Berserk Undead, Zango's Scheme!

With the soldiers' corpses placed so conspicuously, Lowett had four intentions, and Kuro only guessed two of them.

Exposing his ability to control corpses, placing his combat "tools" right under the enemy's noses, was undoubtedly the most sincere way to show weakness.

Unfortunately, quantity wasn't everything.

The undead army had long since landed from the side cliff and was stealthily approaching the pirates' ambush point. Otherwise, they wouldn't have waited so long to see Lowett appear.

Zombie Puppets lacked the consciousness of their former lives and moved slowly, but their opponents weren't exactly elite forces either.

When two terrible players face off, a sneak attack is all about who can act better.

Silent Step!

Ignoring the chaos erupting behind him, enraged by being toyed with so thoroughly, Kuro couldn't wait to personally wash away this humiliation.

His first move was his signature skill!

Swish...!

Suddenly, Kuro vanished from Lowett's sight.

His black skull coat floated in mid-air, drifting backward in the wind, but Kuro himself was long gone, his movement untraceable.

A strong sense of danger made Lowett's brow throb. He knew that the moment Kuro reappeared, he might die!

Fortunately...

"A mage doesn't rely on their eyes to lock onto an opponent."

His body couldn't keep up with his thoughts, so Lowett's eyeballs slowly tilted to the left. There, five steel cat claws suddenly materialized in the void and slashed fiercely at him.

Squelch...!!

The wind rustled his hair as a crisp tearing sound of flesh and a strange, resonant hum filled the air.

It was as clear and pleasant as a snapped erhu string.

The wind blew, and sharp air currents severed a lock of black hair. The steel cat claws were yanked back violently. Kuro bent down, meeting Lowett's gaze, then leaped backward.

Ching...!

As he landed, a thin stream of blood spurted from his wrist, scattering into a mist that stained the green grass.

Kuro's eyes were grim. He used his cat claws to tear off a strip of his shirt and tied the wound with his teeth.

"Are these... threads?"

Around Lowett, almost inaudible, semi-transparent threads spread out like a spider's web, filling the surrounding space. Even direct sunlight didn't reveal them.

Kuro was incredibly grateful that his attack had his weapon leading and his body following. He had immediately retracted his force upon feeling resistance from his weapon. Otherwise, if he had fully committed...

Whether Lowett would die was unknown, but he would definitely have been dismembered on the spot!

"Impressive perception!"

Raising his hand, Lowett brushed aside a strand of hair that had fallen onto his eyelid. His eyes, unlike a human's, flickered with a crimson glow, and his lips trembled.

"But these aren't threads, they're blood!"

Half-Star Flesh Magic: Blood Coagulation Art!

On par with Bone Magic: Bone Melting Art, it was a common spell used by Necromancers for material processing, akin to a hemostat and bone drill on an operating table. It was Lowett's extensive knowledge that allowed for such a clever application.

Gurgle...

At this moment, the pool of blood soaking the ankles inside the small boat began to bubble, erupting repeatedly like hot spring water, utterly bizarre.

Under Kuro's stunned gaze, thumb-sized blood orbs floated up. As they ascended, they gradually twisted into a shuttle shape, hovering around Lowett's shoulders.

Half-Star Flesh Magic: Blood Cone Art!

Since he had gathered so much casting material, it would be a shame to let it go to waste.

"Go!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

As the words fell, the "bullets" shot out, striking in rapid succession.

Kuro took a deep breath.

"Good!"

No matter how bizarre the scene, these were ultimately just ordinary physical attacks. Facing the eerie Necromancy, even he felt immense psychological pressure.

It wasn't fear of Lowett, but the fear of death that a living person felt.

The ability to control the dead was chilling.

Clang, clang, clang!

Kuro's long body twisted in place, his ten cat claws on both hands repeatedly swiping, slicing, and flicking. Amidst the dense metallic clangs, he was like a black cat dancing on knife tips, elegant and precise.

Boom... Bang bang!

The blood cones exploded upon impact, creating a hazy red mist around the area, but they didn't harm him in the slightest.

In this world, anyone with even a little strength couldn't be injured by archaic flintlock muskets, let alone these blood orbs whose power and rate of fire were inferior to firearms.

"If this is all you've got, then die!"

Seizing an opening, Kuro's toes pushed off the ground, his body dropping low. As he lowered himself, he vanished from sight once more.

Danger!

Lowett's eyes narrowed, his mental energy draining rapidly. Blood threads shot out from the blood pool on the small boat, wrapping around him.

Ch-ch-ch!

Three cutting sounds rang out almost simultaneously. Knowing full well the traps surrounding the opponent, Kuro didn't rush in recklessly. Instead, from a meter away, he swung his claws.

Feeling the feedback from his weapon, Kuro smiled confidently.

"Got you!"

Then, his feet crossed, and he spun in place. His steel cat claws turned into the blades of a meat grinder, stirring up sharp gusts of wind. They sliced through the blood threads and charged forward.

As long as he broke through the blood thread defense, it wasn't arrogance for Kuro to believe the opponent was no match for him.

Lowett himself thought the same.

Just as a swordsman must find a way to close the distance, a mage must find a way to control it.

Being approached by an enemy was a mage's disgrace.

Necromancers were particularly troublesome in this regard, not only because one had to be wary of their magic interference, but also because of those...

Undead creatures!

"Crimson Fury!"

Seeing Kuro about to reach him, Lowett finished his incantation. The corpses piled on the ground opened their eyes, a red light flaring within them.

Then... they shot forward.

Splat!

With one swipe of his claw, Kuro looked at the severed corpse and frowned silently.

"Just as I suspected..."

In a one-on-one fight, Kuro was confident he feared no one in the East Blue. Lowett, knowing this, couldn't possibly ignore it.

He had been wary of the pile of corpses all along, and his guess had been correct.

That pile of corpses wasn't just there to intimidate enemies or feign weakness.

"Roar!"

These were also resurrected Zombie Puppets, but unlike the vacant expressions and eyes of ordinary ones, these were filled with savagery, as if they had gone mad.

Low-level Zombie Puppets, unless evolved into Ghouls or transformed into Flesh Golems, had limited effectiveness on the battlefield.

But what if there was a magic that could quickly turn them into a formidable fighting force without tedious follow-up steps?

Some had tried burning souls.

However, even a formal mage's soul could only burn for five minutes, usually for a suicide attack.

The residual souls of Zombie Puppets couldn't even last a second.

Thus, Lowett chose a unique path of external stimulation. This magic, born and evolved from this path, became the most dazzling morning star under the starry sky, making him famous.

One-Star Flesh Magic: Crimson Fury!

Life force, like souls, was a tangible substance that could be observed and quantified in the mage world.

By shattering the most common vessel of life force – blood – and dispersing it into the Zombie Puppets' bodies, then using soul fire as the ignition and blood as the fuel, it ignited their hatred for the living, causing them to go berserk.

The bad news was that this process was irreversible. After their life force was depleted, the zombies wouldn't even leave a wisp of a residual soul, unlike regular Zombie Puppets which had almost no time limit and could be used repeatedly.

But the good news was that in this state, "I'll take on ten!" was no longer an exception, but the norm.

Having the courage to face one's inner darkness, desecrating the bodies of the dead, toying with the souls of the departed, draining them, and making them offer their last loyalty was the most valued quality in a Necromancer's disciple.

Only then would they not get lost in the fear of death.

Only then would they have the courage and qualification to pursue the ultimate mystery of Necromancy.

What, the hell, is death!

Splat...!

With a claw strike, Kuro felt the difficult resistance from the opponent's muscles and bones, and frowned slightly.

"Troublesome!"

Crimson Fury enhanced the undead comprehensively, including muscle toughness and bone density.

Being unable to easily cut down enemies was the most annoying situation for someone who relied on agility like him.

It was like dealing with his flashy rival, the Great Pirate Krieg, whose entire body was encased in golden armor – a complete and utter pain.

And...

"It's useless even if I cut them."

Before he knew it, facing the frantic assault of twenty berserk undead, Kuro was forced back to the edge of the forest.

Not far away lay a corpse, broken in half at the waist. It was the one he had severed first.

An ordinary person would have been long dead, but his opponent was undead. Even broken like this, its fingers dug into the soil as it crawled, letting out a chilling roar towards him with a face covered in blood and mud.

"To catch a thief, first catch their king!"

Kuro made up his mind, preparing to use another secret technique to clear the surroundings, buying himself time to decapitate the enemy.

But just then, footsteps sounded from the forest.

It was Sam of the "Catman Brothers."

After finally shaking off the undead chasing him, Sam immediately saw Kuro being cornered and dodging attacks from bloody zombie puppets. Startled, Sam shouted from a distance.

"Captain, something's wrong! First Mate Zango has escaped on the lifeboat!"

"Lifeboat?"

Kuro froze for a moment, narrowly dodging a bite from the undead, and turned back with furious eyes. "How come I don't know we prepared something like that?!"

"Didn't you order us to prepare it... Captain?"

Sam wasn't an idiot; he realized immediately.

Zango had forged an imperial decree!

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Crisp applause rang out. In the distance, Lowett's mouth was filled with mockery as he chuckled contemptuously.

"Brilliant! As expected of pirates!"

"If I'm not mistaken, the ship you arrived on must have been tampered with by him, making it convenient to trap you here."

"In other words... he wants you dead, Kuro!"