Lord: Sequence Master

Gray Mouse held the Holy Grail Knight card to its forehead, shrinking to the size of a mouse as it burrowed into the mysterious skull.

After a full half-hour, Gray Mouse's spiritual energy was nearly exhausted, and it only managed to faintly sense the location of the skull fragments.

Exhausted, Gray Mouse crawled out of the skull, leaving behind several spatial coordinates before falling into a deep sleep.

Seeing that there were still about 20 minutes left, Rosen quickly injected his spiritual energy into the skull, racing against time to strengthen his five senses.

In less than half an hour, his five senses were enhanced by more than 10%. The entire process felt as if the skull had merged with his own head, making its heightened senses his own.

Even his sixth sense was somewhat enhanced, sharpening his intuition toward danger.

Satisfied with the results, Rosen returned home and immediately began researching the spatial coordinates provided by Gray Mouse. The location fell within the Blue Whale Kingdom's territory, approximately 8,000 nautical miles away from the current position of the Void Blue Whale.

It was not a short distance, especially since the Void Blue Whale was constantly moving. This meant he would need to set out independently to reach the location where the skull fragments were buried.

At 8,000 nautical miles, Rosen knew his Sequence 8 Bladefin Shark wouldn't be able to cover that distance. He would need to hire a knight-class extraordinary ship, at least at Sequence 6, to get him there.

This, of course, would be an expensive endeavor. And once they reached the destination, he would need to dive into the sea on his own to retrieve the fragments.

Logging into the Blue Whale Guild City, Rosen quickly posted a mission through the Hunter Guild. By the afternoon, a Sequence 6 knight had accepted the task. After a contract certified by the guild was signed, Rosen headed to the port to prepare for departure.

The ship, Dragon Song, was captained by Anil, who was already making preparations to set sail. After instructing the crew to escort Rosen aboard, they immediately got to work.

Curious about Anil's background, Rosen learned that he was a knight-class captain from a common lineage. He didn't follow the path of a pirate or a merchant, instead pursuing a life of adventure on the seas, navigating extraordinary ships in search of treasure and danger.

For Anil to have obtained a Sequence 6 extraordinary ship on his own was no small feat. It suggested that Anil was quite capable.

Of course, Rosen wasn't worried about boarding a pirate ship. The Hunter Guild's contract was no joke, offering powerful protection against betrayal.

After half a day of preparation, the Dragon Song emerged from the depths of the Void Blue Whale, surfacing onto the ocean. Powered by both steam engines and magical sails, the ship cruised at a breathtaking 1,000 knots.

At this speed, they would cover the 8,000 nautical miles in around eight hours.

However, after traveling 2,000 nautical miles, the Dragon Song suddenly slowed to less than 100 knots.

"Why have we slowed down so much?" Rosen asked as he stepped into the control room from the deck where he had been gazing at the sea.

"It's not safe," Anil replied casually. "Ahead of us, the high-sequence extraordinary sea beasts have all been hunted down, but the farther we get from the Void Blue Whale, the more likely we are to encounter extraordinary sea beasts. Moving too fast might alert those with keen senses."

Rosen's face remained expressionless as he nodded. He didn't press the issue despite the six-hour journey now becoming sixty hours.

The voyage was being extended by two and a half days, a critical piece of information that should have been made clear earlier.

When Anil had taken the commission, he had proudly boasted about the Dragon Song's impressive speed of 1,000 knots. He had never mentioned the possibility of reducing the speed by ten times.

Leaving the control room, Rosen returned to the luxurious cabin provided by the Dragon Song, his expression turning cold.

The entire ship, except for the guest cabin, was within Anil's spiritual detection range.

Though Rosen couldn't pinpoint the exact problem, he was certain that the 100-knot speed was definitely suspicious. Something was off, and Anil was clearly stalling for time.

Sitting cross-legged, Rosen quietly extended his senses into the dreams of the nearby crew members, probing their subconscious thoughts.

The crew of the Dragon Song worked in shifts, meaning that some sailors were always asleep, even during the day.

"Ah, so that's how it is!" Rosen smirked coldly as he withdrew from the dream of the chief mate.

Anil hadn't earned his Sequence 6 extraordinary ship through sheer adventure alone.

At first, yes, Anil had earned his fortune through daring explorations. However, after nearly dying on one occasion, he changed his methods. Anil began taking jobs from clients who needed to venture far from the Void Blue Whale.

Then, he would deliberately slow down his ship, giving another extraordinary ship the chance to arrive at the destination first and explore the area.

The logic was simple: if someone was willing to sail so far from the Void Blue Whale, they must be after something valuable.

Due to the constraints of the Hunter Guild's contract, Anil couldn't directly threaten his client's safety. But with the help of a special extraordinary item, he was able to bypass the contract's smaller clauses and leak the coordinates of their destination to an accomplice.

This accomplice would then arrive early, potentially stealing any valuable discoveries.

Of course, they didn't always claim the treasure, especially if the rewards were mediocre. Anil valued his reputation—if too many jobs were sabotaged, no one would pay to hire him.

But when the opportunity for a significant profit arose, Anil and his accomplice would strike quickly, reaping the rewards before the client even arrived.

Rosen had always been wary of human treachery, but he hadn't expected to fall into a trap so easily. Without his ability to invade dreams, he would have never uncovered Anil's true intentions.

Without hesitation, Rosen grabbed a fishing rod and made his way back to the deck, pretending to fish.

Moments later, Rosen's true body dived into the ocean, leaving his painting avatar to continue the illusion of fishing on the deck.

Although the Painter's true body and painting avatar could maintain a connection over great distances, they were limited to about tens of miles. To ensure nothing went wrong, Rosen left Gray Mouse behind to temporarily oversee the painting avatar.

Meanwhile, Rosen himself was now riding the Bladefin Shark, heading back along the route they had traveled.

Half an hour later, Rosen encountered another ship on a fixed course—the accomplice ship.

This was Anil's partner. Since this vessel was set to arrive at the destination faster, Rosen decided to switch ships and reach the target area ahead of time. Using Shadow Leap, he sprinted across the water's surface, approaching the extraordinary ship. Once close enough, he opened the Mysterious Study's door into its hull.

Hiding within the Mysterious Study, Rosen covertly hitched a ride on the faster ship.

Sure enough, the ship reduced its speed after passing 2,000 nautical miles, but it still maintained a pace of 600 knots.

At that rate, the ship would reach its destination in just ten hours, giving them a full fifty-hour head start over the Dragon Song.

During the ten-hour journey, Rosen didn't remain idle. Using his dream-invading abilities, he entered the dreams of the crew, learning all the secrets of the ship.

The ship's captain was also a Sequence 6 knight, but from the Ocean Hunter branch. Ocean Hunters were somewhat similar to hunters—they rode extraordinary ships, but they were especially skilled at hunting extraordinary sea beasts. Their ships were also designed to transform into powerful extraordinary sea creatures.

The ship, Sea Shark, was under the spiritual control of its captain, Marissa. With a surge of spiritual energy, the ship's hull transformed into a Bloodthirsty Frenzy Shark, submerging into the depths of the ocean.

(End of Chapter)