Chapter 644: Laughter

Klein couldn't go against his own wishes to console Frank Lee, nor could

he bring himself to tell Frank Lee that not being able to breed red wine

fish was a good thing. All he could do was pretend that this was a

trivial problem and not provide a response.

He walked two steps diagonally and circled around the starboard before

looking far into the undulating sea.

By then, the clouds high in the sky had thinned. The crimson moon's

moonlight brightened up the rather dark night.

In such an environment, Klein could see the nearby scenery. There were

dark clouds that hung low, and he discovered a hurricane swishing back

and forth, encompassing an unknown swath of sea.

Under the illumination of the silver lightning, fine rain danced amidst

the wind, forming a scene that resembled the dawn of the apocalypse.

Such a terrifying disaster was only a few nautical miles or even shorter

from the Future, but the Future didn't seem affected. Only the wind had

become a little stronger.

*This is the meaning of a safe sea route---to advance by the side of a

storm... Without a good navigator, just traveling normally might push

the ship into a disaster...* Klein turned his head to look where

the ship was heading. He saw a little illumination and fog being

emanated. The visibility was extremely low, and using just the naked eye

was very difficult to discern if they were in a dangerous or safe zone.

Such situations weren't obvious west of Oravi Island. But here, it was

common once they took the secret sea route.

Klein was just about to retract his gaze when he saw a black, massive

object seemingly hiding in the periphery of the storm!

A sea monster? He suddenly recalled some of the rumors he had

heard at the different bars he had been to.

After steering away from the safe sea route, it's very easy to encounter

all kinds of monsters. Some of them are behemoths and possess intense

offensive power. Once they surfaced from the sea, they could finish it

in one mouthful.

The Future didn't stop advancing. Before long, it closed the gap between

it and the gloomy but massive object.

Klein finally managed to discern the entity's appearance and discovered

that it wasn't a sea monster, but a gigantic sailboat which was even

larger than the Future.

The sailboat was nearly two hundred meters long. With its bow and stern

raised high, it appeared like a crescent.

Its surface was black. The cannons were arranged in three rows in an

untidy manner on the side of the ship. There was order from top to

bottom. Apart from the mast, the portions that extended out of the deck

was similarly tall and massive. It was at least equivalent to a

five-story building.

This ship's most odd feature was that it only had one sail and on it was

the drawing of a black tomb.

"The Death Announcer..." A heavy voice sounded in Klein's ears. At some

point in time, Frank Lee had thrown the silver-scaled fish whose blood

had been replaced with red wine away and approached his side.

The first mate who had a bounty of 7,000 pounds held his head heavy as

his muscles remained tense. It was as though an attack would be launched

anytime from the minute changes of the gigantic sailboat.

Death Announcer? Klein was first taken aback before he

recalled what the name represented.

*It was one of the most legendary and infamous ships on the Five

Seas!*

It was the flagship of the King of Immortality Agalito!

We actually encountered one of the Four Kings... Klein clicked

his tongue silently as he uncontrollably entered a highly-vigilant

state.

However, he maintained a superficial level of indifference and calm as

he continued looking at the Death Announcer.

Recalling how the second mate of the Death Announcer, Slaughterer

Kircheis, who had a bounty of 9,500 pounds, had recently appeared in Nas

and warned him, Kircheis came to an understanding. He was no longer

puzzled as to why he would bump into the Death Announcer not far from

the Gargas Archipelago.

After putting aside this question, he made connections with even more

rumors. And among these rumors, there were a number which could be

confirmed to be an actual description.

*King of Immortality Agalito is a middle-aged man who's so pale that

he's on the brink of rotting at any moment.*

*The bounty placed on him by a single country reached as high as 100,000

pounds.*

*His former enemies are all dead, regardless if they were pirates,

adventurers, or members of a naval fleet. Only the other three members

of the Four Kings remained alive.*

*He has never entered into direct combat with an official demigod. He is

extremely restrained in such matters.*

*No one really knows his exact Sequence. No one knows what his Beyonder

powers are.*

*He's cruel by nature and enjoys killing. He can launch an attack on any

person or any ship at random.*

*He liked to find excuses to rip apart promises. Other than his nickname

as the King of Immortality, he was often nicknamed "The

Untrustworthy."*

*Thankfully, I'm on the Future. The King of Immortality will likely give

Admiral of Stars a free pass. After all, she's one of the seven pirate

admirals... No, the Four Kings and the Pirate Admirals can cooperate or

be at odds normally, apart from the pirate convention organized by the

King of the Five Seas... With the King of Immortality's character, he

might not leave any chance of survival!* Just as this thought

flashed in Klein's mind, he heard a deep, rumbling horn.

Whoosh!

The sailors who were resting in the cabin jolted awake immediately.

Without wearing their clothes, they ran to the different cannons on deck

to make preparations to do battle. The Future instantly went from a

peaceful state to a combative one.

Klein turned his head and looked up. He saw that the captain's windows

were already open. Cattleya wore the usual black dress as she stood

there and observed the Death Announcer.

She wasn't wearing the thick glasses, and her pitch-black eyes were

tainted with some purple, making them mysterious and deep.

*Indeed, she's also worried about a sudden attack from the King of

Immortality...* Klein retracted his gaze and looked at the Death

Announcer which had its tail raised up.

At this moment, the two ships had just passed each other by. The pirates

could see their counterparts on the other ship.

Similarly, those pirates were also looking over. They maintained a

silence resembling that of a statue as though they had zero emotional

fluctuations, brandishing their knives and blowing at the guns. They

were being extremely provocative.

At that moment, just a matchstick was enough to trigger the tense nerves

and begin a war.

Finally, the Death Announcer didn't take any actions. It continued

silently anchored on the spot, "watching" the Future pass it by before

it distanced itself.

Phew... At Klein's side, Frank Lee didn't conceal his

exhalation.

He produced a smile and said to Klein, "Heh heh, there has always been

many rumors about the King of Immortality's strength. Others say that

he's really a demigod, while others say that he's only a Sequence 5. He

is able to reach the level of a Sequence 4 thanks to the Death

Announcer. But regardless, he has lived long enough. Uh... Tell me, do

you think crossbreeding him and my fishes would enhance their

survivability?"

Frank suddenly had an idea.

*First, you need to capture the King of Immortality; otherwise, make him

interested in your fish...* Klein lampooned before calmly

saying, "You can discuss it with him."

Frank Lee was taken aback as he sighed, depressed.

"He won't agree to it. He will plant me into the soil."

Just as he said that, the Death Announcer which had opened a gap with

the Future suddenly turned its sails.

A shrill laughter which was filled with malice sounded from several

hundred meters away as it blanketed the Future.

"Hahaha!

"Hahaha!"

The laughter resounded constantly. It switched from being hoarse, to

chaotic, sounding like ravings or singing at times. The sailors on deck

fell to the ground one after another as they tried hard to cover their

ears, but all they could do was struggle in pain.

A number of Beyonders began to produce fish scales on their bodies.

Klein was similarly affected. He felt that his brain was instantly

injected with all kinds of thoughts. There were the good, the bad, the

bright, and the dark.

They were abnormally disordered as they combined with the constantly

changing laughter to produce a swelling feeling that could burst one's

brain.

Klein's facial expression distorted slightly as inconspicuous flesh

tendrils began to start wriggling under his skin.

If he hadn't experienced the True Creator's ravings and Mr. Door's cry

for help, or suffer similar torment when he passed the gray fog each

time, giving him a certain level of resistance, Klein would definitely

be like Poison Expert Frank Lee---pressing his head, kneeling down with

a ferocious expression to resist the pain brought from the terrifying

laughter.

Klein noticed that some short orange hair was growing from Frank's face,

making him seem to transform into a bear.

At that moment, the symbols and magical labels on the Future's walls,

deck, and mast lit up. They became like a resplendent sea of stars in a

moonless night.

The terrifying laughter which was either sharp or hoarse didn't weaken,

but everyone was distanced from one another in a second. The sounds that

came from a further distance away sounded empty and illusory.

Klein's swelling head instantly received reprieve as he used the rest of

his strength to look up.

Behind the opened windows in the captain's cabin, the Admiral of Stars's

face had additional traces of gloominess, and they looked like they

would crack apart at any moment, producing horrible items.

At that moment, Cattleya's palms pressed down on the window sill as bits

of starlight swirled around her, seemingly matching the Future which was

on the resplendent sea.

Whoosh!

A squall stirred for no reason as the ship began its own adjustment.

Despite the Future having so many of its sailors down, it sped up

instead of slowing down. It quickly opened up a gap from the Death

Announcer.

Klein looked at the room with the mysterious pair of eyes that observed

the deck, and he discovered that the windows were rattling from the

strong winds without any signs of abnormalities.

Whoosh!

Amidst the strong winds, starlight descended to form a swath of

"floating ice" as they dragged the Future into a "rapid flight."

Finally, the Death Announcer vanished behind it. The terrifying laughter

which could make a person lose control or go mad turned more illusory

and distant.

Frank Lee lowered his hands and panted before barely recovering. Many of

the sailors on the deck were still tumbling about and struggling in

extreme pain, but their condition didn't worsen.

*This ability of the King of Immortality is truly impressive. There's

almost no way to defend against it... It's no wonder he's one of the

Four Kings...* Klein frowned slightly as he sighed.

Although he was experienced and rather knowledgeable, this was the first

time he was being directly attacked by a demigod in the true sense of

the word. He discovered that even Agalito, who was ranked last among the

Four Kings, similarly made him feel weak as though it was impossible to

resist.

*With Agalito's character, will he make the Death Announcer pursue us?

Although there's a high chance he would wait for Slaughterer Kircheis to

return, that possibility cannot be excluded... If he chases up, I'll

pray to myself and use the Sea God Scepter to give him a maelstrom and a

thunderstorm to wipe him out...* After making the decision, he

once again looked at Cattleya.

The pirate admiral's expression was already ghastly pale. However, there

were no longer any signs of darkness. The starlight that twirled around

her slowly extinguished one after another.