Dark Starfall

Eudora and Barrel leaped out of the sea and returned to the Undead, standing beside Yang Mu without saying a word. If not for the slight deformation in Eudora's armor, it would have seemed as though nothing had happened.

"Jack, any news about the Sith Lineage?"

With Yang Mu's appearance, every crisis was swiftly resolved. The crew members who had been busy fighting back now had nothing to do. Rather than immediately cleaning up, they sat on the deck, listening to what Jack and the captain were saying.

"Hehe, Captain, we'd already reached the sea route the Sith Lineage's merchant ships often used and were preparing to search for them. But two days ago, the Gale suddenly appeared and attacked us."

"We couldn't beat them, so... we ran. Then yesterday, we ran into that sea beast beneath the surface and got chased all the way until you came out."

Jack explained somewhat embarrassedly, as though none of them could beat anyone without their captain. But Jack knew that was not the case at all.

Even as pirates, if they were willing, they could quickly gather a large group of ordinary pirates and dominate an area. Their own combat strength already surpassed that of ordinary pirates.

Yang Mu did not feel much about it. In his eyes, aside from Jack, none of these people were even Apprentices. He had never expected anything from their fighting ability.

"Did you find the island where the Red Cross Pirate Crew is hiding?"

"We found it, but before we could go ashore and investigate, the Gale locked onto us. Even releasing the black fog wouldn't let us escape."

"Turn around. We're going to find the Red Cross Pirate Crew."

"Right away!"

Jack, who had been at the helm all along, spun the wheel. The Undead tilted sharply and made a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, heading back the way they had come.

The exposed lower half of the Undead's hull was still clamped around the corpse of a massive beast. It looked somewhat like a deep-sea fish, ugly in appearance and covered in spikes and bones like armor.

Yet the Undead showed no disgust, continuously devouring its body.

After turning around, they did not encounter the Gale. Roderick knew that without the Astrologer, catching up to the Undead would be pointless.

Once the Undead released its black fog, they would become blind. At that point, it was hard to say who would be dealing with whom.

Thus, after the Astrologer died, they stopped the pursuit and returned directly to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

After four days of sailing, the Undead returned to the target route. Besides advancing to become an Official Mage, Yang Mu's purpose for going to sea this time was to find Fishmen.

The only clue was the Sith Lineage of the Englundi Empire. And as the first family to rob him, Yang Mu naturally had to give them a little return gift. He was not a petty man.

The Red Cross Pirate Crew was the sea hound raised by the Sith Lineage. The first thing Yang Mu intended to do was beat this dog to death.

They said that when beating a dog, one had to consider its owner. Yang Mu's actions were undoubtedly a slap across the Sith Lineage's face. Once he destroyed the Red Cross Pirate Crew, he would not need to seek out the Sith Lineage—they would come after him like mad dogs.

Though even if he did not do this, killing the Sith Lineage's thirteenth son alone would have brought their pursuit upon him.

It was merely a personal grudge. Duke Xis would not care about the death of one son and would only make a symbolic retaliation at most. The most likely response would come from the thirteenth son's maternal family, which had lost its potential heir within the Sith Lineage.

After all, in theory, he had also had a chance to inherit Duke Xis's title. Until the very end, no one knew who the final victor would be.

But if Yang Mu destroyed the Red Cross Pirate Crew, that watchdog, he would be touching the interests of the entire Sith Lineage and would inevitably face their fiercest retaliation.

Would Yang Mu care? No. They were merely an ordinary family. Could they possibly produce a Fourth Order god to trouble him?

"Captain, that's the island where the Red Cross Pirate Crew is hiding. It doesn't have a name. If you like, Captain, you can call it Red Cross Island."

Yang Mu nodded to show that he understood. He did not order the Undead to approach, because there was no need.

Several pirate ships were docked at the edge of the island, and Yang Mu could sense many life auras on it.

Even if there were a few missed, a small number of people did not matter.

For once, Yang Mu began waving his cane and drawing something in the Void. No one, including Jack, understood what Yang Mu was doing.

Only after nearly a minute did Yang Mu stop drawing. As his movements ceased, a complex purple spell model appeared before him.

"Dark Starfall!"

The spell model before Yang Mu vanished, while a black star appeared in the sky above the island ahead.

As Yang Mu's words fell, the Dark Star began to fall as well.

There was no roar, no explosion. The instant the Dark Star fell, it collapsed like a black hole, drawing in everything around it.

Even from afar, they could see countless figures screaming as they were sucked into the Dark Star. Only after the island's entire surface had turned into a massive basin did the Dark Star truly vanish.

"Alright, move closer. Have the Undead eat all those ships, then wander along this route. It would be best if we find the Sith Lineage's merchant ships. If we can't, let them come find us."

"Ah, ah? Oh, understood."

Jack stood there with his mouth wide open for quite a while before finally coming back to his senses and nodding in response.

If what Yang Mu had displayed before was mysterious and strange, then this time it was pure destructive power.

Without question, pure destructive force—or rather, violence—was more capable of shaking people to their core.

The other crew members still had not recovered from their shock even after Yang Mu disappeared into the cabin.

This had already surpassed the limits of their understanding. Though it had not reached the level of a god, it was far beyond anything the concept of a supernatural being could encompass.

In their minds, Yang Mu was gradually surpassing the boundaries of humanity.

And this was merely a top-tier First Order destruction spell, a spell born solely for destruction and ruin.

Given enough time, even as a First-Order Mage, Yang Mu could produce destructive effects dozens of times greater than this. There was simply no need.

After Yang Mu entered the cabin, Jack led the crew onto the pirate ships first, carrying down anything useful before allowing the Undead to devour them.

There was not much of value aboard, though. As pirates, aside from immediately after a raid, they would never keep their treasures on their ships.

But unexpected gains could be found anywhere. While Jack was searching one pirate ship, he discovered a sea chart marked with a place called Merman Island.

Jack naturally knew that his captain was searching for Fishmen. If they truly could find Merman Island, then with the captain's methods, he could likely refine countless Fishman Potions.