Weird Stone Sculpture

Seeing Evan, who was clearly in a daze and wearing a naval officer's uniform, the wizard Gagon quietly brought a bone blowgun to his lips.

"Whoosh!"

"Clang--!"

With battle instincts honed by countless battles, Evan swung his sword at the last moment before the blowgun dart hit him, slicing the poisoned arrowhead away like lightning.

Even though he was unharmed, Evan couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat after turning around and seeing the strangely dressed native old man.

Although he was worried about Uncle Gell facing this bizarre and disgusting "monster" alone, Evan felt it was better to deal with this skulking old fellow first.

"Gaga, foolish Navy, Gagon has seen your death omen!"

What Evan didn't expect was that after failing to attack, the strange old man didn't run away. Instead, he crawled out of the ship's cabin, muttering to himself while continuously attacking Evan with blowdarts.

Whoosh--

Whoosh--

His deep brown skin suggested he was a native from the Southern Continent or the New Continent. Covered in bone ornaments and tattoos exceeding eighty percent of his body, he looked like the native witch doctors from the adventure stories Evan heard as a child.

Evan quietly became extremely cautious.

Because in legends, these strange beings, rarely seen in civilized worlds, might not be strong in direct combat, but they possessed all sorts of bizarre and terrifying witchcraft that made them impossible to guard against.

Even though Evan was confident in his peak mortal combat prowess, he didn't dare to be careless with such a creature.

"Sword Form: Drifting Skiff!"

His movements were incredibly agile, easily dodging all the incoming blowdarts.

As expected.

Seeing that his continuous blowdarts couldn't harm Evan at all, the old witch doctor chuckled strangely and took out a dark green "ball" from his snakeskin pouch, flinging it fiercely at Evan.

"Die! Your death omen ends here!"

Evan's sharp eyes instantly captured what it was. His pupils contracted sharply; it was a shrunken human head, somehow shrunk by unknown means, its features clearly discernible, just several times smaller.

Bang--

A large cloud of thick, viscous green mist, like atomized oil, emerged from the head and rapidly spread across the deck.

Evan dared not test this bizarre thing himself. He leaped onto the mast, standing on the "yardarm" of the main sail, avoiding the poisonous mist that was clearly heavier than air.

"Ah--Help!"

"Hk...hk...I can't breathe..."

Evan could dodge it, but that didn't mean everyone on deck could. Many pirates and sailors fighting them were caught in the mist, letting out a shrill scream before falling silent.

"You're dead!"

Evan was furious.

Although he realized it was a witchcraft effect, Evan couldn't ignore the act of turning fellow beings into spell components, nor could he stand by and watch his comrades being slaughtered mercilessly.

Whoosh--

The sea breeze quickly dispersed the poisonous mist. The pirates and sailors who escaped the ordeal were still in shock, hiding in corners, not daring to come out. Evan, standing high up, immediately spotted the witch doctor's trace.

The old witch doctor was still hiding behind some wooden barrels, stealthily watching the commotion on the ship, muttering, "My divination shouldn't be wrong, death, a strong young body, crows... Do these symbols mean I will harvest the corpse of a young strongman and then practice powerful Living Corpse Art?"

Evan, who had quietly reached above him via the sail ropes, felt a sense of absurdity. Was this guy dreaming? A clearly non-combat spellcaster class coming out to face a warrior like himself, all because his divination showed his own failure?

If all wizards were such superstitious and inexplicably crazy lunatics, it was no wonder the major churches issued Witch Hunt Orders.

He had initially thought the "witch hunt movement" was a means for the ruling class to persecute civilians and suppress opposition, just like in his previous life. Now, Evan felt the need to re-evaluate.

"At least guys like this old witch doctor, who treat human lives like grass, really shouldn't exist!"

His thoughts raced, but they didn't hinder Evan's sharp movements.

Holding his long sword upside down, like a hunting golden eagle, he pounced from the mast. Using the force of his descent, his long sword drew a beautiful arc, sweeping past the witch doctor's neck.

Thud--

The withered head fell to the ground, its face still holding an expression of unbelievable shock, but its eyes were lifeless.

Evan's toes touched the deck, and he continued to roll forward, quickly moving away from the witch doctor's position. He was afraid the witch doctor might, like Blood Anchor Zack, try to drag others down with him even after dying.

Fortunately, whether it was due to the witch doctor's lack of skill or some other reason, Evan's fears did not materialize. The half-baked witch doctor was cleanly dispatched by the warrior's aerial assault.

He didn't dare to touch anything on the guy. With his complete ignorance of witchcraft, forget about finding any usable loot; he might end up in trouble himself, turning joy into sorrow.

Evan found the remaining lamp oil on the pirate ship and directly set the old witch doctor's corpse and everything on him ablaze, burning it all clean.

While the fire was still burning, Evan cooperated with the sailors who had boarded the pirate ship to clear out the remaining pirates. This time, they encountered no more troublesome enemies.

The lamp oil prepared by the pirates was of good quality. By the time everything was over, the witch doctor's corpse had been almost reduced to ashes.

The deck, which had good fire resistance, was also scorched over a large area. Fortunately, Evan had moved away flammable objects nearby when he started the fire, otherwise, this pirate ship would have inevitably met the same fate as the Warrior.

However, something had not been burned.

"What is this?"

Amidst the remaining ashes and broken bone fragments, a black stone sculpture resembling a sunken ship lay quietly there, its smooth, clean surface showing not a single trace of burning.

Thump... thump... thump...

Evan stepped forward and looked at the strange object. As if possessed, he placed his hand on it. The tentacles were ice-cold; the previous flames seemed like an illusion to it.

"Plop!"

But in the next instant, it felt as if he had stepped into empty air and fallen into the salty sea. Evan felt himself sinking rapidly, and in just a moment, he had landed on the seabed of the deep ocean.

Boundless darkness enveloped him.

The rotten mud at the bottom of the sea writhed and wrapped around him, suffocating, cold, and foul-smelling. The myriad negative sensations from his senses directly overwhelmed Evan.

The flow of time suddenly accelerated. Countless barnacles, tube worms, bryozoans, mussels, seaweed, and other parasites grew wildly on him. Raising his hands, one had already transformed into a crab claw covered in a shell, and the other had decomposed into countless black seaweeds of unknown species.

A chilling dread jolted him awake for a moment. He suddenly saw a giant red exclamation mark in his vision, and an urgent warning sound echoed in his ears.

"Mental State Deviation, Warning! Warning!"

Instantly realizing he had fallen into an inexplicable illusion, Evan gathered all his strength and struggled forcefully.

"Pop--!"