Thanks for the invitation. I'm in Type-Moon, inheriting the legacy of Zi-O.

"Idiot!" Drake scolded angrily, then tapped on the railing. "The so-called treasure begins with gathering clues!"

"...Boss!" Another pirate suddenly came running up, panting, and pointed in a direction. "An island! I see an island! It's in the northeast!"

“…It is indeed an island.” With the help of her Demi-Servant’s vision, Mashu could also see the outline of the island in the distance and pressed the communication device on her hand, “Director Mary.”

However, Nian Zhuo squinted slightly, because he seemed to see the shape of a creature, no, a human figure, on that small island.

"Yes, be careful. There are Servants reacting on the island." Sure enough, Mary's serious voice came through the communication device.

“Captain Drake, there’s a superman on the island who won’t fall even if he’s hit by cannon fire.” Mash, who was worried about how to deal with the situation, immediately looked at the eager Drake. “Please tell all the pirates to step back. Only I, Mr. Nianzhuo, senior, and Captain Drake yourself can fight him.”

"I didn't expect them to appear so quickly, but thankfully you're here this time." Drake, who had also fought against those so-called "Servants," placed her flintlock pistol at her waist, then looked at the pirates active on the deck. "Hey, guys! You guys protect the ship! I'm going down with Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others to check the situation!"

"Understood, Boss!" the pirates replied in unison. "We'll wait for you to come back!"

To prevent the ship from anchoring or running aground, Drake only had the pirates stop the ship not far from the shore before jumping off the ship with Nianzhuo and the others.

All they could hear was the sound of waves. When Nianzhuo and the others reached the shore, they discovered that it was a pristine white sand beach.

The scenery on the island was beyond their expectations; at least Ritsuka couldn't hide her curiosity and started looking around.

After all, this is an island with extremely beautiful scenery, even in the world of ordinary people like Nian Zhuo or Ritsuka, so it's really... nice to relax and treat it as a vacation.

"Let's proceed cautiously, Master and Nianzhuo." Only at this moment would Mash not back down; she held her shield and vigilantly surveyed her surroundings. "We still don't know if that Servant is friend or foe..."

"Hmm... Is it over there?" Drake was the first to sense the strange atmosphere in the air, and his eyes gradually sharpened.

Then, a heavy gunshot shattered the island's tranquility.

It was Drake; the flintlock pistol at her waist was still smoking in her hand.

"Fu...!?" At least Fufu2 was quite frightened by her actions and immediately jumped aside.

"Huh...!?" Mashu was also startled by Drake's sudden action. "Miss Drake, is she an enemy!?"

However, before Drake could say anything, a startled Fou jumped to the ground and then quickly ran in one direction.

"Aaaaaah!" Mashu shouted even more anxiously at Fou, "Fou! Don't run around like that!"

"No, I just felt like I sensed something, so I tried firing a shot." Drake stroked his long, rouge-colored hair, looking equally puzzled.

"I felt like I tried firing a shot...?" For some reason, Mashu felt incredibly tired.

"If you have a bad feeling, use a gunshot to dispel it." Drake winked at Mash, but the flintlock pistol in his hand seemed to have regained its ammunition. "That's a secret to survival for pirates~"

"This is truly outrageous..." Mash, who had never experienced the Great Voyage, still couldn't understand. "This is the mindset of outlaws...!"

"And what was the result?" It's too late to dwell on right or wrong now. A gunshot rang out, and Ritsuka, regaining her composure, looked at Drake. "Did you kill him?"

"Haha, how will we know if we don't go and see for ourselves?" Drake adjusted his captain's hat and took the lead. "Let's go see if the other side is dead or not."

“…Mr. Nianzhuo.” Mashu suddenly moved closer to Nianzhuo, her expression somewhat unnatural. “Captain Drake, and Jeanne d'Arc, and Nero are all different. They are types I’ve never encountered before. In any case, the plan to proceed cautiously has failed. Mr. Nianzhuo, what should we do…”

"Alright, alright." Nian Zhuo smiled and ruffled Mashu's purple hair. "Indeed, for us people from the future, her way of doing things was too reckless, but that's precisely why she was a pirate, and that's why she survived in that Age of Exploration and went down in history."

"...Besides, she's a good captain, and that's enough." Nian Zhuo looked directly into Mashu's purple eyes and said softly, "So let's stay calm and just adapt to the situation."

“…Eh, um.” Mashu quickly turned her head, her face slightly flushed. “I’ll calm down and adapt to the situation.”

In the distance, Drake and Ritsuka were already calling out to the two of them.

"Hey! Nianzhuo! And Mashu! You two come over here right now!"

"Yes! Coming!" Nian Zhuo responded quickly, extending his hand to Mashu. "So, shall we go together?"

“…Hmm.” The two hands clasped together.

He walked toward Captain Drake, who was waving from a short distance away.

However, unseen by Nian Zhuo's gaze, a silver-haired girl lay covered in wounds under the shade of a tree. Her silver-white military uniform was tattered, exposing large patches of skin. She breathed softly…

Lying beside her was something that Nian Zhuo found very familiar—ship equipment.

(The above is a side story; the completion time is yet to be determined.)

Unknown illusion

The four people, who were walking in the dense forest, immediately made progress by following the direction in which Drake fired his gun.

"This is... a stone slab?" At a glance, a badly damaged stone slab stands on the flat ground not far away.

The surface was covered with moss and various fungi, completely obscuring the text.

Mashu swatted away the excess plants on the front, and the text on the stone slab became clearer to everyone.

“It seems so.” Stroking his chin, Drake couldn’t help but feel curious about this unknown object. “Can you decipher the writing on it?”

“This seems to be—” Mash carefully examined the characters engraved on the stone slab, saying with a slightly uncertain tone, “This seems to be, runes.”

The characters engraved on the stone slab in front of them bore a slight resemblance to the characters used by the Caster-class Cu Chulainn that Nian Zhuo and the other two had seen in Singularity F.

"Mary, can you decipher the writing on this?" Feeling something was off, Nianzhuo also pressed the communication device.

"Hey—" Just as Mary of Chaldea was about to speak, Leonardo da Vinci suddenly jumped up and snatched the microphone from her. "Eh?! Da Vinci? What brings you back?"

"Oh my~" With excitement in his eyes, Da Vinci looked at the images sent by Nian Zhuo and the others with curiosity. "This really is fresh runes. They were probably engraved within a week."

“Hey, Da Vinci, sir?” Mary tapped Da Vinci on the head, her tone slightly reproachful. “This is my job, you know? Don’t steal the director’s job, okay?”

"Hmm, let me take a look..." Lost in his thirst for knowledge, Leonardo da Vinci blocked out all external signals and retrieved information about runes from his staff.

"The Blood Axe King, who once slumbered, will awaken once more here..." Realizing he couldn't explain further, Leonardo da Vinci said with a hint of frustration, "Hmm...that's roughly the gist of it. But—" His eyes grew deep, and he habitually stroked his chin.

"Blood Axe King? Hmm... I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before—"

However, Mary, who was standing to the side, turned pale with fright when she heard the words "Blood Axe King".

“Blood…Blood Axe King was the Viking king who ruled Norway in the 9th century?!” Mary looked at the big screen, where a red dot suddenly appeared. “And you have to be careful! That stone slab is showing the same reaction as those pirate replicas from before!”

"Are they enemies?" Regardless of the answer, Mash raised her shield as well.

"Hmm..." Drake's expression turned serious as he caught a whiff of blood in the air. "Looks like it. That annoying, sharp killing intent. Mash, Ritsuka, and Nenjo!" He drew his flintlock pistol from his waist.

"Now's the time to strike first! Get ready for battle, we're about to go!" In Drake's eyes, the surrounding bushes suddenly seemed to lurk with deadly intent. "...They're here!"

"For our king! Eric!" One by one, the pirates rushed out of the bushes and surrounded the group. "For the great king! Eric!"

"Understood." Nodding, Mashu looked at Nencho and Ritsuka beside her. "Nencho-san, it's time to go! Master, I'll leave the support to you!"

As if sensing some kind of signal, the pirates screamed and rushed towards the four.

The bright silver time ring, the rumbling of flintlock muskets, and the heavy thud of shields hitting the ground.

The attack of these mindless pirates... no, it should be said that they were "replicas" was completely crushed.

As the bodies of the once densely packed pirates disintegrated and disappeared into fragments, Nian Zhuo, who had intended to use the power of the knight, slowed down his movements slightly.

"...Phew, the battle is over. Master, and Mr. Nianzhuo." Mash let out a long breath, a few drops of sweat already forming on her body.

"Not bad, not bad, Mashu is getting stronger and stronger with all her training." Nian Zhuo smiled and patted her head. He had been watching the girl's efforts all along. "Next time we encounter monsters like these, I'll leave them all to you and provide you with support."

“…Hmm!” For some reason, Nian Zhuo felt that Mashu’s eyes suddenly became brighter than before, but after the girl looked up at him, she quickly lowered her head again.

“Exploring the surroundings…no reaction.” Mary, speaking through the communication device, was also somewhat worried. “The nearby Servants don’t seem to be reacting either. Have they not noticed us? You should hurry and get to this place.”

“Understood, let’s continue.” Mashu nodded in agreement, and the group cautiously made their way deeper into the dense forest once again.

—Located in a temple outside the seven singularities—

"...Hmph, something interesting has happened." 'Beast' watched everything in the Third Singularity with great interest, a cruel smile curling at the corner of its mouth. "Someone actually came to this world without my knowledge."

It was the same silver-haired girl who had been seriously injured and unconscious. The beast stared at her without saying a word for a long time.

Then, the black and white screen opened again, and the girl, who was far away in the Third Singularity, was undoubtedly sucked in.

Nianzhuo was unaware of all this.

Oh hihihihihi~

“…Hmm~ Sniff sniff.” As they strolled through the dense forest, while Nian Zhuo and the others were still clueless, Drake seemed to have discovered something again.

"Treasure, I can only smell the scent of treasure~" A smug smile finally returned to her face, although whether treasure actually had a scent was still questionable.

"Captain Drake, treasure has no smell." The rational Mash still refuted Drake's statement.

"Haha! Is that what you think, Mash?" Drake, seemingly unsurprised, patted Mash on the shoulder. "Actually, treasure, you know, has a smell~"

"Huh...?" Curious eyes shifted to Drake's face, meeting his very confident gaze.

"Ah, judging from your eyes, you don't seem to quite believe what I'm saying?" Raising an eyebrow, Drake, who was very good at reading people, easily saw the disbelief hidden deep in Mash's eyes. "Alright, let's take a gamble then. If, as I said, there is treasure ahead..." Drake, on the other hand, fell into thought, stroking his chin with a worried look.

"Hmm~ what should we do?" Then a thought flashed through his mind, and Drake chuckled, "That's right, how about you and Nianzhuo accompany me on a round-the-world trip?"

"Around the world...?" It has to be admitted that, whether by coincidence or not, Drake's wish coincided with Mash's thoughts, at least Mash showed a slight wavering.

“Once we escape this sea and return to England—” Drake stretched, observing the others’ reactions, “I plan to sail around the world in my Golden Deer. What do you think? If you and Nianzhuo can help, we should be able to easily handle whatever situation we encounter.”

"Around the world...?" Mashu blushed slightly as she looked at Nencho beside her, who seemed lost in thought. She fiddled with her fingers, her wavering growing more pronounced.

“Of course, Fujimaru Ritsuka will join in too.” Drake turned to Ritsuka, pointing to Nencho and Mash beside her. “After all, you’re Mash’s Master, right?”

"I'll actively discuss this!" Ritsuka smiled foolishly, she too longed for such a wonderful trip. "So, please let us think about it!"

"Yes, I agree with the proposal." No further explanation needed; who could resist a world tour? Nian Zhuo knew he couldn't refuse anyway—"at least not if we haven't disappeared by then." The last sentence was spoken especially softly.

“Alright!” Seeing that everyone had agreed, Drake didn’t hesitate. “In return, if I lose—if I lose… well, what kind of reward do you want?”

"No~" Ritsuka kicked at the pebbles on the roadside with her hands behind her back, her smile incredibly pure. "After all, it's enough that Drake is willing to help us."

“Yes. We don’t want anything.” Mash nodded in agreement. “If we have to say something, your willingness to assist us like this is enough.”

"Really?!" To everyone's surprise, Drake screamed instead, "You guys are too greedy! This is too much for me. This is far too expensive!" He even reloaded his flintlock pistol.

"Uh... ah?" Mashu still looked like she didn't understand anything. "My answer, Nianzhuo's answer, and Senpai's answer all mean that you've already given us a reward, right? That's a good deal, isn't it, Senpai?"

"What are you talking about? You're saying your wish is to have no wish?" Drake seemed confused. "That's the hardest part. Because you can't buy this product without it. Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm still a businessman. If I can't meet the needs of my customers, I'll be labeled as third-rate, and that's something I simply can't accept."

“So first of all—” Drake tapped Mash’s forehead and left with a smile, “I need to go and buy the goods you need first.”

"But you say you can't think of anything you need, which means I have to go find something that doesn't exist." Drake shrugged, his worries seemingly materializing. "You see, that's a problem, isn't it?"

"..." Mashu's eyes widened.

"..." The same silence followed, but Nian Zhuo's gaze toward Drake was filled with admiration.