Chapter 218
"What's that?"
The sandy beach was strewn with countless corpses of spider monsters.
Amidst them, Zeke's group, covered in spider bodily fluids, were roasting jerky over the remaining embers of the White Flame, using spider shells as a makeshift grill.
"Wow, it's perfectly cooked, yo!"
"Ugh, I haven't moved this much in a while; I'm craving a beer. Hey, Felix, go to the ship and grab some booze."
"Instructor, there are plenty of others with less seniority than me, so why me...?"
"Do you want to get beaten to death and then swim there, or just swim there?"
Felix immediately jumped up and dove into the sea.
The knights of the Silver Knights stared with wide eyes as Felix swam through the rough waves to the ship.
"Th-those people...?"
Zeke felt a momentary embarrassment for his companions and subtly turned his head.
Just then, Farel, who had been roasting jerky with them, discovered Zeke and rose to his feet.
"My Lord!"
Only then did his other companions notice Zeke's arrival. They hurriedly stuffed the jerky into their mouths and kicked the spider shells away.
Zeke shook his head, looking at Farel.
"I never thought even Sir Farel would be influenced."
At that, Farel turned his head, looking abashed and awkward.
Then, a knight behind them gasped in surprise.
"Farel? Could that be Sir Farel Achilles?"
Farel, the League Champion, was quite a celebrity among knights.
Realizing that Farel was among them, the Silver Knights re-evaluated Zeke's companions, who had previously seemed like nothing but an eccentric bunch.
Meanwhile, Felix, who had already gone to the ship and returned, swiftly brought a barrel of alcohol.
"Instructor! I brought...! G-gasp, My Lord!"
Felix was caught red-handed by Zeke, carrying a barrel of alcohol in enemy territory.
Felix immediately threw down the barrel and tattled on his instructor to Zeke.
"My Lord! This isn't mine; the instructor— cough! "
He exposed the truth but was instantly punished by Clone's fist.
Zeke settled the chaotic atmosphere and had the wounded moved to the ship.
The knight of the Silver Knights who seemed in the best condition began explaining the situation to Zeke.
Zeke placed a pot over the spot where they had been grilling meat, cooked some soup, and served it with soft bread.
As the warm soup went down, the knight seemed to finally regain some vitality.
"Thank you, Sir Zeke. I am deeply indebted. In my haste, I apologize for the late introduction. I am Runo Tilven, Captain of the 3rd Company of the Silver Knights."
After filling himself with soup and bread, Runo meticulously explained what he had experienced.
"At first, I was only told it was a mission to eliminate pirates in the Southern Sea."
"I understood it that way too. But when I reached the Sea of Death, the Silver Knight's warships were nowhere to be seen."
"Actually, for this mission, we didn't bring the warships; only the elite among the knights were selected and deployed."
Zeke expressed his doubts at Runo's words.
"Only the elite for pirate subjugation...? Why is that? That's not like Sister Cali's decision."
"That is... there was intelligence."
"What kind of intelligence?"
Runo lowered his voice and spoke.
"It was about the Pirate King."
Zeke furrowed his brow at Runo's words.
'As I expected, Abel's side must have accelerated their plans.'
Cali Draker's reputation was built on large-scale pirate subjugation operations.
If the Pirate King appeared and united the pirates, causing chaos in the Southern Sea again, it would undoubtedly be a major blemish on her reputation.
Abel, who was exceptionally skilled at exploiting weaknesses and crises, would never miss such an opportunity.
It was clear that Cali wanted to capture the Pirate King as quickly as possible and eliminate the Southern Sea pirates before Abel could catch wind of it, thereby turning the tide.
'Abel effectively aimed for Sister Cali's weak spot.'
Since they revealed their hand earlier than in his previous life, it was still uncertain what the outcome would be.
Zeke asked Runo again.
"Where did the intelligence you mentioned come from?"
Runo looked troubled, pondered for a moment, and then slowly began to speak.
"It's highly classified information. Could you perhaps ask the others to step away?"
When Zeke nodded, his companions quickly moved away from the area.
Once the others were at a distance, Runo finally began.
"Normally, this would be classified, but considering that Sir Zeke Draker is an ally of the Commander, I will tell you."
He hesitated for a while longer before speaking.
"It was intelligence from the Black Stage."
"From the Black Stage?"
Zeke was surprised by the unexpected answer.
Runo continued.
"Are you perhaps aware of the Black Stage's left wing?"
Zeke shook his head.
Even he couldn't know the internal organizational structure of the Draker Black Stage. It was such a veiled organization, and its information management was so thorough that even the Syndicate couldn't penetrate it.
Runo spoke cautiously.
"The Black Stage's left wing, the Left Flank, is responsible for information. One of its leaders directly contacted the Commander and provided the information."
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'Intelligence from the Black Stage.'
Cali would certainly be swayed by information from the Black Stage.
Just then, Runo revealed an even more surprising fact.
"I heard the Black Stage operative who provided the information was the third direct descendant."
"The third direct descendant? You don't mean...?"
Runo nodded.
The third sibling, after Cali, Abel, and Helen, had finally revealed themselves.
Zeke tried to recall memories of his third sibling.
'What was his name? Ah, Bacchus. I don't think I ever saw him again after a very brief encounter when I was extremely young, before entering the Cradle in my previous life.'
The reason Zeke couldn't properly remember Bacchus Draker was that he had never really made a name for himself as a knight.
Unlike Helen, who became famous as the "Knight of Steel" after Cali's death, or Abel, who was infamous as the "Knight of Slaughter," Zeke had never heard any news about Bacchus.
'If he entered the Black Stage, discarded the Draker name, and even abandoned his identity, then that would explain it.'
The personal details of Black Stage members were among the most closely guarded secrets of the Draker family.
No matter if they were a direct descendant, once they became a Black Stage member, they were treated the same as any other operative.
Zeke asked Runo, "Even if that Black Stage operative is a direct descendant, it's surprising that Sister Cali would take such a risk and make this decision."
"I thought so too, but... in any case, the Commander seemed to believe that his information was reliable."
It appeared there was a bond between Cali and Bacchus that Zeke was unaware of.
'I don't quite remember which family Bacchus's mother was from. What if her family was also connected to Siemens, and Bacchus's intelligence was intended to lure Cali into a trap?'
It was possible that Abel's side had fed disguised information to Bacchus to be delivered to Cali, or even that Bacchus himself was working for Abel.
In his previous life, Abel had used this very trap to eliminate Cali and ascend to the position of Draker family head.
This trap was, in essence, Abel's carefully crafted final move.
If he had even Bacchus, whom Cali trusted, under his control to set this trap, it implied that Abel's forces were already ahead of Cali's in the shadows.
'Betrayal is most effective when it strikes where it hurts the most. I absolutely can't let my guard down.'
Zeke, having decided to learn more about Bacchus, stood up.
He looked at Runo and said, "I don't believe you would, but what you told me today, do not speak of it to anyone else, under any circumstances. Do you understand, Sir Runo?"
Runo nodded at Zeke's sharp voice.
Zeke also sent Runo to the ship to recover, then led his companions towards the cave where the Shark Dragons resided.
The skeletons summoned by Richmond had already set up a basic campsite.
Zeke established a base camp and explained his plan to his companions.
"Sir Cali and the Silver Knights should be somewhere on this island. We must find Sir Cali and ensure her safety."
Just then, Clone raised her hand and asked Zeke, "But who is the enemy we're facing here? It's not just the monsters living on the island, is it?"
Zeke shook his head and replied,
"No, it's not monsters. You can assume our enemies are... everyone else on this island, excluding Cali Draker."
At that, Farel also raised his hand to ask a question.
"Does that mean there's more than one faction stationed on this island?"
"Good question, Sir Farel. You can expect pirates here to target the treasure, the Emperor's hounds, Abel's Red Knights, and dark mages to be present as a baseline."
Felix's face turned pale at Zeke's words.
"M-my Lord. Should I just guard this place? Someone needs to stand guard..."
"Yes, this place does need guarding, but it won't be you, Felix. The Shark Dragons will take care of guarding it, so stop worrying pointlessly and get moving."
"Ugh. Yes."
Since the island was larger than expected, they decided to split into three groups and scatter to search.
Clone, Felix, and Liam were one group, while Farel, Diego, and Aster were another.
"We'll divide the island into sections and search them. If you find enemies, don't engage; retreat and mark their location. If an engagement occurs, fire a flare."
Zeke sent Clone's group to the left along the coast, Farel's group to the right, and decided to go through the forest himself, heading towards the center.
It was crucial to find Cali as quickly as possible, as he couldn't know what kind of traps Abel had laid.
The groups scattered to their assigned areas.
Immediately afterward, Zeke summoned Richmond from the shadows.
"Richmond, you're coming with me."
"I-I thought I was supposed to guard this place, wasn't I?"
"...Why guard an empty camp? The Shark Dragons and Gurab will take care of it, so stop talking nonsense and follow me."
Zeke summoned Gurab, then took Richmond and entered the forest.
The Island of the Sea God, perhaps because it had been hidden from human sight for a long time, was home to many types of creatures he had never seen before.
"Wow, Master. Did you see that lizard? Its body color keeps changing."
Richmond was interested not only in monsters but also in all sorts of creatures.
Chiding Richmond, Zeke was searching for tracks when suddenly, he sensed something suspicious ahead.
Zeke paused his steps for a moment and summoned a Dragon Tooth Soldier to scout ahead.
Sharing vision with the Dragon Tooth Soldiers, Zeke observed a group of figures in front of him.
To his surprise, however, there was someone Zeke had absolutely not expected to find there.
A man with severely curly hair and a mustache and beard so thick they covered most of his face.
'Bastian, why is that bastard here?'
Bastian was none other than the supreme boss of the Favela Cartel.
After Mateo, the cartel's second-in-command, died at Zeke's hands, Bastian had completely vanished without a trace.
Zeke had tried to find Bastian to completely dismantle the Favela Cartel, but he had moved so quickly that even the Syndicate couldn't track him down in the end.
Although he hadn't managed to kill Bastian, he had destroyed all of the Favela Cartel's infrastructure, meaning the organization was effectively collapsed.
Yet, he never expected to find Bastian, the boss of the Favela Cartel, here.
'If Bastian's here, then the pirates who followed the Favela Cartel must have come with him.'
This seemed to be one of the traps Abel had set.
The Favela Cartel was a drug organization formed by pirates from the Southern Sea who had been defeated by Cali's efforts, so their resentment towards her ran deep.
Abel would have had more than enough reason to instigate Bastian to kill Cali.
'I'll know for sure once I catch him and interrogate him.'
Zeke summoned more Dragon Tooth Soldiers to survey the surroundings.
He needed to determine how many more factions, besides Bastian, were present on this island.
Just then, another group appeared, approaching Bastian's party.
These were individuals Zeke knew well.
'Those damn hounds.'
The Empire's Hounds, who never missed a chance to be in such places, had also made their appearance.