I'm really not a dragon.

Four Baal assassins have gathered: Helena, Hyena, Raven, and "Wax Artist".

Helena seemed like a berserker; the image of her cleaving the first mate in two with an axe was still vivid in Captain Arthur's mind.

Raven appears to be a sorcerer, and that annoying raven can provide him with magical support.

As for the hyena, he seems to be a wanderer, but he is very skilled at using poison, and he took down more than half of the Mermaid's crew.

They are all skilled, and they are not far from reaching the pinnacle.

Thinking of this, Captain Arthur couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. Now, another wax artist of unknown skill had arrived.

"I just want to know, who are you?" the Mermaid's captain shouted, her eyes red. "Just because I refused you? You're going to kill me!"

The wax artist gave a disdainful smile, as if everything was under control: "Did he think we would tell him this secret?"

"In fact, we would tell everyone before they died that Baal killed them."

Helena glanced at the wax artist strangely, wondering if it was just her imagination, but her assassin mentor seemed to have changed.

"Not only that, we will also tell him the cause of his death."

The raven gave a polite smile.

The hyena muttered, "Because you refused Baal's invitation, the only way to pay for it is with your death. After you die, a few 'crew members' will survive, and they will join Flame Shipping as veteran sailors, transporting alchemical explosives from Lantan at designated times. Nothing will change; the only change is that you are dead."

The captain of the Mermaid gritted his teeth and muttered angrily, "So that's how it is! The Lightning Summoning Technique has seven charges. Before I'm torn apart by the lightning, you'd better kill me if you dare!"

The captain of the Mermaid used his remaining arm to plunge the wand into the heavy deck, which would destroy the rare lightning-summoning wand worth 2 gold, but there was no other way to hold off the Baal assassin.

Dozens of mysterious runes meandered from the base of the wand, flowing into the Ammonite crystal at the top. Instantly, the gem lit up, emitting a blue-purple light, from which dozens of arc-shaped lightning bolts shot into the sky.

The stars and moon, which should have been shining brightly, were suddenly covered by a layer of thunderclouds.

"You think you can escape with just a magic wand?"

The hyena made a sarcastic remark.

With four Baal assassins gathered, and even a mentor, it seems unlikely that the captain of the Mermaid will survive the night.

Helena, however, felt increasingly uneasy.

This sense of unease is different from previous tasks and training.

In past missions and every training session, the crises she sensed were things she could see, hear, and even predict.

But this time, the unease was like seeing a shadow in a vast ocean; it was impossible to judge just how great the malice lurking in the sea truly was.

The hyena coated its serrated dagger with a smear of golden-red poison and drank an invisibility potion.

As bolts of lightning struck the ground, the hyena's distorted, transparent form was vaguely illuminated in the flashes of light.

The assassin Raven drew a rune in the air, grabbed it with his hand, and slapped it against his chest. A frost armor covered in icy thorns spread from his chest to his limbs, and cold air emanated from his mouth and nose.

Blue-purple lightning descended from the sky, struck his ice armor, and bounced off, sparking as it struck the pine-wood deck.

The wax artist calmly gazed at the three of them, like a lifeless statue.

Helena's pupils contracted sharply, and she asked in a hoarse voice, "Wax artist, is the person who impersonated Nightblade dead?"

"He's dead."

"What did you do with his body?"

"Just like before, make it into a wax figure."

"You're mistaken. Your hobby is making living wax figures, but you won't waste time on missions."

The wax artist gave Helena a deep look, a look that sent chills down her spine and made her face change drastically.

Almost instinctively, he let out a heart-wrenching scream: "You're not him!"

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck, its crimson light illuminating the dim dock, concealing fear, betrayal, and screams beneath its white glow.

After the blinding white light faded,

The captain looked at the scene before him and felt his mind go blank.

The raven lay sprawled on the ground, clutching its neck, staring at the sky with a ferocious expression, a blood-red dagger piercing its throat.

The hyena's head spun three times on its shoulder before kneeling on the ground, its head level with its shoulder.

The man known as the "wax artist" is fighting the madwoman who cut off his left arm.

What happened?

Aren't they Baal's assassins? Why are they killing each other?

Wait, that man actually killed a hyena and a raven in one go! Although there was a suspicion of a sneak attack, his explosive power was terrifying!

The mermaid captain made a strange discovery: she seemed to be alive!

"You're not a wax artist! We all underestimated you! Who are you really?!"

Yes,

The wax artist died inside the dark drainage tank.

Suen took over his identity with a mask and put on his clothes. If everything went smoothly, he should have infiltrated the murder trial as a wax artist after completing the mission.

But to my surprise, Helena's senses were so sharp.

In that case, there is no reason for the three Baal assassins to survive.

"What are you all standing there for!"

Using the momentum from Helena's swing of her knife, Suen retreated several dozen steps and winked at the captain.

"Haha! Thanks, friend!" Even the slow-witted captain of the Mermaid realized that Suen had come to help him.

With his remaining one arm, he drew his flaming scimitar and lunged at Helena, laughing loudly.

Having drifted on the seas for decades, he was nearing the Exemplary class. Although his individual strength was not outstanding, his equipment was indeed luxurious: the Fire Giant Scimitar from Kalinsan, the Lightning Summoning Staff from Amn, and the Mirror Shadow Leather Armor from Luscian. None of his equipment was below the rare level, plus various wonderful gadgets.

Although he didn't possess exemplary strength, the several Baal assassins were unable to defeat him in a short time.

Taking advantage of the situation, Su En retrieved all the healing potions and poured them into his stomach. For an ordinary person, one bottle, no, half a bottle of healing potions would be enough to restore them from a near-death state. For a professional with strong vitality, two or three bottles would be enough to restore them from a serious injury.

Suen gulped down the potion bottle twice, finishing a ten-person dose of healing medicine.

He felt an itch on his skin, as if something was about to grow out.

Suen tossed the potion bottle aside with considerable regret.

The bandages on his body tightened and contracted, and a staff engraved with mysterious runes appeared in his hand.

The most precious item on Baal's Reaper is probably this bandage garment. It seems to possess a faint intelligence, with defensive capabilities comparable to leather armor, yet it is far lighter. It can extend according to the wearer's will and also has a certain storage capacity.

Seeing that Suen's body had returned to normal, Helena's expression changed drastically, and she muttered angrily, "Damn it!"

Three of the four people died, including one of their mentors; the mission had failed.

She brandished her axe, knocking the captain of the Mermaid away with a single blow, and turned to rush towards the deck.

However, just as she was about to jump into the sea, she suddenly noticed that in the dark blue ocean, hundreds of eyes were staring at her, as if expecting her to leap off the deck.

Hundreds of carrion rats were hiding in the sea.

"Was this also part of your plan, Nameless Assassin!"

Helena felt a chill run through her body. She turned around and saw Sun holding a staff in one hand and Baal's Blackblade in the other, slowly walking towards her.

Anger consumed her reason.

But anger won't change anything.

……

In the end, Sun snapped Helena's neck, thus wiping out the entire Baal quartet.

The captain of the Mermaid slumped to the ground, looked at Su En, and tossed a medal to him. "Friend, take this!"

"What is this?"

"Have you heard of ghost ships that roam the seas? I rose from a sailor to first mate, but unfortunately, I'm too old to continue the adventures on ghost ships. However, I've kept this Ghost First Mate Medal; it's my most precious possession. I can exchange it for a single, free favor from the ghost captain!"

"Thank you for your help. Without you, I might—no, I definitely would have died here. Anyway, thank you!"

A ghost ship? For some reason, Suen had a bad feeling.

"Oh right, it's all sorted out. Ah, damn it, they're here just in time! Hey, see that Koto fishman zombie? He's waving at us from the mast!"

Following the direction pointed out by the captain of the Mermaid, Suen saw an enormous skeletal ship rising from the towering waves.

Oars made of white bones and sails made of dragon skin, howling banshees swarm around the Leviathan figurehead statue with its mouth full of poisonous dragons and snakes. Each of its planks is pieced together from thousands of black and gray corpses, and each side is covered with hundreds of dark cannons, filled with eerie green necromantic cysts.

Its keel was that of a hundred-meter-long undead sea dragon, which was roaring impatiently. Its fin-like wings were spread out under the ship, making it more like a battle fortress than a ship.

boom!

The ghost ship was docked in front of the pier. Due to the huge thrust brought by rising from the ocean, it pushed tens of tons of seawater into the sky, and it was raining heavily at the time.

A corpse covered in seaweed and coral clung to the deck railing, looking down, its decaying throat emitting grumbling sounds: "Oh, to our former first mate! May your journey be smooth sailing!"

The chief captain of the Frem Shipping Company owns a ghost ship, and he himself is an undead.

He styled himself an adventurer, a pirate, and a pioneer.

Similarly, he was also a victim in the sperm whale grease murder case, losing his beloved daughter. This captain, possessing immeasurable wealth, launched his revenge: since the murderer couldn't be found, he would kill all the suspects!

Suen's mentor died because of this!

Now, it might be his turn!

The captain of the Mermaid took off his hat, his face flushed, and while greeting everyone, whispered to Suen:

"Don't be fooled by their terrifying appearance! They are crew members who have made contracts with the captain. Once the contracts end, they will return to the world of humans in human form."

Suen slipped into the shadows, carefully making his way along the wall towards the shore. After walking several dozen steps, a pair of ornate boots appeared in his field of vision.

Suen raised her head.

He was an extremely charismatic undead pirate, his face covered in scars, with a cloud-like beard, and wearing a pirate hat studded with jewels.

He raised his scimitar-like eyebrows. "Ah! Young man, was it you who saved little Arthur's life?"

Su En nodded numbly.

"Then take off your mask and help our people. They don't need to worry about their safety on our turf!"

For a powerhouse of this level, seeing through his disguise is already a basic skill.

Suen removed her mask, revealing her true face.

The ghost captain sized up Suen, took out a wanted poster from his pocket and examined it again, then suddenly laughed and said, "Ah, I recognize you. You killed my daughter. I know it's you. Haha, fate is a bitch. You killed my daughter, but saved my capable subordinate."

His laughter, like that of a night crow, echoed in mid-air.

The captain of the Mermaid looked at Suen, then at the Ghost Captain, and stammered:

"My captain, is there some misunderstanding?"

"For pirates, nothing can't be solved with gunpowder and alcohol." The ghost captain stroked his brown beard, a strange glint in his dark eyes. "Come on, you cunning little conch, let's talk in my room. Don't worry, you saved my men, I won't do anything to you!"

A putrid rein fell from the skeleton of the ghost ship.

-

On the deck of the ghost ship, it was a scene of utter chaos: bloated, stitched-together corpses, shrunken human skin, chuckling ghosts, and will-o'-the-wisps flickering with eerie light.

"Are they all your crew members?" Suen asked as they walked.

"Yes, if you wish, you can sign a contract and board the ship."

The ghost captain glanced at Su En indifferently; without even thinking, he knew what the young man was going to say.

"Will you kill me?"

The unexpected answer left the ghost captain looking at Suen in surprise.

"I used to be able to, but now I can't!"

A series of rotten bone doors opened, leading directly to the captain's lounge.

"Because I saved your subordinate?" Su En found it a bit strange. Could it be that her subordinate was more important than her daughter?

"That's one of the reasons, but the most important reason is that I wasn't diagnosed with a disease until the moment you killed my daughter. I was seriously ill, and it was you who made me realize that."

"you……"

Suen scrutinized the ghost captain intently.

"The dead can also get sick."

The ghost captain nodded. "A long time ago, I was a human, a shipwright. My wife died in childbirth, and my daughter is the only thing she left me with."

"I would do anything for her, even make a deal with the devil!"

Suen was stunned. In the captain's office, there was a gray-white oil painting. The girl was lying on the bed, smiling weakly, like a withered lily.

"That was an incomprehensible demon, demanding no price."

"She will show you how to make your wishes come true. At that time, I craved wealth, power, and a cure for my daughter. So, I turned to the devil for help... Ah, I can't describe to you how dramatic it was... I saw how my life would be written."

"I've also seen the way to a fulfilling life! As for the price... there is no price, or perhaps I've already paid it, but I'm unaware of it."

"I cured my daughter, reaped immeasurable wealth and fame. I am the man who can stand at the pinnacle of this city, but..."

The ghost captain's voice turned cold.

He took a bottle of perfume from the drawer; the perfume had the bright, reddish color of a heart.

[Legendary item detected: Soul Fragrance (Love)]

You ask what the answer is? It's: I loved.

A perfume that looks exactly like Aunt Ethel's perfume!

"What is this?" Su En asked knowingly.

"These are my daughter's last belongings."

The ghost captain examined the potion, his face showing confusion, even bewilderment. Finally, these expressions coalesced into a look of anguish: "Without this painting, I wouldn't even remember what she looked like."

"My memory and my reason tell me that I boarded the ghost ship, and I paid so much because I love her."

"But this isn't true! My heart is empty, my blood is cold as frost. I look at what she left behind, nothing, nothing at all, no hatred, no love."

He raised his bewildered eyes and looked at Suen. "Even when she died, I felt no emotion."

P.S.: Call Lightning

Three-Circle Spell (Druid)

A storm cloud appears as a point visible above you within the casting range. The storm cloud appears as a columnar shape, 10 feet high and 60 feet in radius.

When you cast this spell, choose a point visible to you below the storm cloud. A bolt of lightning strikes that point from the cloud. Creatures within 5 feet of that point make a save throw for agility. A failed save takes 3d10 lightning damage, while a successful save takes only half that damage.

Until the spell ends, you can perform a magical action to summon lightning again, and specify the lightning to strike the same point or another point.

If you are outdoors in a stormy weather environment when casting this spell, it allows you to control the storm in the air instead of creating a new storm cloud. In this case, the spell damage is increased by 1d10.