Ancient Pirate King

At this critical moment, Jaeger's energy finally ran out!

The enormous shock of escaping certain death left Dunn unable to react for a moment.

Only when a dark shape fell onto him did Dunn come to his senses. He let out a long breath and looked at the thing that had struck him before rolling off to one side.

What met his eyes was a shriveled, hideous face. It was Jaeger's head, all that remained of him.

Dunn froze briefly, then understood. Both Jaeger's shriveled body before his transformation and his excessive power afterward proved that what Jaeger had been consuming was no longer merely career energy, but his life.

Now that his energy had run out, it was only natural for his withered body to crumble into nothing.

Looking at the disgusting head, Dunn raised his arm, which he could now barely move, and slapped it hard. With its life energy exhausted, the head was now more fragile than sand and crumbled to powder in an instant.

Suddenly, a spectral blue apparition emerged and, before Dunn's shocked eyes, plunged into his body.

Dunn immediately lost consciousness.

When Dunn regained consciousness, he found himself in a pitch-black space, surrounded by emptiness. He could no longer feel any trace of the grievous injuries that had left him unable to move.

Had a long time passed, and had his injuries completely healed? Or...

Thinking of the spectral blue apparition he had seen before losing consciousness, Dunn's expression grew grave.

"Damn it, that shitty bastard's Career Ability actually had such a huge drawback. Power that doesn't come from your own training really is unreliable." A cursing voice abruptly rang out.

Dunn looked toward the voice and saw a spectral blue glow slowly gathering into a human shape.

"Who are you?" Dunn watched warily as the figure gradually took on a somewhat human form.

"Who am I? What an interesting question. You lot barged into my home without a care, and now you're asking who I am?" A faint sneer showed on the spectral blue apparition's face.

Hearing the apparition's answer, Dunn looked enlightened. "So you're that Ancient Pirate King?"

"Pirate King... now that's a title that brings back memories!" A trace of nostalgia appeared on the apparition's face.

"So what are you planning to do now? And where is this?" Having confirmed that the person before him was the owner of these ruins, that ancient Pirate King, Dunn asked in a low voice.

At the same time, he could not help feeling horrified. These ruins had existed for at least several thousand years, which meant this Pirate King had survived for at least a thousand years. That already exceeded the lifespans of many Legends.

An ordinary Legend only had a lifespan of a few hundred years. Even with all sorts of life-extending potions, pills, or natural treasures, they could only live for around a thousand years.

Yet this Pirate King, who was supposedly only at the fourth tier, had actually lived longer than many Legends.

"Where is this? Why, this is your... Consciousness Sea." Hearing Dunn's question, the Ancient Pirate King revealed a subtle expression.

My Consciousness Sea? Although he had already suspected as much, Dunn's heart still sank when the Ancient Pirate King gave him the answer. "So you're going to possess me?"

"Possess?" The Ancient Pirate King paused briefly, then understood what Dunn meant and laughed with delight. "What an apt word. Yes, I'm going to possess that body of yours."

Just as I thought. With the Ancient Pirate King's confirmation, Dunn felt a chill in his heart. At that moment, he bitterly regretted giving in to the urge to smack Jaeger's head earlier.

As though he could tell what Dunn was thinking, the Ancient Pirate King chuckled. "My choice wasn't a coincidence. Of everyone present, only your physique can contain my soul. The others are all too fragile."

As he watched the Pirate King explain everything in detail, Dunn's mind raced. He guessed that perhaps this Ancient Pirate King had not spoken for over a thousand years and therefore had a strong desire to express himself. He immediately prepared to have a "heart-to-heart" with the Pirate King to buy time and think of a way out of this predicament.

But before Dunn could put his plan into action, the Ancient Pirate King spoke. "All right, let's not waste time. I can hardly wait to have a body and properly experience this wonderful world."

At the Ancient Pirate King's words, Dunn's expression changed drastically, and he took a defensive stance. The next moment, the Ancient Pirate King waved his illusory arm, and Dunn was sent flying backward as though struck by a heavy blow.

Dunn felt that this blow was even stronger than the tentacles' attacks earlier. Strangely, however, apart from intense pain, his body suffered no damage. Only a few fragments of some unknown substance drifted away.

Although he did not quite understand what was happening, there was no time to think now. Whatever the case, taking a beating without fighting back was never a good thing.

Dunn got up, steadied his footing, and stared at the Ancient Pirate King with a grave look.

Seeing the Ancient Pirate King begin to raise his hand again, Dunn immediately focused all his attention, waiting for the instant the arm came down.

He activated Soru.

His feet stamped the ground dozens of times in an instant, and he vanished from the spot in a flash.

I dodged it! Dunn was delighted. If I can dodge, there's still a fight to be had.

The next moment, a tremendous force slammed into him and sent him flying once more, scattering fragments through the air.

At the same time, the Ancient Pirate King's voice rang out. "Stop struggling pointlessly. Battles in the Consciousness Sea depend primarily on will. Even that little sea monster who had already reached the third tier only managed to resist for so long because part of his will remained outside.

"You're merely at the second tier, with a will attribute that hasn't even reached 15 points. You have no chance of resisting me at all. In life, I had already attained transcendent will and was preparing to advance to Legend.

"Even after being worn down for all this time, I can still crush you with ease."

Dunn ignored the Ancient Pirate King's words. He kept getting up and charging at him, only to be sent flying again.

Gradually, as more and more fragments were knocked out of his body, a sense of weakness arose, and his thoughts, which had been racing in search of a way out, slowly grew hazy.

"Can you feel it? These fragments are your consciousness, your will, your soul. Once you've been completely smashed into these fragments, you'll perish entirely, and I'll have successfully possessed your body. Hahahaha!" Seeing Dunn visibly weaken, the Ancient Pirate King could not help growing excited. On a whim, he even gave Dunn a detailed explanation.