Bayam, inside the safe house near the Waves Church district.
Luo En, who was resting with his eyes closed in a chair, suddenly felt his eyelids twitch and woke up from his doze.
A strong, unprovoked palpitation, like a cold tide, instantly flooded his heart!
He subconsciously sat up straight, scanning his surroundings vigilantly.
"No abnormalities?!"
What puzzled Luo En was that the Calamity Priest's passive ability to foresee Calamity was unusually calm at the moment; he didn't sense any specific, directional Calamity approaching.
This meant that Tracy hadn't directly found them, and they hadn't been directly exposed yet.
"Hey, Brando, it's your turn." At this moment, Danitz yawned, stood up, and prepared to relieve Luo En from watch.
"No rush." Luo En waved his hand, signaling him to sit down.
He pondered for a while, took a one-penny coin from his pocket, placed it on his thumb, and said to a puzzled Danitz, "Let's play another game of coin tossing."
"Huh?" Danitz was confused by his sudden action. "At this time, why play coin tossing?"
But looking at Luo En's unusually serious face, which appeared somewhat grim in the dim light, he still, as if by a ghost's prompting, agreed.
"Alright then... I guess, heads."
"Then I guess tails." Luo En said.
"Ding!"
With a light sound, the coin was tossed high, tumbling in the air, flashing with faint light.
Both of their gazes followed the coin's trajectory intently.
"Pa."
The coin fell and was steadily caught by Luo En in his palm.
He slowly opened his palm... it was tails.
"No problem, the Lucky One's ability is still there, but--"
Luo En looked at the coin in his palm, muttering to himself,
"But why do I feel like something is missing?"
On the other side.
After searching in the shadows of Bayam for a long time, but still finding nothing, Tracy had no choice but to temporarily retreat.
She knew very well that if she stayed in Bayam any longer, she would sooner or later attract the attention of the Church and the Bayam authorities. By then, let alone finding someone, even she herself might get into trouble.
She could only return to the Black Death silently, filled with unwillingness and anger.
However, as soon as she returned to the ship, she acutely noticed that the atmosphere on board was a bit off.
The Sailors on the deck were rushing back and forth with lanterns, like headless flies, not knowing what they were doing, while her Third Mate, Mithor, stood under the mast with a livid face, roaring at his subordinates.
"Search for him again! He couldn't have gone far!"
Mithor was currently in a state of utter disarray. The captive had escaped, and the Captain would definitely not let him off the hook.
But he had already led people to search for a long time, even personally jumping into the sea to look, yet he still hadn't found the missing Alger; he seemed to have suddenly vanished into thin air.
It's over, the Captain is about to return, what should I do—countless cold sweats slid down Mithor's forehead.
However, just as he was incredibly anxious, a cold voice, like the whisper of Death, came from behind him.
"Third Mate, what are you doing?"
"Cap—Captain! You—you're back?" Mithor's body instantly stiffened. He slowly turned around and saw that incredibly cold, pretty face.
"Did you catch that 'Flaming' Danitz?" he asked tentatively.
Tracy's eyes were as cold as ice, she shook her head.
"You still haven't answered my question. What are you doing?"
"I—that—I—"
Mithor hesitated for a moment, but ultimately dared not conceal it, and could only brace himself and fully disclose the mysterious disappearance of the captive Alger, who had been hanging from the mast.
"What?! He escaped?!" Tracy's voice suddenly rose. "What exactly happened?!"
"I—I don't know either!" Mithor's voice carried a hint of tremor and helplessness. "That person was perfectly fine on the mast, then—then he suddenly disappeared! I searched the entire ship, even sent people to search the surrounding sea, but still couldn't find him!"
"Useless trash! You can't even keep an eye on a captive, what good are you to me?" Tracy cursed loudly.
She forcibly suppressed the anger in her heart and began to analyze rapidly.
In her opinion, that guy named Alger, affected by her 'disease', would basically be impossible to escape on his own.
That left only one possibility—someone rescued him from her ship!
To be able to rescue someone from the heavily guarded Black Death without anyone knowing, their strength must be extraordinary! At least a Pirate General level powerhouse!
Storm Church? Could it be them...? Tracy recalled that Alger had mentioned having a Storm Church background during the interrogation.
No, that's not right. If it were the Storm Church, the Black Death wouldn't be floating intact on the sea.
Given the Storm Church's style, if they had discovered the Black Death, a demigod would probably have already come to encircle and annihilate them.
Could it be... that bitch Edwina?!
After a while of thought, the figure of Iceberg Admiral suddenly appeared in Tracy's mind.
Having sufficient strength, being hostile to her, and being involved in this matter, Edwina's suspicion level rose sharply in Tracy's mind.
But why would she do that? That Alger should have no value left.
Could it be that there's another hidden motive behind this? Tracy's pupils suddenly contracted.
That Alger was deliberately arranged by her!
From beginning to end, it was all to fool me?!
Fooling—
This word, like a thunderclap, instantly struck her nerves. She suddenly remembered something, abruptly turned her head, stared intently at Mithor, and asked in a nearly screaming voice:
"Where's Brando's body?!"
"Bo—body?" Mithor trembled all over, startled by her. "It's already—already been given to your personal maid. She said... she said she would help you put it in your room."
"What?! When did I say she could enter my room freely?!"
"She, wasn't she your maid? I just—"
Damn it! Was I deceived? Mithor's face instantly turned pale as he saw the Captain's murderous reaction.
Tracy no longer had the mind to bother with Mithor. She transformed into a black afterimage, rushing quickly towards her Captain's cabin!
She kicked open the door, rushed in, and immediately saw the unconscious blonde maid on the floor.
At the same time, her nose caught a very faint, familiar, and peculiar scent that she found repulsive.
Mother, she was here!
"Now is not the time to think about this, where's the box?" Tracy looked around, not seeing the black briefcase. She immediately rushed to the blonde maid, pulled her up from the floor, squeezed her neck, and forcibly woke her up.
"Captain." The blonde maid woke up from the suffocating pressure and saw Tracy's extremely distorted, pretty face.
"My Captain, I just..." She felt the pressure on her neck getting heavier and heavier, but Tracy had no intention of showing any tenderness.
"Where's Brando?!" She stared intently at the other party with her bloodshot eyes, roaring and pressing, "Where did you take him?!"
"I don't—" Before the blonde maid could finish speaking, her vision went black, and she lost consciousness again.
Tracy looked coldly at the fallen maid, tightening her grip.
"Brando, where on earth did you go—"
Another two days passed, and everything seemed calm.
For Luo En, that unsettling premonition really seemed to be just a delusion.
The atmosphere within Bayam City also eased slightly as time passed.
"We can't stay here any longer." Luo En said in a deep voice, looking at the magnificent church spire outside the window.
Danitz nodded with deep empathy.
Staying in the same safe house for a long time would greatly increase the risk of exposure. Moreover, this was, after all, the Storm Church's stronghold.
A famous pirate like Danitz, staying here for a long time, might at some point be sniffed out by some sensitive Punishers.
By then, if they were trapped here, they truly wouldn't be able to escape.
So, under the cover of night, the two cautiously left this "most dangerous yet safest" hiding place and moved back to the inconspicuous cheap hotel they had been in before.
"I need to contact the Captain again." Danitz said to Luo En, "See where they are, we can't just keep waiting like this."
Luo En looked at his eager expression and nodded, cautioning, "Be careful."
"Don't worry, you should worry more about yourself, you have a 10,000-pound bounty after all." Danitz waved his hand and left the door.
"Three thousand pounds, as if you don't have a bounty yourself." Luo En grumbled.
Unfortunately, Captain Edwina's reply left Danitz feeling disappointed. Due to the increasingly rampant activities of the Storm Church at sea, for safety reasons, the Golden Dream had to temporarily change its course and take a long detour. This meant that they would still need a considerable amount of time to reach the vicinity of Bayam.
Damn it, how much longer do I have to stay in this wretched place? Danitz walked out of the secret contact point, looking dejected.
This was the first time he had ever wished for his vacation to end quickly.
He complained in his heart as he walked aimlessly down the street. Just as he was about to return directly to the hotel, a seemingly lively pub appeared in his line of sight.
He hesitated for a moment, and with the idea of "since I'm here, I might as well inquire about the latest intelligence," he pushed the door open and walked in.
He skillfully ordered a beer, found the most inconspicuous corner to sit down, and then perked up his ears, beginning to filter the noisy conversations of the surrounding pirates and Sailors.
Soon, the conversation of a few guys at the next table, who looked like Bounty Hunters, caught his attention.
"Hey, heard the big news lately?"
"Are you talking about that ten-thousand-pound bounty?"
"That's the one! A full ten thousand pounds! Alive! Don't know which unlucky guy offended some big shot."
A ten-thousand-pound bounty—Danitz's attention was immediately drawn. He calmly took a sip of beer and continued listening.
"Forget it, someone with a ten-thousand-pound bounty couldn't possibly be an ordinary person. That level of target has nothing to do with us." Another person said, "However, there's a more 'approachable' bounty recently that I think we could try."
There's another bounty?
The man lowered his voice, saying mysteriously, "Have you—have you heard of 'Flaming' Danitz?"
"Pfft—"
Danitz almost sprayed out the beer he had just drunk.
How am I involved?! He immediately became alert, pulling his disguise hat further down.
"'Flaming' Danitz? I have some impression." Another person at the table said, "He seems to be the boatswain under Iceberg Admiral, right? The Official bounty of three thousand pounds?"
"More than that!" The first speaker's voice carried a hint of excitement. "I heard that just these past two days, someone suddenly issued a private bounty targeting 'Flaming' Danitz! The reward is seven thousand pounds!"
He paused, then added a sentence that sent a chill down Danitz's spine.
"The kind where life or Death doesn't matter."
"Clang!"
Danitz's beer glass hit the table heavily, making a crisp sound.
What!
He subconsciously covered his mouth with his hand, barely suppressing a gasp. His mind went blank, and it took him a while to recover.
Damn it! Why am I worth less than Brando?!
No, that's not right! Now is not the time to dwell on that.
Something big has happened!
At sea.
Bernadette Gustav sat at her desk, gently fiddling with an ancient gold coin with peculiar patterns.
This gold coin was taken from Alger's leather case—
According to her analysis of rosell's diary, that leather case most likely belonged to Monqi Brando.
"Strange—the divination was wrong."
She looked at the chaotic and blurry divination feedback before her, her brows slightly furrowed.
Just now, she had tried to use this gold coin to divine some deeper information about Monqi Brando.
But unfortunately, the divination was not successful.
"To be 'killed' by a Sequence 7 Beyonder like 'Flaming' Danitz, it indicates that his own Sequence shouldn't be too high." Bernadette murmured to herself, "Why did the divination fail?"
"Does he possess anti-divination abilities?"
"But he's already dead, isn't he? Could it be that there's another hidden motive behind this?"
As a powerhouse who had toiled in the Beyonder domain for a long time, she was well-versed in all sorts of bizarre situations. And this abnormal phenomenon before her made her acutely sense an unusual aura.
She gave up on continuing the divination, placing the gold coin flat in her palm.
Then she pondered for a while, slowly opening her eyes.
"Eye of Peeking."
In the "Peeking" state, the gold coin presented a completely different sight in her eyes. She discovered that on the surface of this gold coin,
there were some extremely faint, almost imperceptible, peculiar silver traces intertwined.
"'Door' Pathway—"
As the holder of the Blasphemy Card, the 'Door' card, she was all too familiar with the aura of this Pathway.
Bernadette put away her "Eye of Peeking," her expression becoming somewhat playful.
"I remember there are several Beyonders of the 'Door' Pathway in Bayam City."
"Perhaps I can go look for them."