Chapter 178: Behind the Mask

Chapter 178: Behind the Mask

One awkward, difficult, piercing word after another, entirely incomprehensible, slowly came from Klein’s mouth. The hurricane created by the bronze doors’ terrifying suction immediately grew quiet, and the already dim surroundings became even deeper and darker.

Only then did he understand that the Beyonder ability Admiral of Hell Ludwell had just used was called Words of the Dead. It could directly bypass the protection of flesh and blood, targeting the spirit body.

It belonged to an advanced form of the Spirit Medium’s ability, elevating direct communication between spirits into a kind of command—even a kind of enslavement!

The language that living beings could not understand echoed over the front deck. Admiral of Hell Ludwell inevitably froze in place. A transparent layer swiftly surfaced over his pirate-captain attire.

His spirit was being pulled out by an illusory force!

At that moment, the square, black, heavy-looking ring on Ludwell’s left index finger shone with faint spectral light.

The spirit that had been forcibly dragged out by a small amount immediately returned to his body. The two merged into one again.

Clang!

Ludwell drew the thin rapier hanging from his waist with his right hand.

Its entire body was iron-black, and its tip gathered the surrounding light into a single dark point.

The Admiral of Hell suddenly stepped forward, carrying a violent gust of wind as he closed the distance between them. The rapier in his hand then stabbed out, swift as lightning!

The bronze doors covered in mysterious patterns still stood where they had first appeared. They had not vanished because Ludwell had withdrawn his left palm and begun moving. That was different from the similar ability Klein had once witnessed from Miss Sharron, which had relied on a mystical item.

Pfft!

The dark rapier pierced Klein with a momentum impossible to dodge.

Klein’s figure quickly shriveled, turning into a thin sheet of paper. Its surface was yellowed and brittle, as though it had weathered for ten thousand years.

The hurricane brought by the bronze doors swept over it, and the paper figurine shattered completely.

In midair, Klein leaped out from the darkness, a handful of charms from the Sea God’s domain already gripped in his palm.

“Storm!”

The urgent and awkward ancient Hermes word burst forth. Pieces of white tin burned one after another, sacrificing themselves to the Sea God. In other words, as long as Klein was willing, he could retrieve most of the material and cycle it repeatedly until the metals could no longer withstand the spirituality.

Woo!

Cyan wind blades shot out. Heavy waves as tall as the cabins rose from the sea around them. Because Klein had not tried—and had no time—to distinguish the types of charms, these attacks covered Ludwell while corresponding supernatural effects also appeared upon the Admiral of Hell. Underwater breathing, free movement, levitating wind, resistance to pressure, and other currently useless influences stacked layer after layer upon him.

Ludwell abruptly opened his mouth and unleashed a silent scream. The waves about to strike him and the countless wind blades briefly froze in midair.

Then this Admiral of Hell raised his left hand. The square black ring on his index finger emitted an eerie, sinister radiance, instantly brightening.

Woo!

The bronze doors, filled with an indescribable feeling, expanded at once, growing twice as tall and twice as wide.

Amid a heavy creaking sound, the crack opened even wider. The already terrifying suction immediately climbed to an unimaginable level.

The cyan wind blades, the black waves, and Klein in midair surged toward the doors at the same time, throwing themselves toward the strange vines and arms slowly unfurling.

Klein was just about to drive the Priest of Light’s soul and use Holy Light to clash with the bronze doors head-on, buying himself a moment to breathe, when he saw a blazing-white fireball half the size of a person fly over from another direction.

The fireball’s own speed stacked with the exaggerated suction from the doors. It passed not far beside Klein and slammed into the crack of the mysterious doors.

Boom!

Blazing-white flames splashed outward, raining down across different areas. Yet they only made the double bronze doors shake a few times and dim somewhat.

Klein seized the chance and snapped his fingers.

Several matches stored separately in his pockets ignited at once. Crimson waves of flame rapidly covered his body, dissolving and melting him away.

A burst of flame rose beside the bronze doors. Klein leaped out from within.

At a glance, he saw Anderson Hood floating in midair in a somewhat awkward posture, gripping a blazing-white spear in his hand.

The Strongest Hunter had finally arrived. He merely looked rather unused to flying.

Admiral of Hell Ludwell raised his head and saw this scene. The pale flames in the eye holes of his silver-white mask visibly jumped twice.

Clearly, he had never expected that, aboard the Future, aside from Admiral of Stars Cattleya, there would be two pirate admiral-level powerhouses, and that both carried rather good mystical items or Sealed Artifacts.

At that moment, Ludwell abruptly raised his hand and pressed it to his own face. Unexpectedly, he removed the silver-white mask.

Deep, pale light immediately surged from behind the mask, causing the black ring on Ludwell’s left index finger to expand with endless deathly silence.

That deathly silence poured into the bronze doors, pushing them away from the deck and into midair.

The doors covered in mysterious patterns fused with endless deathly silence, rapidly expanding to more than thirty meters tall.

With the sea surface as their base, they stood there like a connection to another world, one different from the current world.

Clang!

The bronze doors abruptly swung open. Indescribable darkness surged out, wrapping around the front deck of the Black Tulip.

Seeing this, Klein had no time to attack. He hurriedly took out the correct charm and rapidly used it on himself.

A wild wind swept over, pushing him away from the space above the Black Tulip.

Drawn by the darkness, the enormous sailing ship advanced into the bronze doors ten meters by ten meters, sailing toward another world.

Admiral of Hell Ludwell stood at the bow, gazing up into the air. His face was covered in pale light, making his specific appearance impossible to see.

His gaze first swept over Klein, then landed on Anderson Hood, as if trying to remember the two hunters. Yet he made no further attempt to attack, seemingly limited by the darkness around him.

Anderson froze for a moment. Then, without hesitation, he hurled the blazing-white flame spear in his hand.

The spear flew straight toward Ludwell, but the moment it entered the region enveloped by darkness and deathly silence, it vanished without a sound.

Ludwell is preparing to flee? How decisive… Klein was first stunned. Then he remembered that Azik’s copper whistle was still on the Black Tulip.

Seeing that the gigantic sailing ship had nearly passed halfway through the bronze doors into another world, while he had no way to stop it, Klein threw out a match and snapped his fingers.

On the rear deck, now within fifty meters, beside the Azik copper whistle that had repeatedly changed hands among the undead creatures tearing and biting at one another, the match tied together with it suddenly lit up and produced crimson flames.

Within the flames, Klein’s figure appeared there. He stretched out and grabbed Azik’s copper whistle.

This was the preparation he had made to retrieve the whistle!

Moreover, to guard against unexpected situations—such as the match being tugged off by undead creatures—he had even coated the surface of the copper whistle with a layer of flammable Sun essential oil.

Snap!

Surrounded by countless undead, Klein had no time at all to pull back the hand gripping the copper whistle. He immediately snapped his fingers once again.

At that moment, one transparent, rotting, pale, or illusory hand after another had already grabbed onto his body!

The match Klein had thrown earlier ignited in midair, sending up a surge of flame.

His figure soon emerged within that firelight, but his face was blue, his lips white.

Having been grabbed by countless shadows, wraiths, and other undead creatures, Klein now felt cold from the depths of his spirit body. He could not control his body. With a splash, he fell into the sea, which had already regained its golden light.

—As the Black Tulip had basically passed through the bronze doors, the sea surface that had earlier resembled the entrance to hell had returned to normal.

Klein sank several meters, swallowed a mouthful of bitter, astringent seawater, and finally recovered.

Good thing I prepared thoroughly… As that thought flashed through his mind, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

Wearing the Murloc Cufflink, he should have ten minutes of passive underwater breathing. He should not have choked on water!

Klein abruptly turned his head and looked at his wrist. He saw that the azure cufflink had separated from his clothing at some unknown point.

Lost… Lost because of the Fire Seed glove… I was on the Black Tulip just now… Klein flailed a few times and surfaced, just in time to see the tail of the enormous sailing ship merge into the darkness as the bronze doors slowly closed.

Instinctively, he swam forward a few meters, then finally stopped. From his remaining charms, he selected one and added the Beyonder effect of underwater breathing to himself.

In midair, Anderson Hood watched this scene and secretly clicked his tongue.

“This fellow is truly mad…

“He actually still wanted to chase and kill him!”

At that moment, starlight fell from the Future, condensing into a long bridge that extended over.

Admiral of Stars Cattleya had finally dealt with the earlier gray-black monster possessing tenacious vitality!

What a pity. If Admiral of Hell had hesitated just a bit longer and not fled so decisively, that would have been perfect… Anderson sighed silently and landed steadily on the starlight bridge.

Seeing Gehrman Sparrow fly over, he was just about to greet him and praise him a few times, when he saw an icy, silent face.

Anderson instinctively moved aside, chuckled dryly twice, and let Gehrman Sparrow pass him.

When Klein returned to the Future along the starlight bridge, he had already reined in his various emotions. He saw Frank Lee approach and give him a thumbs up.

“You are the craziest fellow I have ever seen in my life so far!

“You actually dared to board the Black Tulip alone, challenge Admiral of Hell one-on-one, and come back alive!”

Sorry. When it comes to madness, I’m still nowhere near you… Klein silently replied.

At that moment, many pirates with long hair or fluffy hair also expressed their shock and admiration one after another.

In that atmosphere, Klein closed his eyes briefly and felt that the Faceless potion had completely digested.