"King of Immortality" Agalito—his bounty from a single nation alone reached one hundred thousand pounds…
Everyone who had ever stood against him—be they pirates, adventurers, or even entire naval squadrons—had long since been erased from the sea, swallowed by time and by his merciless hands. Only the other three among the infamous "Four Kings" still lived.
And now this sea tyrant, this ancient predator who had survived centuries without ever once engaging an official demigod head-on, was lying dead—decapitated—at the hands of Tower?
It had barely been half an hour since Ebner had given chase.
In that short span, he had slain the "Undying King" who ruled the Five Seas for centuries?
Cattleya felt a wave of awe rise uncontrollably in her chest. Truly worthy of a man who had stood with the Queen herself to stop the descent of the Abyss. Within the ranks of Saints, he must stand at the very apex—perhaps even equal to, or not much weaker than, the Queen just before her ascension to angelhood!
Yet admiration aside, a pirate king's severed head—and the enormous bounty it represented—was far too valuable for her to accept. Moreover, with her current identity, she could never cash in a hundred-thousand-pound official reward. She could only return the head to Ebner and decline with formal courtesy:
"This compensation is too heavy for me to accept… If possible, I would rather hear a few more 'mystery' stories from you."
Although she had yet to advance to demigod, she was well-versed in the theory of Sequence 4 Mysticologist. She understood that one of its core strengths—Mystery Re-enactment—depended on obscure, little-known mystical stories collected from all corners of reality.
Ebner thought for a moment, then agreed.
To him, sharing a few classic tales from his previous life cost nothing at all.
Besides—he had already perceived that Cattleya would refuse the head.
Showing it had, admittedly, been mostly for dramatic flair.
With a faintly playful smile, Ebner said:
"I have stories—does the lady have wine?"
Cattleya shot him a white-eyed glare.
That line was a famous one from Miss Wall's latest novel—right before the male and female leads disappeared into the bedroom.
Used here, in this situation, it felt unmistakably like flirtation.
Of course, Ebner had no idea—because in his past-life memories, the line came from a movie rather than a novel.
Still, Cattleya was long accustomed to being teased. Compared to the vulgar banter of the pirates she originally recruited—who had constantly used crude, unclean language—Tower's teasing manner was practically refined.
Mm… When Tower first traded with me, he even paid in Felkin. He's very likely a noble from Intis. This kind of casual flirtation may be his default conversational habit…
While she drifted through these random thoughts, Cattleya suddenly realised:
she was still covered in milk and mushroom residue. Completely indecent.
With no time to maintain poise, she immediately ordered a sailor to escort Tower to the same stateroom Klein had once used—a room with its own washroom—while she hurried away to cleanse herself and change clothes.
A short while later, in that same stateroom, Ebner chanted softly and reverted "Rose" into the small sceptre form, then placed a large-bellied, narrow-necked liquor bottle onto the table.
The bottle was an ordinary type commonly used in Rielongzi's taverns. Yet floating atop the thin layer of remaining wine inside was a crescent-shaped ship model—its elegant hull curled like a moon. No one could imagine how such a thing had been inserted through the narrow bottle mouth.
He leisurely rolled the bottle between his palms, causing the tiny ship inside to rise and fall as though braving unseen storms.
About fifteen minutes later, Cattleya returned, now dressed in a violet witch's robe. She opened her mouth to greet Mr Tower—
—but her glasses-hidden eyes abruptly locked onto the bottle.
Her spiritual intuition, her Mystic Eyes, both instantly screamed the recognition:
The "model" inside the bottle was—
"Death Announcer?!"
She blurted the name aloud.
"Correct." Ebner smiled and nodded.
He stopped toying with the bottle, corked it, and then casually stored it away—deeply satisfied with the dramatic effect.
"Now then," he said lightly, turning toward her, "the first story I shall tell you… is called Slaying the Dragon in a Dream."
…
That night, after employing both Insight and the advanced Secret Pilfering—an evolution of the notorious "Leon's Underwear Pilfering Technique"—to study Death Announcer from the inside out, Ebner finally grasped the true essence of the reincarnation system based on soul stones, created by the God of Luck.
Before the God of Luck, the Unknown had ceaselessly cast out "Liu Bo" soul-splinters across the universe, hoping each avatar would, upon death, return carrying the characteristics or even the Sefirah the Unknown needed to grow.
But everything changed during the era of the God of Luck.
That particular "Liu Bo" incarnation had miraculously loosened the shackles of the Land of the Unknown—and went a step further: he ensured that every subsequent "Liu Bo" who attained godhood would, upon death, condense a soul stone, implanting a memory imprint within the Unknown, passing on their will in a hidden, persistent form.
Moreover, because these soul-stone beings did not "truly" die, they no longer returned characteristics or Sefirah to enrich the Unknown's actual power. The loop of nourishment was severed.
The God of Luck had managed this because—aside from touching the Sea of Chaos—his original identity had been one of the special souls sealed within the Box of the Gods, specifically the one corresponding to the Key of Light.
Whether by fortune or tragedy—or by the final machination of the dying God Almighty—"Liu Bo" had transmigrated into that extremely special identity.
Thus only this incarnation—the God of Luck—had been able to temporarily escape the complete control of the Unknown, gaining true individuality.
This, in turn, laid the future foundation for all later Liu Bo incarnations to resist their predetermined fate.
The "Liu Bo Reincarnation" system was built upon the restarted Wheel of Fortune, supported by the theory of soul stones, and reinforced by the Unknown's own power.
Only under these combined conditions could it take shape.
Of course, this described only the skeleton.
The concrete execution involved profound, obscure occult knowledge…
But Ebner had no desire to reconstruct the entire mechanism. Knowing the underlying structure was enough; he could study the deeper mechanics later.
"In truth," he murmured to himself, "Alvin Abraham had already deciphered the essence of my continuous 'cycles'. His sixth question in the labyrinth was about Conan shrinking—clearly pointing to Restart.
"As for his fifth question, 'Paramount War', I finally understand its full meaning. It wasn't just implying divine wars like I once thought—it also implied theft. After all, the root cause of the Paramount War was Blackbeard stealing a Devil Fruit!
"And afterward, he seized Whitebeard's newly emerged Quake-Quake Fruit, replacing him as one of the Four Emperors.
"So these six questions outline the framework of the Secret Technique:
"One – Dragon Balls.
Symbol of the core miracle of resurrection. Zaratul already collected enough wishes within the Dream Maze Tower, and the Quiz Labyrinth bought them.
"Two & Three – Necronomicon and Feast of Blood.
Knowledge from the domains of Creation and Death, producing the semi-finished bone dragon now fused with Owen—its success proving my understanding correct.
"Four – The Improved Secret Art.
A clear hint that only a Cognizer like me can complete the rite. Reality confirms this.
"Five – Paramount War.
Alvin must have been conflicted writing this clue. Without this step, the ritual could still succeed, but the consciousness revived within any future Liu Bo would inevitably revert to the personality of the God of Luck.
"Adding the meaning of theft allows the caster's will to dominate—turning previous incarnations into extensions of the caster, rather than the caster becoming an extension of the God of Luck!
"When Alvin hid this clue, his emotions must have been extremely complex. Whether he left it or not, the one who would awaken in the end would not be him…
"No wonder he made it so concealed. Knowing myself, I can tell—he simply didn't want me to guess too easily!
"In conclusion," Ebner exhaled, "the framework of the Secret Technique is complete. With multiple Wisdom Eyes working simultaneously, I'll have the full technique developed by Thursday at the latest!"
Because of reasons everyone knows, my mood was terrible—my chest tight and stifled.
I had to sit and adjust myself for a long while before I could finally write.
(End of chapter)