Tenur quietly watched the figure for a while, uncertain whether the tattered yellow-robed figure had come for him. Still, he secretly pulled out the short dagger hidden inside his sleeve and gripped it tightly, cautiously observing the figure as he sidestepped away.
After putting seven or eight meters between them, Tenur finally breathed a sigh of relief at having established a safe distance.
But when he went around the tattered yellow-robed figure, that same insurmountable figure was still standing in front of him. He tried several more times.
With every attempt, not only did he fail to get farther away, he instead drew closer and closer to the other party. The safe distance of seven or eight meters gradually shrank to three meters, then two, until finally they stood face-to-face.
Even from this close, Tenur still couldn't clearly make out the person before him, but he realized that he might have encountered a terrifying existence.
Taking a deep breath, he bent down, forcefully kicked off the ground with his right foot, and charged forward with the dagger in hand.
But before his dagger could even touch the yellow robes, it began dissolving inch by inch. At the same time, his right hand gripping the dagger began dissolving as well.
"No, no... Ah!"
Excruciating pain that seemed to penetrate into his very bones struck him. In that instant, the flesh and blood of his right hand, along with his entire arm, melted away, leaving behind nothing but an arm of white bone.
Terrified, Tenur collapsed onto the ground. Staring at his right arm, which had been reduced to bare white bone, his lips turned pale and his entire body trembled.
"I didn't mean to offend you. I just... I just..."
Tenur stammered for a long time without managing to find a suitable excuse. Coupled with the pain in his right arm, he was even less capable of thinking clearly. In the end, all he could do was close his eyes and wait for death to arrive.
But after a while, he discovered that his head was still attached to his neck and that he hadn't died. He opened his eyes again, only to find that the tattered yellow-robed figure whose oppressive presence had made it impossible for him to breathe had disappeared.
Tenur sat there stunned for a moment before looking at his right arm again. It had indeed become nothing but white bone that seemed as though it might shatter with the slightest movement. Clearly, everything that had just happened wasn't a dream.
He sat dazed on the ground for a long time. Only after gradually adapting to the pain in his right arm did he struggle to climb back to his feet. Yet before he had even staggered two steps, another figure he equally didn't want to see appeared before him.
The pirate hunter, Gehrman Sparrow. He actually chased me all the way here?
Terrified once more, Tenur collapsed onto the ground. No longer caring about how filthy it was, he began kowtowing repeatedly with loud bangs.
The legendary pirate hunter Gehrman Sparrow merely looked curiously at Tenur's right arm. That skeletal white arm was clearly not the result of an ordinary Beyonder ability. In his memory, he had never encountered a Beyonder capable of using such an ability before.
Very interesting. Tonight was quite interesting as well. He had picked up a bounty for free.
After looking at it a couple more times, he walked over and ended Tenur's life beneath the latter's terrified gaze. After all, this was a pirate worth 800 pounds. No matter how small, meat was still meat.
"This really is a good place."
Gehrman Sparrow glanced toward the brightly lit den of extravagance in the distance, took out a handkerchief, and wiped away the blood that had accidentally gotten onto his hand. Once it was clean, he didn't change his face and instead headed directly toward that establishment with his current appearance.
Ordinary pirates didn't need to run when they encountered him.
The ones who needed to run were the famous pirates whose names appeared on wanted lists with bounties attached.
And their attempts to flee made it easier for him to identify his targets and facilitated his next hunt.
However, as Gehrman Sparrow walked along the street, he encountered corpse after corpse reduced to nothing but white bones.
Judging from how bright and fresh their clothing still appeared, it wasn't difficult to tell that they hadn't been dead for long. It was highly likely they had only just been killed.
Gehrman Sparrow stood in the street for a while before ultimately deciding not to continue toward the den of extravagance, because the trail of skeletal corpses was spreading along the street in that direction.
Faced with something bizarre and unknown, he had no intention of taking unnecessary risks and inviting an accident.
On the seas, knowing how to restrain one's curiosity was the key to living longer.
Gehrman Sparrow retraced his path and found the Church of Storms' contact point. After reporting that he had killed Tenur, he collected the 800-pound bounty and went to an ordinary bar, where he ordered a glass of the local Emerald Dream, along with some roasted meat and smoked sausages to accompany his drink.
His arrival caused quite a commotion. Someone had already secretly slipped away to report the news.
Gehrman Sparrow didn't stop them. He simply enjoyed his drink in peace while pondering the bizarre scene he had encountered tonight.
He had arrived relatively late at the time and had only managed to catch a glimpse of a yellow-robed figure flashing past. Beyond that, he hadn't seen anything.
After finishing his glass of fine liquor, Gehrman Sparrow casually took out an exceptionally ostentatious, gleaming gold-plated pocket watch and glanced at it.
5:32.
There was still a little while before dawn.
Click.
He put away the pocket watch and swept his gaze across the patrons inside the bar. Frightened, they all lowered their heads, afraid that they might attract the attention of this pirate hunter who killed pirates without batting an eye.
Carrying a bottle of beer he had just purchased, Gehrman Sparrow leisurely walked out of the bar. His gaze swept across the sea, where the sun would soon rise, before he glanced once more in the direction of that den of extravagance.
He had a premonition that once tonight passed, that place would also be completely swallowed by the darkness.
Time passed little by little, until the first rays of sunlight broke through the horizon over the sea and blossomed into light.
Gehrman Sparrow seemed to see that tattered yellow-robed figure once again. Although it vanished in a flash, he didn't doubt his own eyesight.
About an hour later, the entirety of Poole Harbor fell into unprecedented panic.
That den of extravagance which raked in money like flowing water had actually completely collapsed and vanished. Buried along with it were all those skeletal corpses.
"How dangerous."
Gehrman Sparrow sighed before leaving Poole Harbor. As for the bizarre events of last night, he wasn't curious about them in the slightest. He had no intention of investigating them, much less going above the gray fog to secretly perform a divination.
He changed to a new face and assumed a new identity before heading to the docks to purchase a ticket and leave. When he heard people discussing what had happened the previous night, he simply listened silently without any intention of joining their conversation.
According to them, someone had personally witnessed a kind of infectious disease appear in that place. Anyone infected by it last night would have all the flesh and blood fall away from their body, eventually becoming a snow-white skeleton that resembled a work of art.
In the end, the gods could no longer stand by and watch. To prevent the contamination from spreading, they sent down divine punishment and erased the infected area.
The man told the story with such vivid detail that when others mocked him and refused to believe him, he revealed another shocking piece of information.
A divine incarnation had supposedly walked the mortal world last night.
It wore a set of tattered yellow robes. Ordinary people couldn't see Its true appearance and could only gaze upon Its back from afar.
Hearing this description, the blurry figure in Klein's mind suddenly seemed to become much clearer.
He couldn't determine whether it was truly a divine incarnation, but that figure had indeed been walking through the mortal world dressed in tattered yellow robes.
Tattered yellow robes, walking the mortal world, an indescribable being... Wait, why does that description sound a little familiar?
Klein suddenly froze in place, countless thoughts racing through his mind. It wasn't until the person checking tickets for boarding reminded him that he finally broke free from his various speculations, passed through the ticket check, and boarded the ship.
During those brief few minutes of thought, he had found the answer to his question.
The King in Yellow!