Drip! Drip! Drip!

From the corner of the basement prison, a puddle of water was forming on the floor. Water leaked from the rusty pipe in the ceiling.

Dangling from rusty chains, Julian hung like a person on a cross, his body badly bruised with a blood-stained chest.

The wound caused by the black root had closed up but was still surrounded by bloody scabs.

"Uh… Ah!"

In that moment, Julian jolted awake and looked around the dimly lit room, trying to make sense of his surroundings.

His gaze fell on a man sitting on a chair, sharpening a knife, and looking quite malicious.

"Julian Noah.

"After swimming away from Swording Port, you ended up becoming a pirate under the alias of Jason Leonhardt.

"You befriended a young man named Tobias Reiner, who also used an alias and is actually known as Kiernan Hunter.

"The two of you joined the Silver Hunt Pirates until the two of you purchased your freedom and headed over to the New Rakuya, where the two of you became ordinary high school students."

Ethan said with a chuckle.

"H-How do you know all of that?"

Julian asked in shock.

With a wave of his hand, a strange-looking root swayed next to the dangling Julian. It had a crimson tip and seemed to be pulsating.

"Mindbreaker Root. I inserted it through your ear and into your brain to check your memories."

Ethan said.

'…This is bad. I have now also endangered Kiernan. If he goes public with his involvement with pirates, it won't be good!'

Julian thought with an ugly expression.

"That pirate shit does not interest me. The two of you were slaves and were forced into piracy, but never really participated in pirating activities.

"Mindbreakers could easily find out the truth if I went and told everyone that the two of you were pirates, so I won't be wasting my time with that."

"I have already reported you to the navy, and soon, a prison vessel will come pick you up.

"Ever heard of the Downed Prison? It's where you'll be spending the rest of your days."

Ethan said with a smirk.

"That's what you will do? Instead of killing me, you'll force me to spend the rest of my days behind bars?"

Julian asked angrily.

"It's much worse punishment for you than just killing you. I will make sure that you will actively be receiving newspapers, where you can read about my future heroics.

"Your name will be forgotten in a few days, and you will just rust away in that small prison cell until you are old and weak."

Ethan laughed happily.

"FUCK YOU!"

Julian screamed.

"Hahahahaha!"

…

Montrael, Martial Redemption Dojo.

"Hasn't Master been pretty distracted today?"

Cleo asked while she was stretching to get ready for early morning training, as there wasn't school today.

"There must be a lot going on inside his mind currently."

Lumian said.

His eyes had turned normal again after losing control of his demons.

"…"

Kiernan looked at his phone, waiting for a message, and then, a beep sounded from the Martial Order app.

It came from a private chat between him and Hero Among Rulers, also known as Xerxus Stroud, the former Fleet Admiral of the Navy.

[Hero Among Rulers: There was an assassination attempt on the life of Ethan Blackforest, the newly appointed Fleet Admiral. It didn't succeed]

[Hero Among Rulers: I tried finding out who it was, but it's a tightly kept secret, for some reason, and since I am no longer part of the navy, I don't have access to that information]

[Hero Among Rulers: All I know is that he is currently on a prison vessel, heading to the Downed Prison, which is an underwater prison facility where usually dangerous pirates and criminals are kept isolated from the rest of society]

Kiernan lowered his head, pinched his forehead, and gritted his teeth.

"You goddamn fool…"

He then took a deep breath and typed a response.

[Revenant: May we meet?]

[Hero Among Rulers: We can meet in the Pankratios cave]

Kiernan pocketed the phone, headed to his office, and prepared the ceremony quickly. In just a few quick moments, it was ready, the candles flickering and the incense burning.

A moment later, he appeared in the cave, and Pankratios and Xerxus were already there, enjoying morning tea by the meeting table.

It seemed like Xerxus was already in the cave before messaging Kiernan.

"Navy Fort is on high alert. The navy is alarmed that they allowed someone so close to the Fleet Admiral to even attempt an attack."

Xerxus said.

"Is it the doing of someone you know? You seemed to know that the attack was happening before it happened, young Kiernan."

Pankratios asked.

"Yes, a friend of mine."

Kiernan said with a serious look.

"Your friend is never going to see outside air ever again. What he did is unacceptable, trying to kill a Fleet Admiral like that."

Xerxus said with a frown.

"…He had his reasons."

Kiernan said.

"And what could they be?"

Xerxus asked with crossed arms.

"…Ethan killed his parents. He was seeking revenge."

Kiernan said.

"…Were his parents pirates?"

Xerxus asked.

"No, they were normal people, probably hadn't done a single bad deed in their life. It happened in Swording Port, where Ethan fought Mauricio, and their battle killed everyone there."

Kiernan said.

"Swording Port… Swording Port… I remember that incident a little bit. Didn't Mauricio escape to that island and kill everyone there?"

Xerxus asked.

"That's what Ethan said to everyone, didn't he? The truth is that day, it was Ethan who did the killing. I am not saying Mauricio is innocent; he definitely had his hand in killing, but Ethan wasn't all that interested in protecting people there.

"All he was interested in was the bounty on Mauricio's head. Once the battle had ended with Mauricio escaping, Ethan killed the rest of the survivors so there would be no witnesses left."

Kiernan said.

Xerxus and Pankratios were shocked.

"And this friend of yours survived that massacre and was witness to all of that?"

Xerxus asked.

"Yes."

"He should've gone public with that. I would've helped him to expose Ethan!"

Xerxus shouted.

"I think he only cares about killing Ethan. He also didn't think anyone would believe him, as he doesn't have any proof. I tried to stop him, but…"

Kiernan took a deep breath and then said.

"I will go rescue him."

"And how are you planning to do that? You cannot attack the prison vessel because it will be guarded by Vice Admirals."

Xerxus said.

"…Downed Prison. Can you assign me as a prisoner there using a fake alias?"

Kiernan asked.

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