, couldn't even last one move in his hands now.

......

With the Death Domain, it didn't take Suren much effort to wipe out this entire pirate squad.

He didn't delay and reaped all the souls floating from the corpses on the ship.

In the instant that he digested these memories, he understood the truth of the whole tracking incident. He murmured, "So they really are coming for us..."

The lackeys knew very little. From this Squad Captain Mori Willard's memories, Suren found a lot of useful information.

It wasn't too surprising.

The first piece of news was that someone from the Celestial Plane had already descended.

The second piece of news was that they had cooperated with the "King of the West Sea," Moloch.

The only ones who would dare to blatantly make things difficult for the Dawn Mercenary Group now, besides the ambitious Duke Raphael, were probably motivated by that Holy Son.

The two major empires were still staunch alchemical empires, and believers of the gods had no soil for survival. That "Holy Son" Frank would inevitably have to find some unorthodox forces to recruit troops.

Pirates were one of the best choices.

However, what surprised Suren was that the people from the Celestial Plane had approached Moloch not for battle, but to find something in the West Sea?

"Those guys from the Celestial Plane are also looking for the [Mimir's Well]?"

Suren was quite surprised when he extracted this information.

The name [Mimir's Well] was still the place pointed to by the treasure map that he had deciphered from the [One-Eyed Hanged Man Card].

He guessed that it might be related to the origin of the All-Knowing Eye talent.

He didn't expect that people from the Celestial Plane were also looking for it.

Moreover, these pirates' memories accurately had this directional name.

In this squad captain's memory, those mysterious big shots also wanted to find a "horseshoe-shaped island."

This highly matched the information that Suren had.

After thinking about it, it also made sense.

The Alchemy Plane was destroyed in the Dawn Era. If the civilization of the Celestial Plane had not been cut off, then it would not be surprising for them to know some ancient secrets.

At the same time that he obtained this information, Suren also felt a sense of urgency in his heart.

He murmured, "It seems that I have to make a trip to the Dragon Kingdom as soon as possible..."

Knowing that those people were looking for the [Mimir's Well] also confirmed one thing.

That was, the fact that a divine civilization valued it so much meant that the well was definitely a super opportunity!

If possible, he wanted to find it before the other party's top experts descended.

If this level of opportunity was taken first, it would be a pity.

.......

Besides these things, there was no other useful information in these pirates' souls.

Suren also felt a little emotional after digesting them. These pirates were really uninformed.

In their minds, he was still only Rank 5?

But it wasn't surprising.

Drifting at sea all year round, these pirates sometimes received newspapers that were months old.

In the extracted memories, they didn't even know about the Spirit Dun Great Cataclysm that had occurred more than half a month ago, let alone the plane channel.

Otherwise, if they knew the detailed information about the Dawn Mercenary Group, they probably wouldn't have dared to blindly follow him with such confidence.

They didn't even know the identities of those "mysterious big shots."

It was still Suren who deduced it.

But now that he knew that it was the people from the Celestial Plane who were directing them, it was not difficult to guess the purpose of their coming. They were probably coming for Keith, and they also wanted to find the whereabouts of that coffin.

Moreover, based on the current situation, some ideas became clear.

The main purpose of the first batch of Celestial Clan people who descended on the Alchemy Plane was to find treasure.

That "Holy Son" Frank was also.

Because there was no point in rushing to fight. Sooner or later, they would be able to conquer the entire plane where there were no gods after a large-scale invasion.

Instead, taking advantage of the fact that their clan hadn't invaded on a large scale, finding some treasures was the most important thing.

It was probably like adventurers discovering a large cursed space. Those guys regarded this place as a treasure hunting paradise.

......

"The message has already been sent, which means someone is chasing after us..."

Suren thought in his heart, but a bold idea popped into his mind.

If they wanted to be cautious, they should leave immediately.

But Suren thought of another plan and carefully assessed it in his mind, "Subduing a Rank 8 gatekeeper like the 'King of the West Sea' Moloch required a siege by several people, and they even invited a god to descend... which means that there shouldn't be a Rank 8 among the people who have descended so far."

From the memories of those guys, he found that none of the people who came from the Celestial Plane had the characteristic of a "third eye."

That meant that the Holy Son Frank wasn't here.

Moreover, as Mr. Mirror had analyzed, the [True Explanation of All Phenomena] talent was very difficult to awaken, and it even manifested the phenomenon of three eyes, which made it even rarer.

That meant that there was no existence with too heaven-defying a talent among the group of people who were dealing with the pirates.

And the gods didn't have the leisure to protect every believer at all times.

With all sorts of clues gathered together, Suren could almost determine that the combat power of this group of people wasn't necessarily very high.

And the Dawn Mercenary Group currently knew very little about the Celestial Plane. They urgently needed some sources of information to deal with the coming crisis.

And the best way to obtain information was to catch a few people from the Celestial Plane and kill them to search their souls.

Before, they only knew one Frank...

And they didn't kill him when they had the chance.

But now...

This was the best opportunity!

The plane channel wasn't stable yet, and the rank of the descending enemies wasn't high. If they waited until stronger people descended, these opportunities would become fewer and fewer.

And!

There was an even more important point.

The pirates' information was blocked and delayed.

Then, correspondingly, the source of information for these outsiders from the Celestial Plane was also likely to be the pirates. They also knew very little about the information of the Dawn Mercenary Group!

Those people might not know the combat power of himself and Qiandiao!

This kind of information asymmetry was the most precious opportunity.

Opportunities shouldn't be missed.

Thinking of this, Suren decisively made a decision and dialed the communicator, "Sister Qiandiao, I have an idea..."

Hearing that they were going to fight, Qiandiao wasn't afraid at all.

With a prior arrangement, everyone in the Dawn Mercenary Group started moving.

......

After Suren informed Qiandiao of the battle deployment, he didn't rush to leave.

He strolled around the pirate ship, waiting for the enemy to come, and also conveniently scoured the spoils of war.

Although in his current eyes, the pirates were really poor.

But the equipment and materials of an entire squad were worth a lot of money.

Suren patiently collected everything that could be collected and arranged some alchemical arrays to deal with unexpected situations.

Before long, he suddenly sensed a spatial fluctuation surging hundreds of meters away.

"They're here pretty fast... Heh heh, so there's a space mage."

Suren raised his eyebrows and glanced at the sky.

He also glanced at Crow-Grandpa, who was calm on his shoulder, and wasn't worried at all.

In that instant, he appeared on the deck.

An old man with a white beard who had teleported over appeared in his field of vision. He saw the ship and raised his magic wand, chanting spells in an unintelligible language.

Having seen someone from another plane for the first time, Suren carefully sized him up.

He looked at the scorching white light blooming on the magic wand, surprised that this was a rare space mage, and even more surprised, "A Rank 7 space magic tutor? Is this all they've got?"

Originally, he had the ability to interrupt the old man's spellcasting, but after thinking about it, he didn't do it.

Although this enemy looked like a Rank 7, Suren sincerely felt that... there was no threat at all.

However, in the instant that Suren deliberately gave him a chance, six figures walked out of the old man's magic teleportation gate one after another.

These people each had domains surrounding their bodies, obviously also Rank 7 professionals.

It was about what he expected.

But Suren was very puzzled in his heart, "Their domineering aura is so weak, how did these guys advance to Rank 7?"

If this was the Alchemy Plane, it would be impossible.

Oh, he almost forgot.

Believers borrowed the power of gods to advance.

Suren thought of something and was relieved.

Having seen people from another plane for the first time, he had already analyzed too much useful information in that instant.

In terms of pressure, Suren felt that these Rank 7s from the Celestial Clan were much worse than the Rank 7s from the Alchemy Plane.

They were only about one-tenth as strong as the "Top Ten Legendary Hunters" he had encountered before.

Moreover, there were a full seven of them, and Crow-Grandpa on his shoulder didn't even cry out.

That meant that these guys weren't a fatal threat to him?

In an instant, Suren felt that some of the arrangements he had just prepared to run away were wasted.

These guys were much weaker than he expected.

If they couldn't invite a god to descend, then these guys would definitely die here today.

......

These guys from the Celestial Plane saw Suren on the ship and hadn't realized what kind of opponent they were facing.

They probably thought that he was about the same as an ordinary Rank 6 among the pirates?

The seven people looked at this alchemical native with contempt.

Suren was too familiar with that look of looking down on people.

Wasn't that what the Holy Son had looked like before?

It was probably like the feeling of an old American holding a shotgun looking at a Native American?

It seemed that all sorts of sensing methods instantly confirmed that Suren was only Rank 6.

The seven Rank 7 professionals felt that they had him in the bag, and their expressions no longer held any solemnity. The long-bearded old man leading them waved his hand, and three of them went straight to the Eternal Night Emperor in the distance.

Only four were left here.

Suren didn't stop them either.

When it came to killing people, Qiandiao wasn't weaker than him.

Those three guys going over there, heh heh.

Besides, seven of them were still very tricky, but you divided your troops...

Then don't blame me.

Just as these guys opened their mouths to say something, Suren suddenly moved!

Although he didn't think these people were a threat, he wouldn't underestimate them at all when he attacked. He stomped his foot hard, and with a "pa" sound, he exploded through the air, and the whole person shot out like a cannonball.

After merging with the [Isaac Giant's Power], the short-distance movement speed of the Sky Stepping Technique had increased several times, so fast that even shadows couldn't be seen!

Looking at the light and shadow fluctuations of "Suren" left in place, the four mages on the opposite side changed their expressions drastically.

It was like seeing a wild cat and erupting with the combat power of a lion.

In a hurry, they raised their magic wands and chanted spells.

But how fast was Suren's speed?

How could these arrogant and careless guys be qualified to block him?

His first target was the white-bearded old man who knew space magic.

Only by killing him first would the others not have a chance to escape!

The white-bearded old man's scalp was tingling from the terrifying killing intent. How could he have imagined that a Rank 6 professional could erupt with such terrifying combat power?

But despite the shock, the old man's reaction wasn't slow.

As a space mage, he was used to being treated as the primary kill target. Reflexively, the light on his right-hand magic wand flashed, and the pages of the magic book in his left hand turned, and the solidified instant magic was released smoothly.

An invisible spatial fluctuation overflowed, the Rank 7 magic [Spatial Compression Barrier], which was enough to block most fatal attacks.

The spatial barrier was perfect for dealing with all kinds of melee brutes.

Looking at the distance of several meters, it was actually dozens of meters away.

The white-bearded old man breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time, the magic incantation had been completed, and the teleportation technique had already been condensed.

With another look, the person had already teleported a hundred meters away.

However, as soon as he appeared, the killing intent that had been locking onto him not only didn't dissipate, but had already stuck to his face!

"How is that possible?!"

The white-bearded old man couldn't figure out how that guy had chased after him so quickly.

But a moment later, he sensed spatial fluctuations and realized that this guy was also a space warlock!

In an instant, the old man's face turned ashen.

Only those in the same profession could see the depth of the other party. Just from this spatial fluctuation, he found that his understanding of the laws of space was not as good as the other party's?

Wasn't that charging technique a melee brute force technique? How could he have such a profound understanding of the laws of space?

Thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, but Suren didn't give him a chance to escape again.

That spatial barrier was indeed tricky for others, but in his eyes, it was as good as nothing!

He rushed forward, and the Death Scythe wrapped in a layer of black light in his hand slashed at the old man's waist.

This knife was a sneak attack, so fast that it was unavoidable.

Although the black scythe encountered some obstruction when it touched the domain, his arm suddenly swelled up and exerted force, and a strange force blessed the black scythe's handle. After breaking through the defense in an instant, it easily cut through the opponent's body-protecting magic shield, and with a "shua" sound, a stream of blood shot out.

Too weak!

This domineering aura and domain were the weakest Rank 7s Suren had ever seen!

.......

Suren slashed down, and although the old man wasn't cut in half, a big hole was opened in his lower abdomen, and his intestines flowed out.

Just as Suren was about to deliver a finishing blow, a bolt of lightning "ka-cha" split out from another guy's magic wand.

Its power shouldn't be underestimated.

Suren instinctively flashed and dodged this lightning strike magic.

The people from the Celestial Plane didn't expect the Rank 6 native in front of them to be so fierce, and one face-to-face encounter had injured their companion?

Fortunately, the people cooperated tacitly and rescued him in time.

The white-bearded old man was severely injured by one knife. At this time, he quickly opened the magic book in his vice hand, trying to cast the solidified long-distance teleportation spell again to escape the battlefield for healing.

However, seeing this, Suren's eyes flashed with coldness, and he had already seen through the root of that magic. He raised his hand and held up the hand wearing the [Chronos Space Glove], and grabbed it in the void with his five fingers.

This was a spell solidified by the magic tome, and it was about to be cast.

The teleportation that the white-bearded old man had originally prepared was about to be cast, but he didn't expect the magic light to flash, and he was still in place?

He instantly understood what was happening, and the old man looked back at the person in the distance again, his eyes full of horror.

In that instant when the focus of his pupils shrank, the person had already stuck to his face.

Alchemy wasn't just a technique. They had also refined all kinds of cursed objects targeting Shinto magic!

Suren's first knife could hurt people, what about the second?

He waved the black scythe again and slashed down, this time, cutting him in half at the waist!

Suren didn't give anyone a chance to save him, and with two more "shua, shua" knives, he cut his head and body into several pieces.

In an instant, "gray mist" floated from the corpse.

Suren's terrifying Reaper phantom rose behind him and reaped this group of gray mist.

Not rushing to digest what he had obtained, his cold gaze like a god of death looked at the other three people again.

.......

Just two face-to-face encounters killed one of his Rank 7 companions?

Seeing this scene, the remaining three Celestial Clan people were greatly shocked and shocked on the spot!

Who... who exactly is this native?!

Why does he have such terrifying combat power?