Pirate Assembly

Deep within the Fog Sea, shrouded in Fog, a black three-masted sailing ship sat silently amidst the ethereal grayness. On the deck of this massive, dark vessel, a man and a woman sat facing each other. They reached out their hands to one another and ultimately clasped them together.

"!"

The moment their skin touched, Antiya's body suddenly trembled slightly.

After a moment, she smiled with a complicated expression and said, "It's so warm..."

Opposite her, Luther felt as if he were holding a piece of soft ice. After 152 years of sailing in this frigid sea, the body of this Angel Ship Spirit was completely cold inside and out.

As if Greed seeking this warmth, Antiya tightened her grip on Luther, increasing the pressure.

"Splash..."

The metal clanged, and from Luther's palm, a chain formed from Black Key automatically emerged and climbed forward along his wrist. Conversely, the black chain around Antiya's neck also began to extend.

The two chains met in mid-air.

"Boom!"

Luther immediately felt an indescribable connection, and the two resonated on Spirituality level.

"Let me reintroduce myself, Antiya Troliss, who will be your Flagship, sailing the seas for your victory and glory."

The woman with black hair said softly.

"I am Luther Rondal, thank you for your trust, I will be the responsible owner of this ship."

Luther replied seriously.

Antiya's beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Your name is Luther Rondal? Then what about the guy who said his name was Alexander Gascoigne..."

"The one I introduced at the beginning was my identity at sea; the one I just mentioned is my Real Name."

Luther replied.

Antiya looked at him, then suddenly tightened her grip again, making Luther's knuckles crack.

"So, you weren't originally planning to tell me your real name?"

An invisible pressure spread across the deck. Her previous forlorn and sighing expression had vanished, replaced by a clearly disgruntled sneer. "Even after I've shared my experiences with you?"

"Feel sorry."

The pain in his finger was nothing to Luther. He calmly said, "I need to protect myself, which is a reasonable choice. Besides, that name is my official identity; my crew doesn't even know my Real Name."

"Then I hope that, as my ally, you will be more honest in the future and stop lying to me."

Antiya loosened her grip on his fingers slightly, looking directly at him as she spoke, her crimson eyes meeting Luther's azure ones.

"I see."

Luther nodded, thinking it was a good thing that the other party was willing to communicate, so he simply asked, "Any other requirements? It would be best to make them clear at the beginning."

"Don't hurt each other, don't force me to do things against my will... these basic things go without saying," Antiya said. "Besides that, I only have one request—to stay by my side."

In the cold sea breeze, she sighed, "I don't want to be this lonely anymore."

Sonia Sea, Black Lake Island.

The black lake in the center of the island was crowded with people, and stalls lined both sides of the automatically constructed streets along the lake. Noisy sounds rose from time to time, and chaos broke out everywhere. Every few steps, you could see stall owners and customers arguing with flushed faces, and a few more steps later, you could see chaotic scenes of people wrestling.

Unlike the exquisite decor of shops in big cities, the dirty canvases laid out on the ground stood side by side, displaying a dazzling array of goods, all looted by pirates. These included handicrafts from various countries with distinct styles, chests of tea, salt, and minerals... or simply gold jewelry and some strange, mysterious objects exuding a peculiar aura. The last two types of stalls were often guarded coldly by pirates clutching Steam rifles.

Philia was standing in front of a stall, arguing with the stall owner.

"You're scamming me!"

He shouted, "Give me back my money!"

In his hand was a talisman carved with strange patterns, which were glowing, but the glow appeared intermittent and was gradually fading.

"Refund? Are you dreaming?"

The stall owner dug his dirty fingers into his ear and then blew on them. "The Pirate Assembly has never had such a rule. Blame your own poor eyesight for not noticing the problem."

Pirates always let their fists do the talking, and this young man on the other side looked like he had only recently set sail and was very inexperienced, so he didn't take him seriously at all.

"It's clearly you, a liar, who's to blame, yet you criticize me!"

Philia shouted angrily, but the pirates passing by just watched the spectacle with amusement.

Guided by the reception staff, the two ships of their Fleet docked, and most of them went ashore, except for a few who remained behind. Apart from the Sailor Walter and a few veteran pirates, the rest of them were attending this gathering for the first time and were very interested in it. The captain and first mate went to the depths of the island, while the rest of them dispersed and wandered around the market that the pirates had spontaneously organized.

After his recent sea adventures, Philia greatly admired extraordinary individuals like the captain or first mate, dreaming of becoming one of them. So, upon landing on the island, he decided to use the money he had saved to try and acquire something that would allow him to become an extraordinary individual.

Unsurprisingly, he was scammed.

The pirate stall owner had confidently claimed that the emblem he was sold could unleash a mysterious power within him, but in reality, it was just a piece of glowing metal. Having spent most of his savings—a full twenty pounds—on this piece of metal, he was naturally furious and demanded an explanation.

"You've already used it, so of course you can't return it."

The pirate stall owner ignored his anger and just kept talking.

"I said, I want a refund!"

Philia grew even angrier, and with a "whoosh," she drew her knife from her waist.

"What, you want to make a move?"

The pirate stall owner wasn't afraid at all when he saw the knife. Instead, he immediately jumped up and calmly reached for his lower back. The pirates watching didn't try to stop the fight; instead, they started jeering excitedly. It would be more interesting to see someone die!

Just as the atmosphere became very tense, a man pushed through the crowd and walked in.

He had messy blue hair, dark skin, and deep-set eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Alger Will, with his imposing presence as an extraordinary being, immediately brought the scene to a standstill. Looking around, he saw Philia and quickly recognized her as one of the crew members on Luther's ship, whom he had just seen at the port.

This might be a good opportunity to extract information... he thought to himself.