After going into the sea, I met the witch.

"With this incantation, your life and death are entirely in my hands."

"This incident was entirely caused by your own attack, so you have no one else to blame."

Santas kept his head down and remained silent.

At this moment, he finally remembered the identity of the girl in front of him.

The kingdom is on the run for the Bloodthirsty Child, the Dark Moon Witch, Freyne.

The kingdom's wanted posters were sent out far and wide. He felt that the person looked somewhat familiar during the previous battle, but he just couldn't remember where he was.

“But I can give you a chance to redeem yourself. If you do well, I will give you your freedom.” Frey’s voice reached Santas’ ears, and he looked up in surprise.

Among pirates, it's a dog-eat-dog world. As a loser, he was lucky to have survived. He never expected that he would have the chance to regain his freedom.

"What I need you to do is very simple."

“I will let you go back, and you will serve as my ‘hidden hand,’ providing real-time intelligence on the Whirlpool Islands, including the main movements of the other two second-tier pirate groups, as well as any suspicious matters.”

"Cooperate with us when necessary."

"Once the Moon Wolf incident is over, I will grant you your freedom."

"how?"

Upon hearing this, Santas nodded without hesitation: "I agree."

Santas is well aware of his current situation.

As a prisoner, he had no bargaining power whatsoever. Even if the Dark Moon Witch might break her promise, he had no choice.

"Wise choice."

Freyne nodded in satisfaction and turned her gaze to the alchemist wearing a bronze mask beside her: "Twilight, right? During this time, you will travel with Santas to avoid arousing suspicion from other pirate crews. However, you must let me plant a curse mark on you."

The alchemist "Twilight" didn't speak, but simply nodded silently.

She was self-aware enough to know that if she wanted to survive, she had no choice but to obey.

Frey raised her hand and pointed at "Twilight," after which the bronze mask on her face fell away, revealing a pale and soft face.

It turned out to be a woman who was around twenty years old.

Soon, a dark blue curse mark took shape between Twilight's eyebrows.

After completing the spell seal, Twilight silently picked up the bronze mask and put it on.

"Now, tell me all the information you have about your exploration of the Forest of Sounding Gold."

Frey looked at Santas, who, without hesitation, began to speak.

after a while.

Santas and Twilight left the captain's cabin.

Frey sat in her chair, deep in thought: "So that's how it is... inexplicable loss of control, the calming potion..."

Ryan, standing to the side, also had a serious expression on his face.

This inexplicable loss of control will severely hinder their exploration of the Forest of Roaring Gold.

Fortunately, a solution has been found.

The recipe for the Refreshing Potion has been obtained from Twilight.

With Freya's potion-making skills, which are already at the second-tier professional level, making a refreshing potion is a piece of cake.

The room was quiet for a long time. Then, Ryan looked at Freyne:

"Lady Freyne, I have a question I'd like to ask you."

"Why do I feel that 'One-Eyed' Santas's strength is a bit... weak?"

"You mean this?" Freyne snapped out of her reverie and smiled. "That brings us to the theory of order limits."

"Professionals don't need to reach 100% to advance in their careers. As long as they reach the minimum of 50%, they can try to advance."

"The success rate of advancement under this level of compatibility is not high, and the spirituality after advancement is also relatively weak."

"But this is how most professionals get promoted. After all, once the compatibility reaches 50%, it becomes very difficult to advance further."

"Professionals who can achieve 100% compatibility advancement are also known as 'rank-limit professionals'."

“I see…” Ryan nodded knowingly, but a question arose in his mind.

I wonder how much the "+0.5 spirituality" increase from my travel clone would translate to in terms of compatibility?

-

(It's almost the end of the month, so I'm asking for your monthly votes!)

Daily book recommendation: *Hogwarts: The Undercover Death Eater Replaces the Dark Lord*

The following is a brief introduction

There are three rules for being an undercover agent:

First, never act on impulse!

Second, absolutely achieve the mission objectives!

Third, you must never fall in love!

Lycos couldn't do any of this.

As soon as he traveled to Hogwarts, he found himself an undercover agent planted by the Death Eaters in Hogwarts.

When he finally gained Voldemort's trust, a group of people suddenly came to tell Lycos that he was actually a secret agent planted by Grindelwald's witch party next to Voldemort.

Lycos: “…”

He finally realized that being an undercover agent had no future.

Magic is power, and there is nothing that a killing curse cannot solve.

If so, two shots!

Chapter 81 The Black Riders Attack!

[One-Eyed], on the deck.

"One-Eyed" Santas was expressionless, but the oppressive atmosphere surrounding him made people afraid to approach him.

In fact, the other members of the One-Eyed Pirates were also in a very bad mood at the moment.

Because they too were marked with a curse.

As he gazed at the approaching East 4 Islands, Santas felt a complex mix of emotions.

Who would have thought that a seemingly ordinary sea monster hunting trip would turn him into someone else's "puppet," with his life and death out of his control?

He wanted to rebel, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find the source of the curse mark. However, the shadow of the curse mark was real and unmistakably looming over his heart, making him feel a sense of dread every time he felt it.

"Is this the forbidden power that is rumored to belong exclusively to the sea witch...?"

"Ugh……"

With a sigh, he glanced at the alchemist Twilight beside him. Although he couldn't see the other's expression through the bronze mask, for some reason, he felt that Twilight's emotions were very stable, as if he didn't care too much about his life and death being in the hands of others.

Santas sighed again and stopped thinking about it.

Since things have come to this, there's no point in thinking about it anymore. Since the Dark Moon Witch's goal is only the Moon Wolf and the treasure, I'll just cooperate.

At best, it's just a waste of time.

But being able to save his life is already a stroke of luck.

In Santas's silence, the "One-Eyed" quickly docked.

He had barely sat down back at his post and hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath when he received an urgent report from his subordinates.

"What? You're saying three Black Knights have landed on the island?"

"Currently in a standoff with the Blood Demon Pirates on Tide Island?"

Upon hearing this news, Santas's eyes widened.

The name of the Black Knight is known to everyone in the world of professionals.

This pack of "hyenas" belonging to the Augustan royal family was known for their coldness, cruelty, and ruthlessness in achieving their goals.

Are they also here for the moon wolf and the treasure?

At that moment, Santas's mind was racing.

The Black Knights who travel to various places are at least second-tier elites in strength, and three Black Knights mean three professionals who are at least second-tier elites in strength.

The addition of such a force will instantly shatter the original balance of the Whirlpool Islands. No pirate crew, not even the strongest Iron Eagle Pirate Crew, will be a match for the three Black Knights.

Unless the three pirate crews join forces, there is only a slight chance.

What Santas couldn't understand was why the three Black Knights, as an official armed force, were in a naturally hostile position to the pirates.

After encountering the Dark Moon Witch, he actually didn't want to get involved in the affairs of the Whirlpool Islands anymore.

Santas increasingly felt that this "vortex" was drawing in more and more things, and that it was no longer something that their three second-tier pirate crews could handle.

However, he was already bound by the cursed seal, and it was impossible for him to escape.

The only way to regain "freedom" is to satisfy the Dark Moon Witch's demands as much as possible, and he feels that the Dark Moon Witch is likely to be interested in information about the Black Knight.

After thinking for a while, Santas suddenly stood up and went out: "Let's go check out Tide Island."

……

When Santas arrived at Tide Island, it was already half an hour later.

Upon seeing his arrival, the pirates gathered there quickly made way for him.

As the leader of the One-Eyed Pirate Crew and a second-tier elite professional, Santas enjoys high prestige among pirates.

As Santas walked into the crowd, he immediately spotted "Blood Demon" Leroy and "Iron Eagle" Vladika, who had arrived, as well as the three Black Knights standing in opposition to the group of pirates.

His gaze involuntarily fell on the leader of the three black knights.

Santas didn't understand the differences in Black Knight attire, and this person was wearing a hooded black robe, obscuring his face, yet he could feel an incredibly strong sense of threat emanating from him.