Chapter 587: Raging Sea

Ke Lai En's gaze swept around the crew of the Black Tulip, and he gave an almost imperceptible nod; he could already feel the good signs of the demonic elixir digesting inside him, and as long as this matter ferments on the sea, the elixir in his body should be able to digest a bit more.

Thinking of that, his mood brightened considerably; he raised his hand, causing the already fully transformed secret doll Lu De Wei Er to step to his side, and said to the Hell General, "Then you are my prize for today."

"Yes, master!"

Under his control, Lu De Wei Er bowed respectfully.

A pair of massive arms formed from countless white bones suddenly emerged from the void behind them, one hand grabbing Ge Er Man Si Pa Luo, the other seizing Lu De Wei Er, pulling them into the spirit realm.

Where the living crew of the Black Tulip could not see, a bronze‑colored arm reached out from the spirit realm, dragging a figure hidden in the shadows into the spirit realm.

After that indescribable terrifying pressure vanished, several minutes later the living crew crawling on the Black Tulip's deck finally dared to move.

They looked around cautiously, confirming whether the bizarre, terrifying mad adventurer had truly left.

After searching the ship, they finally confirmed that the mad adventurer Ge Er Man Si Pa Luo had departed, and that their captain, Hell General Lu De Wei Er, had also left.

A crew member passing through as a Corpse Collector swallowed and said, "Perhaps the captain was already a corpse at that moment."

As an extraordinary one passing through as a Corpse Collector, he could feel a pressure that the other crew members could not, a pressure that would make him obey without hesitation even if the other side ordered him to die; even if his will resisted, his body would still carry it out.

No one on the ship responded to him; everyone either did not want to or dared not recall the strange scene that had just occurred.

After a moment of silence, a crew member looked at the empty deck and, hesitantly, said:

"How can we leave this sea region?"

On the Black Tulip, all the crew fell silent; without the undead creatures controlled by Lu De Wei Er, the remaining living crew were far insufficient to sail such a large sailing ship.

In the Mist Sea, on an uninhabited reef island, several silhouettes suddenly materialized in the air.

Ke Lai En adjusted the half‑high silk hat on his head; under his control, Lu De Wei Er, wearing a silvery mask, removed the square, black, heavy ring left by the Death God from his hand and handed it to the nearby A Zi Ke.

After receiving the Death God's ring, A Zi Ke examined it for a few seconds, then placed it on his left index finger.

Suddenly, a terrifying, profound, indescribable sensation radiated from him—exquisitely noble, lacking any living aura, like an illusory deity perched above countless undead.

Standing nearby, Lei Ke Dun squinted; the Eye of Hidden Secrets let him see more, even directly perceiving the half of A Zi Ke's soul that was missing.

A slight burning and stinging in his eyes snapped him back, and as he averted his gaze, tears of blood silently streamed from his eyes.

He raised his hand to wipe the blood from his face, and thought to himself, "A bit uncomfortable; my spirit can endure this level of impact, but this body cannot. Essentially, I'm still just an ordinary second‑rank angel."

On the other side, the figure that had retained Ge Er Man Si Pa Luo's appearance convulsed, its flesh writhing, and finally became an unknown pirate.

His flesh decayed at an incredible speed, crimson sparks traveling through the subdermal vessels, and mottled rust appeared on his skin, flaking off like torn rags.

Within a few breaths, he turned into a heap of shredded flesh and scattered, sallow white bones.

Tiny crimson specks emerged from the flesh, slowly writhing and coalescing.

Ke Lai En bent down, picked up the strange crown, covered in rust and blood, that fell with the flesh, handed it casually to Lei Ke Dun, and said, "How did you end up here?"

"I happened to be passing through the spirit realm and saw you scaring people on the Black Tulip."

As Lei Ke Dun spoke, specks of starlight seeped from his fingertips, encircling the blood‑stained, rusted crown, solidifying into translucent amber that temporarily sealed it.

Having done all that, he turned to Ke Lai En and said:

"I need to take this 'Conqueror' attribute; it will come in handy soon."

"No problem," Ke Lai En nodded, then added, "No wonder after I turned Lu De Wei Er into a secret doll, the doll I originally controlled didn't immediately slip from my grasp; I had planned to appear after his flesh shattered on the ground to prove that Ge Er Man Si Pa Luo was still alive."

"But that's fine too; the performance becomes more realistic and vivid."

He paused, then curiously asked, "How did you do it? You delayed that secret doll's collapse while still letting me control it?"

Lei Ke Dun chuckled lightly, "I made an information‑level modification to your secret doll, temporarily hiding some of its negative status data, so it appears to have reached its limit without any sign of collapse."

"As for letting you continue to control it, that's even simpler; I still have a few spirit insects I seized earlier from the Dark Demon Wolf."

Ke Lai En thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "I see."

On the other side, after obtaining the Death God's ring and performing another séance on Lu De Wei Er, A Zi Ke suddenly said, "Give me that bronze whistle."

"Alright." Ke Lai En was momentarily stunned, then nodded, reached into his coat, pulled out an iron cigarette case, and took the plain bronze whistle sealed inside.

A Zi Ke took the bronze whistle, pinching it in his left hand that wore the Death God's ring.

After a moment of quiet sensing, he said gravely, "I can almost locate where the Death God fell."

"That quickly?" Ke Lai En asked, somewhat surprised.

A Zi Ke lightly nodded and said:

"Since regaining all my memories, I've had a certain sense of that place, but the peculiar nature of the Raging Sea made it hard to pinpoint the exact location of the voice calling in my ear; with this ring, I can locate it directly."

Lei Ke Dun lifted his hand, his tone curious, and asked, "May I follow and see?"

"Yes," A Zi Ke calmly nodded.

Ke Lai En retrieved a reflective metal pocket watch from his coat, used it to control the secret doll Lu De Wei Er, having him employ a nature spirit that can enter the mirror world to hide himself inside.

He then bent down, picked up the deep‑red, jelly‑like object on the ground—an extraordinary attribute solidified into a resilient, textured form—and placed it into a pre‑prepared metal box.

A Zi Ke nodded at Lei Ke Dun, then placed a hand on Ke Lai En's shoulder and led him into the spirit realm.

As A Zi Ke and Ke Lai En's bodies faded away, Lei Ke Dun's body also quickly dematerialized, breaking into numerous tangled pure information streams that surged into the spirit realm.

In the Raging Sea region, within the deep, dim spirit realm, howling gale noises rose from all directions, occasional dark lightning streaked across, chilling one to the core of the soul as if the souls themselves were slowly dying.

Having become a pure information‑stream entity, Lei Ke Dun followed behind A Zi Ke, swiftly darting deeper into the Raging Sea.

As they advanced, his voice reached A Zi Ke and Ke Lai En's ears unimpeded:

"Affected by the radiation from the Death God's fall, the spirit realm here has become polluted and dangerous."

A Zi Ke, who had been speeding through the Raging Sea, suddenly stopped, quietly listening to a summons of unknown origin, then his right hand clenched abruptly.

The surrounding spirit‑realm area stalled for a second, then all the surrounding scenery collapsed inward, forming an endless, slowly rotating black vortex.

The vortex suddenly expanded, engulfing A Zi Ke, Ke Lai En, and Lei Ke Dun in his information‑stream state.

The surrounding space changed rapidly, as if they had entered a deep, narrow tunnel.

After an indeterminate time, the transformation finally ceased, and the tangled pure knowledge quickly reassembled Lei Ke Dun's body.

His gaze calmly swept the surroundings, seeing the open coffins within this dark, cold tomb, the rotting corpses whose backs sprouted white feathers, and the black slender tubes extending from those bodies, intertwining in mid‑air, their origins pointing deeper into the tomb, drifting slowly like a veil of black mist.

His gaze dropped, and he saw Azi Ke standing on the layered steps; the other's face was no longer so tense, and in a calm voice he said, "I feel myself gradually becoming the way I once was."

"But the successive experiences after I lost my memory keep reminding me, preventing me from truly reverting to my original self."

Lei Ke Dun walked slowly to his side, speaking as he went:

"Human ego is like a ship constantly heaving on a raging sea, ever at risk of sinking in the ocean called 'Madness,' while our emotions and experiences are like anchors, helping us fix the 'ship' that represents ourselves."

"And now you already have enough anchors; they constantly remind you, pull you, and help you steady your own humanity."

"Anchors?" Azi Ke whispered, then sighed, "Perhaps, but since I've come here, I still want to see what lies deep within this mausoleum and what it has to do with me."

(End of Chapter)