Time seemed to have fallen completely still.

Fate always had a way of ruining even the most meticulous of plans, and no predetermined course of action was completely foolproof.

In this situation, no one could've anticipated that a warlord would search The Liberty in person, but if one were to think carefully about this, it made a lot of sense.

Due to Rick's past service in the navy, if someone else were to search his ship, they most likely wouldn't be able to secure any information. It was clear that a major incident had just taken place at Xolotl's Screen, and there was no way that Dalton would allow any suspicious ships to pass through here.

Thus, he had arrived in person.

"Damn it!" Qin Ye cursed internally right as Dalton exploded into countless crows, and in the next instant, Yin energy rippled slightly, and his hands began to gently vibrate as he pressed them against the wall of his cabin. Immediately thereafter, the surface of the wall began to ripple like water, following which he strode into the wall as if it were a portal to another world.

Almost at the exact same moment, the door to the cabin was blown wide open, and several dozen crows flew in. They inspected their surroundings with a fierce look in their blood-red eyes, and only after a full five minutes had passed did they vanish on the spot.

Countless crows had formed an inky-black whirlwind that was visible even to the naked eyes all over the entire ship, rushing in and out all of the nooks and crannies where someone could possibly be hiding. Rick's head was lowered, and his teeth were tightly clenched while his lips were trembling uncontrollably.

He wanted to say no, but he couldn't bring himself to lie in the face of Dalton's intimidation.

He wanted to say yes, but the thought that Qin Ye could be an even more powerful being than Dalton made that just as difficult an answer for him to produce.

With each passing second, his soul was enduring immense torment, and he didn't even dare to look behind him. Only after 15 minutes had passed did all of the crows gather in front of him before forming Dalton's body again.

"Bring me a list of all of the passengers on your ship and after that, you can leave. Remember not to reveal to anyone what happened here at Xolotl's Screen. Otherwise, you will receive the same punishment elicited by committing treason." He didn't even take a glance at Rick before rising up into the air like a giant eagle and flying back to his own ship.

Rick almost collapsed to the deck of his ship. If ghosts could sweat, then he would be severely dehydrated right now!

He really wasn't discovered! Warlord Dalton didn't discover the man that I'm smuggling to the new continent! Who exactly is that man and what cultivation rank is he at?

He grabbed onto the arm of his first mate, using him as support so that he could stand up straight, then instructed in a shaking voice, "Deliver the list of passengers to Warlord Dalton. After you've done that, we're leaving this place right away!"

………………………………………………

Dalton returned from The Liberty and landed on the bow of his own ship. His Spanish galleon was far more massive than Rick's, roughly five to six times the size of The Liberty, and it was truly a floating fortress. Right as he landed on the deck, the voice of a woman rang out. "You're being overly cautious."

There was a female underworld emissary seated on a chair right in front of him. She was wearing the same uniform as Dalton, and one of her eyes was covered. She was a stunning woman with a head of long red hair that perfectly complemented her scarlet cape.

"I don't need you to tell me what to do, Commander Erza." Dalton stuck his hands into his pocket, and he didn't even spare a glance at the woman before making his way directly into the cabin. "Also, if I recall correctly, this seems to be my ship, and I haven't given you the right to visit my ship as you please."

Thump! The door was slammed shut, and the two deputies standing on either side of the door immediately approached him with wry smiles on their faces. "Warlord Dalton, we couldn't stop her..."

"I know, don't worry about it. That bitch is constantly waiting for me to mess up so she can screw me over! She's dedicated her entire life to climbing up the ranks by using dirty tricks and plotting against others." A disdainful look appeared on Dalton's face, and his leather boots clicked along the timber deck of the ship as he made his way toward the helmsman's room at the end of the corridor.

The corridor was around 100 meters in length, and he reached the end very quickly. As the door to the helmsman's room swung shut, one of Dalton's deputies, a Caucasian male, adjusted his glasses as he said, "There was no need for you to search The Liberty in person, Warlord Dalton."

Dalton sat down on a chair and leaned back against it as he closed his eyes, and his long blond trailed down around him like a golden waterfall as he suddenly asked an entirely unrelated question, "Do you know what Xolotl's Screen is?"

The two deputies exchanged a glance before both of them nodded hesitantly at the same time.

Even though Dalton's eyes remained closed, he seemed to have been able to see what they were doing, and he chuckled as he crossed his legs, tapping his fingers rhythmically on his own knees as he said with a cold smile, "No, you don't know."

He suddenly opened his eyes and continued in a cold voice, "Why has Lord Xolotl named this screen after himself? Why did Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa assign him the duty of overseeing the screen rather than Lord Supay or Lord Ah Puch? It's because this place has the Eye of the Night Star, which can see through all things, and no Yin spirit can avoid its detection!"

His voice abruptly spiked up a few octaves as he continued in a serious voice, "Why did I go to search The Liberty in person? Three hours ago, the Eye of the Night Star pointed itself directly at The Liberty under the suspicion that there is a Duke level underworld emissary onboard! This reading wasn't registered just once, but three times in total! If Lord Xolotl didn't have to travel to the hunting ground right away, he would've been the one to inspect The Liberty in person! At this sensitive time, the new continent is already in an extremely vulnerable position. If an unknown Duke were to appear on the new continent, how much attention would they receive? How many people would try to recruit with all their might in order to fulfill their own nefarious plans? We are the final line of defense of a first-rate underworld! How could I not go and examine the ship in person?!"

The sudden rant made his chest heave violently, and only after several seconds did he calm down again as a wry smile appeared on his face. "Correction: we used to be a first-rate underworld... In fact, we used to be the first-rate underworld that was closest to the four pillars. If the death gods of the southern continent manage to reawaken and Lord Quetzalcoatl returns, we would be powerful enough to contend with any one of the four pillars! But what's the point of saying that now? I'm not even sure there will be anything left of the Usonian Underworld once this crisis is over..."

A tragic smile appeared on his face as he heaved a forlorn sigh, then pulled something out of his pocket before placing it on the table. "I didn't find anyone suspicious just now, but I found this in a certain cabin. What do you think this is?"

The two deputies took a look at the item, and the Caucasian man adjusted his own glasses with a perplexed expression before replying, "That seems to be... bread?"

"It is indeed bread," Dalton replied with a wry smile. "There was no one in cabin number 213, yet there was a piece of bread sitting on the table. I checked through their list of passengers, and there's supposed to be no one in cabin 213, so why is it that someone was eating bread in there?"

This was a tiny scrap of bread that was only around the size of a fingernail. He looked at it closely, then prodded it before putting it into his own mouth, following which his eyes narrowed slightly. "And it's the renowned Jerry's Bread of the Los Angeles Underworld. Who was eating this bread in that cabin? Where did they go? I was very curious, so I instructed one of my crows to take this back with them. It's only a tiny thing, so the person in that cabin wouldn't notice its absence."

He paused here, and a cold look appeared in his eyes. He seemed to be contemplating something, and only after a full minute had passed did he instruct in a cold voice, "Inform the escort fleet to take all three ships to the hunting ground."

"But Warlord Dalton!" The other deputy who hadn't spoken this entire time drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. "This is the hunting ground we're talking about! The three death gods and that thing are all there! Anyone who enters that area will be dead for sure! There are several hundred netherworldly citizens and sailors on those three ships! If this gets exposed, you'll be torn to shreds by the media! On top of that, you're only acting off a guess. The Eye of the Night Star has already been operating for thousands of years, perhaps it simply malfunctioned! You shouldn't have to bear this burden!"

Dalton gave a cold chuckle in response. "Can the state of Usonia get any worse? Under these circumstances, who would even bat an eyelid if a few hundred netherworldly citizens meet their demise on the way to the new continent, especially when one of the six kings just attacked Xolotl's Screen as if it had gone insane!"

"But Warlord Dalton..."

"Do as I say!!" Dalton snapped in a loud voice. "Do and execute my orders right now! I will take on all accountability for this decision!"

………………………………………………..

Rick was looking at Qin Ye with a complex expression.

He couldn't see what Qin Ye looked like as his face was concealed behind that silver mask, but he was certain that Qin Ye was smiling in amusement, amused by the pitiful display he had just put on.

Qin Ye picked up a glass of cocktail in a graceful manner before taking a sip through the oral slit on his mask.

It was delicious.

The bread from before had been rather lacking in quality, but they were out at sea, so he wasn't picky.

Rick was the first one to break the silence. "Esteemed guest, I have a piece of good news and a piece of..."

"Give me the bad news," Qin Ye interjected before he had a chance to finish.

Rick paused momentarily before replying, "There are two escort fleets that will accompany us to the new continent, so make sure to be careful when you disembark. The good news is that because of these escort fleets, our safety for the rest of the trip is ensured."

Qin Ye nodded in response. "Rest assured, no one will be able to detect me. Also, you can tell Mr. Edward Ross to get ready. There are still seven days until the 13th, right? He can begin preparing for the possession now so he can be ready for my arrival at any time."

"Yes..." Rick rose to his feet, and only after making his way over to the door did he continue in a hesitant voice, "Esteemed guest, I have another piece of news, which I think is good news, but I'm not sure whether I should tell you."

"Go ahead."

"Due to the accompaniment of the escort fleet, they've changed our destination to Los Angeles, so we'll be landing directly at Los Angeles Port. Would that be alright?"

There's no way to change that even if I want to... In reality, Qin Ye strongly detested unforeseen circumstances like this. This was perhaps a common trait among powerful beings. All unforeseen circumstances required adjustments to be made, so there was no way for him to have complete control.

"That's fine. You can go now." He waved a calm dismissive hand, and Rick departed from the cabin.

They were already close to Hawaii, and it would take them a day and a half at most to reach Usonia. Once there, Qin Ye would only have to wait for a few days before he could possess Edward, and once he reached the mortal realm, he would be able to put the massive mess that was the Usonian Underworld completely behind him.

Then again, the mortal realm wasn't exactly a safe haven, either. According to Rick, even Usonia in the mortal realm was rife with evil ghosts and underworld emissaries, so he would have to be careful even after possessing Edward.

Time always passed by very quickly in deep thought, and the day passed by very quickly after a nap. By the time he woke up, it was already late at night, and he was woken up by a burst of slight tremors.

As a Yama-King, even during slumber, he could maintain an instinctive state of alertness, and he immediately rose to his feet before casting an intense gaze toward the floor beneath his feet.

The only thing that could've shocked his instincts enough to jerk him out of his slumber was Yin energy, and it had to be extremely powerful Yin energy!

He cast a bewildered gaze toward the distance, and several thousand kilometers away in that direction, four bursts of extremely formidable Yin energy were locked in a tense standoff.

The Yin energy of three of those parties was very familiar to him.

They belonged to the three death gods of the new continent, Xolotl, Ah Puch, and Supay.

However, the fourth being was one that he had never seen before, and as soon as he made an attempt to inspect the being that the Yin energy was stemming from, he was immediately struck by a chill that ran through his entire body.

This was a creature that was around 30,000 meters in length, and The Liberty was sailing right along its back!

This was one of the six kings!

This had to be the monarch beast that had broken through Xolotl's Screen before being surrounded by the three death gods, and the crew of The Liberty was completely oblivious as the ship sailed toward the center of this devastating battlefield!