Black Sail
Chapter 562 - 191. The Most Luxurious Year

Chapter 562: 191. The Most Luxurious Year

Arena Hotel is a closed area specifically designed for participants. It is divided into sections for those with and without a criminal history.

Suspicious individuals under scrutiny and confirmed fugitives are kept in one area, where security is relatively tighter.

Those with no criminal history also have to stay within this closed area, but they have more space to move around. Press conferences can even be held in the open-air scenic pavilion.

"Some people say you used to work for Doringger. Is that true?"

A reporter asked a very pointed question.

Kun Lan felt very awkward. Although he tried to stay low-key, he couldn’t resist the makeup artist’s persistent coaxing.

"I don’t quite understand your logic. Just because I lived in Heaven Port for a while, does that mean I worked for Doringger? If that’s the case, then all the ship merchants and adventurers in the East Sea would be considered working for Doringger too, wouldn’t they?"

A female mage with a fashionable appearance, sporting a leather collar, answered the question for Kun Lan, rolling her eyes impatiently while holding a fruit tea cup, sipping and biting the straw.

Kun Lan was speechless but figured it was better to let her handle it. After all, compared to other participants with complex motives and suspicions, he was here with the purest intent to earn a government salary by making it to the top hundred and then surrendering voluntarily.

The Continent Martial Arts Competition is highly prestigious. The top sixteen on the 9th will surely gather the contemporary heroes, all of them exceptional. He was not very confident.

"Got it! Kun Lan thinks Doringger is no match for Liszt! Doringger is unworthy of his position, hence he lost his overlord status. Kun Lan is ten times more formidable than Doringger."

A seemingly manic male reporter scribbled furiously.

"Hey, hey!"

Kun Lan wanted to stop him.

"What is the relationship between this lady and the seed champion participant Kun Lan? Are they a couple?"

The gossiping soul of a female reporter was ignited.

"Not really..."

The female mage also looked at Kun Lan with meaningful eyes.

"Got it! Kun Lan’s private life is messy! His energy is greatly depleted, so he probably can’t win the martial arts championship!"

The manic male reporter scribbled furiously.

"What are you writing nonsense about!"

The female mage also got angry!

"Got it! Kun Lan is playing a big shot with his secret lover!"

The manic reporter scribbled.

"Not cool, man, writing like this is inappropriate. Which newspaper are you from? Are you from the adventurer’s guild?"

Kun Lan was speechless. Entering the closed area of the Arena Hotel required applying to the Aran Ministry of Culture, and entrants had to wear identity badges.

Upon closer inspection, this somewhat neurotic reporter was indeed from the adventurer’s guild.

"Got it! Kun Lan doubts the strength of adventurers, claiming all Hall-level adventurers are just lackeys. This time, even the adventurer Divine Sword Xiaolong can be easily defeated."

The manic reporter scribbled furiously.

Kun Lan was about to go mad. In the East Sea, something like this would get your head chopped off to drink with.

Xiaolong, nicknamed Divine Sword, came from the Far East and is one of the most formidable Hall adventurers. Based on reputation and mission records, he ranks at the top of the guild.

He also came to participate in this Continent Martial Arts Competition.

The guild’s best-selling book, "Basic Sword Skills Manual," was compiled by him.

If moving the Perfect World to the Western Continent, this book would be the Western Continent swordsman version of "Original True Understanding."

He is considered the most likely person to defeat the Sword King. The new generation is quite bold, with extensive embellishments, even implying divine qualities.

However, he himself is so modest that it’s almost pretentious. He once said that if someone of his level could be called Divine Sword, then what would the next level be called?

His modesty seemed so exaggerated, as if he could unseal, voidify, and then use Crescent Moon Sky Charge to instantly kill Yohama.

Kun Lan was already too tired to complain. Do whatever you want.

This year’s final lineup is very luxurious. There are unbelievably powerful people who seemingly challenge heaven and earth, capable of super-deep drilling like Korla’s borehole, and others who are gods spanning billions of light-years.

Anyway, the newspapers always blow it up to be very luxurious every year, claiming each year has the hope of surpassing the first one.

And in the Arena Hotel, a seemingly unremarkable room.

No press conference here.

Only Akasa’s student understood that this year’s stakes, due to this person’s participation, were bound to surpass the first year.

"What are you doing here?"

A middle-aged man dressed in luxurious, scholarly attire questioned the person sitting in the corner of the room.

They had used their connections to conceal this person’s presence, ensuring no press conference and no makeup artists, even driving the nearby Royal City Army away.

All because this person had ties with Akasa.

As Akasa’s student, the middle-aged man came to persuade the Sack Head, a nameless executioner from the independent city of Forgotten Port within the Cross Alliance.

He had lived for as long as Akasa.

Because his teacher’s experiments sometimes required materials that ordinary people couldn’t obtain, he often had to venture into the depths of forbidden zones to gather ancient beast corpses.

There weren’t many people who could be trusted with this, and even Hall-level adventurers facing dangers in forbidden zones were useless. Sack Head happened to be one of the few who could help.

Every nine hundred years, the power sealing off the dimensions would weaken, causing otherworldly gates to become unstable and numerous cracks to appear.

Eleven years ago, in the Northern Prison, they took advantage of this instability to transfer many species from other dimensions. One of these species resembled Western Continent people and was a wonderful material with astounding intelligence.

The teacher, in his urgency, immediately sought Sack Head’s help in capturing or killing these escapees over the next three years.

To prevent the secret experiments from being exposed, those who had connections with these materials also had to be eradicated.

It was only because Lagrange, who had also escaped the prison, was willing to return and cooperate with Akasa after witnessing the wonders of this world.

As a result, the situation temporarily calmed down, and Sack Head, having no more tasks, returned to Forgotten Port to resume his old trade.

This time, however, it was not Akasa who summoned Sack Head; instead, Sack Head came to the Aran Imperial City on his own for some unknown reason, which was very unusual.

Sack Head’s bizarre skeletal structure was even more exaggerated than stage performers, unnaturally tall and slender like a stick insect, carrying an executioner’s scythe-like axe, looking very much like Death itself. He always wore a blood-stained, fully enclosed leather outfit, hidden under a black sack over his head, making his features indistinguishable.

He had once been considered a demon and was almost expelled from the Continent Martial Arts Competition. No matter how strong you are, looks are still an important advantage. At first glance, he seemed like an embodiment of the Evil Path, unfit for an audience with the Emperor.

But his connections were too strong. With Akasa’s letter, he was directly advanced to the finals. Even the Ministry of Culture had to bow to Akasa, who believed in remaining hidden within the court.

Moreover, the Ministry of Culture understood that, without this powerful figure shielding them, there would be no Ministry of Culture, only the Literary Soldiers Battalion. Thanks to Akasa, the palace magicians, alchemists, etc., had not yet been infiltrated by the Military Department.

On the surface, Akasa was a mere court magician and a Northern Prison medical consultant, appearing to hold an insignificant position that many were unaware of. But in reality, his influence was second only to the Acting Chairman of the Military Committee, Augustus, and the National Bank President, Cicero, making him the hidden fourth pillar.

This situation was hazardous, but Akasa understood not to meddle in politics. He never used Royal Court resources and always had outsiders handle troublesome tasks. The identity of the Emperor was irrelevant to him as he only wished to remain a court magician. Being one of the few survivors from the previous dynasty whom the Emperor did not kill, he also recognized the drawbacks of the Military Government. Without these scholars slightly restraining the Eternal Sect, the Dragon Lord’s lackeys would be even more rampant.

The Magic King of the Tower Alliance, seemingly supreme in knowledge and magic, might not necessarily be stronger than Akasa.

"Can you say something?"