Within the vast black castle of an unknown region.

Dark, cold, silent, as if no outsiders have set foot here for many years.

Yet, tonight.

"Huff... Huff... Huff..."

Every breath of the dust-laden foul air scraped his lungs like rough sand, making Hawkins feel as though his entire chest was ablaze with pain.

The young man with short pale golden hair could no longer recall how he arrived in this seemingly boundless enormous castle, nor how long he had been fleeing through this labyrinthine castle.

But he dared not pause his steps for even a moment.

Thud.. Thud.. Thud..

Hawkins trudged heavily through a dark corridor lined with indistinct portraits, rushing into a somewhat shabby room at the end of the hall.

With a bang, he slammed the door shut.

Then he moved all the furniture within sight that could be moved — the worn-out sofa, the cabinet, bookshelf, table... all piled behind the door.

However, he felt far from secure, and without a moment's hesitation, he dashed toward the room's other exit.

With several experiences already, Hawkins knew very well that nothing in this building could withstand those terrifying monsters!

Indeed, the castle's monsters!

Sure enough.

Boom——

Just as he reached the opposite door, the blocked door had already been violently clawed open, leaving a huge hole.

A limb resembling a pterodactyl's folded with wings, with joints sprouting sharp claws, reached in.

Scratch! Scratch!...

The seemingly heavy furniture only posed a slight obstacle, amid the relentless, teeth-grating scratching sounds, four limb-like wings continued working tirelessly.

In just a dozen seconds, it had thrown everything aside!

Crackle....

Soon, without bothering to open the door.

Two monsters as white as snow, resembling birds yet human-like, burst through the shattered door with lightning speed.

They stood close to two meters tall, covered in cold, hard white feathers, with heads resembling commonplace seagulls but with human features, and lower limbs like robust bird claws as thick as steel rods.

Screech——

Their beaks filled with tiny triangular sharp teeth let out a sharp call, even Hawkins, who had run far from the room, felt his eardrums buzzing.

"Ah!"

Stumbling, he nearly fell, needing to keep running while desperately covering his ears to escape the sound.

The bird monsters then charged forward, using their sturdy lower limbs and wing-like feet, in pursuit of Hawkins's fleeing direction once more.

Like death chasing him, leaving the young man with golden hair no respite, only to flee desperately, and flee again.

At this moment, monsters pursued him relentlessly.

The further he ran, the more dilapidated the labyrinth's decor appeared, as if from ages long past.

Moreover, in the darkness, numerous subtle presences seemed to be whispering, scrutinizing him, with various inexplicably familiar and elusive gazes cast upon him.

He felt many acquaintances hiding in the shadows of this bizarre castle, mocking him.

Yet.

Despite the familiarity of everything in the castle, with the terrifying monsters chasing him, he couldn't spare time to stop and ponder why this might be.

"Huff... Damn it! Damn it!"

Breathing heavily and weak, having silently cursed countless times, but it was all meaningless to his circumstances.

Bang!

He dashed into another very concealed small door, hoping the door could hinder the mammoth bird monsters, allowing him to truly lose them.

However, in this labyrinthine castle, the layout was equally bizarre.

Unfortunately, after fleeing for a while, Hawkins's luck seemed to run out.

This was not an ideal escape route but a closed room resembling a warehouse filled with various weapon racks.

When the panicked Hawkins realized something was amiss, it was already too late.

Scratch! Scratch!...

Two gigantic bird monsters tightly blocked the only entrance behind him, completely trapping him inside.

Raising winged claws, they violently clawed at the stone wall beside the small door, each swipe took off large chunks of the wall's stone facade.

Clearly, it wouldn't take long for them to break in, mercilessly claiming the young man's life!

Yet even in this inescapable dire situation, he refused to surrender, but instead, it sparked his full courage.

It was only natural; if he were truly a cowardly wretch, how could he have sailed alone from the Old Continent, crossed the Black Sea to the New Continent, and joined any privateer fleet?

Clang——

He drew a chillingly bright hand half-sword from the weapon rack nearby, turning back to charge toward the half-open small door.

"Ah, monster, die!"

[Sail Up!]

Bang——

In his steps, Hawkins's body seemed like a fully drawn bow, with strength rising from the soles of his feet, his body's power twisting into a single thread.

The longsword in his hand shot forth like an arrow from a crossbow, blazing through the air.

Striking straight at the chest of the bird monster already halfway into the room.

Clang!

Even with his current swordsmanship at its peak, he could only pierce in the tip of his sword before it was blocked by the bird creature's prominent, vertical breastbone and stopped cold.

With just a casual arm swing, the bird creature had already sent him flying, crashing into a row of weapon racks.

"Huff... Huff..."

As he struggled desperately to get back on his feet, the two bird creatures had already expanded the small door into a space large enough for them to squeeze through one after another.

Gah gah gah—

The terrifying shrieks seemed to express their excitement at the prospect of tasting human flesh, sounding a death knell for the young man who had already given his all.

Rustle rustle rustle...

Hawkins sat on the ground, using his legs to push himself backward step by step. Under the oppressive pressure of death, the expression on his face began to collapse.

"Huff.. Huff.. I'm still unable to achieve fame and fortune, and return gloriously to my hometown with treasures.

Could it be that today, I am to become the food of bird creatures? Mother... I'm sorry, I've broken my promise..."

As if voicing a last testament, he suddenly felt something unusual beneath him; what met his hands was unexpectedly cold.

"Hmm?"

Looking down, he saw an iron trapdoor covered in dust, sealed for who knows how long, seemingly a passage to a cellar.

In an instant, Hawkins was invigorated.

As the two creatures prepared to pounce, he wasted no time contemplating why he hadn't noticed this iron door before. He already tore it open.

Whoosh—

A breeze, not at all oppressive, first rushed out from the inside.

Looking down, it was pitch black in there, seemingly shrouded in a thin mist, resembling an entrance to the underworld.

But at this moment, he no longer cared what kind of eerie things might be lurking in the dark underground; he simply leaped down.

He descended rapidly, vanishing into the darkness in an instant.

However.

After he disappeared, the two white bird creatures immediately retracted their attacking posture, standing in formation like disciplined attendants.

It was as if the entire relentless pursuit was merely to drive the young man himself into that "cellar" door.

Tap… Tap… Tap…

Just then, footsteps sounded again from behind the door, and two young men, one with brown hair and the other with blue hair, walked in shrouded in mist-like gray robes.

Passing by the motionless bird creatures, they walked straight to the entrance of that "cellar."

"This Mr. Hawkins, to think he is also an Inheritor of the 'White Sail Swordsmanship School,' is quite a surprise.

To come all the way to the New Continent and join the Privateer Fleet at such a young age, he seems to be a man with a story."

"I don't know if he has a story; I just know that this guy's subconscious is heavily guarded, or there's something in his past he can't face.

To subconsciously construct such a big maze in his dream, and only after half a night of running under life-threatening danger did he expose the entrance to the lower dream layer.

I'm nearly exhausted!"

Even in an ordinary person's dream, the brain would subconsciously create various conveniences for the dreamer, allowing him to escape from unthinkable predicaments.

At this point, using the dream to extract useful information was at its limit; attempting to kill directly within the dream had already surpassed the two's combined limits.

Aiven automatically ignored the lazy guy's words, peering into the opened door that Hawkins had revealed, exposing an entrance that seemed to lead to the depths of the earth.

"Though tonight's workload is not small, it's worth it for securing a rare talent in commerce and administration.

Think about the benefits of him passing the test; you won't have to moonlight as my civilian secretary anymore—doesn't that inspire you?"

With that, Aiven jumped down first.

"Even if I'm spared from moonlighting, I am not particularly inspired. Moreover, didn't we agree not to play this game anymore?"

Although Milan verbally complained, his body was very honest, already leaping down with Aiven.

Passing through a layer of mist, the two had landed in the blink of an eye.

A person's Dream Realm possesses a unique layered structure. Though not even members of the Deceitful Dream Sect could tell exactly how many layers there are in a dream.

But for ordinary people, the dream realm is mainly divided into two major layers: the shallow layer and the deep layer.

In the shallow layer, people have a certain level of awareness, and some are even conscious of their dreaming, being able to bring back some vague memories to the real world.

However, the deeper one goes into a dream, like into the deep regions containing many secrets and memories, the more they become integrated with that information.

It becomes impossible to distinguish between dream and reality.

When the two, wearing unique robes bestowing special abilities through rituals, entered Hawkins's deep-layer dream, they happened to see a part of Hawkins's real memories.

And it happened not too long ago.

It was a large commerce association, bustling with people and looking grand.

On the second floor of the association, a group of sharp-dressed staff was working in an orderly fashion.

Although young, Hawkins held quite a high position among the staff, overseeing three office clerks who were clearly younger but appeared much older than him in processing several commercial contracts.

As an outsider spectator, Aiven watched the furnishings and insignia in the commerce association, letting out an exclamation:

"Oh? This is actually the White Egret Commerce Association of the Ilya Kingdom?!"

Just at this time.

Tap… Tap… Tap…

A middle-aged man with short whiskers, unimposing yet exuding an air of authority, wearing a fitting noble suit, walked past Hawkins's personal cubicle flanked by a group of attendants, descending the stairs without sparing a glance.

Upon seeing the emblem bearing the white egret on his cuff, combined with his specially gathered intelligence, Aiven suddenly trembled, eyes dangerously narrowing, enunciating word by word:

"That man is... Wright Neilco... the Count!"

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