Chapter 240: A Legacy of Betrayal

"Are you really that willing to betray your captain so easily? Aren't you worried he'll kill you?" Muria, hovering above the deck of the ghost ironclad, examined the undead first mate Anlo, who was directing the other undead crew members. He was the only legendary being in this fleet.

As for the captain, Muria had just seen him - merely a soul-level ghost wearing a captain's hat. Clearly, the real control of this fleet lay with this first mate.

The reason why the ghost captain Barbossa allowed a legendary being to be under the command of a soul-level ghost, even if only in name, was almost clear to Muria.

"Don't worry, my captain is very generous and won't punish me for this," Barlo, who looked like a giant crystal skeleton, said nonchalantly, "This isn't the first time I've done this anyway!"

Muria's lips twitched as he exchanged a glance with the Golden Dragon Miss beside him and asked, "How many times have you betrayed your captain?"

"Who keeps track of these things!" First Mate Anlo, his head engulfed in blue soul fire, looked at Muria: "No, wait, Golden Dragon boy, don't get me wrong. I've never betrayed my captain. I'm just following Captain Barbossa's orders to bring any enemy I can't handle alone to him."

"Wow, so Captain Barbossa is really responsible!" Muria, gazing into the surrounding darkness, joked with First Mate Anlo, "I wonder what your captain's reaction would be if he saw you bringing a bunch of ancient dragons to him?"

"Of course, he'd be happy," Anlo, who had just realized his slip of the tongue, said quickly as he noticed the ancient dragons who had boarded his flagship.

Following Anlo's lead, the nineteen ancient dragons boarded the flagship, and Muria and Kaslana followed.

With nineteen ancient dragons together, they feared neither a hard fight against all the legendary undead deployed by the Necromancy Council nor any tricks Anlo might play.

Power is the ultimate truth.

...

"I've heard that Barbossa from the Necromancy Council has a manic obsession with collecting ghost ships. He's sailed every sea in Elasia just to collect naturally formed ghost ships, but it seems we've underestimated him."

"He's no longer content with just collecting natural ghost ships. He's started trying to mass-produce them."

"It looks like he's made some progress."

"Progress is expected. After all, Barbossa holds over seventy percent of Elasia's ghost ships. With so much time and ambition, one can always discover something new."

...

Listening to the many ancient dragons around him discuss in tones of surprise and admiration, Muria walked to the edge of the ironclad's railing, gazing at the seemingly endless fleet of steel.

This was the main force of the undead fleet led personally by Barbossa, as described by Anlo. Unlike Anlo's mixed fleet of various ghost ships, this fleet was different.

Many of the ghost ships in this fleet were identical, with about a dozen different types.

Compared to the two fleets, it was the difference between a ragtag force and a regular army.

"Standardized ghost ships!" Muria murmured to himself. This meant that Barbossa had mastered the technology to mass-produce ghost ships. Before this, each ghost ship was unique, formed by a series of coincidences. But now, ghost ships no longer required such chance occurrences.

"This is the real undead fleet. Impressive, isn't it? Did it scare you?" Just then, Barlo's proud soul voice reached every dragon's ears, snapping Muria out of his thoughts.

"Not bad," Muria said nonchalantly, having seen the Mechanical Sky City of the Machine Emperor. These were nothing but minor displays in comparison.

But this orderly fleet made Muria realize that Barbossa's ambition was not merely an interest in ghost ships. Initially, it might have been a hobby, but not anymore.

From this ghost fleet, Muria saw Barbossa's naked ambition: he wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with the gods.

Because only a certain type of legend accumulates army-level combat power for an epic achievement.

"Ha, Golden Dragon boy, have you seen a fleet stronger than Barbossa's?" Anlo, dissatisfied with Muria's assessment, challenged.

"I have," Muria recalled the mechanical continent of the Machine Emperor, with its twenty space vortices and various warships forming a steel torrent. Compared to that, this fleet was like a firefly to the moon, utterly incomparable.

"Heh, there are plenty of fleets stronger than this! Take, for instance, the Ottoman Empire's Third Planar Colonial Expedition Fleet.

If your undead fleet clashed with them, you'd be annihilated without a trace," the Golden Dragon Miss added.

"That's completely different! This fleet was built and controlled entirely by Captain Barbossa. The expedition fleet you mentioned was made by a human empire, and such fleets certainly don't obey just one person."

While Anlo argued with the Golden Dragon Miss, a roar erupted from a massive, five-kilometer-long steel fortress, guarded by many standardized ghost ships, resembling a moving mountain range.

"Anlo, what trouble have you brought me this time?"

As the angry roar echoed, space near Muria split open, and a skeleton, or rather, a lich, in a fancy captain's uniform with a sword stepped out.

"Indeed, just like the legends say, Barbossa learned magic to turn himself into a lich but still sees himself as a warrior," Kaslana whispered to Muria, "Look, he doesn't even carry a staff."

"Captain," Anlo approached the furious captain, kowtowing like a bootlicker, "They're just a bunch of ancient dragons, not here to trouble you."

"Ancient dragons!" The legendary lich Barbossa, wearing a tricorn hat and adorned with various extraordinary ornaments, turned his skull to "look" at the nineteen ancient dragons still discussing him and his fleet.

"You're here to cause trouble for Berlain, aren't you!"

"Yes!" an ancient dragon admitted openly, "We've come to ask about Berlain's location. If you're unwilling..."

"I can tell you where Berlain is, but you must not interfere with the actions of the Necromancy Council," Barbossa interrupted the dragon, "If you agree, I'll tell you his location."

"True to Anlo's character," Muria couldn't help but mutter, "A legacy of betrayal."

Previous characters like the Dragonized Wolf King, Young Zoro, Demon Hunting Knight, and Noble Girl Orlina haven't just been mentioned in passing; they'll be featured more later.

For instance, after Muria taught Young Zoro several Titan sword techniques, he's bound to reappear.

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