Jaeger?

Supernatural power... unexpected...

Astor's judgment undoubtedly pointed to [Angry Whale] Jaeger as the killer.

But why would Jaeger abruptly slaughter his own men? And why had he been trapped here for months?

Most importantly, where was Jaeger now?

"Impossible! The captain would never do this!" Elvin reacted immediately upon hearing Astor's conclusion, roaring as though he had gone mad. His voice echoed through the entire empty hall.

"Damn it, shut up!" Grant immediately punched Elvin in the face, knocking him to the ground. Several pirates rushed forward to restrain the crazed Elvin.

Everyone else immediately looked around warily.

At this moment, no matter what they would face next, Elvin's actions would undoubtedly alert this person and cost them the initiative.

Only after a long while, once they had confirmed that nothing had happened, did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

"Wait, there seems to be something beneath that chair." The sharp-eyed Engel suddenly spotted what seemed to be something beneath the stone chair at the far end of the hall and immediately alerted the others.

The stone chair directly faced the entrance to the hall, with the raised platform holding the purple orb between them. From the doorway, they could only see the stone chair opposite them, not what lay beneath it.

Now that they had entered the hall to examine the bodies, their angle had changed, allowing them to see a little of what lay beneath the stone chair.

Hearing Engels, Dunn immediately looked in that direction. At the edge of his view, blocked by the raised platform, was a spot the orb's light did not reach because of the platform's obstruction. He could only dimly make out a dark shape that seemed to be a person.

They slowly took a few steps forward to adjust their angle and finally saw the dark figure in full.

It was a thin man, his head hanging low as he knelt in a posture of worship directly facing the corpse on the stone chair.

"Is that... Jaeger?" Grant asked uncertainly.

Grant could hardly be blamed for not recognizing him. After all, the Jaeger he remembered had been a powerfully built man, while the Jaeger kneeling on the ground now was almost as withered as the corpse on the stone chair. Had they not faintly seen the man's chest rising and falling slightly, proving he was still alive, they would almost have mistaken him for a corpse.

"What? That's [Angry Whale] Jaeger?" The pirates were shocked as well. Though they had never met him, practically everyone present had spent years roaming the waters near Cutlass Harbor.

As the newest Great Pirate in the waters near Cutlass Harbor to reach tier three, [Angry Whale] had become a name everyone in the area had heard repeatedly over the past year.

None of them could connect the high-spirited man they had so often heard news of over the past year with the man before them, who seemed like a candle guttering in the wind and was no different from a corpse.

"Captain!" Taking advantage of everyone's momentary shock, Elvin suddenly broke free of the pirates restraining him and charged toward Jaeger.

By the time the others reacted, it was already too late to stop him.

But none of them intended to stop him anyway. Jaeger's strange condition filled them with doubts, and this was a perfect opportunity to let Elvin go over and test just what state Jaeger was in.

"What's that sound?"

One of Feishman's pirates suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. Dunn joined the others in looking at the pirate.

"What's wrong?" Seeing that it was one of his own men, Feishman immediately asked.

"Didn't you hear it? It sounds like someone speaking quietly."

"I think I heard it too."

"Me too!"

As soon as Feishman's man offered that explanation, several more pirates spoke up, saying they had heard the sound as well.

"I... heard it too," Grant said, his face ashen. At this point, everyone realized that something was not quite right.

Dunn frowned slightly and looked around. Those who had heard the sound were all [Navigators] from the various ships, along with Grant, the [Beast Speaker]-essentially all professions with high perception.

Dunn turned to Green. As a guard trained by Annie's family, Green also possessed the supernatural knowledge Annie had studied. His store of knowledge might even exceed hers; after all, he had lived a dozen or so years longer than Annie.

Meeting Dunn's questioning gaze, Green shook his head slightly, indicating that he did not understand the current situation either.

Elvin ignored the commotion among the pirates behind him and ran straight toward his captain at full speed. To Elvin, the safest place at this moment was undoubtedly by his captain's side.

As for the companions supposedly killed by the captain, that was only speculation, after all. It did not necessarily mean the captain had done it. Even if, for the sake of argument, the captain really had killed them, it must have been because they had betrayed him.

But he was different. He was the captain's Disciple, the only person among the sinister, cunning pirates who could be trusted.

Just as the captain had entrusted his "lifeline" to him.

With no one stopping him, Elvin soon reached Jaeger. Looking at his captain, who resembled a dried corpse, Elvin stopped and called softly, "Captain, Captain..."

At the same time, he slowly extended his bound hands, intending to pat Jaeger.

The moment Elvin's hands touched Jaeger's body, Jaeger, who had remained silent and motionless as a dead man, suddenly moved.

A shriveled hand gripped Elvin's wrist. Though that hand looked so withered that a gust of wind could snap it, Elvin felt as though he had been caught firmly in a pair of iron pincers.

But Elvin had no time to care about that. Overjoyed, he simply looked at his captain, who had finally stirred. "Captain, you're all right! Thank goodness."

"I was wondering how he could hold out for so long. So there was still one that slipped through the net." Jaeger finally spoke. Probably because he had not spoken for several months, his voice was unusually hoarse, sounding even more sinister than Astor's.

"Captain, what do you mean..." Hearing Jaeger's words, Elvin finally realized that something was wrong.

Squelch!

Before Elvin could think it through, a sudden, searing pain tore through his body. Jaeger's other withered arm had plunged into him. Then the arm withdrew, revealing a tentacle struggling desperately in that shriveled hand.

In the final moments of his life, Elvin saw Jaeger slowly open his eyes. Those eyes were no longer the steadfast blue of Jaeger's memories, but golden vertical pupils that revealed cruelty, greed, and indifference, like those of a wild beast.

Was this... really still the captain?

With that final question, Elvin's consciousness sank into darkness.