Chapter 90: Dawn

A gust of wild wind suddenly rose from below the stairs; in Rekton's view, two twisted nature spirits were whipping up the wind, carrying a disheveled human silhouette that rushed upward.

Rekton extended his tightly clenched right hand, scattering a handful of gray‑black sunflower powder.

"Sun!" a word in the ancient Hermes language was spoken.

Rekton's scattered sunflower powder ignited quickly, emitting an intense yet non‑irritating golden light that flowed outward like water. The two nature spirits that were whipping up the wind, upon contact with the light, let out a sudden "Ah!" as blue‑gray smoke rose from their bodies and they began to evaporate.

The gusting wind ceased, and the human silhouette, tangled in the wind, fell clumsily to the ground.

A massive skeletal arm suddenly protruded from the opponent's belly, and Rekton's intuition instantly raised an alarm: "That giant hand is dangerous."

Rekton raised his right hand, and a pale blue flame ignited in his palm, quickly expanding to envelop the opposing pirate and the massive skeletal arm emerging from his belly. This was the demon's "Flame Prison."

A sound that seemed to pierce spirits rang around, causing the struggling arm, which was trying to break out of the Flame Prison, to freeze mid‑movement.

An exaggerated massive sword forged from crimson magma and pale blue flame materialized in Rekton's hand.

"You can't kill me; I'm a subordinate of the Undying King Agari Tu!" the pirate, continuously scorched by the Flame Prison, felt a mortal threat and hurriedly shouted.

"He isn't! It's just a ruse!" another voice came from below.

The voice sounded anxious, seemingly worried that Rekton might be fooled by the other side.

Rekton had no time to listen to their argument; resolving the pirate issue was the goal. The magma sword in his hand directly pierced the pirate's skull.

The massive skeletal arm seemed to lose its support in an instant, plunging into the spirit realm.

"You don't think that, as a corpse‑collector path extraordinary, you'd look more like a subordinate of the Undying King Agari Tu than I, who uses demonic abilities!" Rekton sighed at the pirate's corpse, but the other could no longer answer.

"Are you a follower of the Undying King?" the voice from below sounded clearly terrified.

"Shouldn't you first fulfill your promise and deal with the pirates on the ship outside?" Rekton didn't answer the question but retorted.

"You… you know everything?" the other's voice grew more terrified.

Rekton sensed the other slowly moving away, appearing to be merely a low‑rank extraordinary who possessed a seal capable of controlling the dead.

"Just don't forget your promise," Rekton reminded them.

He didn't care who the other was; as long as he could eliminate that ship's pirates, it was fine.

"Wait here a moment and take the extracted extraordinary trait," Rekton handed the metal box used to store the demon badge to Tu Ba Ge.

He turned and rushed toward the deck; the seal that could manipulate the dead clearly had major side effects, and he wasn't sure how reliable the unseen fellow was.

Before reaching the deck, Rekton encountered Lus·Koru, who was walking toward the cabin with his wife and daughter; his expression was somewhat grim yet also relieved, a complex mix.

"What's the situation outside now?" Rekton's intuition suggested something might have happened out there.

Lus·Koru sighed, "Outside… sigh, I can't tell if it's good or bad; the previous pirate ship fled."

"A larger pirate ship just passed by; it's the mysterious queen's Dawn! The mysterious queen wouldn't cause slaughter without reason, so at least our lives are safe."

"Mysterious queen!" Rekton was taken aback.

He had only dealt with the infiltrating pirates, and now the outside developments moved to the next chapter? Rekton wondered if this was the effect of the extraordinary trait aggregation.

"I'm going back to my room to pack; today looks like a loss‑to‑avoid‑disaster day, but at least we're safe," Lus·Koru sighed, then hurried to his room with his family.

Since the outside pirates were dealt with, Rekton no longer intended to go to the deck. He'd first return to obtain the medium‑calling trait.

When Rekton returned to the stairwell where the battle had been, Tu Ba Ge had already stored the extracted trait.

"Eh! Boss, why are you back again?" Tu Ba Ge asked curiously.

"The pirate issue is resolved; let's return to our rooms and await news," Rekton reached out and hoisted Tu Ba Ge onto his shoulder.

He then put away the metal box containing the medium‑calling trait.

"Did those spirits finish off the pirates that quickly?" Tu Ba Ge lowered his head, recalling the terrifying specters.

"They were frightened away by even stronger pirates, ignoring even the comrades still on the ship and simply running off." Rekton curled his lip disdainfully, feeling today's events were absurd.

"Stronger pirates? Do you mean the mysterious queen you mentioned?" Tu Ba Ge asked curiously.

Rekton paused, "When did I mention the mysterious queen?"

"When we first boarded, didn't you say it would be great to meet the mysterious queen?" Tu Ba Ge said, head down.

Rekton was momentarily speechless, only quickening his pace. The encounter with the Dawn was abrupt, sparking a desire to meet the mysterious queen, yet his reason told him it wasn't the right time.

"The effect of the aggregation is truly hard to guard against," Rekton sighed.

"Boss, aren't you going to see the mysterious queen?" Tu Ba Ge asked curiously after returning to the cabin.

"No!" Rekton shook his head.

"Why won't you see me? And why do you want to see me?" a clear female voice rang in the room.

Green pea vines fell from the air, covering the floor, and the room's space seemed to overlap with another realm.

Rekton's mouth twitched; he felt the situation was full of surprises. He turned and looked toward the source of the voice.

A young, beautiful woman sat on a swing woven from several pea vines. She wore a white blouse adorned with lace, ribbons, and flowers, a simple dark‑blue jacket, beige trousers, and black leather boots.

The woman stared at Rekton with a solemn gaze; her eyes were deep azure, as if a sea had been condensed within them.

"Hello! Honored mysterious queen," Rekton greeted with a natural bow.

"Do you know me?" although a question, Beiernadai said confidently.

"I suppose so!" Rekton nodded, without explaining how he knew her.

"Why do you want to see me?" Beiernadai continued, her voice lacking authority yet carrying undeniable pressure.

"Because I want to make a deal with you, but now that deal might need to be altered," Rekton said, looking at the mysterious queen opposite him.

The mysterious queen, perched on the vine‑woven swing, remained silent, quietly watching Rekton with a heavy sense of pressure, awaiting his next words.

Rekton let out a slight sigh in his mind; this was why he didn't want to face the mysterious queen too early—when the gap between them is too great, a fair deal is impossible.

"I want to go to the Future, but I don't know where the Star Above will be on the sea; could you take me to the Future? In exchange, I can tell you of a chance to ascend to Sequence Two," Rekton gritted his teeth, proposing a less crucial deal.

The mysterious queen's oppressive aura suddenly intensified after Rekton finished speaking; she kept staring at him, neither refusing nor agreeing.

She continued to stare silently, and Rekton felt his scalp tingle, even a sudden urge to flee rising within him.

"Why do you want to go to the Future?" the mysterious queen's voice grew solemn and cold.

He did not inquire about the opportunity to advance to Sequence Two, nor did he ask why he knew of the connection between her and Bernadette.

"I'm looking for the chief mate Frank Lee on the Future; I need his help for some experiments, and I also plan to drift at sea for a while to digest the magic potion." Leikeddun directly stated his purpose.

Leikeddun's answer eased the mysterious queen's sense of oppression. Feeling the heavy aura weighing on him dissipate, Leikeddun finally had the energy to size up this prominent figure of the mysterious world.

Bernadette's azure eyes suddenly turned deep, with specks of starlight flickering within, as if wandering through a starry sky; she was using prophecy.

After a moment, Bernadette's eyes returned to normal, and her gaze toward Leikeddun softened somewhat.

"Sure!"

Bernadette's answer let Leikeddun breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, your opportunity to advance to Sequence Two is in Beikelande at year's end." Seeing Bernadette agree to his deal, Leikeddun, after expressing thanks, told her an approximate time.

This time corresponds to the timing of the Beikelande Great Smog incident; at that moment, there was an event where the Aurora Society plotted the descent of the True Creator, which happened to satisfy the Sage's Sequence Two advancement ceremony.

Actually, the incident of the evil god's offspring descending in Tinggen should also meet the conditions, but at that time the goddess and Adam were likely watching nearby; if one rashly joined in and disrupted their plans, it would probably bring unnecessary trouble.

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(End of chapter)