Hiss!
The sound of arrows cutting through the air arrived in an instant.
The archers, already disoriented in the mist, immediately shot their arrows without hesitation upon hearing Bishop Melk’s command.
However, they regretted it almost immediately after the first volley.
In the face of the arrow threat, naturally, Zhang Fan reacted just like any ordinary person would—by raising the human shield in his hands.
Puh!
Blood splattered. The former Viscount of Tieleburg was instantly transformed into a porcupine-like figure pierced with arrows.
“Heavens! What have we done?”
Several knights immediately fell into chaos, and a stir spread among the soldiers.
“Was it a Word of Command?”
An older knight at the front glared fixedly at Bishop Melk, a word flashing through his mind.
He naturally knew that among the clergy, there were even specialized spells capable of forming verbal commands, forcing the target to obey their orders unconditionally.
Besides, regardless of anything else, it was extremely reckless to suddenly command an arrow volley when their viscount had already been captured.
“Could it possibly be a deliberate cover-up? Is there another hidden truth?”
As the old knight thought this, he could only roar and charge toward Zhang Fan.
No matter what, the person and Bishop Melk were the main culprits behind the viscount’s death—they couldn’t let either escape!
“Dead?”
Zhang Fan, retreating while fighting, wore an expression of disbelief: “This should have been their lord, right? Are Westerners really all this unbending and resolute?”
But he had no time to think further, for in the next moment, a knight clad entirely in armor launched a terrifying charge at him.
Bang!
Combining man and mount, clad in iron, and with innate supernatural strength, the force behind this charge was clearly beyond Zhang Fan’s ability to resist.
Upon slight contact, the captain, who focused too much on technique, was sent flying backward, his flexible sword clattering to the ground.
“Judgment upon you!”
Meanwhile, several priests subdued the previous mage.
“What are you still standing around for? Immediately seize this large ship and don’t let anyone escape!”
The old knight shouted orders, then turned to Bishop Melk: “Now that the viscount is dead, this is the first time since the kingdom’s founding that a viscount has been murdered! Bishop, until the truth is clarified, none of us here can leave!”
“I understand that!”
Bishop Melk, with a solemn expression and gestures, declared piously: “Viscount Tieleburg died heroically in battle against the heathens. His soul shall be accepted by our Lord and enter the eternal kingdom!”
“Charge!”
Behind them, numerous soldiers who had already figured out the situation and were now bloodshot with rage rushed onto the treasure ship…
…
The murder of a nobleman was already enough to reach the king’s desk, let alone the involvement of a group of heathens.
Not long afterward, Wu Ming in the distant capital learned of the news.
A group of foreigners? Suspected of murdering Viscount Tiele Castle?
Currently, he naturally had a feeling that while the cosmic upgrade remained unclear, the continent of Sear had undergone earth-shaking changes.
The former edge of the world had vanished, and one or even several larger worlds had merged into this one.
These people were clearly the first wave of outsiders.
“Fascinating! Absolutely fascinating!”
Wu Ming’s face displayed a look of deep interest as he read the descriptions of black hair, black eyes, and origins from an ancient Eastern kingdom.
“Kallitan!”
He softly called out. The leader of the Night Watch silently emerged from the darkness: “What are your orders, my master?”
“Thoroughly investigate the true cause of Viscount Tieleburg’s death!”
Beside Wu Ming, the raven-delivered letters were not limited to official reports alone. Alongside the official documents were several private letters vividly describing the viscount’s death as if it were a deliberate case of mistaken killing and cover-up.
“It seems… my previous measures against the church have been too lenient…”
Thinking of the church’s conservative and resistant factions, a glint of coldness flashed in Wu Ming’s eyes.
After a moment’s thought, he added: “Every single person aboard that ship must be transported to the capital unharmed. I will interrogate them one by one!”
Obviously, the interrogation was merely a pretense. His true aim was to obtain firsthand information about that Eastern continent and its Celestial Empire.
“As you command, my master!”
Kallitan bowed deeply and vanished back into the darkness.
…
What Wu Ming didn’t know was that the visitors to Sear weren’t limited to just the lost Eastern sailors.
Buzz!
In the western part of the continent, somewhere in the wilderness, space twisted, and a semi-transparent portal appeared.
A divine messenger, wearing white robes, golden hair and blue eyes, and possessing snow-white wings, stepped gracefully from the portal, gazing at the sky and land of this realm.
“According to the divine prophecy… our world has expanded once more, welcoming new blood!”
His face was exquisitely beautiful, neither male nor female, exuding a divine aura.
“Now it seems that this new blood is this large island? It even has a kingdom ruled by a saint-tier sovereign…”
The divine messenger’s expression turned contemplative: “…It must be thoroughly investigated, and the information conveyed to my Lord.”
…
Creak!
The prison cart door opened, and a visibly weakened Zhang Fan was dragged out forcefully.
Ever since that noble died in his hands, he had known things were going terribly wrong.
Sure enough, after a brief period of chaos, the soldiers had gone berserk, capturing everyone from his ship and throwing them into jail. Each day, the food was only enough to barely satisfy a rat—stale, hard black bread. Zhang Fan estimated he was definitely going to be hanged.
Even in his homeland, assassinating a high-ranking noble like a minister or lord would warrant the harshest punishment.
He just hadn’t expected that instead of executing him immediately, they had loaded them all onto prison carts and kept traveling nonstop.
Now, he finally understood the reason.
—The Conqueror King had ordered their transfer to the capital for personal judgment!
Alright, to be honest, even if he couldn’t escape execution, having the death sentence postponed a little was still a small comfort.
However, upon arriving at the capital, he couldn’t help but marvel at its layout and planning: “Never would I have thought that even a barbarian nation in the West could possess such a magnificent and grand capital…”
“My master…”
The mage beside him, with dark circles under his eyes and bloodshot pupils, whispered: “Aren’t you even worried about our current situation?”
As the ship’s mage, he had received special ‘attention’ from the jailers.
Mistaken for a warlock, he had been treated accordingly. Whenever he tried to close his eyes and rest, a bucket of cold water was always poured over his head. In short, they wouldn’t let him rest properly.
This was because a mage’s spellcasting required intense concentration, and this forced disruption, preventing rest, had proven to be quite effective.
In fact, it was a lucky coincidence that worked against mages.
After more than ten days of sleepless nights, the mage hadn’t even had time to replenish his magical energy properly, let alone cast any spells.
“If they truly wanted to put us on trial, dragging just us few would have been enough!”
Zhang Fan spoke in his native tongue to the mage, then nodded toward the massive convoy behind them: “Why bring the entire crew? Surely they won’t kill everyone…”
“Heavens… Could these savages be planning to sell us as slaves?”
The mage’s teeth chattered.
He had heard stories of the brutal tribes in the southern islands, where defeated villages or entire clans were often sold into slavery, or even worse, sacrificed to dark gods.
Mercifully, although he had been somewhat down on his luck back in his homeland, he was a legitimate mage by birth! He had no desire to become a barbarian’s slave or some strange sacrificial offering.
“Count yourselves lucky! These accommodations are specially ordered for you prisoners!”
As far as Zhang Fan was concerned, he was thrown straight into prison without even getting a glimpse of the capital’s splendor.
The fat jailer grumbled as he brought in the evening meal—several pieces of relatively soft white bread and a small bowl of vegetable soup, exuding a rich aroma.
For prisoners, such a meal was indeed quite luxurious.
Zhang Fan had a bad feeling, but determined to die as a well-fed ghost, he devoured the meal heartily. Yet he soon realized, to his surprise, that no one came to interrogate him, even as night fell.
Nighttime.
The moonlight outside was serene like water.
“Great Moon Goddess…”
Through the narrow iron window, gazing at the bright moonlight, Zhang Fan suddenly prayed: “Please protect me and allow me to return home safely…”
“The Great Moon Goddess?”
At this moment, a somewhat unfamiliar yet youthful voice echoed from outside the cell.
“Who are you?”
Zhang Fan warily stepped back, only to see a figure in a black cloak directly open the prison door and walk inside.
“Your swordsmanship is decent, but you lack substantial inner cultivation…”
Wu Ming, using his divine sight, examined the man’s foundation and shook his head slightly.
“Who exactly are you?”
That feeling of being completely exposed made Zhang Fan’s anxiety spike to the extreme, as he shouted in alarm.
Only now did he realize that the other person was speaking in his own language.
“Actually, I should thank you all!”
Wu Ming didn’t answer Zhang Fan’s question but instead smiled.
“Thank us?”
“That’s right. Thank you for going through all the trouble to bring me information about this new world right from the start!”
In an instant, his figure moved forward, placing his hand on Zhang Fan’s forehead.
The man tried to resist, but after a brief struggle, his eyes suddenly went blank, and he stood motionless.
“While I could slowly question you, how could that compare to me simply viewing it all myself?”
Wu Ming murmured. Summoning immense power, every memory from Zhang Fan’s birth onward surfaced in his mind, detailed and complete.
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