After going into the sea, I met the witch.

This feeling……

“You must be ‘One-Eyed’ Santas.” The leading black knight spoke up: “The leaders of three second-tier pirate groups have gathered together. This is a perfect opportunity to wipe you all out in one fell swoop.”

Upon hearing this, "One-Eyed" Santas, "Blood Demon" Leroy, and "Iron Eagle" Vradica's expressions changed slightly. Before they could say anything, the Black Knight continued:

"However, the task of eliminating pirates is the responsibility of the Royal Navy and has nothing to do with us Black Knights."

"Now, I'm giving you two choices."

"First, cooperate with us to find the Empire's wanted criminal, the Blood Child, 'Dark Moon Witch' Freyne. Once we capture her, we will leave. As for the Moon Wolves of the Whirlpool Islands and the so-called treasure, we care nothing for them."

"Secondly, you will die here now!"

As the last word fell, a terrifying and surging spirituality rose from the Black Knight's body.

Instinctively, the spirituality within "One-Eyed" Santas, "Blood Demon" Leroy, and "Iron Eagle" Vladika surged, attempting to resist it.

Even with the combined strength of the three, they still appeared weak in the face of the Black Knight's spirituality, and after a brief stalemate, they were directly suppressed.

"cough."

The three of them groaned simultaneously, and when they saw the Black Knight pull back his hood to reveal a mask with a pale gold number "12" on his forehead, their eyes widened in horror.

"The Black Knight of Seats, the twelfth seat?!"

Santas felt bitter inside.

What kind of monsters have the Whirlpool Islands attracted?!

Moreover, judging from what this person said, his purpose in coming here was for "Dark Moon Witch" Freyne... If he weren't under the curse mark, Santas would definitely not hesitate at all and would directly tell everyone that he had seen "Dark Moon Witch," but now...

He was under the control of the Dark Moon Witch, and if anything happened to her, he estimated that his life would be in danger as well.

"This means I'm being asked to be a double agent... no, to be precise, to become an undercover agent for the Dark Moon Witch..."

Santas sighed inwardly.

"I... I agree..."

The spiritual pressure was mounting, and sensing the undisguised killing intent in the eyes of the Black Knights, "Iron Eagle" Vladika spoke in a hoarse voice.

With him taking the lead, "One-Eyed" Santas and "Blood Demon" Leroy also agreed to cooperate.

"Very good." The Black Knight nodded in satisfaction: "Don't worry, I won't make things too difficult for you, as long as you cooperate obediently."

"Now, send your pirates to scatter and gather information about 'Dark Moon Witch' Freyne."

"Number One and Number Two, you will accompany Mr. One-Eyed and Mr. Blood Demon respectively. As for Mr. Iron Eagle, I will personally accompany him."

"I hope we can have a pleasant collaboration during this period."

Santas wore an expression of "resentment but having no choice but to submit," understanding that this so-called "accompaniment" was actually "surveillance."

"We need to find an opportunity to pass the intelligence over."

Santas thought to himself.

Chapter 82 Special Spiritual Madness Moonlight

【Black Rose】, Captain's cabin.

Ryan, Freyne, and Cecilia exchanged glances, and for a moment, the atmosphere became somewhat tense.

"Santas has sent a message."

"An uninvited guest has arrived at the Whirlpool Islands."

"Three Black Knights, one of whom is the twelfth ranked Black Knight."

For once, a serious look appeared in Freyne's voice.

"How strong is the Black Knight of the Seat?"

Ryan said in a deep voice.

He had already witnessed the Black Knight's strength before. Although he was strong, with him and Freya working together, there shouldn't be any major problems. However, the strength of this so-called "Secondary Black Knight" was beyond his comprehension.

“…” Freyne paused for a moment: “The structure of the Black Knights is very simple: ordinary members, and thirteen Black Knights who lead the ordinary members.”

"Generally speaking, Black Knights operate alone. Only when led by a Seat Black Knight is it possible for several to act simultaneously."

"The Thirteen Seats of the Black Knights are all selected from the Black Knights; they are the elite of the elite."

"The last three seats, namely the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth seats, can only be held by 'second-tier limit professionals'. They advance to the second tier with 100% compatibility when they are in the first tier, and their strength is much stronger than that of ordinary second-tier professionals."

"Moreover, since the 'Despicable Ones' came to power, the Black Knights have implemented a completely new reform. They have added 'Demon-Suppressing Stones' to their class system, which greatly weakens my magic when I face them."

"Unless I can advance to the second tier, I have almost no chance of winning against a Black Knight."

“Despicable one…” Ryan was drawn to this title; it was the second time he had heard it from Freyne. Seeing that Freyne offered no explanation, he didn't ask, and instead said:

"The Black Knight has now appeared on the Whirlpool Islands. Fortunately, we left 'One-Eyed' Santas behind as a covert agent, which is why we received the news in time."

"But this means that the potion material for your second-tier advancement—the withered star vine, a plant-like monster that inhabits the western outskirts of the Mingjin Forest—will have to be collected by me alone."

"Given the current situation, you definitely cannot go ashore again before advancing to the second tier."

Freyne remained silent.

Although she knew that after her last encounter with the Black Knights, the Black Knights would follow in her footsteps and hunt her down, she did not expect that the Black Knights would arrive so quickly.

To deal with her, who was only at the first rank, they even deployed a seated Black Knight and two ordinary Black Knights.

"Lady Freyne, Mr. Ryan..."

At this moment, the knight girl, who had been silent until now, spoke up.

"let's go."

"Leaving the Whirlpool Islands will allow us to directly avoid the Black Knights' pursuit."

"I believe that given Lady Freyne ample time, the Black Knights will ultimately be no threat."

The girl's voice remained as cold and aloof as ever.

But before she could finish speaking, Freya immediately rejected her: "Cecilia, don't say things like that again."

“I hate trading my partner’s sacrifice for so-called ‘safety’.”

"The fact that the Black Knights were able to track us here means that they possess some kind of tracking method that we are unaware of."

"Although it's unclear why they didn't come directly to us, but instead gathered information through the pirates."

"But simply running away won't solve anything fundamentally."

"The main ingredient of the 'Scholar's Path' Tier 2 potion is extremely rare, and there are very few substitutes. It's already quite difficult to find it here in the Whirlpool Islands. If you miss it here, who knows when you'll encounter it again."

"We have no way out."

"We must deal with the Black Knights' pursuers in the Whirlpool Islands, obtain the Moon Wolf Blood Source, and then sail into the Inner Sea. Once we get there, it won't be so easy for the Black Knights to catch up with us."

Freyne's tone was somewhat agitated.

Cecilia was silent for several seconds before whispering, "I'm sorry, Lady Freyne..."

"Phew..." Freyne exhaled softly, "I was a little too emotional."

She turned to look at Ryan and bowed deeply: "Mr. Ryan, as you said, I really cannot go ashore before advancing to the second tier."

"I'm entrusting the task of collecting 'Withered Star Vine' to you."

After witnessing Ryan's battle with "One-Eyed" Santas, Freyne made a preliminary assessment of Ryan's strength—he was able to contend with a typical second-tier elite professional as a first-tier individual, and even had a chance of victory if he suddenly unleashed a powerful attack.

Such strength is enough to protect oneself in the Whirlpool Islands without revealing one's identity.

Although she didn't understand how Mr. Ryan, who had only recently become a first-tier professional, had managed to do this, Freya didn't intend to ask further.

Everyone has their own secrets.

All she could do was trust her partner and offer her full support.

“You’re too kind.” Ryan smiled. “There’s no time to lose. I’ll take a small boat ashore alone later and try to complete the hunt for the ‘Withered Star Vine’ today.”

"Thank you for your trouble." Freyne nodded. "I'll go and prepare the 'Mind-Clearing Potion.' Take it with you. Although, according to the intelligence, there shouldn't be any strange, 'out-of-control' forces on the outskirts of the Golden Forest, it's better to be safe than sorry."

“Okay.” Ryan nodded slightly and glanced at Cecilia, who had her head down. “Then, I’ll go outside to train.”

"Okay, I'll call you."

As Ryan left, in the captain's cabin, Cecilia looked up, wanting to say something, but all she saw was Freyne's retreating figure as she walked towards the cubicle.

She pursed her lips, but ultimately remained silent.

……

Before we knew it, dusk had fallen.

A figure in a hooded robe appeared on the western edge of Mingjin Island.

After mooring the small boat, Ryan looked up and gazed at the distant mountains.

As the central island of the Whirlpool Five Islands, there is a dormant volcano at the center of Norikin Island. Norikin Forest is a large forest that exists around the volcano.

Ryan's purpose in this trip was to find the withered star vine, a plant monster that inhabits the outer area of ​​the Golden Forest.

Compared to animal-type monsters, plant-type monsters have a stronger sense of territory and rarely leave their territory, which makes it easier for Ryan to find them.

Following the map's directions, Ryan entered the Forest of Sounding Gold and soon arrived at the territory of the Withered Star Vine, where he began to search silently.

Because of the coordinated retreat of the three major pirate groups, few pirates continued to explore the Forest of Sounding Gold during this period. The few that did come were small pirate groups whose strength was unknown.

The quiet, dense forest at dusk had a somewhat eerie feel to it.

Ryan walked slowly, his right hand gripping the hilt of the greatsword behind him, ready to defend against any possible attack.

"rustle……"

A gentle breeze rustled through the trees, making the branches and leaves sway softly.

Ryan frowned. There was a faint, indescribable smell in the air that made him feel uneasy.

As he walked to a certain spot, his eyes suddenly narrowed.

A gray-text message appeared on a vine hanging from a nearby tree.

[Withered Star Vine: A plant-based monster that enjoys bathing in starlight at night, absorbing the spiritual energy within to strengthen itself. During the day, it prefers to disguise itself as an ordinary vine. Influenced by the "Special Spirituality - Frenzied Moonlight," this Withered Star Vine has begun to consume the blood of living beings, becoming extremely agitated and significantly increasing its danger.]