Chapter 1 Aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge

After a brief exchange, Billy prepared to lead Feng Bujue and the others into the hidden space behind the stone door.

But as Jue Ge approached the doorway, he found the scene inside remarkably familiar…

“This is… on a ship?” he wondered, gazing at the deck and masts on the other side.

“Indeed,” Billy replied. “I believe… you’re no stranger to this place?”

Before he could finish, Feng Bujue realized what he was looking at: “The Queen Anne’s Revenge?”

“Heh…” Billy chuckled, the answer implicit. “Please, come in.”

Since he had been invited, Feng Bujue didn't hesitate. He took the lead and stepped through the door.

Upon passing through, he saw the entire ship in full view. Yes… this was the deck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. Looking back from “this side,” the stone door behind them was now a visible entity. The massive stone frame was secured to the deck with wooden stakes and ropes, and a circular magic array was drawn on the planks beneath it.

A few seconds later, Jue Ge turned to look over the ship's railing. He immediately noticed that there was no water beneath the ship… the Queen Anne’s Revenge was “floating” in the void. All around the ship was a gray, misty substance, with faint, moon-like rays of light filtering through. But with just that light, visibility was poor, so many glowing lanterns were hung on the ship to provide illumination.

“We meet again, Feng Bujue.”

As the three players, Old Wang, and the Billy brothers passed through the doorway one after another, a hoarse voice suddenly rang out.

Jue Ge turned to see a familiar face—Blackbeard.

“You…” Though Feng Bujue recognized him, Blackbeard had changed quite a bit. “…What happened?”

“Heh heh…” Blackbeard let out a slightly bitter laugh and limped out of a cabin a few meters away, leaning on a crutch. “Isn't it obvious?” he said, tapping his unresponsive leg with the crutch. The lower leg emitted two dull thuds; clearly, what was inside his trouser leg was no longer flesh and blood, but something like wood. “Someone crippled me.”

Feng Bujue didn't bother asking, “Didn’t your self-healing ability work?” because the answer was obvious… if there was a way to heal it, Blackbeard wouldn't be wearing a prosthetic and using a crutch.

“Then…” Jue Ge pondered, then looked around. “Your crew…”

He had sensed something was off earlier; why were there no pirates on deck besides them?

“Heh…” Blackbeard chuckled dryly again, took a swig from a bottle of rum in his hand, and continued, “…What do you think?”

Feng Bujue didn't want to say, nor did he want to laugh.

He still clearly remembered his first encounter with the man… Back then, Blackbeard's steps were powerful, his voice like thunder, every gesture exuding the aura of a maritime overlord. He could silence dozens of fierce pirates with just his imposing presence.

But now, what stood before Jue Ge… was like an old, fallen drunkard. Not only was his voice gratingly hoarse, but his eyes also lacked any vigor. Without the crutch, he seemed unable to even walk.

*Zzzzzzz*

As they spoke, Bill dragged the stone door and closed it again. From the lava cave on the other side, the doorway had reverted to empty space.

“Looks like you two know each other. Why don't you do the introductions?” Billy said to Jue Ge.

“Hmm…” Feng Bujue hesitated, then turned and gestured to the two players behind him. “This is Xiao Tan, most of you know him already. And this is Xu Huai Shang, a famous figure among us Interdimensional Travelers; I think you’ve heard of him.” He paused, then cocked his head toward Bill. “Billy, a god-level entity who took over the Court of Truth after the Twilight of the Gods. I don't know why he's just a head now… Bill, Billy's brother, used to be an administrator under Zun-ge, and now…” He shrugged, offering no comment, then pointed. “Old Wang and Zun-ge are survivors from the last era and a demigod of this era in Thriller Paradise, respectively. They used to control the extra-dimensional ‘Deduction Club’ in the Prime Universe, and now… as you can see.” He paused slightly, then shifted his gaze to Blackbeard. “Captain Blackbeard, the great pirate who returned from the Sea of Chaos, his strength no less than that of a Four Pillar God… As for what’s happened to him…” He changed his tone and spoke directly to Blackbeard. “Captain, why don’t you tell us?”

“Let Billy start,” Blackbeard said, leaning lazily against the mast. “It’s best to start from the beginning.”

Hearing this, the players all looked at Billy again, or rather… the wooden puppet head inside the glass case in Bill's torso.

“Ah… where to begin?” Billy's voice carried through the glass. “In terms of time, the beginning of all this… should have happened when you left Mou Zui Island.”

The “you” he referred to was undoubtedly Feng Bujue.

“The first thing Twenty-Three did was to greatly weaken your data intensity, making it impossible for you to be matched into scripts related to key figures or events in the Prime Universe for quite some time,” Billy continued.

…………

“Sorry… if possible… I would like to ask you to temporarily leave Thriller Paradise for a while.”

…………

At that moment, Twenty-Three's last words to Feng Bujue on Mou Zui Island flashed through his mind.

“After ensuring that you wouldn't participate and stir things up, a ‘war’ began,” Billy paused. “Of course, we say ‘war’ mainly to pay respect to the fallen warriors. In reality… given the disparity in strength between the two sides, ‘purge’ or ‘massacre’ would be a more accurate description.”

“Twenty-Three launched an attack on the entire Prime Universe?” Feng Bujue reacted quickly, following his train of thought.

“Not on the entire Prime Universe, but on everything within the Prime Universe that she deemed should be eliminated…” Billy replied.

“What were her criteria for distinction?” Jue Ge asked.

“You should ask her that yourself,” Billy replied. “Anyway, as far as I know, besides Dou Mo, the various forces in the Prime Universe, including some of those present here… were all on her ‘purge list.’”

“What about Dou Mo?” Feng Bujue asked.

“Unfortunately… he has joined forces with her,” Billy replied.

“Whoa whoa… that sounds super bad,” Xiao Tan said. Although he didn't understand the more complex settings, he knew something of the power of Twenty-Three and Dou Mo.

“Indeed,” Billy continued. “For anyone other than them, it’s naturally bad news.”

“What was their reason for joining forces?” Feng Bujue asked. “Did Twenty-Three subdue Dou Mo with ‘power’? Or do they have a common goal?”

“I don't know,” Billy replied bluntly. “But I think ‘having a common goal’ is more likely… Even if Twenty-Three could suppress Dou Mo in terms of power, Dou Mo is not the kind of being who would yield to power; so, they must have reached a consensus on something.”

“Hmm…” Jue Ge's mind raced, and after a few seconds of silence, he asked, “Counting from when you were on Mou Zui Island, in your time here… how long has this war lasted?”

“From your human perspective, it’s been quite a while, about two years or so…” Billy replied. “But in our eyes, it definitely counts as a ‘blitzkrieg.’” At this point, he turned his gaze to Zhuan Xie Zun, who had flown to the ship's rail. “Let Zun-ge tell the next part.”

“Alright,” Zhuan Xie Zun nodded and continued, “First, I want to talk about the increasingly bad social atmosphere in the Prime Universe recently.” For some reason, he adopted a tone akin to a leader giving a lecture. “You’ve all seen it; even outstanding young people like Billy are casually calling me ‘Zun-ge.’ The Prime Universe wasn’t like this before, but in recent years, everyone’s standards seem to be constantly hitting new lows. Many promising young people who originally had good qualities are now spouting garbage and acting with less and less principle. Ultimately… I think Feng Bujue should bear the main responsibility for this.”

“Agreed!” As Zun-ge said this, Blackbeard picked up his bottle of rum and shouted in a strained voice, seemingly expressing his deep agreement.

“Hey… you’re digressing. Why are you suddenly talking about me?” Jue Ge complained.

“Just livening up the atmosphere,” Zhuan Xie Zun spread his wings and waved them. “Don't you think the conversation was a bit depressing?”

“Whether you’ve successfully livened up the atmosphere, I don’t know…” Feng Bujue said, narrowing his eyes. “But I’m quite certain… you're one of those whose standards have hit a new low…”

“Ha!” Unexpectedly, Zun-ge adopted an attitude of being impervious to shame. “If your home was razed to the ground, your form was limited to that of an owlcat, and you had to eat brains to maintain your magic power and divine consciousness… I doubt you’d have much interest in considering your integrity.”

“Oh…” Feng Bujue put on an indifferent face. “Then let’s tentatively start with the point of your ‘home being razed to the ground,’ how about it?”

“Sigh…” Zun-ge sighed deeply, and said thoughtfully, “Actually, things aren’t that complicated… That day, Billy came to the Deduction Club for tea. I and Dian He Wang sat with him and chatted for a while. Then, without warning… Dou Mo barged in.”

“What do you mean by ‘barged in without warning’?” Feng Bujue asked.

“Of course, I mean it literally,” Old Wang replied. “If he had greeted you in advance, could it still be called ‘barging’?”

“I mean…” Jue Ge continued, “With your abilities, didn't you sense Dou Mo approaching? Weren't there defensive arrays or anything like that set up inside and outside the Deduction Club?”

“You're right on all counts,” Zun-ge replied. “Logically speaking, a super demon king like Dou Mo, not to mention ‘approaching,’ as long as he exists in the same space as us, even if we were tens of thousands of miles apart… we could roughly sense which direction he was in. Also, defensive arrays and the like… of course, the Deduction Club had them, and they were set up to be very strong, so strong that even beings at the level of a Four Pillar God would take a certain amount of time to break through…”

“I guess you’re going to add a ‘but’ here,” Xu Huai Shang guessed what he was going to say, so she interjected.

“But…” Zhuan Xie Zun didn't disappoint her. “As long as you have the ‘Blast Tunnel’ technology, the above two points… become meaningless.”

“Isn't that Origin's unique technology?” Xiao Tan wondered. “Could it be that Lute also…”

“No,” Feng Bujue denied his hypothesis. “It’s not related to Lute, it’s Twenty-Three…” He paused. “As she is now, whether it's ‘Sandbox,’ ‘Blast Tunnel,’ or any other technology… it’s not difficult for her to replicate them.” He stroked his chin, thinking aloud. “Hmm… With this technology, as long as you can determine the enemy's coordinates, Dou Mo can ignore all kinds of external defenses in a very short time and directly break through to the target.”

“That's right. And at the time, we were completely unaware of this…” Zhuan Xie Zun continued. “After Dou Mo barged in, he didn't bother chatting with us. He punched through Bill's body with his right hand and simultaneously used telekinesis with his left hand… to crush Billy's body. His actions within those two seconds made his intentions clear…”

“Seeing this, Zhuan Xie Zun immediately used all his magic power and connected to the magic energy reserve device within the Deduction Club. By using this vast magical resonance, he successfully suppressed Dou Mo's next move.” At this point, Dian He Wang took over the conversation. “In the following seconds, I grabbed Billy and Bill and activated the rune array for emergency escape, which I thought I would never use.” He paused for a second, his tone deep. “By the time the four of us were teleported away, Zhuan Xie Zun had suppressed Dou Mo for a total of eight seconds. Those eight seconds… caused permanent damage to his magic source, so he can only maintain this relatively ‘relaxed’ physiological form, only in this way… will his condition not worsen further.”

“And we…” At this point, Billy interjected in a timely manner. “As you can see… my remaining head replaced Bill's destroyed energy core, and his body solved my problem of being unable to move. Fortunately, my brother and I can communicate through some kind of induction that outsiders can't hear, so there are no obstacles in communication.”

As he spoke, Bill's screen face also made a (￣^￣) expression, which was ambiguous…

“However…” Billy's next sentence took a turn. “The Court of Truth… wasn’t so lucky… According to what I learned later, the Court was also attacked at the same time as Dou Mo's raid on the Deduction Club. Attacking that side was the Redundant Soldier Legion, improved by Twenty-Three…”