?Eight days later, Jacob appeared on the deck of the ship as he basked in the sunlight with a lazy expression.
At this moment, a vermin transponder appeared in his hand, and with a sly smile, he activated it.
Captain Free Sword's gloomy voice rang, "Where are you, and what happened to my men?!"
It wasn't the first time he received this call. It was just that he didn't respond, and he was pretty sure Harold and others would've also received this same call but to no avail, which made Captain Free Sword panic.
Jacob was also helpless, since he couldn't open those guys' space rings because of the mystic signature. Nonetheless, it was according to his plan, so it didn't matter if he could access their rings or not. He wanted to make Captain Free Sword panic, for he had already got what he wanted from Harold, and they had turned into Jacob's nutrition.
Jacob pretended to be panicked and agitatedly said as if he was wounded and running for his life, "Ca…captain! I-I don't know! Six days ago, we entered the dark city with the Vice-Captain, and when we found the Dark Marquise and tried to subdue him, suddenly a blinding white light appeared, and I lost consciousness, and I just awakened in a gloomy place! I… I don't know what happened to the others! Please save me, captain!"
A grave, silent descent, but Jacob merely smiled and waited for Captain Free Sword's response.
"So, you're saying something was strong enough to overwhelm my men, and somehow they let you live, and not only that, they even left you with your transponder!? Did you take me for a freaking fool?!!" Captain Free Sword bellowed furiously.
Jacob was already prepared for this as he quickly responded, "I-I… please believe me, I have no idea what happened, but I woke in this strange place, and my space ring was still there. Oh, no! There are skeletons here, captain! You must save me!"
"If this is true, then I need more information! Search for Harold and others! You better make it fast, or I'll show my other side, and even if you were able to escape alive, you won't be able to escape me!" Captain Free Sword then directly cut off the call.
Jacob couldn't help but sneer, "We'll see about that, don't we?"
Storing away the transponder, Jacob also stored the entire ship away since it was extremely useful to him before he used his gray disc to fly towards the epic plains.
---
A few hundred miles away from the epic plains was Captain Free Sword's gigantic ship, completely hidden from others because of its terrifying stealth.
Captain Free Sword, at this moment, was extremely livid, and another ogre was standing beside him with a dark expression.
"Was he telling the truth?" The ogre who was below Harold in seniority questioned, everyone called him Vile Horn.
Captain Free Sword furiously retorted, "Or what do you think he is capable of handling ten unique ranks!?"
Vile Horn also winced his browns as he knew how silly this question was, and he knew better than anyone just how treacherous Harold was, so an epic rank slave can't even scratch him, much less inflict any harm to ten of them.
"Going after Dark City was a bad idea." He muttered, since he knew just how mysterious and dangerous the dark cities were, and underestimating them was a huge mistake.
Captain Free Sword ground his teeth, "You think I don't know that? There was only a signal shot for us to return home, and I had to take it. But it still doesn't make any sense. Not to mention us, no unique rank person could stay in the epic plains. So, the only explanation is there was an extremely powerful magic scroll in the dark city possession as its trump card. But why did they leave that slave alive?"
Vile Horn's expression changed as he said ponderously, "The information about this came from that salve, right? So could it be he's working with the dark city against us? They might've gotten rid of his slave rune for his loyalty!"
Captain Free Sword's eyes shimmered with dangerous light, as the chance of this happening was very high if it was the dark city.
"Summon Masha, we'll know if it's true or not!" He ordered coldly.
A few minutes later, Masha appeared looking gorgeous in a red dress, but neither Captain Free Sword nor Vile Horn was in the mood to admire her enthralling features.
Masha also read the room and asked, "What happened?"
Without replying to her question, Captain Free Sword coldly asked, "The slave rune on Jacob S. King, is it still intact?"
Masha didn't tarry and quickly closed her eyes before she mumbled in incomprehensible language, and the next moment, a crimson rune shimmered on her forehead.
Looking at that rune, Captain Free Sword's expression eased a little, while Vile Horn frowned deeply.
Masha opened her eyes at this moment, and that rune vanished as she said confidently, "It is still active, Captain!"
Captain Free Sword sighed, "It appears Mr. King is telling the truth. The Dark City was really able to retaliate against our men."
"What is going on?" Masha tried asking again, as she wasn't completely unaware of Captain Free Sword's plan.
Captain Free Sword didn't hide and told her about what happened to the group.
Masha's expression shifted as she was also shocked, "What do we do?"
"Let's wait for Mr. King's further findings. Since the enemy left him be, they are clearly confident against him and might want something." Captain Free Sword replied in a grave tone.
A few hours later, this time, Jacob sent Captain Free Sword a call, and Vile Horn and Masha were also present.
Captain Free Sword activated the transponder, and a woman's voice sounded filled with mockery, "So you must be the mastermind behind that little mishap. I know leaving this guy alone would gain your attention."
Captain Free Sword narrowed his eyes as he coldly questioned, "Who might you be?"
"I'm someone you don't want to mess with. Oh, my mistake, you have already messed with me. Tell me, how should I punish your group of misfits?" She asked dismissively, sounding extremely arrogant.
Captain Free Sword and others' expressions went extremely dark, as they never expected someone from the epic plains to dare to talk to them like this.
But Captain Free Sword controlled his boiling fury as he asked coldly, "I admit I've underestimated the Dark City of Epic Plains. But since you're talking to me, I can presume you have something in mind. I'm a very reasonable man, and I can admit my fault and accept responsibility. So, let's be frank and cut to the chase. What do you want?"
"Hehehe… as expected from a star pirate. Alright, I'm also easy to talk with. Your men are completely fine and under my care. But how long it will last depends on you. If you want to deal with me and free your men, come to the epic plains. I don't like to talk business on calls."
Done saying she cut the call making Captain Free Sword even more pessimistic and enraged!