He immediately tensed up in the face of this turn of events, and at the same time, he was filled with disbelief.

Xolotl's Screen was a mighty fortress that even Xu Fu had been reluctant to try and force his way through, yet such a massive gap had appeared in it. It was clear that something had crashed into it with reckless abandon, and it was something so fearsome that even Xolotl didn't want to get in its way.

Such a devastating scene could've only been the result of an all-out charge from one of the six kings, and only they would be powerful enough to intimidate Xolotl, but there was that question again: why had this happened at a time like this?

All of a sudden, he became even warier about this trip to Usonia.

A major crisis was about to sweep through the entire continent, and no one on the continent could avoid being swept up in it, regardless of whether they were related to the crisis or not. The timer on the time bomb that was the new continent had ticked down dangerously close to zero, and Qin Ye couldn't help but wonder if his arrival was going to be the last straw to break the camel's back, setting the crisis into motion.

"Then again, it's a good thing that I'm making this trip before rather than after the situation completely erupts. Otherwise, it'll truly be impossible to get anything done." He withdrew his gaze, and as they drew closer and closer to Xolotl's Screen, it became clear that there were countless naval soldiers spread across the surface of the sea.

Right at this moment, the door was opened, and Rick made his way into the room with a grim expression before immediately closing the door.

"There's been a change." His expression made him look as if he had just eaten a turd, and he said, "You're most likely going to have to prepare to face one of the most powerful forces of the new continent, and there's a very good chance that you'll be repatriated."

Qin Ye raised an eyebrow as he replied, "That's not what you promised me when we first set off, Captain Rick."

"I know, and I'm very sorry for that," Rick sighed as he approached Qin Ye, then lowered his voice as he continued, "Three minutes ago, we received notification in the form of a messenger bird, informing us that all ships must undergo comprehensive examination when reaching Xolotl's Screen. The person overseeing the examinations is Warlord Dalton, who is an advanced Marquess and the right-hand man of Death God Xolotl, one of the three death gods serving the rulers of the new continent. On top of that, these types of examinations will generally involve search dogs and detection artifacts, so there's no way we'll be able to fool them."

Qin Ye replied in a confident voice, "Rest assured, they won't be able to find me."

A hint of astonishment immediately flashed through Rick's eyes upon hearing this before disappearing just as quickly as it appeared.

It seemed that he wanted to say something, and he opened his mouth to speak, but didn't say anything in the end. He then stood up and took off his pirate hat for the first time and extended a deep bow before leaving the room in silence. However, right as the door was about to be closed, he still couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure?"

"'I'm certain," Qin Ye replied with a smile.

Rick heaved a faint sigh of relief before silently closing the door. However, instead of departing, he leaned his back against the door, and his chest was heaving violently as he pursed his lips tightly.

If he were confident that Warlord Dalton, who was a Marquess, wouldn't be able to find him, then what cultivation rank was he? Did this mean that he was a Duke? A death god?

The fine hairs on the back of Rick's neck immediately stood up on end as these terms surfaced in his mind, but he immediately dashed those thoughts.

There was no way that an almighty Duke would travel on a small ship like his. Even if a Duke had important matters to attend to on the new continent, they would surely have their own private routes and loyal fleets. All a Duke would have to do would be to leak their intentions to the world, and countless fleets would be vying to take them to their destination, so there was no way for him to be a Duke.

In that case, there was a very good chance that he was a Count holding a powerful artifact.

The fact that he held an artifact that would allow him to escape detection from a Marquess indicated that he had to have come from an unfathomable power. Having managed to survive for so many years under the harsh and cutthroat environment on the sea, Rick was definitely no idiot, and he knew that if he were to make even the slightest mistake, there was a very good chance that this mysterious passenger would wipe him and his entire crew out of existence in order to ensure absolute secrecy. After all, he was only a Baron.

The heaving of his chest gradually subsided, and he put on his hat again before making his way toward the helmsman's room. Right as he was passing by a crew member, he suddenly stopped and asked, "Have we sent any food and beverages to cabin number 213 these past few days?"

The crew member was a little perplexed by this question, but he still replied, "No, Captain. Didn't he say that he didn't want anything? Besides, there are no food preservation facilities on our ship aside from the small preservative array in your cabin, and I don't think that guest would enjoy the stale bread and wine that we have."

Rick stopped in his tracks before looking closely at the crew member with an intense expression. "You think? No one cares what you think! Are you the captain or am I the captain? I don't care what you think! I think that our esteemed guest must already be feeling bored during this long journey, and I think he should receive better service!"

Before the stunned crew member had a chance to reply, Rick ordered, "Go to my array and fetch a few bottles of gin, then get Old Man John to mix the finest cocktail he can and bring that with some fruit over to cabin number 213. Remember to do this every three hours! Go!"

He then departed without waiting for a reply from the crew member.

The crew member was left rooted to the spot for a long while after Rick's departure, and he scratched his own head with a perplexed expression as he murmured to himself, "What on earth was that? Captain Rick has never allowed others to touch his fruits and gin! Could it be that the guest in cabin number 213 is a hot chick?"

………………………………………

As The Liberty drew closer and closer to Xolotl's Screen, the atmosphere was also becoming tenser and tenser.

It certainly didn't take a genius to tell that a massive incident had just taken place here, and it was clear that the damage wasn't caused by any attacks from underworld emissaries. The dark surface of the sea was riddled with massive gorey chunks of flesh, but there was no need to even clean up the place as countless sharks had already gathered to devour the chunks of flesh.

These sharks were known as the janitors of the underworld's seas, and they could smell even the faintest traces of blood from a kilometer away. During their feeding frenzies, they attacked anyone and anything without any discrimination. At this moment, there were thousands of shark dorsal fins roaming through the water around the giant chunks of flesh, and even the naval warships weren't able to approach the area. The underworld had no energy resources, so all of the ships were constructed from wood, and with the sharp fangs that all of these sharks possessed, they could easily tear these ships apart amid their feeding frenzy.

The massive chunks of flesh floating on the surface of the sea had already been completely drained of blood, indicating that they had already been sitting on the ocean for many days, but the area was still in a state of complete chaos and turmoil.

There were already three ships parked at the gigantic breach in Xolotl's Screen. Ahead of these ships were around a dozen huge Spanish galleons, and the same design of a red skeletal eagle was visible on all of the sails of these ships.

This was the Red Eagle Navy, one of the naval forces that were directly tied to the government of the new continent.

The red naval branch was responsible for external affairs, while the black branch took care of internal affairs. Unfortunately, at this point, the black branch was completely refusing to listen to orders. Otherwise, this incident had taken place on the edge of the new continent's territorial sea, so the black naval branch was the one that should've appeared here.

Rick had once served in the Red Eagle Navy, so he should've been massively relieved at the sight of these ships as his past identity meant that he didn't have to fear a search from the Red Eagle Navy. However, the current situation was completely different.

Clack... Amid a massive flurry of white feathers, a tall and imposing figure had already set foot on the bow of The Liberty with his leather boots.

This would be quite a handsome figure except his lips were gruesomely red, creating a stark contrast with his deathly pale skin. His eyes were completely black with no white sections at all, and his blond hair trailed casually down to his shoulders.

He was wearing an admiral's uniform from the 18th century, which consisted of a white dress shirt with a lace bow at the collar, outside of which was a silver vest that was riddled with embroidered designs of white tulips. Outside of that was a long velvet coat marked by complex golden designs all the way to the sleeves. A patch of pristine white features extended all the way from either side of the coat to his shoulders, making for an extremely flamboyant look, which was capped off by a scarlet cape.

He was only a single person, yet all of the crew members of the ship, including Rick, were currently standing on the deck of the galleon with respectful expressions. Right as the man set foot onto the ship, Rick extended a deep bow until his upper body ran parallel with the deck of the ship and said, "It's an honor to be able to see you, esteemed Warlord Dalton."

Dalton made his way gracefully toward Rick, and his immaculately polished leather boots were clicking on the wooden deck as he smiled and said, "Long time no see, Rick."

"I didn't think you would remember a minor character like me," Rick said with a fawning smile.

Dalton chuckled in response. "You served under me during your days in the navy, so of course I remember you. Forget it, I'm just going to tell you the truth: I had actually forgotten all about you."

The sea breeze gently lifted Dalton's long blond hair as he continued, "But during the past few years, you transported some remarkable characters to the new continent and I was reminded of you again as a result."

"Warlord Dalton!" Rick's legs almost gave out from under him as he hurriedly said, "That's not true! Please listen to me..."

"It's alright." Dalton picked up the hem of his cape in an elegant manner, allowing it to flap casually in the wind like the wings of a gorgeous butterfly as he said in an unhurried voice, "I'm not here to hold you accountable for your transgressions. If I were interested in doing that, you would already be long dead."

He suddenly turned his gaze toward Rick, and his eyes were like a pair of sharp swords that pierced directly into Rick's soul.

"Did you bring anyone you shouldn't have this time?"

Inside his cabin, Qin Ye's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

In the underworld, all high-ranking officials had endured the test of time, and perhaps their political nous wasn't as exceptional as the officials of the mortal realm, but what underworld emissaries excelled in the most was seeing through one's emotions.

Every single underworld emissary who had started from the bottom had overseen countless falsely judged crimes, giving justice to the souls that had been wronged. They had listened to countless unspeakably tragic stories and seen every facet of human nature. A vivid example of this was back when he had expunged the female apparition of the Wang Family. With the skills they had honed through these experiences, they knew exactly how to break down one's mental defenses, and Dalton was putting a textbook display of this now.

Firstly, Dalton was using intimidation tactics that weren't overwhelming, but was enough to strike fear into Rick's heart, informing Rick that he knew about everything that Rick had been doing, and that he could take Rick's life at any time he wanted.

If Rick were to lie and give an answer of no, only for Qin Ye to be discovered on his ship, then his life would be as good as over.

What was he going to do?

Qin Ye's hands were already pressed against the wall of his cabin. This was a development that he had failed to anticipate. Never did he think that Dalton would arrive on The Liberty in person. The intimidation factor that Dalton could exert upon Rick far exceeded that of a patrol squad, and he had a feeling that Rick would crack under the pressure.

He had never been placed in a situation where his life was truly on the line, so there was no way he could remain calm and collected.

"Why are you not replying?" Dalton's calm voice suddenly took on a drastic change in tone, rumbling like thunder above the surface of the sea and causing the surrounding seawater to churn violently. "Answer my question!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, his body abruptly exploded into countless crows that flew toward all of the cabins on The Liberty!