Conquest Sea, on the route to Ivengard. Over the vast ocean, a grand pilgrimage fleet of nine ships—comprised of two cruisers, four destroyers, and three passenger vessels—was sailing toward the sacred sanctuary of Ivengard, embarking on a solemn and majestic pilgrimage. At the head of the fleet, on the smooth foredeck of a wave-slicing cruiser, stood a middle-aged officer with a neatly trimmed beard. He wore a naval uniform with religious embellishments, a captain’s hat adorned with the Radiant Sun’s military insignia, and white gloves, his hands clasped behind his back as his sharp gaze fixed on the distant sea. “Santos, take a look—do you recognize that ship over there?” After gazing into the distance for a while, the officer turned to the adjutant beside him and spoke. The man blinked in surprise, then followed the captain’s line of sight. “That one over there… it’s pretty big… looks like a cruise ship? Judging by the name along the hull… it seems to be the Shimmering Pearl?” Frowning slightly as he spoke, the adjutant continued, “Wait, no… if I remember right, wasn’t the Shimmering Pearl the one scheduled to host a jewelry exhibition? I saw it mentioned in the papers back in Bass. The destination was Ivengard, yes, but they were supposed to set sail well before us. We shouldn’t be seeing them here, should we? Lord Jord, this seems a little odd.” With a hint of confusion in his voice, the adjutant voiced his thoughts. The officer—Jord—replied calmly. “Hmm… that’s right. The Shimmering Pearl shouldn’t be anywhere near here, at least in theory. But out at sea, circumstances can shift in a heartbeat—weather, waves, mechanical issues, anything is possible. The recent conditions haven’t been great either. It’s not impossible that they veered off course…” “In any case, let’s keep an eye on that ship for now. Unless something truly unusual happens, we won’t interfere.” So spoke Jord. As a senior deacon of the Church and a naval officer with years of experience at sea, he had seen all manner of maritime incidents. Given the complexities of ocean travel—weather, currents, ship conditions—it was common for vessels to fall behind schedule or go astray. The appearance of the Shimmering Pearl here didn’t overly concern him, especially since the ship was still far off. Just as Jord was about to shift his attention away from the distant cruise ship, a low, distant rumble echoed across the sea. Startled, Jord paused—he knew exactly what that sound was. An explosion. “What was that?! Why did I just hear an explosion?!” Snapping his head back toward the direction of the cruise ship, Jord locked his gaze once more on the vessel in question. Judging by the sound’s direction, it had come from that very ship. “Lord Jord! Look over there—there’s black smoke coming off the Shimmering Pearl! It looks like there’s a fire onboard!” The adjutant, who had been monitoring the cruise ship, cried out urgently. Jord’s expression hardened as he focused on the vessel. Sure enough, thin black smoke was drifting from several portholes near the rear of the ship—a likely sign of fire. “It looks like… something’s gone wrong. Judging from the smoke output from their funnels and their reduced speed, it might’ve been a boiler malfunction—an explosion, followed by a fire. And if the boilers are damaged, that would also explain why they’ve fallen behind schedule and ended up in our vicinity…” Jord analyzed the situation aloud, his brows furrowed in thought. Then he turned sharply to his adjutant. “Pass the order—have the entire fleet reduce speed. The Boone is to raise signal flags and inquire about their situation.” “Yes, sir!” With that, the adjutant quickly departed to relay the command. Meanwhile, on the deck, Jord continued to stare at the distant cruise ship, his expression grim. … Far from the Radiance Church’s pilgrimage fleet, on the foredeck of the Shimmering Pearl, Captain Costa, Massimo, and the other Abyssal Church cultists had gone pale at the sight of the approaching warships on the horizon. Once they snapped back to their senses, they immediately ordered the bridge to steer the ship away from the fleet at once. However, just as Costa gave the order—disaster struck. An explosion—deep within the lower decks, beneath the foredeck—shook the entire ship violently. The Shimmering Pearl trembled from the blast, and its heading immediately faltered. Costa braced himself to stay upright, then whipped around to his subordinates and shouted, “What was that explosion?! Get down there and find out—NOW!” “Yes—yes, sir!” Upon hearing Costa’s stern command, an Abyssal Church sailor immediately obeyed and ran into the ship’s interior. Costa remained on the deck, staring tensely toward the approaching Church fleet, while Massimo beside him—clearly shaken—spoke in a panicked voice. “Thief K… it’s Thief K! Suddenly running into a Church fleet way out here, and then there just so happens to be an explosion at the same time? This all reeks of that damned Thief K’s sabotage! She’s probably planning to use the Church fleet to escape from this ship!” Massimo shouted furiously. Costa’s expression grew even darker as he listened. Indeed, given the current circumstances, everything pointed to Thief K stirring up trouble in the shadows. They didn’t know what method she’d used, but the timing of the Church fleet’s appearance and the explosion was far too coincidental—there was clearly premeditation behind it. Suspecting Thief K was only natural. “Thief K… you bastard… what are you scheming this time?” Costa muttered, his eyes fixed on the distant fleet. Meanwhile, passengers who had been startled by the explosion were starting to gather on deck, anxious and confused, asking the crew what was going on. Under Costa’s instruction, the crew worked quickly to calm them and usher them back to their cabins. A short while later, an Abyssal Church sailor, his clothes covered in soot, burst up from below deck, rushing over to Costa with a flustered report. “Mr. Costa! We’ve identified the cause of the explosion! It happened in the boiler room—two of the boilers blew! Everything down there is in chaos! And we’re not sure if the explosion damaged the transmission, but the entire ship’s propulsion is dead—we’re completely out of power! There’s also a small fire, but it’s not serious—we’ve already started putting it out!” 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚 “What?! Boiler explosion? Wasn’t the boiler room supposed to be under constant guard by our people? How could something go wrong?!” Costa snapped, glaring at the sailor. The boiler room was the heart of the ship’s propulsion system, and he had not only assigned key personnel to guard it but also arranged for regular patrols. There shouldn’t have been any way for an incident to occur. “I—I don’t know the exact cause! When I checked earlier, everything was fine! The workers were shoveling coal, and Hama and the others were supervising. But when we went back, the whole place was in ruins! The workers who escaped said they’d heard abnormal sounds coming from the boilers and realized something was wrong—so they ran just before the explosion. As for Hama and the others, they apparently saw something suspicious and went to investigate… but now they’re missing!” The sailor continued his frantic report, and Costa’s frown deepened. Clearly, the “suspicious figure” mentioned had to be Thief K—she must have tampered with the boiler room. And Hama and his men, who went after her and hadn’t returned, were likely already dead. Just as Costa was about to say something, Massimo suddenly cried out beside him. “Hey, Costa—look! That zealot fleet over there—they’re signaling us!” Costa turned toward the distant Church fleet. After a brief pause, instead of using his abilities, he pulled a small spyglass from his pocket and raised it to his eye. Through it, he saw that the lead flagship of the distant fleet had raised a clearly distinct pattern of signal flags. As captain, Costa had no trouble interpreting the message—they were inquiring about the situation aboard the Shimmering Pearl. Seeing the inquiry flags, Costa exhaled slightly in relief. The fact that the Church was still calmly signaling to ask about their status meant that neither he nor Massimo had been exposed yet. The Church had not realized anything was wrong; they were merely following standard protocol by checking in after hearing the explosion. “If that’s the case, then we still have a chance to get them off our back…” So Costa thought. He immediately turned and shouted up to the deckhouse. “They haven’t discovered our identities! They’re just signaling because of the explosion. We can respond and get them to leave.” “Bins! Have your men send up a signal in reply! Tell them we’ve encountered a manageable malfunction and can handle it ourselves. There’s no need for them to waste time coming over!” “Yes, sir!” The first mate on the upper deck responded immediately. After receiving confirmation from his crew, Costa exhaled again, then turned back toward the distant Radiance Church fleet, silently willing them to leave after seeing the signal. At sea, anything could happen. Ships were massive, complex systems, and a wide range of malfunctions was to be expected. Most of the time, these issues were minor and resolvable—even if they seemed alarming at first. Costa’s reply was standard procedure; in most cases, the Church would see the signal and simply move on. Now, Costa was already calculating his next move. Once the Radiance fleet left after reading their reply, he would attempt to restore the Shimmering Pearl’s propulsion system and correct their course, resuming the journey toward White Tear Island. If the propulsion couldn’t be restored… then Costa would have no choice but to enact his final plan—mass slaughter. He would kill all the passengers onboard to flush out Thief K, eliminate her, and reclaim the Deep Blue Heart. Then, with the blood-soaked ship’s remaining resources, he would board a lifeboat and sail with the Deep Blue Heart to White Tear Island. Though over two thousand sacrificial offerings were lost, at least the Deep Blue Heart remained. There would always be another opportunity. Costa and Massimo would undoubtedly face severe punishment, but as long as the Deep Blue Heart could be preserved, the consequences shouldn’t be unbearable. At worst—at absolute worst—it would just be execution. But if even the Deep Blue Heart was lost… The mere thought of failing the mission and losing the artifact sent a chill down Costa’s spine. In his mind, retrieving the Deep Blue Heart was non-negotiable—anything else could be endured, but not that. As these thoughts consumed Costa, the flagship of the Radiance Church fleet hoisted another set of signal flags in response. Upon seeing this, Costa peered through his spyglass to decode the newly raised signals. But as he finished reading the message, his expression darkened instantly. The new flags from the Radiance flagship spelled out: “Our ship and fleet will provide full assistance.” “Full assistance?! Full my ass! I was telling you to get lost! Get the hell out of here!” Seeing the high-flying flags waving from the Radiance flagship, Costa couldn’t help but curse aloud. He had clearly signaled that the issue was manageable and they didn’t need help—so why were they still coming over? Full assistance? What kind of sick joke was this? Seething, Costa nearly tore the spyglass from his face. Then he looked up toward the signal mast on the Shimmering Pearl… and froze. The flags currently fluttering from their own ship’s rigging weren’t the ones he had ordered. Instead of saying “Our ship has encountered a manageable malfunction; we are able to resolve it ourselves”, they read something completely different—practically the exact opposite. “Our ship has suffered a severe accident. Fire and significant flooding reported. Abandoning ship imminent. Requesting rescue. Many lives aboard.” Staring at the signal flags above his own deck, Costa’s face turned deathly pale. What he most wanted to do in that moment was leap up and rip the mast down, throw those damn flags into the sea—but reason held him back. He knew full well that countless eyes on the Radiance fleet—many possessing extraordinary vision—were watching their ship. Any suspicious movement would probably be enough to turn those gun turrets their way. It was too late to change the flags now. Sending two completely contradictory signal messages in quick succession would absolutely raise suspicion. And once the Radiance Church started questioning them, none of them would make it out alive. “Hey, Costa—what do those flags mean? Didn’t you say you were telling them to go away? But it looks like they’re not leaving at all—they’re coming straight at us!” Massimo asked in confusion, clearly noticing something was off. Costa clenched his jaw. He didn’t answer Massimo directly—instead, he turned toward the upper deck and roared, “Bins! What the hell is with those flags?!” Costa’s voice rang out—but no response came. That was when Costa knew something was wrong. “Something’s happened to Bins. Let’s move—now!” Without delay, Costa rushed up the deck stairs. Though Massimo didn’t fully understand what was going on, he followed immediately. The two of them made their way up toward the section of the ship where the signal rigging was controlled. There, in the compartment near the rigging controls, they found First Mate Bins’ corpse—along with two other sailors. Three dead bodies lay sprawled on the floor, all of them members of the Abyssal Church. All three wore expressions of shock and terror, eyes wide open in death. Visible wounds marked either their necks or hearts, and it was obvious they had been assassinated—taken out instantly. Staring at the scene, both Costa and Massimo stood stunned. They knew exactly who these men were: one Black Earth-rank Beyonder and two Apprentices. To silently take out three people of that level… the killer had to be an elite assassin. Only someone with masterful control over the Shadow path could have done this. “This… was this Thief K’s doing?” “…Most likely. As far as we know, only she could’ve pulled this off. She not only anticipated the Church fleet’s arrival and sabotaged the boilers—she even foresaw us trying to trick the Church with signal flags. That signal wasn’t raised by Bins… she did it. Bins was already dead by then…” “Hmph… she’s made a complete mockery of us, that damn wretch!” Costa slammed his fist into the cabin wall, seething with rage. Massimo, about to speak, suddenly noticed something odd—Bins’ corpse still had one hand clenched tightly shut. Frowning, Massimo knelt down and pried open the stiff fingers—only to find a single shirt button nestled in the dead man’s palm.