The infinite sword system has been mastered, and you say this is the dragon clan?

Chapter 439 That was fun! Plerati played it well!

"..."

Jason stared speechlessly at the flamboyant subtitles that floated around the Argo.

Before he arrived, he was secretly worried about this and that, but the other party actually took the initiative to show their true colors so openly, as if they were afraid that others would not notice that the words clearly contained the words "there is a conspiracy".

He waved his hand dismissively, "This thing looks fake at first glance. What domineering? I've never even heard of it."

What kind of contract grants you a spot in a powerful training course just by signing a contract? I've never heard of such a thing.

This contract is probably more like a contract of servitude.

It's not as good as his hospitable teacher, the centaur sage Chiron, or a Greek hero crash course.

Excellent reputation, guaranteed learning, a master teacher produces outstanding students, and his students make up half of the Argonautical heroes—do you understand the value of that? (shakes finger)
"One thing to say, one thing to say, indeed."

Medea, clutching her wand, looked around, a vague unease creeping into her heart. "And the surrounding environment... it feels like the magical energy emanating from it is very active, something's strange..."

Hercules' reaction was much simpler; he yelled at the subtitles and jumped up and down excitedly, clearly interested in becoming stronger.

"Hey! Hercules, you're right! Those people over there are fighting desperately, could that be the training for Haki?"

Katniss, also a member of the warlike group, was eager to try. She watched as swords flashed wildly in the distance, magic cannons bombarded the area, and massive demonic pillars were destroyed and disappeared every now and then. She could roughly judge with her naked eye that there were at least dozens of Servants in there, and the aura of each individual was definitely beyond that of ordinary Spirit Origin Servants!
"No, you really believe that!"

Jason was getting increasingly frustrated. Seriously, how could that shrew Katniss understand the roar of this berserk Hercules? What kind of encrypted communication are you two having?!
"Brothers, to be honest, instead of believing they can cultivate some kind of domineering aura, believe me, Jason, the reincarnation of Zeus, the king of the gods! Just give me 50 beautiful women and I can awaken on the spot and bestow upon you god-level protection..."

"Then I'll just twist your head off and use it as a ball!"

Katniss glared at her with an unfriendly tone, saying that because of her personal experiences in life, she had a very poor impression of those high and mighty gods, and especially hated Poseidon, who had bestowed upon her protection. These old acquaintances among the Argonauts were the only exceptions for her.

Medea, standing beside Jason, also tilted her head to look at him, her smile growing increasingly radiant and terrifying.

Jason had no doubt that if he continued talking, this madwoman would start plotting how to dismember herself, then hold his severed head on the ship and say, "That way, Lord Jason won't become a fickle scumbag, and we can be together forever..." Oh my god, how terrifying!
He chuckled sheepishly and lowered his head in apology, "Oh, it was just a joke, look at my loose tongue!"

He then kicked the bound-up Bartholomew, attempting to subtly divert attention from the crucial topic and everyone's focus on his domineering presence, "Hey! You're not behaving yourself, are you? This place isn't right, is it? How did you lead us here? Are you sure the key is here?"

Jason was subservient to his own people, but dealt a heavy blow to prisoners!

Bartholomew innocently lifted his head from inside the rice dumpling, his hair disheveled. "Excuse me, I've already repeated it three times, it's definitely here—"

"Speaking of your old territory, the Sea of ​​Abundance, to the 'Sea of ​​Tides,' isn't there only one way to get here—go straight from south to north? There aren't any turns in the middle, so how am I supposed to lead the way?"

You're still asking where the way is?
The road is right below the boat!
"Then explain what this Grand Line Championship is all about? And what about all those Servants over there, and those giant monsters covered in eyeballs?"

To this, Bartholomew gave a concise answer: "I don't know."

He was telling the truth; he genuinely didn't know. He was defeated by Emiya high in the West Blue, and then sent to provoke the Argonauts. After losing, Emiya made him lead the Argonauts to the North Blue...

As for the crucial intelligence, Bartholomew guessed that it would only be revealed after Jason's key was also taken and his mission was completed.

But this answer clearly did not satisfy Jason or the other Argonauts. Hercules let out a distinct growl, Castor and Pollux rubbed their blades until they gleamed, and the green-haired cat-eared Atalanta adjusted her bowstring, conjuring a beam of light that seemed to be aimed at the poor captive and about to be fired.

Bartholomew, barely managing to maintain his composure after being intimidated by the crowd: "..." Are you kidding me? You are the world-renowned heroes of the Argonauts, not cruel pirates! If this continues, I'll report you to the Red-Haired Sword Emperor for abusing prisoners!
His expression remained unchanged, but secretly he was trying to contact Emiya through that unequal contract.

Bartholomew was a little worried that these tough guys might chop him down with a single blow.

However, the words coming from the contract seemed inexplicable.

[Hehe, let them go wherever they want. If they're worried, they can turn back—if they can leave, I'll admit defeat.]

"?"

Something feels off about this casual yet malicious tone. Is it the redhead himself?
...Could someone else have answered this contractual call on my behalf?
[Don't doubt it, it was just someone else answering. He's busy—even if the supreme and benevolent Emperor of the Sea were available, he might not reply! The unfortunate, captured rookie pirate, Baron.]

"..."

"Your face suddenly looks terrible. Have you finally realized you're scared and have to back down?" Jason asked, his hands behind his back.

“No,” Bartholomew smiled bitterly, a sense of desperation and recklessness rising in his heart, “What I mean is, you can go wherever you want, and I’ll admit defeat if you can leave.”

Jason's smile faded: "?" Why the sudden change of expression? I still prefer the helpless look you had just given me.

Katniss wasn't so polite, pressing her gun against the pirate's face. "You brat, are you trying to provoke us? Come and have a go at me if you dare!"

“If you want to kill prisoners, you can just say so.”

Jason sarcastically remarked, "So you're just going to your death? Pirates have pretty high moral character, huh?"

"No, I'm more concerned about whether my death is graceful and cool enough, and whether a beautiful woman with long bangs covering her eyes will give me her final care..."

"Hey, where did all these strange and bizarre requests come from!"

“Wait a minute, everyone stop arguing. I checked and found that the flow of magic in the vicinity is abnormal,” Medea said, her tone unusually tense. “It feels like the ocean currents have been deliberately manipulated…”

"Treatment? Ocean current?"

"Ah, how should I put it? The water in this sea area is rich in a considerable amount of magic and special components. It seems to have a unique system of elemental power fluctuations that are different from those of the key. It's very complex and requires a long period of research—"

Katniss asked impatiently, "Simply put, what's the conclusion?"

Medea dipped her wand in the seawater, sensing the increasingly strange current. "The conclusion is—we're probably encountering some kind of spatial magic—"

Whoosh!
Before the words were even finished, everyone on the Argo felt a blur before their eyes, and their surroundings suddenly changed. The seascape where the demonic pillar monsters had been roaming disappeared, and their ship appeared on a vast, boundless island surrounded by a lush, primeval forest.

"Eh?"

"Hi! Surprise~" Plerati, dressed in a gothic dress, greeted the Argonauts with a smile that was three parts sweet and seven parts sinister.

"Welcome to the Pterodactyl Island, located between the North Sea and the West Sea! We're now offering you a free 24-hour 'Limited-Time Experience of Powerful Cultivation'! We wish you a pleasant cultivation journey!"

Seeing the crowd who had just recovered, Prierati clapped his hands, and another change occurred.

The vast, dense ancient forest suddenly seemed to come alive and rushed in at high speed, instantly blotting out the sky as if a "tree world had descended." The seawater began to surge restlessly, the rock layers on the shore directly lifted and cracked, and the entire Argo quickly lost its balance, about to fall into the rift between the rock layers and be submerged by the lush forest and the huge amount of seawater!
"not good!"

The Gemini goddess reacted the fastest. Polukles vaguely sensed something was amiss with such a fierce, heavenly attack, but due to the tense situation, she chose to save her companion immediately. She scooped up the slower-reacting magician, "Medea, over here!"

Castor, meanwhile, grabbed the Healer and sped away. The twins moved like beams of light, darting through the trees and sea. When the siblings landed and put the person down, they noticed Medea's expression was off.

"We've been tricked! That was an illusion!"

"What!" Castor turned around and found that the Argo and his other companions were all gone. And there was no rift valley, no living forest at all!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"This is hilarious, absolutely hilarious! The mighty heroes of Argonautica are being completely fooled!" Plerati burst into laughter, looking like a meditator in a state of deep meditation.

"...Don't go overboard. Using the spatial teleportation function of the ley lines for this?" Emiya, who was practicing 'Haki' with someone, said speechlessly. "We're not doing this to bully them."

Plerati curled his lip. "A bunch of old fogies from the old generation, of course we have to use some new-age technology to bully them a bit, otherwise how can we make these proud heroes come to terms with the facts?"

She could certainly see that the best option for Chaldea was to unite all forces that could be united, but winning over these Argonaut heroes and gaining their sincere respect was a skill in itself.

"So where's the key?"

“Look, that blonde one, Jason, has a ‘earth element’ authority key fused into his body. I think he’s probably much more useful than your maid named Xia Mi.”

As Prierati spoke, she used illusions to create 'surveillance footage' to spy on the Argonauts' training, which was ostensibly to find companions but was actually a constant stream of fights.

"No Rumi."

After finishing speaking, Emiya turned to look at Jason, who was tightly bound and looked bewildered, and at Bartholomew, who was standing next to him, having straightened his clothes and combed his hair.

The pirate baron looked quite pleased with himself; the situation had now reversed.

"Senior Jason, how are you feeling? Do you know fear and back down now, Senior Jason?"

Jason heard the exact same question and his eyes flashed with anger. "Get out."

Bartholomew was not annoyed. "Red-haired sir, I have brought him with me."

"what?"

Red-haired? Jason glanced at Emiya with disdain, thinking to himself, "Where did this pirate captain come from? He's not even half as good as my sworn brother Hercules."

Boom! Kamui erupted instantly, Conqueror's Haki surging into the sky, cracking the heavens!

"Oh, it's Lord Red-Haired!"

Jason, bound like a dumpling, immediately changed his expression from fear to a forced smile, saying, "I wonder what business you have with a nobody like me?"

Bartholomew made a sarcastic remark from the side, "Senior Jason, I actually prefer your previous unruly self."

"..."

Emiya, not bothering to care about their past conflicts, simply said, "Don't play dumb, Jason. You know I need to collect the keys."

"Ahem, well, I think we could collaborate. As the saying goes, a strong team makes for a strong team... Our Argo is full of talented and powerful people, with the valiant Hercules and Caenis, and the twins as swift as light..."

Emiya interrupted, saying, "You want to emphasize that your companions are all very strong and threatening? I think it's necessary to revise your perception of strength."

He had Plerati bring up the surveillance footage.

Jason was astonished to see Hercules encounter a white-haired spearman clad in golden armor and engulfed in flames. Before he could even get close, Hercules was burned to a high degree by the flames released by magic.
Katniss is having a gunfight with a man in a training suit, but his moves are so skillful that she is completely overwhelmed.

Atalanta encountered a black-skinned archer dressed in white, and her arrows were directly overwhelmed by the opponent's enormous "aurora swarm";
The twin gods, along with Medea, the goddess of healing, faced two colossal dragons, one black and one white. These dragons were incredibly fast and could unleash scorching torrents of breath, even instantly altering the environment and turning the surroundings into a blazing inferno. The twins, who were more adept at fighting humans, seemed to be struggling against these thick-skinned, regenerative giant monsters...

Jason fell silent for a long time before finally asking, "...Just who are you?"

Your group is quite influential and diverse; it's truly a gathering of wise and talented individuals!
"You'll know once you sign the contract. As for why, I think someone like you wouldn't have blindly believed some nonsense about finding a great treasure in this world."

Jason felt a little embarrassed. Damn it, he really was looking for the Golden Fleece for this—no, for that crazy woman Medea, and he even said it was for his own good.

"That thing is fake. Even a complete novice should know that there's no such thing as a free lunch. Since you know there are multiple keys, you should guess that the person behind it is urging us to compete with each other."

"so what?"

Jason's attention remained focused on the "surveillance footage," and he was somewhat concerned about his companion. "By the way, you have a red-haired spearman over there, who probably can't handle Katniss."

As they were talking, the red-haired lancer Li Shuwen in the scene was directly shoved away by Katniss's fierce strength. Then, the latter began to use divine power to swing the lance shaft without any martial ethics, summoning a huge amount of seawater to drown her opponent!

"No rush. Just wait," Emiya said calmly.

When the time is right, the effects of Ascension will soon become apparent.

Then you'll realize that times have changed.

A new era has arrived where... no, it's where skill level determines everything.

(End of this chapter)