Chapter 563: King of the Black Seat

Xiao En immediately asked, "What is a 'trait'? Does an Extraordinary being mean someone with superpowers? But I have no abilities at all—can this count as half an Extraordinary being? Also, also, can I learn the ritual to summon that rabbit we just saw?"

Leike Dun chuckled, patting his head, and said, "You can, but no knowledge is free; you can't afford it yet."

"As for Extraordinary beings, your physical quality must be a bit better than ordinary people, and being able to see the Knowledge Rabbit is a kind of ability, right?"

He paused, then added, "If we can meet again next time, I can tell you the ritual to summon the Knowledge Rabbit directly."

Xiao En's eyes brightened, and he asked eagerly, "Next meeting—does tomorrow count as our next meeting?"

Leike Dun shook his head, "No, 'next meeting' refers to an encounter after I leave Kangston City."

Xiao En twitched his mouth and asked, "Then when will you come back to Kangston City? The Ocean Opening Festival next year?"

Leike pondered and replied, "Perhaps, or perhaps much later."

"No way," Xiao En said, lowering his head, his tone full of disappointment.

After parting with Xiao En, Leike Dun went straight to Lawrence and obtained from him the magical item called the Magic Chalk Box.

Then he entered the Spirit Realm, rushing through it as an information torrent; following his intuition, he soon arrived at the easternmost part of the Misty Sea, on an island called Shugus Island.

This island was colonized by the Fainei Bot Kingdom, near the Raging Sea. Before Roselle discovered the safe passage, it was the main route between the northern and southern continents, but after the safe passage appeared, the major churches and kingdoms shifted focus, and the island gradually declined, becoming a haven for pirates and adventurers.

Leike Dun wandered aimlessly through the city's streets for a while, and soon spotted several mid‑to‑low rank Extraordinary beings on the audience path within the tiny city.

"Looks like we're in the right place; next we'll look for the hidden 'Black Throne Vessel'."

While muttering softly, Leike Dun's body quickly dematerialized, breaking into countless strands of knowledge, becoming a pure information‑flow entity that spiraled around the waters surrounding Shugus Island.

Using the "Eye of Secret Peering" to observe the surrounding sea, he soon detected the "Black Throne Vessel" lodged in an "awareness blind spot" within the currents.

As it was observed, the psychological cloaking on the "Black Throne Vessel" instantly vanished, and it appeared in full before Leike Dun's eyes.

It was a massive five‑mast black‑hued sailing ship, exuding an indescribable majesty that inexplicably filled observers with fear, a desire to flee, to keep away.

It stretched over two hundred meters in length, larger than the Abyss Path Sequence Three vessel "Gao Si Vessel", and on its central massive sail was painted a gigantic dragon head with long, curved goat horns.

The instant he truly saw the "Black Throne Vessel", a flood of information about the ship rose in Leike Dun's mind—details he already knew but had subconsciously ignored.

The "Black Throne Vessel", a ghost ship from the Fourth Era Terunsost Empire, appears to have merged the "Punishment Knight" trait of the Judger Path Sequence Five; on this ship, released attacks are weakened while received damage is amplified, and this restriction strengthens over time.

"King of the Black Seat" Baros Hopkins's true body remains in Eden; all his activities in the outside world assume different identities.

As more memories resurfaced, a faint, barely visible glow appeared in the captain's cabin of the "Black Throne Vessel", and from the tangled pure knowledge his body was reconstituted.

He smiled, looking ahead at an astonished old man reflected in his eyes, and said in an even tone:

"I came here seeking the 'Dream Weaver' trait, but when I saw the 'Black Throne Vessel' just now I remembered that your outward activities assume different identities and are not your true self; that puts me in a difficult spot!"

In front of Leike Dun, Baros Hopkins, dressed in a crisp black tuxedo, bore a few forehead wrinkles, his face an unnaturally pallid hue, and his pupils suddenly turned into dark‑gold vertical slits.

A raging wind howled inside the captain's cabin, seeming both real and illusory.

The wind carried a strong will, blowing in all directions, affecting the bodies, minds, and spirits of those nearby, as if confronting an extremely terrifying dragon, making people hard to control themselves.

Simultaneously, in the surrounding collective subconscious sea, various mental illnesses and extreme madness surged, becoming unusually active, recklessly eroding and infecting the nearby islands of consciousness.

Leike Dun stared expressionlessly at the "King of the Black Seat" before him; his body became somewhat ethereal, as if it didn't exist, entirely unaffected by the "Plague Storm".

After two seconds of silence, Leike Dun suddenly shifted his gaze toward the bulging window of the captain's cabin and smiled silently.

Then, with a magician's flick of his wrist, he produced a lit match. In total silence, the surroundings grew unusually quiet; a deep black darkness flooded the area like a tide, and even the sounds of crashing waves and howling sea wind vanished, as if pulling everything into the deepest dream.

The state lasted less than a second; blinding sunlight pierced the heavy darkness, illuminating the surroundings, where terrifyingly majestic dragons, demonic wolves, and giants appeared, their snarling faces encircling Leike Dun as if ready to tear his body apart in an instant.

Baros Hopkins, using the mysterious re‑creation Leike Dun just employed, wove a dream that overlaid the original illusion, making it no longer false.

Leike Dun ignored the illusory shadows woven in the dream and stepped slowly toward Baros Hopkins ahead.

As he moved, white, ethereal feathers rapidly coalesced behind him, spreading into broad, pristine wings.

His body instantly transformed into a black mass sprouting countless eyes, brimming with madness, exuding an aura of destruction, ominousness, and disaster.

The moment the mythic creature form appeared, Baros Hopkins's woven dream shattered, and the surroundings reverted to the captain's cabin.

In the floor cracks, shadows of objects, even dust floating in the air, sprouted single eyes filled with madness, recklessly spewing destruction and insanity, emitting an uncontainable, mind‑affecting babble.

Before Baros Hopkins could mount effective resistance, strange teal vines dropped from mid‑air, drenching the area like a downpour.

They intertwined, quickly forming a twisted, mad forest that emitted a teeth‑gnawing creak; countless tangled, useless pieces of knowledge swarmed like frantic worms, racing into his head.

He clutched his head with both hands, fingers digging nails into his scalp, blood gushing out as his body writhed on the ground.

During this, his gaze grew cloudy, pupils turning pale gold and vertical; his limbs swelled, becoming short and stout, gray‑white scales surfaced on his skin, his back arched high as if something were about to burst through his flesh.

At a moment, the struggling Baros Hopkins on the ground suddenly had clear eyes, as if a different person, and his hoarse, strained scream rang out:

". Ya. Ya. Dang."

"Useless, this is a secret realm; Adam can't hear you unless he's already become a 'Dreamer'."

Leike Dun whispered mockingly at Baros Hopkins; his voice reached the other's ear as an indistinct, unbearable babble.

Baros Hopkins's eyes flickered between clarity and madness, his simulated personalities each being driven insane by the babble and the incessant influx of knowledge.

In this state, he could hardly mount effective resistance, even his Extraordinary abilities failed to manifest; the surrounding eyes spewing madness, destruction, ominousness, and disaster constantly interrupted his attempts to save himself.

"Ugh!!"

". Kill me! Kill me!"

After a painful wail, Baros Hopkins completely lost his human shape, becoming a lizard‑like monster covered in gray‑white stone scales, two constantly writhing flesh nodules bulging on his back, his scales cracking open to sprout a single wildly mad eye.

The black mass studded with countless eyes contracted inward, re‑forming Leike Dun's human shape; he quietly watched the fallen figure slip into a deep slumber, though the body still writhed like a lizard monster.

The many personalities Baros Hopkins had previously simulated, under Leike Dun's influence, fell into endless madness, dragging his main personality into the dream where they began a mutual slaughter.

"As long as you find the right countermeasure, the 'Audience' will easily lose control in battle."

Leike Dun sighed softly, raised his hand, summoned an Invisible Servant, and took from the opponent several Spirit Worms harvested from the secret idol of the Dark Wolf Cotal.

The white, translucent worm was pinched in Leike Dun's hand, reflecting a dazzling star‑river in his eyes.

Gradually, specks of starlight appeared on the Spirit Worm in his hand, then turned into a pale stream of light that seeped into the contorted Baros Hopkins's body on the floor.

A moment later, the fully transformed Baros Hopkins gradually regained a human body; aside from his ruined clothing, he looked exactly as he did at the start.

(End of Chapter)