We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 206 Advancement to Fourth Tier! Hidden Class: [Deep Sea Devourer]

Under the illumination of countless stars, amidst the shouts of numerous pirates.

Shaen sat on the throne in the center of the Island of Ten Thousand Ships.

But the next moment.

The pirates' voices suddenly stopped, and the entire island fell silent in an instant.

Soon, the surroundings became so quiet...

People can even hear their own heartbeat and breathing.

The transition from extreme noise to extreme silence took only two or three seconds, which should have been an incredible thing, but none of the pirates cared about such a trivial matter.

Their attention was all drawn to a figure that appeared next to Xia En.

His snow-white beard, aged face, and slightly hunched figure no longer resembled his former heroic and upright self.

Strangely, he was wearing a crown he rarely wore today—a royal crown crafted by top artisans when the Pirate Kingdom was established.

But perhaps because he hadn't worn it for a long time, or perhaps because the king had grown old, the crown no longer seemed to fit him properly when it was placed on his head; it was even a little crooked.

However, none of the pirates present dared to underestimate him because of this.

Quite the opposite.

Almost everyone felt a fear that was even stronger than when they were facing Shane.

This awe comes from decades of rule, from that ever-charging figure, and from those victorious naval battles.

That was the true king of the Pirate Kingdom—

Augustine!

Upon seeing him, the pirates' hearts leaped into their throats.

In their view, Augustine would definitely take action against Shaun, who was attempting to usurp the throne, and then settle scores with the others later.

Moreover, judging from Augustine's condition, he was just a bit old and had not suffered any serious injuries.

In that case, wouldn't Xia En be doomed to lose?
Even though the pirates had witnessed Shaun's strength, their fear of Augustine was etched into their hearts.

They were extremely wary and cautious even of Augustine, who was suspected of being seriously injured.

They didn't even have the courage to challenge Augustine when he was at his peak.

Gray Cloud sighed, expressing his regret.

"This is it, John is probably going to be executed on the spot by Augustine."

He also didn't believe that Shane could survive Augustine's clutches.

But what happened next left everyone wide-eyed—

Facing Shaun sitting on the throne, Augustine not only did not get angry, but instead showed a gratified smile and spoke almost approvingly.

"You did a great job."

“When I was your age, I couldn’t do this much either.”

"You have proven your potential to me, even if it is still very faint, it is enough for me to place my hopes on the future."

As he said this, Augustine slowly removed the crown from his head.

The next moment, his tone suddenly became solemn and dignified.

"I, captain of the Black Sail Fleet and founder of the Pirate Kingdom, now, in the name of Augustine... crown you!"

"You will become the new king!"

"Please lead people toward the future you have described!"

For some reason, upon hearing these words, Xia En felt as if his heart had been struck a heavy blow, and he even felt a rare urge to shed tears.

He knew very well the old man's pride.

Shaen understood even more clearly that Augustine crowned him not for him alone, but for the future he spoke of, the future that would drive out the gods, and for the world to no longer be wantonly destroyed and ravaged.

Therefore, the old man was willing to set aside his pride and hand over the crown to him.

When the crown was placed on Shane's head, Shane suddenly felt as if the whole world had changed.

He seemed to hear many, many voices and sense many, many emotions.

These voices and emotions are so real, so intimate.

It was as if countless threads were passing through this crown and connecting him.

Those were the citizens of the Pirate Principality.

Their awe, envy, or even fear and jealousy all transformed into some invisible force, washing over Xia En's mind.

Fortunately, the impact lasted only for a very short moment.

Shaun composed himself, looked up, and met Augustine's eyes.

He suddenly understood what Augustine wanted to say—

If you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight!
The process of confronting the gods will inevitably be difficult, and this burden will certainly be very heavy.

Xia En thought to himself, "The future is bright, but the road is winding."

At this moment, Augustine suddenly laughed and said, "Indeed, you are even more outstanding than I expected."

"However, there is still one thing you haven't done perfectly."

Unable to contain her curiosity, Xia En asked, "What is it?"

“There are more than two apostles who have betrayed me.”

As Augustine spoke, he stretched out his large hand in a direction not far away.

In that direction, stand behind the wind and the third apostle, Tiffany.

The wind suddenly let out a terrified scream, and its body suddenly dispersed into countless blue hurricanes, escaping in all directions.

But in Augustine's hands, these hurricanes completely lost their previous sharpness and power, and were held in his hands like docile sheep.

Finally, it transformed back into its original form after the wind.

After a sudden attack, he vomited blood and became quite listless.

Moreover, her legs and arms were completely limp and powerless, clearly indicating that several bones were broken.

However, what Augustine really wanted to deal with was not the Queen of the Wind, but Tiffany, who stood beside her!
Under the crushing force of an invisible giant, the air around Tiffany suddenly contracted and became incredibly solid.

If it were a different Secret Path user, they would probably be crushed to pieces and die instantly.

However, there was a layer of psychic energy barrier around Tiffany, which firmly protected her from being crushed by the immense force.

However, this is different from the situation where the wind was instantly killed.

This layer of psychic energy barrier appeared extremely sturdy, barely matching Augustine's power.

This phenomenon immediately startled the other apostles.

This means that Tiffany has been hiding its true strength!

Moreover, he did not use his full strength when fighting Feng Hou!

Combined with Augustine's words, the identity of the last traitor is now clear.

However, the apostles could not understand why Tiffany, the third apostle, would betray Augustine.

Aren't there rumors that they had a relationship that went beyond friendship?

Gray Cloud, who was watching from the sidelines, was also greatly shocked: "Among the twelve apostles, there is actually a traitor?"

"Still Tiffany?"

He looked to his side, wanting the man in the white coat with the monocle to analyze the situation for him again.

But when I turned my head, the white coat had already disappeared.

"Where did he go?"

……

……

In the field.

Under immense pressure.

Tiffany remained unusually calm, only asking out of curiosity.

"When did you find out?"

"I should have never given myself away."

Augustine said calmly, "You did play Tiffany very well, but playing... is ultimately just playing."

Before the words were finished, the invisible hand tightened again.

Click!

A clear crack appeared in the barrier surrounding Tiffany.

Clearly, Augustine intended to crush the barrier along with Tiffany!

He can do that.

Because... he is Augustine!
But that's it.

A figure in a white coat suddenly appeared beside Tiffany.

The man said with a smile, "Lord Augustine, why are you so angry?"

“I think we can actually have a proper talk.” Upon seeing this man, Xia En’s pupils suddenly contracted.

The monocle, the researcher-like appearance... these distinctive features immediately reminded him of a man that the Sea Queen and Joey had mentioned.

A name came out without thinking.

"...[The Undertaker]!?"

Upon hearing this, the doctor in the white coat glanced at Xia En in surprise.

"You actually know this name?"

"However, it's just one of the names I've used."

"At least for this slice of history, I probably prefer the name 'Observer'."

Slices of history?
[Observer]?
Xia En frowned slightly, many questions arising in his mind.

But now is clearly not the time to get to the bottom of things.

Augustine, standing beside him, seemed to have anticipated the Observer's appearance, saying, "So it really did come out?"

"You worms that are gnawing on history!"

"Was the Tiffany that was replaced your anchor point for smuggling yourself here?"

The Observer grinned: "As expected of Augustine, even a replica of a projection shows such profound understanding of us."

Xia En's heart skipped a beat.

Won't this man's reckless revelation of the true nature of the promotion ceremony have any impact on other pirates?

Xia En turned to look at the others, only to be surprised to find...

The pirates looked completely bewildered, as if they hadn't heard a word the Observer was saying.

In fact, the words of this doctor in the white coat sounded like incomprehensible noise to them.

Or rather, it's a kind of shielding sound used to protect the personalities of these projections.

Only those who participate in the advancement trials can understand it.

Augustine clearly didn't want to waste any more words with the "Observer," and his large hand suddenly clenched.

Immediately afterwards, the space around the observer was completely sealed off and shattered.

This time, it's not from the air being squeezed.

Instead, this entire space was controlled by Augustine, transformed into a weapon beyond description, which attacked the Observer and Tiffany.

—Augustine's true mastery of power was the power of space!
Surprisingly...

Just as this destructive force was about to spread to the Observer's body, the air around him suddenly turned into...

A jumble of gibberish?
That's right, it's just gibberish!
Countless chaotic and indescribable strange characters kept emerging and intertwining.

The chaotic flow of light and shadow, like a mosaic, obscured the bodies of the [Observer] and Tiffany.

This also prevented the terrifying spatial power from penetrating the mosaic layer and truly harming the two.

This bizarre phenomenon was something even Xia En had never seen before.

Meanwhile, the voice of the "Observer" continued to echo from within the mosaic.

"Augustine, why bother?"

“We, the Truth Society, have always been very sincere towards you.”

The Truth Society!
Shane was not surprised by the name.

This incongruous scene could probably only be created by members of the Truth Society.

If we compare this promotion ceremony to a game instance, then the [Observer] in front of us is like someone who has encountered a bug in that instance.

It has entered a state of "invincibility" and is not affected by external attacks.

"Wait, smuggling..."

Shaun suddenly remembered a word that Augustine had mentioned before.

"Perhaps it's not a bug, but... an imported virus!"

According to Augustine, the [Will of the Secret Sea] is an extremely large, sophisticated, and absolutely rational machine.

Naturally, some people would think of using this machine to achieve some unique purpose.

"A worm gnawing at history..."

"Could it be that the purpose of the [Truth Society] is to collect data and information about real history from this advancement instance?"

"But why would they do that?"

Xia En felt a sudden headache.

To this day, he still doesn't know what kind of organization the Truth Society is.

They didn't understand what the "truth" they were pursuing was.

At this point, Augustine continued, "In my opinion, you are not much better than the apostles of the Fel Lord."

"The gods they worship are only for satisfying their own desires, and their behavior patterns are at least somewhat traceable."

"But the existence you believe in... is madness itself!"

"shut up!"

Within the mosaic, the Observer coldly said, "Augustine, are you forcing me to destroy this projection of yours?"

Augustine was not afraid at all: "Then come and try!"

"The Will of the Secret Sea should be arriving soon, right?"

The atmosphere instantly became tense, as if a mountain was pressing down on everyone's hearts.

Even a clash between two top experts, if it exists only in their minds, can send shivers down the spine of the weak.

But soon, the Observer smiled and said, "Fine, this time, you win."

"However, I didn't lose either."

He turned his head through the mosaic and looked at Shane.

“I finally remember, so... you were the one that woman chose.”

"No wonder it's so interesting."

"Don't worry, we'll see each other again soon!"

Just as the Observer was about to leave, Shane suddenly spoke up.

"[Observer], do you remember a siren named Diana?"

Upon hearing this name, the Observer's expression suddenly became uncertain, and he murmured.

"What a familiar name..."

"It's...it's someone I can't forget! But why can't I remember?"

"why why……"

In the process of trying to recall, the garbled code around the [Observer] erupted like an geyser, with chaotic light and shadow jumping and flowing wildly, and showing a tendency to intensify.

This anomaly clearly attracted the attention of the [Will of the Secret Sea].

Just the next moment.

A vast and magnificent consciousness thus descended.

Immediately afterwards, a bright light appeared before Xia En's eyes, engulfing everything around him.

Before being engulfed by the light, Shane saw Augustine smiling and waving at him.

At this moment, he no longer seemed like a pirate king, but a kind elder bidding farewell to his juniors.

He said softly, "The future is in your hands."

Then, beams of light quickly descended, revealing Xia En's settlement page for this advancement ceremony.

[Mission accomplished perfectly!]

[Complete the optional mission]

["Perfect Performance," "The Last Supper," "The Treasure Is Mine," "Famous Throughout the Land," "On the Throne!"]

[Hidden achievement achieved]

[The Serpent's Affection: Your actions and consciousness have conquered the Serpent, and it now regards you as its true master.]

[Destroyer of All Time: Caused over 30% damage to "Ship Island"!]

[Dominate the World: Perfectly complete the "Famous Throughout the World" mission, earning the respect and awe of all pirates on the island.]

[Legendary Apostle: Your performance is the best among all the apostles!]

[The King's Approval: Augustine personally crowns you!]

[Evaluation of this trial: Unprecedented!]

[Among the 23915 participants in similar trials over the past, you ranked first in the evaluation!]

[Promotion ceremony complete!]

[Hidden Path Job: Deep Sea Devourer (Tier 4)!]

(End of this chapter)