Chapter 1 Time, Back to Half an Hour Ago

Even when the sea weather is fair and sunny, beneath the surface... just a short distance down, the surroundings become pitch black.

However, for Urdin, this was not a problem.

Urdin had many abilities well-suited for underwater action, one of which... was "night vision."

According to him, he had been repeatedly tortured with huoxing (a cruel punishment that leaves no wounds but can cause blindness, specifically by putting fresh horse urine in a sealed bucket, heating it over a fire, and then forcing the person's head into it until the urine evaporates), but the result was... his eyes not only didn't go blind, but also became able to see in various murky liquids.

Additionally, Urdin possessed the ability to breathe underwater.

Again, according to him, he had also been repeatedly tortured with waterboarding (a torture method that creates the sensation of drowning; after years of research and development, many improvements and variations have emerged, "gilding the Buddha's face" being one of them; the simplest and most traditional method is to repeatedly submerge the person's head in water, pulling them up at the threshold of suffocation, and repeating the process until the torturer achieves their purpose)... but in the end, he didn't give up a single fart, and his lungs mutated... gills grew on both sides of his jaw.

There were many such "legends," the truth of which was impossible to verify.

Perhaps Urdin's abilities were innate, and he simply fabricated stories of torture to build his tough guy image; or perhaps... everything he said was true, which would mean that Urdin's real ability was actually—inducing bodily mutations in extreme pain to adapt to harsh environments.

In any case... as Blackbeard's right-hand man, Urdin's strength was definitely not weak, comparable to a "Time Official" of average level.

It was precisely because of confidence in his strength and special abilities that Blackbeard sent him into the sea to investigate.

Urdin did not betray Blackbeard's trust; after jumping off the ship, he propelled himself into the sea like a torpedo, swimming rapidly towards the area where the "cannonball" had fallen.

Before long, he found the "cannonball" created by "Master," still gradually sinking in the seawater.

Since Urdin's order was to "investigate" this thing, he certainly had to make contact with it; so, after confirming the target, he focused his attention and swam cautiously toward it.

However, at this time, he did not know... that the "thing" in front of him could not be dealt with by mere "caution"...

A dozen seconds later, Urdin had arrived near the cannonball, and his swimming speed gradually slowed down.

Through the seawater, Urdin saw a metallic sphere emitting a faint silver glow. He observed it for a few seconds, then thought to himself, "The Captain's worries were indeed correct. This thing doesn't look like an ordinary cannonball at all, but rather some kind of 'magic item'; if left unattended, it could trigger some kind of change that is unfavorable to us."

Urdin also had some experience in handling such items; generally speaking... if you don't touch it directly with your hands, it won't trigger any effects.

Thinking of this, Urdin took off his shirt, preparing to "wrap up" this thing and take it away.

Unexpectedly... just as he reached out his hand, before he even touched the sphere, something terrible happened...

The silver metallic ball suddenly burst open, transforming into a pool of mercury-like, irregularly shaped substance, its volume expanding in the blink of an eye to a size larger than Urdin himself.

Seeing this, Urdin's reaction was also lightning-fast; almost at the same instant as the explosion, he had already turned and retreated.

Unfortunately... he was too close to the ball, and in the end, he was unable to escape the danger zone.

Soon, the thick metallic liquid缠绕缠绕缠住, wrapped around Urdin... and flooded into his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears...

…………

Time, back to the present.

Bang—

A figure landed, the deck shattering.

Appearing before everyone's eyes was none other than the first mate of the Queen Anne's Revenge—Urdin.

But at this moment, his appearance looked quite abnormal.

His eyes had lost their pupils, and his two eye sockets were filled with a mass of silver.

He was also without clothing, and 80% of his body was covered in a silver, metal-like substance.

Most astonishing was the strange killing intent emanating from him... so palpable that it forced the pirates on the deck to retreat.

"Mr... Mr. Urdin... what happened to you?" A sailor who was usually on good terms with Urdin stepped forward a few steps and tentatively asked.

"Don't go over there! Idiot! That's not..." An old crew member standing near him immediately cursed, wanting to call him back.

But... it was too late.

In that instant, Urdin struck without warning, piercing the sailor's chest with a straight punch.

The latter looked horrified, dying with his eyes wide open.

"Heh..." And Urdin... or rather, the "parasitic creature that had taken control of Urdin's body," revealed a sinister smile.

This kind of smile was familiar to Feng Bujue and most of the people on this ship; they all knew that it was the expression one had when gaining pleasure and satisfaction from killing.

"Careful!" Three seconds later, Honghu was the first to react, shouting loudly, "This guy is going on a rampage!"

As an outsider who didn't know Urdin at all, Honghu quickly and accurately made a judgment without any emotional factors.

While shouting, he summoned his weapon.

In an instant, with a "whoosh—" sound, a light arrow had already flown towards Urdin's face.

Clang—

However, in less than half a second, accompanied by a crisp sound, Urdin used his hand covered in silver liquid... to firmly grasp the light arrow shot by Honghu.

"His speed and reaction ability are ridiculously fast, and he can even grab pure energy attacks with his bare hands..." Seeing this scene, Snow said with a solemn expression, "This guy is probably not easy to deal with..."

"Hmph..." Honghu chuckled and replied, "I knew he could grab energy before I attacked..."

Before he finished speaking, another harsh noise rang out in the distance.

It turned out that the arrow Honghu had shot just now contained a hidden move; in an instant, the light arrow had exploded in Urdin's hand and transformed into a "light array," enveloping the latter within it.

"Hmm?" After being trapped in the array, a trace of doubt flashed in Urdin's eyes, but he did not show any panic.

He thought for a few seconds, then raised his arm and punched the light barrier in front of him.

Duang—

A violent tremor echoed within the spherical light array, shaking Urdin himself a few times, but he did not seem to suffer any damage.

On the other hand, the light array itself... already showed cracks under this single blow.

"Ho~ His whole body comes with Haki, huh?" Seeing this, Feng Bujue even quipped, "I have to take care of this!"

As he spoke, Brother Jue was already rolling up his sleeves, eager to try.

Feng Bujue felt a little sorry for Blackbeard for splitting the Brown Algae, because he understood the feeling of "having only one set of collectibles and missing one item"; and now, there was an immediate opportunity to do something for the pirate crew, so Brother Jue naturally felt obligated.

But... just as he was about to rush out...

Dong—dong—

That familiar, strange sound of footsteps... rang out again.

Immediately afterward, Blackbeard slowly walked out of a cabin leading to the lower deck.

"What's all the commotion... I thought something had happened..." Blackbeard said as he walked, heading straight towards Urdin, "Turns out my first mate has returned."

At this moment, Urdin also shattered the barrier created by Honghu with a series of continuous attacks.

At this moment, on this deck after the fierce battle, with the smell of blood still lingering... the number one and number two figures of the Blackbeard Pirates formed a confrontational stance.

"Heh... this is going to be a good show." Feng Bujue, who had wanted to take action himself just now, suddenly restrained his fighting spirit completely, putting on the appearance of a spectator.

"Indeed..." Even Honghu put away his bow and said softly, "So far, we haven't seen Blackbeard's actual performance in battle. Taking this opportunity... we can observe it."

As the two players were talking, on the other side...

Urdin had already opened his mouth to reply, "I'm not your first mate."

His voice was slightly different, as if the original Urdin had scattered a handful of tacks into his throat.

"Then... who are you?" Blackbeard asked coldly.

"No one." The other party replied, "Of course, I don't mind using the name of the original owner of this body."

"I see..." Blackbeard spoke these three words slowly, and a trace of imperceptible disappointment flashed in his eyes, "What you mean is... my first mate can't come back, right?"

"Hehehe..." The parasite laughed, not answering Blackbeard's question, because the answer was already obvious.

"As expected... this man is a very important figure on this ship, right?" After the parasite laughed a few times, it continued on its own, "I felt it when I 'devoured' him... this guy's will is surprisingly strong. I spent a long time... inflicting unimaginable levels of torture on him in the mental realm, but still couldn't make his will yield; in desperation, I could only physically damage his brain to a certain extent before I gained control of this body."

He paused at this point, looking around, "Now that I think about it... the reason he was willing to endure such great pain and resist to the last moment was probably to buy time for you people on this ship; he hoped you would leave here if you didn't hear from him, so you wouldn't have to face me."

"Ha!" Reaching this point, he laughed triumphantly, "It's really ironic... in fact... if he hadn't come close to me, I would have at most parasitized some marine creature and become a sea monster to attack you, but the upper limit of that kind of body... compared to this 'first mate's,' is simply worlds apart." He shrugged, "I have to say... your luck is really not good."

His words successfully angered the surrounding pirates.

Clearly, Urdin was very popular on the ship; even though he was a terrifying villain in the eyes of ordinary people... in the eyes of the pirates, he was a villain worthy of their respect.

The pirates' values and feelings were very strange, and could not be explained in a few words.

They pursued wealth, but they weren't just pursuing wealth.

They admired strength, but sometimes refused to submit to it.

They would curse each other, fight, and even kill each other, but that wouldn't change the fact that they were sincere brothers.

Urdin had earned respect among such a group of people.

And before his death, he fought to the last drop of blood for this crude, sinful, inexplicable... yet hard-to-let-go bond.

Even for Blackbeard, he was indeed worthy of the word "important."

"Luck?" After listening to the parasite's narration, Blackbeard was silent for a few seconds before replying, "No... this has nothing to do with luck. It was I who sent him into the sea to investigate, and it was my lack of consideration in the absence of sufficient information... that led to the death of a subordinate."

Blackbeard's tone was very calm as he said this, and as he spoke... he walked a few steps to a wooden barrel, casually grabbed a bottle of rum that had been left half-drunk on the barrel lid.

"I am very sorry that Urdin has left us." His next words were more for the crew, "He was my most capable subordinate, more useful than any of you lazy bastards; he was also the purest tough guy I knew, one of the few real men left on the Chaotic Sea, a hundred times stronger than those weaklings who look tough on the outside; and... he saved my life more than once..."

Speaking of this, Blackbeard lowered his eyes silently, pausing for a few seconds.

Then, he raised the bottle in his hand and continued, "To Urdin, a loyal friend, a terrible orator, and a villain who upheld the old-school pirate spirit."

After saying that, in an atmosphere of silence and solemnity, he poured about a cup of wine onto the deck, and then picked up the bottle himself and took several gulps.

After finishing, Blackbeard, as if venting his anger, suddenly... swung the bottle and threw it at the parasite's face.

The parasite did not dodge, not because he couldn't dodge, but because such a flying bottle couldn't cause him any harm at all.

Clang—

Amidst the sound of shattering glass.

Blackbeard turned again and walked back towards the cabin.

Contrary to Feng Bujue and the others' predictions... Blackbeard did not choose to take action himself; he simply finished doing these things, and before leaving the deck, left three words in a nonchalant tone—"Kill him."