THUD!
When the pirates' bloody, curved cutlasses drove Byron into the sea, he became the last spray to disappear on the ocean's surface.
The burly first mate, the scent of blood on him now seemingly stronger, laughed with wild abandon, "Be thankful for the mercy of me, 'Bone Crusher' Miles. No need to summon Man-Eater Sharks with more men's blood and the fear of dying sailors. 'Walking the plank' is much more comfortable than keelhauling, GAGAGA..."
Soon, a portion of the sharks, their eyes glowing with blood after having their fill, seemed to be commanded by some invisible force, circling the pirate ship in a perfect sphere.
Looking at them, a fiery passion ignited in Miles's eyes. Even though commanding them to scout and fight like the pirate ship's armed guards requires a blood sacrifice of a living person every three days, and no matter how great the cost, this is... transcendent power, after all! It won't be long. Just a few more successful raids with the Captain, and I too might be granted this magical power by Lord Bloody Eye!
Having said this, he turned and walked away, not the least bit worried that any "sacrifice" forced to walk the plank would survive.
For a long time, the blood and tears of countless innocent souls had forged their arrogance, as well as the Man-Eating Shark's terrifying reputation in the nearby waters, a name that struck fear into all who heard it!
Indeed, the reality was much as he figured.
A group of sharks, still not fully fed, easily tore into pieces the old sailor who had fallen into the water before Byron, then immediately pounced towards him with ferocity.
Bound hand and foot, he was utterly powerless to resist.
Byron knew all too well that not only someone like him, unarmed, but even a fully armed Knight in such a perilous situation would inevitably face certain death.
When he saw the crimson glow in the sharks' eyes, his heart chilled even further.
These are not normal beasts, but transcendent ones!
Relying on the remnants of common knowledge in his mind, he faintly sensed that he had witnessed transcendent power many times before and wasn't at all surprised by the sight before him.
However, mere knowledge was of no help to his predicament.
He could only watch helplessly as the sharks opened their mouths, stirring up turbulent currents in the ocean as they bit viciously towards him!
For a moment, the mottled surface of the sea reflected a bloody hue; dark fins churned the turbulent water; gaping maws opened wide, revealing thousands of dagger-like teeth gleaming with a chilling light...
Byron's eyes, the color of the deep blue sea, suddenly constricted, his thoughts accelerating.
It was as if he had suddenly fallen into the kind of pre-death life flashback often depicted in stories.
Using fragments of conversations he had overheard from sailors as an anchor, two segments of memory from his dreams churned up from the depths of his heart once more.
A youth, emaciated by progressive paralysis, lay on a sickbed, his incredibly bright eyes meeting Byron's, "I never want to experience the desolation of helplessly awaiting death alone on a sickbed ever again! I want to run, to jump, to swim, to adventure freely. To see the world's glaciers, deserts, auroras, the vast forests, the endless seas... If one day I could die amidst tempestuous waves, that would be the most perfect redemption for me!"
Another sweat-drenched young man, clad in armor, swung a heavy sword with practiced, tireless movements until he was utterly exhausted but would not relent.
The arduous training from his youth had already etched a tenacious fighting spirit into the boy's very marrow.
Wielding his longsword, he cried out with all his might, "Knights charge forward; to be struck in the back is a disgrace!"
Those two figures suddenly merged, instantly plugging the tormenting hole in Byron's consciousness.
At the same time, an unexpected event occurred.
Since he had fallen into the sea, the blue light that had re-emerged in his right eye seemed to finally meet some prerequisite condition and burst forth from his pupils.
In an instant, the grand tolling of church bells echoed within his skull, and a series of extraordinary visions slowly unfolded before his eyes.
The sun rose in the east and set in the west; clouds gathered and dispersed in the sky; the tides of the ocean rose and fell; and all life on Earth burgeoned...
In ancient times, tribes practiced slash-and-burn agriculture; bipedal dragons hunted at will; and formations of knights became steel torrents that swept across battlefields...
From the dawn of humanity to the present, an endless parade of images washed through Byron's consciousness.
What is this... exactly?
No sooner had Byron formed the question than the dazzling river of light had washed through every tiny blood vessel and nerve in his body.
Before his eyes, it coalesced into something with yellowing pages and traces of dried water stains... a diary.
No, it was an ancient [Sailing Logbook]!
The cover bore no words, only the image of an eye as blue as the vast sea.
The moment Byron's gaze met it, the logbook suddenly flipped open, and deep blue ink began to write on its own.
"Passion for life, longing for freedom, courage to never retreat even before mighty foes, and an... Anchor from the 'True History'!
Conditions met! Logbook restarting. Will now begin recording new history!"
Turning the title page, it began to write the main text:
"Some say we live on a calm little island called Ignorance, surrounded by an infinite black sea.
Perhaps we should never have set sail!
But we have no choice.
The Logbook will record the Captain's exploration of every unknown and Hidden truth, bestowing the gifts of [Spirituality] and [Entries]!
Starting Point: October 12th, Era of Silver 1471. The Red and White Rose War in the Kingdom of Hightins has concluded. The throne belongs to the White Rose York Family!
Captain Byron Lancaster (Luo Yi), perhaps with a little assistance, you can write your own legend in this era!"
In an instant, it was as if a bomb had exploded in Byron's mind, and a divine light shone brightly in his eyes.
I am the transmigrator Luo Yi, and also... Byron Lancaster of the Kingdom of Hightins? The Red Rose Lancaster! The Lancaster whose kingdom was usurped!!!
The sound of rushing wind filled his ears, carrying with it the overpowering stench of fish and blood—a tidal wave of memories that instantly engulfed his consciousness.
BOOM—!
A bolt of lightning split the night sky.
By its light, Byron saw himself, dressed in the uniform of a Navy cadet, standing on a colossal Sail Battleship, as massive as a small mountain.
The numerous flags hanging from the topmast whipped fiercely in the gale.
The black Blood Cross Flag of the Kingdom of Hightins; the Red Rose noble flag of the Lancaster Family; the Sword of Royal Authority signifying the King's Flagship.
The Storm Flag of the Grand Master of the Storm Knight Order; the Fleet Commander's pennant; the Captain's long pennant; and a blue dragon Figurehead.
This is... the Lancaster Family's First-Class Battleship, the Blue Dragon King!
With the power of this [Sailing Logbook], Byron's consciousness returned to five days earlier, the night when the Yorks and Lancasters battled for the throne—the very stretch of memory that had been mysteriously missing.
Before today, the two fleets, each bearing the Red and White Rose emblems, had been warring for days in the North Sea, at the southernmost end of the Strait of Dover.
Much like the intermittent Thirty Years' War of the past, it remained a stalemate.
According to the sailors, this very night, a sudden violent storm would completely bury the Lancaster Family!
However, as the once-lost memories gradually resurfaced, Byron, who had experienced it firsthand, knew clearly that what defeated the Lancasters that night wasn't a storm at all, but...
Not good!
His face turned pale, and he was about to turn and rush into the cabin.
Even though he knew that whatever had happened five days ago was beyond remedy, he still fantasized he could do something.
Unfortunately, that disaster had once again arrived as scheduled.
DREE DREE DREE...
From deep within the storm, a nauseatingly discordant flute melody suddenly pierced the curtain of rain and reached Byron's ears.
The seawater around the Blue Dragon King and the Red Rose fleet was rapidly dyed pitch-black by some mysterious substance.
It seemed some colossal creature was moving stealthily through the night, emitting sticky, low growls and a terrifying stench that seemed to penetrate to the very bone!
Except for Byron, who was on duty that night and had remained on the sterncastle, every sleeping Lancaster within the fleet abruptly opened their eyes.
With expressionless faces, they walked out of their cabins and, one by one, ascended to the decks of their respective Warships.
Among them were Byron's father, Prince Edmund Lancaster of Solenberg, and his uncle, the current King of Hightins, Henry VI, also known as the Mad King!
Meanwhile, the Navy sailors who should have been on duty had long since lost consciousness, collapsing haphazardly all over the deck.
The tragedy replayed itself.
Starting with the ordinary people who had no Supernatural Rank and the weakest resistance, the Lancasters, one after another, leaped into the pitch-black sea.
They vanished without so much as a ripple on the water's surface.
No one was exempt!
Even those mid to High Sequence Transcendents in the family, briefly regaining their senses due to the seawater and the imminent threat of death, seemed to have their ankles grabbed by water ghouls from the Deep Sea, their bodies instantly stiffening as they sank powerlessly into the bone-chilling Abyss.
It was as if, in the pitch-black depths where one could not see their own hand, Fear itself had solidified and taken residence.
Can't fight them! Can't hide! Can't escape!
Byron, once again deeply experiencing powerlessness and despair, finally understood what his father had said back then.
Before he was involuntarily dragged into the sea, his father activated his transcendent ability as a Storm Knight, summoning a fierce gust of wind to throw a gold Seal Ring, representing the family's legacy, towards him.
He shouted urgently, "The danger comes from dreams, Byron, run for your life!!!"
Unfortunately, not having fallen asleep initially didn't spare him.
He was only delayed by a few breaths before he, along with the Blue Dragon King, which was dragged into the water by an immense shadow, followed the fate of the other family members.
In the last moments before Byron's consciousness grew stiff and he was about to sink into darkness, aided by a flash of lightning, he vaguely saw what seemed to be an enormous silhouette at the bottom of the sea, indescribable in words, quietly dissipating like a dream bubble.
Dissipating along with it was this segment of memory carrying the "Hidden" truth, and even his consciousness!
The one thing that set him apart from other family members was that he was actually a transmigrator from an Otherworld!
When his surface consciousness suffered a severe blow from the Dream Realm, his previous life, which had lain dormant like a 'foundation,' instantly awakened.
It managed to fill the void in his consciousness, allowing him to cling to half a life.
He became the sole survivor of the Lancaster Family.
Carried by the chaotic currents of the stormy night, he drifted to the outer waters of the Strait of Dover, where he was then caught in the Man-Eating Shark's plunder of the Pelican.
It wasn't until this [Sailing Logbook] was activated under specific conditions that he recovered the memories devoured by some nameless entity—or rather, the "Hidden" truths that no one was allowed to record!
His two lives merged back into one.
And this miraculous [Sailing Logbook] seemed to be hidden within the memories of his former life as Luo Yi.
However, Byron (Luo Yi), having finally rediscovered himself, had no time to ponder the unknown secrets concealed behind this memory.
His eyes glinted fiercely.
Revenge—!!!
Meanwhile, the [Sailing Logbook] continued to write furiously on its own:
"Captain, you have glimpsed the Hidden truth of a major historical turning point: the shadow of the Red and White Rose War, historical influence 31%.
If the York Family truly possessed the strength to easily annihilate the Lancaster Family, why hadn't they used it in the past thirty years?
The blood feud of usurpation and extermination was clearly not as simple as a war for succession."
"Based on the influence level of this Hidden truth and the reward for completing the first deciphering,
you have obtained your first Entry—[Historical Reviser] (can be activated after formally assuming any Extraordinary profession). Your Spirituality has been significantly enhanced.
Legend says that the North Bay Folks, a pirate nation that once plundered the entire world, have always abided by their people's maxim: A debt of hatred must be repaid!!
The ancient blood of the Bayfolk within you begins to boil.
Spiritual sublimation commences!"