Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 478 Raising the Black Flag! (Previous chapter has been revised)

As Elder Lovia walked towards him step by step, staring straight at him, Derrick immediately sensed something was wrong.

"Elder Lovia."

Several team members near Derrick immediately bowed when they saw the elders of the Council of Six approaching. Derrick, suppressing his unease, followed suit, placing his hand on his chest and bowing his head in greeting.

"Ah."

Lovia, who had long, slightly wavy, silver-gray hair, didn't react much. "Derrick and I have something to discuss. You guys go ahead."

"Yes!"

Faced with an elder, the other members naturally could not disobey, nor did they have any reason to do so. They merely gave Derrick a somewhat strange look before quickly catching up with the group ahead, leaving the two of them at the back of the procession.

What does Elder Lovia want with me? Did she find out I was secretly observing her?
Derrick thought nervously and guiltily.

He instinctively glanced towards the center of the group, where Chief Colin Iliad was clearly visible; his tall figure gave him considerable confidence. Derrick knew that as long as Chief Colin was there, Elder Lovia wouldn't act rashly.

The two walked side by side at the back of the group. Darkness enveloped them, and although flashes of lightning occasionally illuminated the surroundings, it still felt very oppressive.

"Elder Lovia, is there something you need?"

Derrick mustered his courage and asked.

"I'm a little curious."

Lovia looked at him carefully with her gray eyes, and finally spoke slowly, "I'm curious why you would use your precious contribution to exchange for a 'Black Knight' potion recipe."

Derrick was taken aback.

He quickly understood what Lovia meant.

From Derrick's own perspective, he was buying a promotion recipe for Mr. Temperance. However, from the perspective of the others in Silver City, he was exchanging a potion recipe that was completely useless to him for a huge price. This is clearly illogical.

However, since the chief agreed to the exchange, it meant he tacitly acknowledged that there was something wrong with Derrick. And that exchange was known only to the three people present; it was not leaked to outsiders.

"I"

Derrick didn't know how to answer. He racked his brains, trying to come up with a plausible explanation.

"hehe."

Lovia looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"Have you been promoted?"

She asked that question.

This question might seem abrupt at first glance, as if it were asking Derrick if he had advanced in rank. However, its true intention was probably to inquire whether the person behind Derrick had become a demigod through his potion recipe.

Lovia had already guessed that there must be a shepherd behind Derrick, who, like herself, aspired to become a Sequence 4 "Black Knight." And since this shepherd was in the same camp as Derrick and shared the same stance, it meant that the shepherd likely did not believe in the true Creator!
She's trying to learn about the outside world through me!
Derrick was startled.

He noticed that Lovia was staring intently at him with her silver-gray eyes, her gaze seemingly filled with some indescribable emotions.

"Thank you for your concern."

Derrick replied cautiously, "I have successfully been promoted to 'Sun Priest' of Sequence 7."

".That's it."

Luo Weiya's expression remained unchanged, revealing neither disappointment nor notification. She simply nodded and said, "Alright, you can go ahead now."

"Yes."

Derrick was eager for them to let him go, so he quickly bowed, turned, and caught up with the group. At the dark end of the procession, only Lovia remained, walking quietly alone.

"what!"

Suddenly, her body shuddered violently, followed by an expression of extreme pain on her face, as if she were enduring some kind of torture.

"Lord, please forgive me."

Lovia trembled, suppressing her prayers, "I shouldn't have questioned the glory of the Lord, I'm guilty, I'm guilty."

Her low voice, like a sob, was carried away by the wind in the darkness. ————

The Sunia Sea, on the shipping route to Oláwi Island.

"Captain! We've spotted our prey!"

Anderson rushed in excitedly, shouting, "And there's more than one!"

"Which way?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Ze, who was holding a cat and reading about the ancient gods, put down the parchment in his hand. He took the binoculars that Anderson handed him, stood in the captain's cabin with a good view, and looked in the direction Anderson was pointing. He quickly spotted the target.

Several ships were anchored on the sea a few nautical miles away.

The largest of the vessels was a three-masted sailing ship, which, judging from its design, was likely a merchant ship used for both passenger and cargo transport. It had obvious damage and bloodstains on its hull, and the cause of this damage was probably the other ship located right next to it.

The ship looked light and swift, with cannons mounted on both sides and a black flag flying at the top of the mast.

The pirate's black flag!
This is standard pirate practice: once they get within a certain distance of their target, they raise a black flag to identify themselves. They're telling the target, "We're pirates. If you surrender and stop your ship, we'll only take your goods. If you try to escape or resist, don't blame us for being ruthless later."

The advantages of doing this are twofold: firstly, it can cause panic among the crew, leading to infighting and allowing their own ship to catch up sooner; secondly, it provides an excuse for the brutal acts that follow the battle.

Without a doubt, the merchant ship right next to it was a pirate ship. The pirates on board had successfully intercepted the merchant ship and were looting it.

However, things are not that simple.

Luze moved his telescope slightly and soon spotted the third ship.

It was a ship gleaming with metallic light and wielding numerous cannons, with people in uniforms running around on it.

warship!

Ordinary passengers, pirates, and sailors all gathered at this moment!

"So, Captain, isn't this scene interesting?"

Anderson said with great interest, "I think this could be our pirate crew's first memorable operation."

After being wanted, he completely let loose and was truly planning to do something big as a pirate.

Lu Ze smiled.

"It really is a very good prey."

He nodded.

The pirates who were plundering merchant ships were caught by the navy, a truly rare sight.

"captain!"

At that moment, Boatswain "Sea Serpent" Walter also ran in.

How is the personnel training going?

Lu Ze asked.

"We already have some basic skills, enough to deal with ordinary pirates. But if we really have to face the Shanghai Navy, it probably won't be enough."

Walter was telling the truth.

"It's alright, you can learn those things in battle."

Lu Ze didn't mind and nodded, "Then let's get to work. Tell the sailors to raise our black flag too."

"Yes!"

Walter shouted, turned and ran out of the cabin, yelling to the sailors. Soon, excited shouts echoed from the deck.

Luze saw a black flag being hoisted onto the mast.

(End of this chapter)