Pirate Kingship-Chapter 624 - 444: Wait, Your Last Name is Tudor Too?

Under the contamination of the Secret Realm, the clothes of these people had automatically transformed. Some became farmers, others hunters, guards, nobles, or ministers...

Their bodies began to quietly morph into various sea creatures, exhibiting symptoms almost identical to those of "Coral Disease," and their sanity was on the brink of total collapse.

However, no matter their assumed identities, they were not truly stepping into their respective roles at this time.

Instead, driven by an obsessive need to warn others before their transformation, they were busy finding various writing tools and tirelessly creating drift bottles.

After writing, they tossed the bottles into the moat. The bottles would float downstream into the ocean, rise from the seabed to the surface, and then drift toward the distant north, propelled by ocean currents.

Even though their eyes were already clouded, completely unaware that they had become bizarre, the letters they wrote had become a medium for meme-induced murder.

They kept muttering inarticulately,

"Oracle! Oracle!

We are the whistleblowers of human civilization, charged with a grave responsibility, to swiftly convey the Oracle of our Lord, the Whale Hunter.

Great trouble for humanity is approaching, and for each additional person who receives our warning, another life may be spared..."

As time passed and the contamination deepened, their speech gradually incorporated other voices:

"His Royal Highness the Prince's ball should start now—I should go greet the guests. No, I have to write a letter!"

"I should be polishing the silver platters and gold cups, urging the kitchen to prepare the feast needed for the banquet. No, I have to write a letter!"

"I have to prepare the clothes and shoes for the ball. No, I have to write a letter..."

Clearly, each of them possessed a level of morality and noble sentiment that surpassed the average.

At this stage, their will was still torn between the "super-ego" and the "id," between "Divinity" and "Beastliness"; they had not completely fallen.

Violet, sharing senses with Byron, subconsciously let out a sigh of relief.

In the perilous Hundred Beasts Paradise, there were no tribes with fewer than a thousand members. Here, there were only a few dozen people, indicating that most of the inhabitants of this settlement had likely escaped the danger zone before the disaster struck and weren't drowned by the rising floodwaters.

But she immediately began to worry again for these believers, Priests, and her deeply connected father.

There are many worshippers of my father in both Iron Anchor Bay and the Glacial Archipelago. The biggest difference between the two is that the Glacial Archipelago is far smaller than Iron Anchor Bay, and its Anchoring stability is weaker. My father has always been desperately seeking the secret of the prophecy of revival. This was likely because Iron Anchor Bay's location put it directly in the line of impact, forcing him to find ways to save himself in advance. If my father had already gone to the most dangerous Eastern Continent, then the anomaly here might have originated from the tidal aftermath of the Eastern Continent. The believers here were affected along with my father, and because their Anchor was too weak, they were the first to suffer.

All details indicated that the Whale Hunter's situation might not be too good; he might be experiencing the same internal struggle as these believers.

Violet bit her lower lip, feeling powerless to help.

She realized that her father hadn't told her anything, not even allowing her to take a position within the Lighthouse Sequence, precisely because he didn't want her to be endangered by such circumstances.

But wasn't that what Violet also thought?

If given the choice, she wouldn't want her always ambitious father to become a self-sacrificing hero.

She would prefer him to be a bit more selfish like Byron—at least secure himself before protecting others.

Byron, on the other hand, immediately activated Echoes of History on these people, reading their past.

He discovered that this mixed-inhabitant tribe actually had over two thousand members who had lived peacefully on this land before disaster struck.

They lived a secluded life with almost no external communication until ten years ago when, due to an accident, they received the protection of the Whale Hunter and began to devoutly worship this Fifth-Order Pseudo-God.

This was their only channel of communication with the outside world.

Over the years, they occasionally received divine Oracles.

Until last year, when a Blue Hole suddenly appeared off the coast of the Glacial Archipelago, spitting out a young man also bearing the Whale Holy Emblem.

They believed he was a Divine Envoy sent by the Whale Hunter from the Eastern Continent, so they elected him as the bishop of the Whale Hunter's Church.

This recent "Great Flood" alert was first heard by that individual when he received the Whale Hunter's Oracle. Subsequently, the other believers gradually caught wind of the message, though with varying degrees of completeness.

Thus, after evacuating most of the island's inhabitants in a timely manner, they didn't forget to warn all humankind on the continent as instructed by Jack Harold.

But something went wrong; one after another, these Priests and believers who had personally heard the Oracles started to transform.

In the end, the young bishop from the Eastern Continent ordered that all the transforming Priests and believers stay on the Glacial Archipelago, continuing the task entrusted by the Whale Hunter.

This led to the scene they were now witnessing.

"A visitor from the Eastern Continent? A Divine Envoy of the Whale Hunter?"

Upon discovering this crucial detail, both Byron's and Violet's eyes suddenly brightened.

According to Teris, if not influenced by external forces, Blue Holes usually transported objects from higher elevations to lower ones.

Since this Divine Envoy had come from the lower Eastern Continent to the relatively higher Southern Continent, there must have been external assistance.

Since the Whale Hunter had gone to the trouble of sending him back, perhaps it was because he had uncovered some hidden secret during subsequent explorations.

Having obtained a key clue, Byron immediately took control of a Black Merfolk commando and strode toward the nearby castle.

He guessed that the role played by the Divine Envoy was very likely one of the two most important characters in this fairy tale: "the Prince."

"HISS!"

However, the Black Merfolk found that every step she took was like walking on a knife's edge; the skin on her feet remained uninjured, but blood still flowed out, leaving a trail of bloody footprints on the ground.

It is known that a person will enter a near-death state if they lose one-third of their blood. At this rate, she would bleed to death before finding the key individual.

But just as Byron reached the castle's grand entrance, he realized the Black Mermaid no longer needed to worry about dying from excessive blood loss.

"Who goes there?"

Two guards clad in knight's heavy armor, wielding halberds and responsible for defending the gate, shouted angrily and swung their weapons at her.

BOOM!

There was no splatter of blood, only a pile of colorful foam that appeared where she stood, disappearing without a trace the moment sunlight touched it.

The devout believers were all still busy writing letters; every loyal defender in this Secret Realm was clearly an NPC created by the realm itself.

They did not hesitate to attack outsiders.

The Sailing Logbook updated again,

"The Little Mermaid pays a price with every step forward.

Sacrificing her beautiful hair can give her an invincible dagger, and no one can obstruct your meeting with the Prince."

Soon, a fourth Black Mermaid, this one with a shiny bald head and a dagger in hand, cut down all the guards and stormed into the castle that bore a striking resemblance to Sorenburg.

Byron, following the Black Mermaid's perspective, felt increasingly puzzled as they advanced.

They passed the drawbridge, castle walls, watchtowers, the outer bailey, circular wall towers, and the inner bailey, finally entering the imposing main keep.

He realized his initial feeling was correct; aside from slight differences in detail, this place was exactly the same as the Sorenburg he had grown up in!

He even found several Red Rose crests that were almost correct.

The biggest difference was that it looked much newer than the real Sorenburg. Judging by the growth of the vegetation, it seemed to be Sorenburg from twenty years ago, before he was born.

Supposedly, the author himself claimed that the Little Mermaid fairy tale was inspired by the collective subconscious and very likely corresponded to actual historical events.

But no matter how real the history, it shouldn't correspond to my home, should it? If Sorenburg had a Little Mermaid, wouldn't I know? Moreover, what does the story's 'protagonist' have to do with that Divine Envoy, and why would this Secret Realm correspond to this particular fairy tale? Shouldn't mutual attraction only occur under conditions of strong national and historical relevance?

The more Byron thought about it, the more confused he became, urging the Black Mermaid to hasten her pace.

Instead of running around like a headless chicken in the vast castle, wasting precious steps and blood, she headed directly toward "the Prince's" room from twenty years ago.

In reality, it was his father, Prince Sorrenberg's room, which became his parents' shared room after their marriage.

This time, upon reaching the door, he activated Echoes of History once more and read the corresponding information,

"Little Mermaid, only by making the Prince fall in love with you can you take him away from here, back to the sea.

Otherwise, at sunrise the next morning, you will turn into foam and vanish from this world."

"Fall in love?"

Through the Black Mermaid's perspective, reflected on the polished floor, Byron saw the "Black Mermaid's" pitch-black skin, her muscular biceps, shiny bald head, a mouth without a tongue, the cold, shining dagger in her hand, and a trail of bloody footprints.

If the Prince could fall in love with such a 'Mermaid,' then he must be blind!

With that thought, Byron unhesitatingly controlled the Black Mermaid to kick open the door.

He saw a figure also hunched over a desk writing a letter, who had just finished one, casually put it into a drift bottle, and tossed it out the window into the moat.

Hearing the loud noise, the figure instinctively turned to look toward the door.

And then...

"HISS! What is this monstrosity?!" the figure cried out.

Byron then got a clear look at the "Prince's" true appearance and was dumbfounded.

Above was a huge fish head, connected below to two human legs covered with leg hair.

Everyone in the Secret Realm was undergoing transformation, so the "Prince" appearing as a half-human, half-fish creature was within his expectations.

But a name that the Sailing Logbook subsequently read from the figure caused Byron's pupils to shrink abruptly.

Saranthe... Tudor! 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

He couldn't help but cry out involuntarily,

"Aren't you from the Eastern Continent? Why do you share the Tudor surname, just like my mother?!"