Blanchester

Annie came from a family of class holders.

It was not as though she had never seen her family interrogate captives from hostile forces.

But interrogation among class holders tended toward more efficient, faster methods targeting the mind and soul.

Although the pain inflicted on the victims far exceeded that of physical injury,

but it was nowhere near as visually shocking as Keel-hauling was at this moment.

By the time Owen's mangled body was hauled back aboard, he was barely breathing.

Since class holders had far greater vitality than ordinary people, Dunn had specifically ordered Owen dragged under several extra times.

Even Annie felt somewhat sick at the sight of Owen's bloody, mangled body. If even a well-traveled noble like Annie reacted that way,

the others aboard, pirates and captives alike, felt their scalps crawl.

In this world, killing usually meant a simple execution. For those seeing it for the first time, a method that tortured purely for the sake of torture was even more shocking than a battlefield strewn with severed limbs.

The pirates, as the executioners, fared somewhat better.

But the captives awaiting their turn broke down.

Aside from the deathly pale Henry, who barely managed to remain composed, all the other captives had suffered a mental collapse.

Dunn still wore a warm smile, seemingly unaffected by Owen's wretched condition before him.

The pirates who witnessed this etched Dunn's expression into their memories and dubbed it-the devil's smile.

So did Owen's wretched condition truly have no effect on Dunn?

At that moment, it truly did not.

Under the influence of the original owner's lingering consciousness, Dunn's mind was filled with hatred and fury.

So much so that the first method that came to mind when he wanted to torture someone for information was the infamous Keel-hauling from his previous life.

Simply put, Dunn was not quite sane at that moment.

Had Dunn been in his normal state, he would probably have thrown up already.

After all, just a week ago, he had still been an ordinary person in a peaceful society. Being barely able to kill without batting an eye after just one week would already have qualified him as a psychopath in his previous life.

Dunn slowly walked up to the dying Owen, bent down into a crouch, and smiled warmly at him. "One name. Give me one name, and I'll make it quick."

Owen knew full well that he would die whether he talked or not.

But if he talked and those people found out, his family would most likely die too.

Although his bloody, mangled body looked horrifying, the pain Owen himself felt was not enough to make him abandon everything and talk.

"It... it wasn't... me," Owen forced out before passing out.

Looking at the unconscious Owen, Dunn judged that he might not survive another two rounds and turned his attention to the deathly pale Henry.

"Do you have anything to say now?"

Dunn's words made Henry shudder.

"If not, get ready. You're next."

"Wait!" Henry immediately cracked at Dunn's words. In this world, Keel-hauling inspired even greater terror in onlookers than in its victims. Although he was not all that afraid of death, this way of dying was truly a little too horrifying.

Henry said dejectedly, "I'll talk."

The Blanchester Family was a newly risen noble family in the Kingdom of Lyon, having gained prominence during the century or so of the Age of Exploration. Several Fourth Tier professionals numbered among its members.

Its head held the rank of marquess in the Kingdom of Lyon.

For a family below legendary rank, this could already be considered the pinnacle.

As the foremost power on the Old World, the Kingdom of Lyon differed from other, smaller kingdoms in its dukedoms: only descendants of living legends could be made dukes.

After the Campbell Family's legend fell, their title had been directly reduced to marquess, even though their other privileges remained unchanged.

The whole affair began with a melodramatic twist.

The Campbell Family held a fief in the New World.

But with the family's decline, they lacked the means to develop it, so other nobles had been secretly occupying it for nearly a century. The Blanchester Family was one of them.

As long as the occupation was not overt, the kingdom could only turn a blind eye to such matters. They had only themselves to blame for their inadequacy.

Perfectly good land could hardly be left to waste.

But two years ago, a gold mine with rich deposits was discovered in the territory.

Everything changed. A gold mine of that size was bound to draw direct involvement from the kingdom.

But the kingdom could not simply seize it by force or fraud. In such circumstances, it would have to share the profits with the lord, though the kingdom would inevitably take the lion's share.

As for the other families, not only would they get no share of the gold mine, but they would also have to surrender the land their families had occupied and developed for a century. After all, once the kingdom turned its attention there,

those illegal occupations would inevitably have to be dealt with. The Campbell Family had once been a legendary family, after all.

After all, the legends were watching.

After receiving notice from the kingdom, Dunn's parents hurriedly sold off their assets and sailed for the New World, without even telling the original owner the specific circumstances.

That should have been the end of it. The former legendary family was about to rise again, and the other families could only swallow their bitterness.

After all, the attention of the Kingdom of Lyon's legends had been drawn to this enormous gold mine.

No one dared try anything underhanded.

But Dunn's parents had the terrible misfortune to suffer a shipwreck while crossing the Storm Sea.

Against overwhelming odds, they were lucky enough to survive.

They happened to be rescued by the passing Golden Tangerine.

And a member of the Blanchester Family happened to be aboard the Golden Tangerine.

After learning who Dunn's parents were and about their circumstances, that member of the Blanchester Family was emboldened to commit evil. He bribed Captain Owen and First Mate Henry and had Dunn's parents killed.

After all, the shipwreck had genuinely happened, and no investigation would uncover any foul play.

Moreover, the mysterious nature of the Storm Sea itself severely hindered abilities such as divination.

And what the legends cared about was the kingdom's attitude toward fallen legendary families.

They would not pay excessive attention to the Campbell Family itself.

In all likelihood, this matter would remain buried at the bottom of the sea forever.

And that was exactly what happened. After hastily confirming that there had indeed been a shipwreck, both the kingdom and the legends could only express their regret for the Campbell Family.

Under the double blow of his family's bankruptcy and the loss of both parents, the original Dunn had rushed out to find work to support himself without noticing the information about the gold mine.

One reason the Blanchester Family had not silenced everyone aboard the Golden Tangerine was that they had lacked sufficient fighting strength aboard at the time. Acting afterward could have caused complications and attracted the legends' attention.

So they merely issued Owen and the others a stern warning, along with a large sum of hush money. Owen and the others also understood the gravity of the matter, so they had kept their mouths tightly shut.

Now this affair had actually come to light because of a sailor's drunken boasting, and it had happened to reach the current Dunn. Who knew whether they would regret not silencing everyone aboard the Golden Tangerine when Dunn came knocking at the Blanchester Family's door with a blade in hand in the future?

That was right. Dunn would definitely seek out the Blanchester Family in the future, but not because of the original owner's hatred. The original owner's lingering thoughts had completely dissipated when Owen died.

He would seek out the Blanchester Family because, through some unknown maneuvering, they had actually come to hold the Campbell Family's share of the gold mine on its behalf.

How could Dunn tolerate someone stealing his "gold mine"? Even a legend would covet such immense wealth.

The Blanchester who had orchestrated everything was named Langley Blanchester.

He was now the Blanchester Family's first in line to inherit, a Third-Tier Professional.