Chapter 692: Chapter 692: Fate Favors Me, But Occasionally Kicks Me
"That's good. Give me the complete secret technique." Muria didn't know the meaning of politeness and directly asked the death god's avatar for it. The flaw in this secret technique was obvious: fusing too many demi-planes would significantly decrease control over them. Even so, it was still highly attractive to Muria.
"Sure." To Muria's surprise, the death god Naraku was very straightforward and directly handed over two secret techniques: one for splitting demi-planes and the other for fusing them.
"When the time comes, I will divert Barbossa. Once you receive the signal, act quickly," the death god Naraku instructed. "I will notify you through the badge you took from my servant."
"I understand." Muria nodded. Seeing Muria agree, the avatar of Naraku dispersed into streams of black gas, spreading in all directions.
"What is this guy plotting?" The deathly gray aura in the captain's cabin disappeared with the departure of the death god, and the outside noise returned to Muria's ears. The originally dilapidated and decayed wooden cabin returned to its semi-transparent state, with countless wraiths writhing in agony within.
Muria was skeptical about what the death god said. Believing a god's words without question would eventually lead to being thoroughly deceived. Gods, especially evil ones, were not to be trusted lightly.
"Limiting Barbossa's advancement? Who are you kidding?" Muria thought disdainfully. He was certain that if he acted, he would only get a small part of the benefits, while Naraku would take the majority. Of course, he didn't understand what Naraku's major gain would be. It must be something on Barbossa that attracted the death god, something Muria couldn't obtain at this stage.
"Whatever, as long as I benefit." Muria flipped through the secret techniques in his hand several times without finding any issues. These were auxiliary techniques, so even if something went wrong, it wouldn't harm him directly. He must be cautious of the gods, especially since he couldn't defeat them now.
"Now I need to discuss this with Mikaela." Muria carefully examined the secret technique for splitting demi-planes. The requirement was to use a power opposite to the demi-plane's attribute. This was clearly a setup.
Naraku, the death god, must have known about the two Seraphim by Muria's side and sought him out for this reason. The purifying power of the Seraphim was the perfect counter to a lich's power, making them ideal for splitting a lich's demi-plane.
Aside from some interference from a certain brother-in-law, Muria's request for Mikaela's help went exceptionally smoothly. He successfully avoided Elvist's interference, mainly because Mikaela had no intention of refusing.
Being able to use legendary power to separate a demi-plane was a valuable experience for any legend, beneficial without any drawbacks. Though Elvist also found it appealing, he didn't speak up. He would never help Muria and would ensure that Muria didn't gain any advantages.
Once Muria left, Elvist would discuss with his sister about borrowing the secret technique for observation. There were plenty of legendary liches on this continent...
Since meeting Naraku's avatar, Muria found his expansion actions in the ten major ports increasingly smooth, as if an invisible black hand was accelerating everything.
After subduing all the pirate groups with peak soul-will level undead, Muria began to target lower-level pirate groups. Simultaneously, he started infiltrating various aspects of the ten major ports in the Sea of Ghosts, increasing his influence daily.
Most undead were unaware of Muria's existence above them; they only knew they had been subdued by a lich. For most undead, being subdued by a lich was quite fortunate, and resistance was minimal.
As undead, their path to advancement was extremely slow, measured in decades or centuries. Having a powerful backer was a great boon. The large number of undead in the Sea of Ghosts proved this, as Barbossa welcomed all undead.
"Have you arranged everything?"
"Yes, that hybrid titan named Muria has agreed. As expected, he will have the Seraphim by his side help him split the demi-plane."
"This is a rare opportunity. We must seize it. Barbossa, that old bastard, must be dealt with this time, or at least we must disrupt his plans. The Undead Council should not exist; it's a major eyesore."
"It's hard to believe that a titan would be interested in liches and ghost ships, and even bring two Seraphim along. Otherwise, we wouldn't have found a suitable candidate to act against Barbossa. Ordinary legends wouldn't dare take on Barbossa."
"Alright, let's prepare. Have our priests move to besiege that lich. A thousand-year friendship, Barbossa will definitely come out to see what's happening. Then it'll be our turn to act. We just need to keep Barbossa occupied for two hours. That kid will take care of the rest. The dragon's greed will ensure he destroys Barbossa's foundation."
…
Under the deep waters of the Sea of Ghosts, countless giant warships emitting a ghostly blue glow quietly lay on the seabed, like giant beasts waiting to devour people.
These warships, destined to sail through the void in the future, surrounded a vast and continuous complex of grand buildings. This complex, covering an area of over ten square kilometers, emitted power waves that pushed away the heavy, viscous black seawater.
At the center of this complex, a skeleton wearing a tricorn hat and pirate attire quietly watched a new ghost ship slowly emerge from the entrance of the sea on a silver screen.
Seeing this steel-colored ghost ship, Barbossa felt a surge of emotions, with memories from thousands of years ago flooding back.
Initially, he was just an ordinary pirate. Later, due to an accident, he obtained the Lich Transformation Ritual. At that time, he was old and frail, with declining physical fitness and many subordinates eyeing his position. With no other choice, he transformed himself into a lich.
It seemed fate favored him. Despite knowing only a few low-level spells and having only a strong mental power, he successfully became a lich, capable of escaping death.
Then his fate took a huge turn. As a human, he was an obscure pirate captain, barely known in a small sea area, not even a pirate king. But after becoming a lich, opportunities continuously came his way.
With his undying lich body, he obtained his first ghost ship from the sea. It was a small, shabby ship less than a hundred meters long, but it made him a terrifying presence in that sea area.
From then on, he developed a great interest in ghost ships and began collecting them. As his power grew, so did his collection of ships.
Later, when he advanced to the legendary rank, he received an invitation from the world's largest undead force, the Undead Council, due to his powerful ghost fleet. At that time, he thought he had reached the pinnacle of his life. Just when he was complacent, the goddess of fate kicked him hard.
A golden dragon, from who knows where, used some insidious means to plunder the best batch of his ghost ships. His status in the council dropped seventeen ranks instantly due to this incident and continued to decline.
After a thousand years of hard work, just when he restored his ghost fleet to its former glory, another golden dragon appeared.
For some reason, his subordinates had a grudge against this golden dragon. Initially, he didn't want to intervene, but this dragon knew a princess from the main continent.
The princess borrowed a fully organized void fleet, which directly plundered him while he was still in shock. His once-proud ghost fleet was no match for the void fleet. Aside from its strange recovery ability, it had almost no advantages.
As expected, his hard-earned status in the Undead Council plummeted once again. Since then, Barbossa learned his lesson. He realized that his collection of pirate ships from around the world was just a ragtag fleet compared to a real empire's fleet. Thus, he began researching ghost ships, aiming to create a structured ghost fleet.
When a great lich with ten thousand years of knowledge started researching, even without extraordinary talent, his millennia of accumulation would inevitably yield results. Especially for someone like him, who dedicated his life to ghost ships.
He soon found a way to mass-produce ghost ships. When he presented his structured ghost fleet to the council leaders, his status in the Undead Council almost reached the pinnacle.
Now, he was even being considered for the next council leader, despite his poor interpersonal skills. The council valued individual strength over connections, given that they were undead. Focusing on connections would be absurd.
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!]
[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]
[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter]