Black Sail
Chapter 400: XXXV. Edge Walker

Chapter 400: XXXV. Edge Walker

Inside the battleship’s card room, also known as the gambling den, the persistent scent of cigarettes hung heavy in the air, with streaks of smoke clearly defined under the oil lamp’s illumination. Non-smokers with healthy lungs would be coughing out their lungs after stepping inside.

At the main gambling table, a poker game similar to Texas Hold’em was underway.

As the old saying goes, a pirate’s nature is hard to change. They can’t help their love for gambling. It’s not as if they’re going to admire the flowers, right?

"Cybernetic body modifications, AI girlfriends, neural networks within the brain, cyberspace, this is a world of ultra-high technology, where various technologies can magically transform your life.

But they also give rise to all kinds of new problems, new troubles, and new... cybernetic psychoses."

Famed five-star critic, the dashing elf Shadi, said so.

"Sandevistan! Activate! From now on, please call me Rein Silverhand."

Rein, now suffering from cybernetic psychosis, was playing cards frantically, like someone with a mania. After losing several rounds in a row, he was getting a bit heated, spouting nonsense.

"Identified as a glitched original god."

Mika was shocked but started questioning the authenticity. Rein did have the Seventh Amendment cybernetic arm installed, but it didn’t seem to make a difference, considering his original brain wasn’t all that sharp. "Speaking of which, Sandevistan, isn’t that just part of the time halt series?"

"Damn it, the goddamn time halt series. Where’s your remote control? That’s just bullet time. Ever heard of Bayonetta, Michayou’s material library? That doesn’t count as time stopping," Shadi maintained with scholarly precision.

"That’s not it, but if you haven’t done it in a long time, and you resolve a fight quickly, isn’t that enough?" Morison defended.

"Mixing it up like you’re making meatballs out of piss, idiot."

It was Rein’s turn to raise the stakes, quietly going from four to ten. The minimum bet for those who had seen their cards was now ten silver coins a round.

"You’re the one with the cybernetic psyche, so you call the shots," Chuan Che, who was also gambling, replied. He had wasted his years, not being good at fighting and killing, but when it came to eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, he had no equal.

"Am I not a person? Am I really not a person?" Rein shouted, echoing what David had once said about Lucy on the moon.

The ship required a full twenty-four hours of continuous operation, functioning on a shift system, and it was time for Kai Deng, in his guise as shipwright management, to rest.

The card room, the place with the most access to information, was where Kai Deng sat playing cards with the ship’s management, eavesdropping on the next table’s conversation, efficiently absorbing all the tedious abstract knowledge.

She had grossly overestimated these Black Sail core members, who were no different from ordinary pirates – forever gambling and babbling – their habits were simply ingrained.

The three people Kai Deng was most wary of didn’t need explaining: Swan and Ben, both from the Thief Guild, were given; the Tiger-man deserved more attention than the Dark Elf, who was merely an insignificant jester.

What troubled Kai Deng the most was a man wearing an iron mask.

She had heard of this man, the infamous Ghost Eye Mad Blade. If it came to a head-on fight, it would be rather difficult to deal with him, judging by the rumors – a sixty to forty chance.

Assassination, on the other hand, posed no risk of failure, but the main target was Liszt, so it was pivotal not to alert anyone prematurely.

Kai Deng would eventually have to cast aside her shipwright management identity, which was not particularly conspicuous. It was common for someone to fall overboard drunk at sea, but if Saleret died, there would certainly be a cloud of suspicion on the ship.

He was very paranoid, almost like he had a persecution complex. He was strictly dedicated to his job, patrolling around the ship each day far more competently than anyone else – a true model representative.

Sometimes, Saleret’s gaze lingered on Kai Deng for a long while. Although it always came to nothing, it still kept her on high alert, and she decided to bring forward the time of the assassination.

Legend had it that Saleret’s gaze harbored a ghost god that could foresee the future. Too much hesitation could lead to unexpected changes.

Upon entering the Narrow Sea, she would immediately disguise herself as Goria and take action. The time at sea would be spent adapting to Liszt’s persona, and by the time she reached Golden Palm Port, she would officially become Liszt.

The Black Sail core members had been playing in the card room for several hours. During that time, the conversation topics were abstract, raunchy, and without limits. Kai Deng, being a woman, found some of the comments unbearable. After listening attentively for an extended period, she felt like she had been teased all over.

In the end, the gambling session concluded with Shadi and Chuan Che coming out as the victors.

Kai Deng watched both sides, not only observing the core members but also watching Goria and Meredith, the two women who indulged in love talks at the stern end of the deck whenever they got the chance.

Sometimes the sight even gave the Netherworld Envoy goosebumps. She naturally disliked women and was indifferent to men, preferring only to kill—the lords of the Thief Guild were indeed lords.

In hopes that one day she could reach the realm where she could assassinate an Emperor, she could then shed this identity.

A gaze shifted her way.

"What’s up?"

Shadi had won just over seven Gold Coins and was almost grinning ear to ear. Brother Sha was just like a Scatter Money Child, can’t find places to throw his money fast enough, which made him her favorite card-playing partner.

"Nothing. It’s just a bit cold inside for such a hot day."

Morison thought he had sensed something wrong, "How much longer till we go ashore? I want to check if that chess and card game company in Lostra has any new games."

"According to the estimate, it would be May 6th, still a while off."

Shadi toyed with the shiny Gold Coin in his hand, which bore the exquisite emblem of the Dragon Lord. In Shadi’s opinion, if the Emperor wanted to weaken the influence of the Eternal Sect, he should start by changing the pattern on the coins first. After all, the Dragon Lord’s LOGO was everywhere—who would be important if not the Eternal Sect?

Kai Deng made a small error, inadvertently letting some killing intent slip. With so many experts on this ship, even the disfigured face warranted attention. Fortunately, the situation didn’t escalate.

Before she made her move, she naturally did her homework, investigating everyone’s background, except for Liszt, who was quite mysterious, and that included a helmet-wearing man and the man with the disfigured face.

It was said that the man with the disfigured face used to be a rank booster for adventurers, which counted for something.

After the minor incident was over.

Kai Deng also left the card room. There was no point in staying there without any intelligence to gain.

As one of the world’s top assassins, skilled in mimicking all sorts of people, Kai Deng didn’t shy away from smoking or drinking and had even impersonated a magician. There was hardly anything she couldn’t do—she could even prevent five cigarettes stuffed in her mouth from going out by sealing her lips together, and she mastered a silky-smooth combo of tricks and deceit.

Next on the agenda was.

Neodymium copper observation time.

She went to the stern end of the deck and found no one there. The couple enjoyed their thrills. Kai Deng had already figured out all their secret meeting spots. Sometimes they even suggested heading up to the lookout room on the mast to have some fun and then started their mischief.

Time slipped into night.

Anyone who’s been at sea knows that when the clouds are thick, the sea is pitch black, and you can’t even see your own hand in front of your face—looking out, there’s just endless darkness.

But a nightingale blessed by the Shadow Lady, with fully equipped functions that change at will, sprouted barbs on the gloves like a spider, climbing vertically along the ship’s walls.

Although it might seem a bit perverse, Kai Deng watched the two women. Even if she couldn’t bear to witness their scissoring legs and passionate kisses, she had to endure it all to become the ultimate killer.

She had also caught many key phrases.

She understood the backstory.

Liszt’s wife was a mad woman, and the duo had a somewhat open relationship—it was all about sharing the harem.

"Access card" was a significant clue.

Liszt’s wife meant to let Goria and Meredith drain Liszt dry, so he wouldn’t have the heart to mingle with unclean lowlifes anymore, as he was a man of high cleanliness standards.

Kai Deng couldn’t comprehend it; her moral compass was shattered.

The plan was already clear.

As a Moon Wheel Knight who had been featured in the annual Goddess Handbook, her allure needed no explanation; the Access Card assassination plan was already in place.

Liszt was the man who had defeated Doringger.

But that didn’t matter.

Poisoned wine down the throat, head severed—could one not die?

The night they entered the Narrow Sea, she would make her move.