Chapter 1 A Slight Effort

"Ah... since you put it that way..." Feng Bujue considered for a few seconds, then, with a cheap, smirking expression, said to Honghu, "Then I'll reluctantly be a little 'serious'."

For some reason, seeing that annoying look on his face, the four words "This time it's stable" floated into Honghu's mind.

And Brother Jue didn't disappoint his teammates. Before he finished speaking, he had already moved.

After activating [Ling Shi Ju Shen Shu-Modified] (Spirit Consciousness Gathering Technique), Feng Bujue's figure suddenly transformed into a red flash.

He charged back and forth across the deck, unstoppable. Wherever he went... blood mist erupted, and heads flew.

The originally balanced battle situation instantly turned into a one-sided slaughter under Feng Bujue's power...

"Heh... Although this development is unexpected, it seems to be a good thing..." Blackbeard, standing high up and watching all this, revealed a hint of a smile.

On the other side, Mad Eye's reaction was the complete opposite of Blackbeard's.

"Damn it! What is that? Who is that!" Mad Eye was so startled by this sudden change that he was about to have a qi deviation. He grabbed a crew member beside him and roared fiercely.

"I... I don't know..." The crew member was innocently caught in the crossfire, completely at a loss.

"Hmm..." Mad Eye gritted his teeth in anger, but he hadn't completely lost his mind. So, after suppressing his emotions a little, he released the crew member and continued, "Quick... quick, go get the master! Tell him... if he doesn't come, we're all going to be wiped out!"

"Yes... yes!" The crew member responded in a flustered voice, and turned to run towards the cabin.

Just as that underling staggered away, suddenly... another change occurred!

In the blink of an eye.

A flash of red light, a figure appeared.

In an instant, Feng Bujue, who was just reaping heads on the deck... had actually arrived in front of Mad Eye and swung his knife.

"Hmph... Overestimating yourself!" Faced with this surprise attack, Mad Eye didn't show the slightest bit of fear or panic.

The reason was simple—as a pirate captain who could compete with Blackbeard, his own combat abilities were also excellent; even Brother Jue with his skill activated couldn't reach a speed that would escape his dynamic vision.

*Pa*—

The next second, a clear sound of clapping was heard.

Mad Eye actually used "empty-handed catch of a white blade" against Brother Jue, and... he succeeded.

"What the?!" Without teammates around, Feng Bujue's curse words blurted out, "Not bad, you."

"Kid..." Mad Eye didn't respond to Brother Jue's words, but instead asked himself, "This knife... was it made for you by Zhuanjie Zun?"

"Oh?" Feng Bujue was a little surprised that the other party recognized the origin of this kitchen knife at a glance, "You can even see that?"

"Ha!" Mad Eye chuckled and shouted, "That old thing's enchantment runes... I can recognize them even from dozens of meters away!"

Accompanied by his gradually increasing voice, a surprise attack in the form of a kick arrived unexpectedly.

Because Mad Eye's palms were tightly clamping down on the [Must Break Defense Blade], Feng Bujue couldn't pull the knife back to defend. In desperation... Brother Jue could only release the weapon in his hand, spin around, and flash away.

In this way, although Mad Eye's kick missed, he successfully stole Brother Jue's weapon.

"It seems..." Feng Bujue had already reached a conclusion before he even stabilized his stance, "Even before I approached you, you already knew the characteristics of this knife..."

At this second, Brother Jue realized belatedly that the other party had chosen "empty-handed catch of a white blade" to receive the move precisely to avoid the [Must Break Defense Blade]'s effect, and... he had planned to steal the knife from the very beginning.

"Of course." Mad Eye lightly tossed the stolen kitchen knife back and forth, gripping its handle and saying, "You killed so many of my subordinates in front of me. If I couldn't even see through this..."

Halfway through his words, he suddenly did something that shocked even Brother Jue.

Mad Eye held the kitchen knife horizontally, clamped each end with both hands, and twisted with force.

Immediately afterward, a "pang" sound came from the blade, and that perfect-grade equipment... broke in response.

"...Then would I still be Mad Eye?" After spending two seconds completing this act of breaking the knife, Mad Eye finished the second half of his sentence.

And Feng Bujue, who was standing three meters away from him, very rarely... froze for two seconds.

Two seconds later, Brother Jue seemed to have come to his senses. He narrowed his eyes, put on a rogue look, and said in a tone of laughter mixed with anger, "You actually... dismantled my equipment?"

...

At the same time, in a certain cabin of the Queen Anne's Revenge.

"Oh dear..." The hunchbacked man who called himself "Ken" looked at a wall and recited with a smile that wasn't a smile, "That Mad Eye... has done something irreversible..."

...

"Ha!" On the other hand, Mad Eye didn't know what he had done. He was still taunting Brother Jue, "What's breaking your knife? I'm going to take your life too..."

"Enough nonsense!" Feng Bujue immediately shouted, "What's the use of a life!"

This subtle line made Mad Eye's mind a little confused. The latter even wondered if he had misheard.

"Kid, are you out of your mind?" Mad Eye didn't dwell on this matter too much. He quickly drew the saber from his waist, ready to kill, "Heh... never mind. Since you think your life is less valuable than a knife, then I'll send you on your way as soon as possible."

After speaking, he raised his sword and slashed, the blade aimed straight at Brother Jue's neck.

Seeing this, Feng Bujue... without thinking, raised his hand and clamped the other party's blade with two fingers.

"Oh?" Mad Eye had thought that the man in front of him was just a speed-type expert, relying on Zhuanjie Zun's weapon to be able to kill wantonly; he never expected... that the other party could actually catch his attack with just his fingers in a weaponless state.

Although Mad Eye's sword was just a "casual swing," not a skill at all, and he didn't even use his full strength, he was, after all, a Boss-level character, and his basic strength was quite formidable; if it were an ordinary pirate underling, let alone using his fingers to defend... even if he used a weapon to block this sword, he would be shaken back several meters.

Therefore, Brother Jue's [Lingxi Finger] (Soulful Finger), really surprised Mad Eye.

"It seems... you're a little more powerful than I thought." However, this level of surprise was still not enough to scare Mad Eye, "Before I kill you, I might as well ask for your name."

"Mad..." When he said this first word, Feng Bujue flung his hand and released the blade, and took a big step back.

"Bu..." When he said this second word, he combined his two fingers and inserted them into his ribs two inches below his armpit.

"...Jue!" He shouted the third word, and bursting forth with the shout was the blood from his wound.

Hearing those three words, Mad Eye's expression changed.

He had obviously heard the name "Feng Bujue," and quite a few times at that.

"I see..." After a few seconds of pause, Mad Eye said in a deep voice, "If you're not impersonating him, then you really live up to your name..."

At this moment, he really couldn't figure out what Brother Jue's self-harming act was intended to do, and could only explain it with "madness."

"You... like to dismantle equipment, right..." Feng Bujue ignored Mad Eye's words. He glared at the other party with murderous eyes, and raised his blood-stained hand high, "I'll join the God of Probability... and give you another chance."

As he spoke, the blood flowing from his wound actually flew up and gathered in his hand... forming the shape of a weapon.

Seeing this, everyone must have understood—Feng Bujue's act of stabbing himself was to activate [Tān Lán Xié Diǎn] (Greed Grimoire).

After paying "one pint of blood" and "35% of maximum stamina and spiritual energy," he could summon a "weapon of at least perfect quality" from the void.

Perhaps because he used his own blood, this time, the "God of Probability" was very generous...

[Name: Demon Sword · Yan Di (Hell Emperor)]

[Type: Weapon]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Attack Power: ???]

[Attribute: Darkness]

[Effect: The user's Spiritual Art skills become cooldown-free (under appropriate activation conditions), and consumption is reduced to one-fourth of the original]

[Equipment Condition: This weapon is summoned by [Tān Lán Xié Diǎn] (Greed Grimoire), duration remaining: 1:39]

[Note: The supreme artifact of the Dead Kingdom, activates the "Doomsday Judgment" magic weapon.]

This sword was purple-red all over, its sword guard like wings; the sword body was inlaid with countless jewels, dotted with silver.

When this [Demon Sword · Yan Di (Hell Emperor)] appeared in Feng Bujue's hand, the originally clear sky... suddenly changed color.

In an instant, dark clouds covered the sun, and the sun and moon were without light.

Even the wind on the sea... stopped quietly at this time.

"What is this!" Mad Eye knew his stuff, so he was shocked when he saw this sword.

In fact, Blackbeard, far away at the stern of another ship, also had a solemn expression at this moment.

To use an analogy, the scene in front of them was like... two armies of the Cold Weapon Age were fighting fiercely, but suddenly... a Gundam appeared on the battlefield.

"Good question!" Although Mad Eye's words weren't a question at all, Feng Bujue still replied loudly, "This is called... Demon Sword..."

Before he could finish speaking, the sword had already fallen.

Even Feng Bujue himself didn't expect the consequences of this sword to be...

...

Ten minutes later.

The sky had cleared up again.

At this time, the three players were all standing in the captain's cabin of the Queen Anne's Revenge.

It wasn't that the three of them wanted to stand, it was just... the captain's cabin wasn't spacious, and there was only one chair in total, which had already been occupied by Blackbeard.

"On the Chaotic Sea, there are three pirate ships that are known as 'Legends'." Blackbeard said these words, sitting very comfortably on the chair. He didn't feel the slightest bit of discomfort about the fact that his guests could only stand, "The first is the Black Pearl; the second is the Flying Dutchman; and the third... is my Queen Anne's Revenge."

Speaking to this point, he paused, and then said, "And outside of these three ships, there are eleven other ships that are second only to the 'Legends.' They are called the 'Eleven'..."

"Let me guess..." Snow shrugged and continued, "The Brown Algae... is one of the 'Eleven'?"

"Hmm..." Hearing this, Blackbeard exhaled from his nose, then turned his face and glanced out through the porthole in the captain's cabin.

Through the circular window, he could just see the wreckage of the Brown Algae pirate ship that hadn't completely sunk, which had been broken into two pieces on the sea.

"It used to be..." Blackbeard corrected the is in Snow's sentence to was, and took the opportunity to cast a blaming look at Brother Jue on the other side of the room.

"What?" Feng Bujue's skin was thick enough; he met Blackbeard's gaze without fear, and replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "Is it my fault?"

"The glass bottles on the shelf behind you are all filled with pirate ships that I have conquered in the past." Blackbeard changed his way of answering Brother Jue's question, "To be more precise... pirate ships that I think are 'collectible'." He raised his hand and pointed in that direction, "I don't know if you've noticed, but under the two bottles labeled 'Black Pearl' and 'Flying Dutchman,' there are two rows... a total of ten ships, and an empty space."

Feng Bujue didn't respond to this sentence. He stood there looking around, pretending not to hear what the other party was saying.

And Honghu and Snow were so embarrassed that they rolled their eyes.

"Thanks to you..." Blackbeard waited for four or five seconds. Seeing that the other party didn't speak, he continued on his own, "That position will probably be empty forever."

"If I were you..." Feng Bujue tilted his head and replied in a very casual tone, "I'd just get a new shelf."

"You're really good at chatting," Blackbeard replied expressionlessly.

"I'm alright." Feng Bujue responded, "Oh... right, while you're in a bad mood, I'll tell you another bad news... your three barrels of Dead Leaf Ale are gone."

When these words came out, Honghu and Snow took a step back at the same time, away from Brother Jue.

They themselves couldn't explain why they did this, probably... because they were worried that Blackbeard would jump over the table and chop people.

"Heh... hehe..." This time, Blackbeard also had a feeling of laughing in anger. He twitched the corners of his mouth and said, "I've only heard of the practice of 'announcing bad news when others are in a good mood.' This routine of yours is the first time I've seen it."

"That's right... Someone like me, who is so good at chatting, always tries to avoid ruining other people's emotions when they're in a good mood." Feng Bujue's pig-is-not-afraid-of-boiling-water attitude, his master level of being cheap, and his impeccable rogue logic... were really shaking people's three views and making them unable to react.

"Then I have to thank you?" Even Blackbeard himself was surprised why he hadn't turned his face yet.

"You're welcome." Feng Bujue continued to reply shamelessly, "As the saying goes, great kindness is beyond thanks. Someone like me, who is indifferent to fame and fortune... you can just repay me with action."

"Hmm..." Blackbeard's hand was shaking, his shoulders were shaking, even his body was shaking... but compared to the trembling in the depths of his heart, these were nothing.

In the past, he should have cursed "Motherderfucker" at this time (please understand the English original meaning of this word), and then rushed up to tear Brother Jue apart.

But today, Blackbeard's reaction was: "So... what do you want?"