Chapter 128: 127 The Mist

Caspar's sudden cry made the pirates, who had already begun their charge, come to an abrupt halt; everyone looked at him in confusion.

Did the boss just step on a nail?

After a brief howl, Caspar quickly fell silent.

"Boss?" Garon, who was closest, asked tentatively.

His entire future now rested on Caspar; among those present, he cared more about Caspar than the two pirate lieutenants did.

Caspar's arm trembled slightly, then he raised it and waved it very casually, signaling that he was fine.

Seeing this, Garon breathed a sigh of relief, but the two Golden-Rank lieutenants, upon seeing that stiff waving motion, both stepped back simultaneously and raised their weapons toward Caspar.

"What the hell is that?" one lieutenant shouted, his voice tinged with horror.

"What's wrong?" Garon couldn't process it at all; how had the Blood Shark's pirates suddenly turned on each other?

If they were going to turn on each other, shouldn't they have dealt with the people on the Wind Feather first?

Seeing that he hadn't managed to deceive the two lieutenants, Lin Jun, somewhat disappointed, controlled the Scout Pujie to retract the fungal tendrils from Caspar's body, then casually slashed open the neck of the bewildered Garon in front of him—he had originally thought he could ambush another Golden-Rank.

Just as Gerhard hadn't expected Garon to ambush him, Garon hadn't expected to be attacked in front of Caspar, or rather, attacked by the stool beneath Caspar.

Garon clutched his neck with one hand and frantically groped at his waist with the other, trying to pull a potion from the pouch at his waist; a slashed throat could be treated in time if acted upon quickly... but the Scout delivered another blow to his wrist.

No longer bothering with the black fat man at his feet waiting to die, Lin Jun shifted his attention to the two Golden-Rank pirates, who looked terrified yet stood ready for battle.

To be honest, Lin Jun didn't want to get involved; getting involved would expose him. Although he could later make up some excuse about it being a demonic pet controlled by Dylan, there would inevitably be flaws that couldn't withstand scrutiny.

If the pirates had only taken some cargo and money, leaving the people and the ship behind, Lin Jun would have simply turned a blind eye.

Who would have thought this group was so greedy, intending to capture everyone to make them slaves!?

Doing so seemed to violate the local customs here; who knew how things worked in this archipelago.

Lin Jun certainly couldn't let Dylan take a detour to experience a life of slavery, so he had no choice but to meddle in this matter.

He had originally planned to ambush and strike once the pirates and the Wind Feather started fighting, when the captain's attention was fully drawn away, but this cannon-fodder teammate collapsed before the battle even began...

Useless!

Now the Scout faced two Golden-Ranks alone, and there might even be a wind-element mage on the Blood Shark; they had to end this quickly before the enemy reacted.

But one must remember the enemy still had over thirty pirates; although they ranged from Bronze to Silver Rank, so many people were still a trouble.

On their side, the only one confirmed usable was Dylan; counting the two skill-equipped items, he could probably hold up half a Golden-Rank.

As for those sailors and passengers?

Their looks at the Scout Pujie were no better than the pirates'; they were all filled with terror.

After all, the Scout Pujie's current appearance was that of a murderous stool...

Caspar, who had everything under control just moments ago, now lay on the deck, his blood almost completely drained from the wounds on his lower body; who wouldn't be startled seeing that?

No choice; they had to press on with gritted teeth, hoping fear would intimidate those ordinary pirates.

Pfft—

Pujie stepped forward; apart from the two pirate lieutenants, everyone else stepped back, including the sailors in the distance.

Dylan raised the longsword in his hand, intending to coordinate with the Scout Pujie immediately.

However, just before Lin Jun prepared to launch an attack, he abruptly stopped.

【Mana Perception】 Why isn't it working properly all of a sudden?

Since the fungal network provided no vision, Lin Jun had equipped the Scout Pujie with multiple perception skills: light, airflow, sound waves, and mana.

All were activated simultaneously during combat; Lin Jun could handle the processing.

But now, the perspective of Mana Perception suddenly became blurry; to be precise, it was obscured by mana that had suddenly appeared around the Wind Feather... like... fog!

That's wrong!

It really is fog!

In 【Light Perception】, visibility around them had inexplicably dropped significantly; even the three moons in the sky were nearly swallowed, though not as obviously as the changes in surrounding mana, causing Lin Jun to overlook it for a moment. Moreover, this fog was growing thicker and thicker.

This was absolutely not ordinary fog; at the very least, ordinary fog couldn't carry such dense mana.

During the minute the Scout Pujie stood still, the moonlight rapidly faded until only a faint glimmer remained, and the others present finally noticed this sudden thick fog.

"Is it the Mist?"

No one knew who asked, but this question quickly sparked panic among the crowd, whether sailors or pirates.

"The Mist? Doesn't that mean we're doomed?" A pirate stumbled and knocked over a wooden barrel beside him; the fear flickering in his pupils was even three times more intense than when witnessing Caspar's death.

"How is that possible? We're so far from the boundary!"

"Isn't this stool that killed the boss a Mist monster?"

"Damn it, who cares if it is or not? Let's set sail and get out of here!"

"What about the folks on this ship?"

"Caspar is dead; who still cares about these guys!"

Chaos clearly erupted within the pirate ranks; the two lieutenants exchanged glances and also felt the urge to retreat.

The moon was completely covered by the thick fog, plunging the ship into darkness.

Suddenly, a beam of light appeared in the pitch black; it was Gerhard, having caught his breath, lighting the illumination crystal in his hand.

"This is a Moving Mist; trying to run now is probably too late."

"Nonsense! What do you know, you guy?" a pirate shouted indignantly.

Gerhard suddenly roared loudly:

"Twenty years ago, on the Golden Griffin, west of Giant Horn Island, I encountered it!

Out of 82 people on the entire ship, only 3 survived!

We are all in danger right now; if we act individually, we will surely meet the same fate as back then.

Now, whether you are a pirate, my crewman, or some passenger, listen to me!"

Otherwise, no one can survive.

You don't believe me? Come kill me right now—I'm going to die anyway, might as well be cut down quick!

Gerhard's last words were directed at the pirates.

The pirates were momentarily stunned, but none dared to obey Gerhard, who had just been their enemy.

Until an old pirate said, "The Golden Griffin… I think I've heard of it—it really did sink in the mist, but I heard it only happened after crossing the boundary…"

"That's a rumor!" Gerhard said again. "The captain and first mate of the Golden Griffin were both legendary figures among the islands—how could they possibly not know where the boundary lay? It was the moving mist, just like today's unpredictable mist, that trapped the Golden Griffin!"

For a moment, even Dilan and Lin Jun nearly believed Gerhard.

The pirate first mate gritted his teeth: "Fine! We'll follow you for now—what do you suggest? I warn you, don't try any tricks. If we get through this safely, we'll leave each other alone afterward. But if you even think of betraying us, I'll cut you down right here!"

"Do as you like!" Gerhard pushed himself up against the wall.

"What about that thing?" the pirate second mate asked, pointing at the scout Pukji.

That stumped Gerhard—he truly had no idea what this killing stool was; it was nothing like the enemies he remembered from the mist.

In the brief silence, Dilan stepped forward, scratching his head.

"That… is my magic pet…"

(End of Chapter)